Tuesday, December 31, 2019

A Rose For Emily By William Faulkner - 981 Words

William Faulkner wrote the short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, in 1931. This is a short story about the life of a woman with a tragic history. Miss Emily is the only person remaining in the Grierson family, a family seen as mighty, as it used to be wealthy and had a prominent position in the town, and therefore she considers herself more appealing than the other townspeople. Faulkner displays feminist, which is the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economical equality t men (webster.com). â€Å"A Rose for Emily† can be analyzed by readers as a feminist tale while critically thinking by using aspects of the narration, Miss Emily’s way of acting, and her appearance. The style of narration used to tell the short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, has an important role in how the readers might come to view Miss Emily as having had a prominent position in the town (Curry 3). â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, is told by an unnamed narrator and it also indicates there is more than one person telling the story, possibly a group of people living in the town who had grown up watching Miss Emily over the years. Faulkner stands firmly within the constructs, yet by calling attention to this vantage point and its inadequacies, by deploying a bisexual narration into the text, and by presenting Emily’s house both as intimate space for the character as well as impregnable barrier to its own author/creator, Faulkner dismantles the structure of classic realist fiction. Both narratorShow MoreRelatedA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner923 Words   |  4 PagesA Rose for Emily; A Tale of The Old South William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi in 1897 but lived most of his life in Oxford, a small town nearby. After dropping out of high school then briefly joining the Canadian Air Force, he returned home and completed three terms at the University of Mississippi (Fulton 27). During his early twenties Faulkner spent time in New Orleans and Europe before returning to Oxford and publishing his first book of poems. In 1929 he married Estelle FranklinRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1729 Words   |  7 PagesJune 24, 2015 â€Å"A Rose for Emily† In every neighborhood there is always that one house that is a mystery to everyone. A house that everyone wants to know about, but nobody can seem to be able to dig up any answers. It’s the type of place that you would take any opportunity or excuse to get to explore. The littler that is known, the more the curiosity increases about this mysterious place or person. In the short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner, this mysterious person is Emily Grierson, andRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner949 Words   |  4 PagesIn William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† it is clear how Emily’s gender affects how the individuals in the town perceive her. Emily’s gender particularly affects how men understand her. Throughout the whole piece Emily is seen as a helpless individual who is lonely and has suffered losses throughout her life. When the reader reaches the end of the story the actions that Emily has taken is unexpected because of the way she is perceived by the narrator. In the beginning of the story, when the wholeRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1577 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"A Sarah Markins Dr. Bibby ENG 107 February 11, 2015 â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, written by William Faulkner in 1931, follows a series of peculiar events in Miss Emily Griersons life. Written in third person limited, Faulkner utilizes flashbacks to tell of the period between the death of Emily’s father and her own passing. Split into five short sections, the story starts out with the townspeople of Jefferson remembering Emily’s legacy and how each new generation ofRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1552 Words   |  7 PagesRyan Dunn Mrs. Williams English 11 March 11, 2016 In the short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner, the reader is given a glimpse of the internal conflict of the main character, living in the past, and the involvement of an over involved society causing the reader to look into the consciousness of an individual haunted by a past and lack of a future. The story is set in a post-Civil War town in the South. He is able to give the reader a glimpse of the practices and attitudes that had unitedRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1507 Words   |  7 Pages1897, William Cuthbert Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi. He stands as one of the most preeminent American writers of the twentieth century. His literary reputation included poetry, novels, short stories, and screenplays. Faulkner won two Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction and the Nobel Prize in Literature. â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a short fascinating story written by William Faulkner and it was his first short story published in a national m agazine. The story involved an old woman named Emily GriersonRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner883 Words   |  4 PagesIn the timeless classic, â€Å"A rose for Emily† by William Faulkner we are introduced to Emily Grierson, a matured sheltered southern woman; born to a proud, aristocratic family presumably during the American Civil War. Through out the short story William Faulkner uses many literary devices such as symbolism, metaphors and allegory to play with â€Å"time† and how time reflects upon his main character Emily Grierson. Emily being one who denies the ability to see time for what it is linear and unchangeableRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1270 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Faulkner’s short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† thoroughly examines the life of a strange woman name Emily Grierson who lives in the town of Jefferson. If we examine â€Å"A Rose for Emily† in terms of formalist criticism, we see that the story dramatizes through setting, plot, characterization, and symbolism on how Miss Emily’s life is controlled by a possessive love she had for her father and lover. William Faulkner uses Emily’s life as the protagonist to examine from a formalist aspect. In orderRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1780 Words   |  8 PagesIn 1930, William Faulkner wrote a five-part story entitled â€Å"A Rose for Emily† that follows the life of a young woman named Miss Emily Grierson. Faulkner sets his story in the Old South, soon after the ending of America’s Civil War, and represents the decaying values of the Confederacy (Kirszner Mandell, 2013a, p. 244). One of these values which the text portrays quite often in â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, is the patriarchal custom of society viewing men as having more importance than their female counterpartsRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1277 Words   |  6 PagesMiss Emily Grierson, the main character in the strange short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† written by William Faulkner. It would be best to examine her in a mental capacity as well as the circumstances that may affect her. Throughout the story, Miss Emily’s unpredictable and eccentric behavior becomes unusual, and the reader, like the townspeople in the story, is left to speculate how Miss Emily has spent years living and sleeping with the body of Homer Barron. An important quote from the story was that

Monday, December 23, 2019

Leadership and Organizational Behavior - 3084 Words

Leadership and Organizational Behavior Course Project Ronette C Rudder-Carter – 10415 SW 85th CT, Ocala, FL 34481 Rbb589@hotmail.com / (347) 564-0074 GM591 ON Leadership and Organizational Behavior Professor Robert Salitore 4/17/11 DaCosta Mannings Inc, is one of a retail environment and I am the customer service manager for the entire operation which has five locations throughout the island. I have chosen this organization because when I was hired, they did not have a formal plan in place to enhance and effectively run a customer service department. Throughout the years they have had tremendous issues with the customer service at the various locations and it had resulted in downward sales†¦show more content†¦Additionally, a crisis not only brings a great deal of attention, it also generates a great deal of emotional involvement on the part of those associated with the organization, particularly if the crisis threatens the organizations survival. This increases the potential for either reinforcing the existing culture, or leading to a change in the culture. Such a crisis can provide an opportunity for a leader to influence the organizations culture in either a positive or a negative way. How can the communication aspect between employer and employee be improved? Communication is what the employees need from their employers. Employees look for organizations where communication and process are transparent. [1]The model below shows the flow of communication in a systematic format. [pic] As defined by the above representational model, there are 3 categories of employees: A: Who will leave their current employer in 3 years of their employment? B: Who have a probability of leaving their current employer in next 3 years? C: Who will stay with their current employer in the next 3 years? Category A: These are the employees who lack communication with their employers. Category C: These are the employees who have proper, well-structured communication with their employers. Communication is also the way to win the employees trust in the organization. Employees trust the employers who are friendly and open to them. ThisShow MoreRelatedOrganizational Behavior, Leadership, And Leadership1321 Words   |  6 Pages In any organization, it’s extremely important for the people in leadership roles to possess a strong leadership role. According to the text Organizational Behavior, â€Å"leadership is the process of developing ideas and a vision, living by values that support those ideas and that vision, and influencing others to embrace them in their own behaviors, and making hard decisions about humans and other resources† (Hellriegel Slocum, 2011). Regardless of what type of leader an individual is, their mainRead MoreLeadership and Organizational Behavior1368 Words   |  6 PagesNever doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world. Indeed. It is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead In the past 25 years, the concept of organizational culture has gained wide recognition as a way to understand human systems. The culture of a group can now be defined as: A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be consideredRead MoreOrganizational Behavior And Leadership Analysis Essay924 Words   |  4 PagesOrganizational Behavior and Leadership Analysis Introduction Leadership and organizational behavior are structured elements of life that give meaning to factors such as motivation and effort. Leadership is not easily understood and as such it is taken to mean different things by different people. However, leadership and effective organizational behavior all lead to achieving the same results and ensuring that employee effort does not go unrecognized. Leadership Comparisons Former Coach Bobby KnightRead MoreQuestions On Leadership And Organizational Behavior1902 Words   |  8 Pagesmanagement consultant Drucker (n.d.) â€Å"management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.† Unfortunately, many business professionals consider management to be synonymous with leadership, but if one truly examines the behaviors and characteristics of being a manager with those of being a leader, he/she will discover that the terms are not interchangeable. Creighton University’s Leadership and Organizational Behavior course allow students to understand the differences between managingRead MoreOrganizational Behavior, Leadership and Effectiveness3660 Words   |  15 Pagespeople that constitute organizational behavior are influenced by factors. Critically evaluate five such factors. FACTORS INFLUENCING ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR. INTRODUCTION. Organizational behavior is a misnomer, it is not the study of how organizations behave, but rather the study of individual behavior in an organizational setting. This includes the study of how individuals behave on their own as well as how they behave in groups. The purpose of organizational behavior is to gain a greater understandingRead MoreOrganizational Behavior and Leadership Essay937 Words   |  4 Pagesbetter supported by additional research than is Maslows theory? ERG Theory 3) Which stage of the five-stage group development model is characterized by developing close relationships and cohesiveness? Norming 4) What defines a set of expected behavior patterns attributed to a person occupying a given position in a social unit? Group role 5) Which type of group is defined by the organizations structure? Formal group 6) Which term describes the tendency for individuals to expend less effortRead MoreOrganizational Behavior, Leadership, and Management1160 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction Leadership and management are two different concepts. Management is involved with the operational oversight of employees, departments, or processes, while leadership is involved with leading the company through organizational changes that are intended to enable the company to meet its objectives. Leaders are expected to carry themselves in a positive manner to motivate and influence the rest of the organization positively, because they act as an example to the rest of the employeesRead MoreLeadership And Organizational Behavior : An Organization1428 Words   |  6 PagesLeadership and organizational behavior are essential in any organization. In order to achieve goals and high performance, the two must work hand in hand. There are many types of leadership theories following different characteristics in order to create an effective organization. First, the most important item to address is the function of leadership. The next aspect is how organizational behavior relates to lead ership. Last, is determining which theory has the characteristics to be particularlyRead MoreOrganizational Behavior and Leadership Style1329 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Organizational Behavior and Leadership Style Abstract: This paper examines the leadership position I would occupy in the fictional Commerzbank and details the leadership style I would take on as their VP of Development. As VP, I would emphasize a transformational leadership style, as that style would encourage my members of staff and the company at large to evolve to their highest potential. I would also encourage an atmosphere of transparency for the good of the company at large. I would alsoRead MoreOrganizational Behavior and Leadership Quiz1224 Words   |  5 Pagesstructured and routine and feels that the outcomes of the teams actions are determined by luck or chance. Employee A exhibits an external locus of control, and employee B exhibits an internal locus of control. Employee B was upset by Employee As behavior at the departments planning meeting. Which factors will influence Employee Bs perception in this situation? Situation, Target, Perceiver A person is broadminded, courageous, and forgiving. Which type of values are these? Instrumental values

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Ethics and Internal Auditors Free Essays

string(64) " every public body or organization must have an internal audit\." Professionalism, Ethical Codes and the Internal Auditor: A Moral Argument Mary Ann Reynolds ABSTRACT. This paper examines the case of the internal auditor from a sociological and ethical perspective. Is it appropriate to extend the designation of professional to internal auditors? The discussion includes criteria from the sociology literature on professionalism. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics and Internal Auditors or any similar topic only for you Order Now Further, professional ethical codes are compared. Internal auditors’ code of ethics is found to have a strong moral approach, contrasting to the more instrumental approach of certified professional accountants. Internal auditors are noted as using their code of ethics to help resolve professional ethical dilemmas. Introduction Society grants professional standing to those groups which contribute to the well being of the broader society. Business experts in such groups as business ethics consultants and internal auditors lay claim to professional standing which if granted enhances both their credibility and marketability. But is this claim justified? Although business ethicists are beginning to debate this issue they presently lack a common body of knowledge or agreed upon expertise. As defined expert knowledge is one of the common criterion for professional definition their claim awaits the development of consensus (Cohen, 1992; Stark, 1993; and Dean, 1997) However a similar group, internal auditor’s have a fifty year history of moving to achieve this recognition. This paper will examine the justification of their claim to professionalism in light of current practice. Mary Ann Reynolds is assistant professor of accounting at Western Washington University. Her current research publications are primarily in the areas of ethics, and environmental accounting. This is of importance to society because internal auditor’s provide a peculiar service in that they contribute to the control of the integrity of financial information in a market economy. Public accountants, represented by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) have long held professional status based on their responsibility to audit publicly issued financial statements. Public accountants provide a range of service but are specifically licensed to perform the external audit of publicly issued financial statements. Internal auditors in contrast have no licensure requirement and practice within the corporation or organization that employs them. There may be great similarity in the work performed by these two branches of accounting. Internal auditors may perhaps be considered a subset of accounting and as such may be included under the professional rubric. However they may also be viewed as a particular class of business expert or consultant, not serving the public good and not necessarily adhering to standards or codes of conduct, in which case the claim to professionalism would not hold. However, as a result of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 corporations are required to maintain effective internal controls to prevent fraud and bribery of foreign officials. Internal auditors have been instrumental in providing this service as well as compliance audits to ensure meeting regulatory requirements. Society appears to expect a professional service even though licensure has not been required nor formally granted. The internal auditor serves an important link in the business and financial reporting process of corporations and not for profit providers but can they be considered professionals? Journal of Business Ethics 24: 115–124, 2000.  © 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 116 Mary Ann Reynolds Professionalism: A societal perspective Accountants perform agreed upon services within an orderly social and economic context. The claim to classify accounting, and auditing, as classical professions is based upon their relationship to society as a whole and the question of professionalism must therefore be studied not just in the context of a division of labor but, â€Å"as part of a network of social and economic relations (Dingwell, p. 2). Professions do, in fact, contract with society and a sociological level of analysis is thus useful in examining accounting practice (Fogarty, 1995). The functionalist perspective deriving from Parsons (1951, 1968) classic works in particular provides a useful explanatory model for understanding accounting in its social environment. Functionalists contend that society will organize to maintain itself and t hen various functions arise to preserve the stability of the social system. Anthropologists utilizing functionalism as a heuristic tool have identified four of the prerequisites to maintain society as: 1) shared cognitive orientations, 2) normative regulation of means, 3) effective control of disruptive forms of behavior and 4) communication (Aberle et al. , 1960). Accounting reports as an inherent part of the resource allocation process and can appropriately be viewed as communication as well as one of the control mechanisms (Reynolds, 1989). The functionalist perspective is chosen from among possible approaches such as taxonomic, neo-Weberian, or Marxist (Saks, 1988) as relevant to accountants. As Montagna (Freidson, 1973, p. 146) notes professional accountants are, â€Å"designers of order†. Accounting theory follows the basic assumptions of the functionalist perspective in that they contribute to accurate communication, control and the maintenance of order. Although work on professions following a functionalist foundation is continued by Moore (1970), some specific insight can be gained by returning to issues raised by Parsons and Hughes in earlier work. A range of criteria have been proposed as indicators of professional status in this society. Parsons focused on the function served, i. e. aintenance of order and control, while Hughes discussed licensure and certification as indicators Are internal auditors properly designated as professionals? This continuing discussion is emphasized by Wesberry’s (1989, p. 25) regretting that internal auditor’s cannot yet claim to â€Å"have arrived†, to unequivocally claim professional status. Further debat e arises as questions about future directions for internal auditing indicate a wide range of possibilities. Opposite ends of the spectrum are expressed by an interview with Michael Hammer (1998) and a review of Israeli legislation (Friedberg and Mizrahi, 1998). In an interview published in the Internal Auditor, Michael Hammer encourages internal auditors to move to a consultancy position and to convince management that the consultant’s role is in fact the role in which the internal auditor adds value to the company. This contrasts to the prominence internal audits were recently accorded in Israel where the Knesset mandated that every public body or organization must have an internal audit. You read "Ethics and Internal Auditors" in category "Essay examples" Thus we see the current debate as whether internal auditors are classified as workers with a particular expertise, or as professionals? This discussion can be informed by reference to the sociology of professions and examination of the proposed profession’s ethical code. The author examines the unresolved claim of professional status for internal auditors and considers their development and use of a code of ethic as one type of supporting evidence. The specific case of the internal auditor is addressed by reviewing: 1) the internal auditor’s claim to professionalism based on their function in society, 2) criteria for professions, and 3) development of an ethical code. The paper is organized as follows: the examination is located in the societal perspective and then specific professional characteristics are reviewed. The third section discusses codes of ethics and compares elements contained in recognized professional accounting codes. Section IV discusses the internal auditors code in particular, the guidance for conflict resolution and finally, the moral focus of the internal auditor’s professional ethics code is discussed. Section five is the conclusion. Professionalism, Ethical Codes and the Internal Auditor of societal mandate. Jackson (1970, p. 6) enumerates: craft, skills, intellectual training and the concept of duty with a service ideal and objective disinterestedness as criteria for distinguishing professions. Thus, for an occupation to become a profession it is considered one which is practiced by a few experts using special knowledge in a field which reflects issues of concern to society. Further, normative standards of practice are then set by the professional bodies. Evolving professional status within a society is additionally evidenced by development and adherence to a standard or code. Thus, the consideration of an occupation as professional or nonprofessional is based on an accumulation of critical discriminating characteristics ( Jackson, 1970, p. 23). To those noted above Schumpeter (1951) adds the consideration of monopoly power. Monopoly versus non monopoly is an indictor of the degree to which charter to practice has been granted to the profession by society. Characteristics of professions. Within the social model professions are seen as emerging to serve the public good and are granted status by society because of the functions performed. The basic issues presented above led to the development of proposed listings of common characteristics for professions. The listing used by Millerson (1964), and Kultgen, (1988), utilizes both traits and functions as characteristics and is therefore inclusive of the issues raised. The listing includes the thirteen primary characteristics found in Table I. The first five general characteristics are widely accepted as definitional in the professions literature, they are appropriately applied to public accountants and are not argued separately in this paper. Characteristics numbered six through ten deal more particularly with the relationship of professional service, and the professional, to the society and these will be examined in detail below. Characteristics eleven through thirteen further define the relationship of the professional practitioner to the client that is served and will be briefly discussed here. Characteristic number eleven asserts a fiduciary relationship toward the client. This requirement that the highest standard of loyalty be met TABLE I Primary characteristics of professions 117 General 01. A profession involves skill based on theoretical knowledge. 02. The skill requires extensive and intensive training and education. 03. The professional must demonstrate competence by passing a test. 04. The profession is organized and it is represented by associations of distinctive character. 05. Integrity is maintained by adherence to a code of conduct. Relationship to society 06. Professional service is altruistic. 07. The professional assumes responsibility for the affairs of others. 08. Professional service is indispensable for the public good. 09. Professionals are licensed, so their work is sanctioned by the community. 10. Professionals are independent practitioners, serving individual clients. Relationship to clients 11. They have a fiduciary relationship toward their clients. 12. They do their best to serve their clients impartially without regard to any special relationship. 13. They are compensated by fee or fixed charge. As summarized in Kultgen, 1988, p. 60, headings added. in serving the principal is difficult to apply directly to either public accountants, whose first duty is to the public good, or to internal auditors hose duty of good faith is to their immediate employer. However both groups do acknowledge their duty to act in good faith which may fulfil the intent of this requirement even though the duty is not to a client per se. Characteristic twelve requires impartiality, construed by accountants as objectivity. Public accountants are bound by the requirement to maintain an objective and independent attitude. In ternal auditors are also enjoined to maintain an independent attitude, thus meeting this characteristic. The last characteristic is met by public accountants 118 Mary Ann Reynolds be a profession. Courtemanche (1991) provides an historical argument in favor of such professional recognition. Internal auditors working within corporations have asserted their right to hold themselves out as professionals. This has been challenged by CPA professionals in public practice. The issue reached the status of legal debate and court cases in Florida and Texas supported the legal right of accountants working within corporations, rather than in public practice, to use the professional CPA designation if they have passed the CPA examination and met the qualifying criteria (Baker and Hanson, 1997). A logical argument can also be constructed with reference to the professional characteristics previously summarized. Examination of the characteristics will reveal whether the preponderance apply to internal auditors or not. The first five characteristics generally define professions and can be seen to apply to internal auditors as well as to the certified public accountants. However, primary characteristics six through ten are open to debate and will be examined separately for applicability to internal auditors and the question of their professional standing. A discussion of each of these characteristics follows. Is the service performed by internal auditors altruistic? This may be questioned for most professions in any but an idealized definition of the functions that are performed. However, the focus of this characteristic seems to be that services performed are services that cannot be done by the client him/herself and that service performance is not primarily for personal enrichment. Compensation is provided to professionals to enable them to continue to perform the service. If public auditors are eld to enhance the proper flow of accounting information in a capital market as a necessary service (Brown and Bradshaw, 1988), then by extension internal auditors may be held to enhance the accurate flow of information from inside the corporation to the external capital market. By extension this may be construed as serving the public interest. However, because they are directly employed by the corporation they may be said to provide the ser vice as a by product with personal gain, through the receipt charging an audit fee. It is not applicable to internal auditors who receive salary. In addition to these thirteen primary characteristics Kultgen (1988) also notes these seven ancillary characteristics: 1) loyalty to colleagues, 2) regular professional development, 3) prestige based on guaranteed service, 4) use of individual judgment, 5) work is not manual, 6) profits are not capital dependent and 7) status is widely recognized. These seven ancillary characteristics reflect more on the professional practitioner as an individual and less on function within society. Examining both sets of characteristics from a societal perspective, it is readily seen how the public accounting profession meets the criteria within this model and can therefore be held to maintain order and contribute to the stability of the society. Further, in granting the Certified Public Accountants, as professionals, exclusive license to practice society acknowledges their important role and grants a monopoly position. Professions contract with society and acknowledge their role and responsibility by establishing codes of conduct. The development of a formalized code has been seen as a necessary indicator of professionalism (Newton, 1982, and Loeb, 1984). Thus, society acknowledges the professions’ contribution to the public good and the professions acknowledge their responsibility to society. Professional accountants, as represented by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), have held themselves to be a profession and have accepted the obligations coincident with that designation. Certified public accountants (CPAs) conform to both the major thirteen characteristics and the seven ancillary characteristics and are commonly held to be professionals. However, Zeff (1987, p. 67) argues that their professionalism is, â€Å"diluted by rule dominated practices. † For the purposes of this paper the assumption will be made that public accounting, as practiced by CPA’s, is indeed a profession. Can this professional designation be extended to include internal auditors, as a branch of accounting, under the professional rubric? The research question specifically addressed in this paper is whether or not internal auditing, as a special case of accounting, can also be held to Professionalism, Ethical Codes and the Internal Auditor of salaries, as the primary goal. Thus, only partially supporting the claim to professional designation. Is responsibility assumed for the affairs of others? This normally connotes an area of expertise held by the professional, essential to the recipient, about which advice is given. The recipient is not able to evaluate the information for him/herself. This is clearly the case with regard to the classic professions of law, medicine, and architecture (Kultgen, 1988). The public auditor is specifically employed to exercise professional judgement and offer an opinion as an expert. Therefore this can be considered applicable to the public auditor. However, the case cannot be extended to the internal auditor in this instance, as the client, i. e. the corporation, has its own accountants employed to generate the required accounting information and the internal auditor primarily serves an internal control function, even though accounting expertise may be needed and additional accounting advice may be sought. This control function serves the corporation directly and only indirectly serves society Is the professional service indispensable to the public good? Public audits have been mandated by legally authorized bodies, thus recognizing that they are considered essential to the public good by allocating resources to them. With the public demand for the control of fraud evidenced by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 internal auditors became more active as a means of internal control, and fraud detection that was part of the proposed solution to protect the public interest (Lambert and Hubbard, 1989). Internal auditors, in their professional capacity, may be asked to design internal control systems and to assist in the construction of corporate codes of ethics (Peacock and Palfrey, 1991), thus, serving as an integral part of the overall control system and by extension may be considered indispensable to the public good. Is internal auditors’ licensing sanctioned by the community? Referring to the previous argument some level of public sanction is implied. However, licensure implies authority to license, 119 which must be granted by an authoritative body. In the case of Certified Public Accountants (CPA), state boards of accountancy are empowered by the respective legislatures to license public accountants practicing in the state. Internal auditors are not licensed by a legislative authority. Rather, they are certified by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) upon successful completion of an experience requirement and a qualifying exam. No authoritative body claims jurisdiction over their activities. Within the corporation, however, internal auditors have responsibilities defined by the corporation and authority granted by means of a charter. This internal authority granting charter should be signed by the executive management and by the audit committee representing the shareholders (Ratliff et al. , 1988). In the context of an internal, company specific activity, this can be construed as granting professional right to practice by appropriate authority. This is not however, an authority granted by society nor does it extend beyond the charter granting corporation. This is, at best, a limited type of licensure as no monopoly is granted and certification is not required. Is the internal auditor an independent practitioner serving individual clients? The issue of the charter for internal audit departments is particularly relevant to this discussion. Internal auditors operate within the corporation by right of a charter establishing their rights and responsibilities and granting them authority to function ( Johnson, 1986). The charter establishes the internal audit department as an independent function which enables the internal auditor to operate as an individual professional serving a client. Although the client in this case is the corporation, the required independence of attitude and function can be seen to qualify the internal auditor as an independent practitioner. Examination of the applicability of the six ancillary characteristics to internal auditors contributes to the resolution of the question of professionalism. The six ancillary characteristics are specifically included in the code of ethics developed by the Institute of Internal Auditors. Thus, a preponderance of the characteristics, or 120 Mary Ann Reynolds punishments are structured to reward ethical behavior. Thus, the outcomes of professional behavior, whether moral or prudent, will enhance the public good. However, the Institute of Internal Auditors has chosen to emphasize high moral character. Article VIII of the IIA Code of Ethics specifically states that internal auditors should be ever mindful of their obligation to maintain a high standard of morality. It is useful to examine ethical codes and seek identification of common themes or components. A comparison by Kultgen (1988) of the American Association of University Professors; American Bar Association; American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; American Medical Association; American Psychological Association; Engineers Council for Professional Development; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; and Sigma Delta Chi (Society of Professional Journalists) found a number of common elements. The common elements noted include; loyalty to the client, employer, or institution; avoidance of conflict of interest or bribery. Competence, objectivity and honesty about qualifications were also universal. Additional themes such as respect for the territorial rights of colleagues and professional self-monitoring were also widely evidenced. The lack of regulatory oversight allowing self-monitoring, or a profession’s control over its membership and practice, is granted by society (Armstrong and Vincent, 1988). This ability to continue to be self regulated is one which the accounting profession in particular has vigorously defended. Another type of examination is provided by Harris and Reynolds (1992) with a specific comparison of the codes from various branches of the accounting profession. This detailed comparison of the codes also focuses on dilemmas inherent within the various codes as well as, among various levels of society. An examination of the code of the internal auditors in comparison to the code of the AICPA reveals useful insights. Elements listed in the eight articles of the internal audit code include: honesty, objectivity, diligence, morality, dignity, organizational loyalty, independent mental attitude, competence, conformity to standards, confidentiality, full disclosure, continuing education, nonacceptance of criteria, cited are applicable to internal auditors in their own right. It is therefore, logical to extend the classification of accountants as professionals to internal auditors as professionals. To further legitimate this claim the Institute of Internal Auditors was formed in New York City in 1941, standards were established and a Code of Ethics adopted thus implicitly reflecting their acceptance of their responsibility to society. Examination of the code of ethics adopted may also shed light on their claim to professional status. The following section examines their code and compares it in part to the code adopted by public accounting professionals through the AICPA. Ethical codes: A comparison A profession’s mission and responsibility can be enunciated through the code of ethics to which it subscribes. Like other professions, internal auditors have developed and formally adopted a professional code. In the development of an ethical code there are two basic ethical viewpoints: 1) moral, 2) prudent, which may be adopted. Kultgen (1988) in his work on professions, distinguishes between these two approaches as follows: â€Å"Moral persons recognize the intrinsic value of each member of the moral community; merely prudent persons recognize only their own value and treat others as instrumentality’s. . . . Professional practices can be, â€Å"examined from the moral point of view, asking how they contribute to, or detract from the aggregate happiness and fair distribution of goods in the moral community (1988, p. 32). † Accountants are often viewed as utilitarian in approach and may thus be expected to choose the prudent approach. Examination of the AICPA code reveals that although the principles section in the introduction addresses moral components, the enforceable rules section of the code is predominantly a guide to practice. This is in contrast to the internal auditor’s code which is a guide to individual moral behavior. In a well organized society the rewards and Professionalism, Ethical Codes and the Internal Auditor gifts, and no commission of acts discreditable. This list encompasses both character attributes: honesty, dignity, morality, loyalty, nonacceptance of gifts and no commission of acts discreditable; and professional performance of duty attributes: objectivity, independent mental attitude, competence, conformity to standards, and full disclosure. Thus, the code gives clear indication of the personal qualifications perceived to be essential to perform the requisite public service in an ethical manner. With the emphasis placed on loyalty, dignity and morality the assumption can be made that this institute adopts a moral, rather than a prudent, view of ethical behavior. The emphasis in the internal auditor ethical code reflects an individual level of ethical behavior and decision making. The factor of voluntary compliance further indicates an individual level of ethics. Note that internal auditor’s membership is voluntary and members personally choose to subscribe to the higher duty. There is no societal enforcement if this duty is not met, the only enforcement is forfeiture of membership and certification (Loeb, 1984). The contrast with the AICPA code of conduct shows the AICPA code to have a more institutional focus. Rather than the specification of individual moral characteristics, forms of practice are discussed. The ethical code can be seen as directed to the firm of accountants rather than to the individual per se. The new AICPA code, as adopted in 1988, states positive principles about appropriate professional conduct and is goal driven (Meigs et al. , 1989). In contrast to the Institute of Internal Auditors code, the AICPA code may be viewed as adopting a prudent, or instrumental, ethical view. The AICPA code preamble and article II both express the professions’ responsibilities to the public interest. Here again, membership is voluntary and members commit themselves to honor the public trust and maintain professional excellence. Elements of the code in support of this include: objectivity, independence, scope and nature of services, compliance with standards, confidentiality, contingent fees, advertising and other solicitation, incompatible occupations and form of practice and name. Mention is also made of integrity. Integrity, however, is seen in the 121 context of professional judgment. The professional, by this standard of integrity, must be independent, not knowingly misrepresent the facts; and not subject his/her judgment to the judgment of others (AICPA, 1988). Again, the emphasis is on the professional performance of duties in the public arena and serving the public good. Further, Rule 501 enjoins members not to commit acts discreditable to the profession. Enforcement of the AICPA code takes several forms. Members can be censured by one of the designated review boards and membership in the AICPA revoked, the ability to practice before the SEC revoked, or the state license revoked. Licensure is granted by the state boards and revocation of the license goes through a state board procedure also. This constitutes a legal enforcement and the accountant would no longer be licensed to practice. Some of these contrasts between the AICPA and the IIA codes arise from structural differences. Namely, public auditors’ codes include structure of practice considerations such as advertising and contingent fees, and permissible firm names; that are not relevant to the internal auditor. Beyond structure, the basic difference evidenced is the AICPA emphasis on a practical, prudent, institutional approach, whereas the IIA emphasizes a moral and individual approach. This difference may in part reflect the varying degree of societal regulation within which the two groups operate. The societal regulation in turn may reflect the level of societal recognition and as internal auditing evolves and gains public recognition, regulation and possible licensing may follow. Examination of additional accounting professional codes provides further points of comparison. The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) code is the only code to call explicitly for the maintenance of personal dignity. Some commonalties emerge however, as both the Government Financial Officers Association (GFOA) and the IIA included: exercise of due care, or diligence, and loyalty to employer (Harris and Reynolds, 1992). Both the governmental financial accountants and the internal auditors function in an environment where they are working as professionals, but within an entity 122 Mary Ann Reynolds on the externally issued financial statements (Lambert and Hubbard, 1989). That the internal audit profession is seen as a significant player in the societal move to deter fraud serves to legitimate their claim to professionalism. At the same time this may exacerbate conflicting loyalty problems. Clearly, the choice will fall on the internal auditor as an individual and it may be to this end that strong individual character has been emphasized in the IIA code. This conclusion follows from Kultgen’s statement that, â€Å"a valid professional ethic, therefore, is critical for the moral development of the individual practitioner (1988, p. 12). Resolution of ethical conflicts requires that the internal auditor recognize sources of harm or conflict and have some guidance on appropriate response. Stanford (1991) recommends four sources of guidance. These are: 1. the IIA Code of Ethics; 2. the IIA’s Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing; 3. the IIA’s position paper on whistle blowing; 4. consultation with peers. Ratliff (Ratliff et al. , 1988) also suggests that guidance will be found in both the Standards and the Code of Ethics and Wallace (1986) emphasizes that the standards and code go hand in hand to provide guidance. A recent study by Seigel, O’Shaughnessy and Rigsby (1995) confirms that practicing internal auditors report using the code of ethics to guide their judgment on ethical issues in the performance of their professional responsibilities. Seigel et al. further conclude that the majority of internal auditors consider the primary purpose of the ethical code is to provide guidance. Internal auditors are indeed being given a special task. In the organizational structure of the corporation if the internal auditors report to the audit committee, as recommended, management may perceive them as adversarial. If fraud or inefficiencies are discovered both professional ethics and personal moral judgment will be needed to resolve conflict. Conflict also arises within the code itself. There is a basic conflict juxtaposing disclosure and confidentiality and rather than independently in society. Thus the adjuration to loyalty to the employer is appropriate. Professional conflict resolution: Guidelines The codes of ethics are adopted to provide guidance to the practicing professional. Kultgen (1988, p. 13) notes, â€Å". . . professionals, precisely as professionals, are confronted with serious conflicts of duty, and conflicts between duty and self-interest. One purpose for codes of ethics is to provide guidance for the resolution of conflict. The internal auditor faces possible conflict in the practice of his/her profession within an organization. Although independence, in theory, is established by the corporate charter and is required by the code, it may be difficult to achieve in practice. Internal auditors faced with choices that may not appear beneficial to upper management or the organization may find it difficult to maintain an objective disinterestedness. Loyalty, an explicit component of the ethical code, may also present conflicts. The internal auditor may face a conflict between loyalty to the profession and professional standards as they are articulated in the standards and the code of ethics, and his/her employer. The interest of the firm in presenting information may not always be consonant with the interest of society to receive full disclosure of information as management seeks to protect strategic and proprietary information. Although internal auditors may be part of the management team they may also serve a control function on managerial activities, another source of potential conflict. Thus, even within the firm they may have conflicting loyalties (Lambert and Hubbard, 1989). Their obligation to the organization constrains them to safeguard the assets of corporation, minimize waste and inefficiency and watch for deliberate wrongdoing and conflicts of interest (Verschoor, 1987). As a result of the Report of the National Commission of Fraudulent Financial reporting (Treadway Commission, 1987) there is an increasing responsibility for the internal auditor to be active in identifying fraud leading to material misstatement Professionalism, Ethical Codes and the Internal Auditor also loyalty and objectivity (see Harris and Reynolds, 1992, for a full discussion). Dilemmas arising from these juxtapositions are inherent in the statement of the code consequently the individual practitioner must ultimately turn to his/her own moral response for guidance and resolution. A further role suggested for the internal auditor is monitoring corporate codes of conduct. While this may well be an appropriate extension of internal auditors role it is in the nature of a consulting service not a professional accounting service. Indeed, as noted in the introduction, business ethics consultants are developing to advise organizations on ethical codes, problems and approaches to resolution (Dean, 1997). Internal auditors are well positioned to participate in this discussion, though it does not help to resolve the question of professionalism examined in this paper. 123 individual professional within a firm. The IIA code focuses on the morality and dignity of the individual and pushes code adherents toward the achievement of a professional ideal. Thus by noting the internal auditor’s development and use of a code of ethics, reviewing their relationship to the accounting profession and examining their function in society, their claim to professional designation can be supported. The preponderance of the evidence supports their status as professionals. References Aberle, D. F. , A. K. Cohen, A. K. Davis, M. J. Levy Jr. and F. X. Sutton: 1960, ‘The Functional Prerequisites of a Society’, Ethics 60 (University of Chicago Press). Armstrong, M. B. and J. I. Vincent: 1988, ‘Public Accounting: A Profession at a Crossroads’, Accounting Horizons (March), 94–98. Brown, G. R. and W. A. Bradshaw: 1988, ‘The External Auditor’s Pivotal Role’, CA Journal ( Jan/Feb), 46–52. Baker, J. D. and R. K. Hanson: 1997, ‘The â€Å"Holding Out†, Issue’, Internal Auditor (Feb), 62–67. Cohen, D. : 1992, ‘Resisting the Right Stuff: Barriers to Business Ethics Consultation’, Proceedings of the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, pp. 155–159. Dean, P. J. : 1997. ‘Examining the Profession and the Practice of Business Ethics’, Journal of Business Ethics (Nov), 1637–1649. Dingwall, R. : 1983. The Sociology of the Professions, Dingwall and Lewis (eds. (Oxford Socio-Legal Studies, Oxford). Hammer, M. : 1998. ‘Just Do It’, Interview with M. Hammer in Internal Auditor ( June), 38–41. Harris, J. E. and M. A. Reynolds: 1992, ‘Formal Codes: The Delineation of Ethical Dilemmas’, Advances in Public Interest Accounting, 1–17. Fogar ty, T. J. : 1995, ‘Accountant Ethics: A Brief Examination of Neglected Sociological Dimensions’, Journal of Business Ethics 14, 103–115. Friedberg, A. and N. Mizrahi: 1998. ‘Making History’, Internal Auditor (April), 71–75. Freidson, E. : 1971, The Professions and Their Prospects, Freidson (ed. ) (Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA). Jackson, J. A. : 1970, Professions and Professionalization (Cambridge University Press). Conclusion Accounting is acknowledged as a profession serving society’s needs. Examining both primary and ancillary professional characteristics shows the appropriateness of including internal auditors within this professional designation. Further, their code of ethics is similar to other professional codes and provides guidance to them in their professional practice. One purpose of profession’s codes of ethics is to legitimate the profession and publicize standards of conduct (Sawyer, 1991). Another is to provide guidance for ethical conflict resolution. The IIA Code of Ethics serves both of these purposes for its professional constituency. The code implicitly recognizes the responsibility extended to the profession by society. The code enjoins internal auditors to maintain both a high level of moral character and a high level of professional competence. As the role of internal auditors differs from the that of public auditors, so also their code differs. The AICPA is an institute that serves the public interest by monitoring the external exchange of financial information. Their code reflects the institutional perspective. The internal auditor practices as an 124 Mary Ann Reynolds and Techniques (The Institute of Internal Auditors, Altamont Springs). Reynolds, M. A. : 1989. The Audit Function in Society: An Empirical Investigation, Doctoral Dissertation (University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah). Saks, M. : 1988, ‘Removing the Blinkers? A Critique of Recent Contributions to the Sociology of Professions’, Sociological Review 31(1), 1–21. Sawyer, L. B. : 1991, ‘Internal Auditing: Practice and Professionalism’, Internal Auditor ( June), 38–42. Schumpeter, J. A. 1951, Imperialism and Social Classes (Oxford). Seigel, P. H. , J. O’Shaughnessy and J. T. Rigsby: 1995, ‘A Reexamination of the Internal Auditors’ Code of Ethics’, Journal of Business Ethics 14, 949–957. Stanford, S. E. : 1991, ‘Ethics’, Internal Auditor ( June), 102–104. Stark, A. : 1993, ‘What†™s the Matter with Business Ethics? ’, Harvard Business Review (May-June), 38–48. Wallace, W. : 1986, Auditing (Macmillan, New York). Wesberry Jr. , J. P: 1989, ‘The Pursuit of Professionalism’, Internal Auditor (April), 22–29. Verschoor, C. C. : 1987, ‘The Ethical Dilemma’, Internal Auditor (Feb), 29–31. Zeff, S. A. : 1989, ‘Does the CPA Belong to a Profession? ’, Accounting Horizons ( June), 65–68. Johnson, H. V. : 1986, ‘Creating the Charter’, Internal Auditor (Dec), 42–45. Kultgen, J. : 1988, Ethics and Professionalism (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia). Lambert, J. C. and T. D. Hubbard: 1989, ‘Internal Auditor’s Changing Responsibility for Fraud Detection’, Internal Auditor ( June), 13–16. Loeb, S. E. : 1984, ‘Codes of Ethics and Self Regulation for Non Public Accountants: A public Policy Perspective’, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 1–8. Meigs, W. B. , O. R. Whittington, K. Pany and R. F. Meigs: 1989, Principles of Auditing (Irwin, Homewood, IL). Millerson, G: 1964, ‘Dilemmas of Professionalism’, New Society ( June 4), 15–16. Montagna, P. D. : 1971. ‘The Public Accounting Profession, Organization, Ideology and Social Power’, in Freidson (ed. ), Professions and Their Prospects (Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA). Moore, W. : 1970, The Professions: Roles and Rules (Russell Sage Foundation, New York). Newton, L. H: 1982, ‘The Origins of Professionalism: Sociological Construction and Ethical Implications’, Business and Professional Ethics Journal (Fall), 41–57. Parsons, T. : 1951, The Social System (The Free Press, Glencoe, IL). Parsons, T. : 1968, ‘Professions’, in D. Sill (ed. ), International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, XII (Macmillan and The Free Press, New York). Peacock, E. and S. H. Pelfrey: 1991, ‘Internal Auditors and the Code of Conduct’, Internal Auditor (Feb), 45–49. Ratliff, R. L. , W. A. Wallace, J. K. Loebbecke and W. G. McFarland: 1988, Internal Auditing Principles Western Washington University, Department of Accounting, College of Business and Economics, WA 98225-9071, Bellingham, U. S. A. E-mail: MaryAnn. Reynolds@wwu. edu. How to cite Ethics and Internal Auditors, Essay examples

Saturday, December 7, 2019

The Effects of Pepsin vs. Trypsin in the Digestion of Protein free essay sample

The Effects of Pepsin VS. Trypsin in The Digestion of Protein Introduction As food is mechanically and chemically digested through our oral cavity then passes through our pharynx and down our esophagus, our food then enters the stomach. The stomach, being the main organ for storage, also helps with breaking down our food, but in order to accomplish that our pancreas helps by excreting an inactive digestive enzyme called pepsinogen. Pepsinogen is the inactive form of the more familiar enzyme called pepsin. In order for pepsinogen to form into pepsin it must first react with the acid HCl breaking it down its layers to reach the active site. To our convenience, HCl is already located in our stomach due excretory glands called parietal cells. As the stomach churns and mixes acid, pepsinogen, and food, pepsin is being created. Pepsin, being its main function to digest protein, is breaking down amino acids into smaller chains of polypeptides until it reaches the small intestine. We will write a custom essay sample on The Effects of Pepsin vs. Trypsin in the Digestion of Protein or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Leaving the stomach, the partially broken down food (chyme) passes through the pyloric sphincter then enters the small intestine. This is the site where all terminal digestion of carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids occur including the absorption of amino acids and glucose. Here, the pancreas then excretes a large amount of bicarbonate and an inactive enzyme call trypsinogen which in turn activates to form trypsin which also helps the breaking down of proteins. But compared to pepsin, trypsin does not activate under acidic conditions where chyme has a very low pH and with that, the bicarbonate neutralizes chyme which allows for activation. Additional to that, once trypsin is activated, it itself activates other digestive proteases to aid in digestion. Therefore, digestion and absorption can now occur. With that said, the digestion of our body proposes a few questions, one being that if we were to take already activated pepsin and trypsin and conduct an experiment, which enzyme would digest protein more efficiently with the change in pH? Thus the hypothesis of this experiment states that the acid and pepsin will digest protein more ffectively than trypsin and a base. To determine this, the colors will be observed with the help of a polypeptide indicator. Materials and Methods Materials used for this experiment were twelve equal sized test tubes, one test tube rack, a grease pencil, several pieces of egg whites, a pipet, Biuret indicator, and a water bath device. Substances included HCL, distilled water, Na2CO3, pepsin, and trypsin. Methods were as followed: Twelve test tubes were obtained and numbered from one to twelve . Then they were arranged on a test tube rack into two rows of six. With that, substances were measured and placed into each tube (amounts located on Table 1). Several pieces of egg whites were added to each test tube, mixed, and placed into a 37 degree Celsius water bath for 90 minutes. When the 90 minutes were over, 4 drops or until color is seen of Biuret reagent which is an indicator for polypeptides were placed into each test tube. Lastly, results were recorded. Results Table 1. Amount of each substance and the change of color after Biuret indicator was added. Abstract Previously, an experiment was conducted to determine the performance of raw digestive enzymes with sodium carbonate and hydrochloric acid. With that, the acid and the base was to determine the proficiency of digestion with different pH levels. As a result of the experiment, it proved that the pH level of the acid with the pepsin increased in digestion compared to trypsin and a base or any other substance the enzyme was mixed with. What proved this was the polypeptide indicator which turned test tube number 3 completely pink. With the absence of the color purple suggest that digestion occurred. Discussion The results of this study supports the hypothesis that the digestion of pepsin with HCl digested protein more that trypsin and sodium carbonate. But though this experiment suggested the hypothesis correct, it remains undetermined the reason why trypsin with its base did not work as efficiently. Possibilities may be that the conditions within the test tubes isnt comparable to the conditions within our bodies. As previously stated, trypsin is released into the small intestine in order to further digestion of large protein molecules. But addition to trypsin (an activator of many proteases) , other enzymes such as chymotrypsin aids in the digestion of proteins. Though trypsin did appear to have done some digestion within the test tube, it still wasnt capable of digesting protein on its own. Literature Cited Mason, Kenneth A. , Jonathan B. Losos, Susan R. Singer, Peter H. Raven, and George B. Johnson. Biology. 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 20011. 985-89. Print. Class notes George, Helga. What is trypsin?. wiseGEEK. Ed. Michelle Arevalo. Conjecture Corporation, 13 Apr. 2013. Web. 5 May 2013. lt;http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-trypsin. htmgt;. George, Helga. What is Pepsin?. wiseGEEK. Ed. Michelle Arevalo. Conjecture Corporation, 15 Mar. 2013. Web. 5 May 2013. lt;http://www. wisegeek. org/what-is-pepsin. htmgt;.

Friday, November 29, 2019

ERP Implementation

Introduction Information Technology has revolutionalized the way business is done around the world. The change in business models goes beyond interaction with outside players to encompass how internal processes or players interact. This research paper explores in detail what an ERP solution is. Technology comes with numerous challenges or risks that have to be borne into mind.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on ERP Implementation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, this paper will further explore the risks involved in implementing an ERP solution. To make clear why, despite some risks, it is worthwhile adopting an ERP solution, this paper outlines the benefits of implementing an ERP System in an organization. Every new technology has its own complexities and ERP solutions are not an exception. Through discussing the methodologies used in applying an ERP solution in an organization, the paper helps m ake clear considerations that organizations have to make when it comes to implementation. The final considerations, in this paper, are some of the organizations that have embraced and implemented ERP solutions. From the case studies it is clear that adopting an ERP solution helps improve efficiency and effectiveness in organizational operations. ERP System ERP system is an Industry term that denotes an Information technology solution use to integrate a broad set of activities and resources in an organization. An ERP system basically helps to shape and redefine businesses in the management of vital parts of its core business. The Structure and the information that is accrued from an ERP system facilitate optimal performance necessary for attaining organizational objectives (Betz, 2007, p.83). ERP is an acronym for Enterprise Resource Planning. The main feature of an ERP system is capacity to integrate businesses through application of modern technology and relevant business managemen t practices. The integration of business processes with new information technology is critical towards success in the world of today. This integration has been transforming businesses to operate in modern information age. Necessarily to adapt to the new information age, organizations are forced to discard the traditional way of conducting business or managing organizational resources (Betz, 2007, p.90).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Advancement of information technology has been beneficial to many organizations because it has enhanced service delivery to both internal and external customers. With a touch of new technology, business processes have been made faster and easier thus improving organizational output. The ERP system is composed of three aspects; information technology, specific business goals and business management practices (Betz, 2007, p.100). Due to its capability, the ERP is designed to provide much needed facility to geographically dispersed businesses across a multi platform with its functional units. This functionality of the ERP system is important and advantageous to all organizations but more particularly to those whose executives have to travel a lot. Due to integrated databases facilitated by the ERP system, executives on the move have access to much needed details to support business decision making wherever they may be (Chorafas, 2001, p. 56). ERP architecture has evolved overtime to enhance a variety of services housed in its individual unit programs. The different functional units of an ERP system have elaborate database and are interlinked as to work in unison under a single umbrella. For utmost output to accrue, the ERP system should be integrated with a facility which allows for flexibility, reliability, security and stability (Chorafas, 2001, p. 79). Apart from the mentioned, the system should also have a globa l focus. ERP System Implementation Risks or Bottlenecks Before implementing or adopting a new technology, organizations have to look into risks associated with the implementation or adoption. ERP implementation involves some major risks. Without proper risks identification and mitigation when implementing an ERP solution, a lot of time, resources and knowledge can be wasted. Early risk identification ensures that success is achieved when deploying an ERP system. A quality culture demands that risks are mitigated long before the actual implementation starts (Grant, 2003, p.39). Some of the risks or challenges associated with the Implementation of an ERP system relate to the complexity of an application, lack of end user experience and lack of clear job definition for members handling the project. For any systems to successfully be utilized in an organization, good end user support is important. Lack end user support poses a huge risk in implementing an ERP project in an organization (Grant, 2003, p.46). If end user’s are not properly engaged, they may tend to sabotage the project. Workers may basically refuse to use new applications or resort to vandalism in extreme cases.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on ERP Implementation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Without proper roles specification, the project team can jeopardize the implementation of the ERP system. The project team should be able to grasp and understand the technical complexity of the application they are to implement (Grant, 2003, p.56). Understanding the complexity and role one has to play helps towards better coordinated efforts in the execution of the project. Lack of proper coordination within the project team notwithstanding, poor liaising between the organization’s top management and the project team can also result into project failure. In most cases, ERP implementation requires an enabling organiza tional structure. ERP alone cannot really improve performance in an organization unless all the business functions are made responsive to market demands. Companies or organizations have to restructure their operational processes to fit the functionality of an ERP system. Top management has to believe in the value of an ERP solution i.e. the implementation should be seen as a business initiative (Somers Nelson, 2001, p.2). Without proper top management support and organization-wide acceptance and participation of employees, an ERP system implementation can easily be scuttled. Based on the two foregoing paragraphs, it should be clear that top management, project team and organizational employees have a stake or a say in ERP implementation. Therefore, problems in implementation can occur in case any of the groups lost project control. The risk is highest in case the ERP project team lost control to employees. Secondly, the risk is also highest if top management lost all project contro l to the project team (Somers Nelson, 2001, p.2). Control in an organization is very important. It provides for order and delineates a chain of command thus ensuring decisions are only made by authorized individuals. It is imperative that the implementation process is well planned and coordinated; bringing all stakeholders on board from the word go. To ensure effective decision making and enabling proper ERP implementation, information collection and dissemination with regard to the system has to be an ongoing endeavor (Stein Hawking, 2002, p. ix).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The information collected and disseminated should help all involved understand the technical aspects of the system and developing functionality. A good reporting structure has to be established and the project team allowed enough autonomy necessary for awesome execution. The reporting mechanisms ensure that feedback on the project is shared continually; both upwards and downward communication. Once an ERP solution has been implemented, it tends to decentralize and devolve certain functions in the organization. For example, information that was originally not easily accessible to low cadre employees becomes accessible. An ERP system reduces the power distance between top employees and lower cadre employees. Unless, organizational structure and culture is streamlined, an ERP system may precipitate a crisis in an organization (Brown et al, 2003, 10). The ERP solution demands or leads to the empowerment of lower or middle level employees. Management has to redefine control measures and realign the organization towards a more decentralized power structure. Costs management is another area an organization has to look into before choosing to implement an ERP system. To set up an ERP system, an organization has to spend heavily on software, hardware, consultation, implementation costs and training. If costs are not managed properly, an ERP system implementation becomes too expensive. Costs can be managed through identification of right software and using competitive implementers. Management has to consider the time available for the implementation of the system. ERP implementation projects are known to take longer than other ordinary Information management systems. The time spent on ERP implementation may cost the company business. Therefore, contigent plans have to be instituted to deal with any possible inconveniences to business due to ERP implementation. The final risk consideration management has to make before embarking on an ERP implementation is available hous e skills. If relevant knowledge and skills are lacking in the organization, the implementation team has to be sourced from outside the organization. Secondly, means that organization has to work on equipping staff with skills necessary before switching to ERP use (Booth et al, 2002, p.7). To effectively deal with these risks, management has to be well versed in change management practice. Benefits of ERP Systems Despite the mentioned implementation challenges or risks, an ERP system can benefit an organization in a very big way. An ERP solution integrates the functions in an organization (Accenture, 2004, p. 15). Integration of business processes in an organization is very important. What it means is that department, sections and sectors in an organization can communicate with each other in real time. Employees can access information from other parts of the department on demand without having to follow long bureaucratic processes. How the system integrates the different functions in the organization determines how well they interrelate. The efficiency and effectiveness of the interrelations between different units and departments in an organization is what leads to cost reduction and time management efficiency. When time and performance is managed properly with a concern for costs, an organization operates more optimally than otherwise (Booth et al, 2002, p.5). A good ERP solution ensures different departments or divisions in an organization are connected. Interconnectivity makes it easy to share files or to access relevant information. This consequently increases production and performance in the business. ERP solutions assist organizations to fuse business processes from all departments within the organization. Further, an ERP system helps in fusing departmental databases and consolidating then into a central database (Accenture, 2004, p. 17). This is achieved without incurring more costs or wasting much time hence making it easy for accessibility and smooth flow of work. Merging is achieved by building a database repository that allows integration with a variety of application software. By so doing, business statistics and other information from various departments within the organization becomes accessible from a central point (Accenture, 2004, p. 18). To have an ideal ERP Solution, the system should have an ERP structure which is made up of integrated central database repository in a fused environment. Day to day management of an organization is simplified by the use of ERP systems. Use of ERP facilitates centralized storage of data; through a process widely known as data warehousing (Ray, 2004, p.77). Data warehousing provides better data accessibility thus management has access to up to date information for better decision making (Mukherjee Talbot, 2003, p. 12). An ERP system plays an important role in supporting strategic planning (Bardhan, 2003, p. 8). Strategic planning is a vital process in any organization because it helps i n defining goals and objectives pursued by all in an organization. The strategic planning process leads to the formulation of plans and strategies that guarantee organizational success. ERP systems due to their integration functionality help towards better resource planning and deployment. For instance, costs are easily traced to specific tasks due to integrating financial information. It is noted by Booth et al (2002, p.17) that ERP makes it easy for organization to adopt new management accounting practices. In the human resource department, total employees and their designation is easily established due to centralized data bases. This helps eradicate ghost employee related fraud. In large companies, where multiple departments and business units exist, the ERP solution assists in standardizing business information formats across the organization. Standardization of communication tools helps towards effective and efficient communication in an organization. Good communication, both t o internal and external players, gives organizations a big edge over competition. Methodologies for implementing ERP A variety of methodologies are applicable when implementing an ERP system. Given the complexity of the system, some organizations spend much time agonizing on how to implement an ERP system. Before adopting an implementation methodology, management has to consider risk related to each (Shields, 2001, p.89). One way of easily implementing the system is outsourcing implementation to vendors (Somers Nelson, 2001, p.3). There are organizations that specialize in the sale and implementation of ERP systems. Therefore, one easy way of implementing an ERP system is contracting such organizations. Such an option comes with related outsourcing risks e.g. security of confidential organizational information. However, the vendors are professional bodies and with close monitoring, they can do a marvelous job. Another fact to consider in choosing an implementation strategy is relat ed costs. Organizations have seen the need of not going it alone when implementing the ERP systems. Joint venture with sister organization or a provider of the System has been a major boost in realizing swift implementation (Shields, 2001, p.97). Joint venture ensures the spread of implementation costs and risks. However, joint venture implementation has its own complications. Therefore, doing alone methodology has been seen to work better. Doing it alone means that the organization carries all the risks. Nonetheless, if the risks are calculated and proper mitigation plans instituted, it is the best methodology for any company (Vaman, 2007, p. 67). Doing it alone involves the company analyzing its financial capability, technical expertise and management policy necessary for the system implementation. By going alone, the company is able to have full control over the implementation procedure. Organizations also can choose between either partial or full implementation of the ERP soluti on (Vaman, 2007, p.77). Depending on the needs of an organization, only certain functions, people or departments can be chosen and appropriate ERP Software used to integrate them. However, depending on resource availability, organizations are encouraged to go for full implementation (Vaman, 2007, p.109). Steps for success ERP implementation is financial and technical resources intensive (Williams, 2008, p.56). Therefore, for successful implementation and use of an ERP system proper planning is very crucial. ERP project planning allows an organization to identify its peculiar needs. The organizational needs or characteristics further frame the organizations goals and business objectives. Financial estimates have to be accurately projected by help of experienced professionals. Given the project is complex and cost intensive, professional project teams have to be established to guide the process. The first task of the team is project planning. Project planning provides an opportunity f or an organization to re-evaluate project in a more detailed manner (Williams, 2008, p.69). If the project is not justified during the initial planning phase, organization should not hesitate to cancel it. User Training and education about the ERP system has to be a continuous concern. This is important in ensuring employees understand what is going on and can thus contribute meaningful in customizing the system as necessary. Training allows users to understand the capability of the ERP software and its documentation (Somers Nelson, 2001, p.2). Architectural design for the system is another critical factor to consider for successful implementation of ERP system. The architectural design determines system relevancy to organizational characteristics. If the design does not respond to organizational characteristics, obviously the project would have failed (Malaga, 2005, p.49). An ERP system requires integration with other or existing e-business software. Secondly, the system has to ac commodate or conform to legal requirements or procedures. For example, if an organization is security sensitive or the laws of the country are sensitive to security of employee’s personal information, the system has to guarantee the same (Malaga, 2005, p.66). The planning process has to give room for proper end user introduction to the system. The Success of the ERP systems is more likely when implementers adopt he phased implementation approach. The complexity of the ERP systems would be easily managed if its implementation is broken down into manageable units. Case studies According to Accenture (2004, p. 9) most companies that have employed ERP systems are satisfied or happy to have done so. An example of a company that has implemented an ERP system and benefited immensely is NIBCO INC. This is an international company; one of the leaders in flow control (Brown et al, 2003, 5). The company is involved in manufacturing of a variety of valves, piping products and fittings wh ich targets; commercial, residential, irrigation and industrial markets (Brown et al, 2003, 3). NIBCO has a diverse manufacturing division. It builds its commodities using a wide material range i.e. from steel, iron and bronze. NIBCO has over the years concentrated on consolidating its distribution chain and increasing markets for its products. A consolidation of NIBCO services led to increased service and product delivery to its customers and suppliers (Brown et al, 2003, 7). However, the consolidation of processes increased pressure in terms of information management. NIBCO has, over time, concentrated in standardizing its internal operations as well as focusing on customer issues and processes. The company realized that ERP would help it achieve this. ERP was seen as an appropriate technology to improve its operations (Brown et al, 2003, 8). The objective for adopting the ERP was to increase customer and supplier participation while lowering the costs of operations. Before adopti ng the technology, NIBCO customers suffered from late shipments of their products, errors in their orders and information in invoices was inconsistent. NIBCO’s key marketing concern was to develop a web based platform where customers would easily get market information regarding distribution and promotion of the company’s’ products. The ERP was seen as a better platform to improve its profitability by helping towards efficient delivery on what the customer needed. The Implementation of ERP at NIBCO started with the establishment of a strategic IT team, which assessed the need of the system (Brown et al, 2003, p. 12). The team presented its recommendation on the need of the solution and they were adopted by top management. NIBCO implemented the solution a bit fast but in a comprehensive way. The implementation of the solution followed a well choreographed strategic plan facilitated by the project team. A dedicated team comprising of IT experts, business manager a nd change management experts were involved. They worked cohesively and the system went live in 1997(Brown et al, 2003, p. 14). Since the adoption of the system, many benefits have accrued NIBCO as an organization. For example, there was marked improvements recorded in the processing of sales orders, inventories, and purchases and in production processes (Brown et al, 2003, pp. 15-30). ERP solution was, therefore, able to address and correct NIBCO’s challenges once implemented (Brown et al, 2003, 31). The second case study is TransAlta. TransAlta is a wholesale marketing and power generating company. It has 49 facilities based in Australia, Canada, USA and Mexico (TransAlta, 2010). Prior to introduction of SAP solution, the TransAlta Company was using Reliability Centered Maintenance. This solution was localized at different locations by the use of point solution. TransAlta wanted an Enterprise-Wide System which would offer strategy development and provide understanding of vit al assets, monitor overall risk in the organization and give optimized operations concerning maintenance costs. The implementation of the SAP ERP solution involved integrating the existing Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) to facilitate wide accessibility (Transalta, 2010). The RCM enabled creation of a central database for the organization that can be standardized across a uniformed platform hence providing optimized maintenance. The implementation of the solution has enhanced success in fleet management because information is dispersed to a centralized depository allowing easier communication and accessibility. The RCM solution has motivated staff to work every day in SAP. Consequently, the company can push the RCM methodology and cultivate it deeper within the organization (Bardhan, 2003, p. 7). Conclusion Advancement in information technology is a key driver of organizations’ competitive advantage in modern times. It is for this reason that organizations are embracin g information technology changes as fast as they can (Accenture, 2004, p. 5). An ERP system plays an integral role in enhancing an organization’s growth. Organizations, which have endeavored to carefully and systematically implement ERP systems, have registered many benefits. One such benefit is fast delivery of services due to integrated processes. However, because of the complexity involved in implementing ERP applications, organizations should have well choreographed plans. The implementation of the system requires closer coordination among all stakeholders. Necessarily, the project management should be left to experts. However, the participation of all employees is very vital. References Accenture, 2004, The Return of Business Solutions to Pacific Asia: Directing a Blockbuster, Accenture. Bardhan, R. I 2003, The business value of Integrating Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) with Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) Solutions, Dallas, University of Texas. Betz, C., T. , 2007, Architecture and Patterns for IT Service Management, Resource Planning, and Governance: Making Shoes for The Cobbler’s Children, Morgan Kaufmann, London. Booth, P., Matolcsy, Z., Wieder, B 2002, The Impacts of Enterprise Resource planning Systems on Accounting Practice: the Australian Experience, Australian Accounting Review 10 (3), pp. 4-18. Brown, V., C., Taikonda, V., M., Vessey, I2003, NIBCO: MySAPTM Supply Chain Management, Indiana University, Indiana. Chorafas, D., N., 2001, Integrating ERP, CRM, Supply Chain Management, and Smart Material, CRC Press, Boca Roda. Grant, G., G., 2003, ERP Data Warehousing in Organizations: Issues and Challenges, Group Inc (IGI), New Jersey. Malaga, A., R., 2005, Information Systems Technology, Pearson Prentice Hall, New Delhi. Mukherjee, A., Talbot, F., B 2003, Elements of Adaptive Manufacturing, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan. Ray, R., 2004, Technology Solutions for Growing Businesses, AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, New Yo rk. Shields, M., G., 2001, E-business and ERP: Rapid Implementation and Project Planning, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Somers, M., T., Nelson, K 2001, The Impact of Critical Success factors Across Stages of Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation, Proceedings of the 34th Hawaii international conference on system Sciences, Hawaii. Stein, A., Hawking, P 2002, Business Improvement and ERP Systems: An Australian Survey 2002, ERP Research Group, Victoria University. Transalta, 2010, TransAlta Case Study. Web. Vaman, J., N., 2007, ERP in Practice: ERP Strategies for Steering Organizational Competence and Competitive Advantage, Tata McGraw-Hill, New York. Williams, G., C., 2008, Implementing SAP ERP Sales Distribution, McGraw-Hill, New York. This research paper on ERP Implementation was written and submitted by user Nolan Newton to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Monday, November 25, 2019

The Attentive Eye of Elliot Erwitt essays

The Attentive Eye of Elliot Erwitt essays The key to being a great photographer is to be able to see what no one else can. One must capture those poignant moments in life that speak for themselves and that carry multiple meanings, layered on top of one another. It is surely a great feat to be able to take pictures and turn them into an art form. It takes a unique eye accompanied by an imaginative mind to create a photographic vision that tells a worthy story. Elliot Erwitt made a living photographing commercial shots ranging from magazine covers and advertising still lifes, to travel ads, but it is his personal snaps (as he likes to call them) that display his worldly wit and passion for the quirks of life. Erwitts versatility is displayed not in the grand, majestic images that are so often seen in the media, but in his subtlety and in his ability to freeze time in that exact moment when nothing appears to be happening, yet so much is. And it is within these fleeting moments that Erwitt tells his story whether it be s ocial, comical, whimsical or just plain beautiful. His wide array of subjects shows us that this is a man who sees the world through the eyes of his camera and who is not afraid to blink. Elliot Erwitt was fittingly born in the city of art, Paris, France in 1928. He was raised in Milan and Hollywood and began photographing while still in high school. His first camera was an old 4 x 5 Speed Graphic but today he uses anything from an 8 X 10 view camera to a Leica. In 1953, after his discharge from the U.S. army, he joined the Magnum Picture Agency from the personal invitation of Robert Capa and he quickly rose through the ranks to become one of Magnums top photographers. Between his careers as a commercial photographer and a photojournalist, Erwitt takes personal snaps for his own pleasure, and has put out several books featuring his odd photographs, which include among many other things, very humanized photograp...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness Essay - 1

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness - Essay Example The main purpose of the research is to present that Life, Liberty and pursuit of happiness is a phrase which outline and indicate the unalienable rights given to all human beings by the God and the institution of government is formed to protect those rights. Jefferson’s original draft suggests that all men are created equal and from this creation, each of them derive and inherent the right to preservation of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. The overall emphasis therefore is upon creation of men as equal and from within this equality, all men have the undeniable rights to preserve the life, have liberty and pursue the happiness. While this phrase is one of the well-known phrases in the declaration however, it is argued that Jefferson was largely influenced by Locke when he decided to include this phrase in declaration. Though, the original draft of Jefferson was refined subsequently however, debate remains regarding what were the actual influences on Jefferson to include this in the original draft. One argument is based upon the assumption that Jefferson was impressed by what Locke termed as the protection of property. Locke suggested that the very purpose of political society is to actually protect the property of individuals. Property, according to Locke, comprises of life, liberty or freedom and estate. Jefferson however, replaced the word estate with the word pursuit of happiness. The right to preserve the life has liberty and pursuit of happiness therefore was the basic promise State actually made to its citizens as one of its basic duties towards citizens.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Communicable Diseases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Communicable Diseases - Essay Example â€Å"Infectious diseases† have affected man at every stage of his evolution, but it is only recently that he has begun to understand that these diseases are not the result of â€Å"invisible† enemies, but rather microscopic ones. Communicable diseases are a group of infectious diseases â€Å"that are capable of being spread directly (through contact with bodily secretions) or indirectly (through contact with inanimate objects) transmitted from person to person† (Ilyas, p. 520, 2007). Common diseases such as influenza, measles, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and AIDS come under this heading. Their prevalence in a community however depends on the degree of defensive power of the body against that infectious agent. Communicable diseases can be termed epidemic â€Å"if the number of susceptible individuals is very large in a community and the disease is likely to spread rapidly, or if it occurs for the first time in an area where it was not previously present† (Ilyas, p520, 2007). However, â€Å"if the immune and susceptible individuals are equal in a community, the disease continues to smolder and is always present in that community, it is said to prevail in an endemic formâ⠂¬  (Ilyas, p520, 2007). A pandemic form is one in which â€Å"the susceptibility of the whole world or a country is increased for a particular organism† (Ilyas, p520, 2007). Some communicable diseases have been known for centuries. For example, Tuberculosis has been mentioned in literature by the name of â€Å"phthisis† or â€Å"dried up† by Hippocrates around 460 B.C. (Hippocrates, n.d.). Some diseases however, have only recently surfaced, but in short time have led to major global health problems. For example, the Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first discovered in 1981 in the US, when five homosexual men with a special type of pneumonia were tested

Monday, November 18, 2019

Practice exams Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Practice exams - Assignment Example By analyzing annual balance sheet, one is able to determine the economy-wide Assets, Net worth as well as liabilities. d. Analysis of a country’s international investment position as well as balance of payments- This is where one looks into investments a country has made in other parts of twirled and this forms part of the assets. c. Why do bank orientated financial systems compared to market orientated financial systems tend to have more severe economic downturns (or loss of output and bigger asset price falls) during a financial crisis? (3 marks) Financial systems relying on the banking systems tend to develop their own policies and therefore have their own pricing. On the other hand, market oriented work with tee current trends in the world economy and therefore it is easy for them to prepare for economic crisis. What are the four main supply-side factors that domestic policymakers can target in order to raise the â€Å"potential output/ income† of an economy? (4 marks) Provide a recent policy example for Australia. (1 mark) What are the potential costs and benefits for China to easing restrictions and eventually liberalizing cross-border capital flows between China and the rest of the world? (Pros and cons - 2 marks each = 4 marks) China should involve other participants in the financial markets in regulation and control of its growth credit and deposit rates. This will encourage more international investors into their financial systems. a. The current account surplus of China has reduced from over 10% of GDP in 2007 to a projected surplus of about 2.4% of GDP in 2014. While the US current account deficit has reduced from almost 5% of GDP in 2007 and forecast to be a deficit of about 2.8% of GDP in 2014. What does this indicate? (5 marks) b. A key driver of relatively low global bond yields in recent years has been the â€Å"global savings glut†, whereby many Asian & oil exporting countries ran large

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Cultural Changes To Organisations Apple Case Study Business Essay

Cultural Changes To Organisations Apple Case Study Business Essay This essay was primary design to examine the important of the cultural changes to organisations using Apple as a Case Study, gathering different systematic approach with variable models, then having examined the core aspect of culture, the leadership quality, organisation structure, performance management and the human resource strategy, to analyse possible outcome of any chosen approach for the predicted changes. It was discovered that there is no one way approach to the end result, in recommendation to this complexity nature however, conclusion where made, that sacrifice have to be made to get rid of the bad aspect of the organisation to retain this goods, that it is rather totally impossible to have a holistic and unique organisation without some form of setback if organisations objectives are to be achieved. More so the recommendations made where in great consideration of Apples corporate culture. What is culture of Apple? Apple incorporation is todays one of the biggest if not the biggest organisation culture change trend master, in the past few years apple as being in the light of it totally perceive genius ways of getting thing done with a different, however Apples corporate culture is constantly changing as a result of changes to its leadership/CEO from time to time. Apples corporate culture is characterise by its intense work ethic and casual work culture (case study p.3) observers also noted that Apple culture is centred on secrecy and very hard discipline for employees that void the rule by sharing information. To gain an in-depth understanding of this we must dwell into Apple historical background, it pros and cons, and the possibility of future management. Therefore the empirical question would be what is the culture of Apple? What is culture? Culture has been describe by many authors, school of thoughts, theories to mention a few in relation to its conceptual usage, it has been described for example as the dominant values espoused by an organisation, the commonly held and relatively stable set of beliefs, attitudes, values and norms that exit throughout an organisation the basic assumption and beliefs that are share by member of an organisation. In recent time culture has been refer to as the way things are done around here. Lynch (2006, p.37) culture refers to the shared understandings and meanings of that members have concerning an organisation. Rather as individuals have distinctive personalities organisation have their own particular culture. Some will be friendly, relaxed and informal while others will be highly formal aloof and hostile. Also Drenna(1992).in senior.B (1997).p101)says culture is what typical of the organisation, the habits the prevailing attitudes, the grown up pattern of accepted and expected behavio ur . The main feature of culture is that even though there are many organisational differences there seem to be share understandings within them. Culture tends to build gradually in rational thinking of groups with the system which later forms a sub/dominant culture. Using Handy (1993) cultural model, handy opine that A culture cannot be precisely define, for it is something that is perceived, something felt handy (p. 191).however he pointed out the four type of culture in organisation which are explain in fig1.1. Type Metaphor Characteristics Power Culture A web Control from centre; political and entrepreneurial ,personal power serves the figure-head and the leader Role Culture The Greek Temple Classical structure; bureaucratic; role identity position power predominate, serves the structure Task culture A net Valued individual expertise and contribution focus on completing the job, both personal and position powers are important; high level of collaboration base on group unity. Person culture A cluster or galaxy Combine of a lose collection of individuals-pursuing own goal but share common facility, power not necessary a focus because members are experts in their own field. This culture serves the individual. Fig1.1 The four culture type highlights how power and control are utilized by organisation and of whose interest are they serving? certainly theres an element of power culture at Apple inc, as noted in the case study, Steve entrepreneurship style had giving way for personal ideology and more-or-less gain control over the system, he is characterise as Apple a mirror image of Apple, of course we can say this is of Advantage, but the bad aspect is the span of control and politic associated with Steve upon returning back in late 1990s, when he changed the culture back to the way its use to be when he was at the apex Apple. Also the Role culture could be link with eras of Sculley, and other leaders who try to formalize the structure by imposing their own rule, neglecting the important of project groups, which is central to the Task culture even though individual expertise at Apple is crucial to its innovation the only existing collaboration is based on secrecy. A typical reflection of Apple is t he individual culture we may say is the Person culture as different geeks work tiredly to bring about a unique invention based on their expertise. Is the culture good or bad for Apple? According to, Van backer(case study p.10), ( Backer)an analyst at Gartner inc, noted when Apple goes out to hire somebody, the no 1 criteria isnt how much experience you have or who you know .its whether they think you will fit into the culture. Secrecy seems very good for Apples corporate culture as it brought good market value for the product, innovation, and keeps customer loyalty going, the downside of this though is the culture of Secrecy had eaten deep into both the internal and external environment of Apple, they became so paranoid that employee were not allow to share internal information, they call it the surprise factor (case study P.11 1). Clearly this will affect employees engagement and leads to de-motivation of individuals, another is legal ethics surrounding secrecy that leads to big bail out in legal battle, which of course is bad for the corporate image and share profit. Reasonably any changes to the secrecy culture without due care may affect performance and alter t he structure. Nevertheless the culture seems unique but can it function without structure, the leadership, performance and strategy? Ideally, we can communicate this by a thorough analysis of the model below; take note that the model is a non linear model as all the elements are inter-related and interdependent. Fig1.2 A model of relationship between culture, leadership, performance, strategy and structure. The model explained that culture is interdependent with the other four linked organisational behaviour, that any alteration at the centre point (culture) will have a major effect on the these linked elements in any direction, in a simple form an alteration of culture as a result of leadership change will also result in structural change, impacted the strategy, and affect the performance, the rebounds effect may occur in vice-visa order, which in turns brings complexity rather than flexibility. As organisation faces difficult obstacles in providing systemic changes to culture, the most successful organisations are belief to be those with a clear understanding of the important changes from the four elements; this view is supported by various scholars, Cameron and Quinn (2006) emphasis this life cycle shift in culture that had developed in Apple over time. Noticeable in the case study is the commentators reference to Apple as a unique culture, analysts argued that Steve the CEO of Apple is the best marketer in the world, this is good but his leadership style suggests a different view. For instance secrecy is the pinnacle of Apples strategic marketing culture. The initial exit of Steve saw a change in leadership that resulted in different performance and strategy, when Sculley was brought on by Steve to help, as a manager, this itself would obviously alter the Structure, because the strategy was not yielding good results. Which cause a drastic change of performance as the new leader struggle to change the previous culture. Apple was known to appreciate and value its employee, it worth noting that whereas motivational theories such as B.F Skinner (1974), Mintberg (1979), have highlighted the importance of reward and value as the ideological stimuli that motivate individual to work, in contrast, at Apple any universal concept of motivation might not work, because of how Apple justifies its reward system with a do or die culture. More so the structure at Apple Inc is becoming complex as it evolves into a different pattern over the years. FIG2 Hierarchy and Flat structure THE EFFECT OF STRUCTURE The above is an illustration of a standardize structure of organisation formulated by many scholars over the year to explain organizational functionality; the flat is more prominent to entrepreneurship, with suitable element of informal, charismatic, and informal leadership quality but grapevine in nature while the other is ideal for a larger organisation, this was centred by the work of Mayo (1934) in Hawthorn study and was later confirmed by Huczynski and Buchanan,(2007 p.460). It is said the right structure must support strategy, be appropriate-reflecting the goals of individual or the organisation. It must remain flexible and be permissive to communication. However, of all the supportive research is the work of Canadian academic, Henry Mintzberg. According to Mintzberg (1979) an organisational structure is the sum total of the way in which it divides its labour into distinct tasks and then achieve coordination between them. also structure is define as the established pattern of relationship between the components parts of an organisation, out lining both communication control and authority patterns .supportive to this also is Wilson and Rosenfeld(1990) explained that structure distinguishes the parts of an organisation and delineates the relationship between them. This is supported by Apples trend in organisation structure which is more complex than initially perceived, for instance Apple is seen as the pioneer of work hard play hard ethic. Equally important is the frequent changes in culture as different leaders tried to adopt a different approach to reorganise the structure, it is interesting that analyst said Apple adopted a style that was not too far too formal or hierarchical and that the approach was more result-driven.the other bad effect of Apple structure is it tend to yield to favouritism, unfairness and biases, this bad thing of having a formal structure, as employees complain of organisational politics within the system, this will no doubt de-motivate staff morale. In ugly circumstances as a reference to the case study, any poor performance at Apple will not be consistent with its culture; it is important to say that any change in culture will resort in change in structure, however if the structure cannot survive without the culture then where do we inject the leadership style to bring about ultimate performance? Apple structure is neither hierarchy nor flat we could say its more of a hybrid or matrix, the flat is more organic which is prone to bureaucracy according to Max webber in analyst of organisation he had identified the principle of bureaucracy as a continuous organisation that is bound by rules. Webber outline the importance of ideal bureaucracy to an organisation as positive and rational unlike the other which he described as domination as charismatic authority and traditional authority .thus we are likely to adjust the culture to fit the structure as the case of Apple might be, ideally the Adhocracy culture may be implemented. Apples ideal culture Vs Structure Cameron and Quinn (2006) gave an insight into what an ideal adhocracy culture is, they went on to say that there are four types of culture develops within different dimension, the four culture namely the Clan culture, the Hierarchy Culture, the Market Culture and the Adhocracy Culture. The assumption were that organisation were in business to develop new ideas, new product and thus be able to respond to the hyper turbulent world, therefore the major task of management would be to forester creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation. The good picture is Apple structure is informal which promotes cratetivity, and recognises the important of leadership charisma, its a bitter end as this can only work effectively in smaller organisation. Adhocracy have been characterised as tents rather than palaces in sense that they are temporary and response to situational changes rapidly, taking advantage of flexibility and ambiguity. As Apple is a technological industry which must learn to adjust and respond to change in product and market value, Apples culture is dynamic because of the visionary and risk of it leadership effectiveness, as their focus is leading edge of new products and producing unique and original product. However is important to state that the transformation of Apple largely rely on leadership quality and employee commitment to it structural and cultural changes whenever the needs arise. Fig 2.1 A representation of Apples organisation formation structure. AGENT OF TRANSFORMATION AND THE IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP Leadership as a concept has been an interesting centre piece to different fields of thought, to the ordinary man; a leader is just a symbolic head, but as a supportive element by theorists and analysts a definite category of classification; it is said the most important type of leaderships are of the following: the charismatic, the traditional, the situational, the appointed, the functional and the principle centred leader for the purpose of this essay we will look at leadership from management perspective, according Cole(2004), leadership is define as the following: leadership at work is a dynamic process whereby one individual in a group is not only responsible for the group results but actively seeks the collaboration and commitment of all the group members in a achieving group goals in a particular context and against the background of a particular national culture INNOVATORS The leadership style of Apple is highly represented by their iconic CEO Steve that is highly regarded for his innovative, creative and marketing strategies. Using classification of leadership, his style could be linked as the transformational leader according to Burns (1978), which is characterised by the transformation of organisation, creativity and innovation with the purpose to engender commitment. This is genuinely good for Apple, However the simplicity of his approach could resort in the downfall of his perceived personality and organisational performance, for instance if this was ideal for the organisational culture then the question would be the sited instances of global workforce revolting against the culture of secrecy used by Apple as an accepted way to move the company forward. The side effect of Steves charismatic role at Apple is what happens when he leaves the organisation! Will this mean theres no other possible replacement for his strategy and the portrait of Apple i s damages for good? If apple is to maintain its status quo as the number one most valued company in the world then it needs to engage itself in some form of leadership reorientation as over the past decade different management/leaders have tied to change the culture of apple and its structure only to head back to the starting point which is where they are today, Steve job certainly must be doing some right, concrete evidence suggest that Steve job must have outperformed his expectation to the board of management as emphasized in the case study. CONSTRAINTS the ripple effect of change of leaders/managers at Apple inc emphasis the need for change in culture, however this changes also brought about change in structure as each leader tries to implement his/her own ideology, arguable is the internal problem that apple faces from its reorganisation, for instance the appointment of Sculley who was credit for making Apple one of the biggest and fastest-growing corporation in the US.(case study p.5 ).A series of failure in the early 90s again brought another power shift when the board decided it time for leadership change and Micheal pindler was appointed in 1993 to replace Sculley, Spinder also fail to perform as expected ,Amelio could have being the one man that brought the last drastic change into apple because of his focus on Apple product line and workforce reduction but fail follow Apples corporate culture, once more Steve was back in business to turn things Around. A key point to his transformational leadership style, nevertheless it wou ld appear that the board were more interested in performance rather than leadership quality or style; however performance cannot be divorced from leadership. THE ACHIEVER Performance, theres no generalised definition of performance; it has being said that performance cannot be easily defined as you cannot measure or manage it. However few management researchers have noted the core different of performance from other fields in comparison to management sectors. Performance is more adapted to performance management day in day out, therefore performance could be agreed to be of relevance to situational changes. Armstrong and Baron (1998) define performance management as a strategic and integrated approach to delivering sustained success to organization by improving the performance of the people who work in them by developing the capability of team and individual who work in them.. Therefore, it provides avenue for knowledge on organizational objectives and goals and a spectrum to manage and train individual in order to achieve to such objectives Armstrong stress that performance is strategic because it is concern with broader issues facing organizational effectiveness. As evidence in the case study the market value of Apple against the backdrop of its financial performance over the years in Exhibit VIII, it is clear that in the past decade there being a major profit share in the company, more so recently Apple posted all time record revenue with increase earnings of 78 percent, as of July 2010. Apple posted record revenue of $15.7 billion and also quarterly profit of $3.25 billion, (APPLE press release 2006). Surely the share holders would be very pleased with the result. These results compare to workforce engagement and the strategy used to achieve result cannot be overlooked, Apple was known to appreciate its employees. It was consider a great place to work for people who are personate about what they did. (Case study p.3) also experts felt one of the key success to Apples performance is its ability to attract and retain key personnel in technical, marketing and staff positions. Nevertheless financial performance in one comfort zone for the company identity externally, but does this speak the same for the internal general audit of employee of Apple who work tirelessly for over 60hours to get this results out. The secrecy involved creating the competitive edge and the sighted instance of the Chinese employees that commit suicide then how engaged are the staff of Apple incorporation. In reality if we alter the strategic approach of performance which rely on secrecy and long hour working ethic, surely this would revert the profit standing of Apple ,therefore this cant be achieved although the element of secrecy may be bad, this however may not be change as the entire strategy and organisation culture rely on it to survive. The unique culture of Apple which is base on the leadership style of one man approach: Steve jobs, can it survive after the exit of jobs. its plausible to say yes as jobs himself claim he had trained others to manage whenever he is no longer available, however the determination of each individual could result in systemic failure of the culture as every leader approach with a different goal setting. If the goal serve as the basis for motivation, and the goals are set by managers, industrial standard or base on negotiation, how then do you motivate individual, researchers Add a few more noted that one can be motivated by target set against the others while you could be de-motivated by over pressured standard. levison (1972)highlights this in Asinine attitude towards motivation, in relation to reward or punishment to motivate workers, more so borrowing the work of Hygiene theory of motivation by Herzberg (1968),which he claim that the most important motivator or satisfier are Achievement Recognition Work itself Responsibility Advancement. While the following called hygiene factors or dissatisfies Company policy and administration. Supervision-the technical aspects. Salary. Interpersonal relations-supervision Working conditions. Herzberg pointed out that these factors were intrinsically related to the content of work, i.e. with intrinsic challenge, interest and the individual responses generated by them. If applied to Apple, how do we justify the working condition of staff who work for long hours to get the job done, or does the secrecy atmosphere bring about individual motivation or fear of punishment has whoever fail to comply to the culture is noticeably punished, the reward scheme in apple for those that come up with innovative technology like iphone, mac ipad could result in esteem of individual while the punishment approach on the other hand is detrimental to the public image of Apple as any failure leads to sacking individual or leakage of secret will automatically result in dismissal. Therefore we could say any universal concept of motivation might not work in Apple cooperate culture base on perceived punishment and reward of staff performance, thus Apple cooperate culture is zero experience and no stability of staff until now though it has worked for the company. Even though the strategy may be consider risky. Apple target young staff recruits with less commitment and more glory seeking rather than experience. However is worth saying the older generation are not mush expandable. This could be explain using Maslow (1956) Hierarchy of needs, which he associated the important of needs to motivate individual, starting from basic needs called physiological needs, follow by safety needs, then love needs, esteem needs, and self actualisation. He emphasis that as one needs is fulfil we move up to another. A key point to Apple Staff retention Goal setting (locke,shaw sari latham 1981)A change in goal will foreseen a better Apple as a company, for example Apple has always focus on improving on a previous product i.e. Iphone1,2,3..4.e.tc while not come up with something entirely different and innovative. Even though Apple came up with a micro palm device name ipad, it still relied entire on the old operating system which is gradually facing out as competition grows in the technology industry. Again the past ten years down the line Steve Jobs was back the in same job at the apex of the company after many failures of different managers at various stages of cultural development within Apple inc. even though Jobs is making money for apple for now the question is will same strategy that fails at the initial past decade in culture, work for the future? A do or die culture was Apples it ideal for apple? For instance sculley tried for Apple for about five years, thus due to cultural strategy of sculley, the board got rid of him. At this juncture the answer would be it all depends on many factors conserving strategy culture and variable element to forecast the future. THE OVERALL STRATEGY Ohmae (1982), comment that what business strategy is all about is, in a word, competitive advantage. Without competitors, there would be no need for strategy, for the sole purpose of strategic planning is to enable the company to gain, as efficiently as possible, a sustainable edge over its competitors. different academics, have define strategy in reflexion of objective and organisational goal with viable attribute to structure. Chandler (1962) defines strategy as the determination of the basic long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and allocation of resources necessary for carry out those goals. In a simple word strategy must encompass various aspect of organisational defitions, create analysis while making choice before implantation and return back to analyse result. This is represented in strategic process below .by Johnson and scholes (2006). The strategy process Strategy Analysis Implementation Choice HRM Finance operations sales/marketing All the above are based on structure and corporate culture, therefore the overall strategy at Apple is subjected to many reviews taking in to consideration their strength, i.e. secrecy and brand packaging, the unique and trend product, and the possible side effect that comes with ethical issues like radiations, one man culture-Steve, an alteration will result in change in performance, therefore this are necessary tool for Apple to keep, if they are to maintain continues brand and global advantage. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION Base on reviews of different model in relation to the impact of corporate culture at Apple the following conclusion can be made: There is a significant effect of Apples corporate culture on leadership, performance and reward, strategy and structure. There is also significant impact of the corporate culture on the internal and the external environment. The following recommendations are opinionated: There should be a minimal structural adjustment to Apples corporate culture; management should make sure to reduce dissonance, workers are allowed in decision-making process and team interaction be also allowed. Employee should be made adequately aware of the organisational gains, loses, management policies and goals and a reasonable reward scheme in place to motivate workers. Has secrecy is both good and bad for the organisation it should be kept at a level that encourage performance and it share understanding among the employees and manage since is a necessary evil that cant be gotten rid of. Leadership role should also in context of management training to retain future management and valuable culture.