Imagination Is More Important Than Knowledge Essay

The sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered or learned is what every dictionary or scientist would answer when one would ask them to define knowledge. Imagination, is what these scientists and dictionaries would answer when they were given the question to state one word on the following: ‘The faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses. ’ In 1929, Albert Einstein was brave enough to compare these two to each other after which he came to the conclusion that imagination would be more important in life than knowledge, for knowledge is limited. But when one were to consult anyone or anything on this statement, he would find there is no clear support to take Einstein’s words for granted. Nor is there any clear opposition to question the above said. However, when one would be served with this statement after having read Lagemaat’s book he would immediately start doubting Einstein and his views generating some thought-worthy knowledge issues. For I am too, a reader of Lagemaat’s book, I cannot completely agree or deny his views asking myself how we can possibly rely on our imagination without knowledge as a medium to support it. Or to what extent we, without any knowledge, would take our imagination for granted and thus consider our own imagination knowledge in one way or another. As stated above, even a claim made by one of the most talented mathematicians, can have its validity taking into consideration. By stating that imagination is more important in social life than knowledge, solely by saying that our grounds for knowledge are limited would not suffice. The main question Lagemaat and many of his followers would ask Einstein is in what way we can rely on our imagination in daily life without knowledge as a medium to support it or to what extent imagination makes us blind to knowledge and thus holds us back in real life. For years people used to think the earth was flat. This was due to everyone imagining the earth as a flat square of which you could fall off. ‘How else can we stay on the earth if it wouldn’t be flat? ’ would have been the common thing to think at the time. Humanity did not know what shape the earth had as they had no tools to either go to outer space or observe other planets and the force of gravity. Due to this lack of knowledge the only tool they had was their imagination. People at that time came to a widely accepted conclusion of the earth being flat and you being able to fall off it into the everlasting darkness there being no life whatsoever. By saying imagination is more important that knowledge Einstein suggests we go back to these times of unleashed imagination and forget our search for the absolute truth. In my point of view, this would be a major setback in our current progress. For example, people that thought the earth was flat, also thought you could fall off it and therefore always had set boundaries and did not have the guts to explore more of the world solely driven by the fear of falling off. This led to the exploration of other continents being delayed by a huge amount of time. Going back to the times of our imagination playing a role in our daily decisions would quite frankly mean the same as us evolving back into the animals we once were as there would be nothing that distinguishes us from them. So can we trust our imagination if we do not have any knowledge to support it? No we cannot, we are humans and that is what separates us from any ordinary predator, we have knowledge. Another major loophole in Einstein’s reasoning is that in a world where we would not have any knowledge, and where we were left with imagination, our points of view would automatically be widely accepted and according to Lagemaat’s book, our imagination could then be seen as knowledge although this knowledge not being necessarily true. This completely neglects Einstein’s words in the way that he states we do not need knowledge when we have imagination, but as I said before, all imagination does in that case is take up the position of knowledge neglecting the whole purpose of imagination. An idea I used earlier on, the thought of the earth being flat. Not only did the wrong view on the earth being flat contribute to human kind thinking they could fall off and thus uphold important developments for many years, it also filled up the place of our lacking knowledge. What I’m trying to say is that because of our lack of knowledge we assumed something to be true solely based on our imagination. Thus considering it as knowledge. This type of thinking does not contribute to imagination being the way it was supposed to be: ‘The faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses. ’ In basic mathematics which even Einstein should be able to follow, when A equals B and B equals C, A is equal to C. When imagination and knowledge are both said to lead to the view of the earth being round, knowledge and imagination are equal to each other. Thus stating that something is more important than its equal, is something ridiculous and only possible in the play ‘Animal farm’. Writing this essay made me, as an ordinary human, start to question the vast amount of knowledge I get served every day at school. If there was a way for me to actually find out whether something is really true, I would do it. Sadly I do not have these capabilities and all I can do is rely on the teacher’s words. But as I said before, these could very well be based on nothing but mere imagination and be completely wrong. It is only now that I start to see in what ways Lagemaat is right when he says how knowledge can be interpreted and should be questioned at the same time. It was said that stating imagination was more important than knowledge eventually would lead into us making very false assumptions and decisions in daily due to our knowledge of what is said to be true and what is not, would be lost completely and we would only base our decisions on our own insight and imagination. It was also said that Einstein was very wrong in saying that imagination was more important than knowledge as all imagination would do in that case was to replace knowledge, neglecting the whole purpose of imagination. Abstract The subject on this essay is related to Einstein’s interview in 1929 in which he stated that imagination was more important than knowledge. in the essay itself I will be trying to argue why Einstein was in the wrong by saying the above said. By saying imagination is more important than knowledge, Einstein is basically saying that we as humans would be better off living in a world where we did not keep ourselves busy with our everlasting hunger towards knowledge, but in a world where we would use our imagination instead of knowledge to reason for our decisions in daily life. I will try to disprove this by saying that in world without any knowledge, all imagination essentially would do, was to take up the space of knowledge because our imagination could then be argued to be knowledge as it is widely accepted amongst a large group of people in society. Furthermore there is the argument of human kind not being able to solely base their ideas and thoughts on imagination as this would only lead wrong insight as to how someone can deal with a certain situation and will with no doubt hold us up in our search for progress. This has been backed up by an example on human kind in the time they thought the earth was flat and as George Santayana said: ‘those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it’.

Different Type of Budgeting Technique

Budgeting lies at the foundation of every financial plan. It doesn’t matter if you’re living paycheck to paycheck or earning six-figures a year, you need to know where your money is going if you want to have a handle on your finances. Unlike what you might believe, budgeting isn’t all about restricting what you spend money on and cutting out all the fun in your life. It’s really about understanding how much money you have, where it goes, and then planning how to best allocate those funds. Here’s everything you need to help you create a budget using different approach. a)Incremental Budgeting This is where the current budget and actual figures act as the starting point or base for the new budget. The base is adjusted for forecast changes to, for example, the product mix, sales volume, sales price, expenses and capital expenditure that are expected to occur over the next budget period. It is called incremental budgeting as the approach does not focus on the base, but focuses on the increment (the changes from the base). An example would include increasing last years operating expenses by the rate of inflation to calculate the new budgeted figure. The major disadvantage of this is that the major part of the expense (the base) does not change and in fact is overlooked and not questioned under this approach. For example the base figure may be distorted due to extraordinary events in the previous period which are not expected to reoccur. Thus if this is not taken into account, the budget could be misleading. Advantages of Incremental Budgeting Easy to implement If you are looking for a budget that is very simple to implement, incremental budgeting might be for you. You do not have to send your department managers to any special type of training in order to utilize this budgeting system. It is easy to learn and the process can be completed within a very short period of time. Gradual Change One of the benefits of incremental budgeting is that it allows gradual change for the business. If you value gradual change instead of trying to change everything quickly, this type of budget is ideal. Many times, if your business tries to change too fast, it can become unstable and lose sight of what it does best. There are some other benefit regarding the incremental budgeting: * Flexibility–This type of budgeting is very flexible. You can easily do it from one month to the next. This allows you to see change very quickly when you implement a new policy or budget. * Avoid conflict–Companies with many different departments often run into conflict between departments because of their different budgets. With this method of budgeting, it is easier to keep everyone on the same page and avoid conflicts between departments. * The model operates under a stable and predictable system and any change will be gradual. * Managers can operate their departments on a consistent basis. * Conflicts should be easily avoidable if departments can be seen to be treated similarly. It is Appropriate where there is a large number of cost centres/budgets to calculate and forecasts do not change significantly from one year to the next * Co-ordination between forecasts is easier to achieve. * The impact of change can be seen quickly. Disadvantages of Incremental Budgeting * It assumes that activities and methods of working will continue in the same way. * It allows no proper ince ntive for managers to develop new innovative ideas. * Its normally on an upward trend, hence providing no incentive for managers to reduce costs. It encourages spending up to the budget limits so that future estimates are maintained next year. * The forecast may become out of date and no longer relate to the level of activity or type of work being carried out. * The priority for resource allocation may have changed ever since the prior estimates were originally set. * May perpetuate past inefficiencies. In other words incremental budgeting does not cause serious challenge to the status quo of managers concerned because different methods of achieving performance objectives are not put to test * There may be budgetary slack built into the estimates, which is never reviewed. In other words Managers might have overestimated their requirements in the past in order to obtain a forecast which is easier to work towards, and which will allow them to achieve favorable results. * Does not account for change–This method is based on the idea that expenses will run pretty much as they did before. However, in business, this is rarely the case. There are always variables. * No incentives–Such a simple method of budgeting really does not provide your employees with much reason to be creative. They have no incentive to innovate and come up with new ideas or policies. When a budget allows a little extra room for innovation, you might find that your employees come up with something great. * Use it or lose it–Many employees view this as a â€Å"use it or lose it† system. They know that next year's budget is going to be incrementally based on this year's. Therefore, if they do not spend everything that is allocated to them, they may not have enough money to work with next year. This creates an environment where waste is encouraged. (b)Zero Based Budgeting his method was briefly popular during the 1970s but didn’t quite make it as a widely held practice. Yet in today’s current business set-up, the method is being revived and regarded as the better approach. ZBB starts off with practically nothing on which to base one’s budget assumptions. This stands in contrast to the traditional method, in which managers and supervisors calculate their proje ctions by using the previous year’s budget as their baseline. ZBB as a budget preparation method lost its popularity due to the numerous documentation requirements imposed. Managers and supervisors have to justify every projected cost and its purposes, plus the presentation of one or more alternative courses of action, which should be similarly justified. The procedure doesn’t end there, as every proposed budget and its alternatives have to be measured in terms of productivity and efficiency performance, including the results of cost-to-benefits analyses. Moreover, the manager is also required to present the consequences, in case a majority of the top management members would vote against the proposed cost projection. It’s no wonder that ZBB lost its following in its early years, since the procession of numerous calculations, justifications, analyses and documentation are indeed too tedious for comfort. But that was in the '70s, when computerization was still in its budding stage and personal computers were unheard of. Under the current business set-up, in which research and data analyses are common, all those requirements can be produced in a jiffy, by simply using business intelligence capabilities. Inasmuch as the best budget estimations are those that are closest to the real thing, zero-based rojections may finally come of age by getting the support it needs from today’s data marts and data warehouses. (Charles, 1995) Pros and Cons of Zero-based-budgeting This budget preparation method is actually a spin-off of the budget plans introduced during the 1920s. Due to the excesses and corrupt practices of local public officials, the federal government developed a system of controlling the disbursements of public funds by way of a revised budget plan. The success of this method encouraged other industries to adopt the same system. It was modified through the years, along with certain developments in the methods of accounting for manufacturing costs. However, as businesses grew and flourished, the financial managers and accountants became overly burdened by the processes involved in developing ZBB plans. Too much time and effort were being wasted in collecting, summarizing and analyzing recorded data, only to be set aside for future implementations, which oftentimes did not materialize. Despite this drawback, ZBB was regarded as a sensible approach because of its high degree of efficiency in controlling costs and maximizing productivity. In fact, government sectors and non-profit organizations still make use of the ZBB approach, as it allows each organization to visualize the incoming year’s performance based on present trends and conditions. In summarizing all documentation to support the master budget, redundancies in initiatives and functions become more visible and are thus eliminated. Although no longer popular, some industrial companies still make use of a zero-based budgeting approach on a per-department or per-project basis. This is particularly true if the departments or projects require a greater degree of cost leveling, inasmuch as their outputs do not directly contribute to business profitability Financial managers today are hardly affected by the re-emergence of this budget approach, as their trainings are basically founded on methodologies that make use of research and data analysis. Not only that, the advent of PCs and business intelligence applications and tools makes the preparation of supporting documentation as easy as pie, so to speak. All they have to do is click or double-click on their mouses and the BI financial report writers will simply drill-down, drill-around, and drill-through databases and data warehouses or even from web-based browsers to produce reports that will provide up-to-date information. There is spreadsheet integration and its capability to automate calculations, as well as the intelligent trees, process diagrams, and balance scorecards that can establish hierarchies, workflow mapping and key performance indicators. The drawback that was once attributed to the zero-based budget planning method has become part of its history, but its usefulness fits perfectly with the methodologies of the 21st century. (Cantoria, 2011) (c)Rolling Budget Businesses are increasingly using rolling budgets. Also called continuous budgeting, rolling budgets always involve maintaining a plan for a specified time period in the future. To implement rolling budgets, many advocate leveraging new technological resources, which means software. It must be understood that the technology (e. g. , bolt-on software packages) is not the solution. It is a tool by which and an environment in which management can have the opportunity to develop solution sets. Published surveys of financial officers of the largest industrial companies in the United States, Australia, Holland, Japan, and the United Kingdom show a number of interesting similarities as well as differences in budgeting practices across countries. (1) First, the use of master budgets is very widespread in all of these countries. Another significant finding is that financial managers in many countries distinguish between cost behavior patterns–variable versus fixed costs–for a common reason: They want to prepare more meaningful budgets by building flexibility into the model. How do these facts impact the concept of rolling budgets? Rolling budgets always involve maintaining a plan for a specified time period in the future. This result is achieved by adding a new time period in the future as the current time period that ended is dropped. Large companies, such as Electrolux and General Electric, prepare strategic plans and then integrate annual operating budgets that are divided into four-quarter rolling budgets, and smaller high-tech public companies, such as Keithley Instruments in Solon, Ohio, follow a similar pattern of planning. The annual operating budgets are prepared based upon best estimates of what management expects to occur and wants to achieve during the coming year. Flexibility is built into the process by considering how costs and revenues will change if different levels of activity occur (e. g. flexible budgeting), and each quarter's changes are made to reflect changes in the economic and financial environment–things such as what the competition is doing, how the economy is spending for capital goods, and any planned changes in their product mix (adding or dropping a product line). In short, sound managers operate an entity with one eye always on the horizon, and a well-prepared business plan as reflected in a â€Å"flexible rolling budget† can be one of the financial managers' best tools to assist them in their role of planning and controlling the operations of this company. For publicly traded companies, an earnings forecast â€Å"miss† can have an immediate and devastating impact on share price. And for both public and private companies, effective allocation of resources mandates that the organization have the best possible understanding of what the short-term and long-term future brings. The speed of change in today's economy has generated a trend toward adopting continuous forecasting as part of the planning process. While this type of â€Å"rolling forecast† offers many benefits, organizations often have trouble separating their forecast from and coordinating their forecast with the operational budget. Instead of truly forecasting–which ideally should be a higher-level projection–organizations end up preparing mid-year or even quarterly â€Å"re-budgets,† with all of the associated effort. The result is a budget that takes too much time and effort–not a forecast that provides vision and direction. Advantages of Rolling budget No More Free Ride The result: an always-current financial forecast that reflects not only the company’s most recent monthly results but also any material changes to its business outlook or the economy. In addition, it provides fewer opportunities for account directors to ride the coattails of past performance. Although traditional one-year budgets are still the norm at most companies large and small, many accountants argue that rolling budgets can be a far more useful tool. Unlike static budgets, they encourage managers to react more quickly to changing economic developments or business conditions. They discourage what is too often a fruitless focus on the past (â€Å"Why didn’t we meet our numbers? †) in favor of a realistic focus on the future. And they produce forecasts that, over the near term, are never more than a few months old, even when companies are rolling them forward on a quarterly basis—the more common approach—rather than REL’s monthly basis. Implementing rolling budgets doesn’t necessarily require any fundamental change in the way a company has been doing its budgets—except, of course, it no longer does the job just once a year. However, companies that decide to step up to rolling budgets may want to take advantage of the decision to make a change and consider what else they can do to improve the process. After all, if a company can get everyone on board to make such a fundamental change, a further nudge to make the process more effective and efficient in other ways may be possible, too. (Morrow, 2010) The Problem Of Relevance In the view of many accountants, traditional budgets too often are useless because they are out of date soon after they are assembled. Assuming that much of the decision making that goes into them gets done in the fourth quarter of the prior year, by the end of the following year, traditional budgets reflect thinking and data more than 12 months old. Not surprisingly, such documents tend to get short shrift from front-line managers. In worst-case scenarios, they can even promote behaviors and business decisions that are counterproductive. Consider the real-world example of a Fortune 500 company that has been talking with REL about how it might improve its forecasting to produce better financial results. The company uses a traditional static annual budgeting process in which it sets monthly sales goals for each of its products. If the company misses its sales targets in the first month, product managers will typically push those projected sales into the final quarter of the year. By doing that, corporate management is acting as if the outlook for the full year remains unchanged even though sales were off to a slow start. But if the slow pace continues and product managers begin to realize that their lost sales can’t be made up in the last quarter, they start to budget them out over all of the remaining quarters of the year. Frequently, they wind up running massive discounting programs at the end of each quarter to hit their annual targets. Fortunately, the company can afford such budget maneuvering because it enjoys relatively high margins on its products, but such manipulation isn’t maximizing its return on investment. Acting Rationally The static budget encourages managers to create artificial demand for their products, not end-user demand. In other words, the company stuffs its distribution channel and simply delays future shipments. If the company had a more realistic budget, product managers would be able to act more rationally, eliminating the last-minute forced discounts. Payne, 2010) Not only are static annual budgets restrictive, it turns out that many managers don’t really like them. Most of the clients complain that their current planning process is extremely painful and time-consuming. General manager of the Stanford, Connecticut, office of Parson Group, a national consulting firm focused on finance, accounting and business systems. Assuming the client is operating on a calendar year, everyone runs around feverishly in October and November to do budgeting, and then at the end of the process, they’re happy to get it over with—knowing they don’t have to do it again until the next November. Manage The Information Implementing a rolling budget involves more than going through the annual budgeting process four times a year instead of one. Because the time between budgets has been compressed, management must access and process information more quickly than it was able to do in the past. To do that, line managers must become more involved in the process and the company must embrace technology that will allow it to quickly capture and disseminate the raw data needed for decision making and forecasting. Most organizations today rely on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to do their budgeting. They work, but they can be laborious, requiring finance managers to piece together input from all the operations managers throughout the organization. The process was slow and exhausting, producing a static and reactive product that was built on data that was typically at least six months old. Today, that company uses a specially designed budget planning, forecasting and analysis software product to do the job. (For a list of such software, see the sidebar â€Å"Software for Budget Planning and Analysis. ) This kind of software makes it easier for managers throughout a company to access, enter and share data on a real-time basis, using the Internet as a communications medium. â€Å"Managers used to spend a lot of time allocating expenses among different segments of the business. Since the new software automates the process, managers can spend more time analyzing the data. (Swaller, 2010) The Big Pi cture For public companies, the benefits of more timely and accurate budgets may ultimately extend beyond operations. Under Wall Street’s close scrutiny, meeting earnings forecasts has become more important than ever. A misstep, even one that’s just a penny per share below expectations, can translate into a sharp stock sell-off and, in the long run, drive up a company’s cost of capital. Theoretically, between rolling budgets and predictive accounting, companies can minimize the controllable factors that cause inaccurate earnings projections, Therefore, they would have fewer actual-to-forecast variations, which in turn would help cut down on stock price volatility. † Although no budgeting technique can predict the future, these techniques allow companies to get much closer to the ideal. The only holdback is the willingness of a company’s managers to use these new technology tools that are now available. Unfortunately, most â€Å"static† annual budget processes fail to provide a clear vision of the enterprise's impending direction. Forecasting allows organizations to close the gap between the overall strategic plan and the detailed operational budget. An ideal planning cycle includes an ongoing forecasting component that flows directly from the overall strategic plan and integrates with the operating budget. The output from this higher-level planning system then directly impacts the outcome of the detail budget. This principle of a continuous/rolling forecast that drives a target-based detail budget is a key financial component of many organizations' highest-level strategic planning process. The â€Å"Strategic Plan† involves many nonfinancial processes (competitive analyses, initiative-focused plans, and the like) and becomes the driver for the rolling forecast. The forecast translates broad-based initiatives into key statistical and operational factors and results. The operating budget, in turn, provides plans and budget-to-actual control functions at the lower levels of the organization (e. g. cost center) Another useful feature of the forecasting system is to visually portray trends of such metrics. For example, a forecast for product revenue might include the historic revenue-per-salesperson ratio and allow a manager to forecast this future rate, in combination with the expected number of salespeople, in order to determine future revenue (see Figure 2 for a parameter-driven forec asting layout). Statistic- or parameter-driven results provide a useful basis for review of the forecast. (Montgomery, 2010) DISADVANTAGES OF ROLLING BUDGET. 1. It is very expensive because of the elaborate set up of the budget department. . The budget might be so reviewed on such a manner that there will be no significance between the budgeted and actual results. The managers may tune budget to actual and it will not serve as a good yardstick 3. It requires account forecast of changes in economics, political, social ecological and business conditions. In practice this changes may not be ascertainable because of lack of statics. Above is the major limitation of rolling budget. 4. It is very expensive and elusive fro small organization. 5. It is cumbersome for data collection except where computer is in use. (d)Activity Based Budgeting Activity based budgeting is an approach to the budgeting process that focuses on identifying the costs of activities that take place in every area of a business or organization, and determining how those activities relate to one another. The data regarding those activities and how they relate to one another is used to establish goals that allow the organization to move forward. By understanding the relationship between all the activities of the organization, it is often possible to create realistic budgets for each department that are more equitable and in the best interests of the company in the long run. The concept of activity based budgeting is different from the process known as cost-based budgeting. Often, the cost-based approach relies on assessing the actual expenditures connecting with a previous budgetary period, and simply adjusting those amounts based on the current rate of inflation, or to account for changes in the amount of revenue generated. By contrast, activity based budgeting is more concerned with what is being done within the organization, how those actions or activities work together, and then allocating funds to each activity based on how much it will cost to successfully complete those activities. Brimson, 1991) Proponents of activity based budgeting see this approach as more realistic, since it involves looking inward at activities and costs rather than basing the budget on outward influences. From this perspective, this strategy is understood to create financial forecasts that are more accurate, and thus prompt the organization to make the most efficient use o f its resources. As a bonus, the analysis of each activity and its contribution to the ongoing success of the organization means that any activities that do not appear to relate to other activities within the organization structure may in fact be unnecessary, and can be eliminated without having an adverse effect on the overall operation. Those who favor a cost-based approach over the use of activity based budgeting note that this approach does not necessarily allow for the possibility of events such as an increase in the cost of raw materials or the need to replace outmoded equipment. According to this line of thinking, the inward focus of the activity based method only accounts for part of the data needed to develop a workable budget. Only when this inward analysis is coupled with consideration of outside factors that could exert some degree of influence during the upcoming budgetary period can the organization hope to draft a budget that is truly practical and likely to meet the needs of the organization over the course of the upcoming period. ( Gietzman, 1992) Disadvantages of Activity-Based Budgeting Complexity The many advantages of activity-based budgeting notwithstanding, this technique remains a comprehensive and time-consuming exercise. The process requires identification of activities, estimation of activity output demands, and estimation of the costs of resources needed to provide the demanded activity output. The budgeting of physical inputs and costs as a function of a planned activity requires the use of an activity-cost hierarchy and making estimates on the consumption by such activities. Activity-based costing bases itself on defining or analyzing the relationship among costs and activities, which might not always be possible. Even otherwise, the contextual information that plays an important role in shaping the results may not always be available or considered. Success of activity-based budgeting depends on a thorough and in-depth understanding of the business processes and an accurate activity analysis. Not all managers remain competent to perform such tasks, and the resultant distortions make the activity an exercise in futility. Resources Among the major disadvantages of activity-based budgeting is its consumption of organizational resources. Spending too much resource on an analytical function such as activity-based budgeting becomes counterproductive. The complexity of the activity-based budgeting exercise means that it takes away considerable organizational resources in the form of managerial time and money. Such resources, if deployed in a core operational activity, would contribute to a much better bottom line. The broad scope of activity-based budgeting invariably necessitates an activity-based budgeting software, as well as training all managers to use the software and learning how to make correct activity analyses, adding to the resource demands. Duplication A major limitation of activity-based budgeting is that it is not a control budget and as such does not replace the department or line-item budget. Activity-based budgeting only provides supplemental information, and it acts as a panacea rather than a tool. It therefore does not eliminate or substitute any process but adds to the administrative functions of an organization. Short-Term Focus Finally, another major activity-based budgeting disadvantage includes its tendency to focus on the immediate and short term and ignore the long term. Activity-based budgeting uses historic data for forecast analysis, which may not always be practical. Focusing on activities that create immediate results might work well in the short term, but might cause long-term damage to an organization. While activity-based budgeting helps the organization if implemented with the correct data, preparing an activity-based budget with distorted data runs the risk of arbitrary budget cuts and creates a dysfunctional organization. (Morrow,1991) Behavior Aspect of Budgeting A main problem involves a variety of behavioral conflicts that are created when the budget is used as a control device. To be effective, the budget must be used by the managers it is designed to help. Thus, it must be acceptable to all levels of management. The behavioral literature on budgeting supports the view that the budget should reflect what is most likely to occur under efficient operating conditions. If a budget is to be used as an effective planning and monitoring device, it should encourage a high level of performance and efficiency, but at the same time, it should be fair and obtainable. If the budget is viewed by managers as unfair, (too optimistic) it may intimidate rather than motivate. One way to gain acceptance is referred to as participative (rather than imposed) budgeting. The idea is to include all levels of management in the budget preparation process. Of course this process must be coordinated by a budget director to ensure that a fair budget is obtained that will help achieve the goals of the total organization. Rahman,2011) Another way to reduce the behavioral bias against budgeting is to recognize the concepts of variation and interdependence when using the budget to evaluate performance. Recall from our discussion of the statistical control concept in that there is variation in all performance and most of this variation is caused by the system , (i. e. , common causes) not the people working in the system. The concept of interdependence refers to the fact that the various segments of a company are part of a system. Inevitably, these segments, or subsyst ems influence each other. Failure to adequately recognize the interdependencies within an organization tends to cause behavioral conflicts and motivate participants to optimize the performance of the various segments (subsystems) rather than to optimize the performance of the overall system. THE ‘BEYOND BUDGETING' MODEL – PRIVATE SECTOR In the private sector, managers are forced to consider current and future opportunities and threats, particularly where rolling monthly forecasts of financial performance operate together with a focus on other non-financial ‘value drivers'. In essence, the ‘beyond budgeting' model entails devolved managerial responsibility where power and responsibility go hand in hand. The view held by proponents of the beyond budgeting model is that the following benefits may accrue as a result of its successful application by management: (Johnson,1995) * It creates and fosters a performance climate based on competitive success. Goals are agreed via reference to external benchmarks as opposed to internally-negotiated fixed targets. Managerial focus shifts from beating other managers for a slice of resources to beating the competition. It motivates people by giving them challenges, responsibilities and clear values as guidelines. Rewards are team-based, in recognition of the fact that no single person can act alone to achieve goals. * It devolves performance responsibilities to operational management who are closer to the ‘action'. This uses the ‘know-how' of individuals and teams interfacing with the customer, which in turn enables a far more rapid adaptation to changing market needs. * It empowers operational managers to act by removing resource constraints. Key ratios are set, rather than detailed line-by-line budgets. For example, gearing and liquidity ratios may be used to show there is enough cash in the bank to meet liabilities. Local access to resources is thus based on agreed parameters rather than line-by-line budget authorisations. This is aimed at speeding up the response to environmental threats and enabling quick exploitation of new opportunities. * It establishes customer-orientated teams that are accountable for profitable customer outcomes. These teams agree resource and service-level requirements with service departments via the establishment of service level agreements. It creates transparent and open information systems throughout the organisation, which should provide fast, open and distributed information to facilitate control at all levels. The IT system is crucial in flexing the key performance indicators as part of the rolling forecast process. THE PUBLIC SECTOR The legal framework of public sector organisations would probably prevent such a system being introduced. As with al l alternatives, the success of a particular process depends on the needs of the individual organisation. The alternative of the beyond budgeting model places considerable emphasis on the need for organisational, managerial and cultural changes in order that it may be successfully applied by organisations. This will present considerable behavioural challenges and individual managers might become overwhelmed by the complexity of decision-making in such an unregulated decision-making environment. In the public sector, the budget process inevitably has considerable influence on organisational processes, and represents the financial expression of policies resulting from politically motivated goals and objectives. Yet the reality of life for many public sector managers is an increased pressure to perform in a resource-constrained environment, while also being subjected to growing competition. In essence, a public sector budget: * establishes the level of income and expenditure * authorises that expenditure, once agreed, out of the planned income * acts as a control on expenditure and income * communicates policies and plans * focuses attention on the future * motivates managers and staff. While these issues may be common with the private sector, a number of issues arise which are specific to the public sector. For example, UK local authorities are prevented by law from borrowing funds for revenue purposes or budgeting for a deficit. If the beyond budgeting model is to allow greater freedom for managers then it will take a considerable change of mindset in the public sector to achieve the flexible agenda envisaged, especially where such flexibility would involve considerable and increased delegation to managers. One wonders therefore, from a behavioural perspective, if such managers are capable of making this change, as it would entail the adoption of a radically different approach. Local authority financial regulations also tend to prevent the transfer of funds from one budget head to another (otherwise known as virement) without compliance with various rules and regulations. These rules (expressed in the financial regulations of public sector organisations) will be consistent with the policies of the organisation and are designed to prevent expenditure on items such as permanent staff where such costs would go beyond the budget year and represent a commitment of future resources. Budgets in the public sector tend to concentrate on planning for one financial year ahead. Attempts are being made by UK central government, through the comprehensive spending review, to place an emphasis on the longer-term. However, considerable difficulties exist within the individual organisations that make up the public sector when creating a budget system that reflects longer-term objectives and goes beyond the annual cycle. It also remains to be seen how the relatively new system of resource accounting in central government will fit into the budgeting framework. Traditional methods of budgeting in the public sector centre on the bid system and incremental budgeting. These approaches focus on changes at the margin and generally reflect acceptance of the budget base from the previous year. This is partly a reflection of the size and complexity of public sector organisations, but also the internal political power of large departments, which protect their positions through their relative strength. Bid systems also minimise conflict, as debate and power struggles are only concerned with the ‘incremental' items. More advanced approaches are represented within financial planning systems, and include such concepts as zero-based budgeting and planned programme budgeting systems with a timeframe greater than one year. Whether the public sector can adapt to the concept of greater flexibility – which lies at the heart of beyond budgeting – remains a matter of ongoing debate. Such an adaptation would require a mindset which not only moves away from control but also requires a reduction in the internal political power of large departments which has been at the heart of public sector budgeting for many years. The desire to generate improved performance – essentially considered the driver for the beyond budgeting model – is present in the public sector evidenced in initiatives such as key performance indicators and ‘best value' plans. But this is not matched by a desire for the flexibility inherent in the model. In terms of beyond budgeting, managers in such organisations are likely to remain constrained by the inability of their organisation to change. Finally, the behavioral conflicts associated with budgeting are reduced by using flexible budgets when evaluating performance Other factors affecting behaviour Dysfunctional behaviour may be caused by the following budgetary problems: †¢ Budget targets that are perceived by employees as too difficult to attain will result in resentment and a feeling of stress. †¢ Budget targets that are perceived by staff as too easy to achieve do not provide a challenge and may lead to a slipshod performance by staff. †¢ Managers may experience a loss of autonomy by being hemmed in by the budget and not having sufficient flexibility to use their own initiative. †¢ Managers may become narrow minded, focusing only on their own department, and create disadvantages for the organisation as a whole. The emphasis on financial goals to the detriment of non-financial goals may havea debilitating effect on the organisation. Budgetary slack or sometimes it is referring to budgetary bias, is a common process where implementer intentionally underestimates revenue or overestimates expenses in the tight budget. Managers may attempt to create budgetary slack in three ways. Managers may deliberately underestimate the production or sales budgets potential. For example, the sales budget for the month of July is RM 1 million. If the manager is able to achieve the target budget then the sales budget for the following month will be increases to RM 1. million. Manager creates budgetary slack by undervalue the budget so that the budget for August will be easier to achieve although they are able to hit the tight budget. Manager may also attempt to achieve slack by cost overestimation. They purposely used more than the budgeted expenditure so that the budget will be increases for the following months. After that they spend less than the budgets to shows that they have improve in their performance. For instance, the cost budget is set to be RM 1 million in January. Then the manager spends RM 1. 2 million in their expenditure so that the cost budget will be increase to RM1. million in February. Subsequently, they spend only RM 1. 1 million i n March which is RM 0. 1 million lesser than February to prove that they have better performance. Moreover, manager may use up all the budgets to pretend that there is no slack in the recent budget. Manager may waste his extra cost budget on non-essential expenses. Let say the cost budget is RM 2 million for March, the manager will try to finish his allowance although he only spend RM1. 8 million. This may cause by the fear of the manager that the future budget will be reduces unless the allowance is fully utilise. Rahman,2011) We see the behavior aspect of budgeting as having particular relevance for knowledge-based companies which are increasingly a feature of a developed economy. Other companies may see specific benefits in such a system, given the rapidly changing environment in which they also operate. These changes will not be introduced without conflict and difficulty due to the challenges faced in introducing change. Such challenges may be beyond the achievement of the publi c sector, due to the expression in the budget of politically-motivated policies and objectives eveloped within a complex legal and financial framework. What we can say, however, is that if we are to see the successful application of the beyond budgeting model in both private and public sectors, then this must be underpinned by a considerable organisational, cultural and managerial change. Otherwise it is doomed to failure. (John, 1995). References * Brimson, J&Fraser, R. (1991), The Key Feature of ABB, 42-43 * Cantoria. c. s, (2011)Walking Through an Example of Creating a Zero-Based Budget * Gietzman, MB,(1992) The Development and Design of An Activity Based Budgeting System, Initial Experience. Johnson, HT. (1988)Activity Based Infromation:A blue Print for World Class Management. 23-30 * Johnson, S. (2005), Beyond Budgeting, Retrieved from, http://www. acca. co. uk/students/acca/exams/p5/technical_articles/2950520 * Lynn, M. P, Madison, R. L,(2004) A closer look at rolling budgets: the challenges associated with an effective implementation of rolling budgets are management challenges, and software technology can only become part of the solution when managers are ready to use it to enhance their decision making * Montgomery,P. 2010) Effective rolling forecasts: Make sure your projections are high-level strategy and not just a Rehash of the operating budget. (Budgeting/Forecasting). * Morrow, M & Connolly,T. (1991)The Emergence of Activity Based Costing. 38-43 * Randy Myer(2001), Budget on a Roll, Retrieved from http://www. journalofaccountancy. com/Issues/2001/Dec/BudgetsOnARoll. htm. * Rahman, K. A. (2011) The Pattern of Behaviour in Response to Budgeting. * Sargent,Charles W. PH. D. (1995), Zero-Base Budgeting  and the library,   http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC225295/pdf/mlab00085-0055. pdf

Food Security Bill Essay

The bill was truncated from the NAC version at the first stage when the government finalized it and then the parliamentary standing committee went along similar lines and recommended further paring down of the benefits. Sources said concerns were raised by the Congress leadership about reducing existing benefits under the Antodaya Anna Yojana to the 2. 5 crore poorest families as well as the recommendation of the standing committee to remove the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) from the mandate of the bill, which was advised by the women and child development ministry. Sources said the party leadership was unhappy with the move to reduce existing entitlements under UPA’s flagship scheme instead of providing larger benefits. The government is likely to revise the bill keeping these views in mind and look at a much higher coverage in at least the 250 poorest districts of the country. The standing committee had recommended providing 5 kg of rations per person to 75% of rural population and 50% of urban India – a formula the government was happy with till the party leadership intervened. The standing committee had recommended doing away with two categories of beneficiaries with differential benefits – a move the government had contemplated anyway after having sent the bill to Parliament. But curtailing the total number of beneficiaries and reducing the benefits to the poorest has not found acceptance with the party leadership, sources said. The government could now consider restoring the monthly allocation to the poorest back to 35 kg of rations per family. Under an apex court order, the poorest and most disadvantaged are provided 35 kg rations at present. With the party keen to see the bill in Parliament during the budget session, a revised version could see the ICDS scheme coming back under the purview of the bill as a legally guaranteed right along with other food delivery mechanisms such as community kitchens. The UPA has already been caught on the back foot with opposition-ruled states providing cheaper rations to greater numbers under their own schemes following the lead of Chhattisgarh. The delay in pushing the bill through, coupled with the constant and often publicly expressed differences between different arms of the government and the UPA on the shape of the legislation have taken the sheen off UPA-2’s big ticket scheme Food Security Bill is affordable The subsidies meant for the poor are always under attack, while the rest are able to retain their privileges. The additional allocation in grain and money terms will neither distort the grain market nor place a burden on the fisc. Many recent commentators have portrayed the National Food Security Bill (NFSB) as an â€Å"unbearable burden† on the exchequer. The facts, however, do no substantiate the claim. The NFSB has been trashed from time to time in the English dailies. For instance, Business Line (March 21, 2013) published an article titled â€Å"Food Security Bill will torpedo Budget†. Another national daily claims that the Bill has a â€Å"fundamental flaw† that places â€Å"an unbearable burden† and â€Å"distorts agriculture† (Indian Express, March 19, 2013). Quite often, the claims are partly due to a misconception that the government is making new financial and grain commitments under the NFSB. In fact, the NFSB does little more than turning into legal entitlements pre-existing food security schemes such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme, Public Distribution System (PDS) and maternity entitlements. Some commentators have said that it is precisely the legal commitment that will lead to problems in the future — for example, the fear of the emergence of a government monopoly in the grain market. This fear is not borne out by the facts. Under the PDS, ICDS and MDM, the government currently allocates about 58 million tonnes of grain. To meet this commitment, the government currently procures about 30 per cent of grain. The NFSB commits 62 million tonnes, i. e. , an additional 4 million tonnes. The Budget of 2013-14 allocates Rs. 31,000 crore for two children’s food schemes — school meals and the ICDS which reaches children under six. The Budget allocation for the food subsidy in 2013-14 is Rs 90,000 crore. According to our estimates, the food subsidy will increase from Rs 80,000 crore (in 2012-13) to Rs 1,11,221 crore, under the NFSB. Thus, the NFSB implies an increase of just over Rs 30,000 crores in financial terms and 4 million tonnes in real (grain) terms. Can India afford this? Speaking at a panel discussion at IIT Delhi in February, Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said â€Å"it would be dishonest† to say that we cannot afford the Food Bill, and that the subsidies that we need to target are those enjoyed by the middle classes (e. g. , fuel). Speaking at the same discussion, Amartya Sen made a pertinent point — that the reason why it is more difficult to reduce subsidies enjoyed by the middle classes (fuels such as LPG, petrol and diesel) is that the beneficiaries of those are more vocal than the rural poor or children under six who benefit from the food subsidies. This point is well illustrated by the events following last year’s Budget. The Budget 2012-13 announced a 1 per cent excise duty on unbranded jewellery and doubled custom duty on gold to 4 per cent. Gold is the country’s second biggest import, after crude oil. This burden on the current account deficit was an important reason for doubling the customs duty. Following this, the All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation and others initiated a strike which went on for 21 days. They argued that the industry, including the â€Å"large† number of people it employs, and buyers of gold, would suffer. A massive media campaign was launched, following which the Finance Minister withdrew the excise duty. According to the revenue foregone statement presented along with the Budget 2013-14, the revenue foregone from the gold and diamond industry for the previous financial year was Rs. 5,000 crore. Such tax breaks are often justified on the grounds of the employment potential of the gems and jewellery industry. According to Invest India, a website of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, â€Å"The sector provides employment to around 1. 8 million people. In the next five years, the sector is expected to create additional employment for around 1. 1 million people. † According to the National Sample Survey Organisation, 2009-10, the size of the Indian workforce is between 430-471 million persons. If the gems and jewellery industry employs 3 million people as per the Ministry’s target, this would be 0. per cent of the workforce. An industry that employs less than one per cent of the Indian workforce is currently enjoying tax benefits amounting to Rs 65,000 crore (nearly 20 per cent of all revenue foregone). The Food Bill will benefit 67 per cent of the population at an additional cost of Rs 30,000 crore, yet it is said that it will â€Å"torpedo† the Budget. If anything, the NFSB does not go far enough. The NFSB tabled in Parliament in December 2011 included special provisions for the destitute and other vulnerable groups (e. g. , community kitchens and social security pensions). These have been discarded in the version cleared by Cabinet on March 19, 2013. In many rural areas, the Block is already too far to go to complain, yet for violations of rights under the NFSB, grievance redressal only begins at the District level. Viewed in this comparative perspective (for example, it is approximately 1 per cent of the GDP), few can question the affordability or desirability of the NFSB. In absolute terms it is not a small amount. One might argue whether such expenditure is worth it, given the â€Å"fact† that the programmes in its ambit, for example, the PDS, are â€Å"dysfunctional† (Indian Express, March 19, 2013). However, recent data from the National Sample Survey of 2004-05 and 2009-10 suggest that while the functioning of the PDS is far from perfect, we do need to update our â€Å"facts†. In joint research with Jean Dreze, we show that the implicit subsidy from the PDS eliminates 18 per cent (14 per cent) of the â€Å"poverty gap† — or the difference between the poverty line level of income and the median income (or monthly per capita consumption expenditure) of poor households — among poor rural (urban) households. Again, there are marked inter-State contrasts — in Tamil Nadu the corresponding figure is 60 per cent and in Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh it is nearly 40 per cent. The real question then is not whether India can afford to have a right to food but as the Food Minister said in a recent interview, â€Å"Can we afford not to? † Food as a right In its latest form, the National Food Security Bill, 2013 promises to address the extreme irony of an ambitious nation holding mountains of food in storage, while masses of its people are undernourished or even starving. The right to food is finally on the threshold of being legislated. Every step taken to widen the coverage of food security schemes is an advance. Yet, the empirical truth is that incremental measures at targeting the needy are a poor substitute for a cohesive, rights-based universal system of food entitlements. There are, no doubt, many positives to the new legislation, such as coverage of up to 75 per cent of eligible priority households in rural areas, the importance given to women as the head of the household for issue of ration cards, inclusion of pregnant and lactating women for free meals (some in government wanted to take away this entitlement from women ho bear more than two children but the idea was sensibly dropped), and setting up of State Food Commissions to investigate violations of entitlements. Under the proposed law, it will be up to the States to frame criteria and choose the priority households for food entitlements, an exercise that will inevitably be accompanied by the well-documented troubles associated with targeting any welfare scheme. Exclusion of any deserving household is unfair and divisive. It poses a challenge to States that wish to provide universal access, an issue that is bound to be felt acutely in urban areas attracting tens of thousands of migrant labourers. The Centre is unwilling to countenance a Universal Public Distribution System on the ground that too much money is involved. Even under the latest Bill, it is argued, the exchequer would have to bear a heavy expenditure of Rs. 1. 24 lakh crore. Yet, the government has not hesitated to build up expensive food stocks over the years, some of which is left to rot, mainly to pay the high support prices demanded by influential sections of the farm lobby. Moreover, the policy orientation is disproportionately favourable towards some sectors such as infrastructure, compared to food and health care. Evidently, the Food Bill can and should do a lot more, to become near-universal and win over sceptics such as Tamil Nadu, which has opposed it on the ground that it is inferior to the universal PDS in the State. Also noteworthy is the fact that the Chhattisgarh Food Security Act has done better than the Centre’s proposed law in some respects — by supplying subsidised pulses and covering 90 per cent of households, for example.

Motivation children and our selves to learn Essay

Motivation children and our selves to learn - Essay Example Therefore, motivation plays a very vital role from a very early age since it determines the future. Research has revealed that motivation makes the children do well at schools. Similarly, motivation also enables the individuals working at organizations perform well. This is because they feel that they have to be the best, and therefore, they try for the best. Motivation is the driving force that makes an individual achieve the desired goals in an effective manner. In the past years a lot of research work has been done on the topic of motivation, and this is because only if a person is willing to perform any task, he will be motivated to do it. As depicted by the saying that one â€Å"can take his horse to the water but cannot force him to drink it unless he wants to.† Such is the phenomenon of motivation (Wells, 1999). In order to boost learning, one must expect the children and the individuals to succeed, because this belief greatly improves the success of improvement. Children are aware of the way in which their parents see them because they tailor their actions with regards to the views of their parents. Therefore, parents and teachers must have high expectations from the children because this boosts learning. However, it is also essential to communicate the expectations to the children but during this, it should be ensured that the expectations are designed with regards to the strengths and the weaknesses of every child and individual. Re-evaluation should also be done especially of the children because the habits change quiet frequently (Lonka, et.al., 2001). The goals of learning that are defined turn expectations into reality. Therefore, the children and we should know what is expected in order to accomplish goals. Some ways that can be opted to set meaningful goals include the following. 1. Writing down goals – Research has shown that the goals which are written have a higher probability to be achieved which will enable learning to take place.

Business plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Business plan - Essay Example Asian countries are also witnessing growth in the household sector, it is estimated that consumption will continue to grow at a moderate rate through out the year 2006/07. (Source?) Yellow lupins(YL) have been analysed and proven to be a better product for fish feed than soy in studies conducted by Brett Glencross. The large volume of soy and the intermittent supply of YL has led to SSOM cutting out contracts that were originally in place with WestEx in favour of cheaper continually available soy beans. A market for yellow lupins has therefore not been able to be continually established at this point. The export of wheat is definitely the best market for WestEx in the short to middle term. If some of the profits from the supply of wheat were able to be channelled into lupin R+D there may be potential for the product. Yellow lupin supply has also been affected by the current drought. (King & Gilmour, 2007). Research will need to be conducted into areas including those outlined in the R+D section if a Yellow lupin market is to be established. The new 3 monthly contracts starting in November 2007 between Westex and SSOM for an increasing supply of wheat will go some way to cement the relationship between the two companies. The supply of wheat may be able to be considered a â€Å"cash cow† for WestEx to enable them to further R+D and market development into other products to establish further differentiation of products. SoonSoon Oil has requested a supply of APW from WestEx on a sliding scale starting at 500tpm and increasing by 500tpm to 12000tpm. The wheat is used by SoonSoon to mill into flour for on sale to their clients. The flour market in Malaysia is a significant one. WestEx as explained above focuses on wheat. The particular product seems to have an increasing demand within the Malaysian market. In accordance with a series of statistics published in 2007, the consumption of wheat in Malaysia presents an increasing trend

Paper6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Paper6 - Essay Example The ddI experiment should have been allowed to continue albeit with changes in the experiment design. The pre-trial data for ddI lead to the formulation of three arms of the trial. The second arm of the trial received ddI only, despite the awareness amongst the investigators of the inferiority of the drug (risk of death) as compared to zidovudine. Analyzing the above dilemma on the principle of equipoise - as stated by C. Fried "a state of genuine uncertainty on the part of the clinical investigator regarding the comparative therapeutic merits of each arm of a trial" (Tnnsj 530), - would lead to the conclusion that the second arm of the trial does not satisfy this condition. Even while making this theoretical principle more practical, by accepting Freedman's version of clinical equipoise (Freedman 516), it can be argued that there was not a major difference of opinion amongst investigators regarding the inferiority of the drug or the expected benefit arising from it in the case of the second arm of the trial (Tnnsj 530). Thus it is wrong that some doctors were willing to take a risk in the face of a threat which had no clear benefits in terms of a positive outcome. The second arm of the trial should have been eliminated and the drug should have been tested for its superiority over zidovudine alone, when administered in alteration with the latter.

Microsoft company Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Microsoft company Analysis - Assignment Example Headquartered in Redmund, USA, the operations of Microsoft are spread over 100 countries and the company has a work force of 100,518 around the world. It stood 35th among the Fortune 500 companies of the world declared in 2013 (Microsoft, 2014). Coming to the products and offerings of Microsoft, its operating system, Windows and the Microsoft Office suite are among the popular products. It also develops software applications that find use in mobile phones, enterprise management, storage and server maintenance. Microsoft also has digital music player, Zune; tablets and PCs and video game console, Xbox in its kitty. Microsoft also provides cloud-based services to businesses and consumers, such as Bing, Windows Live Essentials suite, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and Azure database services. The company accrues revenues through usage fees and advertising. Additionally, it extends consulting and support services. The company is also into training and certifying the professionals involved in integration and developers (Microsoft, 2014). Standing among the leaders, Microsoft faces competition from Apple, Google and Yahoo for its Windows and online services divisions; HP, IBM and Oracle for its Tools and Server Division; Adobe and SAP for its Business Division and Nintendo, Sony and Apple for its Entertainment and Devices Division. Thus, on the whole, Apple, Google and Oracle are its competitors. The company enjoys huge brand image and loyalty. It is among the well-known brands in the software industry. The products of Microsoft are devised to be user-friendly, and thus easy to use with minimum knowledge in the aspect. Microsoft Word and Excel and Windows operating system have become a part and parcel of every household with a PC in the 1990s and 2000s. Thus, the penetration rate of Microsoft products during this period has been relatively high. Periodic release of updates to existing products and new product development has played a vital role in the

LLB - UNIT 3 TORT 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LLB - UNIT 3 TORT 1 - Essay Example Violation of absolute right does not require the damage to be proved and it actionable per se, Ashby v. White4. The concept of Damnum5 and Injuria6 in relation to tortuous liability explains the real significance of legal damages. Damnum and Injuria are interrelated and determines act actionable or not actionable. These two factors have close relationship with tortuous liability. The relationship between these two terms is explained in the two maxims i) Injuria sine damno and ii) damnum sine (or obsque) injuria. Injuria sine damno: There are two torts one is actionable per se7 and the other is actionable only on proof of damage. Every person has an absolute right to immunity of his person, to his property, and to his liberty. Infringement of this right is actionable per se. In case of injuria sine damno a person whose rights are infringed has cause of action even though there is no actual loss or damage. Ashby v. White4 In this case a legally qualified vote of a person was refused maliciously causing injuria, but the person for whom voted was elected, causing no loss, held it is actionable applying the maxim injuria sine damno. Damnum sine injuria: In damnum sine injuria, where there is an actual and substantial loss (Damnum) without infringement of legal right (Injuria) no action leis. In a suit for damages based on a tort the plaintiff cannot succeed merely on the ground of damage unless he shows that the damage was caused by violation of his legal right. The following are the instances of Damnum sine injuria: Interception of percolating water:- A landowner and mill owner who had for about six years enjoyed the use of a stream, which was chiefly supplied by percolating underground water, lost the use of the stream after an adjoining owner dug on his own ground an extensive well for the purpose of supplying water to the inhabitants of the district. In

Lasting Impression Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Lasting Impression Company - Case Study Example pply for the installation of newer presses that would enable the company to meet its goals and also produce prints than the previous versions by the older presses. At the current moment, the company has considered the sale of the older presses in favor of acquiring newer versions. However, in this case, two versions of presses are available from which each, A and B, have differing output qualities. For example, press A is considered to be highly automated and selling at $830,000 with an installation fee of 40,000 while press B has a purchase price of $640,000 with an installation fee of 20,000 considering it is not as sophisticated as press A. Analytically, press A is of higher value than press B due to its capabilities in producing prints of higher quality. However, when considering its value after five years after purchase, it will have depreciated to less than 50% of the current purchase as it would be legible to trade at $400,000 which is $15,000 less than the 50% mark on its current value. When considering press B, its current value is $640,000 and will be valued at 330 after five years before taxes. Considering the current value and the future value, press B would be of higher value considering the current rate of depreciation. After depreciating to $330,000, press B would have depreciated by 48.4275% which is higher than the depreciation of press A of 51.8072%. When considering the initial investments, operating cash inflows, and terminal cash flows of each of these presses, press A has higher investment as it has a purchase price of $830,000 and an installation fee of $40,000 making its total investment $870,000. On the other hand, press B has a smaller investment budget as it trades at $640,000 and has an installation fee of $20,000 making its total investment $660,000. With reference to the operating cash inflows, press A seems to have a higher cash inflow considering it is in its best functionality for the five years before it is considered a candidate

Adult social care settings Essay Example for Free

Adult social care settings Essay Outcome 1 1.1 People communicate to understand their needs, to have a conversation, to express feelings, needs, to build relationships and trust. They communicate to share information and opinions, to ask questions and get answers. 1.2 Communication between staff effects service provision, understanding each other, team work and dignity in care. If communication is not effective, it can affect again residents-we can do harm to them, it can affect their health and well-being. Communication with staff is essential for passing information from one person to another. Information can be passed from carer worker to carer worker via verbal communication or written documents from care plans and daily reports, to fire books. Written communication has to be effective as it provides an on-going picture of a certain person, situation. Effective communication between staff is essential for care to be professional. Without effective communication care needs of the clients may go unnoticed leading to medical problems, abuse, depression etc. Communication with residents is most important in care job. That’s the way how you can easier understand they needs, requirements. It can affect service that carer provide to residents-more effective communication, better service to residents; with effective communication carer is building trust between residents and staff that helps in future work with them. 1.3 The care worker should always observe an individual’s reactions to see whether person fully understands what you have said to them. If the resident for example looks confused then the carer must then adapt their communication and ask again the question or other. In this way communication will be effective. It is also important to observe an individual’s reactions so as to spot anything that may be worrying them or upsetting them; the carer must to change their approach – this may be noticed through the resident change in facial expression or body language. If resident cannot verbalise what they want or prefer, then observing their reactions staff can make a decision about resident needs. Outcome 2 2.1 It makes more effective communication, more understand what other person trying to say. More understand they culture, religious believes. To be involved in their daily life. To avoid the individual feeling excluded, becoming distressed, frustrated or frightened. 2.2 Is verbal and non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication is all without making noises, sounds. It can be writing, showing pictures with food choice, walk in park, toilette need. Can be even facial expressions, eye contact, body language, gestures or touch to get attention, physical gestures, behaviour. Verbal communication is vocabulary and tone in what person like to talk, involved in conversation. Outcome 3 3.1 Communication barriers can be place where person is, people around, noisy environment, values, culture, beliefs, his wishes and needs. Reason can be even lighting, how close you stand to that person or language barrier. 3.2 Communication barriers can reduce if you take the person to another room. Can try to turn lower music volume on television or radio. Try to talk with person in more private place, ask about his needs. Another way how we can reduce the impact of this barrier is by using a translator when you or resident do not understand what you both are saying because of a language barrier. Finally this would work because by using a translator you will not be offending people who speak a different language. Communication barrier can be because of different cultures and they include different cultures using different words or signs which may not be accepted in other cultures. One example of a mechanism which can be used to reduce the impact of this barrier to communication is by respecting other peoples beliefs and social habits. 3.3 To be sure that person understand me I can see it by his facial expressions, body language or his action on what I said. Ask if the person understand me, rephrasing. Some person need more time for get right answer or you should repeat a question, sentence. 3.4 It can be more enable: Colleague staff member who knows resident issues, needs, wishes, more  about his culture, values, beliefs. Speech therapist – can tell who has had a stroke. GP is person who know more about resident general health problems, how staff can make that person more relax and comfortable. Family can tell more about carrier person daily life, person food choice, needs. Psychotherapist – can advise on exercise for people at all stages of dementia. They can also give advice carers on safe ways of helping someone to move. Dentist – can be used if the individual has dentures which are to loose and move when speaking. Outcome 4 4.1 Confidentiality means keeping residents information private and safe and passing information to only those who have rights to it. Confidentiality means also not passing information outside care house, keeping information safe and private. 4.2 Confidentiality you can maintain with not passing information outside of work or to other resident visitors. Be professional and don’t talk about residents in public places when you have a meal with work colleagues or in public transport on a way home. Don’t leave a written personal records lying around. You need to put them in safe place, where access is just for staff members. Health records are confidential. They should be shared only on a need-to-know basis. Carrier can give access to resident relevant information to those who have rights to know it. 4.3 Can share confidential information when the person is being placed in danger, harmed or abused. You can share information with other staff members in situation if for example resident is telling you he feels in danger of other resident or staff member and ask you not to tell anyone. It is situation where you need to explain person that you can’t keep information, because you want him to be in safety and need to help him by acting straight away. Can share when a criminal act has taken place. However, even, where it is clearly beneficial to share information for direct care, rules about confidentiality and privacy still apply. That means that only those who have a clear need to know should have access to the relevant confidential information. 4.4 Can seek advice about confidentiality if speaking with manager or with the organisation’s confidentiality policy. If someone is calling by phone and asking some information about any of residents and you are not sure who it is you can always ask him to speak with manager or just  take persons phone number and tell him that manager will call him back. The Data Protection Act is a law that applies to all social services and health records. It means that any information about resident should be kept accurately and securely, and there should be measures restricting who can see it. There are circumstances when an authority may have the right to break the rules about confidentiality. This is normally in extreme situations.

Relation Between Social and Economic Development

Relation Between Social and Economic Development Introduction Social scientists for the financial management has been the major crucial aspect to achieve goal of both social and economic development. Some of the debates regarding the role of social worker/scientists and international aid supporting organization are core for this assignment. Individual’s basic needs required to fulfilled and institutional set up are complementary to each other. Hence, in order to gain the both development paradigm from one stone, the various strategies to be used. The important cycle for the achievement of organization’s goals have neen illustrated in the assignment. Social Development and Foreign Policy Social Development and economic development has been complementary and interrelated to each other. Social development implies that institutions must put people at the center of development activities. it means a commitment that development processes need to benefit people, particularly but not only the poor, but also a recognition that people, and the way they interact in groups and society, and the norms that facilitates such interaction, shape development processes. Social structures has been constructed in such way in which all people interact with and get influenced by each other. Hence, there needs to be such agencies which will look for social development as well wellbeing of individual. This must be achieved other developmental activities such as economic development and financial management. The financial management is all about efficient and effective management of money so as to achieve the goal or objective of the agency. Therefore, we require to have balance growth of bot h the sector so as to develop both sector effectively. There have been many studies which suggests that there are temporary imbalances in both sector. It is difficult to defend this on purely moral grounds, may be necessary in order to provide man-power where it can make the maximum contribution and create new resources for a comprehensive development of the entire country as well as the wellbeing of individual. They can be defended on the ground that they will advance social development rather than retarding it. There have been other studies which are indicating and suggesting that there are some negative attitudes from the government bodies and they are not responsive to the needs of enlightened foreign policy, for the simple reason that they will say, they are not responsive to the aspirations and interest of people where we are seeking friendship and cooperation for the betterment of the social and economic resource management. There are some strens and stresses while working on imbalanced sectors. For the instance, population exploration has been the major cause to the distribution of resources and management of the agency. Hence we see people with bare subsistence levels in developing and under-developed countries. As far as food production is concerned, world’s production of food has in recent years exceeded the growth of population. However, there has been increasingly slowdown in food production. Every year the gap between demand and supply has been increasing. This is seen where countries economy is less developed or under-developed. The results of this of situation have visible in those counties in which malnutrition rates are high and threats are prevailing for human life. Now, it is essential for all of us to understand that Economic approach be made meaningful by the recognition that the purpose of all economic development is the wellbeing of the individual, the satisfaction of his wants, his his/her growth inn dignity and freedom. In, almost every, policy the word masses have gained effective attention in all the counties. The study done in â€Å"social development and financial development† tell us that the word â€Å"the masses† is nothing but the denial of dignity of the individual and his ability to develop according to his/her gifts and aspirations. Hence, this word is not only meant for those who are poor absolutely but for relatively poor as well. Therefore, it must be made clear that it is not the development of the poor section but for all the sections of the society. The social development aspect cannot achieved only through the fund allocations to many social policies but need an hour is to manage the human resources as well as management of money. Economic development cannot be gained without the balanced growth of social development. Therefore, methods used in economic and social development cannot be divorced from the overriding social objective without destroying the objective itself. Planning – The social approach and economic approach to free world needs attention on careful planning. There are some developed countries which require such approach while aiding developing as well as under-developed countries. Over all development has to be planned to distribute scarce resources and to give purpose as well as perceptions to economic and social development. There are some less privileged countries with vast human resource and they must be encouraged to stress human investment. The human development in the development process and the importance of human qualities which motivates economic growth and efficiency. In order to adopt such processes developed counties must help other countries to motivate and make self-sufficient. In most of the planning processes, people are not involved effectively. To adapt such changes in processes we need to give some sort of share to the people in whole process. This will result in to self-initiative, self-realization and the will to improvement to the fore, and to achieve voluntary commitment in the less developed counties could be achieved. This has been strongly believed that we should not use totalitarian approach to planning in achieving social as well as economic development. This approach tries to minimize or even eliminate the human factor from the planning process. â€Å"The recognitions of individual advance and social development as the ultimate objective of all economic development, has direct bearing on the establishment of concrete development plans which, while flexible and always open to needed adjustments, can give direction and perspective to national development efforts.† This is why, it is needed to understand that the social programs and economic programs are interrelated. For the better implementation and policy framework for the balanced growth between social and economic management, there have been various commits, rounds and discourses among developed nations. Among them, Economic commission for Asia underlined the fact that â€Å"balanced economic and social development aimed at a better understanding of the relative importance of economic and social programs in the overall development of less developed counties, their relationships and complementarity, the allocation of scarce resource for social as contrasted with economic purposes and the coordination of programs to achieve maximum results in both fields.† With the various experiences that under-developed countries and less privileged counties are facing, the conclusion are made like there is growing agreement on that priority should be given to economic aspects but with early social impact and to social programme designed to advance economic growth. Similarly, social programs require to be developed which will again have vice-versa effect on economic development. These programs includes education, health, the development of improved labor relations and organization and the establishment of minimum wages whatever possible. The application of such programs will have positive impact on economic development. Once people benefit out of this they will contribute to the economic development. It could be through investing their intellectual capacities, physical work, individual resources etc. for the instance that in terms of less span of planning, limited resources have to be concentrated, deliberately on primary education for the part of children of school age. These children are the future resources to the country as to preserve resources for secondary and higher education. Within this if we take one element of this, those children would be undertaking vocation and technical types of courses to meet pressing requirement for the train ed personnel. This way social development and financial/economic management work. As the demand for more production is growing, along the line population is also exploding. Planner need to convey and plan in such manner in which all people would be considered major actors in economic development. The number of teachers or social worker who are serving for the western countries have contributed or expanded the programme Technical Assistance on very low rate. This factor gathers the attentions of all developing nations. The more contradictory factor is that social worker and social scientists play very minor role in the policy making bodies of the less developed counties or among those who are responsible for international aid programs. There is no problem with foreign aid programs or the relations with the countries but the methodology, which we adopt require more advanced forms of specialist training and much emphasis has to be given on degrees and professions standards. â€Å"This preoccupation and emphasis is undoubtedly important, but unless it is balanced by training in the broad issues of economic and social development which confront two thirds of the people of the world, it tends to isolate the social work expert from the broad stream of historical change. It may even result in a form of parochialism which may prevent the great social work profession in such a country as the United States from making the contribution it should to social development throughout the world.† Meeting Basic Human Needs Several question has been asked to the kind of approach is used to social development approach Wealth has not been trickled down and the poor have become poorer. In the reality, developed countries support the aid system for developing countries. This interdependence is affecting fuel, food, materials and jobs. This realities has forced developed countries to reconsider their own growth and developmental directions. The development is conceptualized in such way which indicates that it is the complex process of enlarging human potentials via social, cultural and political change as well as economic. It is not restricted to the so called developing countries but involves all nations. Therefore, â€Å"development is interdependent; but self-reliance and self-determination are essential conditions within the sustaining framework of international cooperation. Development is to meet the needs of people. The central purpose of economic and social development is to meet human needs. The sat isfaction of human needs is indeed the whole purpose of growth, trade and investment, development assistance, the world food system, population, policy, energy planning, commodity stabilization, ocean management, monetary reform and of arms control. The developing countries are now forced to extend its conventional approach of governmental groups to include new sets of actors and participants in the development dialogue. They are loosely organized in a variety of people and their networks at non-governmental, associational, regional and national levels. Needs and their satisfactions are socially and culturally conditioned and exhibit different con-figurations in different societies, cultures, and regions. Therefore the definition of adequacy may vary but there can be rough agreement on levels below which individual physical, social, and cultural growth is attenuated. There have been agreed floor through which public policies have been formulated. There is consensus among policy makers on the standards of living. But we need to consider the difference in the standards according to the context and situation. This is why some people are responsive well and some are not. Some people are getting benefit of policies whereas others not. The problems of absolute poverty, of those more or less close to the survival margins in the satisfaction of basic needs, are chiefly found in the developing countries where there are very large numbers of people at and below subsistence level. One can say that there are enough resources at the global level to meet the basic needs of all people but due to obstacles of institutional, political and economic arrangements, the resources have not been getting distributed across the world. A more equitable redistribution of world economic advantage within the international economic order is a necessary for more balanced development, specifically to meet the challenge of the needs of the worlds poorest billion. The interdependence and interaction of needs requires an equivalent integration of the approaches and means used to meet them. International Support system to Basic Human needs Many Third World observers wish to define their own needs and not be mere consumers of Western civilization; accordingly, they reject needs models fashioned by First World experts. In many non-modern societies, the organizing principle around which its economic activities revolve is the maintenance of harmony with nature, allied to social cohesion around kinship rules for the use of property and the sharing of goods. The organizing principle of centralized socialist states is a politically determined plan, and any use of auxiliary controls price stimuli or managerial emulationis subordinated to fulfilling the planned targets. Problems arise because centralized plans do not Role of Social Scientist – Governments at State and Federal levels have created several permanent corporations, commissions, councils, boards, bureaus, agencies, and authorities whether it is about education, health, industrial public enterprises, infrastructural development, financial architecture or welfare schemes where social science experts are playing theirrespective roles. But more importantly, for example, agriculture experts, say in farmers’ commission, are developing and using their social understanding besides their scientific knowledge. The governments keep setting up ad hoc commissions and committees like finance commission, education commission, knowledge commission and pay commission and taxation reforms committees for seeking expert opinion before taking a decision to have impact of permanent nature and experts include social scientists and scientists having social science understanding. In case there exists a policy for setting up an industrial unit in the public sector in a backward re gion with a view to promoting balanced regional development, which maybe an important element of the economic policy, expert opinion is needed to decide its form as a departmental enterprise, a corporation or a company, whether to have partnership with a private company and if so, sharing capital, costs, revenues and risks. Within each economic organization, especially if related with promotional activities, social scientists, especially those having knowledge of economics are needed whether it is related with trade, production or distribution. Whether to borrow capital and where from is an issue better delineated by financial experts. It is another issue that in recent past engineers have specialized in the area of finance. Likewise they may advise on insurance matters etc. Banks, non-banking financial institutions such as mutual funds and insurance companies employ economists to carry out research on sector specific aspects as well as on macroeconomic aspects of the economy in order to help them inbetter decision-making. When a project has to be undertaken say of building a dam one may ask whether a road can be built over it and whether a rail bridge can be built on top of the road, whetherthe dam should be used for irrigation purposes or should it generate power as well. Catchments and command areas, submergence of villages, land, forests, flora and fauna have all to be studied and, in addition, whether it is worth relocating the people affected and securing them equivalent livelihood options and on the top of all whether it will affect their social and cultural milieu and whether change is so drastic as to alienate them from the State. Whether these decisions will be compatible with various proclaimed policies of the State, is again an issue to be squarely dealt with. A variety of social science inputs would be needed in such exercises. Governments have created specialized cadres for economics, trade and statistics. They always had those in judiciary, health, education and forests. Everywhere social science specialists, including management experts are playing their respective roles. Multilateral organizations are often banking upon social science professionals for their activities. All the United Nations expert bodies and other multilateral bodies, including non-governmental international organizations seek involvement of economists, sociologists and anthropologists. The World Bank consults various social scientists and keeps some of them on payroll to understand the likely impacts of the projects it undertakes and sponsors from the point of view of tribes, weaker sections and environment. Likewise other agencies involved in funding like ADB or providing liquidity like IMF do consult social scientists though sometime we have reservations on their decisions. WTO and WIPO run their training programs for educating government officials, scholars and others on social science related material—economics and law, understanding the issue’s, approaching power, negotiation and bargain. In addition,in administration of projects they would need people from accounting, management, law and social work background. Role of social sciences and social scientists seems to be all-pervading in decision-making at any level. Every society follow some rules and re gulation which is made by some specific social advisor. Some time it is necessary for the society development and some time it is need for guidance. For the development of every society or nation we need some policy which is basically done by social scientist. Some policy is very much necessary Public policy is an affirmation of positive actions and negative sanctions, executed through legislative, executive and administrative channels by a government often in pursuance of the constitutional directives whose interpretation may change in the course of time due to change in ethos. The set of actions and sanctions is often chosen from the set of possible alternatives, which may subserve the same set of objectives. There can be an agricultural/farm policy as well as an industrial policy. There can be a policy on telecom and on films. There can be an employment policy and there can be a policy on reservation of jobs for certain sections of society for certain categories of jobs. But ther e can be a prohibition policy or on consumption of tobacco and there can be one littering. In simply means public policies are broad commitments and guidelines for political and bureaucratic executive in certain areas needing intervention. Chosen policies purportedly optimum in certain terms. With change in ethos things may change. For example, the same set of Directive Principles is now used to justify the policies.