Monday, December 30, 2019

The Metamorphosis The Misunderstood Of Students

In the United States of America, there are about 323.1 million people. 74.6 million of those are students. Students across the country are all basically doing the exact same curriculum, with the same textbooks, and the same styles of teaching. It is 2017, and times have changed. As Gregor Samsa, an outsider in the story â€Å"The Metamorphosis†, by Franz Kafka, is misunderstood, students in this country are misunderstood and are given things that are wrong for them. These things include standardized tests, excessive amounts of homework, and a lack of respect and trust. To start off, students are misunderstood as they are forced to take standardized tests. The creator of the standardized tests was quoted saying that they are to hard and†¦show more content†¦But for a lot of high school students, this definitely isn’t the case. If your child is looking to attend a competitive university, then her SAT/ACT score is more important than her GPA† (Patel, Shaan). So how is it fair that twelve years of going through school, matters less than three hours of your life. Some students work very hard to get above 3.5 and way higher grade point averages, and what matters more is just how well you do on one test. This also correlates to how much homework is given and how it is too much for some students. A second example of students being misunderstood is the ample amount of homework given to each student every week and every day. â€Å"High school teachers interviewed said they assign an average of 3.5 hours worth of homework a week. For students who study five days a week, thats 42 minutes a day per class, or 3.5 hours a day for a typical student taking five classes† (Stainburn, Samantha). Now, these numbers may vary, but that is a lot of homework. As stated earlier, students have different ways of learning. So only the students whose ways of learning are solitary or logical will it benefit. The only form of homework that should be given out to the five other learners would be studying for things, or not solving tons of problems. Students who learn by physically showing it through real life things, or by group work, or by imaging andShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka920 Words   |  4 Pagesto a stereotypical teenage society, in the story, â€Å"The Metamorphosis,† by Franz Kafka, is a showing of how in a day-to-day â€Å"regular† lifestyle can result in the alienating of the metamorphosing of something not as typical in your self-styled day-to-day â€Å"regular† lifestyle. This also can be known as outsiders, people who do not belong to a particular group, signifying the argument that newcomers are simply those who are misjudged or misunderstood for the two reasons of. Since, the men and women thatRead MoreThe Metamorphosis By Frank Kafka849 Words   |  4 PagesThe Metamorphosis is a short novella written by Frank Kafka during the 20th century Modernism period. The Modern period introduced technological advances like the steam engine; the telephone and telegraph connected humans from different regions and help improve the human experience. Although the increase of these technological devices led to an improvement of the human condition it also led to the production of dangerous weapons and modern warfare. Global conflicts ravaged modern life due to increasingRead More Mental Isolation in Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis Essay1428 Words   |  6 PagesMental Isolation in Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis The metamorphosis very possibly was written by Kafka as an outlet for his feelings of isolation and helplessness. In it, the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, awakens one morning to find himself spontaneously transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. The story continues from there in a most realistic fashion: his family rejects him, and he stays cooped up in his room until he dies. Although interpretations of the story differ, my opinion isRead MoreThe Fall Down The Rabbit Hole3326 Words   |  14 Pagesher discovering her own identity, which is ultimately preventing her from growing up and maturing. Every attempt to establish a familiar basis of identity creates only the sense of being absolutely lost. Alice becomes to the reader a mistreated, misunderstood, wandering stray. She feels stranded between the stages of no longer wanting to be a child and not being ready to grow up. 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It is so easy for students (and indeed others who should know better) to trivialize this very problematic and challenging subject. This is not the case with the present book. This is a book that deserves to achieve a wide readership. Professor Stephen Ackroyd, Lancaster UniversityRead MoreMerger and Acquisition: Current Issues115629 Words   |  463 PagesEconomy at the University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain. She received her PhD in Economics and Business Sciences from the University of Oviedo. Her research focuses on banking, financial markets and corporate finance. She has directed several PhD students in thes e subjects and is the author of numerous publications in national and international journals, and several textbooks. She is currently NOTES ON THE CONTRIBUTORS xvii the Director of a Master’s program in Banking and Financial Markets

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Alan Kendricks Was Recently Promoted To Medical Director

Alan Kendricks was recently promoted to medical director for Cardiology Associates at Southern Pennsylvania, University Hospital (SPUH). His first six months was a crash course in the roles of the different departments in the hospital. While balancing patients, and the duties of his new role, Alan has observed problems, and areas of improvements that he hopes to start implementing with change. Him and other senior executives and clinical leaders, know that cardiology is seen as the â€Å"pillar of prosperity† and they are exploring strategic potential. (Groysberg, Kaftan, McCalla, 2007) However, he has run into the resistance of tenured staff and physicians not wanting to change procedures. Alan is attempting to figure out the best way to†¦show more content†¦Griffiths tenure and Dr. Kendricks understood that. However, he believed that he needed to explore changes in order to lead the practice into having a successful future. Initiatives that Alan has already impleme nted during his first six months in his position was an open-door policy during his administrative hours. Dr. Griffiths was a much more â€Å"hands off†, collaborative director. (Groysberg, Kaftan, McCalla, 2007) Where Dr. Kendricks wants to be more direct, and confrontational at times. His new open-door policy is becoming a major distraction for Alan, he is finding himself taking his routine clinical work home so he is not interrupted with other issues. The change is leadership style has also been challenging for the hospital to come to terms with. The physicians and support staff have become complacent to the procedures and practices under Dr. Griffiths. Alan has been attempting to implement a new pay-for performance system, which includes electronic medical record (EMR), decision support systems, e-scribing of medications, and predefined disease management protocols for patients with chronic conditions. With the new EMR system, senior physicians begrudged Dr. Kendricks fo r telling them how to practice, and forcing them to use the new systems. Doctors are also complaining about how they are being forced to do work support staff should be preforming. Alan is having a hard time figuring out how to allocate the support staff’s time fairly.Show MoreRelatedA Cardiologist At The Southeastern Pennsylvania University1322 Words   |  6 PagesA cardiologist at the Southeastern Pennsylvania University Hospital by the name of Alan Kendricks had recently been promoted as medical director. Within this new promotion, he brought with him great change. The medical director before Alan had a laissez-faire approach, while Alan had a more interactive approach to leading. Although Alan came with great credentials, the medical staff Alan was now in charge of was timid of this new change. A few employees who were not too keen on the new changesRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall3931 64 Words   |  1573 Pages Editorial Director: Sally Yagan Director of Editorial Services: Ashley Santora Acquisitions Editor: Brian Mickelson Editorial Project Manager: Sarah Holle Editorial Assistant: Ashlee Bradbury VP Director of Marketing: Patrice Lumumba Jones Senior Marketing Manager: Nikki Ayana Jones Senior Managing Editor: Judy Leale Production Project Manager: Becca Groves Senior Operations Supervisor: Arnold Vila Operations Specialist: Cathleen Petersen Senior Art Director: Janet Slowik Art Director: Kenny BeckRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 Pagesancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. This book is printed on acid-free paper. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 WVR/WVR 0 9 8 7 ISBN 978-0-07-340334-2 MHID 0-07-340334-2 Editorial director: Stewart Mattson Publisher: Tim Vertovec Executive editor: Richard T. Hercher, Jr. Developmental editor: Gail Korosa Associate marketing manager: Jaime Halterman Project manager: Harvey Yep Production supervisor: Carol Bielski Designer: Mary Kazak

Friday, December 13, 2019

SAS Institute Case Analysis Free Essays

1. Basic Business Model The business model of SAS is such that it in general it offers services coupled with software. Unlike typical firms in the industry it follows an annual software subscription model. We will write a custom essay sample on SAS Institute Case Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now Rather than sell its software, SAS leases to its customers – a strategy of immense importance in understanding the company’s relationship to its users. The fact that leases must be renewable annually creates a tremendous emphasis on customer satisfaction and quality in addition to stabilising its revenue. Furthermore, its products are made based on what customers require and its developmental process is almost wholly customer driven. There is also a strong focus on employee satisfaction leading to customer retention and loyalty which SAS believes is directly linked to customer satisfaction. As seen by the SAS Institute, the leasing strategy helps keep the company sharp by ensuring that technological advances are driven solely by customer needs. 2. Capabilities and Core Competencies to execute its Business Model SAS possesses many capabilities and competencies to help execute its business model effectively. These include flexibility from being a private company, an effective tacit leadership, unique corporate culture, strong brand, dedicated human capital and a considerable amount of financial resources which they efficiently allocate to certain projects whenever required. Being private, it is able to focus on the long term, continue to implement activities which have a strong focus on employee satisfaction and focus on slower but steady growth, something that would have most likely have not been possible had SAS been a public company. With a strong leadership spearheaded by CEO Jim Goodnight, coupled with a strong brand, SAS is able to recruit and retain the key talent it requires to execute its business model. Having a corporate culture which is egalitarian and based on mutual trust and respect also plays a significant role in retaining talent and keeping employees loyal and happy. With a dedicated human capital striving to continue the company’s growth, SAS does not only come up with innovative products which increase its revenue, it also saves more than $100million due to its low attrition rate. Key Success Factors The key factors are its unconventional management philosophies, customer driven developmental process and it being a private company. Unlike other software companies that focus on monetary benefits, SAS’s management philosophy is mainly employee centred with the provision of many intangible benefits. It also believes in a long term view of all issues and does not actively strive to reac h specified short term financial goals. These have led to a build up of a loyal and talented workforce and sustainable long term growth. Moreover, its products are built on customer needs and customer feedback is taken very seriously. Using the Voice of the Customer (VOC) approach, customer opinions and suggestions are compiled and used to guide the development process. Being a private company with no debt has allowed Goodnight to have a long term view of issues and also implement the abovementioned policies to provide employee satisfaction and consequently customer satisfaction as well. . Building of Capabilities and Core Competencies via People Management Practices With attraction and retention of talent central to the company’s continuing success, it has developed certain principles in its recruitment, compensation, employee benefits and outsourcing policies. It has a stringent recruitment process to ensure the cultural fit of its new hires and thereafter gives its employees as much autonomy as possible. It also actively promotes a work life balance and egalitarian culture with a promotion of non financial incentives, unlike other software firms thus creating a unique corporate culture, â€Å"One of cooperation, teamwork and mutual respect† . Moreover its flat organization structure, open door policy and informal work environment encourages communication at all levels of the organization.. This has also led to the development of a strong brand and increased employee satisfaction which not only enables the company to attract but also retain talent. As shown in the diagram above, this leads to increased customer satisfaction and thus increasing revenues. All in all, these practices have helped promote the building of its capabilities and competencies to a large extent ?Is the SAS Model perfectly in balance? With SAS focussed on long term growth and emphasizing non monetary benefits for its employees, this model has been almost perfect for them. It is not fair to say that the model is perfectly in balance as a firm’s model is largely determined by its capabilities and core competencies. A public company for instance would not enjoy the flexibility that SAS enjoys. It would not be able to provide such extensive employee benefits or focus on long term growth at the expense of short term profitability. No model can fit all organizations and be perfectly in balance and SAS is not different. For example, if its model is in balance, its attrition rate despite being low would be 0 and not 4%. 4. Difficulties in imitating SAS’s approach Being such a differentiated company compared to the rest of the industry in many aspects, it is difficult to duplicate SAS’s approach which is based heavily on intangible assets. â€Å"†¦intangible assets almost never create value by themselves. They need to be combined with other assets. † Hence, not only do these intangible assets such as SAS’s unique corporate culture take years to implement, it is also hard to imitate as the social complexity of a company’s culture is so ambiguous that it is almost impossible to find out how it works and combines with each other. ?Why few firms have tried to implement many of its People Management Practices Big companies with strong brands such as IBM could follow its stringent recruitment process but would not be able to imitate its unique culture as easily. With most companies providing incentive compensations and stock options, it would not be easy to eliminate that and emphasize non-monetary incentives. This is especially so when public companies would have to go through its board just to provide employee benefits on a similar scale as SAS. It would also be unfeasible to bring outsourced functions back in-house as it would most certainly drive up labour costs and hence be blocked by a hard-nosed board. 5. Extent to which SAS is dependent on continuation of its CEO With a flat organization structure and having 27 direct reports, Goodnight also appears o be very much on top of all the details of the organization. Conversely, he appears to give his direct reports a clear direction of where SAS Institute is going on the product or technology front, and then let them run their own areas. Even though Goodnight is no longer directly involved with most decisions related to SAS’s work culture, his original vision has spawned a self-perp etuating culture, and â€Å"new† decision makers now share his vision, which governs the variety of philosophies, strategies, and practices adopted by the company since its inception. Even though the culture looks so strong that it would survive a change in leadership, the new CEO would not only have to possess business leadership ability but also shares the same values as Goodnight so that SAS does not deviate from its current approach to its business and management. Hence, with no formal succession planning and still being heavily involved in almost all aspects of the organization, the SAS institute approach to its business and management is heavily dependent on Goodnight’s continuation. . Theory of Human Motivation and Behaviour underlying SAS’s Management Approach Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy seems to underlie SAS’s approach to people management. 7. Barriers in implementing knowledge of how SAS manages its people Firstly, a barrier in trying to implement freedom and autonomy coupled with possessing employees with intrinsic motivation is not only the lack of talent but finding talent with the required characteristics. Secondly, extensive employee benefits such as a gym, day-care and the absence of commission-based pay for its account representatives would most likely not been possible if a company is public. Thirdly, a lack of explicit support and encouragement from top management would be another barrier as this is important for the promotion of an egalitarian culture based on trust and mutual respect on top of a family-friendly atmosphere. 8. Major Challenges SAS may face in the next 5 years and its Impact Due to the changing dynamics of the software industry and increasing global competition, the company has to expand its talent pool which is already in shortage. Hence, there might be a need for the company to come out with new ways to attract talent. Practices such as providing more career advancement opportunities would be important in retaining them. Another challenge would be to develop current staff to meet future needs whilst nurturing its talent to fulfil their potential. SAS might have to change its current unstructured approach where employees are free to come up with and develop their own projects and idea. A more structured approach to its job design could be considered to help nurture and develop staff. In general, SAS’s practices have been working for them and look to be able to continue to help them succeed. However, certain aspects could be improved in the future to overcome potential future people management problems such a new generation of workers demanding a different set of benefits than the one SAS currently offers. . Lessons drawn By paying extraordinary attention to its customers and employees, the company has differentiated itself from other companies in the competitive industry, and subsequently has created this â€Å"wheel of loyalty† which resulted in both employee and customer retention. For various HRM practices such as recruitment and selection, great care must be taken to ensure all practices are designed to fit t he company’s business model and culture and at the same time also highlights its strengths, to promote a competitive advantage. For instance, during recruitment, SAS took great care to hire people to ensure a cultural fit. In addition, its job design was such to fit into its philosophy of trust and autonomy between its employees. There should also be a strong relationship between management and employees to produce competitive advantage, hence SAS’s promotion of an egalitarian culture. ?Future of HRM in firms like SAS The future of HR should be one that is committed to working with line managers to improve SAS’s bottom line, create service value for customers and create workplace value for employees. Leadership and management training should be initiated for senior managers while knowledge sharing within the HR function would be vital for SAS to move forward and expand globally. HR should also become a champion for employees while working to increase employee contributions, specifically commitment and ability to deliver results, be an agent for continuous transformation, and cultivating a culture that will improve SAS’s capacity for change. How to cite SAS Institute Case Analysis, Papers

Thursday, December 5, 2019

An Introduction to Corporate Accounting

Questions: 1. What is the research question of interest to the authors of the paper? 2. Is this an interesting question? Why? 3. Why is this question related to or of interest to Accounting? 4. What is the source of tension in the paper that requires research? 5. In what setting is this question examined? 6. What does the paper find? 7. What does the paper conclude based on its findings? 8. How convincing is the evidence presented in the paper? How valid are the results? 9. How does this paper contribute to the literature, and to our knowledge? 10. What are the implications of this paper? Answers: 1. The research question that is present in the paper is that how accrual accounting is linked to the valuation of the equity, as well as goodwill of the firm. From the accounting perspective, this research is very helpful because this will help in recording the creation, as well as distribution of wealth. It is an interesting question because accrual accounting in the case of financial activities can be seen as straightforward. 2. The question is directly linked to financing activity and hence interesting. A financial activity considers assets, as well as liabilities that have perfect markets. The accounting measures can be conceptualized with the help of book values and market values (Edwards Bell, 1961). The question is related to accounting for operating assets. It is clear from the discussion that the measurement of operating accounting earnings stress on cash flows that is adjusted for accruals and the utilization of conventions of accounting that brings a difference. The question evaluates the fact that how accrual accounting is related to valuation of the firms equity, as well as goodwill. 3. The main aim of the paper is to shed light on the link that is present between the market value of a firm and the accounting data that concerns the operating, as well as financial activities. The major question is related to accounting and linked to financing activities. Accrual accounting is vital when it comes to the techniques of accounting. This is an important consideration because when it comes to financial activities, the book value equals the market value while it differs in case of operating activities (Ryan, 1986). This paper is important in the sense that it models how the market value of the firm links to accounting data that sheds light both on the operating, as well as on financing activities. Both these concepts are important in nature because they influence the evaluation of the market value of a firm that is a major function of the financial statements. 4. The model that is shown here begins from the assumption that the firms value of equity equals the NPV of the dividend that is expected and distributed to the equity shareholders. Overall, the model and its implication is complex in nature and creates a problem. The creation of wealth is mainly recorded with the help of the accounting system. 5. The question is evaluated with the help of three main facts. The initial being the value as it pertains to the realization that is anticipated. The second being the fact that how the value rests on the accounting data realization. The third set stress how the earning is connected to starting of the book values. The paper projects that in all the three methods, the conclusion depends on the manner to which the conservatism of accounting is maintained. The presence or absence of growth in the case of operating activities is relevant only when the accounting system is conservative in nature (Needles Powers, 2013). 6. In this paper, the major stress is on the linear model where the dynamic of the information is specified and includes the book value, as well as abnormal earnings for operating purposes. The model is simple in nature and helps in derivation of closed forms that relates to market value. The model considers four main variables that are operating earnings, interest revenues, cash flow, as well as dividend (Paton Littleton, 1940). 7. The main advantage of the paper lies in the fact that the accounting relations has been shown with the help of various models and formula that is user-friendly and justify the measurements that has been considered. Moreover, the models are the best fit because the activities of the firm are in the nature of financing or operating (Stickney et. al, 1986). 8. Overall, the paper shows reliance on the LIM dynamics and this paper serves a major purpose as the structure of the accounting satisfies the properties and establishes a relationship between value and the accounting numbers. The article has praised the framework because it ensures that wealth creation must be in tune with the wealth distribution and has been justified with the help of proposition one and other classical concepts of MM (Miller Modigliani, 1961). The analysis is independent in nature and therefore, provides a clear-cut knowledge. 9. From the paper, it is observed that three concepts plays a leading role in the accounting variables and helps in derivation of the values. Firstly, the income, as well as balance sheet reconcile through the clean surplus relation. From this restriction, it can be said that the goodwill of a firm equals the present value of anticipated future abnormal earnings (Morgenstern, 1963). Secondly, the assessment establishes Millar and Modigliani concept of debt. Here, the borrowing capacity of a firm whether average or incremental yields zero NPV. Thirdly, the concept of cash flow is shown naturally if one witness the cash flow and operating earning difference. 10. From the discussion and overview of the paper, it is clear that accrual system of accounting is important, as well as vital when it comes to accounting. Various models have been proposed in order to have a clear-cut understanding (Stickney et. al, 1991). As per the study and discussion, it is evident that the linear model is best suited in this scenario. References Edwards, E.O. and. Bell, P.W 1961, The Theory of Measurement of Business Income, Berkeley, Califoniia:University. Miller, M. and F. Modigliani 1961, Dividend Policy, Growth, and the Valuation of Shares, Journal of Business, no. 34, pp. 411-433 Morgenstern, O 1963, On the Accuracy of Economic Observations, Princeton: Princeton University Press. Paton, W.A. and Littleton, A.C 1940, An Introduction to Corporate Accounting, Standards.Evanston, Ilhnois: American Accounting Association. Ryan, S.G 1986, Structural Models of the Price to Earnings Relation: Mea.surement Errors in Accounting Earnings, Working Paper, Stanford University. Stickney, C.P, Weil, R.L and Davidson, S 1991, Fmancial Accounting; An Introduction to Concepts, Methods, and Use. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.