Why I Am My Top Strengths And My Greatest Weakness

In the U.S., 48% of children are living in poverty† (Gambrell, Part 1, 2014). Poverty places children at a higher risk for a number of problems, including those associated with brain development and social and emotional development† (Part 1). Evidence-Based Best Practices are crucial for successful literary development in our society. These practices transcend through all socioeconomic statues and different demographics, they remove the disadvantages some may face and create an environment that promotes equity and equality. The Evidence-Based Practices presented, thoroughly represent the elements that are necessary for literary success. Ten Evidence-Based Practices were discussed in our book. For the sake of this short evaluation, I will only be discussing the practices that I believe to be my top strengths and my greatest weakness. However, I do believe that all elements listed are incredibly important. The list, in my opinion, was complete and impressive. I agreed with all statements and felt no need to add any additional practices. In order for a classroom to flourish, most or all of the practices discussed must be present. Number one, I find to be of greatest importance. â€Å"Create a classroom culture that nurtures literacy motivation by integrating choice, collaboration, and relevance into literacy tasks† (Gambrell, Part 1, 2014). It is empowering to be given a choice. It is important to give students the opportunity to review material that encourages them to engage inShow MoreRelatedStrengths And Strengths Of Leadership Essay1180 Words   |  5 PagesStrengths Quest Theological Reflection Should psychologists and counselors focus on what is right or wrong with a person? The strengths theory is used to identify individual strengths - or what is right - in a person so he or she can accentuate and develop those strengths. This theory is developed on the principle of positive psychology, and basically studies what is right in a person rather than what is wrong with a person. Psychologists created this theory after studying top achievers. Top achieversRead MoreInterview Qa1691 Words   |  7 Pagesquestion and answer: What are your goals for the future?(how do you see yourself five years from now?) †¢ My long-term goals involve growing with a company where I can continue to learn, take on additional responsibilities, and contribute as much of value as I can. †¢ I see myself as a top performing employee in a well-established organization, like this one. I plan on enhancing my skills and continuing my involvement in (related) professional associations. Are you overqualified for this job? †¢ As you noteRead MoreInterview Qa1683 Words   |  7 Pagesand answer: What are your goals for the future?(how do you see yourself five years from now?) †¢ My long-term goals involve growing with a company where I can continue to learn, take on additional responsibilities, and contribute as much of value as I can. †¢ I see myself as a top performing employee in a well-established organization, like this one. I plan on enhancing my skills and continuing my involvement in (related) professional associations. Are you overqualified for this job? †¢ As youRead MoreReflective Journal : Nurse Manager Position1595 Words   |  7 Pagesmanager role has been a slow but sure process in my career. Being a nurse for 26 years, I transitioned into a leadership role about three years ago. Emergency room nursing has been my background for the past 22 years, then about five years ago began to think about leadership. As a resource to the staff, it was challenging trying to manage a full patient assignment. It was apparent that I was having trouble satisfying my coworkers in addition to patients; I also became heavily involved with committeeRead MoreSample Resume : Publix Bakery Department Manager1271 Words   |  6 Pagesmanager? â€Å"Yes. I started as a baker in 2011. I learned about the great opportunities that came with management so I learned all I could about the job.† 2. We’ve learned that the three levels of managerial levels are: frontline/operational, tactical, and strategic. Were you a frontline manager before moving to your current level of management? â€Å"Yes. I was an Assistant Bakery Manager. I managed the day-to-day roles and production. I managed our sales and adjusted production when needed. I made sure theRead MorePersonal Leadership Development Pl An Effective Leader2261 Words   |  10 Pagesleader â€Å"(Maxwell, 1993, p. 171). Successful leadership cannot be constructed without this crucial building block. My leadership philosophy is based upon life experiences, successes, and failures. In order to be a great leader, I must establish a plan; a map that plans a route to reach organization and the appropriate skills and knowledge necessary. As an effective leader, I must define my mission and continuously communicate with followers. Throughout the class, People Development Strategies ThatRead MoreQuantitative And Quantitative Analysis On Chemical Reactions1401 Words   |  6 Pagesdetermine the efficiency of specific reactions. b) I used several problem solving strategies throughout this chemistry unit in order to determine which ones more the most efficient and effective for me. The first strategy I used to perform calculations was to layout a plan for myself prior to beginning the question. In order to do this, I had to comprehend the question and decide what approach would be the most effective for that problem. I would then write out all of the given information andRead MoreEssay on Mid Term Case Study1244 Words   |  5 Pagesdeveloped by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer, there are five different approaches to values to deal with moral issues, which are: The Utilitarian Approach: the ethical decision should provides the greatest good for the greatest number; The Rights Approach: the decision should respect the moral rights of everyone; The Fairness or Justice Approach: the decision progress should treats everyone the same unless there is a justifiable reason not to, and does notRead MorePersonal Note On Personal Profile1488 Words   |  6 PagesThree Journal Personal Profile Driven, strong, and tactful are the three power words I choose to descries my personally. I am generally pretty ambitious person, and when I set my mind to something I won’t stop until I feel like I reached my objective. The weighty thing to me is that I’m not motivated by folks admiration and I’m not bogged down by folks disapproval. I’m just trying to work at the ultimate stage I can. For me, being strong is just about being able to stick it out through great hardshipRead MoreThe Electronic Health Record ( Ehr )1920 Words   |  8 PagesAn external strength is the availability of new technology in the workplace. There are many emerging technologies that will change the practice of nursing in the coming decade including genetics and genomics, less invasive and more accurate tools for diagnosis and treatment of diseases, 3-D printing, robotic simulations, biometrics, electronic health records, and even computerized physician order sets (Huston, 2013). Thi s skill set is forecasted to become even more essential in the coming years.

Capital Punishment Treat People the Way You Want to Be...

Every year, thousands of murders occur in the United States and all across the world. According to Wesley Lowe, during the temporary suspension of capital punishment between 1965 and 1980 alone, the annual murders in the United States jumped from 9,960 to 23,040. (Lowe, 2011). If you or one of your loved one became one of these statistics, wouldn’t you want justice? Now, capital punishment is in full effect and has slowly started to decrease that statistic. John McCrae, John Miller, Michael Lawrence, Donald Dillbeck, and Edward Kennedy all have one thing in common, death. Each of these men have committed numerous murders, only to be put on parole to kill again. (Lowe, 2011). For people that are against capital punishment, how are these†¦show more content†¦This is the intent of capital punishment. McCrae, Miller, Lawrence, Dillbeck and Kennedy were just of few examples of murderers that were released and able to kill again. (Lowe, 2011). Each perpetrator was arrested for murder, and then released on parole. If these men had been put on death row, they wouldn’t have had a chance to kill again. Supporters of the death penalty are in favor of making examples out of offenders (Capital Punishment, 2013). If people know that they can commit a crime (murder) and know they will only serve a short sentencing before getting out of jail again, then they won’t feel like they’re risking anything by doing it. On the othe r hand, if someone knows that they could be facing death when certain crimes are committed, they would be more likely to weigh their outcomes before doing so. Although the fear of the death penalty is an obvious Manifest function, other functions are not so clear. In Society: The Basics, the twelfth edition, Macionis states that Merton also coined the Latent Functions, which are unintended and unrecognized consequences of a social pattern. (p. 11). In today’s society, technology has become an uprising testimony. As our world has advanced in the technological field, it has also allowed for strong evidence to support or not support a suspect. Investigators are able to use DNA test,Show MoreRelatedshould the death penalty be reinstated in the uk?1239 Words   |  5 Pagessaid that at least 17,833 people are under the sentence of the death penalty worldwide as of 31 December 2010. The death penalty or otherwise known as the capital punishment is a legal process where a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. Currently it is only allowed in 32 states and has come to discussion if the death penalty should be rein stated back in the UK. The death penalty is never the right choice. In America last year fifty three people were executed, and at thisRead MoreThe Ethics of Capital Punishment Essay1608 Words   |  7 Pageshumans life? It is a question most people have the answer for when it comes to capital punishment. Capital punishment is known to some people one of the cruelest punishment to humanity. Some people believe giving a person the death penalty does not solve anything. While others believe it is payback to the criminal for the crime they have committed. There have been 13,000 people executed since the colonial times, among 1900 and 1985 there were 139 innocent people sentence to death only 23 were executedRead MoreThe Death Penalty Is The Right Step Toward Justice Essay1591 Words   |  7 Pages Dead Wrong There are vast differences in the way people view the death penalty. Some oppose it and some agree with it. There have been many studies trying to agree or disagree with the death penalty. Some have noted the death penalty as a deterrent, and some have noted it as state sanctioned murder and not civilized. The death penalty has been attributed to societies for hundreds of years. More recently, as we become more civilized, the death penalty has been questioned if it is the right stepRead MoreAn Argument For The Death Penalty Essay1173 Words   |  5 PagesThe death penalty has become one of the more controversial discussions in America. There are two different perspectives when it comes to this controversial subject, the pros and the cons; people in America are either against the death penalty or for it. The common saying â€Å"treat others how you wanted to be treated† plays a vital part. I truly believe if a person is big enough to kill someone on purpose and take away not only a family member but a life as well, they are big enough to face death themselvesRead MoreEssay about Capital Punishment and The Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon1003 Words   |  5 PagesCapital punishment dates back to 18th century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon. Under this code twenty five crimes, excluding murder, were punishable by death. In historical data, the first death penalty was imposed to offender who was blamed for magic in 16th century BC Egypt (Regio, 1997). Unfortunately, death penalty is still practiced in some countries. For example, in Egypt recently on 24 March 2014, Minya Criminal Court imposed death penalty to 529 followers of Egyptian ex-presidentRead MoreThe Death Penalty Is Wrong847 Words   |  4 Pagesexecute criminals. However, the U.S. has kept capital punishment because it deters criminals from committing murders that place them in the position of the death penalty. However, the death penalty is wrong. No one deserves to have their life taken away by another human, even if they are guilty of murder. Death penalties are first recorded in the eighteenth century B.C.E. In the eleventh century C.E., William â€Å"the Conqueror† would only allow people to be hanged in cases of murder. In 1608, CaptainRead MoreKant s Categorical Imperative Of Universal Laws And Humanity1440 Words   |  6 PagesKant’s Categorical Imperative of Universal Laws and Humanity People have an intrinsic worth above mere things or possessions. In order for people to cohabitate peacefully and respectively, there’s a need for universal laws based on good will and absolute moral beliefs. It is this moral belief which is based on reason and must be uniformly abided by. This allows humanity to function as an amicable society; an amicable society that is achieved by treating ourselves and others with respect andRead MoreThe Death Penalty Should Remain Lawful1565 Words   |  7 Pagesbefore they give you a lethal injection, they swab your arm with alcohol! [†¦] Well, they don’t want you to get an infection† (Carlin). Ironically, prisoners are treated more humanely when they are on Death Row than if they were standard prisoners. The current process allows for the prisoner to be killed, but is an attempt to prevent degradation of human life. Although the current regulations on the death penalty adhere to the Eighth Amendment (a ban on cr uel and unusual punishment), many are upsetRead MoreThe Dilemma Of The Death Penalty1703 Words   |  7 PagesUtilitarianism and Deontology, present arguments in light of both, and proceed to show why Deontology offers the best insights into the justification for the death penalty. The death penalty, also known as â€Å"capital punishment†, is, â€Å"the sentence of execution for murder and some other capital crimes (serious crimes, especially murder, which are punishable by death).† (Death Penalty Law, Law And Legal Definition). The death penalty has existed in America since colonial times; however, attempts to abolishRead MoreExamine the Key Ideas Associated with Law and Punishment1930 Words   |  8 PagesExamine the key ideas associated with law and punishment Law and Punishment go hand in hand. There are Laws, which are the system of rules which a particular country or community recognises as regulating the actions of followers, and there are punishments, for when a member of said country/community breaks the rules. Punishment is defined as the infliction of a penalty or to cause pain for an offence. Most of the time it is not a choice as to whether you are part of a law-following community because

Phlebotomy free essay sample

IntroductionThe career that I am interested in is phlebotomy. I have chosen this career because Iintend to be a nurse. For a career in the nursing field you will have to be certified and capable ofdrawing blood from a patient for clinical or medical testing. Phlebotomist are â€Å"highly trainedtechnicians who collect blood and other fluid samples from pediatric and adult patients†Affordances and DrawbacksBeing trained as a phlebotomist would be an affordance because it â€Å"is a vital part oftodays ultra-modern and vast health care industry† (BLS, 2008,np). People use these trainedtechnicians every day. There for if you are trained and certified, hospitals, doctors, and evenprisons will be looking to hire you. After doing a lot of research I found that a drawback of thiscareer is that â€Å"dissatisfaction is related to the lack of respect from nurses and a limited careerpathway†Where you work. I am sure that it is a very stressful work setting. We will write a custom essay sample on Phlebotomy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Surely the stress would bemore significant when you’re in a hospital setting. Also another drawback would be having todraw blood from a child or infant. Being a mother I never want to hurt a sick child, but if I domy job well and dont hurt them too much hopefully I can help them get better.Growth Potential and Income PotentialAccording to the (California Department of Public Health, 2013, p1) there are threedifferent types of phlebotomy certification â€Å"limited phlebotomy technician, they are authorizedto do skin puncture and blood collection only. Certified phlebotomy technician 1, they areauthorized to do venipuncture and skin punctures, and certified phlebotomy technician 2, theyare authorized to do venipuncture, arterial puncture and skin puncture†. So there is obviously alot of growth potential. A certified phlebotomy technician 2 makes about $10,000 more a yearthan a limited phlebotomist. According to the (occupational employment statistics, 2012, p4)Nevada is a high paying state for phlebotomist. The yearly wage is â€Å" $34,070 $38,750 a year†. The hourly wage is â€Å"$18.48†. That is enough money for me. Also being a phlebotomist wouldfurther me into my nursing career which has a much greater salary.Job SatisfactionTo be satisfied at any job I believe you must be an outgoing person and willing to workwith anyone. Even though there has been reports of job dissatisfaction, stress, and burnout(Kluger, M.T. , Bryant J., 2008, p3). Someone has to do this job to try and keep our societyhealthy. I believe that I would be great at this job. It would make me feel a sense ofaccomplishment to be helping the world live a healthier life. All jobs will be stressful at onepoint or another. People who work at mc Donald’s experience the same amount of stress as anurse. It all depends on your attitude and what you want in your work life.ConclusionWhen I started researching this career there were some things that I did not know. Themost interesting thing that I discovered was that drawing blood on yourself can be â€Å"a rare formof self-mutilation† (Faulconer, E. House, M.,2001,vol 55, no3). In this case study there was awoman who had intrusive suicidal thoughts. To sooth these feelings she looked up autophlebotomy on the internet and learned how to draw her own blood. Then she would withdraw250cc of blood and wash it down the sink. She did this so often that she was miss diagnosedwith â€Å"severe iron deficient anemia† (Faulconer,E., House,M.,2001,vol 55,no 3). After all myresearch I have decided that this is the job for me because according to the (BLS,2008,np)you’re looking for a dynamic career that shows real growth potential, phlebotomy may be justthe job for you!

Rocket Engines Essays - Rocket Propulsion, Spacecraft Propulsion

Rocket Engines One of the most amazing endeavors man has ever undertaken is the exploration of space. A big part of the amazement is the complexity. Space exploration is complicated because there are so many interesting problems to solve and obstacles to overcome. You have things like: The vacuum of space Heat management problems The difficulty of re-entry Orbital mechanics Micrometeorites and space debris Cosmic and solar radiation Restroom facilities in a weightless environment And so on... But the biggest problem of all is harnessing enough energy simply to get a spaceship off the ground. That is where rocket engines come in. Rocket engines are on the one hand so simple that you can build and fly your own model rockets very inexpensively (see the links at the bottom of the page for details). On the other hand, rocket engines (and their fuel systems) are so complicated that only two countries have actually ever put people in orbit. In this edition of How Stuff Works we will look at rocket engines to understand how they work, as well as to understand some of the complexity. The Basics When most people think about motors or engines, they think about rotation. For example, a reciprocating gasoline engine in a car produces rotational energy to drive the wheels. An electric motor produces rotational energy to drive a fan or spin a disk. A steam engine is used to do the same thing, as is a steam turbine and most gas turbines. Rocket engines are fundamentally different. Rocket engines are reaction engines. The basic principle driving a rocket engine is the famous Newtonian principle that "to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". A rocket engine is throwing mass in one direction and benefiting from the reaction that occurs in the other direction as a result. This concept of "throwing mass and benefiting from the reaction" can be hard to grasp at first, because that does not seem to be what is happening. Rocket engines seem to be about flames and noise and pressure, not "throwing things". So let's look at a few examples to get a better picture of reality: If you have ever shot a shotgun, especially a big 12 guage shot gun, then you know that it has a lot of "kick". That is, when you shoot the gun it "kicks" your shoulder back with a great deal of force. That kick is a reaction. A shotgun is shooting about an ounce of metal in one direction at about 700 miles per hour. Therefore your shoulder gets hit with the reaction. If you were wearing roller skates or standing on a skate board when you shot the gun, then the gun would be acting like a rocket engine and you would react by rolling in the opposite direction. If you have ever seen a big fire hose spraying water, you may have noticed that it takes a lot of strength to hold the hose (sometimes you will see two or three firemen holding the hose). The hose is acting like a rocket engine. The hose is throwing water in one direction, and the firemen are using their strength and weight to counteract the reaction. If they were to let go of the hose, it would thrash around with tremendous force. If the firemen were all standing on skateboards, the hose would propel them backwards at great speed! When you blow up a balloon and let it go so it flies all over the room before running out of air, you have created a rocket engine. In this case, what is being thrown is the air molecules inside the balloon. Many people believe that air molecules don't weigh anything, but they do (see the page on helium to get a better picture of the weight of air). When you throw them out the nozzle of a balloon the rest of the balloon reacts in the opposite direction. Imagine the following situation. Let's say that you are wearing a space suit and you are floating in space beside the space shuttle. You happen to have in your hand a baseball. If you throw the baseball, your body will react by moving away in the opposite direction. The thing that controls the speed at which your body moves away is the weight of the baseball that you throw and the amount of acceleration that you apply to it. Mass multiplied by acceleration is force (f = m * a). Whatever force you apply to the baseball will be

Organizational Chart free essay sample

Staff Training Crew Crew Members Crew Members Website Designers Website Designers Delivery Staff Delivery Staff Customer Service Customer Service Cleaners Cleaners An organisational chart shows the main parts of the organisation, and the relationship between the various parts. McDonalds’ organisational chart is hierarchal. It’s also tall because it has more than 3 levels. The reason why this is a tall structure is because McDonald’s is a big company with restaurants all over the world, so they need people in every country to make sure that the businesses is making profit and progress.Organisational structure Organisational structure set out important aspects of how communication will take place. For example: managers, supervisors and assistants would report to senior managers where they would report to board of directors. Also board of directors sets out the strategy, then senior managers are giving targets to staff that works in McDonald’s so they can achieve them. We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Chart or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The purpose of organisational structure is to share the work so everyone knows what they are doing and to establish lines of control and communication.McDonald’s divided people into: managers, team leaders, staff training crew, cleaners, customer service, restaurant manager, etc. It helps to control organisational activities. Types of organisational structure: * Geographical area: McDonald’s has its restaurants all over the world. In order to make it work they had to hire people to run the business in every country that they operate. * Function: Span of control Span control is the amount of employees a manager has direct line authority over. Organisational chart- MacMillan Cancer Support

Spontaneous Process Definition and Examples

Spontaneous Process Definition and Examples In a system, whether it be in chemistry, biology, or physics there are spontaneous processes and nonspontaneous processes. Spontaneous Process Definition A spontaneous process is one that will occur without any energy input from the surroundings. It is a process that will occur on its own. For example, a ball will roll down an incline, water will flow downhill, ice will melt into water, radioisotopes will decay, and iron will rust. No intervention is required because these processes are thermodynamically favorable. In other words, the initial energy is higher than the final energy. Note how quickly a process occurs has no bearing on whether or not it is spontaneous. It may take a long time for rust to become obvious, yet when iron is exposed to air, the process will occur. A radioactive isotope may decay instantly or after thousands or millions or even billions of years. Spontaneous Versus Nonspontaneous Energy must be added in order for a nonspontaneous process to occur. The reverse of a spontaneous process is a nonspontaneous process. For example, rust doesnt convert back into iron on its own. A daughter isotope wont return to its parent state. Free Energy and Spontaneity The change in Gibbs free energy for a process may be used to determine its spontaneity. At constant temperature and pressure, the equation is: ΔG ΔH - TΔS Where ΔH is the change in enthalpy and ΔS is the change in entropy. If ΔG is negative, the process is spontaneous.If ΔG is positive, the process is nonspontaneous (but would be spontaneous in the reverse direction).If ΔG is 0 then the process is at equilibrium and no net change is occurring over time.

Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Politics - Essay Example In a while we will be discussing the details of these problems, with particular focus on the depletion of ozone layer, endangered species and hazardous wastes as described by science. One striking feature of these environmental problems is being global in nature. It does not merely cover one territory and cannot be entirely solved by an effort of one or few countries. Environmental science has coined the term, â€Å"transboundary† to refer to both environmental problems and solution which cross borders (David Humphreys 201). The term is specifically used for the environmental policy of protected areas, in which â€Å"a viable population of an endangered species, or provide sufficient land area for a vulnerable ecosystem, in a way that simply might not be possible by national level action alone† (David Humphreys). The global nature of the problem indeed calls for a global solution. The question that this paper wishes to answer is whether this global environmental problems can be solved effectively by international agreements. But before this, it would be fitting to ask if an international agreement is in the fist place possible. On the study of three environmental problems plus climate change, we will look at the definition of effectiveness of environmental policy to provide us with the standard of assessing current international policies. We will also need to take a look at how the problems are defined such as what exactly do the terms ‘depletion of ozone layer’, ‘endangered species’ and hazardous wastes mean. To arrive at the conclusion, we will have a close examination of the international agreements done so far and assess them carefully of indeed they have been effective. Lastly, we will assess the strengths and the constraints of international agreement on environmental policies. A Warming World, a book that tackles on the climate change issue and the policies adopted by the

Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Response - Essay Example However, a society can be racist even if only a very small number (or even none!) of its members hold racist beliefs. Racism in a society gets often influenced by ignorance, legal system, family settings, economic scramble, among other factors. When a society where by a small number of its members exists, there stands a danger of infection of the small group to infect the larger non racist group. The racist group of people may also bring up their children under the racism grounds hence transmitting the social problem to their generations to come. If the racist group practices racism against their no racist counterparts, they may induce or stimulate counter racism in return. This may worsen or amplify the racism situation in the society (Shah). On the other hand, in a situation where no racist individuals exist in a society (which many scholars believe is hard), new emergences may arise due to various reasons. The first and the most obvious are the emergence of new racist members in the society. In his article, Shar argues that social settings are dynamic and liable to continuous change forever (Shah). These changes get influenced by the arrival of new members as one of the factors. The devastating thing is that this ethical society cannot stop people from coming to their society. Social grouping of one or particular group without considering racial participation equality may induce racism. Starting up a social group of a particular race may not even start up racism believes among them toward other races, but also induce the same believes among the other group that stands not included in this racial group (Shah). Therefore, a careful consideration should be taken when making social groups, institutions and employment to make sure that racial equality stands fair. Some government policies may also be effective in curbing racism while others promote it. The old Immigration Law in the US and apartheid system in South Africa, have promoted

Theme of discovery in the Murder, The Dead and Clay Essay Example for Free

Theme of discovery in the Murder, The Dead and Clay Essay In the three short stories, you can see how all of the characters are discover their destiny, and become self-aware of their condition. In the Dead this is extremely obvious, as Gabriel (the main character), after misreading several signals that were supposed to warn him about the mood his wife was in, realises that he actually does not understand the person he had married, and that he had been fooling himself both intellectually and emotionally. By trying to escape from that paralysis that affected all of Ireland, as the excess of patriotism symbolised by Miss Ivors would prevent him from taking advantage of what the continent offers, he also prevented himself from learning about what he already had. He does not understand his wife, and he never really manages to escape from Irelands influence anyway, what becomes obvious when seeing his reaction towards Miss Ivors accusation. All of these things allow him to realise that, as he will never free himself, he might as well accept his destiny, by starting his journey towards westward. His paralysis now will be complete, what is symbolised by the snow, which falls all over Ireland. In the Clay, another James Joyce story, Maria (the main character) also discovers their destiny and what that predestined condition entitles. It also involves paralysis and the impossibility of breaking that cycle. This time though it is symbolised by the clay she founds in the saucer that was supposed to tell her what destiny awaited her, and, after a second try, a prayer book. I believe that the clay means that she has nothing to expect from the future, nor travel nor marriage. She has no liberty and no chance to develop. Besides, she is obviously not used to be treated nicely because, although she has a great heart, she also has this witch-like appearance, what drives men away. Her reaction when her friends are teasing her, or when a gentleman is nice to her in the bus, shows how much she really wants to really get married. The clay also symbolises death and the prayer book that religion will probably be involved, maybe a convent, before this end finally arrives. That is why her friends get annoyed at the joke made by the pair of girls, because they also realise this. Her song at the end, which is encircled by a dreamy mood, proves that she is not ignorant of her position either. It is also a vicious, unbreakable circle the one that traps and paralyses the actions of the protagonists of The Murder. It is the one caused by cultural differences and the fact that they live in an enclosed society, what limits their individual freedom. Their existence is confined both intellectually and emotionally, and there is also a limit to how much their perspective develops. From the moment that Jelkas father tells Jim that she will not respect him if he does not hit her, and he ignores this advice, she is bound to betray him. This is because this limit in their personal development does not allow her to realise what a life outside her cultural context has to offer. It defines her, it traps her into a defined pattern, one she cannot escape even by marrying outside it and Jim does not understand this. That is why he feels so frustrated inside his marriage, and seeks for outside company. His own background, so simple, is what blinds him from the way of reaching her heart and become a real couple. Is also that difference he cannot accept, as from the beginning we can notice that he is prejudiced against her family what proves how simple his background is, one that does not accept things to be different, that seeks continuity. There is also an element of island mentality that characterises the three stories. Everything is isolated and therefore you do not have as a wide perspective of things as you could. In The dead is a literal island, Ireland. I believe that in Clay, although it also occurs in Dublin, Joyce is actually means to create an isolated circle of people that she knows and places than she visits. These define more her world, as she knows nothing else. In The Murder the kind of rural and isolated society they live in is also quite isolated from external influence, and it revolves solely on the happenings of the towns and farms. People do not know or care of the world outside that small community. In addition to this, we have the element of learning, which is also a common factor in all of the stories, and it is innate in the term discovery. In The Dead is Gabriel the one who learns that he knows nothing, the one who comes to understand that he does not know the woman he married. Yet, I believe that this understanding and this acceptance of his position, which I mentioned earlier is actually pushing him backwards. He tried to move forward, he could not, but it was too difficult to stay in the middle, and intellectually is suffering a regression. In Clay Maria learns her limitations and learns to live with her dreams while, in the Murder is actually the reader who learns something, as the characters cannot do so as they are trapped in that never ending vicious circle that their upbringings and their condition forced them to enter.

The Importance Of E Commerce In Globalization

The Importance Of E Commerce In Globalization In the new era of Globalization, new opportunities for countries economic growth are knocking the doors, the new trends of market open the way for new countries to emerge and enhance their economies, for the common Ultimate goal of better well being. Kazakhstan, as the one of participant of global processes of development of e-commerce, aspires to occupy the appropriate place in this market. The analysis of information‘s application and communication technologies was carried out by the programs-the Real Monitoring of the Kazakhstan Internet and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Readiness for an Information Society by the Actis Systems Asia in Kazakhstan in 2001. The results of the analysis have shown the following representations about the Kazakhstan users of the Internet. The audience of the Internet in Kazakhstan is submitted in the basic experts in the given sphere, businessmen and students. There are nearly two millions of the men of the adult population living in the large cities. Thus one million, men receives information from the Internet independently or through the intermediaries. Also researches on the users of the Internet on a level of the incomes have shown that the Internet is visited by the persons both with high and low level of income. 2.1 Importance of E-commerce In fact, e-commerce come to be one of the catalysts that can promote the way for better trading and better economy, Mahesh and Vishnu (2005) discuss how E-commerce has a tremendous growth potential and also generates economic growth in the country. Furthermore â€Å"E-commerce promises better business for SMEs and sustainable economic development for developing countries.† (Ruth, 2003) In addition, at the beginning of 2000, Benbasat, Ives and Piccoli conducted a survey of the IS World Community on the â€Å"Electronic Commerce Top Research Questions†. The result of that survey indicates e-commerce success as one of the important electronic commerce research issues. And the measurement of E-commerce success is one of the research questions which are identified in that survey. Alemayehu (2001) Therefore, while implementing e-commerce, we have to measure of E-commerce success to understand where we are now and which factors are more crucial for better implementing. 2.2 Defining and measuring E-commerce â€Å"Electronic commerce or e-commerce refers to a wide range of online business activities for products and services.† (Anita, 2000) â€Å"E-commerce is usually associated with buying and selling over the Internet, or conducting any transaction involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods or services through computer- mediated work.† (Thomas, 2000) â€Å"E-commerce is the use of electronic communications and digital information processing technology in business transactions to create, to transform, and to redefine relationships for value creation between or among organizations, and between organizations and individuals†. (Lallana et al, 2000) Moreover definition of e-commerce is adopted describing internet commerce as â€Å"the sharing of business information, maintaining business relationships and conducting business transactions by means of Internet- based technology.† (Zwasse, 1996) â€Å"The E-commerce improves communication channels a nd provides a virtual interactive environment where the suppliers and customers can exchange information and products.† (Gunasekaran and Ngai, 2005) Also Evans and Wurster (1997) â€Å"acknowledge that e-commerce allows both customers and suppliers to reduce the transactions costs significantly and enables information to reach more people without sacrificing the richness of the content.† 2.3 E-commerce perspectives â€Å"Electronic commerce and its related activities over the internet can be the engines that improve domestic economic well-being through liberalization of domestic services, more rapid integration into globalization of production, and leap-fogging of available technology. Electronic commerce integrates the domestic and global markets from its very inception.† (Catherine L. Mann, 2000) E-commerce often through to refer to the buying and selling of goods through the internet only. However, E-commerce involves much more than electronically mediated financial transactions between organization and customer Chaffey (2002). Table.1 presents range of perspectives regarding what is considered as E-commerce. Table.1 Range of perspectives regarding what is considered as â€Å"E-commerce† (Source from: Kalakota and Winston, 1996) Figure.1 The main objectives usage of the internet in Republic Kazakhstan Source from: Agency on Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Available from www.stat.kz As mentioned before by Chaffey (2002) we can see from the Figure.1 presents range of perspectives regarding what is considered as E-commerce. 2.4 Current situation of E-commerce in Kazakhstan and Korea 2.4.1 Korea â€Å"Korea was an independent kingdom under Chinese suzerainty for most of the past millennium. Following its victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan occupied Korea; five years later it formally annexed the entire peninsula. After World War II, a republic was set up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula while a communist style government was installed in the north. During the Korean War (1950-1953), US and other UN forces intervened to defend South Korea from North Korean attacks supported by the Chinese. An armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along a demilitarized zone at about 38th parallel. Thereafter, South Korea achieved rapid economic growth with per capita income rising to roughly 14 times the level of North Korea.† (Internet World Stats, 2010 Available from: http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia/kr.htm). In Table.3 Internet Usage Statistics is 34,820,000 Internet users as of Sept/08, 70% of the population, according to NIDA. Latest population Estimate: 49,232,844 populations for 2008, according to US Census Bureau. Gross National Income: GNI Per capita is (ppp) US$ 17, 690 (‘06) according to World Bank. Country Area: 99,268 sq.km. Population density is 510 persons per sq.km. 2.4.3 Internet Usage Status According to the 2008 survey by Korean Communications Commission and National Internet Development Agency, Koreas Internet users spend an average of 13, 7 hours per week, in which 69.2% more than half are using the Internet for an average of more than 7 hours per week. 98.5% of the places for using the Internet is surveyed as â€Å"home†, followed by 39,4% at office, 18.7% at no certain places (including wireless access), 13.9% at facility for public access (Internet cafes and game clubs) and 17.1% at â€Å"school† (Figure.1, Table.3) 2.4.4 E-commerce in Korea E-commerce represents online business transactions performed electronically by business subjects utilizing information and communication technology and the Internet. It also represents the related activities of business subjects to fulfill such transactions. Major business subjects can be categorized as individuals, corporations, and governments. The idiom e-commerce is comparable to E-business equally used interchangeably in the field. E-commerce may be regarded as a rather limited term, focusing on the transaction itself as a means of interchanging goods or services. In contrast, e-business includes rather broadly the activity of building IT infrastructure and the application of information technology to business. E-commerce standardization is the process of eliciting related standards from e-commerce industry members. The roadmap for e-commerce standardization is defined as providing guidelines or directions for e-commerce standardization. The intention is to present guidelines for developing e-commerce technologies to e-commerce related parties, such as private corporations, and to convey proper instructions for driving e-commerce standardization systematically and efficiently. To accomplish such objectives, the roadmap should contain the following materials: Outline of e-commerce, e-commerce standards, and standardization; Classification of e-commerce technology; Core elements of e-commerce technology for standardization; Status analysis of core technologies; Selection and timetable of to-be-standardized technology items; Information to project from any previous or future roadmaps The Roadmap project is comprised of three phases, from 2001 to 2003: Phase I: Standards status analysis, overall standards implementation timetable, and 2001 timetable for selected time-sensitive priority standards. Phase II: Status analysis of Phase I results, analysis, and classification of e-commerce technology, selection of individual standard items within each category, and overall 2002 standardization timetables, all taken in strategic approach to e-commerce framework standards. Phase III: Combination of the artifacts of Phase I and Phase II and consideration of changes necessary to produce a final comprehensive version of an e-commerce standards roadmap as a national guideline. The e-business environment changes rapidly and continuously. Although the Forum finished the initial three-phase project and produced a final version, it continues to update the contents of the version on a yearly basis (Jakobs, 2005) à Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒ Ã‚ ±Ãƒ Ã‚ »Ãƒ Ã‚ ¸Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ€˜Ã†â€™ à Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ Ã‚ ½Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾ à Ã‚ ´Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ ±Ãƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒ Ã‚ ²Ãƒ Ã‚ ¸Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€˜Ã…’ à Ã‚ ¿Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾ à Ã‚ ²Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ »Ãƒâ€˜Ã… ½Ãƒ Ã‚ ¼ 2.4.4.1 The volume of E-commerce by type The volume of e-Commerce in Korea reached KRW 516.514 trillion in 2007, which was an increase of KRW 102.930 trillion (24.9%) from 2006. The volume and proportion of each transaction type shows that B2B accounts for 89.9% of the entire businesses with KRW 464.456 trillion, while B2G takes 7.1% with KRW 36.801 trillion. B2C takes 2.0% with KRW 10.226 trillion, and C2C takes 1.0% with KRW 5.032 trillion. Compared to 2006, the transaction volumes have all increased: B2B by 26.8%, B2G by 6.9% and B2C by 12.0% and C2C by 31.5%. B2B: The total B2B e-Commerce transaction volume in 2007 reached KRW 464.456 trillion, which increased 26.8% (KRW 98.264 trillion) from KRW 366.191 trillion in 2006. Of the B2B transactions, buyer-led transactions increased by 21.9% to KRW 321.058 trillion and seller-led transactions increased by 38.3% to KRW 119.246 trillion. Broker-led transactions also increased by 45.2% to KRW 24.152 trillion. The proportions of seller-led and broker-led transactions both increased by 2.2%p and 0.7%p to 25.7% and 5.2% respectively. However, buyer-led transaction showed a decrease by 2.8%p to 69.1% from 71.9% of the previous year. B2G: The 2007 B2G e-Commerce volume of government bodies such as central administrative organizations, local governments, and offices of education accounted for KRW 36.801 trillion, which increased 6.9% from KRW 34.435 trillion in the previous year. Of this amount, the construction contract volume has increased 14.4% (KRW 2.166 trillion), and the purchase volume of goods and services has increased 1.0% (KRW 200 billion) from 2006. B2C/C2C: The B2C e-Commerce transaction in 2007 reached KRW 10.226 trillion after increasing 12.0% from 2006, and the C2C transaction increased 31.5% to KRW 5.318 trillion. The transaction volume through online shopping malls in 2007 has increased by 17.1% (KRW 2.306 trillion) from KRW 13.460 trillion in 2006 to KRW 15.766 trillion. Of this amount, B2C transaction takes the largest portion with 64.9% (KRW 10.226 trillion), 68 followed by C2C 31.9% (KRW 5.032 trillion) and B2B 3.2% (KRW 508 billion) (Informatization White Paper, 2008: 33-35) Informatization White Paper (2008). 2.5 Kazakhstan â€Å"The current independent state of Kazakhstan declared in 1991.It has population of 15. 4 million people with a land mass of 2.7 million square kilometers. The GNI per capita was 1860 Euro in 2005, according to the World Bank. Kazakhstan is the constitutional republic with a President and bicameral legislature. The country consists of 14 provinces and 3 municipal districts.† (McNamee, 2006) According to independent research company ICT-Marketing (2010) held its annual study of internet audience in Kazakhstan. The results shown that for 2009 number of internet users were 3.16 million people, or 19.8 % of population. Furthermore 80% of internet users are using ADSL connection. As it stated by ESCAP: â€Å"In 2000, there were first Kazakhstan online shops. The online shops conduct the retail trade in consumer goods. Their quantity is increased with each month. Priority task is the connection of Kazakhstan to the international system of e-trade. Through this system, it is possible to unit interests of the clients (consumers of the goods and services) and trade organizations of the various countries. Now there are following systems of information interaction between the subjects of economic activity: Inter firm business-to-business, intercompany, consumer business-to-consumer, governmental government-to-citizens, tender business-to-government, and auction consumer-to-consumer.† (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the pacific, 2002) 2.5.1 ICT Infrastructure The low Internet penetration rate is mainly due to the lack of competition and of modern equipment in the telecommunications sector. In order to continue the promising growth in terms of Internet access, the government has run a program for the development of the telecommunications sector in 2005. The program includes a phased liberalization of telecommunications market to achieve a competitive environment by allowing new operators to enter the market. In addition the telecommunications infrastructure is being modernized by using state-of-the-art technologies such as fiber-optic cables. In implementing the program for development of the telecommunications sector, accessibility to the Internet will be improved especially in remote areas. At the same time, increased bandwidth and affordable rates for Internet access will contribute to improve the quality and increasing the use of the Internet in the business sector as well as in private households. 2.6 E-commerce in Kazakhstan 2.6.1 Current situation â€Å"Kazakhstan, as the participant of global processes of development of e-commerce, aspires to occupy the appropriate place in this market. The country has favorable geographical location for transit of flows of materials, power, human and information between Europe and Asia. It is the basis for successful development of e-commerce in Kazakhstan. Another basis for development of e-commerce is desire to improve the informational telecommunication network.† (Economic and social commission for Asia and the Pacific, 2002) â€Å"Today in Kazakhstan, there is a sufficient quantity of the companies applying for a rank à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢the supplier of the decisions of e-business. These companies offer various packages of the decisions for development of own business in online.† (Economic and social commission for Asia and the Pacific, 2002) According to independent research company ICT-Marketing (2010) held its annual study of internet audience in Kazakhstan. The results shown that for 2009 number of internet users were 3, 16 million people, or 19, 8 % of population. Furthermore 80% of internet users are using ADSL connection. 2.6.2 Existing issues in Kazakhstan â€Å"The basic reasons of the slowed down rate of development of e-commerce in Kazakhstan are: insufficient quantity of the participants of e-trade, absence of the laws, which adjust the relation to the participants of e-commerce, safety problem for the information, which is transferred through the Internet, insufficient protection of the rights of the consumers in the purchase of the goods and services in the Internet.† (Electronic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 2002) In addition from 2003 year E-commerce Center has been worked on Kazakhstan market. The reason for creating the company was the government regulation of Republic of Kazakhstan of December 13, 2003 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾- 1262 About some issues of Public Procurement Agency of Republic of Kazakhstan, as a result Republican State Public Enterprise E-commerce Center of Financial Control and Public Procurement of Ministry of Finance of Republic of Kazakhstan was created. In 2007 E-commerce center joined the National Scientific and Technological Holding Samgau as a subsidiary company and was reorganized into Ltd E-commerce Center. Nowadays, successful business is looking for new ways of development, and to attract customers and partners worldwide. Internet and commerce have become an integral part of each other, creating the concept of e-commerce. The main activities Ltd. E-Commerce Center are: Development, implementation and support of software and information systems in public procurement; Maintenan ce of the information system of electronic public procurement; Training of staff of organizations participants in the process of public procurement, including training in the system of electronic public procurement; Organizing seminars, conferences in the field of public procurement; Participate in the development of legal and regulatory framework for electronic public procurement; Technical and system services for computer and communications equipment in the field of electronic public procurement; Research in the field of electronic commerce. (E-commerce center, 2010) Source: (http://www.ecc.kz/). 2.6.3 How the market of Kazakhstan is ready to move to e-commerce? The market of Kazakhstan is ready to move to electronic commerce. The state, creating electronic trading platforms and commodity exchanges, in particular, stimulates the development of trade, creating a meeting place for the subjects of trading activity without having to special requirements. The main objective the conclusion of an increasing number of sales transactions. In doing so, the legal regulation on trading floors and commodity exchanges, carried out the internal rules and regulations outside the state financial control and oversight. The establishment in the past year, a portal of electronic public procurement www.goszakup.kz, helped make the first step the transition of Kazakhstan to the electronic trading and commerce at the state level. To provide opportunities for all wishing to make commercial transactions in electronic form, must first establish an adequate world class development and effective in our countrys laws. First steps in this direction have already been taken. However, to date there are still problems associated with not resolving the legislation in the field of electronic digital signature, the problem of the introduction of electronic money and the lack of literacy in information technology. Should be established and effective infrastructure for transactions and contracts in electronic form. And from a practical point of view, a crucial component of the infrastructure of e-procurement systems or electronic trading today is a public procurement portal. We must also remember that the development of electronic commerce to further exacerbating the problem of privacy, as well as the use info comm. technology has greatly facilitated the free collection of personal data and their synthesis of a variety of sources available in electronic networks. E-commerce, including public procurement, operating information, which is commonly called  «private nature of information ». And this is a very fine place in a legal provision where the availability of standards to ensure the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, is the general atmosphere of mutual trust and respect, and, ultimately, the success or failure of development of the entire e-commerce. It should be noted that the concept of public procurement is not smooth and fast. Nevertheless, a number of recently issued regulations on electronic commerce and government procurement systems show a high degree of interest on the part of the state and society to the problem. Conduct of electronic procurement is considered one of the basic public services and is one indicator of progress towards the electronic state. To date, Kazakhstan set up e-government portal. Continues to develop electronic public procurement portal, are becoming more and more use of electronic shops. In any future purchases from government procurement, and ending with the usual purchase of goods and services to citizens, it will be possible to implement in electronic form (www.profit.kz). In Table.6 shown about ICT infrastructure in Republic of Korea and Kazakhstan, which was reviewed before. ICT Infrastructure Korea Kazakhstan Internet Usage: 37,475,800 Internet Users, 77.3% of the population Internet: 12.2million subscribers, 77% of total Households. Access is spreading quickly Doubled their exports of telecommunication equipment between 2000- 2003 A penetration rate of 65.7% In 2003 the Republic of Korea had 26.7 million Pcs High percentages of Internet access by enterprises (94%) Largest proportions of online purchases, of businesses with Internet (45.5%) Enterprises use an intranet (35.2%) Mobile phones: 36.58 million, 76% of population Innovativeness in products and services in South Korea (18th) Internet Usage: 3,160,000 Internet Users, 19.8% of the population Internet penetration rate 8.5% E-Readiness (3.2- 2007 out of 10) 80% of Internet access using ADSL with connection speed starting from 128 to 1024 Kbps High mobile phone penetration growth between 2003 and 2004 Internet access prizes starts from Megaline Start- 1930 Tenge (13$ USD per month, speed 256-1024 Kbps) Megaline Turbo Plus- 5 845 Tenge (40 $ USD per month, speed 1GB-8GB Kbps) Table.6ICT infrastructure in Republic of Korea and Kazakhstan 2.7 Different model of assessing e-commerce 2.7.1 DeLone and McLean Model DeLone and McLean Model of Information System Success (1992), IS Success (2003), Measuring e-commerce Success (2004) In order to provide a general and comprehensive definition of IS success that covers different perspectives of evaluating information systems, DeLone and McLean reviewed the existing definitions of IS success and their corresponding measures, and classified them into six major categories. Therefore, they created a multidimensional measuring model with interdependencies between the different success categories DeLone and McLean (1992). Motivated by DeLone and McLeans call for further development and validation of their model, many researchers have attempted to extend or re-specify the original model. Ten years after the publication of their first model and based on the evaluation of the many contributions to it, DeLone and McLean (2004) proposed an updated IS Success model. â€Å"The updated model consists of six interrelated dimensions of IS Success: information, system and service quality, (intention to) use, user satisfaction, and net benefits. The arrows demonstrate proposed associations between the success dimensions.† (Jang, 2010) â€Å"The IS Success Model of DeLone and McLean (1992) provided a common framework to evaluate IS effectiveness/success in information system research. Between 1993 and mid 1999, the IS Success Model of DeLone and McLean was cited by 144 refereed journal articles and 15 papers from the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS).† (Saha, 2008). DeLone and McLean (1992), prompted to develop a more integrated view of the concepts of success. This resulted in the IS Success Model (Figure.2), which is described as a â€Å"taxonomy of IS success measures† with a number of inter-relationships that are drawn together in a model of six major â€Å"dimensions or categories of IS Success† DeLone and McLeans IS Success Model (1992) have 6 domains, system quality, information quality, use, user satisfaction, individual impact, organization impact, so in Table.3 summary of measured items for the DeLone and McLean Model. An interpretation of the model is as follows: â€Å"System Quality and Information Quality singularly and jointly affect both Use and User Satisfaction†. Additionally, the amount of Use can affect the degree of User Satisfaction. Use and User Satisfaction are direct ante decent of Individual Impact, and this Impact on individual performance should eventually have some organization impact.† (DeLone and McLean, 1992) â€Å"The Updated DeLone and McLean information system success model(Figure.3) can be adapted to the measurement challenges of the new e-commerce world.† (Saha, 2008) This model is based on the updated DeLone and Mclean (2003) original success model. Important modifications to the initial model included: The quality construct of IS Success was extended to include Service Quality. The construct Systems Use was found to be multi-dimensional, e.g., mandatory versus voluntary use. As a result, Intention to Use was added to the model, to differentiate between Systems Use as a behavior as opposed to Intention to Use as an attitude. The constructs of Individual Impact and Organizational Impact were collapsed into a single dimension named Net Benefits. DeLone and McLean (2003). In addition to the improvements described above, the authors also suggest that the updated model provides â€Å"a parsimonious framework to organize the various success metrics identified in the IS and e-commerce literature† DeLone and McLean (2003) Source: Measuring E-commerce success: Applying the DeLone and McLean Information Systems Success Model, 2004 DeLone and Mclean Information Systems Success Model can be used to the measurement challenges of the new e-commerce world. The updated model (Figure.5) consists of six interrelated dimensions of information systems success: System quality, Information quality, Service quality, Use, User satisfaction, Net Benefits. â€Å"The six dimensions of the DeLone and McLean IS Success Model can be applied to the e-commerce environment as follows: 1. System Quality, in the Internet environment, measures the desired characteristics of an e-commerce system. Usability, availability, reliability, adaptability, and response time (e.g., download time) are examples of qualities that are valued by users of an e-commerce system. 2. Information Quality captures the e-commerce content issue. Web content should be personalized, complete, relevant, easy to understand, and secure if prospective buyers or suppliers are to initiate transactions via the Internet and return to a site on a regular basis. 3. Service Quality, the overall support delivered by the service provider, applies regardless of whether the support is delivered by the IS Department or a new organizational unit or is outsourced to an Internet service provider. This dimension is more important in an e-commerce environment than ever before, because the users are now customers rather than employees, and therefore, poor user support will translate into lost customers and lost sales. 4. Usage, measures everything from a visit to Web site and navigation within the site to information retrieval and execution of a transaction 5. User Satisfaction is an important means of measuring customers opinions of an e-commerce system and should cover the entire customer experience cycle from information retrieval through purchase, payment, receipt, and service. 6. Net Benefits, are the most important measures, because they capture the balance of the positive and negative impacts of e-commerce on customers, suppliers, employees, organizations, markets, industries, economies, and even society as a whole.† (DeLone and McLean, 2004) â€Å"Finally, e-commerce studies should include net benefits measures and not be content to collect only surrogate measures, such as Web Site hits (i.e., use). Such benefits can be measured on at least four levels: individual, group, organizational, and industry. These measures become most useful, however, when fitted into an overall structure or framework a framework like the one provided by the DeLone and McLean Information Systems Success Models.† (DeLone and McLean,2004) Source: Measuring E-commerce success: Applying the DeLone and McLean Information Systems Success Model, 2004 2.7.2 Rational behind using DeLone and McLean Success E-commerce Model One of the objectives of this research paper is to identify the success factors of e-commerce. â€Å"A review of articles on e-commerce and electronic data interchange (EDI) in recent academic and trade journals (1992-2002) yielded many suggested measures of e-commerce success. IS and marketing journals were included in the search for e-commerce success metrics. Most of the articles were conceptual in nature, but some were empirical and, therefore, attempted to operationalize e-commerce success metrics.† (DeLone and McLean, 2004) 2.7.3 Current research of other researchers As one of the objectives of this research is to assess and investigate the enhancement factors of Kazakhstan e-commerce, this combination make the study unique, as previous research in this field just provide a quick look with no depth focus on the Kazakhstan E-commerce. There were some studies exploring the weakness and strength of the Kazakhstan E-commerce, and other studies independently investigate the critical factors in E-commerce best practices, however no one tried to measure using E-commerce Success model. Moreover some of the research paper using statistical analysis, according to Griffith (2007) â€Å"statistical analysis is like a sewer. What you get out of it largely depends on what you put into it. There are a few researches about the measurement of e-commerce success.† 2.7.3.1 Chang Liu, Kirk P. Arnett Model of E-commerce Web site success, 2000 â€Å"Websites are being widely deployed commercially. As the widespread use and dependency on Web technology increases, so does the need to access factors associated with the Website success. The objective is to explore these factors in the context of electronic commerce (EC).† (Liu, 2000) â€Å"Webmasters from Fortune 1000 companies were used as the target group for a survey. Four factors that are critical to Website success in EC were identified:

Consider the Scale on Which Payless Operate

MINUTES ON MEETING HELD AT THE CHURCH PREMISES (FIRST GALLERY) ON THE SUNDAY, 2ND September, 2012 MEMBERS PRESENT 1. The President 2. Vice President 3. The 18 Appointed Executives ABSENT 1. 2 Appointed Executives AGENDA 1. President’s address 2. Plan for the year 3. Form of delivery 4. Achievement of plan 5. Setting up single ministries in other branches/Ghana |ITEM NO. |DESCRIPTION |ACTION | | 1. |OPENING | | | |The meeting started at 1: 07 pm with an opening prayer by the President | | | | | | | |INTRODUCTION | | |1. | | | | |The meeting was organized for the newly appointed Singles Executives to deliberate on issues and | | | |propose suggestions pertaining to the Singles Ministry. | | | | | | |PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS | | | | | | |1. |The President welcomed members to the maiden meeting and took a roll call of members present. He | | | |advised that member’s contribution was very vital to the success of the meeting, hence their | | | |opinion will be required duri ng the meeting. | | | | | | |PLAN FOR THE YEAR | | | | | | | |Members proposed the following topics: | | | |1.How to be found | | |2. 0 |2. How to choose a life partner | | | |3. Understanding of single hood | | | |4. Sustaining relationship before marriage | | | |5.Staying holy before marriage | | | |6. Ethics of a family life | | | |7. Love,Romance,Sex | | | |8. What marriage is (concept of arriage) | | | |9. Maximizing your potential as a single (networking) | | | |10. Packaging yourself for the cooperate world | | | |11. Things to say / not say | | | |12.Do’s /don’ts | | | |13. Spirtual aspect of singlehood | | | |14. What is love | | | |15.Is love necessary for marriage | | | |16. Proposing right | | | |17. How women should carry themselves | | | |18.Focus group discussions (men/women ) | | | | | | | |OTHERS | | | |19. Cooking competition | | | |20. Video shows | | | |21.Deliverance section | | |2. 1 |22. Outing (Beach, Sports, Swimming pool: Botifalls, Esukyuari) | | | | | | | |Members were asked by the President to send Emails of topics to Vice President by mid week for | | | |collation. | | | | | | |FORM OF DELIVERY OF PLAN | | | |The plan above will be in action as follows: through | | | |Seminars | | | |Quiz competition | | | |Teaching | | |2. |Sermon | | | | | | | | | | | |ACHIEVEMENT OF PLAN | | | |The achievement of plan will be based on what team members send to Vice President | | | | | | | |TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR MEMBERS | | | | | | |2. 3 |1.Bringing more singles on board (Musical shows, Worship concerts & variety night) , T-shirt, | | | |Target universities | | | | | | | |2. Innovate ways to raise funds | | |2. 4 | |Protocol Team, P. R Team & Organizing | | |3.Get a name for the Ministry |Team | | | | | | |4. Day of meetings/programme | | | | | | | | | | | |5.Implementation of all plans | | | | | | | | | | | |SETTING UP SINGLE MINISTRIES IN OTHER BRANCHES/GHANA | | | | | | | |Involving of other branches and Conferences for Ghana | | | |Will done by the President/Vice President | | | | | | | |MEETING DAYS: | | | |Members agreed that meetings be changed to Saturday nights and the next Single Meeting will be on | | |2. |Saturday, 29th September, 2012 | | | | | | | |Next meeting for Single Executives is Sunday, 16th September, 2012 | | | | |P. R Team & Organizing Team | | |CLOSING | | | |The meeting ended at 1:50pm and Mr. Kelvin Tibu (Praise &Worship Team) gave the closing prayer. |Finance Team | |3. | | | | | |All Executives | | | | | | | |Prayer Team Protocol Team Praise & | | | |Worship Team and Organizing Team | | | | | | | |All Executives | | | | | |4. 0 | | |

Different Type of Budgeting Technique

Budgeting lies at the foundation of every financial plan. It doesn’t matter if you’re living paycheck to paycheck or earning six-figures a year, you need to know where your money is going if you want to have a handle on your finances. Unlike what you might believe, budgeting isn’t all about restricting what you spend money on and cutting out all the fun in your life. It’s really about understanding how much money you have, where it goes, and then planning how to best allocate those funds. Here’s everything you need to help you create a budget using different approach. a)Incremental Budgeting This is where the current budget and actual figures act as the starting point or base for the new budget. The base is adjusted for forecast changes to, for example, the product mix, sales volume, sales price, expenses and capital expenditure that are expected to occur over the next budget period. It is called incremental budgeting as the approach does not focus on the base, but focuses on the increment (the changes from the base). An example would include increasing last years operating expenses by the rate of inflation to calculate the new budgeted figure. The major disadvantage of this is that the major part of the expense (the base) does not change and in fact is overlooked and not questioned under this approach. For example the base figure may be distorted due to extraordinary events in the previous period which are not expected to reoccur. Thus if this is not taken into account, the budget could be misleading. Advantages of Incremental Budgeting Easy to implement If you are looking for a budget that is very simple to implement, incremental budgeting might be for you. You do not have to send your department managers to any special type of training in order to utilize this budgeting system. It is easy to learn and the process can be completed within a very short period of time. Gradual Change One of the benefits of incremental budgeting is that it allows gradual change for the business. If you value gradual change instead of trying to change everything quickly, this type of budget is ideal. Many times, if your business tries to change too fast, it can become unstable and lose sight of what it does best. There are some other benefit regarding the incremental budgeting: * Flexibility–This type of budgeting is very flexible. You can easily do it from one month to the next. This allows you to see change very quickly when you implement a new policy or budget. * Avoid conflict–Companies with many different departments often run into conflict between departments because of their different budgets. With this method of budgeting, it is easier to keep everyone on the same page and avoid conflicts between departments. * The model operates under a stable and predictable system and any change will be gradual. * Managers can operate their departments on a consistent basis. * Conflicts should be easily avoidable if departments can be seen to be treated similarly. It is Appropriate where there is a large number of cost centres/budgets to calculate and forecasts do not change significantly from one year to the next * Co-ordination between forecasts is easier to achieve. * The impact of change can be seen quickly. Disadvantages of Incremental Budgeting * It assumes that activities and methods of working will continue in the same way. * It allows no proper ince ntive for managers to develop new innovative ideas. * Its normally on an upward trend, hence providing no incentive for managers to reduce costs. It encourages spending up to the budget limits so that future estimates are maintained next year. * The forecast may become out of date and no longer relate to the level of activity or type of work being carried out. * The priority for resource allocation may have changed ever since the prior estimates were originally set. * May perpetuate past inefficiencies. In other words incremental budgeting does not cause serious challenge to the status quo of managers concerned because different methods of achieving performance objectives are not put to test * There may be budgetary slack built into the estimates, which is never reviewed. In other words Managers might have overestimated their requirements in the past in order to obtain a forecast which is easier to work towards, and which will allow them to achieve favorable results. * Does not account for change–This method is based on the idea that expenses will run pretty much as they did before. However, in business, this is rarely the case. There are always variables. * No incentives–Such a simple method of budgeting really does not provide your employees with much reason to be creative. They have no incentive to innovate and come up with new ideas or policies. When a budget allows a little extra room for innovation, you might find that your employees come up with something great. * Use it or lose it–Many employees view this as a â€Å"use it or lose it† system. They know that next year's budget is going to be incrementally based on this year's. Therefore, if they do not spend everything that is allocated to them, they may not have enough money to work with next year. This creates an environment where waste is encouraged. (b)Zero Based Budgeting his method was briefly popular during the 1970s but didn’t quite make it as a widely held practice. Yet in today’s current business set-up, the method is being revived and regarded as the better approach. ZBB starts off with practically nothing on which to base one’s budget assumptions. This stands in contrast to the traditional method, in which managers and supervisors calculate their proje ctions by using the previous year’s budget as their baseline. ZBB as a budget preparation method lost its popularity due to the numerous documentation requirements imposed. Managers and supervisors have to justify every projected cost and its purposes, plus the presentation of one or more alternative courses of action, which should be similarly justified. The procedure doesn’t end there, as every proposed budget and its alternatives have to be measured in terms of productivity and efficiency performance, including the results of cost-to-benefits analyses. Moreover, the manager is also required to present the consequences, in case a majority of the top management members would vote against the proposed cost projection. It’s no wonder that ZBB lost its following in its early years, since the procession of numerous calculations, justifications, analyses and documentation are indeed too tedious for comfort. But that was in the '70s, when computerization was still in its budding stage and personal computers were unheard of. Under the current business set-up, in which research and data analyses are common, all those requirements can be produced in a jiffy, by simply using business intelligence capabilities. Inasmuch as the best budget estimations are those that are closest to the real thing, zero-based rojections may finally come of age by getting the support it needs from today’s data marts and data warehouses. (Charles, 1995) Pros and Cons of Zero-based-budgeting This budget preparation method is actually a spin-off of the budget plans introduced during the 1920s. Due to the excesses and corrupt practices of local public officials, the federal government developed a system of controlling the disbursements of public funds by way of a revised budget plan. The success of this method encouraged other industries to adopt the same system. It was modified through the years, along with certain developments in the methods of accounting for manufacturing costs. However, as businesses grew and flourished, the financial managers and accountants became overly burdened by the processes involved in developing ZBB plans. Too much time and effort were being wasted in collecting, summarizing and analyzing recorded data, only to be set aside for future implementations, which oftentimes did not materialize. Despite this drawback, ZBB was regarded as a sensible approach because of its high degree of efficiency in controlling costs and maximizing productivity. In fact, government sectors and non-profit organizations still make use of the ZBB approach, as it allows each organization to visualize the incoming year’s performance based on present trends and conditions. In summarizing all documentation to support the master budget, redundancies in initiatives and functions become more visible and are thus eliminated. Although no longer popular, some industrial companies still make use of a zero-based budgeting approach on a per-department or per-project basis. This is particularly true if the departments or projects require a greater degree of cost leveling, inasmuch as their outputs do not directly contribute to business profitability Financial managers today are hardly affected by the re-emergence of this budget approach, as their trainings are basically founded on methodologies that make use of research and data analysis. Not only that, the advent of PCs and business intelligence applications and tools makes the preparation of supporting documentation as easy as pie, so to speak. All they have to do is click or double-click on their mouses and the BI financial report writers will simply drill-down, drill-around, and drill-through databases and data warehouses or even from web-based browsers to produce reports that will provide up-to-date information. There is spreadsheet integration and its capability to automate calculations, as well as the intelligent trees, process diagrams, and balance scorecards that can establish hierarchies, workflow mapping and key performance indicators. The drawback that was once attributed to the zero-based budget planning method has become part of its history, but its usefulness fits perfectly with the methodologies of the 21st century. (Cantoria, 2011) (c)Rolling Budget Businesses are increasingly using rolling budgets. Also called continuous budgeting, rolling budgets always involve maintaining a plan for a specified time period in the future. To implement rolling budgets, many advocate leveraging new technological resources, which means software. It must be understood that the technology (e. g. , bolt-on software packages) is not the solution. It is a tool by which and an environment in which management can have the opportunity to develop solution sets. Published surveys of financial officers of the largest industrial companies in the United States, Australia, Holland, Japan, and the United Kingdom show a number of interesting similarities as well as differences in budgeting practices across countries. (1) First, the use of master budgets is very widespread in all of these countries. Another significant finding is that financial managers in many countries distinguish between cost behavior patterns–variable versus fixed costs–for a common reason: They want to prepare more meaningful budgets by building flexibility into the model. How do these facts impact the concept of rolling budgets? Rolling budgets always involve maintaining a plan for a specified time period in the future. This result is achieved by adding a new time period in the future as the current time period that ended is dropped. Large companies, such as Electrolux and General Electric, prepare strategic plans and then integrate annual operating budgets that are divided into four-quarter rolling budgets, and smaller high-tech public companies, such as Keithley Instruments in Solon, Ohio, follow a similar pattern of planning. The annual operating budgets are prepared based upon best estimates of what management expects to occur and wants to achieve during the coming year. Flexibility is built into the process by considering how costs and revenues will change if different levels of activity occur (e. g. flexible budgeting), and each quarter's changes are made to reflect changes in the economic and financial environment–things such as what the competition is doing, how the economy is spending for capital goods, and any planned changes in their product mix (adding or dropping a product line). In short, sound managers operate an entity with one eye always on the horizon, and a well-prepared business plan as reflected in a â€Å"flexible rolling budget† can be one of the financial managers' best tools to assist them in their role of planning and controlling the operations of this company. For publicly traded companies, an earnings forecast â€Å"miss† can have an immediate and devastating impact on share price. And for both public and private companies, effective allocation of resources mandates that the organization have the best possible understanding of what the short-term and long-term future brings. The speed of change in today's economy has generated a trend toward adopting continuous forecasting as part of the planning process. While this type of â€Å"rolling forecast† offers many benefits, organizations often have trouble separating their forecast from and coordinating their forecast with the operational budget. Instead of truly forecasting–which ideally should be a higher-level projection–organizations end up preparing mid-year or even quarterly â€Å"re-budgets,† with all of the associated effort. The result is a budget that takes too much time and effort–not a forecast that provides vision and direction. Advantages of Rolling budget No More Free Ride The result: an always-current financial forecast that reflects not only the company’s most recent monthly results but also any material changes to its business outlook or the economy. In addition, it provides fewer opportunities for account directors to ride the coattails of past performance. Although traditional one-year budgets are still the norm at most companies large and small, many accountants argue that rolling budgets can be a far more useful tool. Unlike static budgets, they encourage managers to react more quickly to changing economic developments or business conditions. They discourage what is too often a fruitless focus on the past (â€Å"Why didn’t we meet our numbers? †) in favor of a realistic focus on the future. And they produce forecasts that, over the near term, are never more than a few months old, even when companies are rolling them forward on a quarterly basis—the more common approach—rather than REL’s monthly basis. Implementing rolling budgets doesn’t necessarily require any fundamental change in the way a company has been doing its budgets—except, of course, it no longer does the job just once a year. However, companies that decide to step up to rolling budgets may want to take advantage of the decision to make a change and consider what else they can do to improve the process. After all, if a company can get everyone on board to make such a fundamental change, a further nudge to make the process more effective and efficient in other ways may be possible, too. (Morrow, 2010) The Problem Of Relevance In the view of many accountants, traditional budgets too often are useless because they are out of date soon after they are assembled. Assuming that much of the decision making that goes into them gets done in the fourth quarter of the prior year, by the end of the following year, traditional budgets reflect thinking and data more than 12 months old. Not surprisingly, such documents tend to get short shrift from front-line managers. In worst-case scenarios, they can even promote behaviors and business decisions that are counterproductive. Consider the real-world example of a Fortune 500 company that has been talking with REL about how it might improve its forecasting to produce better financial results. The company uses a traditional static annual budgeting process in which it sets monthly sales goals for each of its products. If the company misses its sales targets in the first month, product managers will typically push those projected sales into the final quarter of the year. By doing that, corporate management is acting as if the outlook for the full year remains unchanged even though sales were off to a slow start. But if the slow pace continues and product managers begin to realize that their lost sales can’t be made up in the last quarter, they start to budget them out over all of the remaining quarters of the year. Frequently, they wind up running massive discounting programs at the end of each quarter to hit their annual targets. Fortunately, the company can afford such budget maneuvering because it enjoys relatively high margins on its products, but such manipulation isn’t maximizing its return on investment. Acting Rationally The static budget encourages managers to create artificial demand for their products, not end-user demand. In other words, the company stuffs its distribution channel and simply delays future shipments. If the company had a more realistic budget, product managers would be able to act more rationally, eliminating the last-minute forced discounts. Payne, 2010) Not only are static annual budgets restrictive, it turns out that many managers don’t really like them. Most of the clients complain that their current planning process is extremely painful and time-consuming. General manager of the Stanford, Connecticut, office of Parson Group, a national consulting firm focused on finance, accounting and business systems. Assuming the client is operating on a calendar year, everyone runs around feverishly in October and November to do budgeting, and then at the end of the process, they’re happy to get it over with—knowing they don’t have to do it again until the next November. Manage The Information Implementing a rolling budget involves more than going through the annual budgeting process four times a year instead of one. Because the time between budgets has been compressed, management must access and process information more quickly than it was able to do in the past. To do that, line managers must become more involved in the process and the company must embrace technology that will allow it to quickly capture and disseminate the raw data needed for decision making and forecasting. Most organizations today rely on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to do their budgeting. They work, but they can be laborious, requiring finance managers to piece together input from all the operations managers throughout the organization. The process was slow and exhausting, producing a static and reactive product that was built on data that was typically at least six months old. Today, that company uses a specially designed budget planning, forecasting and analysis software product to do the job. (For a list of such software, see the sidebar â€Å"Software for Budget Planning and Analysis. ) This kind of software makes it easier for managers throughout a company to access, enter and share data on a real-time basis, using the Internet as a communications medium. â€Å"Managers used to spend a lot of time allocating expenses among different segments of the business. Since the new software automates the process, managers can spend more time analyzing the data. (Swaller, 2010) The Big Pi cture For public companies, the benefits of more timely and accurate budgets may ultimately extend beyond operations. Under Wall Street’s close scrutiny, meeting earnings forecasts has become more important than ever. A misstep, even one that’s just a penny per share below expectations, can translate into a sharp stock sell-off and, in the long run, drive up a company’s cost of capital. Theoretically, between rolling budgets and predictive accounting, companies can minimize the controllable factors that cause inaccurate earnings projections, Therefore, they would have fewer actual-to-forecast variations, which in turn would help cut down on stock price volatility. † Although no budgeting technique can predict the future, these techniques allow companies to get much closer to the ideal. The only holdback is the willingness of a company’s managers to use these new technology tools that are now available. Unfortunately, most â€Å"static† annual budget processes fail to provide a clear vision of the enterprise's impending direction. Forecasting allows organizations to close the gap between the overall strategic plan and the detailed operational budget. An ideal planning cycle includes an ongoing forecasting component that flows directly from the overall strategic plan and integrates with the operating budget. The output from this higher-level planning system then directly impacts the outcome of the detail budget. This principle of a continuous/rolling forecast that drives a target-based detail budget is a key financial component of many organizations' highest-level strategic planning process. The â€Å"Strategic Plan† involves many nonfinancial processes (competitive analyses, initiative-focused plans, and the like) and becomes the driver for the rolling forecast. The forecast translates broad-based initiatives into key statistical and operational factors and results. The operating budget, in turn, provides plans and budget-to-actual control functions at the lower levels of the organization (e. g. cost center) Another useful feature of the forecasting system is to visually portray trends of such metrics. For example, a forecast for product revenue might include the historic revenue-per-salesperson ratio and allow a manager to forecast this future rate, in combination with the expected number of salespeople, in order to determine future revenue (see Figure 2 for a parameter-driven forec asting layout). Statistic- or parameter-driven results provide a useful basis for review of the forecast. (Montgomery, 2010) DISADVANTAGES OF ROLLING BUDGET. 1. It is very expensive because of the elaborate set up of the budget department. . The budget might be so reviewed on such a manner that there will be no significance between the budgeted and actual results. The managers may tune budget to actual and it will not serve as a good yardstick 3. It requires account forecast of changes in economics, political, social ecological and business conditions. In practice this changes may not be ascertainable because of lack of statics. Above is the major limitation of rolling budget. 4. It is very expensive and elusive fro small organization. 5. It is cumbersome for data collection except where computer is in use. (d)Activity Based Budgeting Activity based budgeting is an approach to the budgeting process that focuses on identifying the costs of activities that take place in every area of a business or organization, and determining how those activities relate to one another. The data regarding those activities and how they relate to one another is used to establish goals that allow the organization to move forward. By understanding the relationship between all the activities of the organization, it is often possible to create realistic budgets for each department that are more equitable and in the best interests of the company in the long run. The concept of activity based budgeting is different from the process known as cost-based budgeting. Often, the cost-based approach relies on assessing the actual expenditures connecting with a previous budgetary period, and simply adjusting those amounts based on the current rate of inflation, or to account for changes in the amount of revenue generated. By contrast, activity based budgeting is more concerned with what is being done within the organization, how those actions or activities work together, and then allocating funds to each activity based on how much it will cost to successfully complete those activities. Brimson, 1991) Proponents of activity based budgeting see this approach as more realistic, since it involves looking inward at activities and costs rather than basing the budget on outward influences. From this perspective, this strategy is understood to create financial forecasts that are more accurate, and thus prompt the organization to make the most efficient use o f its resources. As a bonus, the analysis of each activity and its contribution to the ongoing success of the organization means that any activities that do not appear to relate to other activities within the organization structure may in fact be unnecessary, and can be eliminated without having an adverse effect on the overall operation. Those who favor a cost-based approach over the use of activity based budgeting note that this approach does not necessarily allow for the possibility of events such as an increase in the cost of raw materials or the need to replace outmoded equipment. According to this line of thinking, the inward focus of the activity based method only accounts for part of the data needed to develop a workable budget. Only when this inward analysis is coupled with consideration of outside factors that could exert some degree of influence during the upcoming budgetary period can the organization hope to draft a budget that is truly practical and likely to meet the needs of the organization over the course of the upcoming period. ( Gietzman, 1992) Disadvantages of Activity-Based Budgeting Complexity The many advantages of activity-based budgeting notwithstanding, this technique remains a comprehensive and time-consuming exercise. The process requires identification of activities, estimation of activity output demands, and estimation of the costs of resources needed to provide the demanded activity output. The budgeting of physical inputs and costs as a function of a planned activity requires the use of an activity-cost hierarchy and making estimates on the consumption by such activities. Activity-based costing bases itself on defining or analyzing the relationship among costs and activities, which might not always be possible. Even otherwise, the contextual information that plays an important role in shaping the results may not always be available or considered. Success of activity-based budgeting depends on a thorough and in-depth understanding of the business processes and an accurate activity analysis. Not all managers remain competent to perform such tasks, and the resultant distortions make the activity an exercise in futility. Resources Among the major disadvantages of activity-based budgeting is its consumption of organizational resources. Spending too much resource on an analytical function such as activity-based budgeting becomes counterproductive. The complexity of the activity-based budgeting exercise means that it takes away considerable organizational resources in the form of managerial time and money. Such resources, if deployed in a core operational activity, would contribute to a much better bottom line. The broad scope of activity-based budgeting invariably necessitates an activity-based budgeting software, as well as training all managers to use the software and learning how to make correct activity analyses, adding to the resource demands. Duplication A major limitation of activity-based budgeting is that it is not a control budget and as such does not replace the department or line-item budget. Activity-based budgeting only provides supplemental information, and it acts as a panacea rather than a tool. It therefore does not eliminate or substitute any process but adds to the administrative functions of an organization. Short-Term Focus Finally, another major activity-based budgeting disadvantage includes its tendency to focus on the immediate and short term and ignore the long term. Activity-based budgeting uses historic data for forecast analysis, which may not always be practical. Focusing on activities that create immediate results might work well in the short term, but might cause long-term damage to an organization. While activity-based budgeting helps the organization if implemented with the correct data, preparing an activity-based budget with distorted data runs the risk of arbitrary budget cuts and creates a dysfunctional organization. (Morrow,1991) Behavior Aspect of Budgeting A main problem involves a variety of behavioral conflicts that are created when the budget is used as a control device. To be effective, the budget must be used by the managers it is designed to help. Thus, it must be acceptable to all levels of management. The behavioral literature on budgeting supports the view that the budget should reflect what is most likely to occur under efficient operating conditions. If a budget is to be used as an effective planning and monitoring device, it should encourage a high level of performance and efficiency, but at the same time, it should be fair and obtainable. If the budget is viewed by managers as unfair, (too optimistic) it may intimidate rather than motivate. One way to gain acceptance is referred to as participative (rather than imposed) budgeting. The idea is to include all levels of management in the budget preparation process. Of course this process must be coordinated by a budget director to ensure that a fair budget is obtained that will help achieve the goals of the total organization. Rahman,2011) Another way to reduce the behavioral bias against budgeting is to recognize the concepts of variation and interdependence when using the budget to evaluate performance. Recall from our discussion of the statistical control concept in that there is variation in all performance and most of this variation is caused by the system , (i. e. , common causes) not the people working in the system. The concept of interdependence refers to the fact that the various segments of a company are part of a system. Inevitably, these segments, or subsyst ems influence each other. Failure to adequately recognize the interdependencies within an organization tends to cause behavioral conflicts and motivate participants to optimize the performance of the various segments (subsystems) rather than to optimize the performance of the overall system. THE ‘BEYOND BUDGETING' MODEL – PRIVATE SECTOR In the private sector, managers are forced to consider current and future opportunities and threats, particularly where rolling monthly forecasts of financial performance operate together with a focus on other non-financial ‘value drivers'. In essence, the ‘beyond budgeting' model entails devolved managerial responsibility where power and responsibility go hand in hand. The view held by proponents of the beyond budgeting model is that the following benefits may accrue as a result of its successful application by management: (Johnson,1995) * It creates and fosters a performance climate based on competitive success. Goals are agreed via reference to external benchmarks as opposed to internally-negotiated fixed targets. Managerial focus shifts from beating other managers for a slice of resources to beating the competition. It motivates people by giving them challenges, responsibilities and clear values as guidelines. Rewards are team-based, in recognition of the fact that no single person can act alone to achieve goals. * It devolves performance responsibilities to operational management who are closer to the ‘action'. This uses the ‘know-how' of individuals and teams interfacing with the customer, which in turn enables a far more rapid adaptation to changing market needs. * It empowers operational managers to act by removing resource constraints. Key ratios are set, rather than detailed line-by-line budgets. For example, gearing and liquidity ratios may be used to show there is enough cash in the bank to meet liabilities. Local access to resources is thus based on agreed parameters rather than line-by-line budget authorisations. This is aimed at speeding up the response to environmental threats and enabling quick exploitation of new opportunities. * It establishes customer-orientated teams that are accountable for profitable customer outcomes. These teams agree resource and service-level requirements with service departments via the establishment of service level agreements. It creates transparent and open information systems throughout the organisation, which should provide fast, open and distributed information to facilitate control at all levels. The IT system is crucial in flexing the key performance indicators as part of the rolling forecast process. THE PUBLIC SECTOR The legal framework of public sector organisations would probably prevent such a system being introduced. As with al l alternatives, the success of a particular process depends on the needs of the individual organisation. The alternative of the beyond budgeting model places considerable emphasis on the need for organisational, managerial and cultural changes in order that it may be successfully applied by organisations. This will present considerable behavioural challenges and individual managers might become overwhelmed by the complexity of decision-making in such an unregulated decision-making environment. In the public sector, the budget process inevitably has considerable influence on organisational processes, and represents the financial expression of policies resulting from politically motivated goals and objectives. Yet the reality of life for many public sector managers is an increased pressure to perform in a resource-constrained environment, while also being subjected to growing competition. In essence, a public sector budget: * establishes the level of income and expenditure * authorises that expenditure, once agreed, out of the planned income * acts as a control on expenditure and income * communicates policies and plans * focuses attention on the future * motivates managers and staff. While these issues may be common with the private sector, a number of issues arise which are specific to the public sector. For example, UK local authorities are prevented by law from borrowing funds for revenue purposes or budgeting for a deficit. If the beyond budgeting model is to allow greater freedom for managers then it will take a considerable change of mindset in the public sector to achieve the flexible agenda envisaged, especially where such flexibility would involve considerable and increased delegation to managers. One wonders therefore, from a behavioural perspective, if such managers are capable of making this change, as it would entail the adoption of a radically different approach. Local authority financial regulations also tend to prevent the transfer of funds from one budget head to another (otherwise known as virement) without compliance with various rules and regulations. These rules (expressed in the financial regulations of public sector organisations) will be consistent with the policies of the organisation and are designed to prevent expenditure on items such as permanent staff where such costs would go beyond the budget year and represent a commitment of future resources. Budgets in the public sector tend to concentrate on planning for one financial year ahead. Attempts are being made by UK central government, through the comprehensive spending review, to place an emphasis on the longer-term. However, considerable difficulties exist within the individual organisations that make up the public sector when creating a budget system that reflects longer-term objectives and goes beyond the annual cycle. It also remains to be seen how the relatively new system of resource accounting in central government will fit into the budgeting framework. Traditional methods of budgeting in the public sector centre on the bid system and incremental budgeting. These approaches focus on changes at the margin and generally reflect acceptance of the budget base from the previous year. This is partly a reflection of the size and complexity of public sector organisations, but also the internal political power of large departments, which protect their positions through their relative strength. Bid systems also minimise conflict, as debate and power struggles are only concerned with the ‘incremental' items. More advanced approaches are represented within financial planning systems, and include such concepts as zero-based budgeting and planned programme budgeting systems with a timeframe greater than one year. Whether the public sector can adapt to the concept of greater flexibility – which lies at the heart of beyond budgeting – remains a matter of ongoing debate. Such an adaptation would require a mindset which not only moves away from control but also requires a reduction in the internal political power of large departments which has been at the heart of public sector budgeting for many years. The desire to generate improved performance – essentially considered the driver for the beyond budgeting model – is present in the public sector evidenced in initiatives such as key performance indicators and ‘best value' plans. But this is not matched by a desire for the flexibility inherent in the model. In terms of beyond budgeting, managers in such organisations are likely to remain constrained by the inability of their organisation to change. Finally, the behavioral conflicts associated with budgeting are reduced by using flexible budgets when evaluating performance Other factors affecting behaviour Dysfunctional behaviour may be caused by the following budgetary problems: †¢ Budget targets that are perceived by employees as too difficult to attain will result in resentment and a feeling of stress. †¢ Budget targets that are perceived by staff as too easy to achieve do not provide a challenge and may lead to a slipshod performance by staff. †¢ Managers may experience a loss of autonomy by being hemmed in by the budget and not having sufficient flexibility to use their own initiative. †¢ Managers may become narrow minded, focusing only on their own department, and create disadvantages for the organisation as a whole. The emphasis on financial goals to the detriment of non-financial goals may havea debilitating effect on the organisation. Budgetary slack or sometimes it is referring to budgetary bias, is a common process where implementer intentionally underestimates revenue or overestimates expenses in the tight budget. Managers may attempt to create budgetary slack in three ways. Managers may deliberately underestimate the production or sales budgets potential. For example, the sales budget for the month of July is RM 1 million. If the manager is able to achieve the target budget then the sales budget for the following month will be increases to RM 1. million. Manager creates budgetary slack by undervalue the budget so that the budget for August will be easier to achieve although they are able to hit the tight budget. Manager may also attempt to achieve slack by cost overestimation. They purposely used more than the budgeted expenditure so that the budget will be increases for the following months. After that they spend less than the budgets to shows that they have improve in their performance. For instance, the cost budget is set to be RM 1 million in January. Then the manager spends RM 1. 2 million in their expenditure so that the cost budget will be increase to RM1. million in February. Subsequently, they spend only RM 1. 1 million i n March which is RM 0. 1 million lesser than February to prove that they have better performance. Moreover, manager may use up all the budgets to pretend that there is no slack in the recent budget. Manager may waste his extra cost budget on non-essential expenses. Let say the cost budget is RM 2 million for March, the manager will try to finish his allowance although he only spend RM1. 8 million. This may cause by the fear of the manager that the future budget will be reduces unless the allowance is fully utilise. Rahman,2011) We see the behavior aspect of budgeting as having particular relevance for knowledge-based companies which are increasingly a feature of a developed economy. Other companies may see specific benefits in such a system, given the rapidly changing environment in which they also operate. These changes will not be introduced without conflict and difficulty due to the challenges faced in introducing change. Such challenges may be beyond the achievement of the publi c sector, due to the expression in the budget of politically-motivated policies and objectives eveloped within a complex legal and financial framework. What we can say, however, is that if we are to see the successful application of the beyond budgeting model in both private and public sectors, then this must be underpinned by a considerable organisational, cultural and managerial change. Otherwise it is doomed to failure. (John, 1995). References * Brimson, J&Fraser, R. (1991), The Key Feature of ABB, 42-43 * Cantoria. c. s, (2011)Walking Through an Example of Creating a Zero-Based Budget * Gietzman, MB,(1992) The Development and Design of An Activity Based Budgeting System, Initial Experience. Johnson, HT. (1988)Activity Based Infromation:A blue Print for World Class Management. 23-30 * Johnson, S. (2005), Beyond Budgeting, Retrieved from, http://www. acca. co. uk/students/acca/exams/p5/technical_articles/2950520 * Lynn, M. P, Madison, R. L,(2004) A closer look at rolling budgets: the challenges associated with an effective implementation of rolling budgets are management challenges, and software technology can only become part of the solution when managers are ready to use it to enhance their decision making * Montgomery,P. 2010) Effective rolling forecasts: Make sure your projections are high-level strategy and not just a Rehash of the operating budget. (Budgeting/Forecasting). * Morrow, M & Connolly,T. (1991)The Emergence of Activity Based Costing. 38-43 * Randy Myer(2001), Budget on a Roll, Retrieved from http://www. journalofaccountancy. com/Issues/2001/Dec/BudgetsOnARoll. htm. * Rahman, K. A. (2011) The Pattern of Behaviour in Response to Budgeting. * Sargent,Charles W. PH. D. (1995), Zero-Base Budgeting  and the library,   http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC225295/pdf/mlab00085-0055. pdf