Sunday, April 12, 2020
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Free Essays on The Idealistic Shepherd Vs. The Realistic Nymph
An Idealistic Shepherd vs. a Realistic Nymph As human beings we deal with life essentially two ways, either realistically or idealistically. Human tendency is to see things the way we want to see them, the way that is most appealing to us. Yet society teaches us to take a step back from what we see and look at it from a more objective place. Christopher Marlowe and Sir Walter Raleigh have captured these two phenomenon through the writings of their contrasting poems ââ¬Å"The Passionate Shepherd to His Loveâ⬠by Marlowe and ââ¬Å"The Nymphââ¬â¢s Reply to the Shepherdâ⬠by Raleigh. For the half of the world that is guided by their dreams and fantasies, the idealistic view of the Shepherd in Marloweââ¬â¢s poem is a perfect illustration. The more realistic answer from the Nymph in Raleighââ¬â¢s work satisfactorily characterizes the other half of the population that is more grounded and levelheaded. Though the structure of the two poems is virtually identical, they both illustrate that all humans regardless o f age, race, or creed fall into one of these two categories. The work by Marlowe is a prime example of the idealistic point of view that oneââ¬â¢s mind or body is what constitutes reality. The views of love and nature seen in the poem fit perfectly into this category. The subject of this poem is a young shepherd who is courting a young lady. He is trying to persuade her to be his love and come live with him in eternal bliss through many promises both tangible and otherwise. Through his many promises of beds of roses, hats of flowers, and slippers with gold buckles he repeatedly tries to convince her that living with him will, as he says, ââ¬Å"all the pleasures proveâ⬠(2). In the 3rd stanza the shepherdââ¬â¢s focus shifts from the pleasures nature can offer to what he is willing to provide her with. This is exemplified in lines 21 and 22 as he gives his word that ââ¬Å" The shepherdsââ¬â¢ swain shall dance and sing,/ for thy delight each May mornin... Free Essays on The Idealistic Shepherd Vs. The Realistic Nymph Free Essays on The Idealistic Shepherd Vs. The Realistic Nymph An Idealistic Shepherd vs. a Realistic Nymph As human beings we deal with life essentially two ways, either realistically or idealistically. Human tendency is to see things the way we want to see them, the way that is most appealing to us. Yet society teaches us to take a step back from what we see and look at it from a more objective place. Christopher Marlowe and Sir Walter Raleigh have captured these two phenomenon through the writings of their contrasting poems ââ¬Å"The Passionate Shepherd to His Loveâ⬠by Marlowe and ââ¬Å"The Nymphââ¬â¢s Reply to the Shepherdâ⬠by Raleigh. For the half of the world that is guided by their dreams and fantasies, the idealistic view of the Shepherd in Marloweââ¬â¢s poem is a perfect illustration. The more realistic answer from the Nymph in Raleighââ¬â¢s work satisfactorily characterizes the other half of the population that is more grounded and levelheaded. Though the structure of the two poems is virtually identical, they both illustrate that all humans regardless o f age, race, or creed fall into one of these two categories. The work by Marlowe is a prime example of the idealistic point of view that oneââ¬â¢s mind or body is what constitutes reality. The views of love and nature seen in the poem fit perfectly into this category. The subject of this poem is a young shepherd who is courting a young lady. He is trying to persuade her to be his love and come live with him in eternal bliss through many promises both tangible and otherwise. Through his many promises of beds of roses, hats of flowers, and slippers with gold buckles he repeatedly tries to convince her that living with him will, as he says, ââ¬Å"all the pleasures proveâ⬠(2). In the 3rd stanza the shepherdââ¬â¢s focus shifts from the pleasures nature can offer to what he is willing to provide her with. This is exemplified in lines 21 and 22 as he gives his word that ââ¬Å" The shepherdsââ¬â¢ swain shall dance and sing,/ for thy delight each May mornin...
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Rapid Freight Communications Refresh Case Study
Rapid Freight Communications Refresh - Case Study Example In fact, the vision of the company is to ensure stipulation of the best customer service to maintain customer satisfaction and improve company value. This paper will identify several requirements in Rapid Freight and provide an analysis of the requirements. This essay will also provide a proposal regarding a converged network solution which solves the identified requirements from a cost-benefit perspective. As stated above, Rapid Freight hopes to excel in providing logistics services and efficient transport facilities to the clients. However, there are several challenges that are closely related to the business structure. This asserts that Rapid Freight has several requirements as a freight forwarder. According to the case study, it is quite evident that Rapid Freight requires an improved transport system. Rapid Freight operates in a highly competitive environment, therefore; the company requires an improved transport system to cope with the growing number of clients. An improved tra nsport system will ensure that Rapid Freight has an on-time delivery schedule. The improved transport system can also involve video conferencing in order to reduce travel-related issues (White, 2011). Rapid Freight also needs to upgrade its telephone system. Currently, Rapid Freight uses the ISDN telephone system that is quite outdated. Research asserts that the company has been avoiding upgrades due to the high cost involved. The ISDN telephone system has significantly hindered Rapid Freight from optimal performance (White, 2011). In addition, the ISDN service provider has turned out to be extremely costly to Rapid Freight International. This affirms that the company should invest in an upgraded telephone system that will significantly lower costs and ensure maximum consumer protection. Rapid Freight should also improve their communication system to ensure customer satisfaction. A robust communication system allows clients to communicate effectively with the representatives of the company in regard to freight services. According to the case study, the voice mail system belonging to Rapid Freight is overloaded due to the high influx of messages sent by clients (White, 2011). Although the mobile workforce of the company has also grown rapidly, the company can enhance the mode of technology used by the drivers. Introducing new technology among the drivers will ensure that the drivers are able to scan consignments and later sync them through a GPRS link to the headquarters of the company, whereby the consignments are usually tracked. In addition, Rapid Freight can also upgrade their web-based systems which are used by clients to execute various tasks. Some of the tasks include generating reports and creating freight communication. This upgrade will ensure that Rapid Freight can curb the growing number of clients in its wide area network (WAN) (White, 2011). Various sources claim that Rapid Freight has a vision of increasing their bandwidth in most of the offices, especially those located in the United States. Through this, the company will avail a reliable and secure network. Hence, this will ensure that network outages and unscheduled downtime are avoided entirely. The web-based technologies will also assist the company substantially when tracking freight, communicating with the customer, ensuring on-time deliveries and differentiating the services offered by the company. Rapid Freight can
Friday, February 7, 2020
Health, Safety and Welfare for Construction and the Built Environment Essay - 1
Health, Safety and Welfare for Construction and the Built Environment - Assignment 2 - Essay Example We also use data for the department of labour to ascertain if certain types of identified risks are preventable as well as their chances of recurrence. When we have compiled the information about probable chances of hazards at the construction site, a decision is made based on this particular information. We also analyse the statistics of similar hazards identified or that have occurred in other construction sites in order to come up with effective solutions to prevent them. The diagram below illustrates the methods we use to identify potential hazards at out construction site. The most common hazards in any construction site include slips, trips and falls. These may cause both minor and severe injuries. Slips are common on wet surfaces while falls and trips can occur at any stage of construction. Lifting crane is a commonly used for lifting building material like bricks, cement, sand and other material. However, there is a risk that the items may fall which can cause injuries among the employees. Answer: Standard formats for identifying and record hazards on site are mainly used for presenting a solid basis upon which all hazards can be measured, interpreted as well as addressed. Our company has its own standard form of identifying and recording hazards. We mainly use this standard form to get feedback from the employees and supervisors. It provides all possible and probable hazards so safety supervisors do not need to think a lot during questioning. He just needs to follow the standard form. Another very important use of the standard form is to compile data. If we donââ¬â¢t have any standard form to identify hazard, collected data will be a mess. Finding out data from that mess will be very hard. By using the standard form, we can compile the data as our requirement. We just need to set the standard form in the desired format. By using standard form to identify and record hazards, we actually make this data
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Dynamic Universe 1 Journal Essay Example for Free
Dynamic Universe 1 Journal Essay From the very beginning, the studying for the universe has been accompanied with numerous misconceptions and myths: from flat structure of the earth and earth-centered model of the universe to contemporary astrology and horoscopes. From the critical perspective, if the early explanations about the universe and our place in it could be explained due to known technological limitations of the ancients, modern astrology does not have any viable explanations. As Phil Plait argues on his website Badastronomy. com, modern astrology cannot be considered a science a priori and there are many reasons to make us support this statement. Unlike astronomy, which is based on universally developed methodologies, derived primarily from physics, chemistry, and mathematics, astronomy does not use any of them. The latter lacks even universally agreed method, as Phil Plait explains, some astrologists claim that ââ¬Å"the moment of birth is important, others say its the month, etcâ⬠¦ but they all operate under a very broad working assumption: there is some sort of force from the heavens that influences us here on Earth. â⬠Although during the development of the astronomy there have been various differences in theories and ideas, for instance Big Bang model, all of them were developed on the thorough scientific analysis of data and mathematical models coupled with specific methodologies. With some deviations, astrology can be compared to Sun worship practices during the ancient times. Naturally, Sun worship originated in agricultural areas due to the peopleââ¬â¢s heavy dependence of the sun light for the crop. If assessed critically, Sun worship has been a dominated religious practice. Wikipedia online encyclopedia indicates that Sun worship has been characteristic for Egyptian, Japanese and Nordic mythologies. Ancient Greeks also worshiped Helios, God of the Sun. Simultaneously, the list of solar deities provides even more evidence about the dominance of Sun worship during the early periods of ancient civilizations. Surprisingly, Smithbrad traces important connections of Sun worship and astronomical basis to the Christian religion, indicating both historical and scriptural evidence. For observers from the earth, the Sun and the Moon represent two most bright objects on the sky. However, from the critical perspective, these objects are not unique, not only by their form but also by the characteristics of their light. Practically, the story of star formation is a study in contradictions. It starts with atoms, molecules, and dust particles floating aimlessly in the dark and frigid depths of interstellar space. Out of the cold and empty expanses, gravity brings these scattered particles together to form stars. Over hundreds of millions of years, these gas and dust particles congregate into enormous clouds that can span hundreds of light-years. The two lightest elements hydrogen and helium dominate these clouds, accounting for about 92 percent and eight percent of the atoms, respectively (NASA, 2005). Dust grains account for about one percent of a clouds total mass. Astronomers call these clouds giant molecular clouds because they also contain trace amounts of molecules such as water, alcohol, ammonia, and various carbon-based organic compounds, which represent raw components of life. All in all, the clouds contain enough material to form tens of thousands of new stars. Magnetic fields and the random motions of gas molecules prevent the cloud from collapsing under its own weight. The various gas and dust particles jostle about, but eventually, enough mass congregates in one region to initiate gravitational collapse in a small portion of the cloud. Astronomers once thought that cloud collapse was usually triggered by external disturbances, such as supernova shock waves or stellar winds. Nowadays, however, most astronomers think that cloud collapse usually happens on its own, although triggering mechanisms can still play an important role (NASA,2005). Over the course of several millennia, a collapsing gas cloud fragments into tens to thousands of relatively dense, rotating clumps of gas that will ultimately form newborn stars. Emission and reflection nebulae are abundant in the universe, though not observed with the naked eye. Practically, emission nebulae, ââ¬Å"cloud of gas and dust floating in space,â⬠emit their own light, due to the presence of ultraviolet radiation coming from the hot star or star clusters stars (Nebulae, 2005). The very hot star emits highly energetic radiation of the invisible part of the electro-magnetic spectrum, and the emission nebula re-emits the radiation in the visible light (M42, 2005). Unlike the reflection nebulae, in the emission nebulae the atoms of the dust are energized by the radiation (ultraviolet) and start emitting (not reflecting) their own radiation as atoms fall back into lower energy states. This process of the radiation emission can be compared to the Sun, with the only deviation that the latter emits radiation and light due to the processes which occur in the Sunââ¬â¢s core without any impact from the outside object. Simultaneously, reflection nebulae reflect the light coming from the star or star cluster. This process can be compared to the Moon, as it also reflects the light coming from the Sun, not emitting its own radiation. From its own origin when being formulated by Lemaà ¾tre and proved by Hubble, the Big Bang theory evidenced many contributions, objections and simplifications. The Hubble Law states that galaxies in every direction are distancing away from us with speeds proportional to their distance. The major contribution to the Big Bang theory has been made with the data obtained from satellites COBE and WMAP, and the Hubble Space Telescope. The data allowed scientists to formulate the statement that the universe has been formed 14 billion years ago in a hot, dense, event known as the ââ¬Å"Big Bang. â⬠Practically, what the theory of ââ¬Å"Big Bangâ⬠provides is the explanation of nature and major characteristics of the universe. There is no edge or boundaries in the universe. The expansion of the universe is occurring at all points simultaneously. Therefore, as Richard Powell explains the most of 350 billion galaxies which contains the universe are moving away from one another. However, it does not necessarily mean that the Earth or our galaxy is moving. As it is known, galaxies are distributed not universally. The systems similar to our Solar System and the Milky Way are formed from under the gravity and thus are restrained from moving apart. However, 350 billion galaxies and 3. 5 trillion dwarf galaxies in the universe are collected into vast sheets, clusters and superclusters of galaxies surrounding large voids. Bibliography Phil Plait. Astrology, available at http://www. badastronomy. com/bad/misc/astrology. html Accessed Oct 3, 2005 The resource is dedicated to various misconceptions in the astronomy, including numerous myths and beliefs, like astrology, pseudoscience and science portrayal in contemporary movie industry. Wikipedia Encyclopedia. ââ¬Å"Solar Deityâ⬠available http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Solar_deity Accessed Oct 3, 2005 World Largest Open Encyclopedia, which offers explanations on various issues, including the astronomy and related subjects. Though not cited, this resource http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Big_Bang#Hubble. 27s_law_expansion became very useful for the journal preparation. Smithbrad ââ¬Å"Sun Worshipâ⬠Available http://smithbrad. nventure. com/sunworship. htm Accessed Oct 3, 2005 Resource aims to provide connections between Christian faith and practices with the Sun worship tradition as the most ancient tradition among all religions. The resource provides both scientific and scriptural evidence for its statements. ââ¬Å"Nebulaeâ⬠Available http://www. seasky. org/cosmic/sky7a05. html Accessed Oct 3, 2005 Web resource is dedicated primarily for concise and practical explanations of astronomical terms and phenomena. It offers graphic and photo illustrations to explains various issues in the astronomical science. NASA. ââ¬Å"Imagine the Universeâ⬠Available http://imagine. gsfc. nasa. gov This resource provides information for star life cycle patterns, which was useful for conducting the journal, particularly on the questions on emission and reflection nebulae. ââ¬Å"M42â⬠Available http://www. seds. org/messier/m/m042. html Accessed Oct 3, 2005 The resource is a part of the Messier Catalog. It became useful for the journal discussion on reflection and emission nebulae, offering photo illustrations and discovery history of Orion Nebula, also known as M42 Richard Powell ââ¬Å"Atlas of the Universeâ⬠Available http://anzwers. org/free/universe Accessed Oct 3, 2005 It is the most useful resource for general explanation of the Big Bang theory, providing graphical illustrations of its major concepts and problematic moments. Maps compiled by Mr. Powell has been used for journal explanations and references.
Monday, January 20, 2020
The Life and Works of Walt Whitman :: Biography
Poets write various styles of poetry. They use their own personal experiences, ideas, and creativity. Walt Whitman used all of these styles in his writings. He had experienced trials and tribulations throughout his whole life. Whitman did a lot of moving during his childhood, and that probably caused his personality to be neurotic. There are a lot of things that he has done to change the writings of future poetsââ¬â¢. Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in Long Island, New York. He was the second son of Walter Whitman and Louisa Van Velsor. His father was a house builder. The family consisted of nine children (Whitman 1). The Whitmanââ¬â¢s moved to Brooklyn when Walt was only four years old (334). When he was only twelve years old, he began to learn the printerââ¬â¢s trade and he fell in love with the written word, and became accustomed to reading the bible (para. 2).He did not have a formal education, and he read the works if Sir Walter Scott, Shakespeare, Homer, and Dante (Feldman 438). Whitman had worked as a printer in New York City until a fire annihilated the printing district where he was working at. When he turned 17 years old, he became a teacher in the one-room school houses of Long Island. Whitman continued to teach until 1841, he turned to journalism and this became his full-time career (Whitman para. 3). Whitman founded a newspaper called, The Long Islander, and later on he edited numerous of Brooklyn and New York newspapers. He left Brooklynââ¬â¢s, The Daily Eagle, to become the editor of the New Orleans Crescent. He experienced first hand the cruelness of slavery in the slave markets of New Orleans. When he returned to Brooklyn, he found the Brooklyn Freeman and he started to develop a unique style of poetry (Whitman para. 4). Whitman had a unique sense of writing styles. People say that he had an ââ¬Å"organicâ⬠style of writing of Hebrew poetry and is based on the device of parallelism. Whitmanââ¬â¢s poetry contained elements of repetition (Unger 332). His characteristics also had a lot to do with his writings. People say that in his own way that he was an intellectual, and was a highly unorthodox poet. He had a neurotic side. They described him as a convert bisexual, quirky, elusive, and power-seeking (332). Whitmanââ¬â¢s sexuality had some influence on his writings. He had some difficulty with his sexuality.
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Cost Centres, Profit Centres, Investment Centres Essay
The increasing complexity of todayââ¬â¢s business environment makes it virtually impossible for most firms to be controlled centrally. Decentralisation is a necessary response to this increasing complexity and involves the delegation of decision-making responsibility by senior management to sub-ordinates. The structure is such that decision making is dispersed to various units within the organisation, with managers at various levels making key decisions relating to their centre of responsibility. These centres of organisational activity are known as responsibility centres and may be defined ââ¬Ëas a unit of a firm where an individual manager is held responsible for the unitââ¬â¢s performance.ââ¬â¢1 The performance of each centre and its manager is measured and controlled through a system of responsibility accounting which is based on the principles of locating responsibility and tracing costs/revenue/investments etc. to the individual managers who are primarily responsible. The division of the firm into separately identifiable units of responsibility allows for more accurate measurement of managerial performance because local information is more thorough. Overall, in order to obtain an accurate measurement of managerial performance, measures should be based on elements which the manager can control or significantly influence. There are three main types of responsibility centre. A cost centre is the lowest level of responsibility, and performance is measured in terms of the costs incurred by it. Cost centres do not generate revenue and therefore have no profit objectives, which differentiates it from profit and investment centres. Managers of cost centres are accountable only for controllable costs and are not responsible for level of activity or long-term investment decisions. Managerial performance is measured by efficiency of operations in terms of the quantity of inputs used in producing a given output. The basis of this type of measurement lies in comparing actual inputs to budgeted controllable costs or some predetermined level that represents efficient utilisation. Cost control and efficiency of operations are the main elements of this type of unit. However, costs in general can be difficult to measure, trace and allocate and it can be difficult to differentiate between controllable and uncontrollable costs. This poses a major drawback for the evaluation of cost centres and their management, since cost is its main element of measurement. The focus being mainly on costs, makes this centre some-what weak in terms of evaluation and measurement of managerial performance. Cost centres can be split into two different types; standard cost centres and discretionary cost centres. In the former, measurement is exercised by comparing standard cost with actual cost. Variances would be indicative of the efficiency of the centre and therefore its managersââ¬â¢ performance. Discretionary cost centres are centres where output cannot be measured in financial terms, for example advertising and publicity, R&D etc. ââ¬ËControl normally takes the form of ensuring that actual expenditure adheres to budgeted expenditure for each expense category.ââ¬â¢2 However, a major problem with this type of responsibility centre is the measurement of the effectiveness of expenditure and the determination of the efficiency of the centre itself and its management. A profit centre offers an additional element to the measurement process in that both inputs and outputs are measured in monetary terms. The manager of a profit centre has increased autonomy as s/he is responsible for revenue as well as costs; hence it is easier to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of managerial performance in financial terms. ââ¬ËIn this situation, managers are normally free to set selling prices, choose which markets to sell in, make product-mix and output decisions and select suppliers.ââ¬â¢3 A profit centre differs form a cost centre in that its main objective is to maximise profit and the performance of the manager is measured in terms of profit made. Top executives allocate assets to a profit centre, and the manager is responsible for using these assets to make a profit. Each profit centre has a profit target and has the authority to adopt such policies that are necessary to achieve these targets. Profit centre managers are evaluated by comparing actual profit to targeted profit. Profit analysis using profitability ratios or segmented income statements are used as a basis for evaluating managerial performance. The major issue with profit statements is the difficulty in deciding what is controllable or traceable, and in order to assess the managersââ¬â¢ performance rather than the economic performance of the unit, measures must be based on controllable profit only. Another difficulty arises in allocating revenue and costs to profit centres, as it is unlikely that the profit centre is completely independent. This has prompted many firms to use multiple performance measures such as a balanced scorecard, which measures non-financial as well as financial elements of the unit. The measurement of profit is also compounded by the use of transfer prices and agreeing on its ââ¬Ëfairnessââ¬â¢. Transfer prices are allocated to goods transferred from one unit to another within a firm. The implication of transfer prices is that for the selling unit it will be a source of revenue and for the receiving unit it is an element of cost, and as a result each division may act in its own interests. Transfer pricing therefore has a significant bearing when calculating revenues, costs and profits of responsibility centres. The choice of transfer pricing method is important because it affects goal congruence as well as performance measurement. However, it is difficult to determine the correct transfer price, as there are a wide variety of methods available, varying from negotiation to approaches based on the market or based on cost. The investment centre manager has increased responsibility in comparison to the cost and profit centre managers and as a result there are further options for managerial performance measurement by top management. The investment centre manager has responsibility for revenue and costs, and also has the authority to make capital investment decisions. This type of unit represents the highest level of managerial autonomy. An investment centre differs from a profit centre in that investment centre management is evaluated on the basis of the rate of return earned on the assets employed or the residual income earned, while profit centre management is evaluated on the basis of excess revenue over expenses for the period. The manager in charge has the objective of profitability, depending not only on sales but also on profitability of the capital used. Overall, investment centres offer the broadest basis for measurement in the sense that managerial performance is measured not only in terms of profits, but also in terms of assets employed to generate those profits. Performance can be measured using a variety of tools, and this ensures that the drawbacks of one method are overcome by the merits of another. This in turn leads to more accurate results and is one of the main reasons why investment centres are so popular as a means of managerial performance measurement in large companies. Both the effectiveness and the efficiency of the manager can be assessed by reference to the accounting data available. Investment centres offer many qualities required for good managerial performance measurement. For example, they provide incentives to the unit manager, they can recognise long-term objectives as well as short-term objectives and the increased responsibility means there are more controllable factors for use in performance measurement calculations. Return on investment is a measurement approach in common use in investment centres. This method has the advantage of being simple and easy to calculate. ââ¬ËROI expresses divisional profit as a percentage of the assets employed in the division.ââ¬â¢4 It has the further advantage of motivating managers to achieve the best return on investments in order to achieve the associated rewards. ROI provides a return measure that controls the size and is comparable to other measures. It can be used as a common denominator for comparing the returns of similar businesses, such as other divisions within the group or outside competition. It is widely used and most managers understand what the measure reflects. However, some complications arise in the calculation of this method. For example, difficulties regarding the calculation of profit, some of which are described above. Profit can be defined in a number of ways and this enables the figure to be manipulated. In the case of the figure for investments, the question arises whether this should be total assets (gross or depreciated), total operating assets or net total assets. The result would differ in each case, but if consistency is maintained throughout the organisation, decisions would remain unaffected. Another difficulty that may arise in relation to this method is that managers may focus on self-interests rather than the overall goal of the organisation and some profitable opportunities may be ignored because s/he fears potential dilution of existing successful endeavours. Furthermore, ROI does not adequately recognise risk. A manager who generates a large ROI result may be investing in riskier assets which may not be consistent with organisational goals. Use of ROI as a managerial performance measure can lead to under or over investment in assets or incorrect asset disposal decisions, in order to achieve the result the manager requires to accomplish his reward. To overcome some of the above difficulties, many firms use residual income to evaluate managerial performance. This method seeks to motivate managers to invest where the expected returns exceed the cost of capital. For the purpose of managerial performance measurement, ââ¬Ëit compares the controllable contribution of an investment with the targeted rate of return.ââ¬â¢5 There is a greater possibility that managers will be encouraged to act in the best interests of the company. Another advantage of this method is that it is more flexible because different cost of capital rates can be applied for different levels or risk. Though ROI and RI operate on a similar basis, RI proves better in certain circumstances. For example, if ROI is chosen as the measuring technique, managers may be reluctant to make additional investments in fixed assets as it may bring down the ROI for their centre. RI calculation results would be more accurate in these situations. However, residual income does not overcome the problem of determining the value of assets or the figure to be used for profit. If RI is used in a short-term perspective, it can over-emphasise short-term performance at the expense of long-term performance. Investment projects with positive net present values can show poor ROI and RI results in early years, leading to rejection of projects by managers. Residual income also experiences problems in comparing managerial performance in divisions of different sizes. The manager of the larger division will generally show a higher RI because of the size of the division rather then superior managerial performance. Another drawback for this method is that it requires an estimate of the cost of capital, a figure which can be difficult to calculate. Economic value added is an extension of the residual income measurement. It measures surplus value created by total investments which include funds provided by banks, shareholders etc. Its key element is the emphasis on after-tax operating profit and the actual annual cost of capital. The latter aspect differentiates it from the RI measure, which uses the minimum expected rate of return. EVA is a further step towards encouraging centre managers to concentrate on the overall goal of the organisation rather than their own self interests, hence reducing dysfunctional behaviour. The above measures are financial measures. As stated previously, it is important also to study non-financial aspects, such as customer satisfaction, quality, internal processes, growth etc. in order to get a more complete picture when measuring managerial performance. The above measures also focus on performance within the investment centre and do not consider the performance relative to overall company objectives. In conclusion, it can be stated that in order to assess managerial performance as opposed to the economic performance of the division, it is vital to make a distinction between the controllable and uncontrollable elements used in the chosen calculations. Each measurement technique is not without limitations, but these difficulties can be overcome by using a wide variety of measurement tools and striking the right balance between them. Of the three types of responsibility centre, an investment centre can be considered to yield better results, as it allows for the broadest basis for measurement, making it widely popular as a means of managerial performance measurement. 1 C. Drury, Management and Cost Accounting, 6th Ed. P. 653 2 C. Drury, Management and Cost Accounting, 6th Ed. P. 654 3 C. Drury, Management and Cost Accounting, 6th Ed. P. 654/655 4 C. Drury, Management and Cost Accounting, 6th Ed. P. 845 5 IPA Manual, Management Accounting, P 239
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