Literature Review of Finance and Share Price

Literature Review of Finance and Share Price LITERATURE REVIEW This study relates to examine the relationship of cash flow from operations, earning and sales with share price and the previous research has predicted the comparative abilities of cash flow, earning and sales but this study is only concerned with the relationship of cash flow, earning and sales with share price. In the finance literature that market forces determine share price equal to the discounted value of a stream of expected future cash flows (Hollister et al., 2002). Cash flows represent amounts investors expect to receive in the form of dividend payments or from the sale of their shares and not necessarily the annual operating cash flows generated by a firm. Consequently, it is in a very broad sense that share price is considered to embody a firms future cash flows. Even if share price is often thought of and evaluated in terms of cash flows, earnings is also known to be extremely important to managers and analysts because of the key information it conveys about future prospects (Brigham and Ehrhardt, 2002). Various researchers examined value in terms of share return that Earnings reflect a stronger correlation with share return than does current operating cash flows (Watts, 1977; Dechow, 1994; Bartov et al, 1997) .It has been shown that earnings better predicts future operating cash flows than does current operating cash flows because accruals in earnings â€Å"offset the negative correlation in cash flow changes to produce earnings changes that are much less negatively serially correlated ( Dechow, et al 1998) that is why earnings, rather than current operating cash flows, tends to be used in firm share valuations. Earnings quality can be affected by sales volatility (Dechow and Dichev (2002) and Francis et al. (2004). By and large the greater the sales volatility, the more unstable is the operating environment. This results in larger estimation errors for accruals and diminished earnings quality. It gives an idea about how monthly sales announcements of major department and discount stores provide information for investors not only for the retail giants but also for their suppliers (Olsen and Dietrich (1985). The sales volume announcements for the retailers furnish information on the future cash flow prospects for their suppliers and, thus, are incorporated into the suppliers share prices. Dharan (1987) examined the comparative abilities of accrual sales and cash collections of sales to predict future cash flows. It is found that when cash realization occurs in a period subsequent to sales realization, cash flow forecasts from earnings based on accrual sales are better than cash flow forecasts from earnings based on cash collections. This is because of accrual sales â€Å"provides information on managements expectations about future cash flows (Dharan, 1987). Greenberg, Johnson, and Ramesh (1986) used 1963-82 compustate data to test the ability of earnings and CFFO to predict future CFFO, for each firm two separate ordinary least squares regression models were used. The first model test used previous earnings against current CFFO (earnings model) the second model used CFFO for lags of 1-5 years against current CFFO (cash flows model).R square for the earnings and cash flows model were compared and the model with the higher R square was determined to be the better predictor. The results showed that earnings outperformed CFFO in predicting future CFFO. It was concluded that the study provides evidence in support of the FASBs assertions that current earnings is a better predictor of future cash flows than is current cash flows. Juan M. Rivara(1996) found out the accuracy and the consensus among forecasters of earnings estimates for U.S. domestic and U.S. multinational corporations, it was observed that the accuracy of earnings forecasts is significantly lower for purely domestic firms than for U.S based multinationals. Like wise the level of consensus in earnings estimates submitted by financial analysts is significantly lower for U.S. domestic than for U.S. multinational firms. The accounting profession requires that firms disaggregate net income into specific components, even though earnings disaggregation is important for assessing firm profitability, there is little empirical evidence that the classification scheme actually improves profitability forecasts by analyzing the accuracy improvements in out-of-sample forecasts of one-year ahead return-on-equity (ROE) to examine the predictive content of earnings disaggregations (Fairfield, Sweeney, Yohn) .The results show that the classification scheme prescribed by the accounting profession does increase the predictive content of reported earnings. It was found forecasting improvements from earnings disaggregation. These improvements go beyond separating extraordinary items and discontinued operations from the other components of earnings. Further disaggregation of earnings (into operating earnings, non-operating earnings and taxes, and special items) improves forecasts of ROE one year ahead. (Ball and Watts (1972), Albrecht, Lookabill McKeown (1977), Watts and Leftwich (1977) and Lev (1983) studied the Earnings ability to predict future earnings studied first or second order autocorrelations and or forecasts over one or two-year horizons and provided evidence to support a random walk model that is uncorrelated earnings changes, However, random walk may not be descriptive of the earnings process Where as Ramesh and Thiagarajan (1989) rejected a random walk earnings model and Lipe and Kormendi (1993) show that higher order, rather than random walk, models are descriptive of market-adjusted earnings time-series process. Finger (1994) found out the earnings ability to predict future earnings and future cash flow from operations1 one through eight years ahead using annual data from1935-87 for 50 firms. I use time-series methods to test firm-specific predictive ability over the entire time period (hereafter in-sample regression tests) and then compare out-of-sample forecast errors to assess earnings ability to improve earnings or cash flow forecasts up to eight years ahead. He found that earnings are a significant predictor of future earnings, in sample, for 88% of the firms. The random walk provides better out-of-sample forecasts than do individually estimated models one year ahead for 52% of the sample firms, Out of sample forecasts show that random walk models outperform individually estimated earnings models for one-year but not for four- or eight-year horizons. Earnings, used alone and with cash flow, are a significant predictor of cash flow for the majority of firms. However, out-of-sample foreca sts show that adding earnings rarely improves cash flow forecasts. Cash flow is a better short-term predictor of cash flow than are earnings, both in and out of sample, and the two are approximately equivalent long-term. The nature of the information contained in the accrual and cash flow components of earnings and the extent to which this information is reflected in stock prices Sloan (1996). It is found that earning performance attributable to the accrual component of earnings exhibits lower persistence than earnings performance attributable to the cash flow component of earnings, hence results also indicated that stock prices act as if investors fixate on earnings, failing to distinguish fully between the different properties of the accrual and cash flow components of earnings. Lorek Willinger (1996) the time series properties and predictive abilities of cash flow data. Results indicate that this model clearly outperforms firm-specific and common-structure ARIMA models as well as a multivariate, cross-sectional regression model popularized in the literature. These findings are robust across alternative cash-flow metrics (e.g., levels, per-share, and deflated by total assets) and are consistent with the viewpoint espoused by the FASB that cash-flow prediction is enhanced by consideration of earnings and accrual accounting data. Bowen, Burgstahler Daley (1986) examined relationships between signals provided by accrual earnings and various measures of cash flow, Findings indicate that Correlations between traditional cash flow measures and alternative CF measures that incorporate more extensive adjustments are low, 2nd the correlations between alternative measures of CF and earnings are, while the correlations between traditional measures of CF and earnings are high. These first two results are consistent with earnings and alternative measures of CF that incorporate more extensive adjustments conveying different signals. Finally, for four out of five cash flow variables, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that random walk models predict CF as well as (and often better than) models based on other flow variables. An exception to this general result is that net income plus depreciation and amortization and working capital from operations appear to be the best predictors of cash flow from operations. Overall there results are not consistent with the FASBs statements that earnings numbers provide better forecasts of future cash flows than do cash flow numbers. Earlier additional information content of cash flows relies primarily on cross- sectional regression models relating both earnings and cash flows to security return metrics that assumes a uniform relation between earnings (cash flow from operations) and security returns across observations. Ali (1994) however, conditions the incremental information content of unexpected earnings and cash flows from operations on their magnitude with respect to price. It is found that changes in earnings (cash flows from operations) are not expected to persist and thus have reduced implications for returns. Cheng, Liu Schaefer (1996) investigated the Earnings Permanence and the Incremental Information Content of Cash Flows from Operations, findings suggest that the incremental information content of accounting earnings decreases, and the incremental information content of cash flows from operations increases, with a decrease in the permanence of earnings. Barth, Cram Nelson investigated the role of accruals in predicting future cash flows and findings proved that disaggregating earnings into cash flow and the major components of accruals significantly enhances earnings predictive ability, findings also showed relation between cash flow next year and current cash flow and each component of accruals is significant and has a sign consistent with prediction. One of two researchers has re examined the association between earnings forecast error and earnings predictability because there is evidence suggesting that deliberate earnings forecast optimism is not an effective mechanism for gaining access to managers information ( Eames et al. 2002; Matsumoto 2002) ,For earnings level to be an important control variable in examinations of the association between forecast error and earnings predictability, there must be associations between earnings level and both forecast error and earnings predictability. Numerous studies report an inverse relation between forecast error and the level of reported earnings ( Brown 2001; Eames et al. 2002; Eames and Glover 2002; Hwang et al. 1996). The association reflects both earnings shocks due to unanticipated events and earnings management. Dechow Dichev suggested a new measure of one aspect of the quality of working capital accruals and earnings, they illustrated the usefulness of analysis in two ways. First, they examined the relation between measure of accrual quality and firm characteristics. The nature of the accrual process suggests that the magnitude of estimation errors will be systematically related to business fundamentals like the length of the operating cycle and variability of operations. It was found that accrual quality is negatively related to the absolute magnitude of accruals, the length of the operating cycle, loss incidence, and the standard deviation of sales, cash flows, accruals, and earnings, and positively related to firm size. Results suggest that these observable firm characteristics can be used as instruments for accrual quality. This is important because the regression based estimation of accrual quality demands long time series of data and the availability of subsequent cash flows, which m akes it costly or infeasible for certain practical applications (e.g quality-of-accruals-based trading strategies). Second they illustrated the usefulness of analysis by exploring the relation between measure of accrual quality and earnings persistence. Firms with low accrual quality have more accruals that are unrelated to cash flow realizations, and so have more noise and less persistence in their earnings. Indeed, they find a strong positive relation between accrual quality and earnings persistence. Although the measure of accrual quality is theoretically and empirically related to the absolute magnitude of accruals, and Sloan (1996) documents that the level of accruals is less persistent than cash flows. Probing further, they found out that accrual quality and level of accruals are incremental to each other in explaining earnings persistence, with accrual quality the more powerful determinant. There are two widely held views regarding managements motivations to managing earnings and each has quite different implications for the predictive usefulness of the resultant numbers .One view is that earnings management is motivated by mangers attempt to sustain the overvaluation of the firms stock price and to enhance managers personal welfare by disguising the true underlying economic performance of the firm (opportunistic perspective). An alternative view is that managers manage earnings to reveal private value-relevant information about the future prospects of a firm (informational perspective). They shown that originally reported (managed) earnings of firms classified as managing earnings for opportunistic reasons are less predictive of future cash flows relative to the restated (unmanaged) numbers. Conversely, they find that originally reported (managed) earnings of firms classified as managing earnings for informational reasons exhibit greater predictive ability with respect to future cash flows relative to restated (unmanaged) numbers. (Badertscher , Collins and lys 2007). Theoretical and empirical work in accounting and finance has documented the importance of firm size when testing the information in security prices with respect to future earnings (Collins et al., 1987) and interested in assessing the information in security prices with respect to the predictive ability of earnings, their finding that price-based-earnings forecasts outperform time-series forecasts by a greater margin for larger firms than smaller firms is of direct interest here. Their result implies that firm-size may help to explain inter-firm differences in the predictive ability of quarterly earnings data and helps to motivate the consideration of firm-size as an independent variable in the current study. Foster et al (1984) report that firm-size independently explains a substantial portion of the variation in post announcement drifts in security returns due to potentially misspecified quarterly earnings expectation models. The magnitude of abnormal returns associated with good or bad news earnings signals is inversely related to firm-size Freeman (1987), speculates that these findings might simply be due to differential time-series properties of the earnings numbers of large and small firms-an uncontrolled factor in his research design-and calls for future research to examine the possibility. Bathke , Lorek Willinger ( 1989) found out differences in the auto regressive parameters of the Foster and Brown and Rozeff ARIMA models across firm-size strata . One-step-ahead quarterly earnings forecasts were generated by a set of best fitting time-series models. Their Tests also indicated that large and medium size firms generated one-step ahead forecasts that were significantly more accurate than smaller firms at the .05 level and they obtained similar predictive findings on the significance of the size-effect in a supplementary analysis of the non seasonal and volatile growth and inconsistent strata membership firms. ChengDana examined the persistence of cash flow components in predicting future cash and the findings were that the cash flow components from various operating activities persist differentially. They found out that the cash related to sales, cost of goods sold, operating expenses and interest persists a great deal into future cash flows; cash related to other has lower persistence; and cash related to taxes has no persistence and then they incorporated accrual components into persistence regression model and found that the persistence of cash flow components are generally higher than those of accruals; however, accrual components do enhance model performance, their findings are consistent with the AICPAs and financial analysts rationale for their recommendation that the financial effects of a companys core and non-core cash flows should be distinguished. Reference Ashiq Ali â€Å" Incremental information content of earnings , working capital from operations and cash flow † Journal of Accounting research†( spring 1994): 61-74 Robert M. Bowen, David Burgstahler, Lane A. Daley â€Å"Evidence on the Relationships between Earnings and Various Measures of Cash Flow † The Accounting Review, Vol. 61, No. 4 (Oct., 1986), pp. 713-725 Richard G. Sloan â€Å"Do Stock Prices Fully Reflect Information in Accruals and Cash Flows about Future Earnings† The Accounting Review, Vol. 71, No. 3 (Jul., 1996), pp. 289-315. Kenneth S. Lorek and G. Lee Willinger â€Å"A Multivariate Time-Series Prediction Model for Cash-Flow Data† The Accounting Review, Vol. 71, No. 1 (Jan., 1996), pp. 81-102 Catherine A. Finger â€Å"The Ability of Earnings to Predict Future Earnings and Cash Flow† Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 210-22 C. S. Agnes Cheng, Chao-Shin Liu, Thomas F. Schaefer â€Å"Earnings Permanence and the Incremental Information Content of Cash Flows from operations† Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 34, No. 1 ( Spring, 1996), pp. 173-181. Olsen, C. and J. Dietrich, Vertical Information Transfers: The Association Between Retailers Sales Announcements and Suppliers Security Returns, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 144-166, 1985. Juan M. Rivera (1996) â€Å" Prediction Performance of Earnings Forecasts: The Case of U.S. Multinationals.†Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 22, No. 2 (2nd Qtr. 1991), pp. 265-288. Patricia M. Fairfield Richard J. Sweeney Teri Lombardi Yohn â€Å"Accounting classification and predictive content of earning† The Accounting Review, Vol. 71, No. 3 (Jul., 1996), pp. 337-355. BALL, R R.WATTS â€Å"Some Time Series Properties of Accounting Income† Journal of Finance (June 1972): 663-82 Mary E. Barth, Donald P. Cram, Karen K. Nelson â€Å"Accruals and the Prediction of Future Cash Flows †The Accounting Review, Vol. 76, No. 1 (Jan., 2001), pp. 27-58 Michael J. Eames and Steven M. Glover â€Å"Earnings Predictability and the Direction of Analysts Earnings Forecast Errors †Accounting Review, Vol. 78, No. 3 (Jul., 2003), pp. 707-724. Patricia M. Dechow and Ilia D. Dichev â€Å"The Quality of Accruals and Earnings: The Role of Accrual Estimation Errors †The Accounting Review, Vol. 77, Supplement: Quality of Earnings Conference (2002), pp. 35-59. Patricia M. Dechow and Ilia D. Dichev â€Å"The Quality of Accruals and Earnings: The Role of Accrual Estimation Errors †The Accounting Review, Vol. 77, Supplement: Quality of Earnings Conference (2002), pp. 35-59. Brad Badertscher , Daniel W. Collins Thomas Z. Lys â€Å"Earnings Management and the Predictive Ability of Accruals with Respect to Future Cash Flows † Journal of finance, (2007) , PP 01-52. Allen W. Bathke, Jr., Kenneth S. Lorek, G. Lee Willinger â€Å"Firm-Size and the Predictive Ability of Quarterly Earnings Data † The Accounting Review, Vol. 64, No. 1 (Jan., 1989), pp. 49-68 C. S. Agnes Cheng Dana Hollie (1996) â€Å"The Persistence of Cash Flow Components into Future Cash Flows† Journal of finance, pp 1-32.

Mapping The Violence in Colombia Essay -- War, Structural Violence

Mapping The Violence in Colombia The peace researcher Johan Galtung proposes a typology of violence, constructed as direct and indirect, formal-informal and visible-invisible. Regarding it as a triangle, Galtung (1990) states that typology of violence corresponds roughly to the ‘ABC’ levels of the conflict triangle: Attitude, Behaviour and Contradictions. In the first level Direct violence (acts of violence as such) and in second and third level underneath the surface; Structural violence and Cultural violence. See figure below. The ‘Structural Violence’ concept by Galtung (1969) asserts that the structure and culture in societies are a central facet on the explanation of violence; thus, ‘human beings are being influenced so that their somatic and mental realisations are below their potential’. The author distinguishes two types of outcomes of violence: a) effect that violence has; and b) the form of violence. The first is violence manifested on either person-to-person basis (such as familiar violence) or conflict confrontation (i.e. shooting). In the second one, the forms of violence are manifested within society, in its systems and institutionalised practices, and also violence as social phenomena and its constructions in mass media. This will set the basis for the next section to contextualise the multiple causes of violence in conflict situations, such as the case of Colombia, in order to understand the journalism coverage and the development of peace initiatives. I conside r it important to analyse profound violence because of its complexity, diverse variables and causes involved, such as social, economic, political and psychological causes that help to comprehend this society and its journalism with violent and ... ... studies on violence as the following: ‘literary-anthropological (urban scenarios focused on gangs); studies centred in psychological and individual effects of violence (kidnap); analysis of perceptions on violence in all its manifestations, from every-day life; and the internally displaced because of violence†. Violence and sacrifice are two concepts constantly seen in Colombian social imagery; the guerrillas, the paramilitary and political parties propose that it is necessary to sacrifice in order to achieve social goals. Therefore, the sacrifice of martyrs and innocent civilians is justified in either side by demagogic discourse. The notion of sacrifice is also seen in the journalists; the majority of those I interviewed (who were threatened and have been in exile) also exercise the notion of sacrifice for their profession and country by doing their work.

Organizational Culture at Krispy Kreme Essay

Organizational culture is defined as â€Å"a system of shared meaning held by members† of an organization which effectively sets it apart from other groups or organizations (Robbins, 2005). The system referred to in the definition is in reality a group of characteristics which are valued by the members of an organization, in particular, and the entire organization, in general. These characteristics, which are found to be predominant in an organization, are actually advocated and promoted by the founders of the organization. By and large, organizational culture has seven general characteristics which generally describe a certain organization. These are: â€Å"innovation and risk taking, attention to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness, and stability† (Robbins, 2005). Innovation and risk taking refers to the tendency of management to adopt a policy which permits or encourages its workforce to seek out and introduce new methods and approaches even if some amount or risk-taking is involved. Aggressive companies are aptly described by this characteristic. Attention to detail, on the other hand, means that management insists that employees exhibit absolute accuracy in every facet of operation. This is prevalent among companies engaged in the production of precision instruments and devices. Outcome orientation is an organizational characteristic which simply means that the owners of the business are willing to sacrifice adherence to prescribed rules, regulations, and procedures if by doing so optimal results are achieved. Concern for the safety and well-being of its workers are the primary objectives of an organization which is characterized as being people oriented. For this type of an organization, outcome or even profit take secondary position to the welfare of workers. This means that no matter how profitable a decision could be for the company, it could get sidelined if evidence suggests that the safety of the employees would be compromised. Meanwhile, team orientation should be interpreted as the inclination of an organization to organize work activities around work teams rather than individual workers. In other words, the organization believes that teams perform better than individuals. Aggressiveness refers to the management policy of not only tolerating an aggressive attitude among its workers but also encouraging competition. This characteristic also implies that the organization has the tendency to resort to expansion without waiting for stability to be firmly established. Finally, stability is the opposite characteristic of aggressiveness. The company prefers the stable, profitable status quo over hasty expansion plans. An organization characterized by stability is not in a hurry to strive for growth and expansion and is usually contented with the present so long as its desired profit is realized. In the case of Krispy Kreme, its statement of objective clearly made known its aggressiveness, i. . : â€Å"As we enter the 21st Century, Krispy Kreme is not slowing down† (Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. , n. d. ). This statement depicts a company in a hurry – a characteristic which is very admirable as far as an aggressive individual is concerned. Data available in the company website support this declaration. After the initial public offering of its stock in the year 2000, the first international outlet near Toronto in Canada was inaugurated in December 2001. The Canadian expansion started the company’s thrust towards international growth. Today, barely eight years later, Krispy Kreme products are already available in Mexico, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Dubai, Hongkong, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia (Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. , n. d. ). The other appealing characteristics of the company are: innovation and risk taking, and team orientation. The company took its first calculated risk as early as 1950 when it decided to be innovative and sought to improve its doughnut-making process by designing its own doughnut-making equipment. Their objective was achieved through the efforts of a team of equipment engineers that it organized, thereby putting emphasis on the importance of team orientation. The collaboration of the engineers allowed Krispy Kreme to become the first company to serve hot doughnuts to their customers. Their engineering team is also continuously improving their hot doughnut technology to preserve the company’s leadership status in the hot doughnut business (Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. , n. d. ) The culture at Krispy Kreme could also be characterized as people oriented because the organization is customer-responsive. The workforce is composed of employees who are recruited because of their innate friendliness and service-oriented tendency. Moreover, employees are not bound by hard and fast rules in their dealing with customers. There exists a rather low level of formalization in the company and in its stores that allows employees to make the necessary adjustments that would enable them to deal satisfactorily with different kinds of people who come from all walks of life. Management refers to this policy as empowerment because it allows Krispy Kreme employees to do what they think is necessary in order to make their customers happy and satisfied. Being people oriented (particularly customer-responsive), Krispy Kreme has made it clear that employees should be painstaking in their efforts to please their customers and ensure that they keep coming back (Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, n. d. ). By cultivating and sustaining a strong culture, the management has effectively informed its employees exactly what the company expects of them. Foremost among these is for the engineering team to keep on discovering new technologies that would improve their doughnut-making capability and preserve company leadership in the industry. Then its army of chefs should assume adequate vigilance in the preparation of their products so that customers are always satisfied with Krispy Kreme doughnuts and coffee, among others. Finally, store front-liners are expected to go out of their way to satisfy customer needs – to be sincerely friendly, helpful, and accommodating, thereby generating customer loyalty (Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. n. d. ). As Robbins (2005) has specifically prescribed, a strong culture should have a â€Å"high degree of sharedness and intensity [which] creates an internal climate of high behavioral control. † At Krispy Kreme, only applicants who are perceived to fit the bill are hired. Then the culture of the company is drilled into them from day one, thereby effectively shaping the organizational behav ior of every worker.

20 Financial Accounting Topics for Research Proposal

20 Financial Accounting Topics for Research Proposal Our previous guide emphasized on facts based on Financial Accounting to help you carry out a research in the light of the facts we provided. Our second guide focuses on different topics related to financial accounting to help you pick the best topics for research. Besides having 20 research topics for your proposal, this guide also contains an essay based on one of them. In addition to this, we have also mentioned a few references at the bottom of this guide as well as the previous one to help you search relevant information regarding the topic you choose. Do not forget to go through our last guide, which contains tips on how to write a research proposal.  It includes the patterns and structures on which a research proposal should be written. It is a must read for students preparing a research proposal for the very first time. So, here are our 20 topics to help you make up your mind to come up with a topic for accounting topics for research of your own or selecting one from the list: Can Accounting Software Help Reduce Cost? How Accounting Software Improve Productivity Can Financial Accounting Reduce Risk Management? A Research on How Financial Accounting is Transforming The Impact of Auditing on the Financial Position of a Business What is Causing Financial Instability among Giant Businesses? The Impact of Increasing Number of Accounting Graduates in the World A Study on How Long Term Debts Affect an Organisation Can a Balance Sheet Give a Company’s Financial Standing?   Is Computerized Accounting Better Than Manual Accounting?   Why Should an Organization Have a Separate Finance Department?   How Would Financial Statements Look Like Without Accounting Standards?   How are Accountants Creating Their Names in the Accounting firm   Is Financial Reporting Critical to Ensure Customer’s Confidence?   Is there a Need to Change Accounting Standards With Evolving Technology?   Why Companies Lie in Accounting Books   Are Current Accounting Standards the Ideal Standards?   Why is There a Need For Regulation in Financial Reporting?   Should Companies Keep Their Financial Instruments Safe?   Is Accounting Only For Big Businesses? To help you even further, we have selected one of the topics above and written a proposal and essay for you to understand how it should be done. Here is a sample essay with a proposal. Sample Essay: Can Accounting Software Help Reduce Cost? The proposal will discuss why you chose this topic and what you wish to find out. Proposal: The use of computer software in accounting is on a constant rise. Computers seem to have replaced human accountants in different industries. Many experts believe it is due to cost difference, but is there more to this issue? This research paper will discuss the impact of computer accounting software, and answer if it really helps reduce cost. Essay: The most difficult and frustrating part about running a business is managing its costs. A successful business requires well maintained a monitoring and management system. A good managing and monitoring accounting software will help you reduce cost, as per most experts. An accounting software helps you automate daily routine procedures and save you a lot of precious time and cost. Accounting software has helped small businesses in gaining an upper edge when it comes to saving cost. For instance, Payroll managing software helps in computerizing data and increasing the pace of the operations. Besides speeding up the process, it also keeps a business safe from making blunders which can turn out to be disastrous in the future or cost the business a hefty loss. The concept of recording operations and inventory of business over accounting programs wasn’t much talk among the successful businesses when manual bookkeeping was at a rise. However, within a very short span of time, accounting software took the industry by storm. The business owners were more than happy to have their data automated and operated with such ease and helped them reduce cost in many ways. According to reports, 50% of all businesses are using software to do full or at least partial accounting. It automates the system which helps in reducing the cost. This move has made manual bookkeeping vanish into thin air. Both large and small business owners are turning over towards using an accounting software for their businesses. If we have a look at supermarts, they are running on accounting software which helps them have smooth financial operations. It reduces time and cost! An accounting software helps you maintain the inventory at an accurate state, it keeps on reminding you if your stock is running out and also makes most documents on its own, with just one click. Since computers are doing most of the maths, you do not run the risk of mistakes either. So, where do you save costs? You save it by reducing your financial department. You do not need to hire accountants as all you need is one person to handle the software and feed the required information into the system. The person will also have more time in hand to devote to other tasks that they would otherwise waste in doing calculations. Accounting software reduces cash flow problems. Tracking the sales detail of a particular product or service lets you know which of your items are more demanded. Thus, it gives you the idea of how to manage your stock. Practicing this technique lets you promote a nice running cash flow. A lack of mistakes also saves you penalties and other such problems, resulting in financial benefits. Exactly how much you can save by turning towards an accounting tool is subjective and depends on the size and nature of your business. But, looking at stats, it says that the savings will be good enough to make the jump. The only trouble is training and getting used to a new system, but considering benefits, it is all worth it. There you have it, a precise, informative essay. Let us now move on to our third and final guide which will help you understand the structure of writing a research proposal. But before that, let’s have a look at references mentioned below. References: Elikai, D. Inancevich, and S. Ivancevich, ‘‘Accounting Software Selection and User Satisfaction,’’ The CPA Journal (May 2007), p. 26. Net Suite (2008) The Benefits of Integrated Business Management Software for Wholesale Distributors: Overcoming the Barriers of Stand-alone Business Applications netsuite.com/portal/pdf/integrated-software-for-wd.pdf Top 10 Accounting/Financial Management Software for Mid-sized Businesses, (2009), otaccounting.com/top_10_accounting.pdf Walker Wayland, (2010), Benefits of a computerised accounting system. wwauckland.co.nz/files/docs/benefits%20of%20a%20computerised%20accounting%20system.pdf

Apprasial Essays

Apprasial Essays Apprasial Essay Apprasial Essay Appraial Employee Training and Development in Health Care Organizations Sean Ackerman Human Resources in Health Care Organizations May 7, 2011 The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership Harvey Firestone, American Businessman Introduction Training is a process whereby people acquire capabilities to aid in the achievement of personal and organizational goals. In the healthcare industry, employee training and development is multifaceted and complex. It must address state and federally mandated regulation requirements, organizational objectives and needs, and leadership development. This must all be delivered and documented in an organized and consistent fashion. In the simplest of terms, the training process is tied to a variety of organizational purposes and can be viewed in terms of immediate need and/or long-term objectives.5 Context In the limited perspective, training provides employees with specific, identifiable knowledge and skills for use on their current job. This type of training can present in many forms; from a newly hired employee who needs orientation to department and/or hospital operations, to introducing a new concept in technology or a new computer system to the entire organization. Whatever the reason for conducting a training session, it is important for a company to develop a comprehensive, on-going and consistent training program. This training process is essential in keeping staff motivated about learning new concepts and keeping the organization profitable. Leadership development is broader in scope and focuses on providing individuals with the opportunity to gain new capabilities useful for both current and future jobs. Developing leadership skills in current employees benefits both the organization and the individual. Experienced and knowledgeable employees and managers enhance organizational competitiveness and strengthen the organizationâ„ ¢s ability to adapt to a changing environment. In this development process, individual careers may evolve and gain new or redirected focus.2 A crucial component of leadership development is succession planning; a process of identifying a longer term plan for replacement of key employees. This is a complex process in terms of implementation. However, successful implementation of this process impacts the strength of a department as a whole. The manager that has this plan in place demonstrates strong leadership skills.5 Research Findings Analysis In the United States of America, employers currently spend approximately $60 billion annually on training. For the average employer, training expenditures run at least 1.5% to 2% of payroll expenses and average $677 per eligible employee according to a study by the American Society for Training and Development. Historically, health care organizations have lagged behind in training expenditures in comparison to organizations in other industries but training in health care organizations has evolved significantly over the past decade. There is the growing recognition by employees that training is vital to their personal growth and continued employment and success. As part of strategic competitiveness, employees whose capabilities stay current and who receive regular training are better able to cope with the challenges and changes occurring in health care. Additionally, the training process provides management with the opportunity to assess the skills and abilities of the employees and to identify potential future organization leaders.5 Training in health care organizations is offered in both non-clinical and clinical areas and is delivered via a variety of avenues. In the non-clinical area, health care training includes fire safety, sexual harassment prevention, corporate responsibility, patient safety, customer service skills, quality improvement, diversity awareness, and personal computer courses. The cost of this training is offset by increased revenue as a result of enhanced employee knowledge and skills. For example, a customer service skills training session can provide an organization with high patient satisfaction scores. These high scores directly equate to increased patient volumes and revenue.8 In the clinical area, the accreditation process for the health care industry drives the need for training in organizations. Health care organizations are legally mandated to provide consistent training to ensure that high quality medical care and safety is delivered to all patients. While medically licensed personnel employed by health care organizations, including physicians, nurses and technologists must meet annual continuing medical education requirements to maintain state licensure.8 Health care organizations in the 21st century face continuing challenges in meeting the performance expectations of critical stock holders including consumers, payers, regulators, and other providers. As the baby boomer generation ages, bringing high expectations and increased service volumes to the health care system, a new and overwhelming labor shortage is likely to emerge. Demand for top talent is intense and individuals will choose organizations that afford them meaningful opportunities for growth and development. Results of a survey by the Health Management Academy of Executive Leaders in Health Care and Fortune 500 Companies show a clear consensus that strong leadership is the key to organizational success. Only 41% of health care executives were satisfied with the strength of their current leadership development programs.11 Of additional concern to the health care industry are the results of a study by the Advisory Board which predict a 15% drop in the health care leadership pool over the next several years. To meet these challenges, leading health care organizations are designing and executing leadership development initiatives to lay the foundation for sustained long-term organizational growth and success.7 As with routine annual training, employee development begins with analysis of the needs of both the organization and individuals. Both the organization and the individual employee should assess the employeeâ„ ¢s needs by way of development. The goal in assessment is always to identify strengths and weaknesses. Methods brought into play by organizations to assess development needs can include the use of assessment centers, psychological testing, and performance appraisals. Evidence indicates that analysis of the individualâ„ ¢s development requirements frequently receives insufficient attention in many organizations. Leaders are also expected to demonstrate alignment and energy relative to mission, vision, values and the organizationâ„ ¢s culture and strategic priorities. Effective leadership development programs would include significant emphasis on values integration and communication.11 Technology The amount of each type of training, short-term and long-term, performed varies by organizations and depends on strategic planning, resources, and needs identified within the organization. Once the training plan has been designed, the actual delivery of that training can begin. Initially, the training process should be piloted on a trial basis in order to ensure that the training does indeed meet the identified needs and that the design is appropriate. Approaches and methods of training available vary and when ever-changing and improving technology enters the equation, the choices expand almost daily. Various considerations need to be balanced when selecting training approaches and methods. Some common variables are the nature of the training, subject matter, number of trainees, self-paced versus guided instruction, costs, time allotment, and completion timeline. The delivery of training in the health care system includes on-the-job preceptorship by a supervisor or another proficient employee, in service education on new products, policies and processes, continuing education classes, and training workshops or seminars.5 New technologies are being incorporated into training delivery, design, administration, and support. Health care organizations are investing in electronic registration and recordkeeping systems that allow trainees to register, participate in and record exam results for assigned training. The organization is then able to monitor learning progress. To support training, there are computer applications providing training known as electronic performance support systems. Organizations that utilize computer based programs have required training available for employees at all times. Various reports can be run from these computer based systems, making the information readily available for any accreditation organization inquiring about training for employees that has been performed.5 In the future, as learning and work continue to merge, technology will become seamlessly integrated into the employeesâ„ ¢ work environment. The Importance of Leadership Development The benefits of a comprehensive leadership development program can be represented along a continuum spanning from the individual employee only, through the employee plus the organization and ending with the organization only as illustrated below. Unfortunately, too few companies are committed to employee development.7 LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM BENEFITS CONTINUUM Employee Employee + Employer Employer ^ skills boosts morale v employee turn-over ^ knowledge clear company vision ^ productivity ^ job satisfaction ^ motivation fosters new ideas ^ compensation ^ trust prime market position ^ marketing for new hires Through corporate training programs, the individual employee is able to acquire new skills and knowledge, as well as, increase their qualifications and ultimately enhance their overall job satisfaction. Obviously, staff development is an expense but companies fully committed to providing continuous opportunities for employee learning, growth and development generate returns on their investments in terms of increased employee initiative, motivation, trust, and reduced turn over. Companies benefit just as much as the employees from investment in training and education, particularly in terms of having a recruiting edge for the most qualified job candidates. When employee development is performed strategically, a partnership develops among training and development professionals generating greater clarity and agreement among employers and their managers as to business direction, goals and priorities. As a diagnostic tool, development planning allows for the ability of employees to articulate, with precision, the business goals of the organization and the increased value to the business as a result of completion of training programs. I have personally experienced leadership development in my organization. I began my career many years ago with no particular goals in mind. As years went by, I realized I was on a track towards being a leader. The executive team had implemented a talent in sight program for managers and I had been identified as an employee with the ability to move ahead in the organization. Even though I have the ability to be a strong leader, my formal education is not on target with the goal. The CEO has strongly encouraged me to continue my formal education, so that future opportunities within the organization will be available to me. As it turns out, returning to college to receive my degree was one of my better decisions. Thankfully, I work in an organization where leadership development is a priority. Development of Leaders There are many elements for creating the best possible learning experiences for leaders, including the fundamental principals that inform our leadership development efforts and the most effective learning methods.10 Trust and personal credibility form the foundation for leadership. They should also form the foundation of leadership development. Successful leaders must be able to build and sustain trusting relationships with a highly diverse group of people. Intensive training in interpersonal skills is fundamental to every successful leadership effort. Trust and leadership abilities cannot be built over the internet. Leadership is a relationship between human beings and if successful leaders are to be developed, they must be brought together in one room.10 One of the most valuable ways to build trust and to assist the leader in getting a rounded view is to provide 360 degree feed back. This is the single most valuable tool to provide leaders with a realistic agenda for development. Forward-looking is the one attribute that differentiates leaders from other credible people. Constituents want their leaders to have a vision of the future, to know where they are heading. A respectable business cannot be built without predicting the stumbling blocks that can occur down the road. Proactivity is the key to successful leaders. Leadership development should be offered to all employees. Leaders can come from anywhere and must come from everywhere. Everyone who wants to lead must have a plan for her or his own development and take charge of executing that plan. Potential leaders need to be encouraged to get clarity about their strengths and weaknesses. The desire for learning can be inspired, but it must be nurtured continuously. Coaching is critical to that process.5 Conclusion Basic economic resource ¦.is no longer capital, nor natural resources ¦.nor labor. It is and will be knowledge. 4 There is no question that continued learning has merit. However, blinded by cost issues, some organizations forfeit guaranteed return on investment by not implementing a consistent training program for employees. Unfortunately, some learning takes place only after we acknowledge our mistakes and faults.9 Health care organizations are being subjected to ongoing changes in technology and consumer interests and preferences. Learning capabilities help organizations adapt to the ongoing changes. Focusing on training and development is making an investment in the organizationâ„ ¢s future. True success comes from emphasizing both short term operational considerations and long term developmental ones. Health care leaders must creatively meet the demands of these complementary priorities. References 1 Baptist Health Care: Where Staff Retention Drives Patient Satisfaction, A Case Study of the UCSF Center for the Health Professions from cpp.com. 2 Bring Out the Leader in Each, from allbusiness.com 3 Bolstering Staff Soft Skills Helps Hospital Face Major Challenges, A Case Study of St. Lukeâ„ ¢s Hospital and Health Network from cpp.com. 4 Druker, Peter (1993) Capitalist Society. HarperCollins, New York, NY. 5 Flynn, Walter J, Robert L. Mathis, John H. Jackson, Patrick J. Langan (2007) Healthcare Human Resource Management, Second Edition. South-Western Cengage Learning, OH USA. 6 allbusiness.com 7 Oâ„ ¢Toole, James, Edward E. Lawler III (2006) The New American Workplace. Palgrave MacMillan, New York, NY. 8 Smith, Shawn, JD, Rebecca Mazin (2004) The HR Answer Book. AMACOM, NY USA. 9 Spath, Patrice L. (2007) Guide to Effective Staff Development in Health Care Organizations: A Systems Approach to Successful Training. 10 Ukens, Lorraine L. (2001) What Smart Trainers Know, The Secrets of Success from the Worldâ„ ¢s Foremost Experts. Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, San Francisco CA. 11 Wells, Wendy, William Hejna (2009) Developing Leadership Talent in Healthcare Organizations: There are five key areas in which healthcare organizations can better foster the development of strong leaders among their employees. Healthcare Financial Management, from http://findartticles.com. Cascio, W. (2010). Managing human resources: productivity, quality of work life, profits. United States of America: McGraw-Hill. ?   Colquitt, J, Lepine, J, Wesson, M. (2011). Improving performance and commitment in the workplace. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Use book content to explain 5 video Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Use book content to explain 5 video - Essay Example These organizations adopt different strategies to manage respective production operations. Notably, quality control and technology are the most common things among the five videos (Russell and Taylor 54). In the video on how to make Jeans, quality control is very prominent. The making of jeans includes choosing the fabric, designing patterns, and tailoring. Manufactures enhance the quality of denim jeans by choosing unique textiles and high quality fabric for denim and pocketing since denims are seemingly too thin. As such, they chose â€Å"jeans-grade" denim that guarantee high quality denim jeans. Cotton is a high quality material for denim jeans. The fabric distinguishes denim jeans from other off-the-rack jeans. The manufactures washes and dries the fabric to make it easier to work with. The process also ensures that finished denim jeans are fitting. The process also entails roughening up which adds quality to the jeans. The manufactures use modern technologies to trim and design patterns for the denim jeans. In the video on how to make skateboards, quality control is supreme. The manufactures use high quality materials that include veneer, tie bond glue, router of rasp, and molded press. Notably, veneer defines a hard rock maple that prevents the skateboards from vibrating. Moreover, the hard maple made from oak wood prevents the skateboard from breaking since it is strong. On the other hand, the tie bond glue guarantees a strong bond thus creating a durable skateboard. To add on quality, manufactures adopt a specific arrangement of venners. The venners follow one another in layers that include the Face, Core layer, Cross band, Core layer, Cross Band, Core layer, and a final Face. The molded press enhances compatibility of the skateboards. In the video on how to make cosmetics, it is clear that quality is supreme. The process of making cosmetics includes ingredients that must have the approval of the FDA. It involves color additives that

Current state of the Madura's enterprise Case Study

Current state of the Madura's enterprise - Case Study Example Economic downturn is a very significant experience in most businesses, Madura inclusive. Therefore, some of the concepts that recognize Madura’s concern include technology. Technology that is up to date and expansive is in a position to enable Madura to utilize its sources in order to achieve its desired objectives. Therefore, technology is one of the concepts that can detect the concern of Madura and ensure the achievement of its goals in business. In addition, distribution is key to making sales that guarantee the company ultimate success. Besides that, good relationships with other companies producing the same line of goods will enable Madura strategize itself to make positive trend in the business (Venkatagiri & Prakash, 2013). There are various concepts that Madura can adopt in ensuring the construction of an effective concept map that can guarantee positive impacts when applied. The concepts include the trading partners, distributors, deport, and point of sale terminals. All the concepts work under an effective IT infrastructures. Under the infrastructures, the company should have planning and retail strategies to enhance the overall success of the company (Venkatagiri & Prakash,