Poverty And Its Effect On Poverty - 1551 Words

Poverty is an inarguable inevitability that varies in definition and severity from country to country. Poverty can be caused by many factors- economic instability, lack of education, a natural disaster, or overpopulation. These factors become a normal situation and then a culture of poverty forms and is passed down from generation to generation making it nearly impossible for the cycle to end. A culture of poverty is especially evident in India. It is estimated that twenty one percent of the Indian population survives on one dollar and ninety cents a day. When assigning a statistic to the poverty in India, the percentage of people living in poverty is different with each source, varying from twenty all the way to fifty six percent of the 1.25 billion people living in India. Women, children and members of the lowest class (Dalits) may or may not be counted in India’s poverty statistic so to assign an accurate value to the percentage of the poor in India is almost impossible. I ndia is considered to have the economic potential to be a leading power but this strength cannot make up for the economic disparities and a huge gap between the rich and poor. Overpopulation and the government’s inability to utilize programs to enable impoverished individuals to begin to provide for themselves and contribute to the nation’s economy prevents India from fully developing as a country. Overpopulation could be considered India’s fundamental challenge to becoming a fully developed nation.Show MoreRelatedPoverty And Its Effects On Poverty1554 Words   |  7 Pages Poverty is a remarkably persistent problematic social challenge within the United States that has far-reaching implications. The magnitude and perplexity of poverty and its instigates are a massive predicament of both ethical and economic concern that has many proportions, which demands the country’s immediate attention. Poverty is an idiom that is generally used to describe a condition or state in which a person or society lacks the monetary resources and necessities to enjoy a minimum basic qualityRead MorePoverty And Its Effects On Poverty Essay1096 Words   |  5 PagesPoverty cannot be defined as being affected by a few set examples, rather it is the result of an infinite number of factors. Human behavior, which is highly unpredictable, dictates what a person’s economic status will be. â€Å"Although the causes of poverty are varied, Americans strongly endorse individual responsibility as a primary cause† (Mistry et al. 704). However, it is not always their own decisions that will predict their outcome. Opportunity remains just as large of a decider as does dedicationRead MorePoverty : The Cause And Effects Of Poverty1326 Words   |  6 PagesPoverty is â€Å"the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor† (Dictiona ry.com, 2017). Based off this definition poverty is a condition that can cause a cascade of cause and effect actions that is detrimental to families and individuals both physically and mentally. Haan, Kaplan, Camacho (2017) completed a study on the correlation between social and economic status and health in adults in Oakland, CA. They found that the lower the socioeconomicRead MorePoverty And The Effects Of Poverty1804 Words   |  8 Pageslivelihood of those supressed by poverty. By definition, such poverty is detrimental to human rights outlined in the Catholic Social Teachings (CSTs), and consequently, the Church has sought immediate aid for these people. Due to the cyclical nature of poverty, actions of justice are also being encouraged to sustain its reversal. Ideologies of benefactor supremacy aim to be inhibited through humility and the implementation of citizen-led strategies to eradicate poverty. However, the human nature presentsRead MorePoverty And Its Effects On Po verty1826 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"Each day, 963 million people go hungry† (Finley). People from all aspects of life are affected by poverty. The richest and the poorest countries have all stared the beast of poverty directly in the face. The poor are not only deprived of things like food, water, housing, and education that make up the typical guidelines of life, but they are deprived of luxuries. As we see the world around us evolve in it’s ways of architecture, transportation, and fashion, we also see that the poor are not welcomeRead MoreEffect Of Poverty On The Poverty Of India1948 Words   |  8 Pageswould astound both themselves and the world. The effects of poverty can be felt at every level of society — from the individual living in the poverty stricken environment to the political leader attempting to provide specific solutions. According to statistics, India has seen significant falls in poverty since the 1980s, rates that accelerated into the 19 90s. This has been strongly related to India’s impressive growth record over this period. Poverty reduction in India has been tried before and hasRead MoreEffects of poverty1534 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ The Effects Of Poverty , WRIT 300 October 15, 2012 Poverty is an enigma that seems to plague each corner of the United States. No matter how rich how stabilize or how strong our country may claim it is poverty lurks in shadow of all places on this earth and in it’s silhouette the opprobrious effects. The three scholarly articles I summarized connect the dots on how poverty impacts the United States economically; and socially. The first articles I summarized Haiyun Zhao, ZhilanRead MoreThe Effects Of Poverty On Families, And The Causes Of Poverty Essay1970 Words   |  8 Pagesnational measurable line of poverty. Causes of poverty stem from a wide range of factors including, geographical location, education levels, and generational poverty. The effects of poverty can be detrimental to an individual’s psychological and physical health. In the following paper, we will examine the prevalence, impact, and causes related to families that live in poverty. â€Æ' The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of poverty in families, the effect poverty has on families, and theRead MoreGlobal Poverty And Its Effects On Poverty Essay2151 Words   |  9 Pagesreduce and more effectively measure poverty has been Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) in New York City. This paper will explain how CEO was and still is so successful in combatting poverty and will argue that its tactics should be implemented in cities across the nation. Poverty is one of the most important issues that the modern world has attempted to confront. For the most part it has been a huge success. Extreme global poverty has been cut in half in the past 20Read MoreEffects Of Poverty On Children1553 Words   |  7 PagesHow Poverty Effects Children Makayla Ray University of Alabama in Birmingham Abstract This literature review of twelve previously published research articles has focused on summarizing some of the effects of poverty on children. The selected articles all focused on the major effect of poverty on children, and were sorted into four sub-categories or themes based upon a specific focus areas of this complex and not yet fully understood issue. These themes included developmental, educational

Are Humans Born Evil Augustine And Hs�n Tzu - 1267 Words

Over the course of time, things that seem important now are bound to change. For example, before Augustine’s time, Christianity was just becoming legally recognized. Today, Christianity is one of the world’s most widely known religions. Augustine shows us that while most things do change, human nature is not one of them. Throughout his piece, Confessions, he describes to the reader how humans are born evil, and cannot change until they have the capacity to do so. Through reading this autobiography and Hsà ¼n Tzu’s piece, Man’s Nature Is Evil, as well as Mencius’s piece, Man’s Nature Is Good, it seems that Augustine agrees more with Hsà ¼n Tzu than Mencius. They both agreed on the ideas that all humans are born evil, they remain evil through†¦show more content†¦We come into this world wanting things that are not ours, and things we do not deserve. Although Augustine and Hsà ¼n Tzu studied two different topics, they still agreed that humans remain evil through adolescence. For example, in Confessions, Augustine claims, â€Å"For in my adolescence I sometimes burned to glut myself on the sins of Hell and I let myself go in shadowy loves, while in your eyes I decayed and rotted, pleasing myself and desiring instead to be pleasing in the eyes of mankind† (Augustine 165). Augustine explains that through our young adulthood, we slowly discover what it means to be good, but we do not totally know how to act on it yet. More evidence of this is seen in Man’s Nature Is Evil, and Hsà ¼n Tzu states, â€Å"A warped piece of wood must wait until it has been laid against the straightening board, steamed, and forced into shape before it can become straight; a piece of blunt metal must wait until it has been whetted on a grindstone before it can become sharp† (Hsà ¼n Tzu 130). Hsà ¼n Tzu uses this metaphor to show that we are not born knowing how to be good. Throughout our lives, people teach and shape us to be good. Others must teach us through our life what it means to be good and evil. Humans must learn how to be good, from other people and the mistakes they make through their adolescence. Augustine and Hsà ¼n Tzu make it clear that they both feel the same way on this topic. Augustine gives us a personal example of when he

The Way Employee Union Are Organized in Malaysia Free Essays

string(107) " is the particular trade union must be representing of themselves only and not representing of the others\." INTRODUCTION In the eye of history, Malaysian industrial relations undergo some valuable changes with the expanding European capitalism through Industrial Revolution from the early sixteenth century. Various parts of what is now Malaysia came under British rule some time during the nineteenth century. Then, the emergence of Malaysian industrial relations is also associated with immigrant laborers and British colonialism. We will write a custom essay sample on The Way Employee Union Are Organized in Malaysia or any similar topic only for you Order Now Basically, industrial relations is known as relationship between employee, labour or employment. Industrial relations is not related to the relationships between one industry to another at all. And industrial relations in the public sector yet is referring to the relationship between the government and the public sector’s employees. The employer referred to in the public sector is the government which the employee will be under the power of them. As far as Malaysian industrial relations is concerned, the term public sector refers to the public services and to statutory authorities. Therefore, the term â€Å"public sector† refer to the federal and state government services, and to the federal and state statutory and local authorities. This government has been divided into few levels which is federal government (Ministry of Human Resource), federal statutory authorities (MARA), state statutory authorities ( Jabatan Agama Islam Johor) and also the local authorities (Majlis Daerah Segamat Selatan). We can see the differences between the public sector and those in private sector. The public sector has their own uniqueness which can be seen in few perpectives regarding to the principles underlying the systems, the parties involved, the way employees’ unions are organised, the way employees are grouped and also the machineries cater for industrial relations in the public sector. First of all, the public sector seems to be unique because of the principles underlying in industrial relations. The principles underlying in both public and private sectors are different at all. In Sec 52 of IRA stated that Parts 2, 3, 4 and 6 shall not apply to any public sectors since these parts are only been applied to the private sector. The principles involved are the trade unionism, recognition, collective bargaining and dispute settlements respectively. The trade union basically is an association or combination whether for employers and the employees too. The trade union is playing oles for protect the rights of workers by doing the collective bargaining to the employers. Before that, that particular trade union have to be recognized first to ensure that the collective bargaining may be successfully been achieved. The IRA requires that the union be recognized by the employer as the proper representative of those employees; in other words: the Act makes union recognition a ne cessary prerequisite to collective bargaining. Besides, regarding the collective bargaining, it is the principal means of improving the terms and conditions of employment of employees and thereby promoting their economic welfare. In contrast, all of these things are not applied to those public sector. And the largest employer in the public sector is represented by the federal government. Even the public sector has no collective bargaining and so on those the employer, employees and their trade unions also the government will sit together. This is based on the tripartite system which has been applied to this country. This tripartite system are made up of three parties which are the employer, employee and the government. There will be discussions made between them to resolve any disputes that arise among them This means the decision does not made by unilaterally; by the management on behalf of the employer without any interference by workers and the other parties. Next, the most unique characteristic that can be seen in Malaysian industrial relation system is the party involvement in the system. As we can see, Malaysia has allocated two areas in the employment sector, which is the public sector and private sector. It is important to differentiate between these two sectors. What is mean by the public sector actually? Public sector here refers to the Public Services as well as to Statutory Authorities. Statutory Authority in the other hand means a body established, appointed or constituted by any written law, whether federal or state, including a local authority. Thus, public sector is the largest sector in which the government acts as the employer of all civil servants. In addition, trade unions in the public sector are permitted to organize unions per ministry, department, profession or activity, as well as to join federations. Employees in statutory bodies (such as ports and the Employees’ Provident Fund) are only authorized to join internal trade unions, which, in turn, may join the Civil Service Federation and the national trade union centre. Employees working for the defense sector, police force or prisons do not have the right to form or join trade unions. Then, there is no employer union in public sector as the federal, state governments and local authorities are said to act as the employer. Therefore, the government doesn’t need to form any union to represent themselves. Other than public sector, Malaysian also allocated the other areas for the servant whom is not in public sector which named private sector. This private sector servant usually involved the workers whom are working under their own employers. One of the biggest examples of jobs in this sector is from the banking sector. On the top of that, these private sectors have a little immunity that allowed the employers and the employees to form their union as the medium to protect their right. In fact, the union was also established to facilitate consultation and discussion for both sides. This is also help to communicate and understand each other well and ensure a conducive working environment as well as to avoid problem occurs. Moreover, the advantage of private sector unions is that they can carry out collective bargaining to voice their demands. The third uniqueness characteristic of public sector industrial relations in Malaysia is the ways employees are organized. What means here is the particular trade union must be representing of themselves only and not representing of the others. You read "The Way Employee Union Are Organized in Malaysia" in category "Papers" For example, regarding on the blue collar union and white collar union. Those in blue collar union can only represent for the blue collar union and those in white collar union can only represent for the white collar union . And the most important thing here is the employee unions in the public sector are organizing along ministry or department or occupation or statutory authority lines or local authority lines. It is because they want to determine the shape and nature of the public goods and services, which the members deliver so that workers and the communities they serve can see that the union is relevant to the needs of a changing world. It is good for the interests of all workers and the people who use their services and has a vision of the future, which ensures the centrality of unions in that future. The employees cannot join the trade union and also be an executive in another trade union. According to Oxford Dictionary, the term ministry is a government department headed by a minister. This means that a minister will heads every ministry. As in Malaysia we are headed by our respectful Prime Minister Y. A. B. DATO’ SRI MOHD. NAJIB BIN TUN HAJI ABDUL RAZAK which he is also the minister in Ministry of Finance. Besides, Our Deputy Prime Minister Y. A. B. TAN SRI DATO’ HAJI MUHYIDDIN BIN MOHD. YASSIN also is the minister in Ministry in Education. Examples of Ministry in Malaysia are Ministry of Human Recourse, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Defense etc. Basically we have 24 of ministry after the last reshuffle in 2009. The employee unions in the public sector are organizing by ministry because they have different services to be served for the public. For example, The Ministry of Health’s role is basically to lay the policy and the direction of health services in the country also to enforce regulations and be the regulator. The Ministry of Health does not have the same service to the other ministries like the Ministry of Higher Education. Thus, employees in the Ministry of Health cannot join the trade union of the Ministry of Higher Education. The employee unions in the public sector are also organizing by department. Every ministry will have their own departments. For example in Ministry of Defence, they have development department, administration department, policy department, national service department etc. Each department been leaded by different persons. They might be in the same ministry but they have different tasks and responsibilities to carry out but still have to communicate to each other even they are not in the same department. However, if they want to form a trade union, they must form according to their department because of their different works Next is they are organizing by occupation. If they are in the same department that does not mean that, they have the same job. For example, in Ministry of Health, they have medical department and in medical department, they have another small department, which are the development of medical department, the practise of medical department, the allied health science department, the telehealth department and the nursing department. The practise of medical department, which are the doctors, and the nursing department, which are the nurses, cannot forming the same trade union. The doctors will form their own trade union and cannot join the nurses’ trade union and vice versa. They are also organizing by statutory authority. According to Trade Union Act â€Å"statutory authority† means any authority or body established, appointed or constituted by any written law, and includes any local authority. Example of statutory authority is ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S CHAMBERS, CENTRAL BANK OF MALAYSIA, FEDERAL LAND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (FELDA), NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY CORPORATION (NPC), TELEKOM MALAYSIA BERHAD etc. They must form their own trade union and cannot join another statutory authority trade union. For example, TELEKOM MALAYSIA BERHAD workers cannot join FEDERAL LAND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (FELDA) trade union because they have completely different work and an employee of a statutory authority can only join and been accepted as a member by a trade union whose membership is confined exclusively to employees of that particular statutory authority. They are also organizing by local authority. A local authority is an organization that is officially responsible for all the public services and facilities in a particular area. An employee of a local authority can only join or been accepted as a member by a trade union whose membership is confined exclusively to employees of one or more local authorities. There are four types of local government in this country who are prepared according to the hierarchy is The city also known as City Hall or the City Council, City also known as the Municipal Council, Rural areas also known as the District Council, Special area also known as the Corporation or Local Authority. Example workers in City (Municipal Council) cannot join trade union in Special area. The Fourth uniqueness characteristic of public sector industrial relations in Malaysia is the ways employees are grouped. The employees in the public sector may group themselves in union or in associations and still enjoy any of the benefits of union representation. This mean that the public workers can get any benefits of union representation even the public workers not joining the union. For the example, a teacher will get the salary increases in that year as decided by the government although the teacher is not a member of National Union of the Teaching Profession in Malaysia (NUTP). All the bargaining are discussed at the national level between the government with Congress of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (CUEPACS). Since the government is the employer of the public workers all of the decision is depends on the government budget. In contrast, in private sector, those who are not joining the trade union, thus will not get any benefits given to that particular trade union. For example, any benefits given to the Petronas Employers Union will not be given to any employers of Petronas who are not joining the trade union. Here we can see the advantages if those in the private sector are joining in the trade union since they will know their interest towards their job. They will know what their rights should get from the employers and the company itself, they can bargain more such as for the wages and also better working conditions. It is good for them to know their rights as well since they can make sure that their employer does not suppress their workers’ rights. But in the same time, there will be some disadvantages to be in the private sector rather than those in public sector since the public workers may get the benefits whether ther are or they are not joining the trade union. Finally, finally yet importantly, the uniqueness of industrial relations in Malaysian public sector is the machineries that cater for industrial relation in public sector. In fact, these machineries in the public sector is unique and has no equivalent in the private sector. Thus, the following are the list of the machineries which are the first one is Salaries Commission and Salaries Committees. Then, it is followed by The Public Service Department, the Public Service Tribunal and last but not least, The Joint Councils. All these machineries have their roles in order to ensure the systematic structured in the public sector. Salaries Commission and Salaries Committees are appointed by the federal government and are necessary for the review of salaries and related conditions and these series of ad hoc commissions was kept on established since 1960s. The establishment of this commission is needed as they are also review working conditions and workers work as a whole or part of the public sector. Other than that, they are also assigned to make recommendations on those matters. In 1992 for example, the Special Committee of the Cabinet on Salaries makes the recommendations for the public sector and was known as New Remuneration Scheme and it has been renewed with the name Malaysian Remuneration Scheme in year 2002. Under this system, the employees got numbers of benefits such as paternity leave was introduced. . Thus, the reports from these two commissions will then be submitted to government and it is up to the government side, whether to accept or reject it. In fact, there is no legal obligation on the government to appoint such commissions or committees periodically, not to accept the recommendations made by them. If these recommendations submitted by them are not accepted by the government, then their recommendation will not be implemented. However, if these reports are being accepted by the government, then the recommendations will be implemented by the Public Service Department, which is also one of the important federal agencies in Malaysia. **** Next, move on the discussion on the matter of the Public Service Department (PSD) which is led by the Director General of Public Service. The PSD is organized along division lines in which there are eight divisions altogether as following divisions. The first one is recruitment division, and being followed by service division, training and career development division, wages and allowances division, pension division, negotiations division, The National Institute of Public Administration (Institut Tadbiran Awam Negara-INTAN) and finally the administration division. Each of this division has their own roles and function as for example the Service Division that formulates and implements personnel policies in the public services. These policies in addition cover such areas as the recruitment, confirmation, dismissal and re-employed of public service employees. Thus, this division also conducts all public service examinations, and it maintains the Government Staff Records Centre. Back to the main point, the Public Sector Department also acted as the human resources of the federal government and taking care only for the servant in the public sector. Besides, as being said above, the main function of PSD is to put into action on the accepted recommendations by the Salaries Commissions and Salaries Committee and thus, they are also responsible for all the implementation in the public sector includes supervise the National Joint Councils. Other than that, it is also functioned to negotiate any anomaly arising from the implementation of these recommendations with any public sector employees who is affected by it or with any organization of public sector employees whose members are affected by it. In short, the Public Service Department is responsible in initiating and also administrating personnel policies in all departments in which covered the public services employees too, from their recruitment until their retirement. ***** The Joint Councils (JCs) is machinery that is being modified from the Whitley Council machinery of the United Kingdom which was established in 1953. The Joint Councils is divided by two level which are the National Joint Councils and the Departmental Joint Councils. The National Joint Councils aim is to provide a body to establish communication through discussion between employers concerned and the government. It also constitute three councils which are one council for those in the Managerial and Professional Group and the other two councils are for employees in the Support Group. This councils are not available for Polices Forces, Armed Forces, Senior Managerial roup and public servants where the New Remuneration System (Sistem Saraan Baru-SSB) and Malaysian Remuneration System (Sistem Saraan Malaysia-SSM) does not apply. In the other side, the Department Joint Councils as well have it aim and functioned. This council provides a machinery to address any questions regarding work conditions and also obtain the views from the employees. It is also served for consultation between representatives of the ministry or department or statutory authority or local authority apprehensive and representatives of that ministry. ***** Finally, last but not least, the machinery that being use as a cater in the public sector is The Public Service Tribunal. The Public Service Tribunal was established in 1977 and it is to settle any dispute in regards to anomalies in the implementation of the recommendations by various Salaries Commission and Salaries Committees in which usually covered the issues regarding salaries and condition of service. Instead of that, any anomalies that come out will first referred to the Public Service Department (PSD). Once the Public Service Department rejected the claim, then the appeal can be made to the tribunal. The tribunal consists of a chairman and a panel of persons who have experiences and knowledge in matters of administration and was appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. However, this tribunal is being abolished in the year 2000 because the new approaches has already taken over and the new system will have a wider appeal. CONCLUSION As the conclusion, based on few perspectives that we have seen in comparing between both in public sector and private sector, the public sector seems to have their own uniqueness rather than the private sector. They are unique regarding to what has been applied to them regarding to the principles underlying the systems, the parties involved, the way employees’ unions are organised, the way employees are grouped and also the machineries cater for industrial relations in the public sector. Since the public sector have only one centered employer which is the government, thus the management of the public sector seems to be well-managed and well-organised rather than those in private sector which they have so many employers with different way of organizing their company at all. On the other hand, people works in the public sector also somehow get benefits than those working in private sector when everyone get the same things whether they are joining the trade union or not. REFERENCES )Wu Min Aun, (1982) Industrial Relations Law of Malaysia, page xviii, Heinemann Educational Books (LTD) 2)Dunston Ayadurai ,(2004) Industrial Relation in Malaysia Law and Practice, Third Edition 3)Maimunah Aminuddin,(1949), Malaysian Industrial Relations Employment Law, Sixth Edition, page 6, Malaysia, MC GRAW HILL EDUCATION. 4)http://mgv. mim. edu. my/MMR/9004/900405. Htm retrieved june12,2011 5)http://survey07. ituc-csi. org/getcountry. php? IDCountry=MYS=EN 6) Zanko,M, (2002) ,The handboo k of human resource management policies and practices in Asia-Pacific economies, United Kingdom, Edward Elgar Publishing. )Mumtaj Hasan, Harlida Abdul Wahab, (2003), Undang-Undang Pekerja Untuk Pengurus, Pahang, Malaysia, PTS Publication Distributors Sdn. Bhd. 8)http://www. worldpsi. org/TemplateEn. cfm? Section=PSI_publications=2126=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay. cfm 9)http://www. pmo. gov. my/? menu=cabinet=1797 10)http://www. mod. gov. my/ 11)2006-2007), The constitutional role of the Attorney General, Great Britain, Parliament: House of Commons: Constitutional Affairs Committee 12)http://www. moh. gov. my/ 13)http://www. malaysia-food-beverage. com/government. htm 14)http://mgv. mim. du. my/MMR/9004/900405. Htm 15)http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Local_government_in_Malaysia 16)Parenti, M, (2010), Democracy for the Few, Singapore, Cengage Learning. 17) 1920), National Lumberman, Commercial Journal Co. 18) http://www. unioncimb. org. my/home/news/TheFutureoftheTUMovementinMsia -CIMBConferenceArticle. pdf 19)http://mgv. mim. edu. my/MMR/9004/900405. Htm 20)Bowling, A. , (1981), Delegation in General Practice, United Kingdom, Routledge 21)(1989), Trade Union Act 1959 and Regulations Details on Trade Union Act 1959, Amendment with Index and Cases, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, MDC Sdn. 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Artificial Minds Autonomous Robots free essay sample

Two case-studies of relatively simple autonomous robot projects followed by a discussion of embodied cognition, emergent behaviour and how these concepts apply to the above robots. This document is comprised of case studies of two autonomous robot projects, namely Frank Scotts Hexapod Robots, and MITs Robot Ant Colony. Each case study describes the behaviour each robot exhibits, and technical information on how this behaviour is executed including mechanical parts, digital circuitry and programming techniques. The case studies are followed by a discussion of embodied cognition, and how the above robots actions can be explained in terms of embodied cognition. It also discusses emergent phenomenon, both in nature and artificially intelligent robots. The Rodney series of robots refers to a group of three six-legged autonomous robots whose design is based upon Rodney Brooks subsumption architecture. Rodney 3 is the most refined and recent robot. It supersedes both Rodney 1 2 and for this reason will be the focus of this summary. We will write a custom essay sample on Artificial Minds: Autonomous Robots or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Rodney 3 is designed to operate in an environment featuring a slightly uneven surface that may be interrupted by many small obstacles and an occasional large obstacle, e.g. a pebbled track with the odd large stone or similar obstacle. The robots task is to climb over the smaller objects, and to avoid objects that are too large to climb over. To achieve the climbing action, all six legs must be able to operate independently of each other. The robot travels forward in a straight line until a large object is encountered. To avoid the object, it must reverse a few steps, shift its direction and continue its forward motion.

Discuss the relationships between parents and children in three poems in the anthology Essay Example

Discuss the relationships between parents and children in three poems in the anthology Essay Love takes up in many forms in life, and the poems Refugee Mother and Child, If and Poem at Thirty-Nine discusses about the relationship between parents and their child. Although they are all about love from either parents or a child, the bonds in each poem are not the same. In Refugee Mother and Child Chinua Achebe writes about a mother mourning to her dying child during the civil war in Nigeria and brings an image of the scene into the readers mind by using different imageries whereas If from Rudyard Kipling conveys the idea of paternal love from a father whom transfers virtues to his son of becoming a gentleman. Last but not least Poem at Thirty-Nine by Alice Walker shows the admiration of a daughter has for her deceased father and how much she misses him being by her side. Chinua Achebe establishes the idea of pure love from a mother through the poem Refugee Mother and Child. Achebe shows how the bond of love can a mother has with a child throughout the poem and relates it back to the Biafran war. The poem starts off with No Madonna and Child could touch that picture of a mothers tenderness which immediately brings the image of Mother Mary and Jesus into a readers head. The phrase Madonna and Child is a comparison Achebe used to evaluate the love between mother and child with a medieval aged love which is also a Christians idea of perfect love. This creates a concrete image for the reader which can allow the reader to relate directly to the bond between the mother and her dying child. Achebe then uses tenderness which illustrates the love is gentle, loving therefore creates a soothing atmosphere from the beginning. Achebe then employs a device technique of metaphor and personification in the phrase singing in her eyes to create a contrast between pride and sorrow the mother has for her son. When someone is singing in their eyes to a child is usually when a mother feels proud but singing in the poem illustrates the fear and sadness of the mother. Both of these phrases contain a sense of pure love which conveys the idea to the reader effectively creating not only an image but also the mood. We will write a custom essay sample on Discuss the relationships between parents and children in three poems in the anthology specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Discuss the relationships between parents and children in three poems in the anthology specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Discuss the relationships between parents and children in three poems in the anthology specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Not only did Achebe successfully relate the readers to the mother of the dying child, he started to bring in some historical contexts during the civil war into the poem. Achebe established the idea of what parents have to do for their child in Refugee by using metaphorical devices to describe the hair of her son. The phrase she combed the rust-coloured hair left on his skull implies the symptoms caused by malnutrition. Kwashiokor is a protein deficiency which can be commonly found in Africa during the Biafran war. The Biafran war caused millions of people homeless whilst Achebe relates the poem back to the war to create a concrete image of the time and place. Although combing your own sons hair is a very simple thing for a mother to do, but the mother in Refugee is combing her sons hair for the last time ever. After the son has passed away, the mother will have to do another daily chore for him. Achebe transfers this idea through now she did it like putting flowers on a tiny grave to outline the things she has to do after he has passed on to the other side. The phrase tiny grave gives an impression of the grave being significantly small and horrifying than death itself although death is already bad enough. In spite of the child dying, the mother still takes care of him every minute, trying to forget the fact that shes about to lose him. On the other hand, If uses more of a harsh language from a father telling his own son that he has a choice in life only if he becomes more mature. Rudyard Kipling wrote If in a complex sentence to bring the sense of the perfect son throughout the poem and this was set during Victorian times when men had to do certain things to stay within the gentlemen society. During the Victorian times, a true gentleman never spoke of himself in public and Kipling expresses this idea in the poem through dont look too good, nor talk too wise. Kipling used the words good and wise which both have positive connotations, but when he used dont it turned the positive to a negative connotation stating that the father in the poem did not want his son to be too arrogant about himself. A gentleman has to do a lot of things to impress the others and being humble is only one of a few, a gentleman also has to stay on firm ground and keep his head down. Kipling wrote If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with kings it indicates how a man cannot feel too proud of himself even when he gets high up in the society. The phrase keep your virtu e, Kipling implied the idea when a man is with his friends or popular within the society, he cannot mislead his peers or exploit them. Kipling whom was a truthful Christian believer showed his faithfulness by stating pride was one of the things a gentleman should not be doing. Throughout the poem, Kipling uses a father point of view to tell his son to be more mature. He not only tells him to be more mature, he also teaches him to treat good and bad with the same attitude so that he could have a better future. When Kipling wrote If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same it contrasts the idea of bad and good in life but yet we have to treat them both with a calm attitude. The phrase Triumph and Disaster uses personification by capitalizing therefore the reader can receive the idea of the father trying to convert an abstract concept to a way that a child can understand. A child that never went through any lost tend to not understand the idea of good and evil, but when personification is added, he might understand the concept more thoroughly. Kipling used the word impostors to describe the good and bad in life in order to connect the audience of how an ideal gentleman should be. The father wants his son to be resilient towards the successes and failures in his life so that it does not upset his balance or give him too much hope. Dreams can be a part of your life, but do not let them deceive you into the wrong direction. Kipling indicates this concept by stating If you can dream-and not make dreams your master. The repetition of dream formed a contrast within the sentence from being idealistic to realistic. By this, Kipling passes on the thought of a gentleman can be creative but it cannot take over his true-self. In the poem Poem at Thirty Nine, Alice Walker conveys the idea of perfect parenthood by talking about how every parent wants the best for their own child. Walker first writes craved voluptuous sharing of good food to illustrate the father being generous and sharing. When Walker employs the words voluptuous and craved it suggested the father is eager to share and he gets pleasure from sharing with someone else and the kindness in him. Every parent has their own punishment for a mistake, however they do not punish for impractical reasons; they do it because they want the best for their child. He taught me that telling the truth did not always mean a beating; advocates this idea of by telling the truth does not always resolve in violence. When Walker used the word always she conveys the image of a child telling lies to a parent to avoid getting in trouble but when a child tells the truth, it does not always mean punishment and disagreements. The apostrophe at the end of the sentence sug gests the persona stopped and reflected on the sentence she was on. Other than parents wanting the best for their children, Walker also conveys the idea of how a child follows their parents footstep and grows into them. The father of Poem at Thirty-Nine was not rich or high up in the society therefore the daughter did not expect much in life. Walker stated I learned to see bits of paper as a way to escape the life he knew to show the audience that the persona was an adventurous person whom understood that money was one of the ways of being her further in life. Walker used the word escape to make the persona to seem trapped and unable to free herself however if she were to be wealthy, she will be able to travel to different parts of places at anytime. In conclusion, all three poems are able to convey and illustrate the attachment between parents and child through the use of different imageries and metaphors. Also the three different poets are greatly influenced by their misfortunate past events or particular incidents. Although they all take part in different places at different times, they all still contain a strong yet intimate bond between parents and child. Believing that love is all around, these poems have proved this idea and certainly influenced a lot of readers point of view towards parents and children.

Industrialization Example

Industrialization Example Industrialization – Coursework Example Industrialization Shortly after the civil war, increases in industrial productions marked this duration. These changes were catalyzed by technological innovations and business innovations as well. The development of railway roads, introduction of new corporate practices and resistance of governmental regulations fueled industrialization. From these changes, corporations had to seek larger workforce as their pull factor as farm migrants, immigrants or even the southern blacks. These workers were subjected to division depending on their race, skill ethnicity and education. These were among the reasons and plights that led to the formation of workers’ union to protect the employees as industrialization intensified. Competition played a major role as every entity wished to kick their competitor out of business to dominate in industrialization at all cost. Availability of raw material such as that used to manufacture steel also had a room to modify this era, those who had the labor force to handle it caused further industrialization while making names for themselves to prove stronger against their rivals. Other factors that lead to rapid growth of industries after the civil war includes; better technology and specialized production, which was boosted by the skilled labor in response to the specified market demands, and the newly created collection of consumers (Boyer 58). New methods of marketing and advertising were attributed to creation of consumer goods’ markets while the use of trademarks, guarantees and brand names were the main indicators. Although unskilled workers were exposed to harm, labor-saving machines were the other lead to industrialization. In conclusion, industrialization was boosted by the spirit of adventure, competition and availability of cheap resources besides the numerous discoveries. Work CitedBoyer, Paul S..  The enduring vision: a history of the American people. 5th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Print.

NEPHROLITHIASIS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

NEPHROLITHIASIS - Assignment Example There are various types of kidney stones based on specific risk factors (Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, 2015). The condition is characterized commonly by severe pain in the lower back and also painful urination. The paper will discuss the risk factors for kidney stones including cultural considerations as well as other risk factors. There are various risk factors for nephrolithiasis. The factors contribute significantly to the development of the disease. One of the significant risk factors is gender and age. The condition is found to be most common in men as compared to women. The risk increases in men as they reach 40 years and continues to rise until 70 years (Simon, 2013). Hence, as men age, there is increased the risk of developing the condition. In women, the risk is high at 50 years while in young age the condition may develop at the last stage of pregnancy (Simon, 2013). In children, the risk is mainly due to genetic factors. However, it may occur due to deformity in the urinary tract as well as in those children born with low weight and are fed through veins (Simon, 2013). The other risk factor is obesity and weight gain. The two have been associated with an increased danger of developing the condition. It has been found that individuals with higher BMIs and large waist have high chances of developing the disease (Simon, 2013). Such people are said to excrete a large amount of calcium and uric acid that raises the risk of getting the condition. The other risk factor is a family history. The presence of the condition in a family means there is increased chances of it occurring among the relatives (Simon, 2013). The geographical factor is another factor. For example, geography may determine the mineral constituents in local water. This may explain increased or reduced incidences of the condition. Moreover, diet is also another main risk factor for the condition. Various types of food have been associated with increased chances of

Movie review 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

2 - Movie Review Example As he grows attached to Diego, he becomes lenient and also pursues a love interest-Diego’s neighbor. The Seventh Seal movie is a drama based on the medieval crusade times where the main character, Antonious Bloch faces many hurdles in his life. After he comes back from the crusades, he realizes that there is famine and plagues in his homeland and there is a man (Death) on his trail to kill him (SDG, 2005). Block challenges his assassin to a game of chess where the stakes are high. If block loses, he dies and if he is wins all is well with him and his family. There is a strong message in the film and a moral struggle between doing what is right for oneself and the interests of others. The game of chess decides the outcomes of individual’s lives(Young, 1960. This, in itself, is a moral contentious issue as the stakes are too high to be decided by individual’s game knowledge. Ashes and Diamonds concern the plight of Maciek, a young polish right-wing army man who is instructed to assassinate the new communist secretary (Bradshaw, 2009). He attempts but fails in his first trial, causing the death of two civilians. He tries again but he is not convinced he is doing the right thing. He falls in love with a girl at the hotel where the communist frontrunner stays. He eventually manages to kill the leader but also dies from wounds from a gunshot he sustained (Malcolm, 1999). The moral struggle in this film is portrayed in the conscience of the young soldier. He is not convinced that killing the communist secretary is appropriate and according to his principles. However, as an army officer, he is obligated to follow the orders he is given, killing the communist official. Zhang Yimou’s Red Sorghum is a chines film that covers the chines cultural revolution during the periods of 60s and 70s. It entails the story of a young poor girl who is

Criminal law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Criminal law - Assignment Example I believe that the wearing of the disguises added more intent to the crime. The use of violence also added necessitated the treatment of the crime as an adult offense. Section 8 of the Theft Act 1968 is primarily the law relevant to this case2. Robbery is considered an aggravated form of theft which involves force or the threat of force on a person. The robbery is further aggravated in this case by the wearing of disguises3. In general, the act of Alura includes the various elements of the crime of robbery, where an individual who steals, immediately before or at the time of stealing, uses force or threat of force, on any person, and uses such force or threat of force in order to steal4. The law is accurately portrayed in the article, as the elements of the crimes constituting robbery are presented in the article. What is downplayed however in the discussion is the age of the offender which is below the age of majority. In taking issue with discernment, the fact that the minor was ab le to plan out the crimes and having the foresight and skills to prepare disguises to conceal his identity indicates adequate discernment which should make him liable as an adult offender, therefore be treated and sentenced as such. 2. Graff Diamonds robber Aman Kassaye jailed for 23 years The issue discussed by the article refers to the crime of robbery, the sentence imposed by the courts, and the different aggravating elements which included the commission of the offense. The conspiracy to rob committed by the other conspirators to the crime was also indicated in the article5. I believe that the article covered the major elements pertinent to the robbery. As was discussed in the earlier article, the use of force or the threat or force or violence aggravates theft into robbery6. Moreover, impunity is added to the robbery with the use of disguises to the commission of the crime, hence the sentence of the offenders is in the higher ranges7. The cases of R v. Harding and R v. Eubank d emonstrate the increase in penalty for offenders carrying out armed robberies, with the use of firearms subject to a separate count. The kidnap of the shop assistant also constitutes another crime, which was also treated separately by the court in terms of sentence imposition8. All these elements of the crime combined led to the higher range of sentence imposed on the criminals. The law is more or less accurately portrayed in the article, especially in terms of the higher penalty imposed for the criminals, and the pertinent aggravating circumstances mentioned in the article. The fact that the crime is committed with firearms, with disguises, and with violence indicates elements which the courts would consider in order to establish the existence of the crime of robbery. The article however does not indicate why the sentences are different for the three offenders when they are all conspirators to the same offense. The article also does not mention the damages which were imposed on the different offenders considering that the property stolen amounts to substantial losses for the victims. 3. Gunmen grab diamonds worth ?32m in three minutes The article details the sophistication and the level of deception used by the offenders in order to perpetuate their offense. The article discusses the robbery itself, the use of automatic weapons, the value of the property stolen, and the use of disguises, including the impersonation of police officers in order to carry out the offense9. These details all contribute to the

The Virtual Team Leadership Management Essay

The Virtual Team Leadership Management Essay This review of research examines the process of leadership, Types of Leadership, Functions of leadership, Conflict models, Leadership performance, effectiveness of leader, Leadership outcomes, Self-management in Virtual teams, working skills, Building trust and cooperation through technology adoptions in Virtual teams. Based on the review of the literature and research many hypotheses were proposed regarding the functions of leaders in virtual teams to manage, reduce the conflict and to motivate team members for sustained outcome. Introduction In the discussion of large companies and organizations out sourcing and branching out their teams typical to reach the goals, productivity and consumer satisfaction. To manage organizations turn over throughout all the braches is impossible which have different people working on same task from different places with different timelines and schedules. So, leading these teams need special requirements and skills apart from general organizational behavior. This study concentrates from both leader and team perspective to resolve conflicts and increase teams performance. The use of virtual teams is common now-a-days and more than half of the professional employees are believed to work or already have worked on virtual teams during their career (Martins, 2004; as cited in Wakefield, Leidner, Garrison, 2008). These virtual teams were dispersed geographically and culturally in order help the organization with round the clock work and to allow efficient employees from all over the world. Thes e virtual teams may be used as RD, customer service, etc. Since the virtual teams have great diversity than collocated teams these virtual teams tend to have more conflict within the team. This literature review will briefly describes the challenges faced by virtual teams, types of conflicts involved in the teams, The types of leadership procedures followed by the team leaders in order to reduce team conflict and gain trust, confidence and manage motivation in the team members. This review also deals with effects and causes of the performance and outcomes of the leadership practices. Literature General Idea and Surface Findings The idea of Virtual team Leadership centers it attention over managing the teams, Reducing conflicts, Building trust, cooperation with in the team so that it can perform better and achieve more outcome. In acquired literature researchers concluded to different types of hypotheses which yields the required outcome from the team. The teams mutual awareness can be disrupted by removing the common factors like location , culture between the team members (Cramton, 2001). The electronic interactions among teams members that may be misunderstood and it is not surprise that team conflict is pressing problem in virtual teams (Armstrong Cole, 2002 Hinds Mortensen, 2005). The studies found many type of leadership skills and approach towards team conflict to increase the trust and motivation between team members. Virtual projects often include collaboration of multiple organizations or employee-client relations through which leaders lost ability to influence the workers and hence use of info rmation and communication tools to regain their lost influence for achieving better performance from the team. In some situations for virtual teams will see emergent leadership skill where the active team members will lead the teams according to the situation of the project or proposed work. There is different leadership behaviors proposed by various studies the main leadership skills exhibited by these team leaders will be transformational, transactional and participative behaviors. Some of the studies proposed the success of the team is not only due to a teams efforts but it is collective individual influence the performance of team. The challenges of the virtual team settings can be overcome enhancing the leader ability which can be achieved by the change in management principles (Levasseur, R. E, 2012). Leadership in Virtual Teams Virtual team is a group of individuals who are geographically dispersed, cross functional and they work on highly interdependent and collaborative tasks. For leading these virtual teams will need special leadership skills and practices, the authors like Rosen, Furst, Blackburn did intense research and found nearly six types of leadership practiced performed by virtual team leaders, those can elaborated mainly as establishing and maintaining trust through use of communication technology, ensuring distributed diversity, managing working life cycle, monitoring teams progress, enhanced visibility, enabling virtual team members to benefit from collaborated team work (Rosen, Furst, Blackburn, 2006 as cited in Malhotra, Majchrzak, Rosen, 2007). For me leading virtual teams requires all the leadership and project management skills. The communication through electronically and in person is not same, because the authors stated that the Synchronizing efforts of geographically, culturally and technically diverse team does not happen magically and they stated that its hard to motivate and influence people electronically (Rosen, Furst, Blackburn, 2006; as cited in Malhotra, Majchrzak, Rosen, 2007). Challenges faced by Virtual Teams The virtual teams have different and greater challenges than the traditional workplace environment, The working lines will cross over geographic locations, boundries, cultures, networks and alliances. Since the virtual teams are very diverse, they have very unique set of problem rather than collocated teams. The virtual teams face the issues of trust, communication, goal alignment, shared purpose, skills, resource availability and role clarity (ONeill, Lewis, Hambley, 2008). Virtual team has to overcome the following external and internal challenges. External factors are outside the control of a virtual team and the team has to find a way to manage them for example, like distance, time and technology. Internal factors are those will be within the control of a virtual team, the team can directly influenced or interact with these factors like culture, trust, communication, relationship and leadership (Friedrich, Bleimann, Stengel, Walsh, 2011). The Leadership is the key for any virtual organization setting, the right competencies, attributes, trust and rapport, and management of virtual workers and teams. Elective leadership is the key factor that influences success in a virtual organization. The Maintenance of cultural identity, brand of employment and employee-manager satisfaction requires consistent and regular communication (ONeill, Lewis, Hambley, 2008). Leadership skills are necessary for virtual work. According to ONeill, Lewis, Hambley,(2008) generally leadership included in virtual teams a strongly focuses on relationships, emotional intelligence, a track record and innovation, a focus on process and outcome, and the ability to give positive and constructive feedback. In the virtual organizations, the role of leaders tends to shift from one of controller to one of coordinator or coach and it is necessary for organizations to promote trust and working relationships (ONeill, Lewis, Hambley, 2008). Diversified Leadership Roles in Virtual Teams According to Chen, Yang, Tsou (2008) the diversified leadership roles influences both leadership effectiveness and team trust. There is some factors influence the teams effectiveness they are team trust, propensity, leadership effectiveness. The researchers also found that the trust mediates the relationship between both leader and team effectiveness. Synchronous ICT ( Information and Communication Technology) tools can be different in terms of social presence and information richness and text, audio- and video-conferencing systems are classified under these tools. From e-mails, discussion forms, and bulletin boards, to workflow, scheduling and other project management applications the ICT tools vary in wide ranges. The success of the virtual teams is clear purpose, goals always should be measurable, appropriate number of individual in the team, establishment of guidelines, communication, decision making and processes. The behavioral complexity theory clearly stressed on importance of leader in improving their team effectiveness by their diversified leadership roles (Kayworth Leidner, 2002; as cited in Chen, Yang, Tsou2008). The roles of leadership are categorized in to three types they are, interpersonal contact, information processing and decision making. The type of challenges that such as ICT-enabled communications, cross-cultural communications, global logistical design, technological complexity are more prevalent in the virtual teams. Diversified leadership roles, leadership effectiveness, and propensity to trust all positively influence team trust, in turn will contributes to two types of indicators of team effectiveness, performance and satisfaction (Chen, Yang, Tsou, 2008). Building Trust and Cooperation Project managers are the key people for making their teams successful. When the group was set virtually they go to face to face meeting using communication technology, but these meeting will affect both cost and time for travel during the project (PMI 2004). The researchers had a doubt in mind that weather effective management of information and communication technology offer VT leaders to regain the lost control over influence and performance over their virtual or not. Here the researchers proposed research model to find out how technology adaption will relate to the building trust and cooperation in virtual teams. The descriptive findings of study suggests that it is important to adopt to the new technology frequently, According to Thomas Bostrom (2008) The leaders failed to recognize technology adaptation although they recognized inherent tradeoff . Information and communication technologies usage failures will have a domino effect on productivity (Thomas Bostrom, 2008) this mea ns if the leaders fails to influence the team members and lost control over management power the whole team mechanism will lose its balance. Hence leaders can affect the teams outcomes by managing adaptions of their team information and communication technology. Project managers doing virtual projects must look at the big picture and not micromanage, (Fung, 2005: as cited in Jedd, 2006). Leader of virtual team should ensure standards are met and they should intervene with the teams activity when there is a problem, like noncompliance of standards. They get to know the each and every team member and learn how to motivate them and communication preferences. It is suggestive that the people are happier when they left alone to do their work and team empowerment was positively related to process improvement and customer satisfaction vice versa. The project leaders first they should understand clearly about the project and its objectives they are working on. After that they have to determine the essential skills required for the projects to select the subordinates. Trust is developed through guidance, not by micromanaging (Jedd, 2006) Leadership in Self-Managed Virtual Teams In most of the organizations virtual teams are typically project based with a limited time of life span and little deliverables. These teams are self-managed and do not have any designated leader to lead those teams (Yukl 1998; as cited Carte, Chidambaram, Becker, 2006). In this electronic context, might be better viewed as a collective effort distributed among team members characterized by the sharing and rotating of leadership roles (Zigurs 2003; Avolio 1999; as cited in Carte, Chidambaram, Becker, 2006). Although teams typically do not have any leader assigned these teams will have external supervision. Within such teams we can find diverse qualities of leadership behaviors exhibited by team members. The study was conducted on 22 virtual teams which had under graduate students of three university, this experiments had diffusion threat and time threat to external validity. Because of the communication exchanges among high performance teams characterized by high level of directive leadership and the behaviors exhibited among the teams mate during leaders were not persistence in accordance of time. For me this research gives a better idea that, the Article focused more on identifying emergent leadership behavior. It found that leadership behavior was strongly associates with performance of these self managed teams. Author suggests that shared monitoring and concentrated producing behaviors were more likely to exhibit by high performing teams. Subordinates exhibit the leadership behaviors early in teams life which are more predictive of success than those exhibited later during the process of emergent. The two likely bi products of the shared commitment to high quality teams outcomes are better relational development and greater trust among team members (Carte, Chidambaram, Becker, 2006). In order to ensure the self managed teams are more successful both individual and collective leadership behaviors plays major role. Model of Conflict, Leadership, and Performance in Virtual Teams Virtual teams are common in large organizations now-a-days and more professional employees are believed to work or already worked on virtual teams during their career. These virtual teams were dispersed geographically and culturally in order to facilitate the organization with round the clock work and to allow qualified professionals from all over the world. These virtual teams may be used as RD, customer service, etc. Since the virtual teams have great diversity than collocated teams these virtual teams tend to have more conflict within the team. This study mainly concentrates on the model of conflict, Leadership and the performance of virtual teams with conflict. The leaders are subjected to Quinns (1984) model of leadership and evaluate their performance with respect to conflict solving skills. The data for this study was collected from the virtual team members employed by a major U.S telecommunication corporation and virtual team members representing five firms in Korea. The firms and their location were chosen based on researchers personal contacts. The test measurements was based on hypotheses of different models like The monitor role and task conflict, Use of technology mediated communication, leadership role and team conflicts, Coordinator role and process conflict, Mentor role and relational conflict, Facilitator role and form of conflict and leadership roles and leader effectiveness, Leader effectiveness and team performance. All the teams are subjected to participate in electronic communications likes emails, group discussions, messaging, and video conference. The teams leaders will virtually guide the teams to resolve the conflicts between the team members. This research is motivated by interest in understanding how teams leaders can be effectively manage the conflicts with in virtual teams. Factors such as cultural diversity, geographical dispersion, few face to face meeting, increased complexity gave the momentum to virtual teams and it is critical to identify the factors contribute to virtual teams success. The leaders involving with more transformational, directive and participative behaviors of leadership approach had the greater team success. The internal leadership roles will improve in managing the teams conflict and leadership with these traits will be a better leader and the team will perform well in virtual environment. Transformational and Transactional Leaders Ruggieri, 2009 stated that the effects of transactional and transformational leadership on groups in which people interact in a virtual manner were analyzed and specifically the level of satisfaction and perception of the style adopted were evaluated. Most of the leaders who conducts transactional leadership will perceive the relationship as an exchange process between leader and follower (Bass Avolio, 1993; as cited in Ruggieri, 2009). Namely there are four principle factors that are categorized under transformational leadership: charisma, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Bass Avolio, 1993; as cited in Ruggieri, 2009). The results suggest that the both transformational and transactional leadership perceived equally positive figures, Transformational leaders are intelligent and sensitive in many aspects of the leadership roles. Some of the leaders are oriented more towards the developing the relations of the subordinates rather than focusing on the goal of the team, these are known as charismatic leaders. They concentrate more on future and development of the workgroup. Since these leaders are involve in developing the personal relations and future minded they tend to induce more positive attitude in subordinates and motivates them to goal achievement. Apart from being intelligent these leaders are stuffed with more creativity and originality. On the other hand, some of the leaders are more tasks oriented rather than focusing on building relations; they are self esteemed and authentic about the job definition (Ruggieri, 2009). There are almost similar negative adjective coming to these two types of leaders. The Multilevel regression analyses indicated that leaders mode of care reasoning was more positively related to follower reports of transformational leadership but not transactional leadership (Simola, Barling, Turner, N. 2012). The transformational approach had many dimensions of the leadership process. Generally, the process involves initiating, developing and carrying out changes in organization. Transformational leadership includes nourishing and empowering followers. Since the transformational leaders tend to show charismatic behaviors, these leaders can become role models to their followers. Transformational leaders encourage others and celebrate their accomplishments ( Simola, Barling, Turner, N. 2012). By the end transformational leadership induces positive attitude in minds of followers making them feeling better overall and increase their contributions for achieving common goals. The transformational leadership is more efficient than the other type of leaderships due to its authentic factors like motivation and trust, where other types of leadership will have some sort of inconsistency and trouble maintaining the relations with the subordinates. The Effects of Leadership Style and Communication Medium The authors explained the process briefly with their outcomes and effects on the subordinates in the teams. Actually leaders leading the teams virtually by using communication technology as a medium where the subordinates are geographically isolated. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the leadership and sort out the best possible approaches of the leaders to achieve success for the teams; this may include vast variety of approaches. Since all the teams are handled virtually the communication between the team members will be in different kinds like text messaging, emails, video conference, tele conference , discussion and many more (Laura, Thomas, Theresa. 2007). This study gives a better idea how the leaders are approaching the team members and type of interactions using by them to get the job done. Study was the conducted with 30 graduate and under graduate students from the department of psychology acting as participants in six experimental conditions. Purpose of this study to evaluate the leaders by conducting experiments in all possible conditions and ensure that all the leaders are successful with the teams and typically time taken to complete the task on individual basis and as a team According to my opinion the success of the team depends up on the type of style leader is using on the team mates and their interaction, since all the communication is virtual there are lot of constrains taken in to consideration like time, schedules, cultural and thought barriers, technical issues and every aspect will affect the teams performance (Laura, Thomas, Theresa. 2007). Conclusion Finally, leading virtual teams requires all of the leadership and project management skills. The communication through electronically and in person is not same, Behavior of the emerging leader is associated to the performance of the self managed virtual team. Leaders can affect the teams outcomes by managing adaptions of their team information and communication technology. The two likely bi products of the shared commitment to high quality teams outcomes are better relational development and greater trust among team members (Carte, Chidambaram, Becker, 2006). In order to ensure the self Transformational leaders are intelligent and sensitive in many aspects of the leadership roles (Ruggieri, 2009). Leading virtual teams requires all the leadership and project management skills. The communication through electronically and in person is not same, because the authors like Malhotra, Majchrzak, Rosen, 2007 stated that the Synchronizing efforts of geographically, culturally and technicall y diverse team does not happen magically and they stated that its hard to motivate and influence people electronically. According to my opinion the success of the team depends up on the type of style leader is using on the team mates and their interaction. The change in management principles can enhance the leaders ability to overcome challenges that virtual teams present (Levasseur, 2012). Hopefully, as a result, leaders everywhere will better understand what to do to enhance the performance of their virtual teams. The internal leadership roles will improve in managing the teams conflict and leadership with these traits will be a better leader and the team will perform well in virtual environment.

The Catcher in the Rye - Character Analysis of Holden Caufield Essay

The Catcher in the Rye - Character Analysis of Holden Caufield In J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caufield, describes in detail the parts of his life and his environment that bother him the most. He faces these problems with a kind of naivety that prevents him from fully understanding why it is that he is so depressed. His life revolves around his problems, and he seems helpless in evading them. Among others, Holden finds himself facing the issues of acceptance of death, growing up, and his own self-destructiveness. One of the hardships Holden must cope with is his inability to come to terms with death, in particular that of his younger brother, Allie. Holden seems to have experienced a rather happy and carefree childhood; he lived with his siblings, Phoebe and Allie, and had his older brother D.B. to look up to. Then Holden suddenly is faced with the realization that he has to grow up, and learn to live without Allie. The initial reaction is painful; Holden breaks his hand in a fit of emotion soon after the death. By the time Holde...

Ict Impact on Accounting Essay

Introduction  The purpose of this commentary is to explore how information and communication technologies (ICT) have forever changed many aspects of business and accounting practice and, as a result, offer new and exciting research opportunities to accounting professionals and academics. In today’s computerized, interconnected, global business environment, the accounting profession must deal with a host of complex issues that never existed in the past—for instance, how to capture and record new business transactions and events, develop value-added business and information processes, create new value-chain and supply-chain opportunities, disseminate useful knowledge to a wide array of information consumers, and provide assurance services across the entire spectrum of economic activities reflect some of the more compeUing topics of interest. Accounting researchers can add value to the profession by investigating these issues, among others, and presenting scientific results in a clear and understandable fashion to practicing accountants. An important message of this commentary is that researchers in accounting information systems (AIS) and other areas of accounting, such as financial, auditing, tax, and managerial, should work together on projects, as each party can learn a great deal from the other. Synergistic relationships arising from such teamwork hold great potential to yield high-quality research results that can have notable impact on the accounting profession. THE NEW BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTING LANDSCAPE Over the past centuries, business practices and accounting procedures developed and matured a great deal, yet at a relatively predictable, slow, and controlled rate. We stand squarely, proudly, and respectfully on the broad shoulders of those who came before us, as their guidance, wisdom, and insight masterfully steered us to this place and time in the profession. However, in the apparent twinkling of an eye, ICT has disrupted our peaceful existence by radically transforming the manner in which ^^ Accounting Horizons/March 2002 business is conducted across the world and alerting us to the many challenges that lay ahead. How Technology Affects Business Practice There is little doubt that ICT has contributed immensely to the magnitude, speed, and acceleration of change in business practice over the past three decades. Rapid changes in the business world place immense pressure on business executives to stay ahead of the competition hy leveraging ICT to dramatically and continually redesign business processes and models. Using ICT to Create a Digitally Integrated Entity Figure 1 depicts an ICT infrastructure that envelopes and permeates the inputprocess-output value chain of a business entity. Encapsulated by this ICT infrastructure, digitally integrated business entities capture economic events as they unfold, process information with instantaneous speed and ubiquitous availability, and disseminate valuable decision-making information and knowledge throughout the organization. The blending of ICT and business process integration manifests itself in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, which serve as the foundation for linking multiple, related business entities into integrated supply chains. Using ICT to Integrate the Conventional Supply Chain When related entities link their internally integrated information systems to one another, the value ofthe interconnected network potentially becomes greater than the sum ofthe participating firms* isolated systems. The supply chain illustrated in Figure 2 depicts how a digitally integrated business environment might look, assuming that conventional relationships among upstream and downstream partners remain intact. Suppliers can monitor upcoming production schedules of manufacturers to ensure that the proper amount and mix of raw materials arrive on time where needed. Upon receipt of raw materials, the manufacturer could send electronic payment to the suppliers. Conversely, the manufacturer might look upstream to ensure that primary and secondary suppliers have sufficient capacity to meet its upcoming production demands. Looking  downstream, a manufacturer can monitor inventory balances and movement patterns ofits product hnes to ensure that distributors have sufficient quantities of products on-hand. When new patterns emerge, for instance the activity rate for product A increases significantly for distributor X but decreases for distributor Y, the manufacturer can adjust its production and shipping schedules accordingly. Looking further downstream, distributors can monitor shelf patterns at retail locations, thereby making sure that product stock-outs do not occur. Finally, retailers can monitor changing consumption patterns of customers and adjust product mix and shelf locations correspondingly. Using ICT to Create New Business Models When ICT first arrived on the business scene, managers initially automated existing processes, rather than envisioning how ICT could be used to conduct business in new and innovative ways. Eventually business managers hegan to understand the potential of ICT to support radical changes in internal business practices; hence, they viewed the development and implementation of ERP systems as value-added endeavors for their business organizations. To some extent, business entities are experiencing a similar evolutionary adaptation to ICT in the realm of integrated supply chains. That is, the previous example reflects how business managers are using ICT to automate existing Blending Information and Communication Technology ujitk Accounting Research 67 FIGURE 1 The Digitally Integrated Business Entity Qualitative & Business & information & Quantitative Information Knowledge / Inputs Processes Low Value High Value Value-Chain FIGURE 2 The Digitally Integrated Conventional Supply Chain Suppliers Manufacturers Distributors Retailers Customers supply-chain models. However, ICT further allows new supply-chain and business models to emerge. For example, the hybrid supply chain shown in Figure 3 depicts a scenario where manufacturers deal directly with retailers, thereby bypassing the entire distributor network. For instance, assxime that a manufacturer receives real-time inputsfromretailers, via shelf sensors and cash registers, regarding the shelf location of each product, the rate at which the product is being purchased, the types of discount coupons being redeemed, and the number of units remaining on store shelves. Leveraging on such intelligence 58 Accounting Horizons/March 2002 FIGURE 3 The Digitally Integrated Hybrid Supply Chain Suppliers Manufacturers Distributors Retailers Customers gathering, the manufacturer could monitor stocks and flows at retail stores, and continuously fine-tune its production and shipping schedules. Additionally, manufacturers and retailers could enter into agreements where manufacturers assume stocking responsibihty and retain legal title until the products are sold. A scenario of this nature, often referred to as â€Å"vendor managed inventories,† gives manufacturers greater control over their  products, while reheving financial and human resource burdens heretofore imposed on retailers. Taken one step further, manufacturers might begin to wonder why they use retailers at all, since they can create virtual storefronts on the Web, thus dealing directly with customers and allowing for creation of the virtual supply chains illustrated in Figure 4. Such economic arrangements, legitimatised under terms and conditions specified in â€Å"collaboration partner agreements,† are very efficient, as they reduce the number of layers from suppliers and customers, thereby dramatically increasing the firm’s response time and adaptability. Last, but certainly not least, ICT offers new and exciting business models previously not possible, such as virtual enterprises depicted in Figure 5. Using this type of ecommerce configuration, a virtual enterprise can establish complex interdependencies with suppliers, manufacturers, and customers, thus offering a wide array of goods and services to consumers. The virtual enterprise is organic in nature because the structures, relationships, rules, procedures, and houndaries of business relationships can adapt to ever-changing environmental conditions. ACCOUNTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS—SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES The emergence of ICT over the past few decades led to a new business and academic discipline—information systems (IS). Given that the vast majority of business event processing in organizations deals with accounting transactions, it is no surprise that the disciplines of accounting and IS share a high degree of commonality; yet key differences exist between the two disciplines as well. Blending Information and Communication Technology with Accounting Research 59 FIGURE 4 The Digitally Integrated Virtual Supply Chain Suppliers Manufacturers Distributors Retailers Customers FIGURES The Digitally Integrated Virtual Enterprise Similarities between Accounting and Information Systems The input-process-output value chain of a business entity sbown in Figure 1 reflects one area of convergence between the accounting and IS disciplines. For instance, both disciplines examine ways to maximize tbe efficiency and effectiveness of recording economic data, wbere issues sucb as editing and validating input data are of paramount concern. Additionally, botb disciplines investigate various approacbes to automating the immediate capture of economic events at their source as they occur via ^^ Accounting Horizons /March 2002 computer-to-computer interactions, point-of-sale applications, self-service features, and so on. Regarding tbe processing of economic events, botb disciplines seek to integrate ICT into business processes and ensure the security of corporate databases. Tbe accounting and IS disciplines also endeavor to disseminate reliable and timely information to decision makers, and advance understanding witb respect to managing business knowledge tbrougbout tbe organization, Tbe accounting and IS disciplines also seek ways to improve modeling techniques aimed at conveying semantic representations of intra- and inter-enterprise systems. Scbolars wbo engage in intellectual pursuits of this nature categorize tbeir researcb as design science. Such researcb is vitally important to tbe creation of sound â€Å"architectural drawings† and â€Å"engineering plans† for building reliable systems. Tbe accounting and IS disciplines furtber investigate issues tbat fall into the realm of social science. For insttmce, at tbe individual level, researcbers explore various ways to involve users in systems  development and implementation projects, improve decision making via decision-support and group-support systems, and create system interfaces designed to enbance tbe efficiency and effectiveness of human-to-computer interactions. At the organizational level, the ultimate goal is to create information systems tbat best leverage firm resources to maximize profitability and competitiveness, Witb this objective in mind, researchers strive to use ICT in ways tbat support business process (re)design efforts, improve intelligence gatbering, sucb as data warebouses, data marts, and knowledge bases, and produce tbe new business models reflected in Figures 2 througb 5. Differences between Accounting and Information Systems Accounting can be viewed as a specialized information system aimed at recognizing, measuring, recording, processing, and reporting economic events affecting business entities. A noticeable divergence between tbe accounting and IS disciplines centers on the economic implications of business events. Tbe accounting discipline expends a great deal of effort deciding wbicb economic events must be recognized and how they sbould be measured. Economic concerns of tbis nature are not addressed in tbe IS literature, as event and measurement rules are taken as given. Once these important issues are resolved and codified, qualified economic events must be recorded, processed* and reported. As mentioned earlier, botb disciplines investigate similar intra-enterprise issues; however, tbe IS discipline is most concerned witb technical aspects of incorporating ICT into organizations, whereas tbe accounting discipline is most interested in leveraging ICT to improve business performance wbile simultaneously maintaining effective internal controls. With respect to system design matters, accountants help to insure that sound internal controls are developed and integrated into information systems, such as (1) editing and validating input data, (2) tracking the integrity of information tbrougbout processing, storage, and retrieval activities, (3) maintaining reliable audit trails, and (4) securing operating systems, networks, software applications, and databases so tbat only properly autborized individuals bave access to financial information. To the extent tbat internal controls of this nature cannot be incorporated into tbe system, accountants must design compensating controls around the system. Regarding business process (re)design efforts, IS researcbers again tend to focus on tecbnical matters, sucb as how to build  systems tbat are adaptable to various business process models. In contrast, tbe accounting discipline focuses on developing innovative Blending Information and Communication Technology with Accounting Research 61 ways to (re)design business and information processes to improve the reliability, relevance, and timeliness of financial and nonfinancial business reporting. For example, accounting researchers might redesign business processes to incorporate a more comprehensive set offirmperformance indicators, such as balance scorecard metrics, whereas IS researchers concentrate on how to technically capture and process such input. On the output side ofthe value chain, the business vs. technical distinction between the accounting and IS disciplines emerges once again. The accounting discipline takes a â€Å"decision usefulness† approach to reporting business information. Researchers in this area expend a great deal of effort identifying the nature of financial and nonfinancial information needed by decision makers, translating critical business information into knowledge, integrating knowledge bases throughout the organization, and designing individual- and group-level decision support systems. Although the IS discipline is also involved with information dissemination, knowledge management, and decision support, IS research focuses not on content issues, but on the technical aspects of using ICT for such purposes. Business process (re)design efforts cEin extend beyond the intra-enterprise boundary to include inter-enterprise linkages, such as those represented by Figures 2 through 5. Creating and maintaining externalities of this nature beget a host of business and accounting risk issues for trading partners. For instance, because trading partners are concerned about potential business interruptions during the implementation and operation of inter-enterprise systems, contingency and backup plans must be developed and tested. Trading partners also monitor and control external transactions and agreements to ensure that all parties in the inter-enterprise network live up their trading partner arrangements, else a weak link in the chain couid have serious business and financial implications for all interdependent trading  partners. While the accounting discipline focuses on these types of implementing, monitoring, and controlling issues, the IS discipline concentrates on the technical aspects of establishing and maintaining inter-enterprise relationships. Finally, the accounting discipline provides public assurances regarding the extent to which financial statements fairly refiect the financial position ofthe enterprise and the ICT infrastructure is reliable. The information systems discipline is uninvolved with providing such assurances. These similarities and differences between the accoimting and IS disciplines form the basis for the accounting value chain, presented next. THE ACCOUNTING VALUE CHAIN The accounting value chain shown in Figure 6 adapts and extends concepts imbedded in enterprise (Porter and Millar 1985), assurance (Elliott 1994), and information (Elliott 1995) value cbains. Using the accounting value chain as a guide, this section addresses one ofthe most important questions and challenges to the accounting profession. That is, how can accountants add vEilue to business organizations in today’s computerized, interconnected, global business environment? Capturing Economic Events On the low-value end of the spectrum fall the traditioned functions of identifying, measuring, and recording accounting transactions as they pierce the boundary of the entity. Since most of these functions are routine and predictable, cleverly written computer programs can handle most of these activities. Sometimes, economic events unfold that are new or unusual to thefirmand require that a properly trained accountant intervene. 62 Accounting Horizons / March 2002 FIGURE 6 The Accounting Value Chain Implementing, Monitoring, & Controlling Externalities entifying, . Measuring & Recording Accounting Phenomena Designing. ^ Generating. Integrating \ Managing & Innovating & Integrating Business/Information / / Business Processes // Knowledge Developing, Providing & Reporting Assurance /: Low Value IT Can Perform †¢ Computerized, Interconnected, Global Business Environment High Value IT Can Assist †¢ However, on the whole, data-capturing tasks performed by accountants in the past have been supplanted by infonnation technology. Because real-time event-capturing processes are mature and reliable, accounting researchers have few opportunities in this area to add incremental value to exttint theory or practice. Processing Economic Events The next phase of the accounting value chain deals with converting data into meaningful information streams. As with input activities, computerized processing of accounting transactions is routinely automated. Reliable accounting controls are built into most infonnation-processing systems, hence the integtity of such systems is quite high. For instance, automated checks and balances, coupled with security features, can insure that data are not lost, corrupted, or altered during processing, storing, and retrieving activities. Future research in this area will not concentrate on ICT alone; rather, it will focus on how to leverage ICT to develop and integrate innovative business process models. Disseminating Business Knowledge The high-value side of the accounting value chain deals with generating, managing, and integrating business knowledge. As suggested by Elliott (2001), knowledge leveraging is the most important and distinguishing competency of professional accountants. While many information technology tools exist to assist in this regard, such as database query languages, data warehouses, and data marts, it is humans who ultimately apply reason, judgment, and interpretation to informational patterns—which in turn begets new knowledge. Accountants can play valuable roles in identifying, Blending Information and Communication Technology with Accounting Research 63 processing, and utilizing business knowledge, and disseminating such knowledge to other information consumers inside and outside ofthe organization. Developing Externalities A relatively new arena where accountants can add value to the business organizations concerns the development of external linkages to other firms in the environment. As discussed previously, business networks of this nature allow for the formation of emerging e-commerce models across value and supply chains. However, the creation of externalities evokes a host of implementing, monitoring, and controlling concerns relevant to accountants. For example, when a firm establishes digital connections with another firm, the rules of engagement must be carefully specified. That is, an exchange protocol must be agreed upon and collaborative partner agreements must detail the responsibilities, authorizations, and restrictions of each party. Once external linkages are in place, each party must monitor and control informational flows and exchanges to insure that the privacy, confidentiality, and security rights of affected parties are protected. Since the development of external digital linkages has significant internal control implications, accounting researchers face a host of new opportunities in this regard. Providing Assurance There are many new and exciting opportunities where the accounting profession could add value to managers, investors, and society through an expanded line of assurance services. The most notable, yet traditional, form of assurance is manifest in the auditor’s opinion regarding the fairness offinancialreporting. However, the heavy dependency on ITC within and across business organizations has opened doors to an entirely new line of potential assurance services. For instance, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) considered business-to-consumer assurance in the form of WebTrust^†. More recently, the AICPA/CICA rolled out a product called SysTrust^†, which reflects a type of business-to-business assurance. Other assurance services will Hkely emerge over time, such as assurance over the quality and reliability offirms*business and information processes, located in the  middle ofthe accounting value chain, and assurance over knowledge management tools and techniques, located on the upper end ofthe spectrum. Last, but certainly not least, a new breed of e-commerce assurance service opportunities will likely emerge as firms begin to link their internal systems to one another, thereby forming unique and innovative e-commerce models. Synergistic Research Opportunities in Accounting The accounting value chain illustrated in Figure 6 provides a structure for pondering and framing a wide array of research questions for accounting scholars. The more prominent issues investigated by accounting information systems researchers are reflected in an upcoming AIS research monograph sponsored by the Information Systems Section of the American Accounting Association.’ Since most of these issues have been directly or indirectly addressed above, this section identifies representative areas where accounting information systems and other accounting researchers can collaborate on research projects. ‘ Arnold, V, and S. Sutton, Researching Accounting as an Information Systems Discipline, Information SyBtems Section of the American Accounting Association, forthcoming. ^Accounting Horizons/March 2002 Business Reporting Taxonomies The AICPA, among dozens of supporters, is involved with developing a technologybased framework to allow for the automatic extraction and exchange of financial and nonfinancial information across multiple, disparate software applications. Realization of this framework will facilitate many desired goals, such as the creation of global supply chziins, immediate dissemination of financial statements to the public, transmission of regulatoryfilingsto governmental agencies, and so on. The technology behind this framework is called extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), also known as the digital language of business. More infonnation about XBRL can be found at httpi/Avww.xbrl.org. In order to realize the full potential of XBRL, each data item in a corporate database must be precisely defined and related to other data items. The end result of this mapping process is called a taxonomy. For example, if all firms engaged in producing widgets agree on a standardized taxonomy for their industry and map their corporate data accordingly, then financial and nonfinancial information could fiow freely across the industry, regardless of the types of software and hardware being used by the firms. Taken a step further, if trading partner firms involved with the industry’s supply chain have access to the taxonomy, then they, too, can easily share business information. This example can be extended to a global setting as well. Research opportunities in this area seek to develop taxonomies to be used for various industries, regulatory agencies, accounting jurisdictions, supply chains, and so on. For instance, AIS researchers could collaborate with financial accountants on the development of XBRL taxonomies focused on financial reporting, including global taxonomies, and with managerial accountants on taxonomies dealing with internal reporting and supply chains. Continuous Financial Reporting In an effort to be more responsive to information consumers, publicly traded companies are considering the merits of providing financial statements on a more frequent basis than the current quarterly reporting period. Many issues and concerns arise with respect to continuous financial reporting, such what is meant by continuous (e.g., monthly, weekly, daily), how to deal with accruals, deferrals, and estimates in a continuous reporting environment, and the impact of continuous reporting on the capital market. Regarding the latter issue, financial and AIS researchers could simulate and compare various reporting frequencies, such as quarterly-to-monthly vs. quarterly-toweekly, and conduct either behavioral or experimental economic studies to investigate the impact of more frequent reporting on stock price valuations and market volatility. Continuous Assurance To the extent that continuous financial reporting becomes a reality, the accounting profession must deal with the concomitant demand for continuous, or at least more frequent, assurance. The potential research issues in this area include: (1) the type of assurance to render—audit or review, (2) the marketplace demand for continuous assurance, (3) the impact of continuous assurance on the audit process, and (4) ways that audit firms can leverage ICT to render an effective yet efficient audit under these circumstances. For example, auditing and AIS researchers could collaborate on projects investigating the efficacy of various types of ICT, such as embedded audit modules, for monitoring client transactions and activity levels and insuring that firms  do not change financial information on their Internet sites eifler the auditors have provided assurance. Blending Information and Communication Technology with Accounting Research 66 Quality of Earnings The possibilities of continuousfinancialreporting and related assurance beget questions concerning quality of earnings. For instance, to what extent will more frequent reporting affect a firm’s ability to manage earnings since accruals, deferrals, and estimates must be more closely tied, in real-time, to related economic events? Could a credit sale transaction captured at a cash register include estimated allowances for doubtful accounts and returned goods based on a percentage ofthe sale amount? Will more continuous assurance affect the nature and extent of earnings management attempts if the firm believes that auditors are more likely to detect such activity in a continuous assurance scenario? AIS and audit researchers can certainly team up to tackle such issues. Market Value of Accounting Systems The impact of ICT on accounting systems has evolved from fairly simple general ledger applications to extremely complex ERP systems. When firms adaptfromone type of system to another, they typically incur huge outlays offinancialand human capital. Questions arise regarding the underlying value of embarking on enormous capital projects of this nature. One aspect of â€Å"value† can be viewedfromthe perspective of investors. For instance, how do investors respond when a firm announces that it plans to adopt an ERP system? While this question deals with investors’ initial beliefs regarding ERP adoption, a follow-up question could focus on the extent to which ERP systems actually improve firm performance over time. Recently, AIS and financial accounting researchers joined forces to examine the first question (Hayes et al. 2001). Reading a study of this nature can help AIS and non-AIS researchers envision the end result of such collaborative efforts. Internal Value of Accounting Systems In a similar vein, researchers could investigate the value of enterprise-wide information systems to internal decision makers and business processes. For example, to what extent do ERP systems improve the timeliness, reliability, and  relevance of decision-making information throughout thefirm?Do enterprise-wide systems offer a realistic framework for creating value-added data warehouses and data marts? To what extent can the firm attribute quality improvements in critical success factors, such as services, products, processes, and morale, to enterprise-wide systems? AIS and managerial accounting researchers could collaborate on these and related issues. Decision Support Systems Advances in ICT facilitate the development of a host of potential decision-support systems at both the individual and group level. For instance, decision-support systems can be developed to help design effective internal control structures, configure optimal business processes, and assess business and audit risks. Issues such as interface design, information content, training value, and user reliance are some ofthe more fruitful areas of inquiry. Depending on the context ofthe proposed decision support system, AIS researchers can work with financial, managerial, tax, and audit researchers. Knowledge Management One of the more promising areas of value creation for oi^emizations is to capture, store, process, and disseminate business knowledge. Firm- and industry-spedfic knowledge is accumulated over time on key issues such as research and development, marketing strategies, customer relations, process quality, and so on. A â€Å"best practices’* knowledge base dealing with topics of this nature can be developed so that institutional 66 Accounting Horizons /March 2002 knowledge can be transferred across persons, settings, and time to facilitate organizational and individual learning and growth opportunities. AIS and managerial researchers can investigate critical design issues in knowledge management systems and ways to encourage employees to rely on such systems as electronic colleagues. Risk Assessm.ent and Management When firms switch from one accounting system to another, say from a traditional general ledger system to an ERP system, the nature and extent of business, internal control, and audit risks can change considerably. For instance, ERP systems are more likely than general ledger systems to cause business interruptions due to the tightly integrated nature of ERP systems coupled with programmed workflow automation from one business process to another. In addition, security risks are often heightened with ERP systems, since corporate information is stored in a relational database and a compromise ofthe database, via viruses, hackers, employees, and the like, can ripple throughout the organization. Company managers and internal and external auditors must be aware of risk differentials across accounting systems and revise contingency strategies, internal controls, and audit plans accordingly. AIS, audit, and managerial scholars can develop projects aimed at delineating risk profiles of various technology-based accounting systems. Once unique risks are identified, AIS and audit researchers can examine the extent to which external auditors are aware ofthe unique risks posed by different systems and how they either do or should adjust audit plans in response to differential risk profiles. A recent study by Hunton et al. (2002) represents an example how AIS and audit researchers are working together in this area. Systems Reliability Assurance The new SysTrust^† assurance service proposed by the AICPA/CICA holds great potential as a revenue generator for CPA/CAfirms.SysTrust^† attests to the rehability of a firm’s information systems. For example, company management would make assertions about one or any combination ofthe following reliability dimensions of its information systems: availability, security, and integrity and maintainability.^ Additionally, management can narrow the scope ofthe system to which the assertions apply, such as accounts receivable only, all financial applications, or the entire ERP suite of applications. Then, independent auditors are hired to test for compliance with stated assertions and offer related assurances to the public in the form of an opinion. A firm could voluntarily request a SysTrust^† engagement to provide comfort to current and potential trading partners, or a potential trading partner might demand that the other partner receive such assurance before entering into a contractual arrangement. AIS, audit, and financial researchers can collaborate on projects designed to investigate various issues, such as (1) the perceived value of placing assurance on various combinations of systems reliabihty dimensions, (2) how companies and audit firms can conduct cost-benefit analyses of SysTrust^† engagements, and (3) risk factors affecting the market demand for systems reliability assurance. These four dimensions of systems reliability represent the four principles of SysTrust^**. Blending Information and Communication Technology with Accounting Research 67 SUMMARY As highlighted throughout this commentary, information and communication technologies have radically transformed the nature of business and accounting practice. Accordingly, the manner in which accountants can potentially add value to economic entities and society is undergoing a metamorphosis. As suggested by the accounting value chain shown in Figure 6, many traditional accounting tasks dealing with recording and processing of accounting transactions can be reliably automated. Thus, accountants add little incremental value to organizations in this regard anymore. Rather, an accountant’s worth is now reflected in higher-order critical-thinking skills, such as designing business processes, developing e-business models, providing independent assurance, and integrating strategic knowledge. Many of the research issues reviewed in this commentary are interlaced with related topics in financitd accounting, auditing, managerial accounting, and taxation. Methodological approaches used to investigate accounting information systems research questions, such as scientific modeling, archival analyses, and behavioral experiments and qualitative inquiries, are also common across accounting domains. Given such complementary interdependences, the academic community would be enriched if AIS scholars were to collaborate on research projects with other accounting reseairchers, where possible, as resulting synergistic relationships will most certainly produce highquality, relevant studies that could drtimatically shape the future of the accounting profession and business practice. REFERENCES Elliott, R. K. 1994. Confronting the future: Choices for the attest function. Accounting Horizons 8 (3): 106-124. , 1995, The future of  assurance services: Implications for academia. Accounting Horizons 9(4): 118-127, . 2001. A perspective on the proposed global credential. Accounting Horizons 15 (4): 359372, Hayes, D,, J. Hunton, and J. Reck. 2001. The impact of ERP announcements on stock prices. Joumal of Information Systems 15 (1) (Spring): 3-18. Hunton, J., S. Wright, and A, Wright. 2002. Unique internal control issues in ERP environments. Working paper. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL. Porter, M. E., and V, E, Millar. 1985. How information gives you a competitive advantage. Harvard Business Review 63 (4): 149-160.