Computer Crimes Ethics

March 17, 2013 March 17, 2013 David Miller: Portrait of a White-Collar Criminal David Miller: Portrait of a White-Collar Criminal Christine Quinones business info systems with lab Professor williams devry university Christine Quinones business info systems with lab Professor williams devry university Table of Contents How does Miller fit the profile of the average fraud perpetrator? How does he differ? How did these characteristics make him difficult to detect?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Page 3 Explain the three elements of the opportunity triangle (commit, conceal, convert), and discuss how Miller accomplished each when embezzling funds from Associated Communications. What specific concealment techniques did Miller use?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Page 3 What pressures motivated Miller to embezzle? How did Miller rationalize his actions?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Page 4 Miller had a framed T-shirt in his office that said, â€Å"He who dies with the most toys wins. † What does this tell you about Miller?What lifestyle red flags could have tipped off the company to the possibility of fraud?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Page 5 Why do companies hesitate to prosecute white-collar criminals? What are the consequences of not prosecuting? How could law enforcement officials encourage more prosecution?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Page 5 What could th e victimized companies have done to prevent Miller’s embezzlement?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Page 6 David L. Miller: Portrait of a White-Collar Criminal Question 1:How does Miller fit the profile of the average fraud perpetrator? How does he differ? How did these characteristics make him difficult to detect? Mr. Miller is a very sad case. He has all the qualifications of a stellar employee, but those traits are only there to mask who he truly is. He fits the average profile for the average fraud perpetrator because of the following: * The vast majority of fraud perpetrators spend everything that they steal. Only a very small percentage invest the money. Mr.Miller spent all the money and thus it explains why he stole from a new employer in order to repay the prior one. * Many white-collar criminals are stellar employees until that very moment when they are caught. They are always eager, work many days and long hours and are reliable employees. * Employers viewed Mr. Miller as an honest employee and it was because of this trust that he was placed in positions of sensitivity. * Mr. Miller had the life and behaved in the manner of your average citizen and did not raise any flags. He was an educated family man with values and good psychological framework.Even though he has some of the same traits as your average fraud perpetrator, he was harder to spot because of the many ways that he differed. Mr. Miller was not unhappy nor was he vengeful towards his employer. He also had never been convicted of his prior transgressions, and there were various. Normally, most of the fraud perpetrators are first time offenders and not serial offender as Mr. Miller has proven to be. This type of character is very difficult to spot because they do not tend to stand ou t. White-collar criminals are very educated talented individuals and are the perfect employee.No one would think that they would be capable of such deviant behavior. These people are placed in position of trust are usually work very hard and long hours for the employee. It is sad because there are many employees who possess these traits, but are truly honest and have the company’s best interest at heart. Question 2: Explain the three elements of the opportunity triangle (commit, conceal, convert), and discuss how Miller accomplished each when embezzling funds from Associated Communications. What specific concealment techniques did Miller use?The three elements to the opportunity triangle are as follows: * Commit – for this instance the perpetrator commits the fraud by taking something that is of value to the victim. For corporations this could manifest itself in the form of money and the corruption of financial records in order to conceal the fraud. A great example of this was displayed when he was able to convince not one but two senior officers into signing various checks with the excuse of â€Å"in case something happens† to sway them into signing before they were to leave on vacation. Conceal – to conceal is to hide, so for this to occur the perpetrator must try to conceal their crime. Accounting must be kept in balance in order to avoid from being discovered. They normally do this by increasing other assets or decreasing corporate liabilities and or equities. I think about lying. It is often too easy to say one, but to conceal that lie takes skill and time and perhaps more lies. On one of Mr. Miller’s transgressions he concealed his fraud through doctoring of records and removal of checks. He concealed a particular theft by retrieving canceled checks from the bank and taking the recordings and destroying the evidence.Then to further conceal what he did, he hid the amounts of the money that he stole into other expense acc ounts in order to be able to reconcile the books. Internal controls are in place for a reason and just because someone is in a position of trust, these should not be ignored and for this particular occurrence they were overlooked due to too much trust. * Convert – normally to convert is to take something that is stolen and converting it to cash. This could occur in the form of inventory or company equipment. However, Mr. Miller did not do either of these. His crime was done more indirectly.Mr. Miller was able to forge checks to himself and deposit them within his personal account. Even though checks were signed by approved officers, the intended use for the check was not approved and constitutes fraud on behalf of Mr. Miller. Question 3: What pressures motivated Miller to embezzle? How did Miller rationalize his actions? I do not believe that Mr. Miller had a lot of pressures. However, he stated, after undergoing therapy that his problem was a disease and went as far as to co mpare it to alcoholism and gambling, but this to me is an excuse or a way to rationalize what he had done.He felt that he needed to steal and have all the luxuries to be liked by his peers; which is sad because he was liked, but not for the reasons he thought, but by his working capabilities. You know you are guilty of something if you have to rationalize what you are doing. I did not notice too many explanations other than Mr. Miller had to steal from his new employer in order to repay the old one. Nonetheless, I feel that he truly believed his own excuse that he was simply borrowing and not really stealing. Sometimes our rationalizations of our actions are so powerful that we can even fool ourselves.Question 4: Miller had a framed T-shirt in his office that said, â€Å"He who dies with the most toys wins. † What does this tell you about Miller? What lifestyle red flags could have tipped off the company to the possibility of fraud? I truly feel sorry for Mr. Miller. His life seemed to be centered around money and materialistic obsessions. That shirt and his behavior showed his desire for money and power, but above all to be recognized by friends and peers. In the end it was Mr. Miller’s extravagant way of living in comparison to his salary proved to be his undoing.When you have a salary of just $130,000 a year, you cannot afford the â€Å"toys† that he had. He had overall a large house, a condo on Myrtle Beach, tailored suits, monogrammed shirts, plenty of jewelry, gifts for relatives and above all the two Mercedes-Benz sedans that he just so happened to possess. In the synopsis there was no mention of his wife working, but with his salary and their 3 children, there was no reason for her to work and this logic is what led me to believe how his salary to possession ratio would raise a few red flags. Question 5:Why do companies hesitate to prosecute white-collar criminals?What are the consequences of not prosecuting? How could law enforcem ent officials encourage more prosecution? Even though we see in the news about CEO’s and CFO’s being prosecuted for fraud and embezzlement, in actuality, fraud against a corporation happens more frequently than one would think. The following are a few reasons why I feel that corporations are hesitant to prosecute white-collar criminals: * Lack of knowledge – many of the law enforcement agencies, attorneys or lawyers lack the knowledge in how to properly handle these types of cases.As technology use becomes ever so prevalent, the task is becoming more difficult as computers are a whole new playing field that is yet to be learned. * Aloofness by Society – unless the loss happens to you, society is more concerned with crimes of violence against another than monetary. The internal theft of funds within a corporation are seen as just that an internal problem. * Difficulty Prosecuting – unless you are lucky and have a confession from the perpetrator, lik e in Mr. Miller’s case to which he confessed in every event, you have a costly and lengthy case that will prove to be rather hard to prove.Prosecution can sometimes cost more than the theft itself and it is not seen as an incentive to prosecute. * Lack of understanding on what computer fraud really is. Computers and the internet are pretty new things and as such the laws and ways to prosecute are very vague and hard to understand. * Guilt on the outcome of the perpetrators family. Because Mr. Miller in every event promised restitution and had a wife with 3 children, the companies felt that prosecuting was heartless and they did not wish to cause harm to the family.One corporation, Crest even hired the attorney to represent Mr. Miller. * Negative shadow against the corporation – Companies do not like anything that could hinder their public image. Mr. Miller’s transgressions would cause a very public trial and a lot of investors would have been involved. This woul d have caused many to remove their investment. Overall, the corporation would suffer greatly. * Knowledge that their weaknesses would be exposed. Lack of trust in the internal controls or any discovery of weaknesses would have caused a lot of future damage against a corporation.People are creatures of trust and habit and once trust is broken, it is very hard to return and provide that trust again. This would hurt future business that the corporation would have. Look at Enron, AIG, and Bernie Madoff, to name a few. * My favorite of all would be those that are prosecuted and the outcome is favorable to the victim, the perpetrator gets very light sentences. Many go to minimum security prisons, work camps that have certain luxuries. Because of this many corporations do not even bother in spending the additional funds in prosecuting these cases.The above named are mere excuses and to not prosecute fraud causes more harm. It allows for the perpetrator to move on to commit fraud against an other corporation, like in Mr. Miller’s case. By having this exposure, corporations feel that they will feel that they will look to others as being weak and will encourage others to commit fraud against them. When someone is not punished for their transgressions that person will not learn and feel that they can get away with it again if they get caught. Law enforcement officials are stuck and all they can do is encourage others to come forward and report the offenses.Corporations need to know that if they take action that there will be a support system and their voices will not be lost. They need to be sure that the perpetrator will be convicted accordingly depending upon their transgressions. They need to be made an example of, so that the public know that this behavior is not tolerated and it is a serious offense that will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Question 6:What could the victimized companies have done to prevent Miller’s embezzlement? When I read the synopsis, I was looking for how Mr.Miller committed many of the frauds, but not much detail was revealed. However, the best way that the corporations could have avoided this was to have better internal controls and adhering to them. I would have prevented some of the thefts by doing the following: * Having better controls of the checks and the signing of checks. * Secondary looks at the monthly reconciliations and the bank statements. * Provide a list of all check deposits with the subsequent invoice explaining the reason for the expense. No employee should have the level of trust and freedom that Mr. Miller was given.There always needs to be a system of checks and balances in place in order to ensure and prevent this from happening. I can understand that these positions merit trust, but there should be a second person looking at the financials to curb any temptation for even the most honest to commit fraud. Had the first employer chosen to prosecute none of this would have happened. However, the future employers could have avoided all of this had they just bothered to do a more thorough background check on Mr. Miller. There they would have discovered the reasons for his separation from his prior employment.

Benchmarking and Value Chain Analysis

According to Oakland (113) and Patterson article found online, bench marking involves the activities that are carried out in an organization that involves procedures used to compare the results that the organization is producing with the means and processes used. A bench mark is like the targets that an organization would want to achieve in its operations to enable it make progress as far as its growth and development is concerned which either could be within or outside the organization (Dale 77).A benchmark for an organization should be something that adds value to the organization’s performance and as an end result benefit all the employees’ of the organization and its customers. Meaning that if the identified changes are carried out it will help the organization achieve some if not all of its activities (Howell 135). An example of a business that has achieved the maximum benefits from benchmarking is General Electric. General Electric has achieved bench mark on talen t management strategy.The strategy of General Electric on how they manage talents is by the way they prioritize the jobs they give and how they focus on ‘game changers’. They are the top recruitment firm when it comes to recruiting personnel from the military (Sullivan). On the other hand, businesses and firms should make comparative advantages and should be able to have shareholder values. In order to do these, businesses and firms separate systems in different value-generating activities. And within every activity, a goal is set that the level of value should always exceed the cost of doing these activities.This whole process is known to be value chain analysis. In order to have more advantage that other businesses, a firm should be able to utilize a cost advantage and differentiation. Cost advantage happens when the cost of a value chain is reduced better than other competitors. Differentiation, on the other hand, is the uniqueness of a particular value chain of firm from the other firms (â€Å"The Value Chain. †). An example of a firm that has achieved the maximum benefits from value chain analysis is the computer producing company Apple.Although, the computers they sell are high priced, they still mange to achieve the cost advantage among other computer brands by being number four in the sales of computers in the year 2008. Another thing is that Apple computers also achieved the differentiation among other computer brands. Apple computers are really unique in many ways, because they produce their own components for this computer that no other companies can produce. Thus, Apple has achieved value chain in their computers.

Accounting Information Disclosure and Auditing

Accounting is the compilation, regulation and arrangement of financial data to ensure efficient decision-making. It often comprises of external auditing, tax counsel and tax return preparing, fiscal and administration consulting, and industrial services. Accountants look into the processes businesses take in to track their revenue and fiscal resources on time. Their responsibilities are more than the basic generic assumptions; they take care of expenses and effectiveness results of novel technologies, alongside getting hold up in processes of mergers and acquisitions, quality controlling, usage and development of data systems to record fiscal effectiveness, taxation strategies and medical care benefits management. The main responsibilities of an accountant are to make sure all the financial records are prepared and examined accurately and that taxes are paid appropriately and timely. It comes in the job role of accountants and auditors to carry out overviews of the economic functions in business so that it can operate effectively. The same service is provided by them to individuals, providing assistance to them in creating plans of action to ensure enhanced financial welfare (Kaplan & Atkinson, 2015). In this project report, observances would be carried out about the auditor relevancy and enhanced activities so that a progressive future can get situated. The report would specifically cover literature on the issues in financial statements auditing faced by auditors and accountants face. The methodology section would discuss the procedure in which the project would be carried out with the collected information. The findings section would go over the collected information and analyse them in the discussion section in light of the reviewed literature. The conclusion would address recommendations, prospective for further research and certain limitations of the current one. Accounting is a critical learning and essential variable of the market economy. This data is the introduction of budgetary and cash related structures of the countries and expect a fundamental part in supervision to make the responsiveness and enlightenment in the economy. The high measure of deception in which accountants and auditors, executives or authority masters are incorporated, provoke to a couple of ambiguities about reliability and trust of master accountants. The rule issues in accounting calling are the prohibitively favoured angle of a genuine survey that official auditors have it and moreover, the responsiveness as the essential of this select ideal position is also fundamental. By the method for its transcendent segments, the calling as self-administration, uprightness and keeping clear focal points guarantee the specific preferred standpoint. The relationship between these parts and master direct is the guideline factors of a substantial segment of the responses at wo rk in the midst of the past 30 years. In the 21st century, accounting occupation is poor upon good issues and ethics; however, this case is addressed by the control makers, authorities, examiners and stockholders (Christensen, Baker, & Cottrell, 2014). With confusions in both government and private divisions, the commitments of auditors got the opportunity to be expanded. These complexities were met with defilement, a critical part of making economies thusly undermining the independence, respectability and objectivity of the auditors. Consequently of the development in the level of business activities, both in the all-inclusive community and private parts, it is right now required by statute that activities of managerial and corporate business affiliations be audited. The consequences of this essential is to ensure that those depended with resources are viewed as accountable. Auditing in this way ensures accounts and records of affiliation show an honest to goodness and sensible view. Auditors do this via cautious examination of the books of accounts of associations and to insist whether there is fitting support and endorsement for every trade (Gupta, 2015). Given the vast size of recent accounting shames and their stunning outcomes for authorities and budgetary pros, it's not astonishing that the organization and general society expect that the concealed issues are debasement and fault—corrupt accountants distorting numbers to secure also tricky clients. However, that is only a little part of the story. Bona fide accounting issues have since a long time back tormented corporate audits, routinely provoking to huge fines for accounting firms. A segment of the oversights, surely, are the eventual outcome of deception. Regardless, to credit most missteps to consider debasement is trust that the accounting calling is flooding with scalawags—a conclusion that any person who has worked with accountants knows is untrue. The more significant, more poisonous issue with corporate auditing, as it's by and by practiced, is its shortcoming to unaware inclination. On account of the often subjective nature of accounting and the tight asso ciations between accounting firms and their clients, even the most genuine and fussy of auditors can inadvertently distort the numbers in ways that shroud an association's real financial status, in this way beguiling theorists, controllers, and as a less than dependable rule organization (Henderson et al., 2015). Point of fact, even obviously frightful accounting shock, for instance, Andersen's audits of Enron, may have at their middle a movement of unwittingly uneven judgments rather than a consider program liability. It is relied upon to handle practices and controls that see the nearness of slant and direct its underhanded effects. At precisely that point would we have the capacity to be ensured of the relentless nature of the budgetary reports issued by open associations and affirmed by professional accountants. The point and goal of this review is to dissect that importance of auditors and enhanced exercises so that future development happens. In this changing and quick moving worldwide environment, this is vital to dissect money related accounts by the auditors. It helps in accomplishing the objectives and goals set by the association legitimately. An auditing is a standout amongst the most conspicuous profession alternatives accessible for the understudies of accounting. Accounting and audit given effective part in business are considered by various gatherings from the past. This getting back to backpedals to the early individual human progression. In actuality, when trading was started, recording the trades and declaring was mulled over. In outdated community foundations, obligation and assets of government were kept up. The shock of budgetary coercion and fall of some different associations exhibited that watching the appropriate controls are not acceptable in master commitments. Capable accountants other than watching the appropriate controls should be centered on master ethics (Bebbington, Unerman & O'Dwyer, 2014). Research exhibits that the use of standards and great auditing it is solidly related to the audit cost setting and the forcefulness of the audit promote by cognizance of the regard included auditing. Appropriately generally financial crisis many issues about the relevance of the audit and the trust in the audit calling have raised. Auditors in their work equal number of specific techniques that depend on after masterminding, resources, standard and national establishment application that ought to be finished nearby his master judgment. Auditors must game plan and perform audit techniques to have enough number of affirmations to give a reasonable supposition about his client. The measure of sufficient audit work is the measure of the quality and measure of audit affirmation, including peril organisation and examination of eventual outcomes of audit frameworks (Caskey, 2013). Corruption hinders the nature of audit administration and debilitates the foundations of good corporate administration. Corruption is a tumor which assaults the structure of the general population and private divisions. Corrupt practices are purposeful acts submitted with a view to giving, tolerating and requesting leverage conflicting with authority obligation and the privileges of others or the mishandle of open power for private pick up. Corruption happens as gift, kickbacks, commissions, or different advantages without leaving any follow in the official records. A situation that is loaded with corruption represents a great deal of difficulties to the auditing calling. Most chiefs of organizations working in corrupt situations cook the books to dupe the financial specialists and accumulate riches to themselves to the hindrance of the asset proprietors. In a comparable improvement, corrupt government authorities in many services, offices and organizations enjoy arrangement of misbe haviors to fitting open riches to themselves for self-protection. These corrupt practices abruptly militate against the work of an auditor in this way whittling down the dependability and significance of audit report and by suggestion lost trust in the auditing calling (William, Glover & Prawitt, 2016). Related to the issues, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) prescribed that the organisation report should fuse bits of knowledge about going concern, and in later activities, the FASB based their thought on the importance of changes on the going concern start of accounting. At an overall level, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is at this moment required in a wander with the objective of clearing up the disclosure necessities about the assessment of going stress in IAS. A presentation draft was dispersed in March 2014. Other new proposals consolidate a redesign of the audit report; with a particular ultimate objective to extend, the level of revelation gave by the inspectors. This consolidates a specific enunciation on whether the usage of the going concern preface of accounting, by the organisation, is appropriate (IAASB, 2014). The International Audit and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), the controlling gathering of International Standards for Audit (ISAs) has been incorporated, in the latest years, in a method of illustration of investigating benchmarks, by focusing on survey uncovering and survey quality. The 2009's â€Å"Clarity Project† was propelled with the point of enhancing clarity and quality in all ISAs. The change proceeded in 2011 with the discussion paper â€Å"Enhancing the Value of Auditor Reporting: Exploring Options for Change† and in 2012 the IAASB published the invite to observe, â€Å"Improving the Auditor’s Report†. The latest work of the directing body has been the 2013 welcome to remark with the title â€Å"Proposed New and Revised International Standards on Auditing. An invitation to comment†. Evaluators' professional judgments, close by master doubt, are essential parts for great surveys. The expression "professional scepticism" is largely used yet may mean unmistakable things to different affiliations and individuals. The controller should not acknowledge that organisation is neither authentic nor misleading. Professional scepticism is portrayed in the ISAs as a perspective that fuses an investigating mind, monitoring conditions that may indicate possible misrepresent because of ruining or deception, and an essential assessment of audit affirmation. ISAs unequivocally require the investigator to orchestrate and play out a survey with professional scepticism seeing that conditions may exist that cause the money related response to be substantially misquoted (Tepalagul & Lin, 2015). Professional judgment is a method used to accomplish an especially mulled over conclusion that relies on upon the relevant facts and conditions available at the period of the conclusion. A focal part of the strategy is the commitment of individuals with sufficient learning and experience. Professional judgment incorporates the unmistakable verification, without slant, of sensible decisions; like this, attentive and target considered information that may have all the earmarks of being restricting to a conclusion is basic to its application. Additionally, both professional scepticism and objectivity are essential to the method and to accomplishing a fitting conclusion (). This has come when the cash related organisations region is regrouping after what has been to a great degree testing period for the business general (Collings, 2014). The part of the ensured auditor turns out to be logically under the spotlight of the current overall fiscal turbulence. It is central that the accountancy calling reexamines the piece of audit and assertion, and considers accommodating, reasonable ways which both can upgrade and continue profiting associations, the economy and society in the 21st century (). For each circumstance, the audit admonitory gatherings and free head of basic associations, have a particularly fundamental part to play in foresting the conditions that reinforce audit quality. There are in like manner desperate circumstances for the audit to crush, for instance, oversight of auditors, audit charge, individual fiscal interest and business relationship between and audit practice and an audit client. (Gendron & Power, 2015). It is comparably imperative to have a true blue view and perception of the market and perception of asserted auditors in the country, where control of statutory and essential benchmarks of the issues in the audit business and colossal risks had been considered to accomplish shared destinations. Audits in the monetary circumstances, when the audit clients (substances) need to restrain the costs, including the cost of the audit organizations, is a great test for audit takes a shot at with respect to remuneration for audit organizations, to meet the yearnings of the client and meanwhile to allow to perform reasonable audits according to Clarified International Standards on Auditing, and furthermore getting advantage. This condition makes the current auditing sharpens study the models of the present costs set for the audit organisations and investigating the existing norms of the audit method. The clients that have an audit are looking for regard included audits; which can allow auditors to finish confiding in the market and with no attempt at being subtle premium. To ensure practical change and advancement of the audit practices, audit firms need to take off subjective enha ncements in making the audits all the more convincing and viable and upgrading the correspondence with the clients, while meanwhile totally meeting the necessities set by authorization and models. Furthermore, current situation in the auditor sharpen places and work requires higher costs for audit quality and unmistakable audit, and over control keeping an eye on and furthermore surveillance from the authorization and national government part that is generally due to the 2007 to 2009 cash related crisis and high danger security costs, considering the credible examples (Andrews, 2015). Auditors may go over circumstances, amid their examinations, which bear a resemblance to corruption. Since examination requires diverse benchmarks and aptitudes, the auditors can't get into the matter of exploring an associated case with corruption. Be that as it may, they can forward concentrates of their reports to examining offices for further test. When contrasted with auditing, examination is an alternate region of oversight. In any case, auditors can assume a fundamental part in helping the offices in charge of examination against asserted instances of corruption (Jacobs & Cuganesan, 2014). The examining organization could be an interior element, some hostile to corruption commission, police, legal or a particular body for a super corruption case. The examination might be started on a grumbling from a resident, representative, auditor or a boss in an association. Inner auditors for the most part have more enhanced and definite learning of operations in various parts of the asso ciation than the exploring organization staff that might be conveyed just for a specific case. The inward auditors can help the exploring staff in translating different tenets, in clarifying different practices, in sharing a portion of the classified data that they may have or examining specialized points of interest of operations. The interior auditors can pinpoint territories of intemperate cost and weaker controls which can help the examining staff in distinguishing corruption (Modugu, Ohonba and Izedonmi, 2012). Methodology is a part of research that deals with various sorts of techniques and processes that are related to the research directly. It has been described by Crowther and Lancaster (2012) that research methodology is a pondered approach towards driving the full research handle in a suitably exact and composed way. The methodology of research largely adds to the impression of the particular strategies of the research strategy. In this way, the research strategy can be considered as a sorted out system of research. The research approach is another huge strategy, which decides the perspective of the entire audit. There are two different sorts of research methodologies, which are deductive approach and inductive approach. In an inductive approach, a researcher begins by social event data that is related and short time scans for cases in the data, endeavouring to develop a theory that could clear up those illustrations. They start with a course of action of observations, and subsequently they move from those particular experiences to a wider game plan of proposals about those experiences. So to speak, they move from data to theory or from the specific to the general (). The deductive approach focuses on adequate testing of the research hypothesis that would dismember the profitability of research theory. The researcher starts with a social theory that they find persuading and after that tests its recommendations with data. That is, they move from a more deep level to a more specific one. (). Most research design can be detached into three distinct characterizations: exploratory, descriptive and causal. Each fills the other side need and should be used as a part of certain ways. In the review world, specialist of each one of the three can incite to sounder bits of learning and more important quality information. The back and forth movement research work is furthermore revolved around finding the clearest disclosures as to the research issue. In this particular condition, striking design solely offers the opportunity to survey every piece of research work in a great style (Pickard, 2013). Research frames require different forms of data and is done by primary and secondary data (Fink, 2013). Primary data are seen as those data that has been amassed from the respondents of the survey. They are amassed with the help of gatherings, surveys, audits and similar methodologies. It is seen as a significant and incredibly profitable system for the perception of the present financial circumstance. Organised correspondence with the respondents even assists in perceiving any issues that should be recovered to fulfil advance change. On the other hand, secondary data is suggested as the data that are appropriated as books, journals, online diaries or locales. A researcher must have both primary and secondary data. Secondary data can be amassed with the help of a book's observation or examining, or from a journal or correlated destinations (O'Leary, 2013). These sorts of data help researchers in getting a handle on the real thought of the point (Palinkas et al., 2015). The study is projected to examine the issues in auditing of financial reports and what are the possible ways to solve it according to standards. To guide this theme, secondary data has been gathered. The research was driven using two systems: (i) inclusion-exclusion criteria, and (ii) keyword search strategy Inclusion-Exclusion Criteria: Inclusion criteria are the characteristics of the substance that are key for their sharing. Obviously, evading measures are the properties of an article that summon their release as materials (Lin et al., 2013). The following table demonstrates the inclusion-exclusion criteria followed in this research. holding one or more key related expressions or themes from Australia, Europe, United States of America and the United Kingdom, focusing mainly on Australia substance from developing countries Table 1. Inclusion-Exclusion Criteria For this review, 20,000 articles, magazines, books and journals have browsed the records. Out of that, thirty-two were used for referencing. Keyword search strategy: Keyword search strategy is a convincing technique of taking after related data regarding any matter (Robson & McCartan, 2016). The three degrees of arranging a catchphrase look approach are: Representing the issue: It concentrates on answering suitably to the important focuses of the investigation   Selecting catchphrases: It oversees choosing terms that relate to the fundamental importance of the subject. In this review expression like "auditing", "financial reports", "accounting", "accountants† and â€Å"auditors† and so on were used. Taking a database: Databases are utilised for accumulating data and reports concerning a particular point subject. For this review government databases, yearly reports, diary articles thus on were used. The auditor has an obligation to organize and play out the audit to get sensible assertion about whether the budgetary enunciations are free of material misrepresent, paying little respect to whether achieved by mix-up or distortion. In perspective of the method for audit affirmation and the characteristics of deception, the auditor can gain sensible, yet not add up to, assertion that material misrepresentations are perceived. The auditor has no commitment to organize and play out the audit to secure sensible affirmation that misrepresentations, paying little respect to whether brought on by misstep or distortion, that are not material to the budgetary announcements are perceived (Coleman, 2015). Given that professional accountants don't agree with the changed cravings of their part, and the purposes of imprisonment on the auditor's possible part in controlling deception, distinctive examinations in the expectation and area of corporate blackmail should be discussed. These consolidate authoritative controls, delegate screening, lawful accounting, and others. Researches have exhibited that most affiliations have the best center setbacks per capita occasioned by degenerate practices. The primary clarification behind this is on account of internal controls are less exceptional and stringent in humbler affiliations (Barton & Bruder, 2014). To fight the issue of blackmail, a basic segment in avoiding theft is strict inside controls, segregation of commitments, and parcel of limits. For example, direct frameworks, for instance, not letting the individual composed work the checks oblige the bank declaration, not allowing the tolerant office to keep up physical stock records, not letting the individual beginning the purchase organize bolster the portion, and not letting the individual keeping up the staff database in like manner issue back checks, may help disengage incongruent limits inside a business. Along these lines, internal controls may be sustained and coercion halted by division of limits (Rate & Rate, 2016). Another part to fight blackmail is adequate laborer screening. Regardless of the way that this declaration may show up extremely clear, an awesome prompt to take after to restrain the threat of distortion is to obtain reasonable agents. There are various affiliations invest huge energy in pre-work screening. These screening tests fuse lie identifier and medicine tests and fingerprinting of laborers. Through adequate individual confirmations of information on resumes and applications, a business can bring out basically more information and make sense of whether the principal information is correct (Rate & Rate, 2016). A third fragment to preventing blackmail is making a business circumstance that abatements the clear need of an obliged specialist to submit distortion. This environment fuses making open and solid correspondences for getting, surveying agent execution, and assessing specialists for progression. These components, close by controlling activities and agent headway attempts, may lessen the clear need of a laborer to submit blackmail. Finally, two or three additional parts to business distortion neutralizing activity consolidate setting up a hotline whereby related agents can report shocking lead, having a strange state specialist study unopened bank declarations month to month, developing a made code out of ethics, and guaranteeing organization level laborers are great illustrations. Regardless of the way that these additional practices may not seem, by all accounts, to be basic, they help develop the tone inside the working environment and may help forestall fake activities (Rate & Rat e, 2016). Auditors should have the ability to guarantee and prevent ponder lead and exercises that undermined the will of the all-inclusive community, abuse of open resources and activities that undermine accountability and straightforwardness. This customarily incorporates ensuring that the right kind of controls is set up. Auditors must have a zero strength of debasement and should decrease uncalled for portions each year that result from coercion, misuse and portions botches. This would incite to progress in building our economy. Extortion and corporate wrongdoings have extended essentially over the span of the latest ten years, and professionals believe this example is most likely going to continue. The cost to business and the all-inclusive community must be surveyed, a similar number of wrongdoings go unreported. To fight deception and professional wrongdoing in associations, a ponder effort must be connected by the organization of the business, the outside auditors, and by all delegates of the business. Everyone must comprehend that coercion is not an innocuous wrongdoing. The cost of coercion and theft are shared by all through higher costs and lower corporate advantages. Through adequate inside controls by organization, better working environments for delegates, more stringent essentials for outside auditors, and codes of ethics for agents, everyone can start to fight fakes and defalcations inside corporate world. AASB, (2014). Professional scepticism and audit of financial statements. Foreword from IAASB Chairman. 16 pages. Retrieved 8 February 2017, from https://www.ifac.org   Andrews, C. (2015). HR Performance Auditing: An Australian Story. Barton, H., & Bruder, N. (2014).  A guide to local environmental auditing. Routledge. Bebbington, J., Unerman, J., & O'Dwyer, B. (2014).  Sustainability accounting and accountability. Routledge. Caskey, J. (2013). Discussion of â€Å"The Economics of Setting Auditing Standards†.  Contemporary Accounting Research,  30(3), 1216-1222. Christensen, T. E., Baker, R. E., & Cottrell, D. M. (2014).  Advanced Financial Accounting. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Coleman Sr, L. B. (2015).  Advanced Quality Auditing: An Auditor’s Review of Risk Management, Lean Improvement, and Data Analysis. ASQ Quality Press. Collings, S. (2014).  Frequently Asked Questions in International Standards on Auditing. John Wiley & Sons. Crowther, D., & Lancaster, G. (2012).  Research methods. Routledge. Fink, A. (2013).  Conducting research literature reviews: From the Internet to paper. Sage Publications. Gendron, Y., & Power, M. K. (2015). Research Forum on Qualitative Research in Auditing.  AUDITING: A Journal of Practice & Theory,  34(2), 1-2. Gupta, A. K. (2015). Emerging Issues In Accounting.  Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies,  3(11). Henderson, S., Peirson, G., Herbohn, K., & Howieson, B. (2015).  Issues in financial accounting. Pearson Higher Education AU. Jacobs, K., & Cuganesan, S. (2014). Interdisciplinary accounting research in the public sector: dissolving boundaries to tackle wicked problems.  Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal,  27(8), 1250-1256. Kaplan, R. S., & Atkinson, A. A. (2015).  Advanced management accounting. PHI Learning. Lin, J. S., Olson, C. M., Johnson, E. S., Senger, C. A., Soh, C. B., & Whitlock, E. P. (2013). Inclusion/exclusion criteria. Modugu, P. K., Ohonba, N., & Izedonmi, F. (2012). Challenges of auditors and audit reporting in a corrupt environment.  Research Journal of Finance and Accounting,  3(5), 77-82. O'Leary, Z. (2013).  The essential guide to doing your research project. Sage. Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015). Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation research.  Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research,  42(5), 533-544. Pickard, A. J. (2013).  Research methods in information. Facet publishing. Rate, B., & Rate, H. (2016). Issues and Recommendations.  Group,  3(124.00), 65-20. Robson, C., & McCartan, K. (2016).  Real world research. John Wiley & Sons. Tepalagul, N., & Lin, L. (2015). Auditor independence and audit quality: A literature review.  Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance,  30(1), 101-121. William Jr, M., Glover, S., & Prawitt, D. (2016).  Auditing and assurance services: A systematic approach. McGraw-Hill Education. Anderson, U. L., Gaynor, L. M., Hackenbrack, K. E., Lisic, L. L., & Wu, Y. J. (2014). Comments by the Auditing Standards Committee of the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association on PCAOB Release No. 2013-009, Proposed Rule on Improving the Transparency of Audit: Proposed Amendments to PCAOB Auditing Standards to Provide Disclosure in the Auditor's Report of Certain Participants in the Audit: Participating Committee Members.  Current Issues in Auditing,  8(2), C1-C7. Biondi, L., & Lapsley, I. (2014). Accounting, transparency and governance: the heritage assets problem.  Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management,  11(2), 146-164. Bowen, S. O. N. G. (2014). Contradiction between accounting information disclosure and auditing supervision.  Journal of Liaoning Technical University (Social Science Edition),  2, 012. Cannon, N., & Bedard, J. C. (2016). Auditing challenging fair value measurements: Evidence from the field.  The Accounting Review. Chatfield, M., & Vangermeersch, R. (2014).  The history of accounting (RLE accounting): an international encylopedia. Routledge. Knechel, W. R., & Salterio, S. E. (2016).  Auditing: assurance and risk. Routledge. Lennox, C. S., Wu, X., & Zhang, T. (2014). Does mandatory rotation of audit partners improve audit quality?.  The accounting review,  89(5), 1775-1803. Power, M. K., & Gendron, Y. (2015). Qualitative research in auditing: A methodological roadmap.  Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory,  34(2), 147-165.

Female Health Issues Created by the Patriarchal Media Capitalism Assignment

Female Health Issues Created by the Patriarchal Media Capitalism Resulting in Sexploitation of Women - Assignment Example The sexualization of women in media is a major cause behind these health issues. The need to address this problem is dire. THE NEED TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE When young girls see teenage popstars and models, they idolize them and try to imitate them. This imitation takes a dangerous take when these girls try to achieve the same body figures as the models they see in ads. What better example to cite then our very own Barbie doll. When this is topped up by the bombardment of sexual portrayals of women in ads, even those which promote exclusively male products, the poor girls just can’t help it. Any amount of awareness won’t do much unless the problem is nipped in the bud. We need to directly target the big media organizations that earn big bucks and, because of their vested interests, drown most voices of protest. According to the study of the American Psychological Association (Girls) on this issue, the sexploitation like this has negative impacts on the â€Å"cognitive fun ctioning, physical and mental health, and health sexual development† of girls. Cognitive functioning implies self-image problems and confidence in one’s own appearance. Research indicates that girls usually fail to build a health sexual image of them as a result of the influence of sexploitation. ... These are the people, who objectify women because at the end of the day they really are just objects of exploitation for them. This overwhelming corporate greed cannot be taken care of once and for all, but that should never discourage us from taking initiative. Billboards are full of women in few clothes with digitally edited faces and bodies impossible to have in the real world, music videos and movies highly glamourize and sexualize the image of women, even the newscasters seem to be getter sexier by the day. This has become a national and international epidemic. EPMC-MY ACTIVIST GROUP EPMC-End Patriarchal Media Capitalism is an activist organization that we have built to fight the menace of corporate media and force them to stop the objectification of women in such a way that it ends up affecting the health of women. We have chalked out a 5 year strategy to achieve our target of minimizing and eventually eradicating the sexualization of women in media. This mission is to be achie ved through the following important steps: Creating support for the project through publications, web presence, workshops and seminars, awareness programs, celebrities and other possible means. Meeting with celebrities and stars that hold influence over our target audience i.e. young girls, and taking these celebrities on board with us in our mission. Taking help from other activist organizations in digging up technical support. Talking to politically active people to help us campaign for national and international recognition. We would be requiring this recognition to fulfill the most important step. That step is the ultimate creation of a regulatory body that can give out penalties to any corporation or company etc. The regulatory body will have set standards through which

Employment flexibility - Australian perspective Essay

Employment flexibility - Australian perspective - Essay Example It is mainly due to the changing economic conditions and business scenario of the entire globe. By doing so, the organization might cope-up with the changing market conditions and requirements of the customers. As a result, the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization enhances resulting in amplification of its brand image and reputation in the market among others. Other than this, the demand and requirements of the products increased to a significant extent resulting in enhancement of its brand equity and profit margin in the entire market among other competitors operating in similar field. However, in order to increase the rate of competitiveness in global perspectives, maximum extent of the organizations desires to implement the concept of flexibility in the employment conditions of the workers. This helps the employees to avail the facility of varied working schedules and timings resulting in improvement of the morale and performance level of the employees. As a result, th e level of productivity of the workers and organization enhanced to a considerable extent thereby enhancing its level of sustainability in this competitive scenario among other rival entrants. Thus, this concept proved extremely effective for the organizations and the workers operating in Australian market (Macdonalds, 2003). What Is Flexibility In Employment Mean? According to Reilly (2001), flexibility in working conditions means that getting adjusted to the economic conditions and also the working schedules so as to increase the productivity and efficiency of the organizations in the market among others. Not only this, it might also prove effective for the employees to increase their morale and dedication towards work resulting in amplification of their performance in the organization. Moreover, this concept is appreciated both by the management as well as the employees of the organization as it highlighted the outcomes-oriented approach. This means that time is not the prime con straint, but outcome or productivity is the prime thing. The employee had to offer the amount of work allotted to him or her in his preferred or ideal time so as to improve their level of performance and motivation as well. Thus, the National Qualification Framework (NQF) offered more concentration over outcome-oriented approach rather than time-control approach in Australian organizations (Reilly, 2001). Thus, this approach is highly appreciated by both the employers and the employees of the Australian organization as compared to others. Literature review According to Auer & Cazes (2003), employment flexibility is one of the innovative concept emerged in the recent age. The prime reason for the introduction of this concept is to motivate both the employees and the employer of the organization. The main aim of the employer of any organization in this age is to enhance its range of profit thereby fulfilling both the basic and psychological needs of the employees. Only then, the emplo yees would become satisfied and as a result their level of performance and inner dedication might improve. Due to which, the level of efficiency and devotion towards the responsibilities of the work might enhance resulting in fulfilment of the common objective of the organization. Side by side, by observing the dedication level of the senior employees, the juniors might also adopt the similar working behaviour and culture resulting in enhancement of the total sales and ROI of the Australian organization in the entire globe among other rivals (Government of

My story of growth and development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

My story of growth and development - Essay Example I have memories of the best years of my life in school. It was my home away from home. Some of my classmates were my best buddies and I could relate to them in spite of some embarrassing situations I found myself in at school. Situations such as bunking class one day and freaking out all alone and getting into a fistfight with another student. However, these were isolated incidents. Other than these, the times in school were eventful with good happenings such as the annual drama, elocution contest and school elections.On the whole, I had a good background, except some problematic situation at home. My father and mother did not see eye to eye and spent most of their time quarrelling with each other. This did not augur well for the family and it did have a profound effect on my own views about raising a family.I hail from a conservative family background. Due to my father’s occupation and also because of lack of schools in my neighbourhood, I had to frequently change schools in the early years as my family moved from one city to another during my childhood formative years, that is, up to the time, I was ten years of age.My father was a storekeeper and worked overseas up to the time I was six years of age. When he returned and found a job locally, we found that there was no school in the vicinity, and had to shift to another city about a hundred kilometres away from my father’s place of work.I found this arrangement quite suitable as I dreaded the sight of my father.... We were in the new city for one year and returned to the city where my father worked when someone started a new school here. However, the teaching standards were not to the desired level, and I had to return to the school in the same city I was earlier. I remained in this school for the rest of my school years and completed high school here. The end of my school years coincided with my father's retirement. We shifted to a cosmopolitan city where I found a job and also continued to do my college. I chose the arts stream as I always had fascination for literature. My years in college were not as carefree as my time in school. I had responsibilities. I had to pay my college fees and also give part of my income to my mother. I worked for a small automobile company where they manufactured mirrors for automobiles. It was a part time job, and I had enough time to attend college lectures and cover up the lessons on my own later on. The remuneration was not to my expectation but it was modest and I had some money left over to use as out of pocket expenses after paying my fees and giving some money to my mother. This was not entirely due to my salary as I was also receiving financial assistance from a church group in the neighborhood whom I had befriended (Growth and Development). In the meantime, my father returned to the city where he had worked previously. He could not adjust to the working conditions in the new place and also the situation at home was turning bad to worse for him. The children were growing up and challenging him when he picked fights with my mother. We could do without him. He returned to his earlier abode where he stayed till his

Tracing the Emergence of the Symphony from Sammartini and Stamitz Essay

Tracing the Emergence of the Symphony from Sammartini and Stamitz through the Works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven - Essay Example A symphony is a method of music that scales large and in its performance at orchestra. Symphony is comparable to concept of the novel in literature. Symphony emerged from the baroque period as sinfonia. In the baroque period, sinfonia referred to brief instrumental pieces that preceded larger works. In certain contexts, it would achieve full identity as an independent piece. A prominent example concerns concert grosso. However, trio sonata, concerto and sinfonia were treated as synonyms. The Italian sinfonia had the structure of fast-slow-fast while the French overture had the structure of slow-fast-slow. These overtures entailed small orchestra, short duration and easy compositions. In the eighteenth century, symphony emerged as a form that entailed performance by several instruments and independent identity. This was dominant, especially, in Italy whereby there were artists such as Giovanni Sammartini. Other early composers of the same include artists such as Johann Stamitz and Bac h. Symphony grew in prominence since the baroque period initiated a revolution whereby the popularity of secular music surged beyond gospel music. The concept of the Orchestra, as a musical form, expanded to constitute an average of twenty players. The pieces involved use of different musical families such as woodwinds, keyboard instruments and strings. Orchestral performance became a public rather than the royalties’ affair. The second half of the eighteenth century had Joseph Haydn compose 104 symphonies. They entailed experiments with forms such as six pieces. Mozart had 41 symphonies. It is vital to note that he had his first composition at eight years of age. Haydn provided the transition from the pre-classical age into mature classic symphony. His first fourteen compositions had the elements of the pre-classical period. Mozart and Haydn achieved a significant celebration as the classical symphony’s composers (Wright 162). Haydn and Mozart initiated the definition of current symphony. In the age of reason, classical symphony possessed a balance, intricate design and distinct symmetry. Examples of the same include rondo, minuet, sonata form and trio (Wright 165). The structure of the same was typical of four movements. They occurred in the pattern of fast, slow, moderately fast, and quite fast. The performance did not require the role of a conductor. The choirmaster, who would be the first violinist, performed the role of guiding the performance. The performances of Haydn and Mozart were usually short pieces that would take an average of thirty minutes. Ludwig van Beethoven played an essential role of expanding the concept of symphony (Wright 209). This expansion occurred in terms of density of sound, tempo, rhythm and dynamics. In addition, he initiated the use of additional instruments such as the piccolo, trombone and the contrabassoon (Wright 210). Describe the individual musical styles of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Support your charac terizations with musical examples. It is essential to note that Haydn and Mozart belonged to a slightly earlier age of music growth. Beethoven later sprung as a fundamental artist of the eighteenth century. However, they all belong to the classical period of music growth. To begin with, the article explores the works of Joseph Haydn. Haydn, just as Mozart, sprung from the baroque age of music. He is part of the group that established a

Research Report - Esprit Holdings (Management Accounting) Essay

Research Report - Esprit Holdings (Management Accounting) - Essay Example We consider the lifestyle and home division to analyze the costing method that is used in this division. This division produces such products as jewels, eye wear, umbrellas, baby carriage, toys and stationery. The most appropriate costing method used in this division is the job costing method, this is due to the fact that each of the above named products produced undergo different activities to achieve the quality and product desired. For example the activities involved in making of jewels are different from the activities involved in the making of toys, for this reason therefore the most appropriate method is the job order costing method that allocates appropriate overheads to the products produced. In the production of lifestyle and home products a number of department are involved, these include the production departments and the support departments. Production departments include the manufacturing department and the quality control department. Support departments include the human resource department, the administration department and the marketing and sales department. These entire departments are important in the smooth running of the company. All companies have costs that are incurred in the production of products, the lifestyle and home division has these costs which include the variable and overhead costs. Some of the major costs include electricity and power costs which are incurred through lighting and the running of machinery in the manufacturing department. The other cost is labor cost which includes direct and indirect labor costs; the production process requires labor while indirect labor costs are evident from the administration and human resource department. Material cost is also a cost incurred by the division and the material costs depend on the product being produced, example material used to make jewels are more expensive than he

Down East Spud Busters National Distribution Program Research Paper

Down East Spud Busters National Distribution Program - Research Paper Example Because the company wants to improve its sales and capture a large market, the sales associate will be expected to work hard towards convincing most business entities that can buy the products. The sales associates can have their operating centers in each region and should receive feedback from the clients concerning the products of sales services. The HR policies and procedures should be changed to incorporate the new strategy of distributing the products. The company expects to sell in several regions using sales associates. Policies should include restrictions on product storage, handling, and management of center stores. Procedures should guide the sales associate on how they will manage the regional centers and distribution of the products. The company should develop a portfolio indicating the skills experience and qualities needed in a sales associate to help it achieve its goals. This will guide its recruitment (Bateman & Snell, 2013). Industries that could use this model are; the agricultural industry, the automotive industry, and Food and beverage industry among others. An ice cream producer could use this model and get so many customers. The same applies to a baker. Some foodstuff however, cannot be distributed in this manner, the model can still be implemented is stores are constructed in specific regions like most coffee shops have done. Another example is the retail industry.

Biological Molecules Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Biological Molecules - Lab Report Example Because the functional groups exhibit characteristic chemical reactions that involve color changes, they can be used as the basis of both qualitative and quantitative assessments. Mash a sample of the imitation crab meat in some water with the homogenizer. Remove some of the liquid and place it in a clean test tube or other suitable glass container. To another such container add the equal amount of plain water. Test both solutions with diabetic glucose tests strips. Add Benedicts solution to both containers and heat using water bath. Observe color change identifying presence (or absence) of glucose in solution. A positive result with the water extract indicates that the imitation crab meat contains additional glucose and should be avoided by Granny. 1. Samples should be heated in Benedicts test to increase the rate of the reaction between the sugar and Benedicts reagent. Without heating the reaction may proceed only very slowly, which may lead to a false result. 2. The copper ions in the copper sulfate of Benedicts reagent bond non-covalently or coordinate to the aldehyde functional group of glucose and similar sugars. This facilitates an oxidation of the organic molecule to the carboxylic acid, and is accompanied by the formation of atomic copper by reduction of the copper ions. The presence of copper atoms in the solution is responsible for the observed color changes. Similarly, the copper ions in Biurets solution coordinate to an amide linkage of protein to form a large complex ion that is highly colored. The IKI reagent in the starch test can be thought of as a complex of potassium ions and iodide ions that have captured molecules of iodine (I2). The multiple -OH groups presence on the starch molecules bond non-covalently to the iodine molecules to form a very dark colored complex. 3. If KOH or NaOH were omitted from the Benedicts test, no result could be expected. The hydroxide ion must be present

AtlantiCare and the “Voice of the Customer” Essay Example for Free

AtlantiCare and the â€Å"Voice of the Customer† Essay Introduction Located in southeastern New Jersey, AtlantiCare is a nonprofit organization that provides acute and chronic health care services in the following areas: cancer, trauma, cardiac care, stroke, behavioral health, urgent care, hospice, home care, family medicine, occupational medicine, child care, early learning, and mission care for the homeless. Because of the nature of the services it provides quality is essential at AtlantiCare, and the organization delivers it. In fact, AtlantiCare applies the principles of total quality so comprehensively and consistently that the organization has received the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. At the core of AtlantiCare’s quality program is a process the organization calls the â€Å"Voice of the Customer.† This is a five-phase process used to make the organization’s patients partners in its continual-improvement efforts. Voice of the Customer identifies patient requirements and then makes sure that AtlantiCare’s services satisfy these requirements. The company’s customer focus does not stop with external customers. It also includes internal customers-employees (Goetsh Davis, 2011). Total quality is not a concept anymore in day to day operations at AtlantiCare. It is part of the management team work ethic and philosophy, and the rest of the nonprofit company staff. AtlantiCare applies the principles of total quality in such a way that not only takes care of its customers, but also its internal customers. By doing so, the company has achieved organizational excellence. The case that follows is about the steps taken by the administration at AtlantiCare and also the lessons learned by the executives and the staff to become a world-class health care provider. Questions AtlantiCare has learned how to apply the principles of effective communication in a Total Quality setting. If total quality is the engine, communication is the oil that keeps it running. Much of what total quality is all about depends on effective communication. Without it, total quality breaks down. Some of the key elements of the total quality concept are customer focus (internal and external), total employee involvement and empowerment, leadership, teamwork, decision making, problem prevention, problem solving, and conflict resolution (Goetsh Davis, 2011). The core of the AtlantiCare’s Total Quality system is a process called the â€Å"Voice of the Customer.† This is a five-phase process used to make the organization’s patients partners in its continual-improvement efforts. Voice of the Customer identifies patient requirements and then makes sure that AtlantiCare’s services satisfy these requirements. The part that AtlantiCare applies perfectly well is the focus in its internal and external customers. This approach has giving the nonprofit company the information necessary to fix its mistakes and to reengineer its process, so AtlantiCare keeps its customers satisfied. Basically, what AtlantiCare does is to listen to all the stakeholders, following the principles of effective communication: message received, message understood. To listen responsively, managers and employees must learn to simultaneously use their ears, eyes, brains, and hearts. Responsive listening can pay substantial dividends for managers in a total quality setting (Goetsh Davis, 2011). PepsiCo and IKEA are among the top companies were people wants to work at. It is not only because these companies have a recognized name or they are multinational companies. It is basically because these two companies also apply Total Quality programs where listening the suggestions and concerns of its employees and customers is a very big component. According to IKEA Welcome Inside 2012 report they in many markets we are the employer of choice, and latest results from our co-worker satisfaction survey, VOICE, show a very high level of satisfaction among our co-workers. The VOICE result also identifies areas where we can improve. IKEA is listening actively. They paid attention to their employees. They are sensitive to the information they receive, and also they act in consequence. They are being creative by developing programs to help their employees to grow and develop. In 2012, PepsiCo was listed among the Top 25 ‘World’s Best Multinational Workplaces’ by the Great Place to Work Institute  (PepsiCo, 2012). PepsiCo is always looking for talent and sustainability for them it means to invest in their associates to help them succeed; providing a safe and inclusive workplace globally; and respecting, supporting and investing in the local communities where they operate. In all of their markets, they are developing the talent of associates, preparing them to lead PepsiCo into the future. Through PepsiCo University and online courses offered by their global functions, more than 8,000 of their associates completed more than 11,500 courses in 2012. The professional development they offer to their associates enables them to develop the skills, capabilities and mindsets needed to drive sustainable financial performance and value creation. PepsiCo is combating the inhibitors of listening by providing to its employees with opportunities of professional development. Conclusion In order to have a Total Quality program that works effectively it is important to put at the core of the program the communication piece. Especially the information that is brought and communicated by the customers is the piece that has to have a mechanism that assures that it is inputted in to the Total Quality program. In the case of AtlantiCare, the nonprofit company has a system in place that voices the suggestions, complains, and demands of both customers: external and internal. The core of the AtlantiCare’s Total Quality system is a process called the â€Å"Voice of the Customer.† This is a five-phase process used to make the organization’s patients partners in its continual-improvement efforts. Voice of the Customer identifies patient requirements and then makes sure that AtlantiCare’s services satisfy these requirements. The part that AtlantiCare applies perfectly well is the focus in its internal and external customers. In the case of IKEA, the company has its own program called the â€Å"VOICE.† The VOICE result also identifies areas where we can improve. IKEA is listening actively. They paid attention to their employees. They are sensitive to the information they receive, and also they act in consequence. The area where this program could improve is in the external customer. According to this program they are only surveying the employees, but they are not taking in consideration the important information that the external customers have and can be used in the company’s advantage. On the other hand, in 2012, PepsiCo  was listed among the Top 25 ‘World’s Best Multinational Workplaces’ by the Great Place to Work Institute (PepsiCo, 2012), which means PepsiCo takes care of its internal customers. In all of their markets, they are developing the talent of associates, preparing them to lead PepsiCo into the future. Through PepsiCo University and online courses offered by their global functions, more than 8,000 of their associates completed more than 11,500 courses in 2012. PepsiCo provides for its employees professional developing opportunities and career growth, but they do not have a program in place that assures that its employees are providing information that could help the company. Less say they are not putting communication at the core of its Total Quality program. Finally, both companies could learn something from AtlantiCare by implementing Total Quality programs that included their external customers. Especially in the case of IKEA that sells directly to the final consumer. References David L. Goetsch, Stanley B. Davis. (2011) Quality Management for Organizational Excellence: Introduction to Total Quality, (7th Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education IKEA Group (2012). Welcome inside 2012. Retrieved from http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/pdf/yearly_summary/ys_welcome_inside_2012.pdf PepsiCo (2012). Annual Report. Retrieved from http://www.pepsico.com/download/PEP_Annual_Report_2012.pdf

How to Reload Ammunition with a Progressive Press

How to Reload Ammunition with a Progressive Press Introduction In todays society, hunters and recreational shooters have the ability to reload their own ammunition. By doing this, people save a significant amount of money when compared to continually buying boxes of new ammunition. The cost, at first, for all the equipment is very high, such that it could deter people from reloading. The reward is when people buy the necessary supplies in bulk which is cheaper per round when the remanufacturing process is complete. Figure 1 depicts a multi-stage (progressive) press that is used by avid outdoorsmen. It is the top-shelf press which is more expensive. However, it is more efficient. Figure 1: Multi-Stage (Progressive) Reloading PressSource: Types of Presses. Ultimate Reloader. January 2009. http://ultimatereloader.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/progressive_press1.jpg Preparation Contrary to popular belief, the preparation stage begins while at the shooting range or while participating in any event that requires a firearm. While people shoot their guns at the shooting range, all of the expended rounds fall to the ground. The expended rounds are then picked up and assessed for damage by the person that will be reloading them. Cracked and/or bent casings will not be used as it allows for an additional liability when firing the cartridge after reloading. The most important part to collecting expended brass is to ensure that the shooter gathers the right caliber of casing. The stage continues as the shooters get back home. All of the collected used casings are loaded into case feeder with the primer of the casing facing down. The selected Die is loaded onto the top of the press. The gunpowder is measured for precision and accuracy before it is placed into the housing. With all of the components setup and in place, the next step is ready. Ready, Set, Reload! After all of the hard work has been done in preparation, the next step is to reload the rounds. The progressive press is the most desired press due to its ability to multi-task. The casings are dropped down the case feeder primer first onto the shell plate.ÂÂ   The shell plate has five (5) notches cut out of it to hold the casings in various stages of the reloading process. The person reloading pulls the handle down which turns the shell plate. Once the first round enters the shell plate and is turned, it goes to the first stage which is the primer stage. Here, the press punches the old primer out of the casing and prepares the casing for a new primer. While the first round is at this stage, a second casing is in the notch behind it getting ready for the said process. The person then pulls the handle down again and puts the first casing into the second stage which is where the casing gets a new primer. The second casing had the old primer removed from it and there is now an old casing getting ready for primer removal behind it. The person pulls the handle downward again and puts the first casing into the gunpowder stage. Here, the shell plate raises the casing into the die for gunpowder to be dispersed into the casing. The amount of gunpowder that falls into each casing is pre-determined by the user. Once the handle resets in the up position, the shell plate lowers and makes the casings ready for the next stage, whether coming into or leaving the gunpowder stage. The second round now has a new primer. The third round has been stripped of its old primer and an additional old casing has been added to the shell plate. The person will then pull the handle down which initiates the final stage: pressing the bullet into the casing. As the handle goes downward, the plate raises. Before the plate raises all the way up into the caliber die, a bullet must be hand-loaded onto the top of the casing. Once the bullet has been placed, the user then completely lowers the h andle which presses the bullet into the casing. When the handle is in the up position, the shell plate drops. A new bullet has been made. The second casing now has gunpowder in it. The third casing now has a new primer. The fourth casing has been stripped of its primer. An additional casing has been added to the first notch in the shell plate. When the user pulls the handle downward, the entire cycle has been completed. The finished casing falls into a round catch where it can be examined. The second round is getting ready for a bullet to be pressed into it. The third casing has had gunpowder added to it. The fourth round has a new primer. The fifth round has had its old primer punched from its casing. Conclusion Although the process of reloading ammunition appears to be very tedious and difficult, with some experience on the equipment anyone could do it. The equipment is designed such that it allows shooters and hunters to be successful when reloading their own ammunition while also remaining safe both during the reloading process and firing the reloaded ammunition. The different stages of the press as stated above all serve a very crucial part in manufacturing ones own ammunition. As the casings turn, they progress towards something bigger, hints the name progressive press.

Principles for good interpersonal relationship

Principles for good interpersonal relationship To live a contended and successful life with cordial relationship with people around is very important. The life of the person is always connected to others and the level of relation with other person depends on how you deal and treat them. While dealing with people there are many factors with influence the terms one has which includes communication skills, the way of dealing and interacting with others and social ethics. Thesis Interpersonal skills are important to live a happy successful living. In every step of persons life the interpersonal skills of person are tested and observe and those who have excellent interpersonal skills are always successful in both professional and personal living. This paper discusses the points which are important to maintain good interpersonal skills and why they should be kept maintained and polished. Interpersonal Relationship Skills The relation of the person with other people around him is known as interpersonal relationship. The skilled interpersonal qualities are very necessary for living a comfortable life with good social relations. No one is born with social skills. Everyone learns, perceives and absorb the social norms and the way of dealing people; which comes with time. The first school of social learning of a person is home. Home is the first place where one learns basic etiquettes, social norms and how to deal and respond to people. The basic learning of person is started and is leant from home. And since then a journey of learning and improving the social skills is constant. The social skills and interpersonal skills of a person are experienced when he enters the professional life. And with time these skills are polished. The interpersonal skills vary from person to person. There are two types of people while dealing with people, introvert and extrovert. Each of these people would be different in dealing with other and thus the relationship, communication and level of dealing of communication with each type would be different. The interpersonal skills are also affected by the environment we grew in, our personal preferences, the way we feel, the personality type etc. Interpersonal skills are needed everywhere. Whenever a person has to deal or communicate with other people or person the interpersonal skills of person are shown. Basically there are three stages where interpersonal skills are needed; personal dealing, social interactions and cooperation. All such relations such as friends, coworkers, family relatives, cousins, neighborhood and peers all are included in interpersonal relations. Five Principles for good Interpersonal Relationship Good interpersonal relationship leads people to deal and work in friendly and cozy environment. Health interpersonal relations provide people security, satisfaction, enjoyment and contentment towards each other. And those who are not successful to gain good interpersonal relations with people around them feel great sense of frustration, anxiety, failure and loneliness. To have good interpersonal relationship there are five important principals which are as following: Mutual Benefit Principle: The strong interpersonal relations are formed when people share same group of interests. It helps them to form a strong bond and meet up the social need of themselves; and as well as those one which are related or are connected with each other. So a health interpersonal relationship brings satisfaction to both sides of people. And to have such cordial terms both of the parties have to show a friendly affection with acceptance towards other. This is more successful when both parties share mutual interest and are capable of understanding each other. Credit Principle: For making the relation with the people fruitful and pleasant it is important to make people feel that you are useful for them. When people are treated this way they value you but more important is maintaining such interpersonal relation. The mutual understanding can be achieved through mutual sincerity and good intentions for each other. Only such feelings will enhance the good emotions and will make the relationship stronger no matter what type of relationship it is. When there is mutual understanding and benefits people tend to be more positive about such relations and to maintain such interpersonal relationships it is important to value the credit received and given. Respect Principle: No matter how alike the people are there can be many situations were two views are shared. When someone has to deal people socially there is always a presence of different views. And to keep the environment safe, friendly and healthy everyone should have a tolerance to accept and hear other point of views. Many times there comes a point when people exchange views which are different from other, even if someone doesnt seem to agree then the interpersonal skills teaches us to show tolerance and acceptance to listen other views. Everyone has a right of freedom of speech so everyone has right to share their thoughts. So only through tolerance and respect one can maintain good interpersonal relationships. Tolerance Principle: Tolerance means that a person does not care about small minor issues, and by keeping aside the disturbing issues one can work together for a common goal and can negotiate the issues separately without letting the environment and relationship to get spoil. As there is always an individual difference, everyone has different mindset which brings out different view somewhere, through tolerance one can only deal with such situations. If someone had shown harsh behavior or has hurt you then there are two basic ways to deal with it, first keep a grudge, plot revenge or try to forget about it and never bother to expect something from that person. A skilled interpersonal person would prefer the second option and will try to deal the situations with tolerance. Moderation Principle: There should be a health interpersonal relation with people. A distant relation brings distance and lack of communication where as too much communication and time together causes irritation, obsession and lack of sense of space. To maintain a good social interpersonal relation one should keep a moderate way to deal and communicate with people. So the degree of relation should be maintained properly regarding the type of relationship one has. (Elanso.com, 2007) Misconceptions in interpersonal relationships The misconceptions between two people can lead to poor communication and fragile relations. There are many reasons which can bring distance and bitterness in any relations. Following are some of the reasons which can lead to misconceptions. First impression: we often build up the first impression of people very quickly and those impressions get engraved in our mind which becomes very difficult to omit. First impression is not the last impression and one should never judge anyone completely in first impressions. There are many factors which should be noticed before making an observation about people. The reason for which I personally think the first impression causes misconception is that when the person have built a mind set about the person then it became difficult for him to deal with them. Even if they do well the other person would judge and make observation in a reflection of the impression he has built about him. Error in understanding: there are many reasons which can leads to error in understanding the person. As mentioned above due to the building up the first impression very quickly can also cause misconception in interpersonal relationships. There are many other factors which can cause error in understanding other persons impression such as the way of delivering or conveying the message, variety of thoughts and ideas which can also become objectionable to others. Pride and self-worth: if any other the person has too much pride and confidence then it will also militate against the good interpersonal relations. When the person is head headed then people find it difficult to communicate with them which lead other people not to open up with them. Such traits in personality dont let other people to communicate with them which lead to misconception and lack of good friendly terms. Barrier in communication: there can be many reasons which can cause barrier in communication. This barrier in communication between people causes distance and poor communication. When there is poor communication the person is not able to communicate their message or feelings well, which brings out distance in-between people. Barriers to Effective Interpersonal Interactions Following are the most basic and noticeable points which causes barriers to effective interpersonal interactions: Way of communicating the message to other. If the speech or message is not clearly delivered then such situations can lead to barrier in cordial interpersonal relations. Assuming a wrong meaning of message conveyed can also leads to misunderstanding, grudges and sometimes even to verbal fights. The body language and tone of delivering words also makes a great impact. The way of delivering ones message is the first thing which other notice. If the person finds it good and well-mannered then the good interpersonal relations are grown. The reference through which a person came to know someone also makes a great impact on the person. That reference always defines the person in the light of reference one has mentioned. Person is known by the company he keeps. In building a good interpersonal relations this line makes a great impact. If someones comes to know the third person through a bad reference then the image of the third person will be automatically bad. Or somewhere the impact of the reference would stay till one gets to know them properly. Developing the self-concept Having a self-concept about one self is very important. When the person knows his abilities, good points and weak points then it helps him to be a better person and let them to overcome the negative points. A person should be always open to learn new things which include the acceptance to the views which people give. Where the good views and comments help the person to build a confidence; the negative views also give the person the opportunity to see himself with a critical point of view and then overcome such points. Here is a list of points which help person to build a self-concept and how to improve one own self. By recalling the previous achievement. By recalling the good feedbacks and comments received By doing a self-analysis of the personality , keeping in mind the good points and the bad points Indulging oneself in a new tasks and situation to see how good and efficiently you can tackle them By meeting new people and seeing their response about you By adjusting yourself in new situations By overcoming the fears you have, as they will help you in being a better person Handling difficult situations and people and rechecking yourself that how good and successful you were Recalling the past mistakes so that you dont repeat them in future Polishing the capabilities and potentials one has Facing and overcoming the weak points Doing a self-analysis and rechecking the past mistakes and weak points helps the person in being a better person. We often make mistakes which we regret later. So by recalling the mistakes and trying to analysis ones mistakes gives a person a better picture. One should always be open to accept his mistakes so that he can correct them. We loses many of our relations because of our different mistakes, if we do a self-analysis more often than we would be able to maintain our relationships better and can bring the loved ones back in life. Maintaining a self-concept By maintaining a self-concept means that on should keep improving himself and should try to maintain a good self-image. One should cut down and overcome the flaws and try to deal with difficult situations. And keep venturing himself with new situations which will help the person to improve the personality and abilities of socializing. Here is a list of point which one should follow in maintaining a self-image. Being constant in good behavior By being down to earth Open to criticism and realizing self-mistakes Regular self-assessment Keeping tolerance while dealing with people By being polite to people Overcoming the one own flaws and keep improving the personality Finding new horizons in professional fields Giving task to oneself to see whether you can do t or not Challenging your own self in health way Keeping a positive thinking so that you are able to see positive things in people around you. Improving the interpersonal skills Little gestures and care can bring out the best in any relationship. Interpersonal relations are very important for a person to live a happy and successful life. We meet and deal with different types of people. Every person has different personality. So even if we dont seem to agree or like other people we should never criticize anyone with sarcasm. Continuous complaining and whining about others will make the self-image down. And even if one has to make the other person realize their mistakes then always chose a moderate decent way to convey the message. Whereas if someone does something good always appreciate them. Saying nice about other will bring the element of love and affection. A response of smile should be given with a smile. These little gestures and concern towards people bring people together and in such environment its easy n fruitful to carry healthy interpersonal relations. Conclusion Interpersonal skills are very important to maintain a good living. A life of a person is always surrounded by people. So dealing people with right attitude is very essential. For maintaining a healthy relationship with people one should deal other with patience, tolerance and care; one should always accept individual differences and personality traits of others. And very often one should do self-analysis so that a constant improvement in personality should be there. Social skills are only improved when one ventures to experience now situations. Holding good interpersonal skills with people is essential for successful living in all stages; personal, social and cooperation.

Culture as Social Legacy in Mirror for Man :: Mirror for Man Essays

In Clyde Kluckhohn's Mirror for Man, he explains the differences and similarities among the world's peoples by stating two important ideas: 1) People are similar because they have the same biological equipment and undergo similar life experiences "such as birth, helplessness, illness, old age, and death," but, 2) people are culturally different because of the way they were brought up and they may live in a different environment created by human beings, and acquire a distinct social legacy from their own people. Kluckhohn suggests that where a person lives is one of the factors that determines one's culture. In China, people have a strong dislike for milk and milk products. In the United States, a person drinks milk from the time of birth because American society has made a pattern for its people; Americans make milk a integral part of their meals because they are told it's the only way to remain healthy and develop strong bones and to avoid disease such as osteoporosis, a disease brought on by the lack of calcium (which is found in milk). Therefore, the Chinese may not understand why Americans drink milk so often, and Americans may wonder why the Chinese do not know the health benefits of milk. Kluckhohn implies that there are cultural misunderstandings between different sets of people because they are not aware that "each specific culture constitutes a kind of blueprint of all life's activities." I do support Kluckhohn's theory that culture is determined by a person's environment and their "design for living." I have been raised in Los Angeles and I have friends of varying ethnic backgrounds, languages, birth places, and cultures. My best friend came from Korea nine years ago and has assimilated to the ways of American behavior. Yet, I do not understand why Sandy remains stoic when she has a serious problem or why her parents never display public affection to her or to themselves. I asked my mother if Sandy's behavior was strange and she replied "no" because she said Sandy is from Korea where she was brought up in a different environment, where her culture taught her ethical and moral values that differ from values taught in the United States. I came to realize that although Sandy will remain in the United States for the rest of her life, she may never "give up" her Korean values or her Korean upbringing.

living in basement :: essays research papers

Living in a basement is definitively associated with numerous inconveniences. Yet, after having spent almost two years in such location, I managed to find one feature distinguishing basement from other apartments in a way that recompenses all of its nuisances - the window. A view from the narrow gap which is positioned merely few inches above the pavement provides remarkable experience of learning the city’s life. The view my window offers may not appear intensively interesting at first, as, for the most part, it consists of wayfarers’ legs moving in opposite directions. However, after several hours of observation, it is possible to notice that the pace of people is at variance not only according to hour of the day, but also shifts throughout the week and year. And the pattern in the manner of how the passer-by’s gait changes embodies the city life’s rhythm. As the day commences, footpath is congested with citizens hastening to their workplaces. From their tread one can scent somnolence, and lassitude. There are however individuals bursting with the energy and sense of fulfilling their ambitions. As time passes many of the pedestrians become children and students. They toddle without hustle, still with a dose of excitement. Later on, in the midday hours the crowd dilutes, as if preparing for the rush of the afternoon. The pace of people returning homes indicates their fatigue and hope for finding time to calm at homes. Evening is definitively the time of the young people. Roaming teenagers and students are filled with jaunty and light thoughts, and the positive energy surrounding them spreads among all the surrounding. The later it becomes the more chaotic and disordered the moves of the striders become. Finally, as the dawn draws closer streets become deserted, save for the communal service workers, and whole cycle is ready to restart. Another dissimilarities in people’s way of walking can be observed with the shift of the seasons. Wayfarers tend to saunter much slower in summer, due to the high temperature’s influence on our mood and energy supplies. A perceptible amount of caution characterises feelings of pedestrians in winter, since the pavements become treacherous and dangerous places when covered with even the thinnest layer of ice.