The Management Accountant Is The Most Important And Challenging Profession Accounting Essay

The Management Accountant Is The Most Important And Challenging Profession Accounting Essay The Management Accountant, is the most important and challenging profession in the world economy today, in terms of resource allocation, and controlling measuring business performance. Its role has become more important now, than at any other time in our lifetime. The role of the Management Accountant in particular, has become more important, not only in the corporate level, but also at the national level, and even more importantly, at the international level. Management Accountants are closely involved in supporting, planning, controlling, directing, communicating coordinating the decision-making activities of organizations in the private sector, as well as the public sector. Managers of an organization are considered to be the Customers of the Management Accountant, so far as management accounting information is concerned, and Management Accountants should be continuously aware of the need to satisfy their requirements. Some believe advisory services and information services to be the two main work areas of Management Accountants. Advisory services include the tendering of opinions, assisting the making of evaluations or the formation of expectations, and the development of norms or objectives. Information services include the provision of historical information, and future-oriented information. It has also been identified that Compliance, Control and Competitive support, are the three factors which influence management accounting work. Over time, the relative emphasis on these three factors has changed. Previously, a great deal of management accounting work was driven by the need for Compliance and Control. But now, the emphasis on Compliance and Control is declining, while the emphasis on Competitive support is increasing. The greater need for Competitive support has risen due to increased competition, greater customer focus, globalization, and the importance of quality. At the same time, organizations have responded to the changing competitive environment with flatter organizational structures, which are more flexible, responsive customer-focused. The increased emphasis on Competitive support now requires management accountants to have strong Analytical and Communication skills. Furthermore, they must now actively support the line process managers, and be directly involved in the decision processes. They must also consider long-term as well as short-term planning horizons. They must develop management accounting systems capable of providing information which supports both strategic operational decisions. Importantly, management accountants must become directly involved in the formulation, and the implementation of organizational strategies. It has been established that the role of the management accountant in an organization is to support the information needs of management. The type, size, structure and form of ownership of the organization will influence the management role, and thus, determine the complexity of the management accountants role. Such differences in size do not change the basic role of the management accountant, nor the basic work which he or she does. However, the size of the organization may change the degree of formality or sophistication with which the function is carried out, or the level of resources devoted to management accounting. But, the management accounting function remains essentially the same. Relevant Cost and Irrelevant Cost for Decision-making Relevance is one of the key characteristics of good management accounting information. This means that management accounting information produced for each manager must relate to the decisions which he/she will have to make. Relevant costs are the costs that meet this requirement of good management accounting information. The Chartered Institute of Management Accounting defines relevant costs as: The costs appropriate to a specific management decision This definition could be restated as the amount by which costs increase and benefits decrease as a direct result of a specific management decision. Relevant benefits are the amounts by which costs decrease and benefits increase as a direct result of a specific management decision. Before the management of an enterprise can make an informed decision on any matter, they need to incorporate all of the relevant costs which apply to the specific decision at hand in their decision making process. To include any non-relevant costs or to exclude any relevant costs will result in management basing their decision on misleading information and ultimately to poor decisions being taken. Relevant costs and benefits only deal with the quantitative aspects of decisions. The qualitative aspects of decisions are of equal importance to the quantitative and no decision should be made in practice without full consideration being given to both aspects. Identifying relevant and irrelevant costs: The identification of relevant and non-relevant costs in various decision-making situations is based primarily on common sense and the knowledge of the decision maker of the area in which the decision is being made. Armed with these two tools you should be able to sift through all the information that is available in respect of any decision and extract those costs (and benefits) which are appropriate to the decision at hand. In identifying relevant costs for various decisions, it may find that some costs not included in the normal accounting records of an enterprise are relevant and some costs included in such records are non-relevant. It is important that there is a substantial difference between recorded accounting costs and relevant costs for decision making, and while the latter may be recorded in the former this is not always the case. Accounting records are used to record the incidence of actual costs and revenues as they arise. Decisions, on the other hand, are based only on the relevant costs and benefits appropriate to each decision while the decision is being made. This point is particularly appropriate when you come to examine opportunity costs and sunk costs that are dealt with below. In practice, you may also find that the information presented in respect of a decision does not include all the relevant costs appropriate to the decision but the identification of this omission is very difficult unless you are familiar with the area in which the decision is being made. Exercise The more common types of costs which you will meet when evaluating different decisions are incremental, non-incremental and spare capacity costs. Are these likely to be relevant or non-relevant? Suggested Solution Incremental costs: An incremental cost can be defined as a cost which is specifically incurred by following a course of action and which is avoidable if such action is not taken. Incremental costs are, by definition, relevant costs because they are directly affected by the decision (i.e. they will be incurred if the decision goes ahead and they will not be incurred if the decision is scrapped). For example, if an enterprise is deciding whether or not to accept a special order for its product, the extra variable costs (i.e. number of units in special order x variable cost per unit) which would be incurred in filling the order are an incremental cost because they would not be incurred if the special order were to be rejected. Non-incremental costs: These are costs which will not be affected by the decision at hand. Non-incremental costs are non-relevant costs because they are not related to the decision at hand (i.e. non-incremental costs stay the same no matter what decision is taken). An example of non-incremental costs would be fixed costs which by their very nature should not be affected by decisions (at least in the short term). If, however, a decision gives rise to a specific increase in fixed costs then the increase in fixed costs would be an incremental and, hence, relevant cost. For example, in a decision on whether to extend the factory floor area of an enterprise, the extra rent to be incurred would be a relevant cost for that decision. Spare capacity costs: Because of the recent advancements in manufacturing technology most enterprises have greatly increased their efficiency and as a result are often operating at below full capacity. Operating with spare capacity can have a significant impact on the relevant costs for any short-term production decision the management of such an enterprise might have to make. If spare capacity exists in an enterprise, some costs which are generally considered incremental may in fact be non-incremental and thus, non-relevant, in the short term. For example, if an enterprise is operating at less than full capacity then its work force is probably underutilized. If it is the policy of the enterprise to maintain the level of its work force in the short term, until activity increases, then the labour cost of this work force would be a non-relevant cost for a decision on whether to accept or reject a once-off special order. The labour cost is non-relevant because the wages will have to be paid whether the order is accepted or not. If the special order involved and element of overtime then the cost of such overtime would of course be a relevant cost (as it is an incremental cost) for the decision. Two further types of costs that have to be considered are opportunity costs and sunk costs. Opportunity costs: An opportunity cost is a level of profit or benefit foregone by the pursuit of a particular course of action. In other words, it is the value of an option, which cannot be taken as a result of following a different option. For example, if an enterprise has a quantity of raw material in stock which cost $7 per kg and it plans to use this material in the filling of a special order then you would normally incorporate $7 per kg as part of your cost calculations for filling the order. If, however, this quantity of material could be resold without further processing for $8 per kg, then the opportunity cost of using this material in the special order is $8 per kg; by filling the order you forego the $8 per kg which was available for a straight sale of the material. Opportunity costs are, therefore, the real economic costs of taking one course of action as opposed to another. In the above decision-making situation it is the opportunity cost which is the relevant cost and, hence, the cost which should be incorporated into your cost-versus-benefit analysis. It is because the loss of the $8 per kg is directly related to the filling of the order and the opportunity cost is greater than the book cost. Opportunity costs are relevant costs for a decision only when they exceed the costs of the same item in the option to the decision under consideration. You may find the idea of opportunity costs difficult to grasp at first because they are notional costs, which may never be included in the books and records of an enterprise. They are, however, relevant in certain decision-making situation and you must bear in mind the fact that they exist when assessing any such situations. Sunk costs: a sunk cost is a cost that has already been incurred and cannot be altered by any future decision. If sunk costs are not affected by a decision then they must be non-relevant costs for decision-making purposes. Common examples of sunk costs are market research costs and development expenditure incurred by enterprises in getting a product or service ready for sale. The final decision on whether to launch the product or service would regard these costs as sunk (i.e. irrecoverable) and thus, not incorporate them into the launch decision. Sunk costs are the opposite to opportunity costs in that they are not incorporated in the decision making process even though they have already been recorded in the books and records of the enterprise. Exercise (a) An enterprise is considering replacing its professional legal advisers with its own newly trained personnel. The relevant personnel are currently employed in the secretarial department of the enterprise and will receive no pay increase when taking up their new responsibilities. They will also be required to continue to perform their old duties. The current annual salary bill of these employees amounts to $100,000. Is the $100,000 a relevant cost in the decision on whether to replace the professional advisers? (b) An enterprise is considering the upgrading of its computer system. The upgrading would result in the annual maintenance contract fee charged by the suppliers rising from $30,000 to $40,000. Is the maintenance fee a relevant cost to the upgrading decision? Briefly explain your reasoning. (c) The relevant cost of X in the filling of the special order is nil. The cost of the 200 kg of X in stock is a sunk cost and thus non-relevant. This is so due to the fact that no amount of the purchase price appears to be recoverable through either a straight sale of the material or by incorporating X in the manufacture of a product (other than the special order) which could then be sold by the enterprise. Evaluating decisions involving relevant and non-relevant costs It is observed that two task is to be performing before making final decision: Evaluate the options in the decision on a monetary basis using cost versus benefit analysis. Take account of the qualitative factors associated with each option in the decision. The performance of the first task is dealt with in this section. Performance of the second task is influenced by experience and common sense. Nearly all decisions will ever make will involve some relevant and non-relevant costs. As stated earlier the hardest part of the evaluation process will be the identification of the relevant costs for the decision at hand. This identification is often required from a plethora of information that you will have to carefully sift through to ensure the completeness of your evaluation. Once the relevant costs are identified for each option you simply perform a cost versus benefit analysis for each option and select the one that results in the greatest gain or least cost to the enterprise. Dont forget that, in practice, qualitative factors can result in a different option being selected than that suggested by the quantitative evaluation. Exercise The local authority of a small town maintains a theatre and arts centre for the use of a local repertory company, other visiting groups and exhibitions. Management decisions are taken by a committee which meets regularly to review the accounts and plan the use of the facilities. The theatre employs a full-time staff and a number of artists at costs of $4,800 and $17,600 per month respectively. They mount a new production every month for 20 performances. Other monthly expenditure of the theatre is as follows: $ Costumes 2,800 Scenery 1,650 Heat and light 5,150 Apportionment of administration costs of local authority 8,000 Casual staff 1,760 Refreshments 1,180 On average the theatre is half full for the performances of the repertory company. The capacity and seat prices in the theatre are: 200 seats at $6 each 500 seats at $4 each 300 seats at $3 each In addition, the theatre sells refreshments during the performances for $3,880 per month. Programme sales cover their costs but advertising in the programme generates $3,360. The management committee has received proposals from a popular touring group to take over the theatre for one month (25 performances). The group is prepared to pay half of their ticket income for the booking. They expect to fill the theatre for 10 nights and achieve two-thirds full on the remaining 15 nights. The prices charged are 50 cents less than those normally applied in the theatre. The local authority will pay for heat and light costs and will still honour the contracts of all artists and pay full-time employees who will sell refreshments and programmes, etc. The committee does not expect any change in the level of refreshments or programme sales if they agree to this booking. Note: The committee includes allocated costs when making profit calculations. They assume occupancy applies equally across all seat prices. On financial grounds should the management committee agree to the approach from the touring group? Suggested Solution To make a decision on the use of the theatre for one month the committee would calculate the relevant cost or benefit of accepting the tour groups offer as opposed to continuing as is (i.e. with the repertory company). Relevant benefits Costs saved with touring group: $ Costumes 2,800 Scenery 1,650 Casual staff 1,760 Relevant benefits 6,210 Relevant costs Decrease in revenue with touring group: Revenue with repertory company 200 x $6 1,200 500 x $4 2,000 300 x $3 900 4,100 $4,100 x  ½ x 20 41,000 Revenue with touring company 200 x $5.5 1,100 500 x $3.5 1,750 300 x $2.5 750 3,600 ($3,600 x 10) + ($3,600 x 15 x 2/3) = 72,000 Half kept by touring company leaving, 36,000 Relevant costs (41,000 36,000) 5,000 Net relevant benefit (6,210 5,000) 1,210 Therefore, the committee should accept the touring companys offer as it results in a net benefit to the theatre of $1,210 for that month. Non-relevant costs were full time salaries, heat and light, apportionment of administration costs and refreshments. Re non-relevant benefits were refreshment sales and advertising revenue. All of the above were non-relevant because they were unaffected by the decision (i.e. they were the same whether the repertory or the touring company occupied the theatre for the month). The qualitative factors that might apply to this decision include: The desirability of offering a range of activities in the theatre and thus to cater for a wider audience fulfils an important social role. The opinions of the artists who are employed by the theatre should be consulted. They may welcome some months for rehearsal or personal development. But if this were regular, the more talented people who were in demand may seek opportunities elsewhere. A different number of performances may have implications for predicted cost levels and the accuracy of the theatre occupancy predictions should be confirmed. Exercise Lombard Ltd. has been offered a contract for which there is available production capacity. The contract is for 20,000 items, manufactured by an intricate assembly operation, to be produced and delivered in the next financial year at a price of $80 each. The specification is as follows: Assembly labour 4 hours Component X 4 units Component Y 3 units There would also be the need to hire equipment which would increase next years fixed overheads by $200,000. The assembly is a highly skilled operation and the work force is currently under-utilized. It is company policy to retain this work force on full pay in anticipation of high demand, in a few years time, for a new product currently being developed. In the meantime, all non-productive time (about 150,000 hours per annum) is charged to fixed production overhead at a current rate of pay of $5 per hour. Component X is used in a number of other sub-assemblies produced by the company. It is readily available. A small stock is held and replenished regularly. Component Y was a special purchase in anticipation of an order which did not materialize. It is, therefore, surplus to requirements and the 100,000 units which are in stock may have to be sold at a loss. An estimate of alternative values for components X and Y provided by the material planning department are: X Y $ per unit $ per unit Book value 4 10 Replacement cost 5 11 Net realizable value 3 8 Overhead costs are applied on a labour hour basis. Variable overhead is $2 per hour worked. Provisionally, fixed overheads, before the contract was envisaged, were budgeted next year at $3,560,000 for productive direct labour hours of 1,040,000. There is sufficient time available to revise the budgeted overhead rate. Analyze the information in order to advise Lombard Ltd. on the desirability of the contract and briefly explain your reasoning. Suggested solution Advice on the contract will be based on the relevant costs or incremental costs incurred for the contract using the values provided in the question. $ per unit Labour: 4 hours x 0 0 Component X: 4 units x $5 20 Component Y: 3 units x $8 24 Variable overhead: 4 x $2 8 Relevant cost per unit 52 Total relevant cost = ($52 x 20,000) + $200,000 = $1,240,000 Revenue = $80 x 20,000 = $1,600,000 A surplus of revenue over costs of $360,000 is revealed so the contract would appear to be attractive. The recommendation is based on the following reasoning: Labour will be paid anyway as non-productive time so the incremental cost is zero. Component X will be replenished at the current replacement cost. Component Y is costed at its opportunity cost, that is, what could be obtained if sold at its disposable or realizable value. It is already in stock and has no alternative use. Variable overhead is incurred in relation to the direct labour hours worked. The only incremental fixed overhead is $200,000. The remainder is common and unavoidable in all situations. Advantages and disadvantages of Activity Base Costing Advantages of an Activity Based Costing System: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢The first and most important advantage is the accuracy in the process of costing with regards to the product line, the end-users of the product, the stock-keeping units employed by the management and the channel and category which streamline the flow of the product from the producer to the end user. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢This system better assists in the process of understanding the concept of overhead costs i.e. the allocation of common business resources as they are used by specific product lines and their relation to specific cost driver. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢The system is easy to understand and interpret is it is accessible, useable and practically implement able across all norms of business set-ups. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢This process uses unitary cost, or marginal cost as the computation base in contrast to the traditional cost accounting methods which employ total cost. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢The system works exceptionally well will quality improvement and up gradation programs e.g. Six Sigma à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢This system is particularly helpful in identifying and ear-marking some of the matters business activities which are a burden or stress on the business i.e. wasteful or non value adding services. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢The system also works exceptionally with performance management systems which are employed by most human resource departments in contemporary businesses. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢This process allows companies to implement costing strategies across another diagonal of the firm as business processes, supply chains and value addition channels are ably and optimally analyzed in this process. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢This system mimics the actual business process as the appropriation of common pool resources takes place in the same way as common resources are used in the business. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢This system aids in the process of benchmarking which is an integral part of the quality control system. Disadvantages of an Activity Based Costing System: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Data collection process for this system is very time consuming. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢The capital expenditure on the activity based system and its subsequent running costs can be a road block for firms. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢The system is very transparent which some managers would not approve of as they would like to keep some things out of the view of the owners of the company. Technical Limitations: The major technical limitation that will be faced is testing the hypothesis in the real world. Testing the hypothesis whether ABC is a more appropriate accounting solution is certainly possible on paper but its desirable effects in the real world cannot be properly gauged unless it is directly implemented by companies operating in the world today and the analysis is conducted in a kinetic time mechanism. This is a major stumbling block for most organizations who are remain transfixed to their current accounting mechanism and dont want to change over to this new system, which despite its obvious benefits, seems to come a great switching or even multi-homing cost.

billy Budd By Herman Melville: Captain Vere Essay -- essays research p

"Billy Budd" by Herman Melville: Captain Vere In the novella "Billy Budd" by Herman Melville, Captain Vere is the â€Å" tragic hero†. he is neither good nor evil, but rather a man whose concept of order, discipline, and legality forces him to obey the codes of an authority higher than himself even though he may be in personal disagreement. Captain Vere is sailor that is distinctive even in a time of renowned sailors. He has noble blood in him, but his advancement through the naval ranks to that of captain is due more to his outstanding service and personal merits than through any connections that he may have had. He was made a post-captain because of his â€Å"gallantry in the West Indian waters as flag-lieutenant under Rodney in that admiral's c... billy Budd By Herman Melville: Captain Vere Essay -- essays research p "Billy Budd" by Herman Melville: Captain Vere In the novella "Billy Budd" by Herman Melville, Captain Vere is the â€Å" tragic hero†. he is neither good nor evil, but rather a man whose concept of order, discipline, and legality forces him to obey the codes of an authority higher than himself even though he may be in personal disagreement. Captain Vere is sailor that is distinctive even in a time of renowned sailors. He has noble blood in him, but his advancement through the naval ranks to that of captain is due more to his outstanding service and personal merits than through any connections that he may have had. He was made a post-captain because of his â€Å"gallantry in the West Indian waters as flag-lieutenant under Rodney in that admiral's c...

Abraham Lincoln Essay -- essays research papers

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the U.S (1861-1865) who brought the Union to victory in the Civil War. Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in Kentucky. His father was Thomas Lincoln and his mother was Nancy Hanks, both were pioneer farmers. When Abraham Lincoln was two they moved to nearby Knob Creek, Indiana. The following year his mother died. In 1819 Abraham Lincoln’s father married Sarah Bush Johnston, a kind widow who gained Abraham Lincoln’s friendship. Abraham Lincoln grew up to be a tall, gangling boy who could handle himself. He also showed intellectual promises, even though he had little formal education. In 1831 he moved again to Macon County, Illinois and finally he got a job on a cargo ship sailing down the Mississippi to New Orleans. He then returned to Illinois to settle in New Salem on the Sangamon River, were he became a clerk at a local store. In 1832 he became Captain of a company going to fight in the Black Hawk War. When the war ended he came home and he tried to open a store but that ended in a failure when his partner died. In 1833 he was appoint ed postmaster. But he also had to take up surveying to support himself. In time he was able to pay off his debts and began to study law. In 1834 Lincoln was elected on the Wing ticket to serve in the Lower House until 1841. He emerged as a party leader, so he moved to Springfield the capital of Illinois. At this time he also became a very popular attorney with a partnership of 3 other men. In 1842 ...

Analysis of Starbucks coffee company’ employees misunderstanding using organizational behaviour approach Essay

Analysis of Starbucks coffee company’ employees misunderstanding using organizational behaviour approach Introduction                   In every organization, organization behaviour is very important at all levels of employees from management to workers. Organizational behaviour deals the study of personality of individuals or characteristic of a group in an organization together with internal processes of an organization in order to determine the effectiveness of the organization or develop a solution (Hellriegel, & Slocum, 2010 p. 5). It helps people to interact, understand each other and find solution to behavioural problems, which culminate in improved working environment thus resulting to improved productivity. Therefore, it is important for management to ensure that effective employees accepted behaviour is maintained throughout the organization. It is important to understand organization behaviour so that decision making process and requirements of employees are addressed in the best ways that would not affect performance of a company (Mullins, 2013 p. 77). This paper will involve solving organization problem that faced Starbucks Coffee Company in 2005. The problem involved misunderstandings between employees and management resulting in communication problem in the company, which greatly affected its productivity in New Zealand (Mark, 2013 p. 10). The problem caused employees dissatisfaction and lack of motivation and thus giving poor services that in turn decreased production output and thus the company making losses. The misunderstanding between employees and management led to change of employees’ behaviour and so it was important to change their behaviour in order to realize the productivity of the company. Employees’ dissatisfaction and misunderstanding in an organization causes low commitment from employees thus affecting the performance of an organization (Hellriegel, & Slocum, 2010 p. 502). Although the problem could be addressed using various organizational techniques such as organizational development, organizational behaviour approach remained the best technique to find the solution of the matter so as to improve the effectiveness of the company.                   Starbucks coffee company is a multinational corporation (MNC) that was started in Seattle in 1971 (Starbucks Coffee Company, 2014 b Company Information. Starbucks Coffee Company). The company specialises in coffee and coffee products. It has its stores established across the six continents with most of the market being concentrated in America, Europe and Asia. The company has more than 15,000 stores in more than 50 countries in six continents. The company performance and productivity increased steadily over years becoming among the best coffee selling company in the world. It continued growth and development led to opening of a new store in New Zealand in 1998 (Starbucks coffee company, 2014 a Extends the Starbucks brand into grocery channels across the U.S. Launches Starbucks.com). In New Zealand, Starbucks has more than 29 stores and over 3,700 employees serving more than 60,000 customers every day operating under restaurant Brands franchise (Starbucks Coffee Company, 2014 c Starbucks Coffee Company New Zealand; Restaurant Brands, 2014 About Us-Restaurant brands). Similarly, the store in New Zealand has improved growth and development giving it advantage in the market. However, poor management in 2005 led to it making losses due to misunderstanding between employees and management. Communication barrier caused by misunderstandings were the major causes of its poor performance (Phillips, & Gully, 2012 p. 497).                   The company’s organization culture involves innovative products such as wifi coffee house and employees motivation through reward and attractive remunerations. Similarly, the company advocated for organizational culture where highly trained employees give high quality services to clients through exceptional performances that has rewards (Moncarz, Zhao, & Kay, 2009 p. 447). This culture has enabled the company to have competitive advantage and be able to command a large share of market in all its stores opened across the globe. New Zealand is one of the openings that has also had an exceptional growth and contributed to the growth of the company. However, the growth was halt in 2005 when the company suffered loss that was caused by misunderstanding between various levels of management. The misunderstanding was a result of a decision made by the management not to increase their wages to $ 12 per hour as employees had requested. The company has also been said to discriminate its employees by giving low wages as evidenced in Starbucks stores in New York (Bussing-Burks, 2009 p. 90). The decision affected the relationship between employees and management. Moreover, the performance of the employees was negatively affected and as a result the behaviour of the employees changed from the culture of exceptional performance and quality services to employees thus affecting the company’s performance.                   In every organization, employees and managements operate under a pre-established behaviour that ensures its effectiveness. A positive behaviour must be maintained or improved so as to improve the performance of the company (Luthans, & Youssef, 2007 p. 337). Therefore, the management must ensure an optimum business environment is highly maintained so as to maintain the behaviour of employees’ at the most effective and productive level. Consequently, management should try to maintain their management behaviour because their behaviour can influence that of the employees (Gelf, Erez, & Aycan, 2007 p. 494). The combination of this behaviour towards the effectiveness of an organization ensures that a positive culture is maintained and that the organization is able to maintain its productivity, growth and development. Similarly, solutions to crises are easily laid off.                   In order to address this problem, organizational behaviour models or theories were useful in encouraging the employees and management to change their behaviours and adapt their past or new behaviour that would ensure effectiveness in the company. Some theoretical approaches to this problem included systems, neo-human relations, decision-making, scientific leadership, human relations, and bureaucratic approach (Mullins, 2013 p. 43). The organizational behaviour models are important in addressing human behaviours and understandings their relations for effective implementation of changes that would ensure company’s productivity in maintained and improved.                   Neo-human relations approach entails how an organization is able to define structures of management in a way that it is able to motivate employees through satisfying their basic needs and giving attractive remunerations. The model helps in addressing employees’ dissatisfaction (Mawhinney, 2011 p. 313). In addition, the approach focuses on the needs to address to the employees’ issues such as salary increment and other needs. An organization that uses this approach is able to maintain it high predominance and growth. A solution to the problem at Starbucks coffee company required management adapt to neo-human approach by making sure that the needs of the employees could be attended. The solution could be realised if management could increase plan to increase the salary of the employees to $ 12. The increment could be promised to be done in phases so that the financial performance of the company would not be affected. Consequently, employeesâ €™ motivation could b e achieved that could results in increased productivity of the company. However, leaving the situation without a solution would result in strikes, which would further affect the reputation of the company in addition employees reduced performance. Organization that does not understand the behaviour of the employees fails to meet the needs of employees and this may cause passive participation and resistance in place of work (Bloisi, Cook, & Hunsaker, 2007  p. 113). Strikes coupled to employees’ underperformance could greatly affect the company and can cause its collapse if an immediate action could be delayed. From this approach, the responsibilities of leaders are to make sure that the goals of workers are achieved so that they can facilitate the achievement of the company’s goals (Bratton, 2010 p. 200).                   Decision making model would also be an important approach to address the problem with Starbucks coffee company. In decision making model, a decision that is arrived at is not a necessarily an optimal solution but a solution that benefits all the parties and enhance the performance of the company (Klein, 2008 p. 457). The decision making model optimise the change of behaviour that is goal oriented. The manner in which a decision is made is important in a company (Griffin, & Moorhead, 2013 p. 215). An organization that is able to make ethical decisions have high likely hood of succeeding and achieving high growth. Poor decision making results in poor management and misunderstanding between the management and employees and end up affecting the performance of the company negatively (Stein, 2010 p. 87). This is what was experienced in Starbucks Company in year 2005. The decision to decline to raise the payments of employees without a major reason or a proper communication caused the management to find themselves in a crisis of management and performance of the company. The problem can be addressed through ethical decision making process where all the stakeholders are involved in decision making (Punnett, 2009 p. 31). In ethical decision making, the views of the employees could have been addressed and that of the company ending up in a compromising situation where both parties issues are met in agreement.                   The figure 1 above showing a decision making problem that helps an organization to limit unethical decisions that could affect the performance of the company. The decision to decline wage increment was supposed to follow all the steps while involving stakeholders and thus the decision would not have affected the employees’ behaviour.                   The problem in Starbucks could also be addressed using scientific leadership model. In this model, the efficiency in work place can be monitored and adjusted accordingly using various leadership skills such as charisma (Nelson, & Quick, 2012 p. 443). The model is useful in understanding the objective and goals of the company so that every issue or problem is addressed in accordance to the goal of the company (Borkowski, 2011 p. 201). In this model, managers are the overall supervisors of the company and that they should make sure that the company does not lose for their mismanagement. For this reason, managers assign job to employees and monitor so that they are able to give an output of a quality work. Therefore, the management was responsible to manage the work of employees throughout so that they would have made sure that every employee was productive and thus preventing underperformances during the crisis period (Punnett, 2009). The approach makes su re that the goal of the company is always on the focus and so its growth is not compromised irrespective of the problem. Starbucks management had failed to utilize this approach and they left the company to be controlled by employees changed behaviour thus low performance. The model is important to every company that is facing employees’ performance crisis so that they performance of the company remain on focus.                   The figure 2 above shows the model for scientific leadership models. The decision that is made is focused on the outcome as shown in the figure above. All the other factors should be considered ensuring that goal of the company is not compromised.                   Human relations or organization behavioural theory is another model that is best for addressing the problem at Starbucks. It bias important for an organization to understand the behaviour of employees other than economic value such as wages (Netting, & O’Connor, 2013 human relations). How workers relate with each other in place of work determines their performance in places of work and known as â€Å"Hawthorne Effect† (Dalton, Hoyle, & Watts, 2011 P. 13). The model was found to be operational in both informal and formal organization. A good relation between employees and management allows smooth decision making resulting in quick and better solution. In addition, good interpersonal relation in an organization helps to improve the performance of employees and workers (Reece, 2014 p. 5). This model would have allowed the management to make appropriate decision on the workers pay and prevent misunderstanding thus maintaining the performance of the company.                   System model would also be important in addressing misunderstanding problem that led to poor performance of Starbucks coffee company. In this approach the company is able to measure the output in respect to internal operations. The management is able to monitor all the production processes and be able to evaluate the performance of the company on the basis of employees’ productivity (Mbanote, 2011 Models of organizational behaviour). Therefore, the management would have been able to realise that there was a problem before hand and employ various management skills before a problem could erupt. When productivity of employees decline, the management finds the immediate cause and addresses the problem giving an immediate and effective decision (Noble, 2014 p. 15). The problem of employees payment would have been addressed before the company could make losses through low productivity. Consequently, the employees would not have reached to the extent of dissatisfaction and reduced performance. Thereby, the performance of the company would not have been affected.                   Contingency model is another important organizational behaviour theory that was useful for Starbucks coffee company. In contingency model, a situation forces adaptation of the best leadership skills (Tushman, & Romanelli, 2008 p. 174). In other words, it is situational leadership skills that leader are capable of developing in order to adjust their leadership and relationship behaviour to address the situation at hand. The model was developed by a management theorist named Fred Fiedler in 1967 (Singh, 2010 p. 275). In Starbucks coffee company, the effectiveness of leaders in the prevailing situation was important in addressing employees’ dissatisfaction in their decision. The contingency models require leaders to adjust with the situation so that the performance of an organization is not affected. However, the management in Starbucks New Zealand Company compromised on the prevailing situation resulting in decreased performance of employees and pro ductivity of the company. The case required an immediate decision that would have maintained the motivation of employees and job satisfaction. An immediate meeting with employees’ union leaders and addressing the issue would have kept the hope of employees a live and they would have continued performing at their level best thus the growth and productivity of the company would have been maintained. Moreover, reverse of the decision and initiation of a new process to make an alternative decision that would involve all the employees’ representatives and other stakeholders would have calmed the situation. This would have prevented employees from changing their behaviour and focus on the goal of the company to improve its productivity. Contingency model of leadership is one of organizational behaviour that has been adapted by many corporations that have found themselves in crisis and needs to save the company (Zaccaro, 2007 P. 6).                   Bureaucracy model is one of the management models that is highly used in Starbucks coffee company. The level of management is divided in levels of management and this make it difficult for employees to interact with the top management directly. The high level of bureaucracy serves as an obstacle of employees to air their grievances and thus any decision or problem must be addressed through a hierarchical process making it to take a lot of time (Greenberg, 2013 bureaucratic model-ideal types). In the case that happened to Starbucks would have been solved in good time and minimized the effect that was caused by the situation. However, the decision had to follow a protocol that took a lot of time and some of the decisions were being objected at different levels. Therefore, employees got impatient and they started reiterating through low performance and low productivity that affected greatly the performance of the company. Bureaucratic model of organization management requires solution to situations that are not urgent and that may not affect the productivity and effectiveness of the company (Boin, & Hart, 2007 p. 43). An urgent situation requires quick decision making and action before an organization is affected negatively. Therefore, urgent solution was required in Starbuck and so bureaucratic model was not appropriate. Conclusion                   Organization behaviour is the study how individual and groups of people interact with the internal processes of an organization with respect to effectiveness of a company. Starbucks coffee company experienced a change in behaviour of employees in New Zealand after a misunderstanding on the increment of wages to $ 12 a day. The employees’ change of behaviour affected the effectiveness of the company resulting to poor economic performance. Therefore, it was necessary for the company to apply various organization behaviour models or theories in order to understand and address the change in behaviour so that the effectiveness of the company in providing services and products could be resumed. Some of the models included neo-human relations, which entailed an approach that ensured that management could be able to motivate employees through satisfying their basic needs and giving attractive remunerations that would result in change of behaviour and thus affectivity in the company. In addition, other models that were important in addressing the problem at Starbuck were human relations, contingency leadership model, system model, scientific leadership model, decision making model, and bureaucratic models. The models are important in shaping the management and employees behaviour towards effective performance of the organization. These models of organization behaviour did not come into play before the crisis and immediately after the crisis thus affecting the performance or the organization negatively. References Bloisi, W., Cook, C. W., & Hunsaker, P. L. 2007.  Management and organisational behaviour. London [u.a.: McGraw-Hill Education. Boin, A., & Hart, P. T. 2007. The crisis approach. In Handbook of disaster research (pp. 42-54). Springer New York. Borkowski, N. 2011.  Organizational behavior in health care. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Bratton, J. 2010.  Work and organizational behaviour. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Bussing-Burks, M. 2009.  Starbucks. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood Press. Dalton, M., Hoyle, D. G., & Watts, M. W. 2011.  Human relations. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning. Gelf, Erez, M., & Aycan, Z. 2007. Cross-cultural organizational behavior. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 58, 479–514. Greenberg, J. 2013. Organizational behaviour. Routledge. Griffin, R., & Moorhead, G. 2013. Managing People and Organizations. UK: Cengage Learning Hellriegel, D., & Slocum, J. 2010. Organizational behaviour. Manson Cengage learning Klein, G. (2008). Naturalistic decision making. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 50(3), 456-460. Luthans, F., & Youssef, C. M. 2007. Emerging positive organizational behavior. Journal of management, 33(3), 321-349. Mark D. 2013. ‘Strikes and labour disputes – Legislation from the 1990s’, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Mawhinney, T. C. 2011. Job Satisfaction: I/O Psychology and Organizational Behavior Management Perspectives. Journal Of Organizational Behavior Management, 31(4), 288-315. Mbanote,. 2011. Management: Model of Organizational Behavior. Mbanote-management.blogspot.com. Retrieved 14 May 2014, from http://mbanote-management.blogspot.com/2011/03/model-of-organizational-behavior_23.html Moncarz, E., Zhao, J., & Kay, C. 2009. An exploratory study of US lodging properties’ organizational practices on employee turnover and retention. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 21(4), 437-458. Mullins, L.J. 2013. Management & Organisational Behaviour. Pearson Nelson, D. L., & Quick, J. C. 2012.  Organizational behavior: Science, the real world, and you. Mason, Ohio: South-Western. Netting, F. E., & O’Connor, M. K. 2013.  Organization practice: A guide to understanding human service organizations. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. Noble, K. 2014. The M5 Model Building. Positive Intelligence in Organizations. OD Practitioner, 46(1), 12-17. Phillips, J., & Gully, S. M. 2012.  Organizational behavior: Tools for success. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Punnett, B. J. 2009.  International perspectives on organizational behavior and human resource management. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe. Reece, B. L. 2014.  Effective human relations: Interpersonal and organizational applications. Mason, OH: South-Western. Restaurant Brands,. 2014. About Us. Restaurantbrands.co.nz. Retrieved 15 May 2014, from http://www.restaurantbrands.co.nz/about-us/Singh, K. 2010.  Organizational behaviour: Text and cases. Chandigarh: Pearson. Starbucks coffee company, 2014 a. Starbucks Company timeline. Timeline Starbucks Coffee Company,. 2014 b. Company Information. Starbucks Coffee Company. Retrieved 14 May 2014, from http://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information Starbucks Coffee company,. 2014 c. FAQ Starbucks Coffee Company New Zealand. Starbucks.co.nz. Retrieved 15 May 2014, from http://www.starbucks.co.nz/about/faq/our-stores/ Stein, G. 2010. Managing people and organizations Bingley, UK: Emerald. Tushman, M. L., & Romanelli, E. 2008. Organizational evolution. Organization change: A comprehensive reader, 155, 2008:174. Zaccaro, S. J. 2007. Trait-based perspectives of leadership. American Psychologist, 62(1), 6. Source document

Empathy Task Ww1 Yr.10 Assessment

EMPATHY TASK. WW1 BY Manon Collins The fog still clung to the ground. We could barely see two feet in front of us. The men’s voices were loud and projected off into the fog were they became lost and tangled in ‘No Man’s Land’ The grey sun seemed to be making it’s way up over the broken backs of the hills. The silhouettes of the men suddenly became clear. Faces dirty with mud, blood or anything that could be found in the trenches. Shoes without soles, shirts without sleeves we are the men of Ypres once of boy of 17 his only thoughts were of women.Now a man of 20 his eyes only peeled for the shadow of a man, the point of a bayonet, the fright full image of gas consuming a comrade’s lungs. Me and the other men had not yet experienced a gas attack but the stories spread across the trenches with the message ‘ Remember your mask’ The shadow loomed through the thickened fog with a will to kill. The envious green mist was determined to pu sh the boundaries. The word came ringing through the mist with great urgency ‘Gas†¦. GAAS’ The fumbling of men’s hands trying to grab a mask became the priority of our mission. There was no chance without a mask.The cry of a man without a mask rung out across the battlefield like a little girl who has lost her mother. Pivoting round only to spot Lindsay without a mask. The panic in his eyes was the last human characteristic that was displayed on his face. The gas consumed his lungs growing tighter each second. Not even I could imagine the pain that was growing in him. The whites of his eyes glowed amongst the blood that was starting to evolve around the creases of his lips. His hand opening and closing, his fingertips searching for something to clasp onto to stop the pain†¦ they fall upon the hem of my pants with a grip of an eagle.As he held my pants for his refuge the words he mumbled will never leave me. ‘Tel†¦tell them†¦tell them I s aid bye’. As his body became limp on my feet the words and noise of the other men became apparent again. ‘Lindsey gone, he is Gone’ ‘ Get the other men, we are going back’ Shoes without soles, shirts without sleeves we are the men of Ypres. Trudging back leaving the dead innocent body behind us all human dignity thrown out the window everyman swearing under their breath ‘When the war is done, never shall I touch a gun’

Free Essays on UFO’s And Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life

The question â€Å"Are We Alone in the Universe?† has been brought up and speculated on for thousands of years. My answer to the above question is I don’t know. I will not try to give you answers in this essay, because as of now nobody knows the answer. I will merely speculate on this subject based on the information we obtain at present. The question of UFO’s and intelligent life on other planets has become very popular. UFOs stand for Unidentified Flying Objects, which are any object in the sky that the viewer cannot recognize. Many scientists believe that we cannot be alone in the universe. There have been many unreported sightings of UFO’s. Many of them however are found to be hoaxed or misperceptions. However among the thousands and thousands of sightings surely some of them have to be genuine. Some researchers believe that there were UFO sightings in ancient times. The evidence however is highly speculative. The next significant reports came into existence during World War I and there were also reports during World War II. Many people point out that UFO’s do not and cannot exist and quote Physics and science to back them up. But we have to realize that we can only attempt to describe the universe in terms relative to things that we can measure. Just because UFO has not definitel y been measured (as far as we officially know) does not prove they do not exist. John G. Fuller in the book UFO’s? Yes! says â€Å"I would point out that we have always been bombarded by certain wavelengths of radio as universal background noise from the edge of the universe. Until we discovered a way to generate and use radio for our own purposes, we had no way to know of it’s existence â€Å"out there†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Now that technology exists to â€Å"listen†, we can use that information to add to the description of the universe.† Who knows how many other means of describing the universe have yet to be discovered? Infinity is a very bi... Free Essays on UFO’s And Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life Free Essays on UFO’s And Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life The question â€Å"Are We Alone in the Universe?† has been brought up and speculated on for thousands of years. My answer to the above question is I don’t know. I will not try to give you answers in this essay, because as of now nobody knows the answer. I will merely speculate on this subject based on the information we obtain at present. The question of UFO’s and intelligent life on other planets has become very popular. UFOs stand for Unidentified Flying Objects, which are any object in the sky that the viewer cannot recognize. Many scientists believe that we cannot be alone in the universe. There have been many unreported sightings of UFO’s. Many of them however are found to be hoaxed or misperceptions. However among the thousands and thousands of sightings surely some of them have to be genuine. Some researchers believe that there were UFO sightings in ancient times. The evidence however is highly speculative. The next significant reports came into existence during World War I and there were also reports during World War II. Many people point out that UFO’s do not and cannot exist and quote Physics and science to back them up. But we have to realize that we can only attempt to describe the universe in terms relative to things that we can measure. Just because UFO has not definitel y been measured (as far as we officially know) does not prove they do not exist. John G. Fuller in the book UFO’s? Yes! says â€Å"I would point out that we have always been bombarded by certain wavelengths of radio as universal background noise from the edge of the universe. Until we discovered a way to generate and use radio for our own purposes, we had no way to know of it’s existence â€Å"out there†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Now that technology exists to â€Å"listen†, we can use that information to add to the description of the universe.† Who knows how many other means of describing the universe have yet to be discovered? Infinity is a very bi...

Free Essays on The State Of California Vs. Cheech And Chong

The State of California Vs. Cheech & Chong Marijuana, (Cannabis sativa) weed, ganja, bud, reefer, pot, dope, gage, sess, smoke, skunk, Mary Jane, cannabis, grass, or sens†¦ No matter how it’s said, it’s a controversial issue in America; but why? Why is it that in our culture, no one has a problem with some one who drinks at a social event to loosen up a little, but a person who smokes a little pot at a concert is seen as a social deviant? The value of the negative effects of marijuana is overstated for a few different reasons. Ignorance to the facts of marijuana is the primary source for the perpetuation of the negative social stigma pot carries. Blatant disregard of the similarities marijuana has to alcohol and the classification of pot as a "drug" also continue to uphold the negative attitude towards weed. The actual definition of a drug is any substance that has an effect on the central nervous system causing a change in behavior. Although technically marijuana is a drug, so are caffeine, nicotine and obviously alcohol. Are chocolate and Coca-Cola illegal because they make your heart speed up? Why isn’t tobacco illegal since it is so addictive? The prohibition of alcohol, which only lasted a few years, was attempted during a political period in our country called the Progressive Era. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution prohibited the sale, purchase, possession and ingestion of alcohol. Soon after, however, the 18th was repealed by the 21st. One of the most important factors to consider, before one forms an opinion on marijuana, is the fact that the drug found in the hemp plant, THC, is not physically addictive. However, this is not to say that one could become psychologically dependent on marijuana. After quitting pot, users have no physical withdrawal symptoms whatsoever, unlike many other drugs, such as crack, cocaine, morphine, heroin, or even tobacco. Withdrawal symptoms related to heroin addiction... Free Essays on The State Of California Vs. Cheech And Chong Free Essays on The State Of California Vs. Cheech And Chong The State of California Vs. Cheech & Chong Marijuana, (Cannabis sativa) weed, ganja, bud, reefer, pot, dope, gage, sess, smoke, skunk, Mary Jane, cannabis, grass, or sens†¦ No matter how it’s said, it’s a controversial issue in America; but why? Why is it that in our culture, no one has a problem with some one who drinks at a social event to loosen up a little, but a person who smokes a little pot at a concert is seen as a social deviant? The value of the negative effects of marijuana is overstated for a few different reasons. Ignorance to the facts of marijuana is the primary source for the perpetuation of the negative social stigma pot carries. Blatant disregard of the similarities marijuana has to alcohol and the classification of pot as a "drug" also continue to uphold the negative attitude towards weed. The actual definition of a drug is any substance that has an effect on the central nervous system causing a change in behavior. Although technically marijuana is a drug, so are caffeine, nicotine and obviously alcohol. Are chocolate and Coca-Cola illegal because they make your heart speed up? Why isn’t tobacco illegal since it is so addictive? The prohibition of alcohol, which only lasted a few years, was attempted during a political period in our country called the Progressive Era. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution prohibited the sale, purchase, possession and ingestion of alcohol. Soon after, however, the 18th was repealed by the 21st. One of the most important factors to consider, before one forms an opinion on marijuana, is the fact that the drug found in the hemp plant, THC, is not physically addictive. However, this is not to say that one could become psychologically dependent on marijuana. After quitting pot, users have no physical withdrawal symptoms whatsoever, unlike many other drugs, such as crack, cocaine, morphine, heroin, or even tobacco. Withdrawal symptoms related to heroin addiction...