Project Time Management Essay

As project manager, you are actively leading the Green Computing Research Project team in developing a schedule. You and Ben found three internal people and one new hire to fill the positions on the project team as follows: Matt was a senior technical specialist in the corporate IT department located in the building next to yours and Ben’s. He is an expert in collaboration technologies and volunteers in his community helping to organize ways for residents to dispose of computers, printers, and cell phones. Teresa was a senior systems analyst in the IT department in a city 500 miles away from your office. She just finished an analysis of virtualization of server resources for her office, which has responsibility for the company’s data center. James was a senior consultant in the strategic research department in a city 1,000 miles away from your office. He has a great reputation as being a font of knowledge and excellent presenter. Although he is over 60, he has a lot of energy. Le was a new hire and former colleague of Ben’s. She was working in Malaysia, but she planned to move to your location, starting work about four weeks after the project started. Le has a lot of theoretical knowledge in green computing, and her doctoral thesis was on that topic. While waiting for everyone to start working on your project, you talked to several people working on other projects under the Environmental Technologies Program and did some research on green computing. You can use a fair amount of the work already done on telecommuting, and you have the name of a consulting firm to help with that part of your project, if needed. Ito and Ben both suggested that you get up to speed on available collaboration tools since much of your project work will be done virtually. They knew that Matt would be a tremendous asset for your team in that area. You have also contacted other IT staff to get detailed information on your company’s needs and plans in other areas of green computing. You also found out that there is a big program meeting in England next month that you and one or two of your team members should attend. It is a three-day meeting, plus travel. Recall that the Green Computing Research Project is expected to be completed in six months, and you and your four team members are assigned full-time to this project. Your project sponsor, Ben, has made it clear that delivering a good product is most important, but he also thinks you should have no problem meeting  your schedule goal. He can authorize additional funds, if needed. You have decided to hire a part-time editor/consultant, Deb, whom you know from a past job to help your team produce the final reports and project proposals. Your team has agreed to add a one-week buffer at the end of the project to ensure that you finish on time or early. Tasks 1. Review the WBS and Gantt chart you created for Tasks 5 and 6 in Part 2. Propose three to five additional activities you think should be added to help you estimate resources and durations. Write a one-page paper describing these new activities. 2. Identify at least four milestones for this project. Write a one-page paper describing each milestone using the SMART criteria. 3. Using the Gantt chart created for Task 6 in Part 2, and the new activities and milestones you proposed in Tasks 1 and 2 above, estimate the task durations and enter dependencies as appropriate. Remember that your schedule goal for the project is six months. Print the Gantt chart and network diagram. 4. Write a one-page paper summarizing how you would assign people to each activity. Include a table or matrix listing how many hours each person would work on each task. These resource assignments should make sense given the duration estimates made in Task 3 above. 5. Assume that your project team starts falling behind schedule. In several cases, it is difficult to find detailed information on some of the green computing technologies, especially financial data. You know that it is important to meet or beat the six-month schedule goal, but quality is most important. Describe contingency strategies for making up lost time and avoiding schedule slips in the future. After reviewing the work breakdown structure (WBS) and Gantt chart, three additional activities are being proposed. The addition of these activities will assist with estimating resources and durations. This project will benefit from the identification of four milestones throughout the project. Using these milestones as markers for time, budget, and personnel resources, the project will be kept on track. These milestones will be developed using the SMART criteria outlined in the text (Schwalbe, 2014). The identification of these milestones is the first added activity. The second activity to be  added is the contingency plan. The contingency plan will outline strategies for making up lost time and remaining on schedule for the remainder of the project.

Belief Systems Essay

Belief systems and philosophies have greatly affected the people and societies where they are practiced. They give guidelines on how to live their lives and affect every aspect of their cultures. Two such belief systems and philosophies are Hinduism and Confucianism. Hinduism is a religion with no founder. The people who practice this religion believe in moksha and reincarnation. Moksha is the freedom from earthly desires and a complete understanding of the world. Reincarnation is the belief that people are reborn over and over again until achieving moksha. Whether or not they are born into a good life depends on their previous life’s karma (good or bad deeds). In Hinduism, they also have a caste system. It divides people into four social classes and hardly gives any social mobility at all. People are decided which class they belong to at birth. For example, if a child is born into a family of slaves, that child will be a slave for the rest of his life. Confucianism is a philosophy started by Confucius in China. In Confucianism, the people valued education and believed in filial piety, the respect for elders. They also believed in the spirits of ancestors and created the famous quote, â€Å"do not do unto others, what you would not want them to do unto you.† Hinduism and Confucianism greatly affected the people and societies they were practiced in. In Hinduism, because of the belief in reincarnation and karma, people avoided doing bad deeds. Those who achieved moksha gained a complete understanding of the world and got rid of their desires. However, the caste systems also introduced discrimination. People of different classes were treated differently. In Confucianism, it brought a sophisticated education system and people respected their elders. It also affected the roles of family members. For example, the oldest males were always considered the head the family. Therefore, it is evident that these belief systems had a tremendous impact upon the social standing and family relationships of the societies that practiced them. There are many diverse religions and philosophies that exist around the world. Many of these belief systems have deeply affected both the people and societies where they’re practiced. Two examples of these religions are Buddhism and Hinduism. Hinduism is believed to have been the oldest religion that still exists to this day. There is currently no known founder. It’s a polytheistic religion that has many major beliefs, such as reincarnation and karma. According to Hindi beliefs, what a person does in a lifetime affects what place in society that person will be in his or her next life. The many gods that Hindus believe in are all the faces and personalities of one god. Moksha is a worldly understanding that Hindus strive to attain. However, it’s believed to occur over many lifetimes, and is achieved through reincarnation, or rebirth. Buddhism is a polytheistic religion that is quite similar to Hinduism. It was founded by a man named Siddhartha Gautama, or the Buddha, the Enlightened one. Like Hindus, Buddhists believe in reincarnation and nirvana, a concept similar to moksha. They both deal with the concept of the understanding of life and the end of the cycle of reincarnation. While reaching Enlightenment, or wisdom, the Buddha founded the Four Noble Truths that state in order to achieve happiness and stop all suffering, one must give up all worldly attachments and desires by living a life of poverty. Unlike Hinduism, however, Buddhists reject the idea of the caste system, a division of social classes. Thus, the first followers of Buddhism were essentially people who were low socially, such as laborers and commoners. As Buddhism and Hinduism became harder and harder to follow, there were many changes made. Most Buddhists found it hard to give up all of their wants and desires. Two groups, the Theravada and Mahayana sects, were formed. The latter had provided salvation to all who followed it, and thus it became much more popular. The Theravada sect contained the people who followed the original teachings of the Buddha. In response to the rising popularity of Buddhism, Indian art was majorly affected. Sculptures of Buddha were common to see among merchants. As for Hinduism, despite the laws that forbid the isolation of people of lower class, the caste system still thrives in Indian society. In addition, a trend towards monotheism is currently occurring. In conclusion, the major religions of Buddhism and Hinduism have greatly affected the people and societies of the areas where they’re practiced. Belief systems and philosophies have deeply affected the world people and societies where they are practiced. Two such religions are Buddhism which started in India and Christianity which started in Rome. Buddhism was started by Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Buddha or the â€Å"enlightened one†. Buddhists believe in reincarnation, or re-birth after death. They thought that this was true for all living things; including animals. Buddhists also believe in giving up all self desires to help reach nirvana. This means that one cannot want anything and will then reach a state of perfect understanding and will become enlightened. The Buddhists followed the eight-fold path, or middle-way and the four noble truths. They believed that if you follow the four noble truths and the eight-fold path, you will be born again (reincarnation) and will reach nirvana. Lastly, they also believed in no social classes, so everyone was equal. This religion affected many people in many ways. It caused Buddhists to â€Å"be good† and follow the cold of law. The thought of no social classes also caused many people to convert to Buddhism causing the religion to spread as well as their ideas and practices. Another religion that greatly affected society is Christianity. All Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the only son of God and was born of the Virgin Mary. Also, he was sent to earth to spread the word of God and Christianity. Christians follow their code of law known as the 10 commandments. The 10 commandments tell one how to be a good Christian. Christians also their book the Bible and go to church every Sunday. Lastly, Christianity does not believe in any social classes. They believe that all people are created equal. Christianity provided a way of life, a close, loving, personal relationship with God, and eternal life after death (one goes to heaven; another belief). These three statements caused Christianity to spread and affect almost everyone in the world. Christianity is now the largest religion in the world. Christianity affected the world by spreading its ideas and influencing other religions. Many religions affected or still affect our world today. They may have affected people in their ideas, beliefs, practices, or even how they spread. If it wasn’t for all the different religions, our entire world would be different. Belief systems and philosophies have deeply affected the people and societies where they are practiced. Two such religions are Buddhism and Christianity. Beliefs Religious beliefs and practices have been around for a very long time, affecting societies and ways of life in positive ways. Two religions, that ironically both of their founders were raised to believe in other religions, that display this are Buddhism and Christianity. Starting with Buddhism, it was founded by Siddartha Gautama in India who was actually born Hindu. This is why Hinduism and Buddhism share a few common beliefs. One belief from Buddhism is the eightfold path. This is a guideline of how to live and act in daily life in order to achieve another belief, Nirvana. Nirvana is reached when you are released of all selfishness and worldly possessions. It is a state of understanding and happiness. They also, like Hinduism, believe in Karma which is what goes around comes around. Basically if you are bad it will come back at you. People who practice Buddhism are very peaceful and sometimes meditate. They live with harmony in hopes of achieving Nirvana and being reincarnated into a good next life. Like Buddhism, Christianity’s founder was not born Christian. The founder, Jesus Christ, was born Jewish in Israel. He is believed by all Christians to be the son of God. Christians are monotheistic, they believe in their one god, who is coincidentally named â€Å"God.† They believe in the 10 commandments, which, like the eightfold path, is a guideline for Christians to follow so the will go to the Golden Gate of Heaven. In Christianity, you must confess your sins so that you can be forgiven by God, because he forgives all. Christians live their lives doing good deeds, studying the Bible, and trying their best to follow the commandments. Christianity and Buddhism are actually similar; all religions are. Whether by guideline, language, place of origin, or beliefs they share in common goals. However, every single religion is alike in one way: they believe. Whether in one god or a hundred, they do believe and have faith that there is more than just this one life. Test Essay- Belief Systems Religions were and still are a major issue. Religion allows people to live better lives. It always affects the people or society in one way or another. Two of these major religions are Buddhism and Islam. Buddhism, founded by Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha) has many beliefs. One of them is the Four Noble Truths, which states that the reasons for pain and suffering in the world are people’s selfish desires. One must give up all desires, through the assistance of the Eightfold Path. By following the Eightfold Path, one can achieve nirvana, wisdom and union with the Creator. Some of the aspects are right conduct, views, and concentration. Buddhism rejects the caste system. They believe in reincarnation, life after death. Buddhism definitely affected people. It allows people to be happy, non-violent, and tolerant. Buddhism also created monks and nuns. These people must learn to beg so that they could learn humility. They must live a life of poverty, and can’t marry. Islam was founded by Muhammad. Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last prophet. Their major god and only god is Allah. They also believe in the Five Pillars. This includes complete faith and trust in Allah, fasting, praying five times a day, almsgiving, and pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime. The Five Pillars can be compared to the Eightfold Path in the way it provides guidelines to achieve union with the Creator. Their holy book is the Quran, which gives them rules and regulations for moral conduct and behavior. Islam affects the people. Muslims must follow all Five Pillars to live right and go to heaven. They must follow the guidelines of the Quran. They must also celebrate Ramadan and fast. Religion is a major part of people’s lives. There are many different religions in the world today. Our religion basically makes us who we are. Belief systems and philosophies have deeply affected the people and societies where they are practiced. Buddhism and Judaism are only two of such belief systems that have made impacts on people. These religions not only affected the people in the religion, but their entire society. Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama- the Buddha. It is said that he had enlightenment and found out the cause of all suffering. This answer is called the Four Noble Truths. Essentially, Buddha said that the way to end all suffering is to detach from all selfish desires. The way to do this is to follow the Eight-Fold Path and the Middle Way – mid-way between self- denial and selfishness. This way, followers reach nirvana- a state of total understanding. People who follow Buddhism don’t recognize a caste system- so everyone is equal, unlike Hinduism- where Buddhism is derived from – which had people called â€Å"untouchables† who were considered unclean. Buddhism influenced the arts on the Silk Road Trade Routes. Statues of Buddha were placed along the roads and a lot of people learned about Buddhism while on these trade routes. Judaism was founded by Abraham- the father of the Hebrews. They are monotheistic and believe in God- Yahweh. It is written in the Torah- the Jews sacred scripture- that Yahweh directly spoke to Moses and gave a set of laws called the Ten Commandments, which are to guide the Jews to live a good life. Yahweh also established a covenant with his people, He would love and protect them and in return, they will follow his laws. Jews celebrated Passover to commemorate their freedom from slavery in Egypt and when God preserved their first born child. Jews, as a part of their laws, have to eat kosher foods. They can’t eat certain meats or mix certain foods together. Judaism was the first monotheistic religion to be established and laid the foundations for later monotheistic religions like Christianity and Islam. Judaism and Buddhism both had impacts on people and society in different ways. Either by laying foundations for future religions or being a place of relief for outcasts, they made a big impact. Belief Systems Throughout history, there have been many belief systems and philosophies. Some have died out, or become unpopular, such as many Greek polytheistic religions in the past. Others, such as Confucianism and Judaism, have lived on and affected the lives of many. Confucianism is a philosophy started by a wise teacher, Confucius, in China. By teaching his theories and ways, this philosophy came to conquer many people’s beliefs. Confucians believe greatly in familial respect, or the respect in families, especially for elders. Education was also greatly valued. They believed education and respect could greatly influence social order. With the social order gained, a strong government can be developed. Judaism, on the other hand, was a religion. It was said to be Abraham who started this religion. Jews believe in the concept of monotheism, or the belief in one God. In this case, their God is a loving god. Through their God, the Ten Commandments were given to them to follow. They based their ways of life on the Torah, in which concepts such as the Sabbath, and kosher foods, were also based on. These two belief systems had a strong worldwide hold on people. Confucianism became a major philosophy among many Asian countries, such as Taiwan and China. Great respect and education is still extremely important in daily life. There is even a Teacher’s Day to honor Confucius. Judaism also had a preserved effect on people. Judaism laid the first foundations for other religions, such as Christianity and Islam. They, too, believe in only one God. Unlike Confucianism, however, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are spread all throughout the world. Now, history has moved on. Many ideas, cultures, and religions have risen and fallen. The concepts of Confucianism and Judaism, on the other hand, are still spreading and affecting the lives of many.

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner: Major Themes Essay

â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a short story written by William Faulkner and initially published in 1930. This is a story of an eccentric spinster, Emily Grierson, and her life. The strange circumstances alongside with odd family relationships with Emily’s father and lover are being uncovered throughout the story. Emily was manipulated and strongly controlled by her father and now, in the upstairs, she hides the corpse of Barron, her lover, which explains the gossips of the townspeople of Jefferson. The story is distinctive for the first person plural point of view; whereas non chronological description of the events further complicated the matter. â€Å"A Rose for Emily† has a lot of themes – the extreme psychosis of the heroine, the role of women in the South and their relationships with society, and, most importantly, the society of South overall. Due to complexity of the work and a lot of secondary themes present in the work, we will focus on the image and role of society in the story. Even though Faulkner does suggest a psychological cause of Emily’s sickness, a number of factors remain unexplained if one chooses to concentrate of psychological factors rather that of society. Firstly, this is plural narrator; secondly, the complicity of the town in the murder of Barron; thirdly, the awareness of the townspeople of the room that is locked in the house; finally, the title of the short story itself (Hamblin and Abadie, 2000). At the same time, the final macabre scene taking place in the bedroom tomb, which reveals Emily’s necrophilia, also suggests necrophilia of the entire society. Society lives in the dead, but still unburied past. Emily essentially becomes the sickness of the town inherited from the past, which is fostered upon the town by Sartois, who ordered the freed female slaves to appear in the streets and in such way symbolize submission to the whites: â€Å"Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town,† (Thomas and Corbett, 1970, p. 9). The new generation does puts effort in shrugging off the burden, but it cannot, as Emily is part of the society and Emily’s pride is the pride of townspeople: â€Å"a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument,† (Thomas and Corbett, 1970, p. 9). Obviously, plural narrator sympathizes with Emily. The Grierson house is, in turn, the symbol of the past: as Emily is trying to retain what belongs to her at any cost and regardless whether it is dead or alive, the society – South follows the same pattern. Chronological order of the story is also destroyed by Faulkner – in order to extend the significance of the events that are taking place and at the same time reveal the human tendency to tie oneself to the past. In the story, the major heroes are being manifested in such a manner in order to become the symbols of the society without losing own individuality. The whole story is being composed of the controversies– love and hate, respect following contempt. The final paradox adds up to the complex image created throughout the story – on one hand, a rose is being offered to a woman with indomitable spirit who clung to the vision of dissolution; on the other hand – there is the omnipresent society with aging culture and corrupt materialism, society that gradually becomes impotent (Hamblin and Abadie, 2000). The analogy between Emily and the Old South is omnipresent in the story. Emily’s acceptance of the patriotic image and even family connections point out that Emily is the symbol of the old tradition. Author’s attitude towards Emily and culture is dualistic – society cannot live with the main heroine, as townspeople instantly spread gossips; and yet townspeople cannot live without Emily – the main heroine embodies the values of the South. Society in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is highly patriarchic and contributes to isolation (Curry, 1994). Once all beloved men left Emily, either by death of simply by leaving, Emily did not allow anyone to get close to her. Being unable to accept the reality – that people whom she loved were gone – Emily was isolated in the house. Emily is a perfect example of a women living up to, sometimes indirectly fighting with the patriarchal society. Interestingly, in the first paragraph of the story, Faulkner aligns the community; the second paragraph discusses the house from outside; the third paragraph then allows readers into the discussion of Emily’s past. Even though Emily did try to challenge the principles by going against of what is considered to be normal, she still went back to the past – preferring past but beautiful reality to what is going on now in her life. Emily, being the embodiment of the South, is a very strong woman. Despite her sticking up to the past events in attempt to find happiness, Emily had the whole town absolutely convinced that she could not hurt a fly. At the same time, Emily was capable of a murder. The image of society in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is created through the main heroine of the story – Emily, who is trying to live in contemporary society still sticking up the past. Values of the South are highly patriarchal; materialism is dead and death still does not allow letting in the future. Society of South is portrayed is being highly patriarchal, isolated, and degrading. Works Cited Curry, Renee R. â€Å"Gender and Authorial Limitation in Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily.† The Mississippi Quarterly 47.3 (1994): 391. Hamblin, Robert W., and Ann J. Abadie, eds. Faulkner in the Twenty-First Century: Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha, 2000. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2003. Inge, M. Thomas, and Edward P. J. Corbett, eds. A Rose for Emily. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company, 1970.

Evans and Ogbu's Theories Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Evans and Ogbu's Theories - Assignment Example Evans has identified that the Social Reproduction Theory has ignored the patterns of social structures and relationships; the theory states that "social action and interaction recreated the social structures and relationships over time and across space", which is objectionable because such social interactions have injected the elements of vanity, pride, fear, and hatred i.e. social exploitation and injustice. The Social Reproduction Theory has failed on the economic side, the theory has failed to justify and explain the existence of economic and social injustice, and rise in poverty even in the presence of interactive-social structures. This concept has been responsible for the increase in capital accumulation, which has deprived the underprivileged of recovery. Evan has suggested that the theory has failed "in the reproduction of the capital structures and the infrastructure that are necessary to carry on economic activity over time". Evan has identified the ignorance towards a biol ogical aspect of the human and social growth, the growth of human society is not by the virtue of social and economic structure, it shall include consideration towards "daily and generational parts of reproduction".The community and social factors have identified the integration of "anthropological and sociological theory". The Cultural Reproduction Theory has focused upon the relationship between the system and community forces, these forces are not proportional to each other however these certain share influence upon each other. The theory has explained that "system forces facilitated a set of communal responses which became strong enough instituted and widely enough shared to become community forces"; Evans has warned that irrespective of such system, any form of discrimination based upon cultural, racial and social heterogeneity, and shall inflict certain responses from involuntary minorities. Evans suggested that the theory has ignored the frequency of impact of specific social forces, such impact does not require "formative period to produce an everlasting result". The Cultural Reproduction Theory has discussed the influence of continuous changing community and system; however, it has failed to deliver significance and contribution of such special force/s. This theory has explained the translation of the cultural practices from family to family, and generation to generation; however, such translation has ignored the essence and role of the social forces which in the middle of the process have the capability to vary the translation or its interpretation. This theory has revealed the cultural reproduction based upon social influences but has ignored the notion of pluralism and convergence between varied cultural practices and perspectives.  

Developing Professional Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Developing Professional Practice - Essay Example But in order to become professional accountants or future business leaders, it is very important for the academic students to maintain the ethics and codes of conduct. Several researchers have made researches in order to find out the impact of ethics standards on the accounting students. It has been found that the ethics and standards could not change the overall moral capability of these students to a great extent. It is an important factor associated with the ethical codes and standards set for the accounting students. It has also been stated that the lack of awareness of the term ‘plagiarism’ is another serious educational misconduct, which additionally contributes to student plagiarism. The third factor was related to excessive pressure, which influences the students in conducting plagiarism. However, research on this ground suggested that students who are above 25 years of age have less pressure as compared to the younger ones. It has been recommended that the educa tors must have a supportive approach for motivating the students in acting consistently throughout their academic life. Critique The purpose of the paper is to critically analyze the reason behind conducting plagiarism. The paper has developed several hypothesis based on the factors associated with plagiarism and done research on such hypothesis. It has helped in evaluating the reason mainly responsible for this plagiaristic behaviour of the students. This would help in reducing the scope of occurrence of this activity in future by eliminating or reducing the associated factors. This can be counted as the strength of the research paper. The paper failed to find a conclusion related to the hypothesized factor- new technology. This factor has been removed from the paper totally as it failed to relate with the other factors. This can be counted as the weakness of the research paper. The methodology that was adopted for conducting the research included questionnaire survey and other dat a analytical techniques. The method have been appropriate for finding out the key issues as well as recommending that how the issues related to plagiarism can be resolved. It has accurately drawn the correlation between the associated factors and plagiarism. However, the study still needs to advance its methodology portion in order to reach to a conclusion related to the hypothesized factor ‘new technology’. There have been several researches made on the topic of plagiarism and its associated factors. It has been found that there are various factors which are responsible for conducting activities such as plagiarism. Among them moral capability is one of the factor. The major reason behind the non conduct of plagiarism was that it is a dishonest and immortal activity. It is a common scenario that the students doing any project in a group often copy small portion of text from the others in the group, without having appropriate acknowledgement. Another factor was the aware ness of plagiarism. Reduced knowledge of plagiarism is the reason behind conducting plagiarism even if the students do not intend to do so in reality. According to several researchers, the students having poor integration to the academic environment possess higher chances of performing plagiarism. Moreover, it has been stated that the pressure created on the students also influence them in conducting such activities. The students who rely on their family for continuing their studies have high chance of conducting

Colorado Department of Education Website Search and Critique Research Paper - 1

Colorado Department of Education Website Search and Critique - Research Paper Example All questions concerning the organization’s aims, mission, activities, structure are answered in this section. All contact information can be easily accessed. Any visitor can read about the history of organization and even view schedule of every meeting held. In fact, the page contains thorough information about all offices of the organization. There is no doubt in organization’s transparency. There is nothing to be changed in this section because it provides thorough information which can be easily accessed. As far as the second page â€Å"SchoolVIEW† is concerned it is necessary to note that it is a bit confusing and it needs to be improved. The major problem with this page is that it is too informative. There are too many data which are not easy to comprehend. It is necessary to take one’s time to understand what all those data mean. It is a good idea to include section â€Å"learning center† which instructs how to comprehend the data. However, t his section should be in the first place, so that the website viewer step by step learned to use data available and then looked through information presented. It is also a good idea to include â€Å"community connections† section: the organization gets the necessary feedback and can improve the website. The next page â€Å"For Educators† is designed for those who teach and even only thinks about starting their teaching careers. The page is not so easy to navigate.

GLOBALIZATION QUESTION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

GLOBALIZATION QUESTION - Essay Example Religious practices derive meaning and force from integration with cultural beliefs and practices. Across different denominations, religion derives its truth value from its dependence and connection with the cultural fabric. Religious truth is based on the ability of the underlying tradition to provide its followers with a predefined worldview over a long period of time. Moreover, the world view should have meaning, Lead to physical and spiritual integration, moral guidance, hope and faith in both the present and the future. Religions like Christianity, zoroasticism, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam claim absolute validity but it is expressed through different structures (Mary, 17). From history, most religions were recognized nationally and thus force followers to recognize its teachings for example, Islam in Arab countries. Religious truth is contradicted by the relative interpretations adopted to define situations and preferably make them fit into the speaker’s worldview. For in stance, in the early Greek philosophy, Socrates used truth as claptrap for the public orators through the use of conventional notions (Kluckhohn 6). The opposition between nature and convection hinders man from speaking out his mind but rather to conform to what the society believes in. The confusion leads to lack of a clear cut definition of what is considered as conventional and natural truth. According to Conze (153), naturally, all shameful things are evil like injustice is shunned by men and only slaves are meant to suffer injustice. In Buddhism teachings, common sense and spiritual truth are considered to be the two distinct categories of truth that exist. According to the doctrine, both truths coexist and are the basis of the Budhi religion (Bodhi 20) . Through several assertions, Christianity professes the existence of doctrinal truth. For instance, Jesus Christ is considered to be the truth in the doctrine through his words â€Å"I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the father but through me’ (Stephen 45). In Hinduism, truth is part of the ten religious attributes of Dharma. Believers are required to be truthful and to speak only of what they have seen and understood. For example, in India, â€Å"Rishi†, truth, entails existence, truth of ones being, and truth of being God (Kluckhohn 367). In Judaism, in the old testament, truth is the word of God and followers believe that spiritual leaders are truthful and have power to deliver divine intervention. Despite the difference in religious symbols from one culture to another, they serve the same purpose of helping the society deal with issues that are beyond human control. However, the system is based on simple truths as defined by different societies. For example, Christianity and Buddhism shun laziness and encourage independence, courage, endurance, and desire to live for the good of everyone. In Christianity, a man’s divinity in his feelings is more important t han concepts because the desire to live up to the concepts causes contradiction in his or her character (Goody 97). Religion creates consciousness in individuals in how he should relate with others and use the lessons to sail through life’s tribulations positively. Religions are part of culture in different societie

Cyberlaw Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Cyberlaw Research - Essay Example From the essay's analysis, it may be seen that new legislation does indeed impact upon individual liberties. In cases such as that of Jose Padilla discussed in the essay, the actions of the Government have been dismissed by the Courts as violative of constitutional rights to freedom. Terrorists now have access to Cyber weapons such as TEDs, RF munitions, TEMPEST monitoring devices and electromagnetic bombs in addition to the uploading of malicious viruses. By hacking into the access codes for control of weapons and missile systems of the United States of America, or locations such as the World Trade Center, terrorists can create havoc – long distance and unidentified. The purpose of a terrorist attack is to generate fear in the mind of the victim. Serious cyber attacks can be conceived and planned without detectable logistic preparation. They can be invisibly reconnoitered, clandestinely rehearsed, and then mounted in a matter of minutes or even seconds without revealing the i dentity and location of the attacker. Through manipulation of cyberspace architecture and increased surveillance in the US today, online activity is being regulated today. The restrictive immigration laws have ensured that the likelihood of a large scale attack is defused. But this cannot be equated to a victory for terrorists. The researcher states that there must be more emphasis on preserving individual liberties but it is not of a magnitude that justifies the conclusion that the terrorists have won the war.

Equity and Trust Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Equity and Trust - Essay Example However area of conflict had arisen in the proper disposition of these gifts. A detailed description of Neil’s will and the circumstances related to each of the term stated in the will may prove to be helpful in resolving the conflict. Neil’s will states the following terms : -> 30,000 to be given to the â€Å"Supporters of Elfed Hospital† as a gift -> 60,000 to be gifted to the â€Å"Friends of Thomas Hospital† and -> 400,000 to be used to provide benefits to the inhabitants of Elfed and special privilege to be given to the employees of Neil & Co Ltd and their families. Discussing each of the terms in details would give a clear view of the scenario and will also be helpful in advising the executors of Neil on the probable terms of the declarations made. -> 30,000 to be gifted the â€Å"Supporters of Elfed Hospital† A view on the history behind the relationship between Neil and Elfed Hospital reveals that the main factory of Neil & Co Ltd. is situat ed in the village of Elfed. There is every possibility that considering this fact Neil had included this term in his will, for gifting 30,000 to the â€Å"supporters† of Elfed hospital. Though he mentioned the term â€Å"supporters† and as such there is no legal declaration or discrimination for this particular term, it could be well assumed that the main intention behind mentioning this in the will is to provide welfare in terms of monetary benefits to the Elfed hospital and not in particular to any supporters or volunteers or anyone specific as such.

Outsourcing to Developing Countries Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Outsourcing to Developing Countries - Term Paper Example The question of outsourcing has a brought about a lot out a myriad of protests, many of them by them based on the escalating the rates of unemployment. Notably, while there are some Americans that take it as a positive thing many more are scared by what it portends especially those who have lost their jobs to foreigners. According to Howard, in the article â€Å"Globalization is an anomaly and its time is running out,† China hosts very many of American china stores and myriad firms all are taking advantage of the cheap labor and raw materials. However, should China involve itself in search for oil from its Arabian neighbors there is potential for conflict? In such a case, America and China may be embroiled in an international row and this might force the investments in America to be closed down (Howard). Furthermore, due to political instability in many developing companies, outsourcing might mean risking losing the investment in the time of riots or civil wars and the economy back home would suffer directly as a result of a conflict in which America is neutral. Outsourcing is a two-sided sword, effectively cutting both parties in the arrangement, in America; there are several financial gains especially for the firms involved. They get to form international networks thanks to globalization, obtain cheap labor, wide market and finally they are paying very little tax since some of the countries in which they outsource give foreign investors tax breaks to encourage them and other multinationals to invest therein. In this paper, the issue of outsourcing will be examined closely in order to support, through argument, the position that outsourcing is doing more harm than good to the American economy. Outsourcing carries a myriad of negative financial implication for America; one of these is that it greatly contributes to unemployment in the USA. It is predicted that 949 million will be lost because of outsourcing annually. These losses are not purely business by a huge fraction of it represents lost wages, to Americans, whose former employers have decamped so they can hire cheaper labor.  

Drinking and driving Essay Example for Free

Drinking and driving Essay On Jan.8, 2002, President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) that became the education-reform bill. The No Child Left Behind is most sweeping education-reform bill since 1965 that made changes to the the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The No Child Left Behind plays a big part in the life’s of students, parents, teachers, and the future of the educational system. â€Å"No longer content to provide access to education for traditionally extended students populations, we are now demanding that these students receive equally good educations. † In other words, administrations are now demanding equality of quality. President Bush thinks that all students are title to high quality education, treated equal, fair, and to be safe while at school. The No Child Left Behind places significant responsibilities on state educational agencies, school districts, principals, and the teachers. â€Å"In 2002 the federal government returned to the force front in potentially historic fashion.† With the passage of No Child Left Behind, supported by bipartism majorities in Congress, the nation committed itself to the achievement of every student in America. The No Child Left Behind in the federal system the United States for every education state and school districts fail to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind Act that will be held accountable, with the opportunity to improve their down fall. Each state makes their own standards for what a child should know and learn for grades, for math and reading the standards should be developed first. Every student should be tested by the standards. All school districts should make adequate yearly progress toward meeting their state standards. Schools that fail need all the support they can get to improve their progress. The school or District shall come up with an idea that’s going to meet all necessary to make higher goals. The No Child Left Behind has a standardize by making sure that all teachers were high. The No CLB Act has In the article (Teacher’s Views on No child left behind) teachers was the no child left behind law â€Å"The federal legislation provides considerable discretion to states that can develop their own academic content standards, choose the tests they will administer, and specify the minimum scores students must obtain to be declared â€Å"proficient†. The no child left behind law increased the attention to many schools that pay to academic achievement and to disadvantage children that make it better. â€Å"As a result, the skills, and knowledge of the subgroups of children that historically have not increased as rapidly under many state tests would suggest. Second, no child left behind has increased the efforts of schools scores, third, adequate yearly progress rules; some states increased the migration of experienced teachers out of school serving high concentrations of low – performing students. No child left behind represents that parents of students who are attending title I schools are given the option to transfer their students to another school in the district for improvement status, If a student requested to be transferred shall be allowed to transfer. The No Child Left Behind, has two new educational options, -supplemental educational services and school choice for title I schools for restricting, improvement, and corrective action by the options depends on parental decisions. Parents will know their student assessments. If the school needs improvement the parent will be informed. Conclusion: The No Child Left Behind Act is great. Every child should have the right to receive an education, and be safe while in school. There so many jobs and opportunities will be required to have a college degree in order for a student to have success in life they need an education. The No Child Left Behind Act helps and gives students the impossible they did not have. The No  Child Left Behind made school districts accountability achievement. ON January 8, 2002 President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Act the reform bill improves student’s goals on the state- wide testing, and The No Child Left Behind has admirable goal of improvement in the educational system. President Bush thinks that no child should be left behind and that all children are entitled to education, treated fair and to be safe. No matter what the student is, their race, where they live, they should be entitled to an equal education. References’ Abernathy, S. (2007). No child left behind and the public schools {electronic resource} / Scott Franklin Abernathy. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, c2007. Michigan Press. In 2001 the author researcher at Ann Arbor: University of President George W. Bush’s education reform legislation, the no child left behind act (H.R. 1). Testing and accotability provisions Chubb, J.E. (2009). Learning from no child left behind {electronic resource}: how and why the nation’s most important but The Author research stand ford, California. : hoover institution Murnane, R., Papay, J. (2010). Teacher’s views on no child left behind: support for the principles, concerns about the practices. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(3), 151- 166 Programs, all other Miscellaneous Schools Believes that the school should not be accountable for teaching all children well. The No child left behind is to improve all students’ performance. Put students’ performance in data gives the parents opportunity to see the child’s performance. Students that attend low-performing schools start to develop discipline issues, their want to be transferred to a better – performing school. School that doesn’t need their goals will offer including free tutoring, and after school instruction. Randolph, K., Wilson – Younger, D. (2012). †Is No Child Left Behind Effective For All Students?† Parents don’t think so. Online submission. The author’s researchers Database: ERIC. Since the No child left behind is to discuss the advantage of the core requirements for its implementation. Parents have concerns whether the children are really learning. Zimmer, R., Gill, B., Raquin, Booker, K., Lockwood, J., Department of education, w.c (2007). State and Local Implementation of the â€Å"No Child Left Behind† (N ls-â€Å"nclb†). The author researchers us department of  education. The key component the no child left behind for the parent children that were attending title I school options for corrective action, improvement, failure achieve toward meeting state standards.

Harvard business publishing Essay Example for Free

Harvard business publishing Essay In mid-September of 2010, Emily Harris, vice president of New Heritage Doll Company’s production division, was weighing project proposals for the company’s upcoming capital budgeting meetings in October. Two proposals stood out based on their potential to strengthen the division’s innovative product lines and drive future growth. However, due to constraints on financial and managerial resources, Harris knew it was possible that the firm’s capital budgeting committee would decline to approve both projects. She also knew that New Heritage’s licensing and retail divisions would promote compelling projects of their own. Consequently, Harris had to be prepared to recommend one of her projects over the other. The Doll Industry Revenues in the U.S. toy and game industry totaled $42 billion in 2008 and were projected to increase by 4.6% per year to $52.5 billion by 2013. The market was divided into two broad segments: video games (48%) and traditional toys and games (52%). The second segment was further divided into infant/preschool toys (14.5%), dolls (14.1%), outdoor sports toys (12.3%), and other toys games (59.1%) including arts and crafts, plush toys, action figures, vehicles, and youth electronics. The U.S. market for toys and games was dominated by large global enterprises that enjoyed economies of scale in design, production, and distribution. Revenues were highly seasonal; the largest selling season in the United States coincided with the winter holiday period. Within the toy and game segment, U.S. retail sales of dolls totaled $3.1 billion in 2008 and were projected to grow by 3% per year to $3.6 billion by 2013. The doll category included large, soft, and mini dolls, as well as doll clothing and other accessories. The phenomenon of â€Å"age compression†Ã¢â‚¬â€ the tendency of younger children to acquire dolls that had traditionally been designed for older girls—reduced growth in the â€Å"baby-doll† sub-segment. Competition among doll producers was vigorous, as a small number of large producers targeted similar demographics and marketed their dolls through the same media. Lasting franchise value for a branded line of dolls was rare; the enormous success of Barbie ® dolls was an obvious exception. More recently and on a much smaller ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ HBS Professor Timothy Luehrman and HBS MBA Heide Abelli prepared this case solely as a basis for class discussion and not as an endorsement, a source of primary data, or an illustration of effective or ineffective management. Th is case, though based on real events, is fictionalized, and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental. There are occasional references to actual companies in the narration. Copyright  © 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business Publishing. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting 4212 | New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting scale, New Heritage also had created a durable franchise for its line of heirloom dolls. But the popularity of most doll lines waned after a few years. New Heritage Dolls By 2009, New Heritage had grown to 450 employees and generated approximately $245 million of revenue1 and $27 million of operating profit from three divisions: production, retailing, and licensing. The production division, discussed further below, designed and produced dolls and doll accessories. The retailing division offered a unique â€Å"intergenerational experience† for grandmothers, mothers, and daughters, centered upon the character histories and storylines of the company’s dolls and delivered through an online website (42%), a mail-order paper catalog (33%), and a network of retail stores (25%). In fiscal 2009, the retailing division generated roughly $190 million of revenue and $4.8 million of operating profit. The licensing division was started in 1998, and represented the company’s newest and most profitable division. It sought to extend the New Heritage brand and capitalize on high levels of customer loyalty by selectively licensing the company’s doll characters and themes to a variety of media that reached the firm’s target demographic of toddler to pre-teen girls. In fiscal year 2009 the licensing division generated $24.5 million of revenue and $14.5 million in operating profit. New Heritage’s Production Division Production was New Heritage’s largest division as measured by total assets, and easily its most asset-intensive. Approximately 75% of the division’s sales were made to the company’s retailing division, with the remaining 25% comprising private label goods manufactured for other firms. Table 1 summarizes the division’s various sources of revenue and operating income. Table 1 Production Division Data: Revenue ($ millions) Operating Income ($ millions) New Heritage’s dolls and accessories were offered under distinct brands with different price points, targeting girls between the ages of 3 and 12 years. The company’s baby dolls were generally priced from $15–$30, and were offered to younger girls in earlier stages of development. These dolls typically came with a â€Å"birth certificate† and a short personal history. Dolls in the higher-end of this category incorporated technology that produced a limited amount of speech and motion. For the 1 The division revenue figures include approximately $95 million of internal sales within divisions which are eliminated when considering consolidated revenue for the company. BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 The New Heritage Doll Company was founded in 1985 by Ingrid Beckwith, a retired psychologist specializing in child development and the grandmother of two young girls. Dr. Beckwith believed the dolls produced by the major toy companies did little to develop girls’ imagination or foster a positive self-image, so she created a line of dolls with unique storylines and wholesome themes. Dr. Beckwith’s dolls struck a chord among mothers and grandmothers who also rejected the dated, clichà ©d images portrayed by the popular dolls of the day. New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting | 4212 New Heritage outsourced much of its production to a select number of contract manufacturers in Asia. To ensure product quality and safety, the company maintained a fulltime staff to oversee material sourcing, production, and quality control on site at each of its manufacturing partners. Manufacturing activities that required precise tolerances or proprietary processes, along with all the creative elements (design and product prototyping, for example), were handled in-house at the company’s headquarters facilities in Sacramento, California. Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 Capital Budgeting at New Heritage New Heritage’s capital budgeting process retained some of the informality that characterized the company’s early years as an innovative startup. As the company grew, deliberate steps were taken to decentralize some of the project approval process and increase spending authority at the division level. However, large and/or strategic spending proposals were reviewed at the corporate level by a capital budgeting committee consisting of the CEO, CFO, COO, the controller, and the division presidents. The committee examined projects for consistency with New Heritage’s business strategy and sought to balance the needs and priorities of each division against practical financial and organizational constraints. The committee also sought to understand project interdependencies and the potential for a given investment to strengthen the whole company, not solely the division proposing it. New Heritage’s capital budget was set by the board of directors in consultation with top officers, who in turn sought input from each of the divisions. The capital and operating budgets were linked; historically, the capital budget comprised approximately 15% of the company’s EBITDA. The committee had limited discretion to expand or contract the budget, according to its view of the quality of the investment opportunities, competitive dynamics, and general industry conditions. Before being considered by the committee, projects were described, analyzed, and summarized in self-contained proposal documents prepared by each division. These contained business descriptions, at least five years of operating and cash flow forecasts, spending requirements by asset category, personnel requirements, calculations of standard investment metrics, and identification of key project risks and milestones. Financial Analyses Financial analysis began with operating forecasts developed with oversight from New Heritage operating managers. Revenue projections were derived from forecasts of future prices and volumes. Fixed and variable costs were estimated separately, by expense category. Forecasts of working capital requirements were likewise vetted by line managers, who paid particular attention to a project’s requirements for various types of inventory. Forecasts for fixed assets and related depreciation charges were developed in cooperation with analysts reporting to the controller. HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING | BRIEFCASES Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] $75–$150 price range, New Heritage produced a line of heirloom-quality dolls and accessories. These were designed to appeal to older girls and to convey a sense of cultural and family tradition among grandmothers, mothers, and daughters. The heirloom dolls had more elaborate accessories and personal histories. Finally, the company offered a line of high-end dolls based on fictional â€Å"celebrities,† each associated with a charitable cause and embracing more contemporary fashion trends. These dolls targeted girls in the so-called â€Å"tween† age range of 8–12 years, and also were priced from $75–$150. Like the heirloom dolls, celebrity dolls also came with more elaborate stories and accessories. 4212 | New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting New Heritage assigned discount rates to projects according to a subjective assessment of each project’s risk. High-, medium-, and low-risk categories for each division were associated with a corresponding discount rate set by the capital budgeting committee in consultation with the corporate treasurer. Assessments of each project’s risk were made at the division level, but subject to review by the capital committee. Factors considered in the assessment of a project’s risk included, for example, whether it required new consumer acceptance or new technology, high levels of fixed costs and hence high breakeven production volumes, the sensitivity of price or volume to macroeconomic recession, the anticipated degree of price competition, and so forth. In 2010, â€Å"medium†-risk projects in the production division received a discount rate of 8.4%. High- and low-risk projects were assessed at 9.0% and 7.7%, respectively. Projects that created value indefinitely, given continuing investment, were treated as going concerns with a perpetual life. That is, NPV calculations included a terminal value computed as the value of a perpetuity growing at a constant rate. However, to preserve an element of conservatism, the capital committee generally insisted on relatively low perpetual growth rates – lower than New Heritage’s historical growth and lower than near-term growth forecasts for a given division. Investment Opportunities in the Production Division Emily Harris was focused on two of the production division’s most attractive current proposals. The first involved expanding the successful Match My Doll Clothing Line to include matching allseason clothing for tween girls and their favorite dolls. The second involved a new initiative, the Design Your Own Doll line, which employed web-based doll-design software to let users â€Å"customize† a doll’s features to the customer’s specifications. Match My Doll Clothing Line Expansion The Match My Doll Clothing line originally consisted of a few sets of matching doll and child clothing and accessories for warm weather. It quickly became successful after the daughters of a few celebrities were spotted and photographed wearing items from the line, and girls’ magazines included some of the line in â€Å"what’s hot to wear† sections. Given recent publicity, Marcy McAdams, the brand manager responsible for the line, believed the timing was perfect to expand. Specifically, McAdams proposed to create an â€Å"All Seasons Collection† of apparel and gear covering all four seasons of the year. She expected the new offerings to be at least as profitable as the existing line, since its current popularity would make it possible to maintain premium prices. She also hoped to take advantage of off-peak discounts offered by some suppliers and contract manufacturers as they tried to smooth their capacity utilization. In the same fashion, McAdams argued the expansion would help reduce, or at least not exacerbate, the seasonality in New Heritage’s sales and earnings. BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 Operating projections for a given project were used to develop cash flow forecasts that would underpin calculations of net present value (NPV), internal rates of return (IRR), payback period, and other investment metrics. Cash flow forecasts were intended to capture the incremental effect of a proposed project on the firm’s cash flow for each year within the forecast period. That is, each project’s cash flow forecasts excluded non-cash items, such as depreciation charges, and nonincremental items such as sunk costs (i.e., costs that would be incurred regardless of whether a given project was undertaken or not). The cash flow forecasts were computed on an after-corporate-tax basis, but excluded all financing charges. Some elements of the cash flow forecasts were prepared with assistance from treasury analysts, but most of the necessary adjustments were well understood by division staff. New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting | 4212 To exploit the current popularity of the original Match My Doll Clothing line, especially given the fickle nature of children’s fashion trends, McAdams believed the opportunity had to be exploited without delay. Her investment proposal contained relatively large outlays for RD, market research, and marketing to maximize the probability of quick acceptance and longer-term success for the follow-on line. Upfront investment expenditures are summarized in Table 2. Table 2 Match My Doll Clothing Extension Outlays The RD and marketing expenditures would be deductible for tax purposes at New Heritage’s 40% corporate tax rate. The property, plant and equipment was expected to have a useful life of 10 years; the associated depreciation charges, shown in Exhibit 1, were based on the modified accelerated cost recovery system (â€Å"MACRS†) allowed by the IRS. Working capital requirements, shown in Table 2 for 2010 and in Exhibit 1 for subsequent years were based largely on recent historical experience with the original Match My Doll Clothing line. Finally, given the proven success of Match My Doll Clothing, Harris believed the project entailed moderate risk—that is, about the same degree of risk as the production division’s existing business as a whole. Design Your Own Doll This initiative targeted existing New Heritage customers, many of whom owned several of the company’s heirloom dolls. The company’s research showed that, when asked what features (e.g., appearance, ethnicity, â€Å"life story,† etc.) New Heritage should give to future dolls, loyal customers’ responses had a high correlation with their own personal data. That is, girls wanted dolls like themselves. Further research suggested that many loyal customers would purchase yet another doll if they could customize the doll’s features to create a â€Å"one-of-a-kind† addition to a girl’s or family’s existing collection of dolls. It also promised to increase the girl’s pride in and identification with the doll, both because of their shared features and because of the girl’s participation in creating the doll. This in turn further cemented customer loyalty. The customization process would begin with a new section of New Heritage’s website, where proprietary design software enabled the customer to select physical attributes of the doll such as hair color, hair length style, skin color, eye shape, eye color, and other facial features. The software could combine selected features and produce a photo-realistic image showing the finished doll with user-selected accessories. The customer could zoom in or out on the image and rotate it to see different aspects. The software made it easy to try out different combinations of features and accessories before making a purchase. Elizabeth Holtz, brand manager for heirloom dolls, was very excited about the project. She observed, â€Å"A girl’s relationship with her favorite doll is often partly mommy and partly big sister. Either way, having your doll look more like you is really powerful. And there’s excitement in the experience: exploring the website, naming the doll-to-be, selecting her first outfit†¦even the anticipation of waiting for the new doll to arrive. I really think this is big.† Holtz also believed that the dolls could command a premium price. â€Å"Customers will naturally expect to pay more [for a HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING | BRIEFCASES Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] Initial Expenditures ($ thousands) 4212 | New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting custom doll],† she said. Market research with focus groups revealed significant enthusiasm for the product concept and supported the notion of premium prices. The web-based software tools and order entry system required New Heritage to make significant modifications to its existing technology infrastructure, expand its webhosting capacity, and modify the terms of its third-party service agreements to ensure a higher level of service quality. The majority of the RD expenditures shown below were related to software development, hardware upgrades, and web design. The development time involved, including product testing, was expected to be approximately 12 months. Initial outlays, some of which occurred in 2010 and some in 2011 As with Match My Doll Clothing, the required RD and marketing costs would be tax deductible. Manufacturing equipment had to be ordered by the end of 2010 to be ready for production at the beginning of 2012. While New Heritage had the option to pay for custom equipment in quarterly installments, the firm could get a substantial discount by paying for the equipment up front, in 2010. Figures in Table 3 and Exhibit 2 reflect the discounted cost of the equipment. To support the forecasted level of sales, substantial investment in working capital (primarily work in process inventory of partially manufactured dolls) would be required beginning in 2011. And still more equipment would have to be purchased and installed no later than 2014. In years 2015 and following, investments in working capital and equipment would revert to patterns familiar from the production division’s traditional lines of dolls. To complete development work, Holtz planned to use some of the company’s existing IT staff. The majority of the work would take place during calendar 2011. The number of people and their fully loaded costs are shown Table 4. These costs were not included by Holtz in the initial outlays shown in Table 3 or in the forecasts presented in Exhibit 2. The development personnel Holtz needed were considered â€Å"corporate† resources and were almost certainly available to work on the project. Table 4 Design Your Own Doll Development Personnel, ($ 000s) Application Development Personnel Costs: Web Application Developers Database Manager Systems Integration Specialist Total Cost BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] However, even a limited degree of customization increased manufacturing complexity and expense. Further, because of the low production runs and volume, fixed costs on a per unit basis were expected to be relatively high. Consequently, the breakeven volume for the project was also expected to be high. New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting | 4212 Finally, Holtz needed to give Harris her assessment of the project’s riskiness. On the one hand, Design Your Own Doll had a relatively long payback period, introduced some untested elements into the manufacturing process, and depended on near-flawless operation of new customer-facing software and user interfaces. If the project stumbled for some reason, New Heritage risked damaging relationships with its best customers. On the other hand, the project had a relatively modest fixed cost ratio, and it played to the company’s key strength—creating a unique experience for its consumers. Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 Emily Harris still needed to complete her review and financial analysis of the two proposals. McAdams and Holtz were in frequent touch with Harris and both had offered to respond to any questions she might have about the proposals: the business case, the financial projections, the operating details, or anything else. Harris expected that she would indeed have some follow-up questions as she worked through her financial analyses. She also knew that her final recommendation might disappoint some executives within the division, who would scrutinize it closely. It had to be well-supported.

Effects of Marginalizing Social and Environmental Reporting

Effects of Marginalizing Social and Environmental Reporting AIM The aim of this research work is to observe and analyze the implications of marginalizing Social and Environmental reporting and explain how such reporting can be strengthened. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Problem statement Conventional accounting reports place more emphasis on the financial performance of reporting entities compared to their social and environmental performance. Guidance on social and environmental reporting is currently provided by organizations outside the accounting profession, such as AccountAbility (AA) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). We are going to discuss the implications of marginalizing social and environmental reporting. We will also shed light on how such reporting can be strengthened. Objectives To shed light on the above we will try to find out the following in our project: Identify what has impelled the need for social and environmental reporting. Identify how and why Social and Environmental reporting is being incorporated by entities into their reporting. Identify the alternative approaches to Social and Environmental reporting. Illustrate the relevance of the guidelines presented by organizations such as AccountAbility and Global Reporting Initiatives on Social and Environmental Reporting. Discuss the nature of voluntary disclosure. State the implications of marginalizing Social and Environmental reporting. Outline how such reporting could be strengthened and be effectively incorporated by reporting entities. RESEARCH METHODS The following methods were used to gather information to compile this project: Literature review was done. Previous working papers and journal articles of different accounting professionals and authors were analyzed in order to attain information that was both relevant and reliable in regards to social and environmental reporting. We also interviewed Mr Napolioni Batimala (Audit Manager à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" PWC) to derive the current information available regarding the issues concerning social and environmental reporting and its current stand. Case studies on three Fiji companies were conducted, in order to determine the situation in Fiji regarding Social and Environmental reporting. A qualitative data analysis of the results was carried out. These were selected based on their extensive environmental (FSC) and social (BAT) impacts. FMF was also considered, as it is the largest, manufacturing company in the country. British American Tobacco Fiji Ltd Fiji Sugar Corporation Flour mills of Fiji Library research was also conducted. Extensive archival research and literary research from respective journals was carried out in order to find extensive views and analysis and to get insight on past research and current thoughts on this topic. Annual reports were analyzed such as: British American Tobacco (2005 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2007) FSC (2005 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2008) Flour Mills of Fiji (2005-2008) Internet research was conducted as well. Proquest references were sourced to get hold of electronic journals for the issues of journals that USP library does not hold. The access of Internet references provided more up-to-date statistics and secular information that were available in library references. The South Pacific Stock Exchange (SPSE) website was also extensively visited. Corporate websites for these companies were also visited. This project was compiled from discussion generated in our group during meeting in which information obtained by the methods mentioned above were extensively analyzed. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The research topic we undertook reflected the social and economic reality of many countries. It no doubt is an indication of the future of many companies in Fiji itself. This project would not have been possible without the contribution of the following authorities and individuals for providing us with latest information and their views on social and environmental reporting. We are very appreciative to: Mr. Tevita Veituna Our Tutor Mr. Nacanieli Rika The Course Co-coordinator Mr. Napolioni Batimala à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Audit Manager (PWC) The organizations and individuals who have contributed information We would like to take this opportunity to thank anyone else who contributed towards the project in any way possible. DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY We, Rieaz, Moreen, Priya and Zafeen hereby declare that the information presented in this project is our original work and correct to date. All the working papers especially used in the literature review or in guidance of this project are clearly referenced in the bibliography with in text referencing given after the various quotations used. RATIONALE With the emergence of many social and environmental problems globally including gender discrimination in the workforce, and excessive use of child labor, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the thinning of the ozone layer and global warming, deforestation, species extinction, waste disposal, energy usage land, air, and water pollution, usage of toxic chemicals, and resource scarcity together with the occurrence of significant environmental disasters such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Bhopal gas leakà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Lodhia, S., 2004: p.111) and the growing power of the media to air these issues worldwide together with the apparent popularity of vocal special interest groups such as Greenpeace and Amnesty International, has resulted in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“increased community attention towards the identification of approaches to deal more effectively with these concernsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?(Wilmshurst Frost, 2000). This is what the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (2001) has to say, A combination of growing awareness of environmental issues by the general population and increased non-governmental organization (NGO) pressure and activity has led many corporations to reflect on and revise their corporate environmental responsibilities. This heightened anxiety amongst the members of society over the adverse effects of business operations on the physical and social environment has culminated into what is referred to as social and environmental reporting, or synonymously, corporate social responsibility reporting (CSR). Social and environmental reporting as acknowledged by Deegan (2006) is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“reporting that typically involves the provision, to a range of stakeholders, of information about the performance of an entity with regard to its interaction with its physical and social environment, inclusive of information about an entityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s support of employees, local and overseas communities, safety record and use of natural resources.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? This seminar paper endeavors to report on the main issues concerning social and environmental reporting. Thus, it will seek to address the following issues in relation to social and environmental reporting: how specific accounting theories help us to understand it, its perceived benefits to the reporting entities and society and some alternative approaches to social and environmental reporting such as AccountAbility and Global Reporting Initiative. It is important to note that in Fiji, social and environmental reporting is voluntary in nature. Furthermore, the implications of marginalizing social and environmental reporting is also discussed together with suggestions on how this type of reporting can be strengthened. INTRODUCTION Conventionally, the accounting function of business organizations have been based on the accounting entity, measurement of economic events in financial terms and users of reports who are only concerned with the financial implications of entity on business position and performance. However, there has been emerging a new focus in business reporting in this era where there are now various stakeholders who are demanding information on social and environmental performance of entities to be disclosed as well as financial performance. These demands have increased pressures on entities to use social and environmental issues in the decision-making process. This is particularly vital for the South Pacific Island communities, which have been plagued by a range of environmental problems culminating in sea-level rise and unexpected climatic change in the Islands. These issues are also critical in Fiji and in recent years growing public awareness has resulted in closer scrutiny of the activities of the major industries that may be contributing to environmental degradation. The oil spillages in Suvaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s major industrial area, Walu Bay (Fiji Times, 19 April 1998; Fiji Sun, 2 Feb 2000) and many activities as such have provoked the need for appropriate environmental and social legislation in Fiji. Many companies throughout the world publish reports that discuss their economic, environmental and social performance. This evidently shows that companies today are now embracing sustainability as a corporate goal, rather than simply aiming for profitability. These practices represent moves towards sustainable development by these organizations, which require these entities to unequivocally consider various aspects of their economic, social and environmental performance. ( Deegan 2006 p.327) Such disclosure includes that in-printed form such as- Examples standalone environmental reports, triple bottom line reports, sustainability and annual reports. In addition information that is disseminated on the Internet via corporate websites. (Hooks van Staden 2007 p.197) These social reporting practices are often referred to as corporate social responsibility reporting, or sustainability reporting. The latter covers aspects of both financial sustainability and performance, and social and environmental sustainability.(Deegan 2006 p.329) The moral arguments for greater corporate social responsibility arise from the increases in size, power and spread of multinational companies, as well as an increased awareness of the impact of companies on the environment and local communities.(Adams 2004 pg.731) This increase in awareness has been brought about by the media, the Internet, and the action of non-governmental organizations. These social reporting practices are often referred to as corporate social responsibility reporting, or sustainability reporting. The latter covers aspects of both financial sustainability and performance, and social and environmental sustainability.(Deegan 2006 p.329) The moral arguments for greater corporate social responsibility arise from the increases in size, power and spread of multinational companies, as well as an increased awareness of the impact of companies on the environment and local communities.(Adams 2004 pg.731) This increase in awareness has been brought about by the media, the Internet, and the action of non-governmental organizations. Social and environmental reporting developed as stakeholders began to demand information on other aspects of an organizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s operations, apart from their financial performance. Stakeholdersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ expectations and needs have extended to the entitiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ social and environmental performance. These were in the form of widespread interest of stakeholders in terms of demand for social reports of entities, pressure from environmental lobby groups to increase environmental disclosures, and also the increased competitiveness of the business environment where stakeholders today demand more accountability and transparency from organizations, concerning the utilization of their resources. Our project will basically emphasize on social and environmental reporting by business firms. We will also shed light on the organizations outside the accounting profession namely, AccountAbility (AA) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) who are providing guidance on social and environmental reporting. It also incorporates the implications of marginalizing social and environmental reporting and how such reporting can be strengthened and effectively be incorporated by reporting entities. The various theories relating to voluntary disclosure are looked at, such as the legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory and institutional theory etc. How the information is reported and what implications it might have on the users of social and environmental information, in helping make decisions is also discussed. An analysis on some Fiji companies has also been undertaken to determine the extent of environmental and social reporting. However, social and environmental reporting in Fiji, is voluntary in nature to this day. THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS The different theoretical perspectives need not be seen as competitors for explanation but as sources of interpretation of different factors at different levels of resolution. In this sense, legitimacy theory and stakeholder theory enrich, rather than compete for, our understandings of corporate social disclosure practices. (Gray, Kouhy and Lavers 1995 ) Specific accounting theories help us to understand social and environmental reporting, by seeking to explain why many organizations publicly release information about their social and environmental performance, even with the general lack of regulation in this area. That is, it helps us understand what motivates entities to release this information voluntarily. LEGITIMACY THEORY According to Lindblom, legitimacy is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“a condition or status which exists when an entitys value system is congruent with the value system of the larger social system of which the entity is a part. When a disparity, actual or potential, exists between the two value systems, there is a threat to the entitys legitimacy.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?[1] This theory asserts that organizations continually seek to ensure that they are perceived as operating within the bounds and norms of their respective societies (which change over time), that is, they attempt to ensure that their activities are perceived by outside parties as being legitimate. Information disclosure is therefore vital to establishing corporate legitimacy.(Deegan 2006 pg.275) Under Legitimacy Theory, an entity would undertake certain social activities (and provide an account of this), if management recognizes that the particular activities were expected by the society in which it operates. It is part of their social contract, or as is often stated by companies, part of their license to operate. If an entity fails to undertake these activities that are expected by the community, it would be identified as breaching its social contract. This will result in the entity no longer being considered legitimate. Therefore this will have an effect on the support the entity receives from the society, and consequently its survival. Hence, success for an entity under this theory is impendent on it fulfilling its social contract. Lindblom, 1994 and Patten, 2000 state that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“according to legitimacy theory, social disclosure is a means to deal with the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s exposure to political and social pressuresà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (as cited in Freedman Jaggi 2005). Those companies without much regard to environmental and social performance might find it faced with sanctions or explicit regulations imposed on them. In addition, they may also find it very difficult to obtain resources and finance or find the support of the community in which it works in the form of employee dissatisfaction. Legitimacy theory assumes that society will allow an organization to continue operations up until the firm meets the societyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s expectation. And the firm generally meets expectations to avoid further government regulations on operations or bad effects on reputation. But if there are some expectations that the management feels are unreasonable, they may try to change stakeholder expectations or try to justify their actions. Legitimacy theory has been examined in numerous empirical studies with the results being fairly consistent in confirming the theory. For example the Deegan and Gordon (1996) study indicated among other findings, that there was a positive correlation between the environmental sensitivity of the industry to which the corporation belonged and the level of corporate environment disclosure. In addition, another study by Deegan, Rankin and Vought (2000) found that companies did appear to change their disclosure policies around the time of major company and industry related incidents. That is, social disclosure policies in the annual reports of companies tended to change when major social incidents or disasters occurred in the industry. However, legitimacy is not only achieved by the actual conduct of the organization. Legitimacy is gained as long as the society perceives that the firm is acting responsibly. But sometimes, the societyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s perceptions are quite misplaced as information disclosures, which are vital to establishing legitimacy do not give an accurate account of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s activities. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“An organization may diverge dramatically from societal norms yet retain legitimacy because the divergence goes unnoticed.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?(Suchman, 1995, p. 574) So if society does not know that a firm is not acting ethically, then legitimacy cannot be threatened. Lindblom describes 4 strategies of legitimization that an organization can adopt. The firm may seek to: educate and inform its à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"relevant publicsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ about actual changes in the organisationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance and activities. change the perceptions of the relevant public without having to change the organisationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s actual behaviour manipulate perception by deflecting attention from the issue of concern to other related issues through an appeal to, for example, emotive symbols change external expectations of its performance Hence, we can conclude from the perspective of this theory that, social and environmental reporting may be just a tool that entities use to legitimize or justify their operations. Particularly in the case of entities in industries which have extensive environmental and social impacts. For example, petroleum, oil or gas companies, tobacco producers, pharmaceutical companies, and manufacturing companies. STAKEHOLDER THEORY Stakeholder theory is concerned with how management addresses the various issues associated with relationships with stakeholders. In other words, it is how an organization manages its stakeholders. According to Freeman (1984), traditionally, the firms used the inputs of investors, suppliers and employees to convert inputs into usable outputs which customers use and return to the firm some capital benefit. By this, firms only address the needs and desires of those four parties which are investors, suppliers, employees and customers. Stakeholder theory acknowledges that there are other parties involved, including governmental bodies, political groups, trade associations, trade unions, communities, and associated corporations. This view of the firm is applied to identify the specific stakeholders of a corporation, that is, the normative theory of stakeholder identifies as well as examines the conditions under which these parties should be treated as stakeholders, the descriptive theory of stakeholder. The two make up the modern treatment of Stakeholder Theory. It attempts to describe, prescribe, and derive alternatives for corporate governance that include and balance a multitude of interests. In the ruling paradigm of corporate governance, those who invest their capital into any type of business, and those who risk losing their investment in parts or in total, have a right and a responsibility to govern the business they have invested into. Capital investors or principals either govern the business themselves, or they do so with support of agents or managers who they may appoint. One way to sum up the use of the stakeholder concept in the management literature and stakeholder theories is by reference to the framework suggested by Donaldson and Preston (22). It can be used in a number of ways, they identify a descriptive, and an instrumental and a normative aspect of stakeholder theory that can help understand and classify the different facets of stakeholder theory. They argue that: Stakeholder theory is descriptive as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“it describes the corporation as a constellation of cooperative and competitive interests possessing intrinsic valueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (p.66). This is also known as the positive approach. Stakeholder theory is instrumental since à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“it establishes a framework for examining the connections, if any, between the practice of stakeholder management and the achievement of a variety of corporate performance goalsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Lastly, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the fundamental basisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? of stakeholder theory is normative and involves acceptance of the following ideas: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“stakeholders are persons or groups with legitimate interests in procedural and /or substantive aspects of corporate activityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the interests of all stakeholders are of intrinsic valueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? The difference between the three uses of stakeholder theory is explained by the fact that they imply different types of claims and include different forms of reasoning for their justification. Positive (or descriptive) uses of stakeholder theory make claims to truth and are justified through constative discourses, strategic (or instrumental) uses make claims of effectiveness and employ pragmatic discourses, and normative uses of stakeholder theory can entail different types of claims (rightness, goodness) and be justified through different types of discourses (moral, ethical). However, this research report is limited to explain that the stakeholder theory comprises of an ethical/moral or normative branch also known as the prescriptive branch and a positive or managerial branch. The ethical or normative branch of the stakeholder theory basically deals with fairness, that is, to treat all stakeholders the same. While the positive or managerial approach focus more on the ability of the stakeholders to influence or be influenced by a company. It is primarily a theory of the private-sector firm although the insights can be applied in parts to public sector settings. This is due to the circumstance that public management responsibilities are similar to private sector management tasks not only formally but also concerning the rising network nature of organizations in both spheres. It gives a more refined solution by referring to particular groups within society, that is, stakeholder groups while the Legitimacy theory discusses the expectations of society in general. Stakeholder theory recognises that as different stakeholder groups will have different opinions about how an organization should carry out its operations, there will be a variety of social contracts à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"negotiatedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ with different stakeholder groups, instead of one contract with society in general. Stakeholder Theory (Normative/Ethical Perspective): The ethical or normative branch of Stakeholder theory argues that all stakeholders have the right to be treated fairly by an organization, regardless of the resources that they individually control or how economically powerful they are. Therefore organizations should consider the rights of all parties affected by the operation of the entity. The definition of stakeholders in this case would include à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s objectivesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Freeman 1984). Stakeholder Theory (Positive/Managerial Perspective): The managerial or positive branch of stakeholder theory predicts that management is more likely to focus on meeting the expectations of powerful stakeholders. These are those that have the greatest potential to influence the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ability to generate profits, that is have the most economic power and influence over the firm. Under this perspective, management would be expected to undertake those economic, social and environmental activities expected by the powerful stakeholders, and also provide an account of these activities to these stakeholders. (Deegan 2006 p.298) Defining Stakeholders A stakeholder in an organization is by definition any identifiable group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organizations objective (Freeman, 1984: 25). As a broad definition this includes many individuals or organizations for instance, governments, shareholders, creditors, employees and their families, local charities, local communities, media and so forth. It also allows the inclusion of groups such as terrorists and competitors (Phillips, 1997). For clarity this dilemma can partly be resolved by narrowing the definition in a meaningful way, that is, to divide the stakeholders into primary and secondary stakeholders. By following Clarksons argument (Clarkson, 1994), Mitchell et al. claimed that the use of risk as a second defining property for the stake in an organization helps to narrow down the stakeholder field to those with legitimate claims, despite the legitimacy of their relationship to the firm or their power to influence the firm. (Mitchell et al., 1997, 857). Therefore, a primary stakeholder was identified as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"one whose continuing participation to the corporation is vital as a going concernà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. While secondary stakeholders were identified to be à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"those who affect or influence, or are affected or influenced by the corporation but they are not engaged in transactions with the corporation and are not crucial for its survivalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. According to Clarkson, primary stakeholders must primarily be considered by management, as they are essential for the survival of a company. Also, in order for the company to succeed in the long run, it must primarily be administered for the benefit of all stakeholders. This definition may be related to the managerial branch of the stakeholder theory that will be discussed later. However, with the focus on primary stakeholders; it is challenged by the ethical branch of the stakeholder theory that all stakeholders have a right to be considered by management. Critiques of Stakeholder Theory There have been a variety of critiques of stakeholder theory from many viewpoints. Weiss (1995) discards the descriptive and instrumental usage of stakeholder theory and comes to a conclusion that the normative use à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“probably might be too limited and has a too weak foundation to be considered as either useful or valid.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Further critiques suggest that business interests are vital in both the identification of stakeholders and prioritizing their demands (Thomas, 1999; Banerjee, 2000). The stakeholdersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ needs and demands may be limited particularly where stakeholders groups have very different social, cultural and political agenda. A great deal of critique has been towards the level of engagement with stakeholders that is, little consultation instead of genuine dialogue and the exchange of ideas. That is, the stakeholderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s needs are not taken seriously. INSTITUTIONAL THEORY Institutional Theory is a relatively new perspective that assumes that managers of an organization will develop or adopt new practices (such as social and environmental reporting) as a result of a variety of institutional pressures. For example, managers may be concerned that if they do not keep up with other entities in developing new practices, they will risk disapproval from some of their economically powerful stakeholders. SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY According to Godfrey, Hodgson and Holmes (2003), social contract has been described as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the interaction between individuals or organizations within society through implicit or explicit boundaries of behaviorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, where implicit boundaries are moral obligations and explicit boundaries are regulatory requirements. Therefore, the social contract explains the boundaries of acceptable interaction between participants in a society. The social contract is sometimes used to explain the behaviour of firms where productive organizations are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“subject to moral evaluations which transcend the boundaries of the political systems that contain them. The underlying function of all such organizations from the standpoint of society is to enhance social welfare through satisfying consumer and worker interests, while at the same time remaining within the bounds of justice. When they fail to live up to these expectations they are deserving of moral criticismsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Thus, because of a businessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ social contract with stakeholders within a community, it is expected to perform only those actions which are desirable and beneficial to the whole society, rather than having to the investors only. This will give the firm acceptance from the society. Hence, management responds positively to environmental and social issues, because it has it has moral obligations to the society and failure to exercise care while carrying out their activities i.e. doing misdeeds towards the community will result in introduction of regulatory requirements to control management performance on environment and employee, for example. POSITIVE ACCOUNTING THEORY: Positive Accounting Theory predicts that all people are driven by self-interest. As such, particular social and environmental reporting activities, and their related disclosure, would only take place if they had positive wealth implications for the management involved. Therefore motives for social and environmental reporting can be a result of a reporting entityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s desire to maximize financial returns for shareholders and (or) managers by using social and environmental reporting as a tool to maintain and enhance the support of economically powerful stakeholders. On the other hand, it may also be a result of an entityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s desire to discharge duties of accountability for the social and environmental impact the organization (potentially) has on a wide range of stakeholders. LITERATURE REVIEW Historical Development: Non-financial disclosure existed in a variety of forms in corporate reports in periods long before the 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s.Studies have found that such voluntary disclosure have existed for a number of decades. For example, Unerman (2000a,b) found evidence of social disclosures in annual reports of the Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell since 1897,with these disclosures becoming more prevalent from the 1950s.Adams te (1998) analysed UK banks and retailers from 1935,Tinker mark (1987,1988) and Neimark (1992) analysed social-type disclosures in the annual reports of the US company General Motors from 1916.Studies by Campbell (2000) and others have examined social and environmental disclosures in companies from the 1960s and 1970s. Thus, the development of social and environmental reporting in the 1990s was a development of non-financial reporting practice rather than a completely new phenomenon. (Deegan 2006 p.331). A review on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ Social responsibility and impact on societyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? by Mohamed Zairi (2000) discusses the emerging commitment to address both environment and societal concerns, an area which is growing in terms of significance and proven to impact on business performances, reputation and corporate image. The observation made was that the world wide organizations have staged conferences to debate the relevance of social and environmental reporting on corporations and stakeholders. Also companies have started to make real headway in this area of reporting by proposing a framework that deals with social and environmental reporting and disclosing issues that concerns social and environmental reporting. According to Trevor Wilmshurst and Geoffrey Frost (2000) , they tried to analyze the link between the importances of, as stated by reporters of specific factors in the decision to disclose environmental information and actual reporting practices. They used Legitimacy theory as an explanatory theory of environmental disclosure. The legitimacy t