Monday, May 18, 2020

Prostitution Is A Sensitive, Hot, And Controversial Topic...

Prostitution could be considered as one of the oldest commerce format. Even in the early 2400 BC, according to the Sumerian Records, the female and male prostitutions or transvestite entertainers were mentions for the first time. Then the Hammurabi’s Code also mentioned rights of a prostitute or child of a prostitute in the Six of Hammurabi’s 282 codes (Codes 178-80, 187, 192, 193). As the most basic demand of human beings, the legalization of prostitution is always a sensitive, hot, and controversial topic. In the United States, the social activists focus on the legalization of prostitution all the time. By checking the Federal I found that there are 9 laws against prostitution, unfortunately, 4 of more vital laws are all about the aliens instead of the United Stated Citizens. For the rest of the law applying to all the people living in the United States, they are just misdemeanors. This fact makes me think what the attitude of prostitution for the US government is. Af ter the pass the regulation of prostitution in Nevada, the state government started regulating prostitution giving rural counties the option to license brothels. Nevada made the first try for the legalization of prostitution, and then the whole country got inspired. â€Å"On June 5, 1981, the first mention of what would later be named AIDS appears in medical literature in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention†(Centers for Disease Control and PreventionShow MoreRelated Body Image Essay1153 Words   |  5 Pagesand are made to feel inadequate when they inevitably fail. From Sterk’s article of how she went about doing her fieldwork on prostitution, I realized that the interview process is lengthier than I originally thought. Though my research does not require me to establish a close relationship with my interviewees as much as Sterk’s did (my topic isn’t nearly as sensitive and I am not doing fieldwork as part of my profession), I learned that in order to obtain the most honest answers, I must take timeRead MoreThe Bluest Eye Essay1889 Words   |  8 PagesSexual Assault Affects A Person’s Psyche Sexual assault is a sensitive subject when it comes to most people. No one can tell whether the person they come across has been sexually assaulted before. There is signs indicating such events like withdrawing from normal activities, or feeling â€Å"down†, low self-esteem, anxiety or worry about situations that did not seem to cause anxiety in the past, avoiding specific situations or place, etc. Sexual assault is never an easy bridge to cross and the road toRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagespoverty, instability, insecurity, and illegal status. Criminal activity sometimes spilled over the borders of the slum and threatened the welfare and health of the broader community. Biographies and autobiographies often reveal lives of theft, prostitution, murder, child abuse, family disorganization, and domestic violence, along with occasional examples of touching sympathy and kindness (Johnson and Bernstein 1982). Groups that were not organized were at risk. In extreme cases—for example, theRead MoreBusiness Journalism in India26104 Words   |  105 Pagesgroups. The BSE Index, SENSEX, is Indias first stock market index that enjoys an iconic stature , and is tracked worldwide. It is an index of 30 stocks representing 12 major sectors. The SENSEX is constructed on a free-float methodology, and is sensitive to market sentiments and market realities. Over the decades, the stock market in the country has passed through good and bad periods. The journey in the 20th century has not been an easy one. Till the decade of eighties, there was no measure orRead MoreInternational Management67196 Words   |  269 Pagesrelevant end-of-chapter feature in this edition is the â€Å"Internet Exercise.† The purpose of each exercise is to encourage students to use the Internet to find information from the websites of prominent MNCs to answer relevant questions about the chapter topic. An end-of-book feature is a series of Skill-Building and Experiential Exercises for aspiring international managers. These in-class exercises represent the various parts of the text (culture, strategy, and behavior) and provide hands-on experienceRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pagesresearch interests are in (1) personality, moods, and emotions; (2) job attitudes; (3) leadership and influence behaviors; and (4) careers (person–organization fit, career success). Dr. Judge has published more than 140 articles on these and other major topics in journals such as Journal of Organizational Behavior, Personnel Psychology, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, European Journal of Personality, and European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. Fellowship: Dr

The Bush Doctrine and the Iraq War Neoconservatives vs....

I intend to review â€Å"The Bush Doctrine and the Iraq War: Neoconservatives vs. Realists† by Brian C. Schmidt and Michael C. Williams. The reason for choosing this article for review is simply because of its relevance today throughout the Middle East and how the American foreign policy is drastically changing the dynamics of the world. Schmidt and Williams use the elements of the neoconservative Bush Doctrine to show the direct contrast between realists and neoconservatives. The authors use the Bush Doctrine as an anchor to demonstrate realists’ anti-war views as the Bush Doctrine â€Å"provided the key rationale for the Iraq War.† This is the main theme of the paper and the authors express this throughout the paper in a fascinating, enthralling†¦show more content†¦It was also important to publish this article to illustrate the future implications of the Iraqi war on the U.S foreign policy. Schmidt and Williams use different methods throughout the article to reach their conclusions. They state and evaluate the arguments that realists adopted in order to defer America from invading Iraq. They also demonstrate the tactics used by neoconservatives to undermine and defeat realists in the lead up to the war in Iraq. The authors engage in these different methods to reach conclusions as to why realism ultimately failed in the Iraqi debate. The subjects in this article are visibly neoconservatives and realists. It is clear from this article that neoconservatives and realists share a very different outlook. One of the most accurate yet sombre quotes is: â€Å"As Mearsheimer sees it, realism quickly unravels the neoconservatives faulty logic and explains the current reality of the Iraq situation.† This statement oppresses me as it was too late to materialize and fight against the decision to invade Iraq. The authors draw on John Ikenberry and his belief that terrorists â€Å"â€Å"cannot be

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Merchant S Tale - 1178 Words

THE CANTERBURY TALES Geoffrey Chaucer THE MERCHANT’S TALE Once there was, dwelling in Lombardy, a worthy knight, January, who had lived nobly for sixty years without a wife. January one day sent for all of his friends, telling them of his intent to marry, explaining that he was ill and old, and wanted a wife no older than twenty. Placebo advice January that it would be excellent to marry a young wife, and telling him to do exactly as he pleased. Justinus argued that he should be more careful and more thoughtful before taking a wife, warning that a young wife was like to cuckold an old husband. â€Å"Straw for thy Senek!† January responds, agreeing with Placebo. January selected one women and prepare for the wedding. January marry May,†¦show more content†¦Literary Devices †¢ Irony of the Merchant: January pretends that he didn’t saw his wife and Damian having sex on the tree. Literary Devices †¢ Verse Form - It’s a long narrative poem. It’s written in verse, but the poem tells a story. - the rhyming couplet, would be described as aa, bb, cc, dd because it rarely repeats a rhyme due to the pressures on the poet to keep the narrative moving. Themes †¢ Anti-Feminism He marry a young maiden because he wants to fulfil God’s wish which that man and woman marry and he wants a son to inherit his estates. After only two months of marriage, his intolerable wife causes him constant agony — the Merchant has a cynical and bitter view of marriage. His wife described to have a babbling‚ shrewish tongue and many more vices. He bitterly regrets that he is tied to her for life but hopes no one will mention it because women have ways of finding out. Of weeping and wailing, care and other sorrow I know enough, at eventide and morrow, The merchant said, and so do many more Of married folk, I think, who this deplore, For well I know that it is so with me. I have a wife, the worst one that can be; For though the foul Fiend to her wedded were, She d overmatch him, this I dare to swear. How could I tell you anything special Of her great malice? She is shrew in all. There is a long and a large difference Between Griselda s good and great patience And my wife s more thanShow MoreRelatedMarriage Essay : The Merchant s Tale 985 Words   |  4 PagesMerchant’s Tale† Early British writing like The Canterbury’s Tale section of â€Å"The Merchant’s Tale† written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English poetry, reflect on social values. Much of the tale speaks about a marriage that over flows of vices. Societies vision of how marriages should work, display the vices of holy matrimony. The corruptness of societies views on marriage lead to a loveless marriage. Chaucer reflects on how much societies views influenced marriages in the 1300’s; he showsRead MoreGeoffrey Chaucer s The Merchant s Tale1434 Words   |  6 PagesGeoffrey Chaucer’s the Merchant’s Tale tells the tale of a husband, a wife, and sexual deceit. A narrative nearly identical to that in Chaucer’s work can be found in the Bible. In the Tale, the Merchant depicts the sexual interactions of men and women, whether between husband and wife (i.e. Januarie and May) or adulterers (i.e. May and Damyan). Similarly, Genesis 2 and 3 of the Bi ble focus on sexual interactions between husband and wife (i.e.. Adam and Eve) and adulterers (i.e. Eve and the Serpent/treeRead MoreArabian Nights, A Reflection Of Changes In Hierarchies And Effective Storytelling1276 Words   |  6 PagesKing ´s curiosity and keep it lingering, keeping herself alive, establishing her own authority, as well as subtly influencing the volition of the King. Both the vizier and Shahrazad use the concept of interaction with animals, or animal metamorphosis, to illustrate their stories and to convey a message in their attempt to persuade their audiences in an effective manner. As a common factor between the main story of The Arabian Nights, the Tale of the Ox and the Donkey and the Tale of the Merchant andRead MoreBeauty and the Beast: Story Analysis1469 Words   |  6 PagesBeauty and the Beast is probably one of the most well known fairy tales that the Grimms reproduced. In it s original form it was a long, drawn out story that was catered to adul ts. The Grimms changed the story to be more understood by children and made it short and to the point. Unlike many of the other fairy tales that they reproduced, Beauty and the Beast contains many subtle symbols in its purest form. It shows a girl and how she transfers to a woman; it also shows that beauty is in the eyeRead MoreAnalysis Of On Chesil Beach 1557 Words   |  7 Pageshoneymoon, where although both are inexperienced, they seem to be in love. Whereas, in ‘The Merchants Tale’, we have an old ‘hoor’ man, desperate for a young wife to present him with an heir. On the other hand, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a play about the marriage of two lovers; this view is idealised and has for centuries been perceived as the perfect view of a relationship. ‘The Merchants Tale’s’ narrator is the Merchant who has been married for a little over two months. According to Stephanie A. TolliverRead MoreAnalysis Of The One Thousand And One Nights 1592 Words   |  7 Pagesus blind to our own weaknesses. In the One Thousand and One Nights text, some of its characters experience changes due to the fact that they failed to recognize the strength and abilities or capabilities of other opposing characters. In the frame tale, The Story of King Shahrayar and Shahrazad, his Vizier’s Daughter, King Shahrayar’s misconception of women made him fall prey to Shahrazad’s con. While Shahrayar was gone hunting, his brother, Shahzaman witnessed his wife and concubines cheating onRead MoreEssay on merchant of venice1394 Words   |  6 Pages The Merchant of Venice The play,  ¡Ã‚ °The Merchant of Venice ¡Ã‚ ± by William Shakespeare has two main settings. One setting is Venice, a city where many businessmen live, a place, full of unhappy and unkind people. It a world of commercial and law. Shakespeare has portrayed Venice as the  ¡Ã‚ °real ¡Ã‚ ± world. The other setting is Belmont, a city which houses a rich, happy society of beautiful people. Belmont is a fairy-tale world of music and love. In this play, it is evident that, good things happen in BelmontRead MoreChristopher Columbus And Other Great People1474 Words   |  6 PagesWhen discussing the major explorers and travellers normally think about people, such as, Ibn Batuta, Christopher Columbus and other great people. But, I have a great tale to tell about a man by the name Marco Polo. Now most of you would think of the pool game when you shout â€Å"Marco!† the others call â€Å"Polo!† Well it actually relates to the man himself, Marco actually got separated from his family and responded with Polo as they called for him with Marco! Marco’s early life began without him knowRead MoreAnalysis Of The General Prologue To The Canterbury Tales Essays1044 Words   |  5 Pagesthe author of The Canterbury Tales, an elaborate poem about the religious pilgrimage of twenty nine people to Canterbury. In the General Prologue Chaucer introduces each individual along for the journey. Through The Canterbury Tales, we discover the hypocrisy and virtues Chaucer narrates in his characters and can appreciate the nuances in this superior piece of literature. Geoffrey Chaucer, born in London in 1340 began his love affair with literature in his late 20s. Chaucer wrote his first bookRead MoreTartuffe, By Touching On Tartuffe1209 Words   |  5 Pagesthe middle class society from The London Merchant breakdown. I will also be using specifics from Tartuffe, The Country Wife and The London Merchant, to show the shift from an aristocratic to middleclass society effected the drama. That being noted, I will begin with Tartuffe. The audience that Molià ¨re wrote Tartuffe was a worldly sector of the social elite in Paris in Seventeenth Century. Its original audience was of course the royal court at Louis XIV s palace in Versailles. Officially, that society

Economic Equality Between The Social Classes Of The Great...

There should be greater economic equality between the social classes of the great United States of America. While there is no agreement of a full blown communist or socialist revolution, a la Karl Marx, there is agreement that there should be slight changes towards this idea of equality. According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, a social contract (theory) â€Å"is the view that persons moral and/or political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they live† (Friend). The current American contract is debatable, and the exact definition depends on each person individually. Similar to Hobbes and Rousseau alike, Daniel Mallock on American Thinker believes that the social contract†¦show more content†¦Economic inequality is a multifaceted, idea that breaks down into unequal distributions of income, pay, and wealth. Of course, each individual definition is the inequality of distribution of each concept, re spectively (How is Economic Inequality Defined?). Income is the money received from nearly everything a person is a part of: investments, bonds, stocks, property, wages, salary, pension, rent, payment, etc. (How is Economic Inequality Defined?). By definition, those with less of these investments and earnings are at a disadvantage than those with more. Normal class citizens do not own thousands and thousands of stocks, large houses and yachts, nor do they receive these large wages similar to the wealthy. Nonetheless, while this seems like a tiresome argument, the cries are valid. The Scientific American states that, â€Å"The top 20% of US households own more than 84% of the wealth, and the bottom 40% combine for a paltry 0.3%. The Walton family, for example, has more wealth than 42% of American families combined† (Fitz). This notion relates to not only a small fraction of economic inequality, but to a major gap between those that supposedly have it better. Pay refers to the payment from employment only (How is Economic Inequality Defined?). This area is seemingly easier to work with the idea of equality, for a job/career usually relies on skills alone. Usually is a key word only due to the fact that networking and knowing the right people canShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Revolutionary War1417 Words   |  6 PagesThe Revolutionary War The Revolutionary War started on April 19, 1775 at Lexington and Concord. America was very much unprepared with no central government or army. The congress stepped up as the government and began to organize an army. The Revolutionary War did not end until September 3, 1783 with the signing of the final peace treaty between America and Great Britain. The victory in the Revolution War led to the birth of a new independent nation. 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This dramatic economic and social transformation instigated a series of outcomes, both positive and negative, for the United States during the early to midRead MoreSocial Stratification On Social Mobility And Income Equality Essay957 Words   |  4 Pages Jeff (Xiaotang) Jing SO 101: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN THE PRESS AMERICA REGRESSED IN SOCIAL MOBILITY AND INCOME EQUALITY For a long time, Americans believe that anyone who works hard and follows the rules can own a house, raise a family and have a decent life. Believe it or not, social stratification and inequality were aggravated in the last decades in the United States. Social stratification is a sociological term for the systematic ranking of differentRead MoreDemocracy And American Politics : Wealth Vs. 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America would be a country ran by a king if it weren t for revolutionary change of government. On the other hand, the revolution did absolutely nothing for slaves and blacks. The laws that were set in the 1780’s againstRead MoreGoals of Public Education Essay780 Words   |  4 PagesEducation/TED 602 January 13, 2012 Professor KL Goals of American Public Education Public education in America began in the early to mid-19th century with the simple goal of â€Å"uniting the American population by instilling common moral and political values† (Spring, 2012, p. 5). Our country was founded by men who designed the constitution so that it could be amended to accommodate changing political and social climates. They believed in the ideology of the American dream which â€Å"holds out a vision of bothRead MoreThe Inequality Of Class Mobility1515 Words   |  7 PagesOn class mobility, Tocqueville did not comment on the racial factor that prevents social mobility. 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Pamela Spencer Case free essay sample

Pamela Spencer, the manager of HouseMart in Port Madison, New York was confronted by one of the store’s regular customers, Mrs. Kerns concerning the state of her installed cedar fencing after a severe wind and rain storm had hit the area. Mrs. Kerns had contacted HouseMart’s installation manager earlier that morning complaining of her fence leaning at a 45-degree angle and after the installation manager’s inspection, he found that since the fence had been properly installed there was essentially nothing he could do and suggested to Mrs. Kerns that she should contact her insurance company. Mrs. Kerns was unsatisfied with the installation manager’s response and entered the store later that day to confront Pamela just as the store was preparing to close. Pamela explained to Mrs. Kerns that she should give her the pictures of the damaged fencing so she could look at them personally but there isn’t much she could do at the time because the store is closing, and then suggested that Mrs. We will write a custom essay sample on Pamela Spencer Case or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Kerns return to the store the following day to discuss the matter further. Mrs. Kerns agreed to return the next day to discuss the issue at length, leaving Pamela in a predicament about what to tell Mrs. Kerns concerning her fencing. Stakeholders There are several different stakeholders represented in this case. The first stakeholder that comes to mind is Mrs. Kerns. Mrs. Kerns is a frequent customer of HouseMart; however, she often returns products or only buys products that happen to be on sale. Mrs. Kerns is primarily concerned with the value and quality of products as well as customer service in the store. The second stakeholder is Pamela Spencer. Pamela Spencer is the manager of HouseMart. She is primarily focused on managing the store to the best of her abilities while paying special attention to internal operations, profitability, and customer service. The third stakeholder in this case is Dan Zegan. Dan Zegan is HouseMart’s installation manager. He handled Mrs. Kern’s complaint concerning the state of her fence and went to inspect it personally. Dan Zegan is primarily concerned with overlooking the installation aspect of HouseMart’s services, and he deduced that Mrs. Kerns’ fence had been properly installed. The fourth stakeholder represented in this case would be the HouseMart employees. The HouseMart employees are directly involved by coming into contact with Mrs. Kerns on several different occasions with her visits to the store. The employees are primarily concerned with helping all of their customers with their needs and assisting them, but specifically in this case they are tasked with helping Mrs. Kerns. Purpose of Warranty HouseMart gives their customers two different options when it comes to buying fencing. They can buy the fencing outright and install it themselves, or they can buy the fencing and use the contractors HouseMart provides. When the customers go through HouseMart for installation they are set up with independent contractors. HouseMart only suggests and works with the most trustworthy contractors. HouseMart does provide a warranty for fencing. The warranty is a 30-day warranty that guarantees proper installation. The warranty included that if any damage happened to a customer’s fencing due to faulty installation, HouseMart would cover all costs as well as replacement and reinstallation (Brown 51). The purpose of the warranty essentially is to guarantee the installation of the fencing. However, HouseMart can avoid any other reason for replacing the fencing if it does not have to do with faulty installation. By providing their customers with this option HouseMart can basically avoid replacing fencing. Marketing Concept Pamela Spencer manages HouseMart according to the marketing concept, meaning she manages a firms goals that can be best achieved through identification and satisfaction of the customers stated and unstated needs and wants (Marketing). She takes several customer-oriented actions at HouseMart. When Pamela began working for HouseMart as an assistant manager she took some liberties upon herself to improve customer service. She instituted training programs for part-time staff to help improve employee knowledge and to aid the communication process between employees and customers. The workshops helped the staff learn more about the products and become more knowledgeable in key areas for it do-it-yourselfers. During her time as assistant manager she also took it upon herself to personally handle customer complaints to make sure that the proper procedures were followed. Her focus on customer service and improving customer-employee relationships helped her improve upon her marketing concept. During Pamela’s time as assistant manager and even in her current position as manager she has made many improvements to the store as a whole; however, not all of these improvements are based on the marketing concept. Her focus on operations and profitability may have detracted some from the marketing concept. Essential Facts In order to help formulate a good decision for Pamela based on her incident with Mrs. Kerns there are certain essential facts of the situation that must be taken into consideration. One very important fact of this case is that Beverly Kerns is a frequent HouseMart customer who usually comes in once a week (Brown 51). Another important fact concerning Mrs. Kerns is that she buys all types of merchandise from HouseMart but usually only purchases items that are on sale, and almost always returns at least half of the items she bought (Brown 51). The next important fact in this case is that before Mrs. Kerns came to confront Pamela Spencer at HouseMart she had been in contact with the installation manager Dan Zegan about the damage to her fencing. Mr. Zegan had even gone to Mrs. Kerns’ house to personally inspect the damage to the fence and told Mrs. Kerns that the damage was not due to faulty installation and suggested she contact her insurance company (Brown 45). Another important fact in this case is that Mrs. Kerns’ fence was damaged due to a severe September wind and rain storm, but her fencing was installed in April (Brown 45). The next important fact to consider in this situation is the manner in which Mrs. Kerns confronted Pamela Spencer. Mrs. Kerns showed up to the store minutes before the store was closing only to wave pictures of the fence in Pamela’s face while accusing her of ignoring the complaint. Mrs. Kerns even cussed at Pamela while asking her what she intended to do about the mess (Brown 45). One last and important fact to consider in this situation is that Pamela is very familiar with Mrs. Kerns as a customer in her store and has become annoyed with Mrs. Kerns’ attitude and actions, and is letting her personal feelings come into play in her decision about Mrs. Kerns’ fencing (Brown 52). SWOT Analysis According to Ryan Goodrich from Business News Daily, â€Å"The SWOT analysis enables companies to identify the positive and negative influencing factors inside and outside of a company or organization. The key role of SWOT is to help develop a full awareness of all factors that may affect strategic planning and decision making, a goal that can be applied to most any aspect of industry,† (Goodrich). Figure 1 identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for HouseMart. Pamela Spencer’s focus on making HouseMart more profitable as well as her attention to overall operations is a huge strength for the company. Her focus on customer service is also very important because it helps grow and maintain a customer base. Pamela’s no-nonsense approach to her staff makes her an effective manager. Weaknesses of HouseMart include the lack of cooperation with the former manager of HouseMart and the resentment of Pamela by employees. A business is only as good as the people working for them. The huge lack of profitability by HouseMart in the first three quarters of the year makes it difficult for Pamela to make large increases in that area. Opportunities for HouseMart include the fact that with market trends indicate that younger couples now look to buy older homes with the plans to renovate them themselves (Brown 50). This is very opportunistic for HouseMart with all of their do-it-yourself products and knowledge. The housing market regaining its former strength is also opportunistic for HouseMart, because houses both new and old will always need something that is ready to be renovated or fixed. Threats to HouseMart include the competition in the local area from the neighborhood hardware stores to the big box hardware stores. Local business is a lot of times more preferable to people from the area. Another threat is always one that House Mart will come into contact with, and that is the ever changing economic conditions and the new market trends that may steer away from what HouseMart has to offer. Figure 1 Mrs. Kerns’ dissatisfaction Based on the confrontation Mrs. Kerns started with Pamela Spencer, Mrs. Kerns is extremely dissatisfied. The source of Mrs. Kerns’ dissatisfaction stems from the idea that she thinks her fence was not properly installed and that the damage that was done by the storm was solely the fault of the poor installation. The steps that would lead to increasing Mrs. Kerns’ satisfaction as well as other customer’s satisfaction would be to guarantee the installation, and explain to them the cause of damage to their fencing if it was not due to installation issues. After explaining and talking calmly with Mrs. Kerns or other customers about the issue they should both find an alternative to remedy the situation to help satisfy the customer’s needs. By taking those steps you will likely increase the probability that the customer will return. HouseMart’s Customer Satisfaction HouseMart should value customer satisfaction among one of its most important business values. They should value it to the extent that should never lose a customer over dissatisfaction with customer service or problems stemming from faulty products. It is very important in a small community to take every customer’s satisfaction level seriously, because all it takes is one bad incident and then the whole community knows. With an outspoken customer and confrontational customer like Mrs. Kerns it is likely she would spread word of her dissatisfying experience at HouseMart. Alternative Decisions There are several alternatives Pamela Spencer could consider in relation to Mrs. Kerns fencing situation. Mrs. Kerns is a frequent customer of HouseMart; however, she is not a frequently satisfied customer considering she usually returns half of the items she buys. Mrs. Kerns also has the habit of only buying items on sale at HouseMart. Taking into account those two facts, Mrs. Kerns is not an extremely reliable customer when it comes to profitability of the store overall. Pamela could employ the alternative decision of backing up her other manager Dan by agreeing with what he had already told Mrs. Kerns that she should contact her insurance agency. Another alternative decision Pamela could make would be to help Mrs. Kerns replace her old fencing by providing free installation on the new fencing she would buy to replace the old fencing. By using that alternative Mrs. Kerns may become more satisfied because she feels like she is getting a good deal. One other possible alternative cold be to inform Mrs. Kerns that there is nothing Pamela could to do help fix her fencing but could offer her a slight discount on her next purchase. Mrs. Kerns may feel satisfied with that alternative considering her shopping habits. All of these alternatives cost HouseMart, either through discounts, free replacement, or the possibility of losing Mrs. Kerns as a customer altogether. Pamela’s Decision Based on all of the facts from the case I believe that Pamela Spencer should support her installation manager, Dan Zegan’s decision that Mrs. Kerns should contact her insurance company concerning the storm damage to her fencing. I think that Pamela should explain in detail to Mrs. Kerns that she would go herself to assess the damage again to be sure that it was installed properly, and that if it was properly installed that there is nothing she can do because the 30-day warranty guaranteeing installation had expired. If Mrs. Kerns is extremely upset I would suggest that Pamela offer her a slight discount on items she may purchase in the future. I would suggest this decision because in the overall scheme of things Mrs. Kerns is a repeat customer, but she is not a profitable repeat customer. Mrs. Kerns always returns items and only buys items that are on sale. She is also an annoyance to staff and management and provides no real opportunity for business expansion. Overall Mrs. Kerns is not an asset to HouseMart and she should not be given a free fence to replace a fence that was damaged by a storm when insurance can replace it just as easily as HouseMart could.

Management Accounting Present Business Environment

Question: Discuss about the Management Accounting for present business environment? Answer: Introduction The importance of management accounting has grown in the present business environment throughout the world. Management accounting can be said to the art of interpreting the financial results of a company. This interpretation has become very important as valuable conclusions are derived from a practice that caters to the decision maki8ng needs of a company. Management accountants help the management of the company to make important decisions related to investment, finances, operational efficiency etc. Financial results are prepared by accountants while management accountants analyse and interpret information available from such financial statements (Kaplan and Atkinson 2015). For the purpose of this report, one of the biggest manufacturing companies of the UK has been chosen, i.e. Unilever (core.sitename 2016). The objective of this report is to advise the company about increasing their operational efficiency by controlling their costs. The ultimate aim of this cost control is to incr ease the profits of the company. In essence, there are two important factors that are to be dealt with, first, cutting costs of the company and second, increase operational efficiency and increase the profits. This report is directed towards achieving these two goals by emphasizing on the importance of management accounting and its practices with respect to the chosen company. Importance of Management Accounting in Unilever As mentioned earlier, the main responsibility of a management accountant is to interpret the financial statements of the company and enumerate his/her findings in a report that will assist the management of the company to take important decisions related to their business activities (Accountingformanagement.org 2016). The financial results stipulate the changes in financial figures of the present year and that of the previous year. For example, the operating profit of the company is 7515 million Euros as compared to 7980 million Euros in 2014 (core.sitename 2016). It is the function of a management accountant to analyse and bring out the reasons for such a change. Based on the analysis, a management accountant makes forecasts about the future course of the business. These interpretations help the management of the company to take important decisions (Otley and Emmanuel 2013). This is true because the Board of the company has many more crucial responsibilities to perform and therefore , these interpretations form an important source of information to them and help them in imparting their responsibilities. Difference between Financial Accounting and Management Accounting Though the two disciplines are very closely related, both do have a few differences. Financial accounting is concerned with drawing up of financial statements based on the activities of the company while management accounting interprets the financial statements (Ward 2012). Apart from this, there are several other differences as stipulated in the table below: Financial Accounting Management Accounting Information used by external stakeholders of the company. Information is used within the organization by the management, employees and senior personnel. Displays financial results at the end of a particular financial year and states the financial position of the company. It caters to the needs of the management by helping them to make important decisions. It also helps to strategies and fixing of objectives for the organization. There is a legal obligation under the Companies Act 2006 to prepare financial accounting reports. There is no legal obligation for a company to chalk out managerial accounting reports. It is related to the overall performance of the organization. It is related to the results of individual departments of the organization. It focuses on the results of the present situation and that of the previous year/quarter results. It focuses on the results of the present year/quarter and makes forecasts for the future. The format to be followed in filing financial results is fixed under the specific legislative framework. There is no fixed format of a management accounting report as it is used internally and is more informal in nature. International accounting standards such as the IFRS and GAAP apply to financial accounting and financial reports. As these reports are used internally to help make managerial decisions, international standards do not apply to them, as there is no legal requirement of such sort. Preparations of financial statements are required to be done at a stipulated time, i.e. quarterly, half-yearly and/or annually. Management accounting reports are prepared according to the requirements of the organization. Classification of Costs Cost is said to be a sacrifice of important resources to obtain a benefit or any other resource. Generally, in the business world and especially in the manufacturing industry, cost is related to the monetary value of an element. In the course of business, there are a lot of expenses that a concern has incur while procuring materials and manufacturing products and services (Van der Stede 2016). To get a clear idea about the total costs involved in manufacturing a product, it becomes imperative to classify costs under different heads. This helps in taking important decisions related to the manufacturing process. In essence, costs may be classified in many ways depending upon the nature of the cost. Classification based on Types of Cost Product costs are costs that can be assigned to the manufacturing process and can be identified in the financial reports. There are generally the following types of costs: Material Costs: These are costs that a manufacturing organization has to incur in order to procure raw materials for the manufacturing process. Material costs can be further classified into the following: Direct Material: These costs can be directly attributable to cost of the product. Indirect Material: These costs cannot be directly attributable to the final product. Labour Costs: This represents the cost of labour time spent for manufacturing the products. This can also be sub-divided into direct and indirect labour costs. Direct labour costs are the cost that can be directly attributed to the final product and indirect labour is the opposite of that (www.tutorialspoint.com 2016). Overhead Costs: These are costs that a manufacturing concern has to incur other than material and labour costs. For example, an accountants salary, electricity expenses, cost of stationery, depreciation of fixed assets, etc. Classification based on Behaviour of Costs Classification of costs based in their behaviour means the manner in which costs behave with a change in the level of production done by the manufacturing concern. There are mainly three types of costs under this category as follows: Fixed Costs: These costs remain fixed or constant with the change in the level of output. Therefore, these costs are independent of the output level. For example, rent paid for factory premises remains constant whether the output level of the company is zero or thousand units per hour. On the other hand, fixed costs per unit decreases when there is an increase in the level of output as the overall fixed cost amount remains the same (Markowitz 2014). Variable Costs: These costs have a direct relation to the level of output. Variable costs increase with the level of output and vice versa. This means there is an increase in the overall variable cost amount when there is an increase in the total production level. For example, the cost of raw materials increase when there is an increase in the number of units produced by the manufacturing company (Accountingexplained.com 2016). Mixed Costs: Mixed costs are also known as semi-variable costs having both the characteristics of fixed and variable costs. For example, telephone expenses consist of a fixed rental as well as call charges per minute (Diffen.com 2016). Since mixed costs are not much useful in their original form, they are split according to their fixed and variable components by using behavioural analysis and attributed accordingly. Classification based on Functions Costs can also be classified according to their activities in an organization. Classification based on function takes the following forms: Production Costs: These costs relate to the production or goods and services of an organization. Both direct and indirect costs are included within the overall production costs of the organization. Administrative Costs: These costs are incurred in the general administration of the whole business concern and the general management of the business. These are mostly indirect in nature and are also known as administrative overheads (In and gassim 2015). Selling Costs: These costs are incurred in order to sell goods and services manufactured by the organization. These are also known as selling overheads and are indirect in nature. Distribution Costs: These are expenses that are incurred by an organization in the course of distributing the manufactured product to their selling points. These are also indirect in nature. Research and Development Costs: These are costs that an organization has to incur for developing a new product or service. The amount spent on researching new products and developing them come under this head. Variance Analysis Every organization draws up a budget with respect to their operating activities. At the end of the financial year, the actual figures are compared with the budgeted figures in order to find out any deviations in the figures. In managerial accounting, variance analysis is actively used to find out the differences in the budgeted figures. It is also used to analyse the differences in the financial figures (Ziaja et al. 2016). By the help of variance analysis, the performance of the organisation is measured and further policies and strategies are formulated accordingly. Variance analysis is an important tool that is used by the management in order to forecast and make important managerial decisions. The budgeted figures serve as a standard with which the actual figures are compared and analysed (Kfknowledgebank.kaplan.co.uk 2016). Types of Variance Analysis In the course of business operations, the management accountant does different types of variance analysis. These types of analysis are dependent on the various business activities of the organization. The most common types of variance analysis are as follows: Sales Variance The difference in the budgeted sales figures and the actual sales figures are analysed with the help of sales variance. It takes into account the selling activities undertaken by the organisation (Accounting-simplified.com 2016). Material Variance This relates to the amount expended on materials to be used for production. It analyses whether the actual cost of materials were more or less than the budgeted figures and the manner in which it influences sales and revenue generation. Labour Variance This relates to the expenditure incurred on labour. It takes into account the total amount of budgeted labour hours and the rate of each hour and compares it with the actual amount of expenditure incurred in this regard. Overhead Variance Overhead variance takes into account the budgeted overhead amount and the actual overhead expenditure done by the company in the current year. The reasons for the difference are critically analysed and the standards are reviewed and re-visited. Problems and Limitations of Variance Analysis Following are the problems faced by management accountants while undertaking variance analysis: Performance Measurement The performance of key personnel and managers often pose a threat to variance analysis. Proper care should be taken by the managers while working out variances by taking into account authentic data so that the analysis works out to be exact. Improper Accounting of Costs In order for the variance analysis to be successful, accounting records have to be arrived at in a proper manner. The financial data provided for the analysis forms the base of the entire process (Hemmer and Labro 2016). If accounting of costs are not done in a proper manner, the analysis will become inaccurate. Poor Setting of Standards The standards and the budgeted figures have to be logical and practicably implementable. If the contrary happens, the essence of variance analysis is lost. Therefore, it is utmost necessary, that the standards are established in a proper manner for the management to have a full and accurate evaluation of the business process (CIMA 2016). Operational Budgets Operational budgets are budgets that are related to the operational activities of a manufacturing concern. It is prepared annually and functions as a standard with which the actual operational results of the company can be measured and evaluated (CIMA 2016). An operational budget is very important as it influences the operational efficiency of the organization. It includes the total estimates of the resources that are required to carry out the manufacturing activities of the company. It helps in the overall business planning and forecasting of future performance of the concern (eFinanceManagement 2012). Types of Operating Budgets There are generally three different types of operational budgets as follows: Expense Budget: It stipulates the expected budgets during the budgeted year. It gives an idea about the total expenditure that is to be incurred by the organisation during the year. According to the expense needs, finances are arranged to finance the operating activities of the organisation. Revenue Budget: This budget identifies the expected revenue that the company will be earning during the budgeting year from its selling activities. This provides an idea about the income that the company is going to derive in the future and helps in tax planning (eFinanceManagement 2012). Profit Budget: A profit budget combines both the expense and revenue budget in a single statement to give the overall expected financial position of the company. This helps in formulating policies for growth of the organisation along with the maximisation of wealth of the shareholders (Accounting-simplified.com 2016). Conclusion It can be seen from the above discussions that management accounting plays an important role in achieving the objectives of a business organisation. It helps in policy formulation as it gives an actual interpretation of the financial statements of the company. A proper explanation of the financial statements is very important for the management to take proper decisions that will ensure profitability and longterm sustainability of the organisation. An important tool of management accounting is variance analysis. This helps in analysing the difference between the budgeted figures and actual figure during a budget period or financial year. This analysis helps an organisation to rectify its drawbacks and develop core competencies so that the solvency and profitability of the organisation is maintained. Recommendations Following are the recommendations with respect to Unilever and its management accounting practices: More emphasis has to be given to get departmental results related to their operations. Further breakdown of the budgeting period for individual departments Implementing an internal check system so that operational figures are arrived at in a proper manner References Accountingexplained.com. (2016).Cost and Cost Classifications | Types | Managerial Accounting. [online] Available at: https://accountingexplained.com/managerial/costs/ [Accessed 23 Mar. 2016]. Accountingexplained.com. (2016).Costs by Behavior: Fixed, Variable and Mixed | Managerial Accounting. [online] Available at: https://accountingexplained.com/managerial/cost-behavior/ [Accessed 23 Mar. 2016]. Accountingformanagement.org. (2016).Classifications of cost | Accounting For Management. [online] Available at: https://www.accountingformanagement.org/classification-of-cost/ [Accessed 23 Mar. 2016]. 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