Strategic Management Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Strategic Management Accounting - Essay Example Organisational diagnosis involves the thorough evaluation of the processes and issues in an organisation in order to identify the issues that are causing the organisation to fail in its quest to achieve all its major goals and objectives (Van Tonder & Roodt, 2013). Organisational diagnosis is necessary to provide the scientific basis for a structured change in an organisation (Harrison & Shirom, 2011). It therefore uses tools to identify the main processes and change that are relevant to a given organisation and deduces issues with the business process and how there could be changes and adjustments in the processes of doing things in an organisation (Harsh, 2014). From the facts of the scenario relating to US Postal Services, there is a central issue that is identified with the organisational structure and philosophy of the management and authorities behind the entity. The public-sector worldview stands in the way of the achievement of results for US Postal Services. Therefore, there is the need to examine this central issue which is steeped in the capital structure of the company and how it influences the management and competitive position of US Postal Services. It is through a thorough organisational diagnosis that the main issues of US Postal Services can be identified and proper solutions can be recommended. The capital composition of US Postal Services is one that fundamentally puts the company into a situation where they will have to focus on stakeholder interests as opposed to shareholder interests. This is because it is a public sector entity and will need to meet the objectives of the government by providing the cheapest form of postal services to all Americans. This implies that US Postal Services will have to focus on metrics and measures that do not include financial measures and standards like profitability and return on investment. The implication is that they will have to use the resources available to provide the best

Quentin Tarantino and his Movies Speech or Presentation

Quentin Tarantino and his Movies - Speech or Presentation Example In Kill Bill Volume l, a shot with the Bride was seen looking at her captive Sofie inside the trunk. In Jackie Brown, a trunk shot was made when Jackie hides her money inside her blue jacket. In Pulp Fiction, the characters Jules Winfield and Vincent Vega had a shot looking into the contents of the trunk. Tarantino also uses the God’s eye point of view shot. This shot is done with the camera on top of the actors to convey a message that someone of greater being is watching the entire events. In Kill Bill Volume 1, this shot was used when the Bride follows Sofie Fatale into the bathroom. One of the fight scene in the House of Blue Leaves was also shot in the same point of view. In Kill Bill Volume 2, the God’s point of view shot was used when the Bride was lying down in the bathroom crying, in the scene where Budd was looking at his money in the trailer, and the scene when the Bride submerges the head of Elle Driver into the toilet bowl in Budd’s trailer. The corp se point of view shot was used in the scene in Pulp Fiction when Marcellus wakes up with people hovering above him after being hit by a car. In Kill Bill Volume 1, the corpse shot was when the Deadly Vipers and Sheriff McGraw were looking at the dead Bride. In Kill Bill Volume 2, the shot was done when Budd buried the Bride alive. ... In Volume 1, black and white shots were done in the fight scenes at the House of Blue Leaves. In Volume 2, the scenes from the wedding to the massacre after wards were done in black and white. The color returns when the main character in the movie blinked her eye. The films of Quentin Tarantino are told to be harsh, demeaning or even racial in its language and dialogue. In his movie Pulp Fiction, the black characters used the word nigger thirteen times and seven times by the white (Bernard 187). The director however argued that those who complain about his choices in dialogue and languages are mostly white liberals and not the black people (187). In addition, dance scenes are also present in Tarantino’s film to signify triumph or joyous times even if some of the scenes were graphically violent. In Pulp Fiction, Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega danced to â€Å"You Never Can Tell† at the bar, and Mia dances alone to Girl You’ll be a Woman Soon music in her house. Quent in Tarantino goes to record stores and personally picked the music in his movies (Dawson 163). Tarantino have always wanted to write a musical score but he can’t and was afraid to ask others to write a score because he might not like it (163). He uses music to build a scene and to get the desired emotional and aesthetic effect of that particular scene. In the movie Pulp Fiction, â€Å"Son of a Preacher Man† was played in the background when Vincent Vega went to the house of Mia Wallace (163). In Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2, the song Woo Hoo can be heard in the background during bloody fight scenes amidst the screams of the characters. According to the site FilmBuff in their article on â€Å"Quentin

Final review --- economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Final review --- economics - Assignment Example 22. Starting from long-run equilibrium, without policy intervention, the long-run impact of an adverse supply shock is that prices will be permanently higher and output will be restored to the natural rate. 9. In the Keynesian-cross model, if the MPC equals .75, then a $1 billion increase in government spending increases planned expenditures by S.75 billion and increases the equilibrium level of income by more than S. 75 billion Marginal Propensity to Consume (MPC) is an empirical metric that quantifies induced consumption, the concept that the increase in personal consumer spending (consumption) occurs with an increase in disposable income (income after taxes and transfers). The proportion of the disposable income which individuals desire to spend on consumption is known as propensity to consume. MPC is the proportion of additional income that an individual desires to consume. The tax multiplier is the ratio of the change in aggregate production to an autonomous change in government taxes when consumption is the only induced expenditure. Autonomous tax changes trigger the multiplier process and induced consumption provides the cumulatively reinforcing interaction between consumption, aggregate production, factor payments, and income. MPC and MPS have an inverse relationship. Because they add up to 100 percent, as MPS increases, MPC decreases and vice versa. For example, if a company earns an extra $200 per month in income and consumes, or spends, $100 extra per month, $100 per month is saved. The MPS and MPC are both 50 percent. If the business starts to spend $150 per month, only $50 is saved. The MPC increases to 75 percent, while the MPS decreases to 25 percent. 19. According to the theory of liquidity preference, if the supply of real money balances exceeds the demand for real money balances, individuals will purchase interest-earning assets in order to reduce holdings of non-interest-bearing money. 26. An increase in

8 Step Process For Leading Change

8 Step Process For Leading Change Kotter notes that many companies often overlook this process when they are in their rush in making plans or take action for the organization to takes place. He stated that close to 50% of the companies that fail to make needed change make their mistakes at the start. Leaders frequently undermine the importance of driving people out from their comfort zone or being complacent with their current success or even being careless in developing an appropriate urgency. According to Kotter (2012), if this step is successfully executed, leaders will obtain an accurate status benchmark that would determine whether the state of the organization is: Complacency- occurs whether the organization is at the top of their market or facing bankruptcy, usually when everyone thinks Everything is fine. False urgency- People are busy with their work but all their efforts produce nothing, in fact may cause burnout instead. True urgency- People are aware of the potential hazards and make use of all the opportunities to be productive and make progress. Guaranteed to fail- It started by the poorly thought out in the initial step. Leaders failed to appeals the peoples heart, only their head. Guaranteed to succeed- Leaders successfully aim for the heart of people and able to connect the deepest values and inspire them to greatness. This leads to the success of the organizational change. 2. Creating the Guiding Coalition This step involves the ability of leaders to assemble a group with enough power to lead the change effort and encourage them to work as a team. Placing people together in the right coalition to lead a change initiative is crucial to its success. It is necessary that the coalition to have the correct structure, substantial level of trust, and a shared objective. Complex organizations are forced to make decisions more quickly even though concrete information is not available due to the rapid changing world. It is evident that it is up to leaders and teams to orchestrate the relevant decision that will help the organization to stay sustainable. The development of the level of trust will stick the team together that helps them to be well functioned. Due to the rapid change, team building has to happen quickly. Developing the right team and combining them with the right level of trust with a shared goal in which the team believes can result in a compelling guiding coalition that will take the organization to the right organizational change. Kotter (2012) states that the right team as a whole should reflect the following four qualities: Position Power- the presence of key players will drive the change progress without any obstruction. Expertise- All relevant points of view should be collected to produce informed intelligent decisions. Credibility- People should be aware of the group presence and respect them so that the groups declarations will be taken seriously. Leadership- Qualified leaders must present to be able to drive the change process. 3. Developing a Change Vision This step pushes the leaders to create a vision to set the direction of the change effort and develop strategies for achieving the vision. A vision must be able to offer genuine guidance, flexible yet focused and easy to comprehend. It insires action and guide that action. According to Kotter (2012), effective visions must have these six key characteristics: Imaginable: Able to portray the future state of the organisation Desirable: attract to the long term interest of the organizational stakeholders. Feasible: comprise of realistic and achievable goals. Focused: clear enough to set the direction in decision making. Flexible: permit entities to take initiative and implement alternative responses in changing environment. Communicable: easy to communicate and can be explained quickly. 4. Communicating the Vision for Buy-in This step involves ensuring that everyone in the team understands and accept the vision strategy. Kotter (2012) emphasizes that in communicating the vision for the change, the vision should be: Simple: easy to understand Vivid: able to illustrate to future state Repeatable: easy to be spread by anyone to anyone Invitational: Has the ability to offer two way communication 5. Empowering Broad-based Action In this step, leaders are required to remove obstacles to change, change systems or structures that detrimental to the vision and promote risk taking and non-traditional ideas, actions and activities. The two main barriers are: Structural Barriers In many cases, the internal structures of organisations contradicts the change vision. For example, a customer focused organisations usually lacks of resources and responsibilities for products and services and a low cost organization that claims to aim for high productivity often have large number of staff that is costly to maintain. Therefore, Kotter (2012) states that it is necessary to realigning incentives and performance appraisals to reflect the change vision to obtain the profound effect on the ability to accomplish the change vision. The implementation of Management Information system can help to suppress the problems by keeping the internal stakeholders informed with the competitive information and market analysis in a quick and effective manner. Troublesome Supervisors In many companies, managers will have several interrelated habits that shape the company culture which often limits the ability for the change to takes place. Kotter (2012) explains that this issue can be quite challenging and often in the attempt of removing this barrier, the results can be demeaning. 6. Generating Short- term wins In this step, leaders need plan for achievements that can easily be made visible, follow-through with those achievements and recognize and reward employees who were involved. To obtain desirable results, short term wins must be both visible and not vague. The end achievement must be linked to the change effort. However, short term wins tends to undermine the credibility of cynics and self-serving resistors (Kotter, 2012) 7. Never Letting Up This step includes the use of increased credibility to change systems, structures and policies that do not fit the vision, also comprises hire, promote and develop employees who can implement the vision, and finally strengthen the process with new projects, themes, and change agents. The main challenge for change is resistance and it always present even if the change process runs smoothly from the early stages. People may even celebrate the short term success and suggest taking a break to enjoy the victory before the process finishes. Kotter (2012) mentions several changes must occur by this step: Presence of additional projects. Extra people being brought to assist the change. Leaders focused on giving clarity to an aligned vision and shared purpose. Managers successfully motivated employees at all levels to lead projects. A reduction in interdependencies between sectors. Maintain a high level of urgency Consistently showing the progress of change. 8. Incorporating Change into the Culture The last step requires leaders to articulate the connections between the new behaviors and organizational success and develop the means to ensure leadership development and succession. Leaders must successfully planted the new practice in the culture and ensure that every individuals in the company is indoctrinated into the culture. IKEA Leadership Profile and Kotter 8 Step According to a study done by Ingholt Rasidovilc (2008) Kotters 8 step processes has revealed several errors that occurs in the organization. They conducted a survey that involves the total management team and several most experienced co-workers. They were given the same questionnaires to see how the solidarity between them in regards to the change process. The result of the survey shows the evident of good sign of leadership in one of the departments, as characterized by Kotter (1996). Many respondents asserted that good leaders must be the source of encouragement and engage their co-workers (Ingholt Rasidovilc, 2008). This has shown that this model is a reasonably good model for IKEA due to the 67 points earned from the survey, for one of the departments, in being good at communicating change initiatives in a vivid manner (Ingholt Rasidovilc, 2008). The score for the decisiveness of their leaders however is pretty low, only 49 points. This signifies their inability to handle conflicts, which is one of the key weaknesses that stop changes in management from occurring. Furthermore, they also discovered that the lowest values in the survey are in the main five areas namely: co-worker trust development, implementation of decisions, communication about the future, co workers involvement in planning and the ability to handle conflicts. Th e scores obtained in these areas range from 34 to 46, which are relatively low based on the maximum score. To conclude, this department is proven to have strength in being supportive but weak when it comes to decision making. The presence of indecisiveness explains the origin inability to handle conflict and the character of being supportive leads to the development of trustful relationship between workers (Ingholt Rasidovilc, 2008). The other department however, showed their key strength in their decisiveness and weakness in communication about the future. Another set of criteria showed the key strength in the ability to handle conflicts but weak in the co-workers involvement in planning. In comparison to the general grading result in IKEA, these results are fairly good. Thus the association in this department is that managers in this department are decisive enough to overcome the conflicts but weak in communication about the future which explains the poor involvement of the co workers in the process. In addition, the two departments gave an overall average score of 84.7 in regards to their leadership performance. Ingholt Rasidovilc (2008) states the difference for each department in accordance to Kotters implementation model. The workers in Department 1 felt that the necessity of change was not well communicated which leads to resistance. This is confirmed by Kotters most common error in the first step High level of complacency which undermines urgency, which is often caused by lack of communication. The worker also did not feel the presence of a leader which explains the error in the second step: lack of a powerful, guiding coalition. Furthermore, lack of vision communication has led to error in step three. In Department 2 on the other hand, the co-workers perceived the vision and strategy being communicated to individuals. It is possible that the strong communication among the workers has reduced the presence of resistance. Recommendation Communication is very crucial in conducting change management. Leaders are ought to be able to keep the workers well informed and create an understanding while also create opportunities to get them involved in the process. Leaders must also be able to identify the needs throughout the process. By doing this, the right leader can be identified and will create the best possible opportunity for the department to develop. Lastly, it is also important to make decisions based on what was informed and needed besides ensuring that they are being implemented. Reference Ingholt, L. T. Rasidovic, M., 2008, Change Management-A research at IKEA of Sweden- Power Resistance, Vaxio University. Kotter, J., 1996. Leading change, Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Kotter (2012), J., 2012, The 8-Step Process for Leading Change, Kotter (2012) International, accessed on 9 January 2013: http://www.Kotter (2012)international.com/our-principles/changesteps

LAOS NATION REPORT Essay -- essays research papers fc

Introduction My country is Laos. It is a small, poor country in Southeast Asia. The population is about five million. It is 91,400 square miles and the officail language is Lao but french and english is only spoken for buisness purposes mainly. The currency is Kip. Human beings began living in the present territory of Laos more than 10,000 years ago. Stone tools and skulls were discovered in the Huaphan and Luang Prabang provinces. They did carbon dating on these artifacts and test say there around 10,000 years old. The giant jars in Xieng Khouang province and stone columns in Huaphan province date from the neolithic period. Humans in Laos used iron for their tools as early as the last century B.C. Community grouping of people slowly formed into townships between the fourth and eight century A.D. on both sides of the Mekong River and along its tributaries. In 1349-1357, a movement emerged under the command of King Fa Ngoum, a national hero, to group the townships into a unified Lan Xang Kingdom, the capital of which stood at Xiengdong Xiengthong, now known as Luang Prabang. From then on, the Kingdom of Lan xang entered into an era of national defence and construction under King Fa Ngoum who first introduced Hinayana Buddhism from the Khmer Kingdom into Laos, which is still the religion professed by the majority of Lao people. From 1479 to 1570, the Lao people were forced to defend the country against foreign aggressors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Under the rule of King Setthathirath, the capital was moved from Xiengdong Xiengthong to Vientiane in 1560. A moat was built to protect the new capital whose name means the rampart if sandalwood. King Setthathirath built a shrine to house the Phra Kaeo, the Emerald Buddha. He also erected the Luang Stupa, a venerated religious shrine which is now the symbol of the Lao nation. In the seventeenth century, under the reign of King Souliyavongsa, the Kingdom entered its most brilliant era. It was respected by neighbouring countries and was reputed in many countries of the world. in 1694, a Dutch merchand of the East Indian Company, Geritt Van Wuysthoff, and later, two Italian misssionaries, Leria and Marini, visited the Kingdom of Lan Xang. They wrote awed reports on the rich and beautiful palaces and temples, and the splendid religious ceremonies, saying Vientiane was the most magnificient city in South Eas... ...es Laos's entire north-south length, and its tributaries. These plains are very narrow in the north but are wider farther south. Finally, three high plateaus are situated throughout the country: the Plain of Jars in the north, the Khammouan Plateau in the center, and the Bolovens Plateau in the south. Movement of the country   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Laos does not seem to be moving anywhere really. It is a small, poor country that lacks in technology, communication, transportation, health care and money. There tourism is very low and people mainly just work and live in little villages. Recently they’ve been having trouble with terroists. There is a drug problem, there our many drug lords selling marijuana and opium. Recently the US has been helping cracking down on drug trade. Summary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Day to day life in Laos seems pretty simple besides living in poverty. They do not have the technology craze, pressures or high crime rates like many large countries. Lao people our hard workers that work together in small villages to survive. There families our mostly very large. Map Bibliography www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~kongsab/ www.laoconnection.com

Squad Training Management

Squad Training Management PE †¢ 1. You are a member of Special Troop Battalion, 3d BCT, 10th Mountain Division. Your battalion will deploy to Iraq within six months. The battalion commander approved your unit’s METL. The METL identifies critical tasks for each platoon and now it is time for squad leaders to select tasks to train that support the platoon’s critical tasks. 2. The platoon’s critical tasks are as follows: a. Conduct unit operations. Subject Area 22: Unit Operations 071-326-5503 Issue a Warning Order 071-326-5502 Issue a Fragmentary Order 551-88N-3043 Prepare for Unit Move 71-326-3013 Conduct a Tactical Road March 551-88N-3042 Plan a Unit Move b. Guard detained prisoners of war. Subject Area 24: Enemy Personnel 4250. Supervise the Processing of Detainees at the Point of Capture 191-377-4252 Supervise the Escort of Detainees 181-105-2002 Conduct Combat Operations According to the Law of War 191-377-4254 Search a Detainee 191-377-4256 Guard Detaine es c. Treat casualties. Subject Area 2: First Aid 081-831-1058 Supervise Casualty Treatment and Evacuation 081-831-1001 Evaluate a Casualty 081-831-1007 Perform First Aid for Burns 81-831-1011 Establish a Saline Lock 081-831-1046 Transport a Casualty d. Perform in a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) environment. Subject Area 3: Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear 031-503-1023 Protect Yourself from Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Injury/Contamination when Changing Mission-Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) Gear 031-503-1015 Protect yourself from CBRN injury or contamination with MOPP gear 031-503-1018 React to Nuclear hazard/attack 031-503-1024 Replace your canister on your M-40 series protective mask e.Implement combat survival techniques in area of operation. Subject Area 4: Survive (Combat Techniques) 071-410-0012 Conduct Occupation of an Assembly Area 071-000-0006 React to man-to-man combat 071-326-0501 Move as a member of a fire team 071- 410-0002 React to direct fire while mounted 071-326-3002 React to indirect fire while mounted 3. Use the class reference material to select the appropriate tasks for your squad to train that support the platoon’s critical tasks. Record your answers (title and task number) in the comment box. The references for this training can be found in STP 21-24-SMCT

Miguel Cabrera

INTRO: As most of you guys know, I really enjoy statistics so when Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown this year, I instantly knew what I was going to inform you guys about. What makes this even better is that I have been a tigers fan all my life and he is my favorite baseball player of all time. With made his season really incredible in my eyes is that he changed positions to 3B before the season to welcome his good friend from Milwaulkee, Prince Fielder. FIRST SLIDE: Explain them and how this year he has only beat his other year’s statistics in 3 of the 5 categories.SECOND SLIDE: How close it was in each stat. * Home Runs: Granderson/Hamilton needed just 2 more HRs out of their 596/562 ABs * RBIswas the frathest stat away. Hamilton was 11 back but 3rd place had 110 (Willingham-Min) * Batting average: Mike Trout needed just 8 more hits out of his 559 Abs THIRD SLIDE: â€Å"Most of you are going to ask how Miguel Cabrera couldn’t possibly win the AL MVP after becoming the first triple crown winner since 1967 but there is actually a chance that he doesn’t.It also wouldn’t be the first time a triple crown winner lost the MVP. Frank Robinson lost the MVP race the year that he won the triple crown. † * Miguel was 14th player to win triple crown * 1st in slugging percentage, 2nd in hits, 7th in doubles, 4th in OBP * Mike Trout was the first player to ever have 30 HR, 45 SB, and 125 R. * 1st in SB, 1st in wins above replacement, 1st in runs by 20 runs, 3rd in OBP The MVP is announced November 18th so we won’t know who won it for another 34 days.ENDING * Miguel Cabrera * Triple Crown Winner * First since 1967 (Carl Yastrzemski) * AL Most Valuable Player? * Detroit Tigers * AL Central Champions * Beat the White Sox by 3 games * American League Division Series Winners * 3-2 over the athletics * American League Championship Series * Up 2-0 in best of 7 over the Yankees FINAL LINE: â€Å"Overall I hope you have learned more about the Detroit Tigers 3B Miguel Cabrera and how one of a kind his season really was and how it still isnt over yet. †