The Close Relationship Between Financial Leadership and Financial Goal Dissertation

The Close Relationship Between Financial Leadership and Financial Goal Setting of Top SMEs - Dissertation Example Generally, this requires a finance strategy (Bender & Ward, 2009) that seeks the maximisation of sales, market share, profits, earning per share, return on investment, growth, stock price and stockholders' well being (Bierman, 1999). Finance leadership is important in attaining good results for corporate entities. Financial leadership involves strategic thinking, innovation, management of business risks and change (Militello & Schwalber, 2000). Strategic thinking entails the use of structured and emergent systems to plan and attain results for the whole organisation over a long period of time. A leader has the responsibility of considering the internal organisational and external environmental factors in order to come up with a good strategy. When a strategy is in operation in an organisation, the leaders will have to identify inhibitors and other factors that can prevent them from attaining their objectives and solve them through a comprehensive risk management system. Innovation ha s to do with the continuous improvement of systems, processes and products of an organisation and it requires deep thinking and analysis to be attained. Financial management requires four things: Leadership, Ethics, Structures & Responsiveness (Blore et al, 2004). In other words, a financial leadership structure must be sensitive to the technical elements of leadership as well as the ethical concerns of leadership. It should also have structures of rules and regulations that would regulate activities throughout the organisation and be responsive to emergent matters and situations that would come up. The distribution of authority in organisations is done through a defined organisational structure which sets out the relationship between various units of the organisation (Stevens & Loudon, 2005). For the sake of accountability, there is the need for reporting to be done by subordinates to people in authority (Stevens & Loudon, 2005). Therefore people who have power delegated to them ha ve the duty of reporting to their leaders at regular intervals. Some of these reports include financial reports like management financial information from lower units which culminates in the creation of income and position statements that are used by various stakeholders for decision making. Problem Statement In practical terms, there is a questions about how these necessary qualities of financial leadership relate to businesses and their goals. For instance one would wonder why some companies are growing quickly financially whilst others are folding up in the UK. It is true that the global recession is making business difficult but how come some are growing fast and some are growing slowly? It therefore suggests that some businesses are getting some principles of finance right whilst others are not. What are the structures in financial systems and structures that affect financial goals of an organisatio

Performance appraisal system and performance management system Essay

Performance appraisal system and performance management system - Essay Example Performance management systems refer to measures that the organization has put in place with the aim of establishing what employees ought to do in a certain period. For example, it can constitute measures on how the employee should perform in the next quarter of a year, the next sixth months, or the next one year. A performance management system outlines what should be met within a certain time frame, as well as the benefits that accrue to employees when they meet these objectives (Grote 1996, p.17). Differences between performance Appraisal System and Performance Management System There are certain differences, which exist between performance appraisal systems and performance management systems. These differences represent the most fundamental components of the two approaches, as well as how the two approaches differ in terms of what they address. The major differences between performance appraisal and performance management systems lies in the scope of what they aim to cover. While performance management systems represent a traditional approach to the management of human resources, performance management can be termed as a contemporary approach to the management of human resources (Rao 2004, p. 213). ... 333). During performance appraisal, the principal activities that the human resource department engages in include evaluating employees, as well as rating their performance. On the contrary, performance management aims at the review, analysis, and planning of the expected performance of employees, and how an employee should make improvements (Deb 2006, p.201). While performance management can be regarded as a continuous process within the organisation, performance appraisal takes place in an annual basis. In performance management, there may be reviews that take place quarterly while, in performance appraisal, the review of the employee takes place once a year. However, there may be periodic ratings of employees in the course of the year (Rao 2004, p.214). Performance appraisal is a function entirely performed by the human resource department of the organisation. This means that the human resource department has the responsibility to design, evaluates, as well as monitor the implemen tation of the performance appraisal system (Roberts 2003, p.89). On the contrary, the performance management system can be designed by the human resource department, but the implementation of the system can be done by the various departments. In performance appraisal systems, there are reviews that may be conducted to ensure that the ratings of employees enhance objectivity. In performance management systems, the reviews serve the purpose of ensuring that the organization improves its performance (Waal & Counet, 2009). In performance appraisal, the need for making development is identified when the year ends. During performance management, the need for development can easily be

Differences Between Leadership And Management Management Essay

Differences Between Leadership And Management Management Essay 2.1 Introduction The aim of this chapter is to provide the brief overview of management, leadership and the differences between leadership and management. How these concepts work in any organisation and to elaborate the notion transformational leadership? This objective of this chapter is to focus on business leadership rather than a political leadership, military leadership and religious leadership and illustrate exhaustive treatment of this topic. 2.2 The Differences between Leadership and Management 2.2.1 Management In 1980, the organisational leadership has no difference between the leading and managing any organisation. Any person who has leading post in an organisation is a leader. A person who holds power and authority is a leader. It was different and novel idea that leadership and management have different approaches and different role, behaviour and responsibilities (Hernez-Broome and Hughes, 2007). There are many literatures those differentiate between leadership and management but they dont give you any clear understanding e.g. Bartol and Martin (1994), Bennis and Nanus (1985), Kotter (1982), Locke (1991), and Schein (1985) were those unable to draw a clear understand between leadership and management. They even did not provide any clear distinction between these concepts. There is no particular line of differentiate (Centre for Labour Market studies) (CLMS), 2009. Management is consisting of planning, organising, staffing, budgeting, co-ordinating and reporting and directing and known as an acronym POSDCORB (CLMS) 2009. All these heads come under management. However, management classifies as scientific concept. It is also argued that management is an art to thing get done through people. These are the priorities of the management to do all things in time efficiently. If we see in the above mentioned perspective management is about guiding, instructing, influencing, persuading and other skills related to the behavioural skill through different processes. Pedler et al. (1994), and Quinn et al. (1996), suggest that the nature of work is complex in the modern global environment and it is hard to have rare qualities of self awareness, self motivation and self knowledge, but it is important to have all these qualities for better and reliable management. These qualities nourish the management. These are the qualities which persuade the employees to the better work environment and can make organisation profitable. In addition, Quinn (1996) link modern management role with: develop the skills and abilities in subordinates of vision, creative thinking and positive change in the organisation. These also make subordinates innovative and knowledge sharing individuals, not just this many other positive changes as well. 2.2.2 Leadership Leadership is also difficult to define; it is not easy to give assumption or qualities which can anyone leader. Because leadership qualities vary according to the situation there is not fixed or planned situation for any person where he can show his leadership qualities that is why definition varies and depending upon the purpose of the author, as Stogdill(cites in Yukl, pp 251-289) observed there are almost many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept. There many concepts but three concept to be consider the fundamental concepts of leaderships are vision, inspiration and followers. But these concepts are the outside the boundary of the management. Management does not match these concepts (Burmeister, 2003). On the basis of these concepts we might be able to differentiate between leadership and management. Yukl (2008) attempts to justify and clarify the leaders role in an organisation and explaining the persuasive vision is tough at his best and leader does not lend itself to the management process. He makes and implements policies for the management to achieve the quantitative objective. Management does have the mission for the organization but does not have the dynamic vision which leader has. Leaders think beyond the boundary and their visions are impressive and more grip able. May be is not compelling argument that managers are unab;le to communicate or they think in a specified frame of mind. Maccoby (2000) described an interesting and useful factor which is helpful to differentiate between leaders and managers this point highlighted the difference between strategic leaders and operational leaders. He argued that the strategic leaders dream of the company in future and make the optimal use of all resources to get maximum output, while the role of the operational leaders to implement the vision. This might be the good categorisation to understand the difference between leadership and management. Regarding inspiration, Yukl (1998) stated that such this approach appeal to stimulus and linking to a persons proposal to understand the needs, values, hopes and ides of individual. According to Burmeister (2003) this type of approach is very different from the standard approaches like orders, logical arguments and other approaches which most of the mangers use. On the other hand, we can say that managers are unable to use their interpersonal skills; they can influence people to do any actions. So we can say most of the managers follow directive approach rather than the participative approach. Durcan and Kirbbride (1994) in the direct contrast suggestions that participative approach is mostly and widely practised, especially in US and other Anglo nations2, there are challenges to this notion that manager can be stereotype as directive and order givers. Even in Yukls (1998) managers are unable to influence on emotional level inspirational motivation (Bass 1995) is main objective of a leader. All these ideas tell us that leaders do not employ rational logic as a primary stimulus tool. This is the most crucial distinction which can be made between followers and subordinates. Subordinates are bound to follow the instructions but the followers are the influenced and inspired individuals. The term subordinates is used to determine the activities of a individual, who is directed by a supervisor (Bermiester 2003) 2 Anglo cultures include the U.K, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (Hofstede, 1980) Yukl (1981) emphasize that leadership is a process whereby intentional influence (power) put on the followers by leaders; so the source to influence others will be discussed in chapter after. The Use of Power and Influence Subordinates and Followers The power and influence which leader use on their followers and manager use on their subordinates? French and Ravens (Gerloff, 1985) to list the following five point which can draw the power and influence on others. Coercive Power: This power comes from the reaction. If you are expecting something else and you get unrespectable or you can say your power to punish someone. Legitimate Power: Legitimate power comes from your rank or designation which you have. As big your position in any organisation same bigger would be your legitimate power. As power increase your responsibilities increase as well. Referent Power: This power you have if you are the boss or your personality is charismatic. This based on persons attractiveness and friendship with others. Reward Power: This power based on access to reward. People love that person how has this power because they want reward and power holder can offer this. Expert Power: This power comes from your knowledge, expertise, competence and information in particular field. Other people know that you have this power and they believe the power holders knowledge. Abstractly, the authority give an individual a power in any organisation called legitimate power; this power uses to control all the matter which needs to be solved from subordinates on a workplace. Legitimate power which establishes the relationship between the supervisor to subordinate and these ideas can easily clarify the difference between leader and manager. Furthermore, the legitimate power holder has also the reward and coercive power which is given by the organisation. (Bermiester, 2003). On the other hand, expert and referent powers are the ability of an individuals expertise, knowledge and their relations which he has with other individuals. He built all these quality by his own effort rather than he had any position in any organisation (David, Schoorman, and Donaldson 1997). Burmeister (2003) argues that the expert and referent power can create the relationship of follower to leader this relation would be based on acceptance and commitment, rather than a relation in legitimate power of a supervisor and subordinate where problems and resistance occur. It is also suggested that leadership conferred on person or a group or possibly a person of group. Therefore, leadership can be exercised on group of people which may not have the quality of a leader. This effort may be able to generate the leaders as a particular field of business. Furthermore, the vision, inspiration, follower, and some authors included goals are those qualities which leader should have. As Shackletons described in his definition; .leadership is a process in which an individual influences other group members towards the attainment of group or organisational goals. In this definition, three main component pointed out which Shacklton believes are the main and fundamental to leadership; existence of group, influence, goals, and set of goals which should be achieved under through proper channel. Other writer like Bartol and Martin (1994) define that how the leader influences the work of people to get the organisational goals. it is also noted that leader of any organisation influence the worker of organisation positively towards the achievement of goals banefully. There is possibility that leader can influence the people negatively which can be inappropriate toward the goal achievements. Sometimes they influence negatively to get achieve their personal goals which is totally unethical. In these words it is been tried to discuss the positive factors of leadership, controversial issues, and also tried to discuss the ethical problems also which can be faced. These are some issues which can be faced by any organisation from their leadership and there is a need to address all these issues. 2.2.4 Summary of Debate Even though many writers used the term leader and manger exchange ably (CLMS 1999), Shackleton (1995) argued there is no automatic link between these terms leader and manager because the managerial core function are planning, organising, scheduling, etc but these will not necessarily be the part of leadership qualities (CLMS, 1999). Other writers like Lcoke (1991), and Yukl (1998), suggests that leaders leader are those who make the vision for any organisation and the managers are those who implement that vision. However, this implies that leaders is not common it only exists only at the executive level and assumes a limited range process or role derives for mangers none of these theories, methods and concepts is helpful by the preceding decisions and analysis, Bennis and Nanus (cited in Shackleton, 1995:4) provide the neat distinction and leadership is path finding and doing the right things while management is path following and doing things right, but Maccoby (200) described a more useful difference between management and leadership which clarify the difference; he stated: Management is a function that must be exercised in any business, whereas leadership is a relationship between leader and led that can energise an organisation. 2.3 Transactional and Transformational Leadership Schein (1985) argued that a function of leadership which is major factor to contrast from management, it is creation of management and innovation and many dynamic organisational changes and dynamic organisational culture which accept every change. The main role of a leader is a change agent which is responsible for creation and the management of vision, and motivates the employees towards the organisational goals achievement. If we say this could be most important quality which a leader should have that is vision? This is most important theory of Leadership and which are overall known as New Leadership (Gronn 1995). Charismatic Leadership (Conger, 1989, Conger and Kanungo, 1988), Visionary Leadership (Sashkin, 1998) Servant Leadership (Greenleaf, 1977, 1996; Spears, 1998), and Transformational Leadership (Bass, 1985, Tichy and Devanna 1986) Transactional leadership is the major and vital factor which develops has scholarly quality in the leadership (Bryman 1992). To understand this concept more properly we would discuss transactional and transformational leadership in depth in following section. 2.3.1 Overview The historian James MacGregor Burns (1978) mentioned first time in his book Leadership the concepts and theories of transactional and transformational leadership (Humphreys and Einstein 2003), initially, his interest was preliminary political leadership, this term got popularity in political authorities and organisational management circles. Bernard Bass (1985) Burns explained the broader range of transactional and transformational leadership and furthers their behaviour towards organisation and the effectiveness of behaviour. In addition, Bass (1985) was not satisfied with Burns model and he challenged the model, he made assumption that transactional and transformational leader were mutually exclusive. While, Burn (1978) said that a leader could be once either transactional or transformational. But Bass (1985) argued that transformational leadership is a complement to the transactional leadership rather than a substitute. How does leader use these qualities and take out the organisation beyond the boundaries. 2.3.2 Transactional Leadership Transactional leader works under a specified environment and there is proper and clear structure of work and it also clear what is does he expect from their subordinates. What would be exchange between them and what reward they will be awarded? The initial stage of transactional leader is to discuss all the related matter with subordinates which need to be discusses before to start any work. Transactional leader allocates the work to the relevant person after that they are responsible to get the things done in time. Transactional leaders main responsibilities are the things get done in time, fulfilment of every requirement, any advancement if required and the reward to encourage people. You can ideally, these is decision between leader and follower that are u want reward or punishment (Bass, 1985; Daft, 1999). Even though, the transactional leadership is an effective approach. There is no emotional relationship between the leader and followers and also no commitment, no personal development not any other social relation (Podsakoff at el 2003). There is a transactional relation between the leader and follower. The person who holds the power gives orders to their employees or followers to get things done. So we can say simply the main focus of transactional leadership is get thing done. In addition, Bass (1990) also warned that the transformational leadership can be a prescription for mediocrity. He also defends that leadership emphasise on massive output and to reduce the shortfalls and they mostly relies on passive management. The performance and the efficiency of the transactional leadership governed that how they are controlling the rewards and penalties, because these are main objectives of a leader. We can also notice that the followers want rewards or they have any kind of penalty fear. Yukl (1989) also argue that when any leader manipulates their followers through reward and punishment, he is not a leader in real sense. In the above mentioned scenario, when a leader uses legitimate, reward and coercive power to handle their followers, it is look more common to the management rather than the leadership. Apparently, there is not a major difference between leadership and management. 2.3.3 Transformational Leadership On the other hand, Burns (1978) argued that the transformational leaders have different types of relation, duties and objective according to diverse environment but the political leaders, they engage with their followers through their involvement, emotions, trust, commitments and their identifications. Bass (1985) elaborate that, in the organisation the transformational leadership occurs when the leaders mission, vision and the development ideas matches with the followers for the boom of any organisation and also provide resources for the personal development as well (Bass 1985, Avolio 1994). Transformational leadership is a method or process where the both followers and leaders move their self towards the process of development with the standard level of trust and motivation. In Transformation leadership the relation is based on fairness, justice innovation, motivation, equality and integrity and Burns (1978) called them end values. End values are those which cannot be negotiate and exchange between leader and followers on transactional basis. This shows that transformational leaders most commonly work for social and ethical manners. The transformational leaders do not manipulate results through deception and conditional reinforcement (Bass 1997). The followers response totally in free given environment and do not want any return in transactional leadership (Mullin, 1992). After expressing all these standards, the transactional leader unites their followers and the most important they can potentially change the goals, objectives and beliefs of their followers (Humphreys and Einstein, 2003). Bass (1995) asserts that transformational leadership, followers work beyond exception because of the leaders influence. According to Bass (1985), transactional leaders achieve all this by using the combination of behaviour, which are known as the four Is of the transformational leadership (Avolio et al, 1991) Idealised Influence (Charisma) Inspirational Leadership Intellectual Simulation; and Individualised Consideration Charisma seems to be a necessary element but it is not enough for the transformational leadership. Attaining the Charisma in the eyes of followers is considered as central to succeeding as a transformational leader (Bass 1990). The behaviours which are linked with the charismatic leadership need to be explained more detail now. Especially, House and Shamir (1993) argued in charismatic leadership there is degree of confidence and articulation. In this way leaders work through high admirable, ideological, classical moral values and communication and high performance. They keep followers in a systematic and highly manageable relation. They linked in a very persuasive and less stress able environment. They also guide to followers towards denigrate their opponents (e.g. competitors). The leader has very clear set of goals for their followers to become a role model (Gardner and Avolio, 1998). Emphasising value and collective identification, taking extraordinary risks, and making substantia l personal sacrifices in the interest of the charismatic mission are also behaviours associated with charismatic leadership (House and Shamir, 1993). For the growth of any business we need inspired and motivated work force. Inspiration is associated with charismatic leaders; these leaders are able to excite their followers and can carry out great feats with extra efforts (Bass, 1990). There are some qualities which a inspirational leader should have to inspire any workforce, these qualities can be strong planner, lateral thinker, grip on vision and communication, principled and disciplined. Although inspirational leadership was initially subsumed by charisma (Bass, 1985). It is been separated there should be higher level of motivation among followers which occurs in the start from charismatic leadership, before being combined again from the charismatic-inspirational dimension (Avolio, 1994, Bass, 1998). Therefore, it is observed that charisma is necessary and major quality of inspirational leadership. But on other hand, Bass (1990) also discussed that some leaders may have charisma but they do not have inspirational quality to affect their followers. Charisma is necessary but not sufficient for the transformational leadership. Collins (2001) in his book Good to Great discussed about the successful executive (level 5) leaders, they were those who were modest and humble, without inspiring personalities. However, Collin recognises that these leaders had inspired standards. These standards with goals, objectives, trust that influence the followers through high performance, took risk which considered being extraordinary and this sacrifice made organisation exceptional. There is a possibility that the |Collins leader may not have the quality of persuasive communication, nevertheless they can possess the charismatic qualities. According to Tichy and Ullrich (1984) the transformational leader are who can convert a bankrupt company to profitable company. Transformational leaders are those who can bring any positive change in the organisation. As many other things are linked with transformational leader same as intellectual simulation, Bass (1985) considered this as the third factor of which is associated with transformational leadership by the promotion of intelligence, rationality, logical thinking and careful problem solving. A leader which is equipped with the quality of intellectual simulation has capability to show their follower the new way for the problems solution and would involve followers in problem solving (Avolio et al, 1988). Bass (1990) also believe that such type of leaders are tolerant and for the followers mistake and open new ideas for them. Bass (1985) the fourth dimension or factor of a transactional leader is individualised consideration. This identifies the role of a leader the role which a transformational leader plays for the developing followers, pay full attention to their needs towards their achievement and benefits. A transformational leaders struggle hard to create new opportunities for their developing followers and act as a coach and mentor for the development of an individual (Bass 1990). Under this dimension, Boehnke et al. (2003) emphasise the importance of entrust challenging and interesting tasks to followers to promote them and their development as well. Kuhnert (1994) further added that delegating authority is a necessary component when delegating tasks, it is a way to enable individuals to get educated from the decision making process. Collins (2001) also suggested that the real effective leaders who pay particular attention to the development of their followers as a necessary requirement for supporting continued organisational success after they leave. Regarding these last two aspects of transformational leadership, Bass concurs that intellectual stimulation and individualised consideration are not entirely charismatic in nature (Smith et al. 2004). In recent times, there has been interest in the concept of emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1995), and how it links to transformational leadership. This topic is explored in the following section. 2.3.4 Transformational Leadership and Emotional Leadership Goleman (1998) has strongly argued that is a requirement for the successful leadership and goes so far as to describe emotional intelligence as the sine qua non of leadership. Golemans (1998) components of emotional intelligence at work at work are described in table 2.1 on the following page. Table 2.1: The five Components of Emotional Intelligence at Work Component Definition Hallmarks Self Awareness The ability to recognise and understand owns moods, emotions, and drivers, as well as their effect on others. Self-confidence. Realistic self assessment. Self-deprecating sense of humour Self Regulation The ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods. The propensity to suspend judgement to think before acting. Trustworthiness and integrity. Comfort with ambiguity. Openness to change. Motivation A passion to work for reason that goes beyond money or status. A propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence. Strong drives to achieve. Optimism even in the face of failure. Organisational commitment. Empathy The ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people. Skill in treating people according to their emotional reactions. Expertise in building and retaining talent. Cross-cultural sensitivity. Service to client and customers. Social Skill Proficiency in managing relationships and building networks. An ability to find common ground and build rapport. Effectiveness in leading change. Persuasiveness. Expertise in building and leading teams. (Source: Goleman, 1998) Barling et al. (2002) declare that there are many reasons why individuals high in emotional intelligence and they are more likely to use transformational leadership behaviour. The main and first step a leader who has ability to manage their own emotions and who shows self control and hold-up enjoyment which could serve as a role model for the followers. In that way, enhancing followers belief and respect their leader; this would be dependable with the spirit of idealised influence (Barling et al., 2000). Secondly, it focuses on the understanding ok others emotions, leaders with high emotions intelligence would preferably placed to realise the extent to which followers expectations raised, that is major feature of inspirational motivation (Barling et al., 2000). Third and major element of individualises consideration is the quality to understand followers needs and cooperate accordingly. To put more focus on empathy and ability to manage relationships positively, leaders are apparent towards emotional intelligence and they would likely to apparent individualised consideration (Barling et al., 2000). Barling et al. (2000) were able to provide experimental good reason for this position. And this was further imposed by Palmers (2001) research which have found similar correlation, 2.3.5 Transformational Leadership: Controversial Issues It is proven that charisma is regarded as a necessary quality for transformational leadership to occur, this implies that Basss third and fourth dimensions are not transformational in and of themselves, by his own definition. Some other questions which comes in existence when charismatic dimension analysed closely. For instance, because charisma is not an only the characteristic of transformational leaders but this is an additional factor which distinguish leaders from managers (Zaleznik, 1977), then there is possibility exists that the transformational and transactional typology communicate to nothing more than the distinction between work leaders and managers (Gronn, 1995). Furthermore, to the core build of the transformational leadership model, Gronn (1995) and other observer, like as Keeley (1995), and Lakomski (1995), have putted in to question its legitimacy, ethical applicability and experimental toughness. In terms of legitimacy of transformational leadership concept, Gronn (1995) emphasize that the transformational leader model described by Bass and his believers revive that leader is a type of hero or a great leader. He assert that these is no more than a tenuous casual connection between the exercise of a transformational leadership and desired organisational outcomes, such as performance effectiveness, and claims that what little empirical evidence exists derives from an extraordinary narrow methodological base (Gronn, 1995) 2.4 Development of Leadership in the Global Business Priority In the contribution of the 1996 collection of paper on leadership; the Leader of the Future, Bolt remarks; at the same time leadership is very vital for any organisation and there is no one to lead the organization because of the shortage of leadership. Drucker States: the lessons are unambiguous. The first is that there may be born leader, but there are surely too few to depend on them. To support this argument, approximately 75 percent (500) firms Gregersen et al. (1998) surveyed and did not think that they have an enough number of effective leaders (see also Brake, 1997). If we consult from DDI Leadership Forecast 2008/2009 than we can understand how much improvement is needed to develop the leadership in any organisation? The research shows that from 76 countries of the world 1,493 HR professional and 12,208 leaders participated in this survey. This summary shows us the short fall of leaders all over the world. The DDI Leadership forecast also shows that only 41 percent leaders are agree that the organisations are helping them to enhance leadership capabilities. Most of the organisation have been failed to provide chance to improve. Harvey et al, (1999) argued that there would be great competition for competent leadership in organisations in future, and this position is reinforced by the DDI leadership forecast 2008/2009. The leadership forecast indicated that the qualified leadership is becoming more and more difficult day by day. Iles (2001) sees improvement in the three major fields which need the Leadership improvement in the organisation. The increasing importance of HRM The increasing importance of knowledge and knowledge management. Changes in careers and career development. 2.4.1 The Increasing Importance of HRM The HRM is mostly view on the basis of competitive advantage basis Storey (1989) specifically focused on the gaining of employees commitment. He stated that the main factors of HRM (the deployment of human resources, evaluation of performance and reward etc.) as we discussed the earlier the legitimate, reward, coercive power to obtain compliance were mentioned are management techniques and these are the characteristics of transactional leadership. On the other hand, it was also argued that the expert and referent power could leader and follower relationship. Firms are using commitment oriented practice to gain competitive advantages, which further described how the attention of people is led (Iles, 2001). This shows that modern leadership competencies based on the more likely on the interaction (to gain commitment) rather than commanding and controlling (to gain compliance) (McGregor et al, 2004), and to implement transformational leadership rather than transactional leadership in the organisation. Stoerys (1989) described the types of HRM as hard and soft. These approaches linked with transactional and transformational styles of leadership. HRM which comes under the hard types of HRM mostly focus on the specific defined policies and procedure. These policies are cost effectiveness, lean production and use of labour. Legge (1995) called this a utilitarian instrumentalism in the relationship with employees. Transactional leadership considered as a utilitarian in nature and hard HRM practises associated with the transactional leadership (Bass, 1990). Conversely, the soft HRM is considered as development humanism (Legge, 1995) in this approach individuals integrated into work processes under such values trust, commitments and to communicate with each other. Therefore, the transactional le

Costs and Benefits of Globalization and Localization Essay -- Globaliza

For one to understand the costs and benefits of globalization and localization one first needs to understand what each entails. Globalization is when a country involves itself into international affairs, economically, politically or even possibly culturally. Globalization expands beyond the local boundaries of a nation and spreads into other communities throughout the world. Localization is when a country chooses not to participate in global affairs and confines itself and its people from taking part in any type of involvement with any other country. This means that this country does not participate in any economic, political or culture issues with outsiders. In many articles addressing business today, one can read about the views toward globalization. Many feel as though globalization is the best process a business should pursue. This process of globalization offers a way in which countries can become involved with a nation for common interests. By using the globalization process, a country can learn new ways of technology. For example, the United States could involve itself with a country that mainly depends on farming for their economic stability and learns from them their enhanced techniques that our farmers could apply to make their crops grow better. In turn the U.S. could set up some kind of, trade with this agricultural country. Possibly, the U.S. could teach this country on how to make their economy stronger by becoming involved in the global free trade markets were they could make excellent profits on their produce. This way the United States and the agricultural country would both earn a great deal from this global involvement. This leads into another advantage for globalization, trade. Some countries have immers... ... The economy is given a chance to strengthen through trade and allies can be made with international involvement. Also important is the cultures and traditions that can be spread throughout the world when there is communication. Localization also stresses culture but it is only one culture that is being observed. Nationalism is very important for a country and gives its people pride but there does not need to be seclusion from the rest of the world. For the economy, there is a better chance for jobs and facilities to be started within a country that has a global economy booming. All in all I believe the benefits for globalization out way those of localization but it is very important that a country gets involved in globalization but also includes localization in some ways as well. Work Cited Rosenau , James. The Complexities and Contradictions of Globalization

The Retail Inventory-Level Planning

Retail Inventory-Level Planning consists of retail inventory method (RIM) which is an accounting procedure whose objectives are to maintain a perpetual. It also can book inventory in retail dollars amounts and to maintain records that make it possible to determine the cost value of the inventory at any time without taking a physical inventory. Also known as book inventory system or perpetual book inventory. Retailers also have another important choice to make the stock to sales ratio. The stock to sales ratio is derived directly from the planned inventory to determine monthly additions to stock in the merchandise budget plan. Retailers generally think of their inventory at retail price levels rather than at cost. Retailers use their initial markups, additional markups, and markdowns, and so forth as percentages of retail. When retailers compare their prices to competitors†, they use retail prices. The problem is that when retailers to design their financial plans, evaluate performance, and prepare financial statements, they need to know the cost value of their inventory. Retailers use physical inventories. This process is time consuming and costly. Retailers take physical inventories once or twice a year. Many retailers use point of sale terminals that keep track of every item sold its original cost, and its final selling price. The rest of the retailers face a problem of not knowing the cost value of their inventory at one time. These retailers with either computerized or manual systems can use retail inventory method. Their are five advantages for using RIM over a system of inventory at cost. The does not have to â€Å"cost† each time. When retailers have many SKUs, keeping track of each item becomes difficult and expensive. It is easier to determine the value of inventory with the retail prices marked on the merchandise than unmarked or at coded cost prices. The second advantage for using RIM is that it follows the accepted accounting principal of valuing assets at cost or market value, which is lower. This system lowers the value of inventory when markdowns are taken but does not allow inventory†s value increase with additional markups. When using RIM, the amounts and percentages of initial markups, markdowns, and shrinkage can be identified. This information can then be compared with historical records or industry norms. RIM is useful for determining shrinkage. The difference between the book inventory and the physical inventory can be attributed to shrinkage. The book inventory determined by RIM can be used in an insurance claim in case of a loss. The disadvantages of RIM are system that uses average markup. When markup percentages change during a period or when the inventory on hand at a particular time is not representative of the total goods handled in terms of markup, the resulting cost may be distorted. The inventory turnover, merchandise budget planning, open to buy, all these should be applied to the RIM category basis to avoid the problem. There are four steps in when calculating RIM. Calculate total goods handled at cost and retail, calculate retail reductions, calculate the cumulative markup and cost multiplier, and determine ending book inventory. Calculating the total goods handled in at cost and retail to determine the total goods handled at cost and retail: 1. Record beginning inventory at cost and at retail. The initial markup is reflected in the retail inventory. 2. Calculate net purchases by recording gross purchases and adjusting for merchandise returned to vendor. 3. Calculate net additional markups by adjusting gross additional markup cancellations. Note: These are recorded only at retail because markups affect only the retail value of inventory. 4. Record transportation expenses. Here transportation is recorded at cost because it affects only the cost of the inventory. 5. Calculate net transfers by recording the transfers in and out. A transfer can be from one department to another or from one store to the next. Transfers are generally made to help adjust inventory to fit demand. A transfer is, in effect, just like a purchase (transfer in) or a return (transfer out). Thus, it is recorded at both cost and retail. 6. The sum is the total goods handled. Calculating retail reductions are the transactions that reduce the value inventory at retail (except additional markup cancellations, which were included as part of the total goods handled). Reductions are calculated as follows: 1. The largest reduction in inventory is sales. Gross sales are reduced to net sales by deducting customer returns and allowances. 2. Calculate markdowns, are derived by subtracting any markdowns from gross markdowns. 3. Record discounts to employees and customers. 4. Record estimated shrinkage is used to determine the ending book inventory if the buyer has prepared an interim financial statement. Estimate shrinkage would not be included if a physical inventory were taken at the same time. The difference between physical inventory and book inventory would be the amount due to loss. Next, a retailer has to calculate the cumulative markup and the cost multiplier. The cumulative markup is the average percentage markup for the period. It is calculated like this: Cumulative markup total retail The cumulative markup can be used as a measuring stick against the planned initial markup. If the cumulative markup is higher than the planned initial markup, then the Category is doing better than expected. Cost multiplier =($100-cumulative markup %) The cost multiplier is used in the next step to determine the ending book inventory at retail price. The final step in the process is determining the ending book inventory at cost and retail. Ending book inventory at retail = total goods handled at retail – total reductions The ending book inventory at cost is determined the same way that retail has changed to cost. Ending book inventory at cost = ending book inventory at retail * cost multiplier When using the RIM retailers generally use the average beginning of month (BOM) stock to sales ratio. This is taken from the planned inventory which was taken from the RIM. This is used to determine monthly additions to stock in the merchandise budget plan. The BOM is broken down into three different methods week†s supply method, basic stock method, and percentage variation method. The week†s supply method is the inventory management method is the most similar to the stock to sales method. The difference between the two is that everything is expressed in weeks rather than months. The average BOM stock to sales ratio is equal to months in the period divided by the planned inventory for the period. â€Å"If the plan is for 12 months and planned turnover is 6, the average BOM stock to sales ratio = 12/6=2. Using the week†s supply method, 52 weeks are substituted for 12 months. Thus, 52 weeks 6 turns =8.66 weeks of supply. This means the buyer is planning to have 8.66 weeks of supply at the beginning of the month. (Of course, 8.66 weeks is equivalent to two months.)† The basic stock method is the inventory management method used to determine the BOM inventory by considering both the sales forecast for the month and the back-up stock.

Psy 240 Appendix C

There are four stages of sleep, stage 1 occurs when the person decides it’s time to fall asleep. Initially in stage 1 alpha waves start waxing and waning bursts of 8-12 Hz’s EEG. This is when we are alert at our wake fullness. Stage one sleep RRG is low voltage but high frequency signal. As the stages progress into stage 2 there’s a gradual increase in EEG voltage and decrease in EEG frequency. Stage 2 has a higher amplitude and lower frequency and also has two wave forms, k complexes and sleep spindles.Stage 3 is Delta waves, which are the largest and slowest EEG waves. Stage 4 is essentially the predominance of delta waves. Throughout the night the body goes through these 4 stages numerous times. It is a continuous cycle until the body fully awakes. Stage one is also the REM sleep stage and is where a person dreams. There are five common belies of dreams the first being, that external stimuli can become incorporated into dreams. Second, dreams last only an inst ant. Third, some people claim that they do not dream.Fourth, penile erections are assumed to be related to sexual dreams. And lastly, sleepwalking and sleep talking occur only when dreaming. There are two theories related to dreams, the first being Freud’s theory. He believes that dreams are triggered by unacceptable repressed wishes, often of a sexual nature. The second is activation synthesis theory of Hobson’s, he believed that during REM sleep many brain stem circuits become active and bombard the cerebral cortex with neural signals.He believes that a dream is the cerebral cortex’s way of taking all the random thoughts and making sense of them all. I agree with Hobson, I believe that all the random events throughout the day put together the dream. Freud’s theory does not seem legitimate to me because not everyone has negative or unacceptable wishes nor is every dream a sexual. More often than not my dreams comprise of random and often times very confu sing acts. Thus is the reason why I agree with Hobson.

A Proposal for a Web

A Proposal for a Web Introduction The proposition to utilize web-based credit approval systems to enhance the credit approval process is an appealing prospect for banks and other lending institutions. This is because the credit approval process is laden with risks that all lending institutions spend many resources managing.Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on A Proposal for a Web-Enabled Hybrid Intelligent System Architecture in Support of Solving Credit Approval Problems in Banks specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The risks arise from poor quality information brought about by fraudulent applications, interagency nature of its collection and outdated information. By using a web-based system, the efficacy of the process will improve, reducing the process overheads and increasing the margin for the banks. It calls for the use of a system architecture designed to produce the best possible results from the analysis of credit applications. The re are a number of system architecture options to choose from in the process of designing such a system. Their typical composition includes, a database, model base and a user interface, which interact to produce the analysis report that decision makers rely on . They form the critical components of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems used for decision support. Burnside and Kahn (2004) identified the most common AI tools as, â€Å"Bayesian Network, Artificial Neural Networks, Case-Based Reasoning and Rule Based Systems†. In the case of a Web-Based decision support system for credit approval, the system must solve two problems. The first problem is the comprehensiveness and accuracy of information. This problem arises from databases in use because each database has its limitations. Some provide more wholesome information on clients than others. The second problem is in the procedural issues that relate to the handling of the information. The preferred solution encompasses, on one hand, a large data collection capacity that spans the entire internet, and on the other hand, a superior processing capacity of data for the availing of critical information credit officers require to make lending decisions. The system proposed to meet this challenge will utilize Bayesian system running on a web-based platform for frontline screening. It wil make possible the identification of clients with the best possible credentials for credit.Advertising Looking for coursework on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The second set of AI tools it will use is Rule-Based System and Case-Based Reasoning to identify potential for fraud. The third tool for it to use is the Artificial Neural Networks to provide massive fraud detection capabilities. Proposal of System Architecture Performance Specifications The required system must meet the following specifications. It requires the capacity to ha ndle a large volume of data. Data handling includes data acquisition and filtering. The security needs of the system will also require attention. The system should identify and flag incomplete or inconsistent individual applications to detect fraud and inconsistent applications. The third element that the system must have the capacity to handle is the ability to detect massive fraud. This stems from the possibility of the generation of multiple identities to defraud financial institutions. AI tools The proposed system employs AI tools at three levels. Bayesian Networks form the first level. They consist of a structure, a set of probabilities, and an inference algorithm, which forms the basis of operations. Expert input goes into the development of the inference algorithm. This makes it useful for frontline screening. A practical application of this AI tool is the separation of clients who have the characteristics that match those of clients with good relationships, from those whose initial conditions match clients with difficult relationships. This will help to weed out clients who do not bring in the potential for a good relationship with the bank. The second level consists of Artificial Neural Networks and Case-Based Reasoning systems. At this level the feature that it will have include the capacity to detect fraud by identifying similar patterns in new credit applications, which may be fraudulent. Artificial Neural Networks provide the basis for deriving relationships between various data sets. On the other hand, Case-Based Reasoning provides the capacity to compare fresh applications with the ones stored in the database. It provides the credit officer with the comparison of the two data sets ensuring that there is no repeating of mistakes made in the past.Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on A Proposal for a Web-Enabled Hybrid Intelligent System Architecture in Support of Solving Credit Approval Problems in Banks specifically fo r you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The third level will comprise of Rule–Based Reasoning, which will allow forward chaining, and back chaining to analyze applications. This tool makes it possible for credit officers to determine whether an application will end up in a successful relationship poor whether it will end up in fraud. In addition, it can provide information that will make it possible for the banks to design its marketing effort by starting with the desired final conditions, and using the tool to generate the initial ones. Physical Architecture The physical architecture of the system will comprise of the standard computing equipment. There are a number of topology choices for the system. They include the star topology that links PC’s in an asterisk pattern, bus topology that have all the PC’s connected to a main network line, ring topology whose main feature is the circular interconnection of all PC’s using, â€Å"paire d physical interfaces† with other network equipment. Point to point connection applies when there are only two devices in the network, while point to multipoint applies when all the devices connect to a specific device. Schematic diagrams of star, ring and bus topologiesAdvertising Looking for coursework on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For the system under consideration, the best system architecture will be a hybrid system featuring the bus topology, and the point to multipoint topology. All the computers used for analysis will connect to the bus while the main storage server will be at one end of the bus with a point to multipoint connection. The other connection and the end of the bus will be the internet server. In addition to the PC’s, the system will require a number of components that will provide the basis for utilization of internet search capabilities. This includes servers, switches, routers, hubs, and network cables. Protocol Architecture At the protocol architecture level, there is a choice of two protocol models. They are the TCI/IP model and Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Network Model. There is widespread use of the TCP/IP model, hence it presents the least installation challenges, and has capacity for expansion and cross platform communication. All the layers that the OSI model has are i ncluded in the TCP/IP model. This means that there is minimum loss when using TCP/IP. Comparison of TCP/IP and OSI Model Layers Therefore, the proposed system features four artificial intelligence tools at the software level, the TCP/IP protocol, and a hybrid topology that includes bus, and point to multipoint topologies. The three elements take care of the software requirements of the system, the physical interconnection and the networking platform required for making the entire system operable. Selection and Justification of Software Packages The Business Criteria Business operations design their systems to achieve any number of business objectives that ensure that the business returns a profit. The two forms these measures take are increasing revenue and cutting costs. The proposed system will lead to increase in revenue by eliminating business uncertainties. It will do this by providing the bank with the ideal starting conditions in the lending process, checking it against the application brought in and based on the system, making appropriate judgments. With this system, the bank can quickly determine whether a particular credit relationship is worth pursuing in the first place. In addition, the banks will be able to work backwards to identify who its target customers are, therefore providing a greater degree of focus for its marketing efforts. On cost savings, the system will seek to eliminate fraud, which is a serious loss risk to the bank. This will protect the banks revenue and will ensure the bank does not incur the losses through fraud. This will improve the margin. Management Criteria The system will be labor intensive at the onset. It will require various experts and analysis to develop the AI components, while networking engineers will be the ones to install all the networking equipment. In addition, software programmers will develop the system and install the required user interfaces which the credit officers will use to access the system resour ces. The justification of all this effort from a management point of view is that it will reduce the effort spent in analyzing applications and related costs, such as litigation costs from fraudulent applications. Other management issues that the system will solve include better marketing strategy because of better identification of the target market. Technical Criteria, The choice of the system includes the best technologies available in terms of AI, the best physical topology that provides for enhanced functionality, and the use of TCP/IP, which is the most recommended networking protocol. This means that this is the best possible design given current state of development and limitations. In addition, elements like ease of implementation and maintenance come to the fore. Other considerations Other considerations in the criteria included in the system design include the security requirements of the system. As an internet based system, there need to ensure that the system is secure is high. Cyber security of the system should have a high degree of robustness because the system will face cyber attacks from different quarters. Explanation for the choice given The choices given for the above system take into account the need to implement a robust system that can handle the sensitive requirements of AI tools and to provide uncompromising performance required for the banking business. The business will not have much time for down time hence the software implementation must be such that it has minimum maintenance requirements, and performs its tasks well. System Evaluation Measures and Methods Fisher (2008) identified six measures that a proposed system needs to go through before evaluation. These measures include measurement of functionality, technology, software vendor, implementation, maintenance, and support, and the total cost of ownership. Functionality refers to the way the software fulfils its assigned role to it in the system. This calls for a careful compa rison between software options that can support the required system functions. The one selected and implemented must be the one that fulfils the functions assigned best. The second measure to consider in the evaluation of a software option is technology. Technology refers to the degree of congruence and compatibility with the programming platform and the database in use. This means that the software option chosen should be able to work well with the systems carrier platform and the form of database that it will interrogate. It also calls for settling for software that in-house staff members are familiar. It is also prudent to pick software that will operate well within the rest of the organizations systems. The third major issue to consider during software evaluation is the degree of support that the vendor will provide after the implementation of the software. It is crucial to know whether the vendor will provide enhancements and additional support after selling the software. Fishe r (2008) says that when someone buys software from a vendor, he is not just buying software, but he is establishing a relationship with the vendor. The fourth major consideration during software evaluation is implementation. Again, the vendor is critical. The idea is to find a vendor who will provide support to the implementation team and continue providing support during the entire implementation phase to ensure that the implementation team handles all technicalities. The next issue that is critical in the evaluation of software is support and maintenance. While having in-house staff to maintain the system is a good practice, the need for a relationship with the vendor where they provide upgrades and regular software check is very critical. This stems from the fact that the vendors provide a wide range of software solutions to different clients. They therefore have a wider experience with the systems operations and functions. It makes them uniquely qualified to find holes in the sy stem and to close them up in their entire software range before they cause any real damage to all their clients. Finally, there is need to have in mind the total cost of ownership when evaluation software. The costs here include cost of licenses, cost of maintenance and cost of upgrades. Fisher (2008) recommends looking at these costs over a five to seven year horizon to determine the long-term costs of implementing the software. In order to ensure that the entire project achieves the objectives, the need for the application of good IT project management skills will come into play. The project will require organization into stages marked by relevant milestones. This will make sure that there is adequate preparation and implementation of each stage including testing to achieve the set objectives. Conclusion The process of implementing a web enabled hybrid intelligent system that supports credit approval process in banks has several bearings. From the discussions presented above, we c an conclude the following. A strong business, management, and technical case for implementing software project to address the credit approval problems that banks face, exists. The business case is that it will reduce overheads by improving the efficiency and certainty of the approval process. It will also reduce losses associated with fraud and will make it possible to cut back on litigation costs arising from defaulting, thereby reducing overheads. From a management front, the system will reduce the overall business management requirement of the system by taking up the work required to process applications. Finally, the availability of the AI techniques to implement this system makes it technically viable. The system will use a combination of AI tools to achieve the goals. These techniques include Bayesian Networks, Case-Based reasoning, Rule Based reasoning and Artificial Neural Networks. The arrangement of these tools will be to provide the best result for the functions since eac h has its strengths and weaknesses. Use of TCP/IP as the most appropriate protocol architecture will bring in the benefits of easy linking with various information networks found on the internet Security concerns will form a key aspect of the implementation process because the system will operate on a web-based platform. This will expose if to cyber attacks hence the need to invest in cyber security for the system. In order to evaluate appropriately the suitability of the software choices, the system will call for the application of several measures. These measures include functionality, technology, software vendor and implementation. In addition, it will require taking into account maintenance, support and the total cost of ownership. These elements necessary for the implementation of a web-based decision support system that will provide a solution to credit approval problems that banks face. Reference List Burnside, E.S. Kahn, C.E., 2004. Artificial Intelligence Helps Provide Dec ision Support in Radiology. [Online] UBM Medica LLC Available at: diagnosticimaging.com/cme/display-cme/article/113619/1173862 . Evans, T., 2011. Improving Your Credit Rating. [Online] Available at: thisismoney.co.uk/credit-rating . Fisher, C.R., 2008. 6 Key Software Evaluation Criteria. [Online] Available at: http://ezinearticles.com/?6-Key-Software-Evaluation-Criteriaid=1784790 . Hill Associates, 2002. Telecommunications: A Beginners Guide. Berkeley: McGraw-Hill/Osborne. InetDaemon, 2011. InetDaemon: Real training for Internet Professionals. [Online] Available at: http://inetdaemon.com/tutorials/networking/index.shtml . Leotta, J., 2011. Credit Approval. [Online] Advameg, Inc. Available at: referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Cos-Des/Credit-Approval.html . Lewis, M., 2010. Credit Rating: How it Works and How to Improve it.. [Online] Available at: moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score . Microsoft, 2011. TCP/IP Protocal Architecture. [Online] Available at: http:// technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc958821.aspx . Oesterreichische Nationalbank, 2004. Guidelines on Credit Risk Management: Credit Approval Process and Credit Risk Management. Vienna: OeNB Printing Office. Power, D.J., 2002. Decision Support Systems: Concepts and Resources for Managers. Westport CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. Servigny, A. Renault, O., 2004. Measuring and Managing Credit Risk. Illustrated ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Professional. The Computer Technology Documentation Project, 2011. Network Layers. [Online] Available at: comptechdoc.org/independent/networking/protocol/protlayers.html . Zopounidis, C. Doumpos, M., 2011. Decision Support Systems. [Online] Available at: referenceforbusiness.com/management/De-Ele/Decision-Support-Systems.html .

Should You Get an Early Childhood Education Degree

Should You Get an Early Childhood Education Degree SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you love working with kids, an early childhood education degree might be for you. In this growing field, a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education is becoming more and more necessary to get the job you want. Read on to learn what an early childhood education degree entails, the main differences between an early childhood education associate degree and a bachelor’s degree, and whether you actually need a graduate degree in the field. We’ll also look at the seven best schools offering an early childhood education degree online. What Is an Early Childhood Education Degree? A subset of education theory, the field of early childhood education concerns specifically the education of children from birth to the age of 8, or around third grade. An early childhood education degree could be an associate, bachelor’s, or graduate degree. Its main focus is how to educate young children,with an emphasis on cultural sensitivity, child-centered practices, ethics, inclusivity, community, and family. The overall purpose of an early childhood education degree is to prepare you for a career in early childhood education, whichnormally comprises the following types of jobs: Teacher (preschool, kindergarten, or elementary school) Teacher assistant Daycare provider Childcare center worker or director Nanny Special education teacher English Language Learner (ELL) teacher Child life specialist Education consultant Be aware that for some jobs, especially teaching ones, you might be required by your state toget additional certification or licensure. Below is an overview of the median incomes, job outlooks, and typical minimum required degrees for various jobs in the field of early childhood education. Jobs are arranged from highest salary to lowest. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average growth rate for all jobs for the years 2016-2026 is 7%, so any percentage higher than this means the job's growing faster than average. Job Title Minimum Degree Required 2017 Median Salary Job Outlook (2016-2026) Child life specialist Bachelor’s degree $60,380 7% Special education teachers Bachelor’s degree $58,980 8% Kindergarten and elementary school teachers Bachelor’s degree $56,900 7% Social workers Bachelor’s degree $47,980 16% Preschool and childcare center directors Bachelor’s degree $46,890 11% Preschool teachers Associate degree $28,990 10% Teacher assistants Some college, no degree $26,260 8% Childcare workers High school diploma $22,290 7% As you can see from this chart, there’s a clear connection between what kind of early childhood education degree one has and their salary. In general, the more advanced a degree you have, the higher the wages you’re likely to earn. Also of note is that all of the above jobs in early childhood education are seeing average or faster-than-average growth. This indicates that this field is a good one to get into since there will likely be many jobs available over the next decade. Must ... keep ... smiling ... for graduation pictures. Early Childhood Education: Associate Degree vs Bachelor's How does anearly childhood education associate degree differ from a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education? The following table presents a brief overview of the main differences between the two types of degreesin terms of the time it takes to complete each degree, what types of jobs are available to each degree holder, and what the highest median earning potential is (based on BLS data). Time to Complete Degree Options Jobs Available Earning Potential Bachelor’s degree 4 years (regular); 2-3 years (online) BA, BS, BAS, BSE Teacher (special education, kindergarten, elementary school); childcare center director; social worker; child life specialist $60,380 Associate degree 1.5-2 years AA, AS, AAS Preschool teacher; teacher assistant; nanny or other childcare worker $28,990 Since an early childhood education associate degree program is about two years shorter than a bachelor’s degree program, you’ll typically earn half as many credits doing an associate program than you would doing a bachelor's program. Although there's often lots of overlap in the courses required for associate and bachelor’s degree programs, the latter typically requires a lotmore courses that dive deeper into topics such as psychology, human growth and development, and creativity. Do You Need a Graduate Degree in Early Childhood Education? We've gone over the differences and similarities between an early childhood education associate degree and a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. But is a master’s or doctorate in childhood education necessary for a great job? As you probably noticed with the first table, most jobs in early childhood education don’t require more than a bachelor’s degree. That said, having a master’s or doctoral degree in this or a related field can increase the job opportunities available to you by equipping you with high-level skills, practical experience, and leadership potential. This difference is reflected in wages, too. According to 2013 BLS data, preschool and kindergarten teachers who have a master’s degree can expect to earn about $13,000 more per year than those with only a bachelor’s degree. Here’s what US News says about the value of getting a master’s degree (bold emphasis mine): "Along with an increase in pay, earning a master’s degree in early childhood education can make it possible to pursue high-level occupations in the field, such as elementary school principal or instructional coordinator." So what kinds of graduate degrees in early childhood education are out there? Many, as it turns out. UM-Dearborn offers an MA in Early Childhood Education program, whose three program options are tailored toward "teachers, administrators, other service providers and educators who wish to learn how to serve young children and their families." Meanwhile, BU’s MEd in Early Childhood Education primarily targets aspiring teachers and "is recognized in the field for maintaining high standards for teacher preparation." With a doctorate (usually a PhD or EdD) in early childhood education, your job prospects will extend even further to fields such as postsecondary teaching, policy-making, and research- most of which typically come with higher salaries as well. Noteworthy doctoral programs include Columbia’s EdD in Early Childhood Education, NYU’s PhD in Teaching and Learning with a focus on Early Childhood and Childhood Education, and Vanderbilt’s PhD in Early Childhood Special Education. Ultimately, whether or not you decide to pursue a graduate degree in early childhood education will depend on the type of career you want and how much time and money you’re willing to put toward your education. Getting an Early Childhood Education Degree Online: Top 7 Schools These days, you can earn an early childhood education degree online, making it cheaper and more convenient than getting your degree the traditional way. Here, we introduce, in no particular order, the seven best schoolswhere you can earna bachelor's degree in early childhood education entirely online. University of Nebraska at Kearney The University of Nebraska at Kearney offers an online BA in Early Childhood Inclusive program. This program features not just instruction in early childhood education but also the opportunity for students to gain real work experience and a teaching endorsement. The program focuses on learning about children from birth through the age of 8. Upon completion of this online bachelor’s program, you’ll be able to teach special education to children aged 0-5 and regular education to children through the third grade. University of Massachusetts Amherst UMassOnline offers not one but two online bachelor’s degree programs in early childhood education: a BA in Children’s Learning and Development and a BA in Early Care and Education. In the former, students learn the skills they need to launch a career in education, child advocacy, administration, or youth and family programming. Studentsalso have the option to design their curriculum and bring in credits from prior coursework. The latter is more focused on career advancement within the field of early childhood education, including how to open your own childcare center. University of Cincinnati Through the University of Cincinnati’s College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services, students can earn a BS in Early Childhood Education (Birth to Age 5) completely online. This program mainly prepares students to become teachers at places including preschools, public schools, and childcare centers. By completing this program and student teaching, students should be eligible for faculty recommendation for an Ohio pre-K teaching license. Cincinnati also offers an onlineAAS in Early Childhood Care and Education. This associate degree program provides students with a background in education theory, curriculum development, and early language development. University of Washington Ranked in the top 60 universities by US News, UW offers a fairly flexible online BA in Early Care and Education program. This program- originally called the BA in Early Childhood and Family Studies- is offered both full- and part-time and takes two to three years to complete. You’ll learn about innovative research and educational strategies, and acquire the skills necessary for establishing a career in various related fields, such as teaching, early childhood administration, early learning coaching, and family support. What's more, through the program’s use of the Intentional Teaching Framework, you’ll gain tons of practical experience by observing and working with real early childhood professionals. The only drawback with getting a degree online? You don't get to see the beautiful cherry blossoms on the UW campus. (Joe Mabel/Flickr) Kansas State University Approved by the Kansas State Department of Education, K-State’s online BS in Early Childhood Education program makes students eligible for licensure in early childhood unified (birth through kindergarten). Thecurriculum consists of courses in human development, teaching, family relationships, language development, and early childhood. In addition, the program boasts above-average starting salaries for graduates and a 99% pass rate on licensure exams. University of Dayton At the University of Dayton’s School of Education and Health Sciences, students can earn an online (non-licensure) BSE in Early Childhood Leadership and Advocacy. Unlike the degree programs listed above, which welcome newcomers to the childhood education field, this part-time program caters specifically to experienced early childhood professionals who wish to continue their work in advocating for children and their families. Applicants should have an associate degree in early childhood education or a related field. Courses cover adiverse array of topics, such as American education, how to educate diverse student populations, and early childhood program management. University of Missouri Through Mizzou Online, you can earn a BS in Human Development and Family Science with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education. With this program, students learn how to understand young children’s needs; create supportive, intellectually stimulating educational environments; and promote positive growth. Course topics include curricula-making, classroom environments, and child development. Conclusion: Getting an Early Childhood Education Degree Early childhood education is a growing field, so it’s important that you have the knowledge and credentials needed to get the job you want, whether that’s teaching, coaching, administration, etc. One way of getting credentials is to earn an early childhood education associate degree, which will help you get entry-level jobs and prepare you for a bachelor’s or even a master’s degree in the field should you want to expand your knowledge in the future. Another option is togeta bachelor’s degree in early childhood education.Nowadays, you can earn your early childhood education degree online without having to go anywhere, which can be super helpful if getting to a campus poses a challenge for you. Some online programs evenoffer licensure and teaching certification. There are many online early childhood education degree programs available, but we’ve narrowed down your options to give you a list of seven top schools offering an online bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. Here are the schools again, in no particular order: University of Nebraska at Kearney University of Massachusetts Amherst University of Cincinnati University of Washington Kansas State University University of Dayton University of Missouri Overall, if you want to have a career that involves teaching and helping young children, an early childhood education degree might be the best choice for you! What’s Next? Dreaming of becoming an elementary, middle, or high school teacher? Then check out our career guide to learn how you can prepare for a career in teaching while still in high school. Maybe you already have a bachelor's degree andare now considering grad school. Our expert guide can help you figure out whether amaster's degree is right for you (coming soon). Not sure what you want to study in college?Our tips can help you choose the best major for you.

Monroe Doctrine - Definition and Background

Monroe Doctrine - Definition and Background The Monroe Doctrine was the declaration by President James Monroe, in December 1823, that the United States would not tolerate a European nation colonizing an independent nation in North or South America. The United States warned it would consider any such intervention in the Western Hemisphere to be a hostile act. Monroe’s statement, which was expressed in his annual address to Congress (the 19th century equivalent of the State of the Union Address) was prompted by a fear that Spain would try to take over its former colonies in South America, which had declared their independence. While the Monroe Doctrine was directed toward a specific and timely problem, its sweeping nature ensured it would have enduring consequences. Indeed, over the course of decades, it went from being a relatively obscure statement to becoming a cornerstone of American foreign policy. Though the statement would carry President Monroe’s name, the author of the Monroe Doctrine was actually John Quincy Adams, a future president who was serving as Monroe’s secretary of state. And it was Adams who forcefully pushed for the doctrine to be openly declared. The Reason For the Monroe Doctrine During the War of 1812, the United States had reaffirmed its independence. And at the war’s end, in 1815, there were only two independent nations in the Western Hemisphere, the United States, and Haiti, a former French colony. That situation had changed dramatically by the early 1820s. The Spanish colonies in Latin America began fighting for their independence, and Spain’s American empire essentially collapsed. Political leaders in the United States generally welcomed the independence of new nations in South America. But there was considerable skepticism that the new nations would remain independent and become democracies like the United States. John Quincy Adams, an experienced diplomat and the son of the second president, John Adams, was serving as President Monroe’s secretary of state. And Adams did not want to become too involved with the newly independent nations while he was negotiating the Adams-Onis Treaty to obtain Florida from Spain. A crisis developed in 1823 when France invaded Spain to prop up King Ferdinand VII, who had been forced to accept a liberal constitution. It was widely believed that France was also intending to assist Spain in retaking its colonies in South America. The British government was alarmed at the idea of France and Spain joining forces. And the British foreign office asked the American ambassador what his government intended to do to block any American overtures by France and Spain. John Quincy Adams and the Doctrine The American ambassador in London sent dispatches proposing that the United States government cooperate with Britain in issuing a statement declaring disapproval of Spain returning to Latin America. President Monroe, unsure of how to proceed, asked for the advice of two former presidents, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, who were living in retirement on their Virginia estates. Both former presidents advised that forming an alliance with Britain on the issue would be a good idea. Secretary of State Adams disagreed. At a cabinet meeting on November 7, 1823, he argued that the United States government should issue a unilateral statement. Adams reportedly said, â€Å"It would be more candid, as well as more dignified, to avow our principles explicitly to Great Britain and France, than to come in as a cockboat in the wake of the British man-of-war.† Adams, who had spent years in Europe serving as a diplomat, was thinking in broader terms. He was not just concerned with Latin America but was also looking in the other direction, to the west coast of North America. The Russian government was claiming territory in the Pacific Northwest extending as far south as present-day Oregon. And by sending a forceful statement, Adams hoped to warn all nations that the United States would not stand for colonial powers encroaching on any part of North America. Reaction to Monroe's Message to Congress The Monroe Doctrine was expressed in several paragraphs deep within the message President Monroe delivered to Congress on December 2, 1823. And though buried within a long document heavy with details such as financial reports on various government departments, the statement on foreign policy was noticed. In December 1823, newspapers in America published the text of the entire message as well as articles focusing on the forceful statement about foreign affairs. The kernel of the doctrine - †we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety.† - was discussed in the press. An article published on December 9, 1823, in a Massachusetts newspaper, the Salem Gazette, mocked Monroe’s statement as putting â€Å"the peace and prosperity of the nation at hazard.† Other newspapers, however, applauded the apparent sophistication of the foreign policy statement. Another Massachusetts newspaper, the Haverhill Gazette, published a lengthy article on December 27, 1823, which analyzed the president’s message, praised it and brushed aside criticisms. The Legacy of the Monroe Doctrine After the initial reaction to Monroe’s message to Congress, the Monroe Doctrine was essentially forgotten for a number of years. No intervention in South America by Europeans powers ever happened. And, in reality, the threat of Britain’s Royal Navy probably did more to ensure that than Monroe’s foreign policy statement. However, decades later, in December 1845, President James K. Polk affirmed the Monroe Doctrine in his annual message to Congress. Polk evoked the doctrine as a component of Manifest Destiny and the desire of the United States to extend from coast to coast. In the latter half of the 19th century, and well into the 20th century, the Monroe Doctrine was also cited by American political leaders as an expression of American dominance in the Western Hemisphere. The strategy of John Quincy Adams of crafting a statement that would send a message to the entire world proved to be effective for many decades.

Finance-Whether to undertake a project or not Research Paper

Finance-Whether to undertake a project or not - Research Paper Example As per the latest audited financial statement of the company (for the financial year ended 201), the company employees more than 164,000 and has more than 70 operational plants worldwide in six continents. Ford Motors well established business attracts a great deal of consumer base irrespective of demography. The primary business of the company comprises of high end state of the art cars both for the individual as well as for the industrial use. The company, through its resilient and effective marketing tactics, has able to capture significant market shares in the automotive industry worldwide. Following is an extract from the financial statement of the company which presents the movement in the market share of the company for the current financial year of 2011 The company divides its revenue into two broad segments which are through automotive and through financial services. The automotive structure is further divided into four segments of 1) Ford North America, 2) Ford South Americ a, 3) Ford Europe, and 4) Ford Asia Pacific Africa. Whereas, the ford financial services are divided into 1) Ford Credit, and 2) Other Financial Services. The company has improved its asset allocation strategy and has also rejuvenated its business strategy and global competitive strategy. The proactive approach has resulted in an increase of 5.7% in sales revenue from the automotive and financial services business. The financial year 2011 proved to be another progressive year for Ford Motor Company. During the current year, the company’s revenue increased by 5.7% during the current year to an impressive $136,264 million which has caused the operating profit to increase by a staggering 21%. The company, following its growth strategy, aspires transform its operation into multi channel business. The company has taken major steps in investing its direct sales business which enhanced the revenue during the current financial year. In addition, the company is actively following its strategy of refurbishing its plants and giving them a new and improved look. The refurbishment has resulted in an increased production capacity and has created a more opportunities for the company. The following table compares the financial results of Ford Motor Company, for the financial year 2011 with that of the year 2010. As quite evident from the above comparison, the financial outlook of the company has improved. The increase in group revenue primarily pertains to the increase in like-for-like sales as well as the addition of new plants and outlets, both in and outside of North America. Since Ford Motor Company do a significant number of its sales overseas, the company’s revenue is majorly increased due to the fluctuation in exchange rate. Although the recent credit crisis and global economic meltdown proved to be a hurdle, but the impact was offset by prudent risk management and apt allocation of capital investment. The gross profit to sales ratio for the year ended De cember 31, 2011 was 6.37% which has decreased by notably during the current year. The increase in the profit is due to the fact that during the current year the company did not spend any exceptional cost which it incurred during the prior year on strategic restructure. In addition, the company took strong measures to control its finance cost during the

Healthcare post merger analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Healthcare post merger analysis - Essay Example Consolidation in this industry is essential for its sustainable growth in the long run and to meet the emerging challenges in the industry in terms of huge investment and infrastructural facilities needed to cope up with the increased demand in the society for healthcare services. Evaluation of financial performance Study by Healy, Palepu & Ruback (1990) found that â€Å"The results indicate that merged firms have significant improvements in asset productivity relative to their industries after the merger, leading to higher post-merger operating cash flow returns.† The criteria for evaluating financial performance of the organizations post-merger are multifarious depending upon the type of organization and its objectives. However, in a typical company running on profit basis, return on investment post merger is an important criterion for evaluation of financial performance from the shareholders’ point of view. There are mergers also taking place between for profit and n ot for profit organizations. Financial and operating ratios as performance measures are adopted by the organizations for industry comparison as well as comparison with the historical performance. Of which, the following are the important ratios used for measuring performance in term of profitability. Return on assets : Net Income / Total Assets Return on equity : Net Income / Shareholders’ equity Return on capital employed : Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)/(Equity + Debt) Similarly, Earnings per Share (EPS), liquidity ratios, Cash flow ratios can be calculated for analysis and comparison. Budgetary analysis as a tool for evaluation will be effective as it reveals variances. This will enable the management to compare actual with the budgeted performance for exploring the reasons for variances and take corrective actions wherever necessary. Kumar (2012) stated â€Å"Between 1985 and 2007, 51 large companies in the industry consolidated into only 10 organizations†¦ they are effective methods of cutting costs.† Reduction in number of employees post merger, legal expenses, management cost and marketing costs are some of the areas where cost cutting is possible in the merged entity. Determinants of financial results post-merger It is important to determine whether or not the merger generated favourable financial results for the organization post merger. Section of Antitrust Law (2003, p.7-8) states â€Å"The size of the geographic will determine the number of competitors in the market, their market shares, and the likelihood of anticompetitive effects. Geographic definition issues have determined the outcome of the majority of hospital merger decisions.† Apart from improvements in operational performance due to synergies created in merger and environmental factors, it is important to note that the method of accounting, for example, purchase or acquisition method adopted for merger or type of financing (equity or debt) the merger has significant impact on the results of the merged organization from investment angle. Therefore, instead of profitability ratios, adopting pretax cash flows and increase or decrease thereof,

4) Discuss the differences in Religious Jurisprudence between of Essay

4) Discuss the differences in Religious Jurisprudence between of Sunnites and Shiites - Essay Example This has caused sometimes fights among the vast population of Muslims in the Islamic countries. As per the records available, Prophet Muhammad died in the year 632 A.D. His death left a gap for the political leadership of the Muslim community, with regard to succession of the prophet. The debate over the selection of the successor left mainly two choices with the Muslim masses. While one choice was to find a pious person who would follow the percepts of Islam and principals laid out by the prophet, other view point was to find the successor from the bloodline of the prophet itself. The first Caliph named as Abu Bakr, who was a close associate of the prophet was announced after this debate. However, some of the Muslims did not support this decision, although majority was in its favor. Prophet Muhammad had a daughter named Fatima whose husband, Ali ibn Abi Talib was very active during the lifetime of the prophet. However, he did not have the required seniority to replace the prophet after his death. In any case, a certain sect of the Muslims opined that this son-in-law of the prophet should succeed him. Even among the followers of Ali, some voices supported the name of Abu Bakr as successor. Thereafter, two Caliphs, Umar and Uthman, who were seen as legitimate successive Caliphs by the majority of the Muslims, succeeded Abu Bakr. However, the separatist voices supporting Ali had not died down completely and some of the Ali’s supporters killed the third Caliph, Uthman in the year 652 A.D.. This resulted in the announcement of Ali as the new Caliph......(1) As the rivalry had already taken roots within the Muslim civilization, Ali was also killed in the year 661 A.D. He had two sons Hassan and Hussein who also died some years later in the battle against Sunnis. This became the cause of the division of the Islamic religion in two sects. The percentage supporting Ali as the Caliph was called Shias and the other majority supporting the earlier Caliphs were

Presentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Presentation - Essay Example Lis poetry has survived through the years and has gained imperishable popularity not only in China, but also developed a good influence in the Western world through translations. This discussion will be about the literary components and illustrations of Li Bai’s poems, particularly focusing on the way he has handled each of his poems, depicting its theme and primary images. The aesthetic sense in his poetic descriptions along with his recurring theme of nature is discussed in detail. Li Bai was born in Sichuan province, in what is now Central Asia, in 701 A.D. In his early years, he led a carefree life as an itinerant wandering throughout China with his companion and co-poet, Du Fu. Living during the mid-Tang Dynasty, which was called the ‘Golden Age of China’, he was influenced by Taoist thoughts. He wished of becoming an official in the dynasty but his family heritage did not provide enough opportunities for it. However, in 742 A. D., he was introduced to the emperor Xuanzong, as a fabled carouser who fascinated the public and aristocrats through his poetic skills. Even though he had little academic knowledge, he was appointed to the Hanlin academy by the Emperor. As a prestigious poet to the ruler, he settled with the Emperor making poetry for him and the academy. However, the revolt, which occurred soon after his elevation, exiled him out of the position. Being a superfluous imaginative poet, his death was also romanticized by a fable in which h is attempt to catch the moon’s light in a river led to his drowning. But, actually he is believed to have died because of his excessive drinking. Li Bai was indeed a legendary poet, with fanciful thoughts and inimitable adeptness in poetry skills. His poems covered a wide spectrum of human emotions and life with in-depth expressions through powerful language delivery. He was indeed a prominent figure in Chinese poetry

Honeywell Outsourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Honeywell Outsourcing - Essay Example oneywell Aerospace, Automation and Control, Specialty Materials and its Transportation Systems which provides consumer car care products which include Prestone, FRAM. The largest of these divisions is Honeywell Aerospace which produces aircraft components, engines, avionics for commercial airlines, business and regional aircrafts and spacecrafts (Honeywell International, Inc., 2006). One of the key issues the company is dealing with today is outsourcing its business and operations. The trend of outsourcing has not been limited to the company but has been indicative of the current trends in almost all industries to cut operations costs. According to Honeywell, its outsourcing is part of its competitive strategy: "As a global technology leader, we must participate in the worldwide economy and open new markets for our products and services, while continuing to recruit and retain a competitive and talented global work force, The result will be a company that stays ahead of the curve; focuses on meeting the needs of our customers; provides challenging opportunities for our employees and sustains growth over the long-term for shareholders." (Frauenheim, 2004). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outsourcing activities of Honeywell International Inc. and to assess the impact of these activities to the company, the industry and the national economy. This is to recognize that the outsourcing or off-shoring policies of a company, especially one of Honeywell’s magnitude influences industries and markets. A study of company, competitor and global outsourcing trends will be utilized. Literature based on industry trends will be compared to global indicators and will be used to approximate the bearing of Honeywell’s outsourcing activities. A SWOT Matrix will be used to illustrate prevailing trends as well as developments that will reflect Honeywell’s long term policies and standpoint on outsourcing. China and Mexico have been chosen by Honeywell since the