Monday, December 30, 2019

The Challenges Of Values And Ethics Based Business...

The challenges of values and ethics based business decision-making in the current global market place is creating a positive corporate culture that requires a strong conviction by its members by offering corporate values and ethics which are essential in running an effective business (Henle, 2006, p. 347). Additionally, due to the differences in cultural ethics globally organization ethical standards can be transferred universally when they are deemed as trustworthy, credible, economical, and reliable (Manroop, Singh, and Ezzeden, 2014, p. 79). Therefore, it is essential for an organization to ensure everyone is embracing these important concepts that a system of ethics built on openness and honesty be conveyed in their communication by providing full disclosure, for instance, by not hiding the truth can avoid legalities and other ramifications down the line with their products and services. Ultimately, an organization that have displayed and have garnered success with their corporat e ethics and values would be IKEA. This organization successful entry into the global market consisted of their ability to identify a specific market division that consisted of youthful and modest income leveled consumers whose needs were not being addressed in the furniture retail market; in which, IKEA took the initiative to distinguish themselves from their competitors by providing and selling good quality furniture at lower prices. In addition, another basis for IKEA’s successfulShow MoreRelatedEthical Decision Making A Good Corporate Social Responsibility938 Words   |  4 PagesIn today’s busness world, ethics must be considered in order to keep organizations in good social standing in their industries and in society. Hobby Lobby founder David Green insist that stores are closed on Sundays to allow employees time for family and worship (Green, n.d.). Critics say that believers and employees may be happy with the policy, but the store is losing business to compet itors who remain open on Sundays and for longer hours. This might be true but it is not important to Mr. GreenRead MoreContemporary Ethical Challenges and Leadership Essay example1726 Words   |  7 PagesA00014183 PHI 300 CONTEMPORARY ETHICAL CHALLENGES AND LEADERSHIP Ethics is a discipline of philosophy that outlines the right and the wrong moral conduct. It is a study of the moral behaviour of individuals and sets out a code of conduct as to how humans should act in a given situation. Contemporary ethics links the basic ideology of ethics with various other disciples of philosophy. Global dynamics have changed over the years. The way people think and behave, their sense of right and wrongRead MoreReconciling Ethics in the Global Market1025 Words   |  5 PagesReconciling Ethics in the Global Market Values, morals, and ethics are three interrelated concepts that influence the decisions in our personal lives. Values are usually acquired throughout childhood, based on experiences and influenced by many sources including parents, teachers, media, religious affiliations and many other factors. Morals are developed throughout a person’s life, as he or she acquires personal beliefs of right and wrong, (Walker, 2001). Ethics are standards of conduct that indicateRead MoreEthical Considerations : Global Expansion1451 Words   |  6 PagesExpansion The challenges of values/ethics based business decision making in the current global marketplace is how the decisions is made. All decisions in a business must benefit the business and the team. If the team consists of two parties and companies that are in negotiations, there according to (Ballard, 2006) â€Å"values† must be ethical. p.g.. 1. If the according to (Ballard, 2006) â€Å"values† is not ethical the decisions making process will not be agreeable p. g. 1. Unethical decision-making is consideredRead MorePersonal Views Ethics Essay1083 Words   |  5 PagesViews Ethics Essay Each person should live with moral standards. To distinguish between the right and wrong is based on the person’s ethics. It describes what kind of values and beliefs does the person has. In business, it composed of standard ethics that serves as a guideline among employees about their expectation to the company. Newell S. stated that ethics in business focuses on identifying the moral standards of right and wrong as they apply to behaviour within and across business institutionsRead MoreFace The Complexity Involved For Making Ethical Choices1612 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Face the complexity involved in making ethical choices.† - Linda Fischer Thornton Identify and discuss the influences (family, culture, religion, etc†¦) on your personal ethics. Analyze and discuss these influences in relation to one or more classical ethics philosophies (deontology, utilitarianism, etc†¦). Reflect and comment on the Georgetown Ethos in light of the influences on your personal ethics. Ethics act as a basis of distinguishing between right and wrong and thus, determine whatRead MorePersonal Model of Ethical Leadership1303 Words   |  5 Pagesformal or informal. However, practicing ethical leadership is difficult in some cases, especially when there are tough decisions to be made while the appropriate choice is unpleasant though its clear. Notably, ethical leadership is quite important during these times of tough, unpleasant decisions since the stakes are high. The stakes in ethical leadership tend to vary significantly based on the responsibilities and levels of the leadership in question. Since being an ethical leader is regarded as a full-timeRead MoreEthics and Decision Making1334 Words   |  6 PagesCHAPTER I WHAT IS ETHICS? - Each society form a set of rules that establishes the boundaries of general accepted behavior. These rules are often expressed in statements about how people should behave, and they fit together to form the MORAL CODE by which a society lives. - The term MORALITY refers to a social conventions about right and wrong that are so widely shared that they become the basis for an established consensus. DEFINITION OF ETHICS: ETHICS – is a set of beliefs about right andRead MoreEthics in International Environments Essays1348 Words   |  6 PagesEthics in International Environments Introduction Global marketing opportunities usually form the pillar under which viability and profitability of international marketing depend upon. This merged with globalization of market today makes international marketing practices a concern globally that calls for moral responsibility (ethics) in conducting business (Danley, 1983). Ethics in international marketing poses many dilemmas and this is because value judgments differ among different culturesRead More Analysis of Two Articles on Leadership of Businesses Essay1120 Words   |  5 Pagesand Pless (2009) in Business leaders as citizens of the world. Advancing humanism on a global scale and Thomas (2010) in the Global moral compass for business leaders. This paper reviews complex challenges facing the world and business leaders today. It describes how the worlds pressing problems can be resolved in other to make the environment a more sustainable place. Maak and Pless (2009) claims that it takes a responsible, global and cosmopolitan mindset to improve the values of humanity on a global

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Gender Stereotypes in Non-Traditional Sports Essay example

Gender Stereotypes in Non-Traditional Sports Because of stress from families, grief from peers, or doubts from coaches, it is difficult for an athlete to enter a sport that has traditionally been classified as a sport of the opposite sex. Athletes love the challenge of sports, the thrill of competition, and the benefits of achieving - all qualities that men and women share - however, certain sports also exude qualities of femininity or masculinity, grace or sheer power, and these qualities complicate the qualifications to enter specific sports. On the surface, ballet is graceful, soft, and poised, and a real man would never possess such characteristics. Ballet, in reality, requires strength, stamina, balance, but because the jumps†¦show more content†¦Today, sports that are more graceful and seem to be safe are identified as womens sports, distinguished from mens sports that involve the strength necessary to be active and aggressive. Challenging this binary classification of sport is threatening and comes with social and cultural costs, although breaking into the sport of the opposite sex has its benefits also. More men and women are entering non-traditional sports for their sex in an attempt to blunt the sharp division between men and womens sports. The effect of their brave efforts is twofold: it asserts that women are just as capable as men of playing traditional, active sports, and it redefines womens sports as strong, not weak, and as equal, not inferior. Nevertheless, most men and women think that the risks of social isolation, a lack of opportunities to excel, and the constant questioning of sexuality outweigh the long-term benefits that come with challenging tradition. It takes the strong will of a woman like Diana Guzman from the movie Girlfight to break into a sport that is aggressive and dangerous, and thus usually reserved for men. Diana also displays an enormous amount of dedication to boxing, evident in her pursuit to compete,Show MoreRelated Gender Barriers inside Sports Essay1270 Words   |  6 PagesGender Barriers inside Sports Throughout the history of sports, there has always been a gender barrier. There are certain sports that are aimed towards females and others that are directed towards males. When men or women enter a non-traditional sport for their gender, it is not widely accepted. However, there are those few athletes that pave the way for the rest and eventually our society will change and accept the new ideas in sports. Some people will always make judgments about the athletesRead MoreThe Norm And Single Sex Sports804 Words   |  4 PagesRecreating the Norm in Single-sex Sports When investigating the costs and benefits of an individual competing in a sport considered non-traditional for their gender, we must first answer the question of what makes the single-sex status of these sports so important. We know that much controversy often surrounds the assimilation of a certain gender into a sport not traditionally considered their own, but we might forget to ask why this is the case to begin with. First, it is important to acknowledgeRead MoreSelf Presentation Is Described As Playing Out A Self1273 Words   |  6 Pageswere provided with details of male students who were either desirable or undesirable as a potential date and who was characterized as having traditional or more modern values, According to the textbook the study found that, â€Å"When women thought they would have the opportunity to meet the man, they changed their descriptions of themselves to fit the man’s traditional or modern values-but only if he was attractive† (p.25). Self-presentation can be looked at as calculated choices, choices that are made underRead MoreWhy And How Gender Stereotypes1654 Words   |  7 PagesWhy and How Gender Stereotypes in Advertisements are Challenged Traditional gender roles were constructed based on devotion to cultural value as well as social construct based geographical placement. Males were usually associated and expected to express masculinity while females on the other hand had to express femininity (Ickes). The gender roles have been preserved for too long and it has become almost like a permanent component of a society—like a body part itself, rather than a constructed normsRead More Women and Sports Essay912 Words   |  4 PagesWomen and Sports As it becomes increasingly acceptable for women to be athletic in American culture, a new question arises: in which sports should women be allowed to participate? From a physiological standpoint, it has been scientifically proven that female bodies do not differ significantly enough from male bodies to prevent them from participation in any male sports. This division between male and female sports clearly stems from age-old, socially constructed norms of femininity and masculinityRead MoreGender Stereotypes And Gender Roles1956 Words   |  8 Pagesfulfil and adopt, specific stereotypes and gender roles. In the western world, women are traditionally characterised and expected to be maternal housewife’s, who are obedient and attractive; whereas males are seen to be the breadwinners, who are muscular independent and strong. These characteristics have become ‘normal’ in society, and enforce the gender stereotype roles. However, when these gender ‘norms’ are disturbed, this leads to the creation of new labels and stereotypes, people to be ridiculedRead MoreEssay on Gender Barriers in Athletics1138 Words   |  5 Pages Gender Barriers in Athletics 2. What are the social and cultural costs and benefits of an individual (male or female) entering a non-traditional sport for their gender/sex (eg women who enter body building, power lifting, boxing; men who enter synchronized swimming or field hockey)? Throughout history it is clear that not only women, but both genders have faced seemingly insurmountable barriers when attempting to break into a sport that is not proper or stereotypical for their gender toRead MoreGender Socialization And Gender Roles999 Words   |  4 PagesEarly gender socialization is perhaps one of the most relevant issues and debates of early childhood. The beginnings of stereotypes for gender roles are typically established at birth, and continue a process of learning specific cultural roles and standards in accordance with the sex of the individual. Gendered interactions begin early in the family and hence influence the process of gendered socialization, as was such the case for myself growing up. Socialization comes from a number of sources:Read MoreGender Inequality : Sports And Women s Professional Level Of Sport1469 Words   |  6 PagesGender Inequality in Sports Across the world, society holds men and women to different standards. There are precise gender roles and stereotypes that are well established. In the western world, women are supposed to be nurturers, cleaners, and the chef. Whereas men are perceived as strong, independent, and athletic. When these social norms are broken, it is not uncommon for specific labels to be given, such as being called a lesbian. Over the past few centuries, these stereotypes and gender rolesRead MoreGender Stereotypes And The Socialization Process1257 Words   |  6 PagesGender Stereotypes and the Socialization Process The pursuit of gender equality is a central element of a vision of sustainability in which every Member of Society respects others and plays a role that allows you to take advantage of their potential to the fullest. The broad goal of gender equality is a social goal that education and other social institutions should contribute. Gender discrimination is embed in the fabric of societies. In many societies, women bear the main burden of food production

Saturday, December 14, 2019

My Experience with Technology Free Essays

I have never really thought about how much I depend of technology. We got our first family computer when I was about 9 years old. At the time my brother was a computer geek (still is) and he would go buy the computer books that had programs in them where you had to type everything out to get a game on the computer to play. We will write a custom essay sample on My Experience with Technology or any similar topic only for you Order Now So when I would help or when he was teaching me, we would mix some of the programs up and see if we could come up with anything. Then it was to BBS’. That opened a whole new world! We could meet people online without actually meeting them. Now its becoming more and more complexed.. Now there is so many programs out there it’s hard to keep up. I have taught myself just about everything I do on the computer. I know Microsoft Word, Windows, Adobe reader and those are just the ones I can remember off hand.. I am pretty comfortable learning new programs and look forward to it. At this time the only one I can think of that my hinder me is Excel. Since I have only used it once I am not 100% comfortable with it yet. But I will be by the time this class is over. While I worked as a manager at a pet store we used a program called Campbell, it would keep track of the employees hours, what we sold in the store and everything in between. While I was at Staples I was learning all kinds of programs and applications. At this time the only thing that comes to mind that I would have a concern about would be not being able to ask a question and getting an answer right away. I look forward to this class and learning new applications that I can use on the computer. How to cite My Experience with Technology, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Challenges of Accounting in Global Organizations †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Challenges of Accounting in Global Organizations. Answer: Introduction Accounting is a key concept that has a vast history with several concepts, approaches, practices and other continuous technological interventions. With change in time and increasing amount of dynamicity in the subject of accounting, the complexities and challenges are rising with an instant rate. These challenges are faced by the organisations at the global level and need much emphasized consideration so that accounting functions in the global organisations can be free from such issues. The paper will provide a literature review based on the viewpoints and thoughts of several authors regarding the challenges of accounting and measures by which the same can be overcome. Project Objectives The objective of this literature review is to primarily understand the challenges of accounting in the global organisation and to understand the measures by which the accounting issues in the global organisations can be overcome Project Scope There are enormous challenges of accounting in the global organisations which the companies have to sustain for having more improved productivity and functions. The changes and modifications in the accounting practices are taking place since decades. The scope of the literature is to have a global perspective of the accounting practices in the global organisations. There are several accounting measures which are diverse in all the global countries and when the trade becomes more global and worldwide, the accounting requires highly competent and skilled human resource to manage the global accounting (Akisik, 2013). Literature Review Accounting is one of the most essential parts of the global and contemporary organisations. Through the application of various financial procedures, there can be gathered constructive info for the purpose of decision making. Financial accounting can be understood as an economic management function which helps in monitoring, summarizing and systematically recording the financial transaction of the business organisations (Allen, et al., 2012). The purpose of financial accounting is to offer specific and key information to the external stakeholders that include the government authorities, creditors and the investors so that they can analyze the profitability, growth and financial conditions of the organisation. Global accounting offers new challenges as well as opportunities for the accountants of the organisations. Instead of just making decisions on dividend and capital structure, in the global operations, the accounting aspect also involve the profit repatriation as well as capital s tructuring practices in the organisations and the associate subsidiaries (Bushman, 2014). As per Burns and Needles (2014), the approach of financial accounting has established in 1930s. By having an insight of the past 80 years of history, it has been analyzed that with all the critical progress and growth of financial accounting has several challenges associated with it. With the shared aspects of globalization and accounting there as occurred reporting, disclosures, measurements of the performances, reforms on recognitions, reporting to external parties have appeared as the key financial principle which regulates the measurement and recognition activities in accounting (Burns and Needles, 2014). The key logic of financial accounting is closely linked with its subsequent challenges which the organizations and the executives have to face due to increased globalization. As per the views and studies of Weygandt, Kimmel and Kieso (2015), it can be stated that with the continuous development of accounting, there are increased number of challenges that are encountered by the m anagers and the accountants in the globalised business functions (Weygandt, Kimmel and Kieso, 2015). The organisations are paying huge attention on the issues and challenges that occurred in the accounting practices as these challenges are rising rapidly which is ultimately affecting and influencing the organizational performance (Hodges, 2012). In the diverse and extensive literature, Warren, Reeve and Duchac (2013) have highlighted numerous issues related to financial accounting in the global organisation. Issues of diverse accounting standards, technological interventions, incompetent human resource, environmental issues, and multiple-jurisdictional issues and measuring and reporting non-financial indicators are the main challenges impacting the accounting in the global perspective. The first and the key challenge highlighted by the authors are the issues occurring from the economic environment. In present scenario, the traditional accounting is considered as the primary and major stream in few of the countries, that has a consideration with the economic environment (Warren, Reeve and Duchac, 2013). Because of the continuous technological developments, there have been realized vivid improvements of the managerial abilities and the skills to manage those changes in the operations and business functions due to technological innovations. There is a huge impact upon the traditional accounting of e-commerce and digitalized business operations and it creates huge need and requirement for the new and improved accounting models. As a result of this, there is application of e-accounting which are internet-environment in the global companies. The meaning of this type of e-accounting is that internet outside business and intranet. The internet inside business enables the communication as well as information sharing among the customers, trading partners and the global organisations whereas intranet allows the sharing of info and communication among the organisational departments (Schaltegger and Burritt, 2010). And this affects the accounting aspects in a negative manner such as in terms of reporting, measurement and recognition. The innovative and high technologies leave no room for the employees to effectively handle the accounting functions in an effective manner because of the lack of competence and skills to manage the new and high tech accounting techniques and functions (Richardson, 2017). The existing or the old employees are not much capable to work with such new technologies and the imbalance between the competence of employees and innovative accounting techniques results in inefficient and decreased organisational productivity (Gordon, et al., 2013). Multi-jurisdictional reporting is recognized as one of the major challenge in the globalised world as the organisations that have multiple number of subsidiaries or branches encountered numerous challenges in the aspect of reporting in an adequate and accurate manner. In is a challenge for the accounting executives to prepare the financial statements in every nation they have operations but abided by the legal regulations and the accounting principles of that specific nation. All the accounting standards are diverse in nature and vary from nation to nation (Salvato and Moores, 2010). The organisation is also required to report the overall group of firms on a consolidated basis that requires repeating the all overseas reporting into the accounting standards of the home country of the parent company. This is considered as a much complicated as well as extremely time consuming process that decreases the faster completion of the accounting function. Numerous nations have agreed to work a s per the accounting standards of the IASB i.e. International Accounting Standards Board for having increased uniformity in the financial accounting across the board (Zeff, 2012). Most of the countries have agreed to implement these standards by last year but it becomes challenging for the global organisations when those nations have their business operations in those countries tether does not follow these standards and have their specific and separate accounting practices, principles and standards. Another key issue in the financial accounting is the non-financial measures. The non-financial measures are the one which are outside the circle of financial measures and could not be measured or calculated through the set accounting functions or standards. These non-financial measures are of vital significance in the overall success of an organisation. There are various factors that show whether an organisation will achieve success or not in the coming time frame. But out all these factors maximum are non-financial in nature that comprises of aspects such as the employment policies and practices, brand reputation of the organisation, satisfaction level of the customers and many others (Owolabi and Iyoha, 2012). All these measures and aspects are subjective in nature and can be interpreted in a diverse manner which depends upon the users and thus it makes difficult to set the measurement standards (Kieso, Weygandt and Warfield, 2010). It becomes difficult to analyse them with much ef fectiveness due to high level of diversity and inconsistency. And as a result of this, it remained as one of the most challenging factor for the financial accounting in the global companies to measure the impact of these non-financial measures and achieve a specific analysis of the performances of the financial and non-financial measures (Karadag, 2015). One more challenge in accounting emphasized by the researchers is related to the financial instruments as with the increased complexity of the trading aspects, there is upsurge difficulty in the accounting too (Narayanaswamy, 2017). The financial agreements comprise of numerous assets which in reality do not have any physical existence for example the options, forward contracts and the repurchase agreements. All these financial instruments have high complexity and as a result it creates difficulty in their valuation. It makes feasible for the global organisations to manipulate the financial instruments values (Gordon, et al., 2013). The authors have identified that in the past business history there are several cases of manipulation of the values and this has given rise to corporation frauds where the companies have been sued for over-valuing the financial instruments and making false profit (Sharma and Panigrahi, 2013). Instead of trading function, these instruments are majorly the source of making misinterpretations and manipulations in the disclosure of the financial performance of the companies to the general public. Such valuation issue is one of the key challenges which the accounting standards are trying to overcome by reducing the complexity of the financial instruments (Horngren, et al., 2012). These challenges are faced by the organisations at the global level and need much emphasized consideration so that accounting functions in the global organisations can be free from such issues. To overcome the issues and challenges of accounting in the global organisations, there are several practices adopted by the companies. A vast amount of literature and researches of authors have highlighted multiple ways to sustain the challenges of accounting. As per Hopwood, Unerman and Fries (2010), the one of the most recognized way of managing the accounting challenge is adopting and implementing Green Accounting practice. To save the environment from the negative impact, there must be used green accounting which is considered as the environment-caring business (Hopwood, Unerman and Fries, 2010). Some of the developing countries who are still using the traditional accounting practices must implement new technologies (Schlesinger, Libby. and Geiszler, 2013). One more key practice or approac h for managing the issues of global accounting is recruiting and staffing individuals that are techno savvy and have an in-depth knowledge of the new techniques and technological intervention so that they can help in managing the accounting functions in an more efficient manner and also there must be training offered to the existing as well as the new employees in an adequate manner so that they can work effectively with the innovative technology and e-accounting (Taipaleenmki and Ikheimo,2013). The next practice which can help in overcoming the challenges of accounting is taking use of the accounting harmonization (Hancock, et al., 2010). As per this practice, there can be reduced the complexity in financial accounting which is the result of multi-jurisdictional reporting by limiting the differences of the individuals accounting standards and the practices for enhancing the performance of the organisations that are participating in the overseas trades and business operations. The international harmonization in accounting is the key trends across the globe by which the institutes and regulatory bodies and striving hard to adopt similar sort of accounting standards so that the issues related to diversity and complexity can be reduced (Power, 2010). To manage the challenge of non-financial measures of financial accounting, the global organizations can take use of various practices such as by having an analysis of the customer satisfaction scores which will help in analyzing th at whether the customers are satisfied or not from the services offered by the organisations and the employees and if not then this is not negatively impacting the revenues of the organizations. Another way of measuring the non-financial measures includes employee productivity scores, external audit and internal audit and task completion scores (Northcott and Ma'amoraTaulapapa, 2012). From the insights of the literature gather from various academic sources and through the comparative analysis, there has also recognized a research gap that there the solutions or techniques for resolving the accounting issues are more of theoretical rather than practical as with the change in technology, these issues will keep on increasing. And all the organisations are not that much financially sound so that they can implement such techniques to overcome the issues. The literature gathered as well as the researches in the field of accounting in global organisations has a vital contribution in the field of academic such as it offers the concept and advantage of taking use of green accounting and this is one of the vital and significant initiatives for reducing the pollutants that degrade the environment. Another contribution of the literature is that it helps the new entrepreneurs as they can be prior informed about the key issues which can occur in their accounting function. With the knowledge gained from the literature, these businesses or entrepreneurs can prepare them in advance and can frame appropriate strategies to mange such issue (Hopwood, Unerman and Fries, 2010). Other contributions of the literature includes understanding of the concept of accounting harmonization, benefits of e-accounting, the ways in which the organisation can gain competitive benefits through e-accounting approach and Application. Conclusion From the vast literature and the research work of various authors, the report concludes with some of the key challenges that exist in global accounting. Issues of diverse accounting standards, technological interventions, incompetent human resource, environmental issues, and multiple-jurisdictional issues and measuring and reporting non-financial indicators are the main challenges impacting the accounting in the global perspective. It can be concluded that with having a collaboration approach and in-depth analysis of these issue, there can be gained insights to overcome these challenges. From the paper, it is stated that there is a vital role of some of the measures such as non-financial reporting for managing the issues related to challenges in accounting occurred due to non-financial measures. The global organizations can also practice accounting by the means of adopting common standards developed by International Accounting Standards Board. As well as by practicing green accountin g, accounting harmonization and other few measures these challenges can be sustained and there can be efficient financial accounting in the global organisations. References Akisik, O., 2013. Accounting regulation, financial development, and economic growth.Emerging Markets Finance and Trade,49(1), pp.33-67. Allen, F., Qian, J., Zhang, C. and Zhao, M., 2012.China's financial system: opportunities and challenges(No. w17828). National Bureau of Economic Research. Burns, J.O. and Needles, B.E. eds., 2014.Accounting Education for the 21st Century: The global challenges. Elsevier. Bushman, R.M., 2014. Thoughts on financial accounting and the banking industry.Journal of Accounting and Economics,58(2), pp.384-395. Gordon, E.A., Greiner, A., Kohlbeck, M.J., Lin, S. and Skaife, H., 2013. Challenges and opportunities in cross-country accounting research.Accounting Horizons,27(1), pp.141-154. Hancock, P., Howieson, B., Kavanagh, M., Kent, J., Tempone, I. and Segal, N., 2010. Accounting for the future. Hodges, R., 2012. Joined?up government and the challenges to accounting and accountability researchers.Financial Accountability Management,28(1), pp.26-51. Hopwood, A.G., Unerman, J. and Fries, J., 2010.Accounting for sustainability: Practical insights. Earthscan. Horngren, C., Harrison, W., Oliver, S., Best, P., Fraser, D. and Tan, R., 2012.Financial accounting. Pearson Higher Education AU. Karadag, H., 2015. Financial management challenges in small and medium-sized enterprises: A strategic management approach.Emerging Markets Journal,5(1), p.26. Kieso, D.E., Weygandt, J.J. and Warfield, T.D., 2010.Intermediate accounting: IFRS edition(Vol. 2). John Wiley Sons. Narayanaswamy, R., 2017.Financial accounting: a managerial perspective. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. Northcott, D. and Ma'amoraTaulapapa, T., 2012. Using the balanced scorecard to manage performance in public sector organizations: Issues and challenges.International Journal of Public Sector Management,25(3), pp.166-191. Owolabi, A. and Iyoha, F.O., 2012. Adopting international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in Africa: Benefits, prospects and challenges.African Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance,1(1), pp.77-86. Power, M., 2010. Fair value accounting, financial economics and the transformation of reliability.Accounting and Business Research,40(3), pp.197-210. Richardson, A.J., 2017. The Relationship between Management and Financial Accounting as Professions and Technologies of Practice. Salvato, C. and Moores, K., 2010. Research on accounting in family firms: Past accomplishments and future challenges. Schaltegger, S. and Burritt, R.L., 2010. Sustainability accounting for companies: Catchphrase or decision support for business leaders?.Journal of World Business,45(4), pp.375-384. Schlesinger, W., Libby, P. and Geiszler, M., 2013. INTRODUCING SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING INTO THE FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING CURRICULUM.ASBBS Proceedings,20(1), p.405. Sharma, A. and Panigrahi, P.K., 2013. A review of financial accounting fraud detection based on data mining techniques.arXiv preprint arXiv:1309.3944. Taipaleenmki, J. and Ikheimo, S., 2013. On the convergence of management accounting and financial accountingthe role of information technology in accounting change.International Journal of Accounting Information Systems,14(4), pp.321-348. Warren, C.S., Reeve, J.M. and Duchac, J., 2013.Financial managerial accounting. Cengage Learning. Weygandt, J.J., Kimmel, P.D. and Kieso, D.E., 2015.Financial Managerial Accounting. John Wiley Sons. Zeff, S.A., 2012. The Evolution of the IASC into the IASB, and the Challenges it Faces.The accounting review,87(3), pp.807-837.

Friday, November 29, 2019

Jackson Jarrell Essays - Guggenheim Fellows,

Jackson Jarrell Washed Out Randall Jackson Jarrell was born on May 6, 1914 in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the first child to Campbell and Owen Jarrell. He attended Hume-Fogg High School in Nashville and later graduated. He then attended Vanderbilt University through the generosity of his uncle Howell Campbell. His teacher, John Crowe Ransom, considered him the best by far of the young writers in his workshop. Jarrell later went on to teach at some well know colleges and universities. He also went into the army and wanted to be a gunner but he failed. Jarrell had a mental break down, and was hospitalized for a while. He was released from the medical center. He was on a trip back to the doctor and he was fatally hit by a car on October 14, 1965 The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner really has no verse nor does it have a rhyme scheme, so it would be classified as a regular meter. It has five lines, and is a good poem. It could really have many different meanings, depending on who the reader is. The main meaning that people often hear about, would be, that this guy is a ball turret gunner and has been chosen to go up in battle. When the wind hits his jacket it then freezes and then with no warning the enemy destroys his body. The only thing that the guys on the ground could do to get his mutilated body out is to wash the turret out. Many people believe that this poem was influenced by his experience in the Air Force. Jarrell wanted to be a gunner. When his chance came up, he was not chosen to be the gunner. He was then transferred to Tucson to serve as an B-29 crewman. On the other hand there are some people that have criticized the poem. They say that Jarrell should not tell the horrors of war and let the people find it out when the have to go to war. These people take the poem apart and twist the meaning to make it mean what the want it to. Over all this is a great poem. It has many different meanings and most of America can somewhat be like the gunner. They try and try to get what they want and they fail, and not even close to what they wanted. English Essays

Monday, November 25, 2019

Economies and Diseconomies of Scale Essay Example

Economies and Diseconomies of Scale Essay Example Economies and Diseconomies of Scale Paper Economies and Diseconomies of Scale Paper Case Study 3: Economies and Diseconomies of Scale Name: Course: Date: Case Study 3: Economies and Diseconomies of Scale Question 1 Considering McDonalds size, economies of scale can come from discounts as well as its ability to produce more at a reduced price out of its equipments. Therefore, with a uniform menu, it means that McDonald will be buying the ingredients in large amounts, hence at a cheaper price. Additionally, a uniform menu means that McDonalds will be focusing on the size of output for few products, making production cheaper. Their big kitchens allow for larger equipments and specialized labor, which at higher output would produce at a lower cost per unit than a smaller kitchen without many specialized equipments would (McEachern 2011). Expanding into other countries makes menu planning due to different laws and cultures (McEachern 2011). For instance, it becomes difficult to plan for a menu in India where beef is illegal because cows are worshiped. Thus, the company would have to look for an alternative to beef burgers. In this case, planning the menu is made harder by the cultural beliefs. This makes economies of scale harder to achieve. Question 2 Movie theaters not only show movies, they also sell movies at the concession stand. Therefore, the theater has to have three people, one selling the movies at the concession, another one selling tickets at the entrance while the other one operates the projector. However, if another screen is added to the theater, the same employee can operate without needing an additional workforce (McEachern 2011). Therefore, it allows economies of scale to have multiple screens in a theater, which makes the workers more productive. Additionally, having multi screens will allow two movies to be viewed at the same time, ensuring to sell the greatest number of tickets within a short span of time, as opposed to showing each at one time. On the other hand, the benefits of locating multiscreen theaters at shopping malls it the reduced cost that comes with customers using the same rest rooms, while the construction of another screen may be noticeable. At a shopping mall, the theater can have advertisements that are more noticeable while its costs can be spread over several films, as opposed to one film. This creates economies of scale due to locating several screens in one location (McEachern 2011). References McEachern, W.A. (2011). Economics: A Contemporary Introduction. New York, N.Y: Cengage Learning.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

American foreign policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

American foreign policy - Essay Example heir own spheres of influence, thus playing a role in shaping the final outcome within the policy making process. Keeping in line with what Robert Divine had once remarked, â€Å"From the Revolution to the Cold War, Americans have been willing to fight for their interests, their beliefs, and their ambitions† (Divine, 1965, 172), there are clear evidences which suggest that the American foreign policies after the WWII, have roots in its domestic issues, concerns, and interests. Various researches on the subject of US international relations have distinguished 3 specific factors that appear to exert their influences on the foreign policies of the country, especially after the end of the WWII. ... Discussion The official goals of US foreign policies as stated by the government, are "to create a more secure, democratic, and prosperous world for the benefit of the American people and the international community" (US department of state and U.S. Agency for International Development, 2007). While examining the factors that work towards achieving these goals, the first potent question that arises in one’s mind is the fundamental query as to â€Å"who governs?†(Dahl, 1961) This question has been the subject of many studies, related to American politics, and has given rise to many debates within the realms of international relations. The question in the arena of international relations relates to the general attributes of the so called ‘domestic roots’ that help to shape US foreign policies; the democratic aspects in the behaviour of US towards other countries, globally; and whether its national concerns and interests aid in shaping its foreign policies. By seeking an answer to the basic question as to which of these factors actually influence the US government officials the most, would help the reader to understand the determinants of the country’s foreign policies. In this context, we will first examine the 3 main factors considered to have a strong influence in the shaping of US foreign policies. Theories on the nature of the influence of public opinion: Median voter theory contends that the voter preferences for any government policy have a strong influence on the state officials, as these preferences often turn out to be the deciding factor during the electoral results. Various researches and the subsequent

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

An Overview of the USA Patriot Act, its impact on local law Research Paper

An Overview of the USA Patriot Act, its impact on local law enforcement, and the potential for net widening - Research Paper Example The patriot act aimed to address this by effecting drastic changes in its intelligence agencies. This enables them to work more efficiently by removing the barrier that impeded their work. The act also aimed to seal the loopholes that terrorist were using to their advantage making Americans vulnerable to terrorist attacks. The act reduced the restrictions that the agencies enforcing the law were facing during their endeavor of intelligence gathering in the country. The act also went further and increased the mandate of the treasury by giving the secretary in the department authority to control financial exchanges, and transactions in order to choke out the supply of funding for terrorist activities in the country (Scheppler, 2006). They especially emphasized on the transactions that foreigners made that were suspicious or had terrorist links. In addition, the immigration department was given the go ahead to deport or detain individuals who are suspected of being terrorist or are aidi ng terrorist acts through their actions. The act also delved into domestic terrorism by expanding the definition of the act in order to seal the loopholes that terrorist might exploit. Through this act, the intelligence agencies and law enforcers were unshackled from restrictions that would have impeded their fight against terrorism. The current administration has extended the mandate of the act in order to guarantee that the security of the US is safeguarded. The act has had a significant impact on law enforcement in that the agencies have been empowered to be able to carry out their duties efficiently, without coming into conflict with the law, or encroaching into the rights of individuals. The act has also widened the net of the intelligence communities to be able to thwart acts of terror on the US population. The act came about when the American government was pushed to act after a devastating terrorist attack

Monday, November 18, 2019

Total reward Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Total reward - Coursework Example Total rewards include all the things which employees perceive as valuable for building strong relationship with the company. With the change of business environment the concept of total rewards is continuously changing and becoming more advanced. TR is composed of five elements. They are benefits, compensation, performance and recognition, work-life, development, career opportunities etc. With the help of all of these elements an organization satisfies its employees. This report deals with Mitchell Bank. Various issues of the bank are discussed in this report. For motivating and retaining the employees, the bank can use Armstrong and Brown model of total rewards. This model will help the bank to improve its business condition and increase its profitability. Mitchell Bank was established in 1895 in UK. The bank operates its business functions with the help of different divisions. The organization has large number of employees. Presently with the increase of competition in banking sect or, Mitchell Bank is facing some serious problems which are discussed in this report. Therefore for making Mitchell Bank’s business activities effective and to hold its position in competitive market the company needs to improve many things. The similar organizations of Mitchell Bank are Royal bank of Scotland (RBS) and Ernst and Young (E&Y). Both of these companies are involved in performing almost same types of business activities. These companies are very much concerned about their employees. They try to satisfy their employees by various ways. Total rewards of RBS and E&Y are slightly different from each other. The elements of their total rewards in these companies are very strong and effective which help them in motivating, retaining and attracting employees (Kaplan, 2007). As a result these companies are able to delivery good performance with its satisfied workers. This is one of the important factors which help these companies to increase

Saturday, November 16, 2019

The Importance of Credit Risk Management in Banking

The Importance of Credit Risk Management in Banking Credit risk implies a potential risk that the counterparty of a loan agreement is likely to fail to meet its obligations as per the original loan agreement, and may eventually default on the obligation. Credit risks can be classified into many forms such as options , equities , mutual funds , bonds , loans and other financial issues as well , which in extensions of guarantees and the settlement of these transactions. (International Auditing Practice Statement 1006 Audits of the Financial Statements of Banks) IS IT Important For the Banks To manage Their Credit Risks ? Risk is always associated with the banking activities, and taking risk is the important part of any banking operation, there is hardly any banking operation without the risk. Most of the bankers are said to be sound when they have a clear overview of what is the amount of risk involved in the current transaction and they make sure that some of the partly earnings are therefore kept for these risks. The granting of any form of credit is the common form for any bank and this risk is very common and this is the source of risks the banks are always exposed to. (Anderson et al, 2001). By being exposed to credit risk banks have been faced with a lot of problems. The banks couple of years ago realised that credit risk is important and the banks need to monitor, identify, control and measure it is very significant. Due to this the effective management of credit risk has become a critical component of approaching risk management. This approach will be especially important in terms of the long term success of any bank. Banks now ensure that they have large amount of capital against any form of credit risks so that they can be in a position to adequately tackle any risks which will be incurred. (Bank for International Settlement, 1999) The credit risk is in the entire portfolio of any bank and also the risk which is associated in individual credits or any other transactions have to be managed adequately. It is always a ascertained that the relationship between the credit risk and other forms of risks need be to considered very seriously in to account, in order to Increase shareholder value through value creation, value preservation and value optimization Increase confidence in the market place Alleviate regulatory constraints and distortions (Amitabh Bhargava ICICI, 2000) The Basel II Accord specifies that banks must have new procedures for measuring against credit risks. Advantages and Disadvantages of Credit Risk Management The advantages of Credit risk management include: Credit risk management allows predicting and forecasting and also measuring the potential risk factor in any transaction. The banks management can also make use of certain credit models which can act as a valuable tool which can be used to determine the level of lending measuring the risk. It is always better to have some alternative techniques and strategies for transferring credit, pricing and hedging options. The disadvantages of Credit risk management include: Deciding on how good a risk you are cannot be entirely scientific, so the bank must also use judgments. Cost and Control associated with operating a credit scoring system. With the existence of different models, it?s hard to decide which to use, more often than not, companies will take a one model fits all approach to credit risk, which can result in wrong decisions. How Banks Measure Credit Risk The level of credit risk faced by a bank is provided by the structure of a bank?s credit portfolio. If the portfolio consists of large amount of loans in a certain asset class then this might be an indication of an increased risk. Similarly the presence of complex financial transactions such as lending may also indicate a larger risk. In general a risk always comprises of two kinds: One is risk exposure and the other one is the uncertainty element, and for the credit risk and the credit quality represents the uncertainty element and credit exposure represents risk exposure. Therefore a bank can assess its credit risk by analysing the credit quality of an obligation and its credit exposure. While assessing credit quality and exposure a bank must consider three issues: Probability of default or any sort of possibility whether the other party which is the counter party will default on the obligation either over the life of the obligation over a specific period of time. The exposure of credit or the amount of the outstanding obligation which again depends on the size if there is any case of default. Rate of recovery this is the extent towards which the credit can be recovered through some banking processes like bankruptcy and other proceedings of settlements. In the last decade or so many banks have started to make use of models in order to assess the risks for their credit which they lend. The credit risk models are very complex and include algorithm based methods of assessing credit risk. The aim of such model is to help banks in quantifying, aggregating and managing credit risk. Despite the method the focus of credit risk assessment stays credit quality and risk exposure. Analysis of the Quality of Credit (Credit Quality) Credit quality is a measure of the that counterparties?s ability to perform on that obligation?. (Contingency Analysis, 2003) A bank adopts different approaches for assessing credit quality of considering loans to individuals or businesses. If it is for small businesses then the credit quality will be assessed through a process of credit scoring. This is based on information obtained by the bank about the party who want the loan. The information which is gathered tends to be about annual income, existing debts etc. Credit score is generally calculated by a formula which is applied to the information which is obtained which gives a number based on it the score is generated. The credit score is a highly accurate prediction of how likely the party is to pay bills, the higher the score the better it looks to the bank. (Curry, 2007) However, assessing a large party is based on credit analysis of the loan done by specially designated credit analysts. This just like mention above is base on credit scoring but it involves human judgement. It involves an in depth analysis of various aspect of the party in question including balance sheet, income statement etc. Also assessing the nature of the obligation is taken into account as well. On basis of credit analysis the analyst assigns that party a credit rating. This allows the bank to make decisions regarding credit. A bank can also use credit ratings to measure the share of the borrowers with creditworthiness in its portfolio and get a clear indication of default risk. Measuring Credit Exposure Credit exposure also needs to be taken into account when assessing credit risk or risk exposure. If for example a bank has loaned money to a business, the bank may calculate the credit exposure rate as the outstanding balance on the loan amount. However, in case if the bank by any chance has increased or extended the line of credit but none of the line have been drawn down then the approach will be different. In this case the risk exposure may seem to be nil, but it does not reflect any sort of right by itself to draw down the line of credit. If the firm gets into any financial difficulty it can be expected to draw on the credit line before any bankruptcy. Therefore in this case the bank may consider its credit exposure to be equal to the line of the credit. Credit exposure as a fraction can also be used sometimes to calculate the credit exposure for the total line of credit. (Duffie Singleton, 2003) How Banks Mange Their Credit Risk Credit risk management practices differ from bank to bank. Generally these type of practices are dependent on the type and complexity of the credit activities which are taken by the banks. In recent years banks have been using models for credit risk management. Bank Credit Risk Management Practices: Yesterday and Today The traditional approach to managing credit risk has been based on establishing a limit of credit at various levels for the individual borrowers an sometimes also based on geographical are and industry type. Also collateral and relationship exiting hardly seem adequate to cope with the declining economics of loan markets. (Gontarek, 1999) These limits specify the maximum exposures a bank is willing to take. Until the early 1990?s , credit risk analysis was limited only based on the reviews of the loans of individuals and most of the banks kept the loans on their books for maturity. (Bernanke, 2006) In recent years banking industry has made strides in managing credit risk. Managing the credit risks is the main focus of any banking operation these days and many banking?s are looking now from transaction management to portfolio management. And have slowly changed from monitoring to practising and also predicting their performance. Banks are still holding onto traditional credit risk management tools but these are becoming more and more sophisticated. Various forms of tools and models have been generated to measure and predict the performance and management of portfolio risks which in turn build competitive advantage. Despite the differences in the credit risk management practices the credit risk management in any bank rest on four pillar of: appropriate credit risk environment Sound credit-granting process or criteria that includes a clear indication of the bank?s target market Appropriate credit administration, measurement and monitoring process Adequate controls over credit risk. (Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, 2000) Therefore whether traditional or modern, credit risk management in banks involves reviewing creditworthiness of counterparties, setting credit limits for counterparties, evaluation of credit risk and reporting credit limits and exposures to management. (Caouette et al, 1998) Recent Trends in Credit Risk Management by Banks The credit risk management is undergoing an important change in the banking industry. Banks have clearly indicated that centralization, standardization, consolidation, timeliness, active portfolio management and efficient tools for exposures are the key best practice in credit risk management. (SAS, 2004) A bank in America is considering having efficient tools for ?what if? analysis and tools. Also another bank is focusing on stress testing, concentration risk, macro-hedges and capital market risk management. (SAS, 2004) The majority of the world?s large banks agree that integrating environmental and broader social issues into their core credit risk management process is essential to managing credit risk in the 21stcentury. (Huppman, 2005) Leading banks including Barclays now view that these non traditional issues as real credit risk variables that potentially affect their client?s bottom lines as well as their own. Quantitative models are being used by banks to measure and manage credit risk. Most of the Commercial bankers have started to opt for making use of the credit risk models for their credit options especially with relation to consumer lending and mortgage. These models are known as credit scoring models and were developed for consumer lending. On the other hand it has been a few years ago where the use of these credit risks models have been implemented successfully and are integrated these days with almost every bank to manage their risk. (Bluhm et al , 2003) In 2001, the UK?s biggest mortgage bank, Halifax, developed a forward looking credit risk management strategy which made use of quantitative models for risk management. (Algorithmics Incoporate, 2001) Similarly HSBC serves over 125 million customers worldwide and is the one of the world?s largest banking and financial services organizations. The world largest provider of quantitative credit risk solutions to lenders (Moody?s KMV) have decide to provide HSBC with this, which will provides HSBC a methodology for rapid, accurate measurement and benchmarking of credit risk portfolio. (Vyse, 2006) Role Of Management in Managing Credit Risk The board of directors of a bank approve and review the credit risk strategy and significant credit risk policies of the bank. The bank?s strategy reflects the bank?s tolerance for risk and the level of profitability the bank expects to achieve for incurring credit risks. These days banks establish and enforce internal controls and other practices to ensure that exceptions to policies, procedures and limits are reported in a timely manner to the management. Due to this credit risk is constantly monitored by the management. Innovations in Technology and Credit Risk Management Credit risk management in banks is also getting affected by innovations in technology. Innovations in technology have made significant improvements in bank information systems. This has also been encouraged by Basel II. The improvements in bank information systems has certainly increased the abilities of many banks and their management process to measure and identify and also control the characteristics of any kind of risk. For example ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) the credit management computer system was further perfected with risk alert and conversion functions and it performed effective real-time monitoring on the quality and operations of the credit assets. (ICBC, 2001)

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace: Post-Apartheid South Africa Essay -- South Afr

Through the perspective of an unconventional college professor, J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace addresses the transition into post-apartheid South Africa, societal acceptance and rape through David Lurie and Lucy Lurie’s complex father-daughter relationship. While living in his daughter’s countryside home, David Lurie’s experiences reveal that despite the powerful political reform, crime continues to dominate the African people. Aspects of South African history are used to emphasize racial tension and the shift from a white to a black dominated South Africa. Coetzee also suggests the instability of the African society through constantly depicting his characters as emotionally unable to adapt to adverse situations. Although David and Lucy were initially introduced as polar opposites, their value of privacy and refusal to endure public humiliation and shame draw a parallel between the predator and prey of the novel. David Lurie ultimately evolves from his sexual en counters with Soraya, Melanie and Bev Shaw by realizing the traumatizing implications of his actions after the Lucy’s rape. J.M. Coetzee, a white South African writer, was strongly influenced by his personal experiences while he witnessed the social barriers during the apartheid. As the novel begins, Coetzee describes the sexual relationship between the protagonist David Lurie and Soraya, a prostitute that David routinely indulged in every Thursday. â€Å"For a man of his age, fifty- two, divorced, he has, to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well† (Coetzee 1). In his mind, however, he did not put into perspective the thoughts of Soraya. He satisfied his desires at the expense of another’s emotional wellbeing. Despite Soraya’s acceptance of prostitution, her reaction towar... ...Originally, David uses his status as a white male in South Africa as his leverage and source of power, however, this tactic quickly fails and causes him to seek a new lifestyle. Lucy’s farm life introduces David not only to natural beauties but the strength people have to provide the services that they do such as managing a last resort animal aid center. By the end of his experiences, he learns that he does not belong in the environment that he used to surround himself with in the city, but that he enjoys himself when he has the company of animals and his daughter. His shift in standards of living and customs demonstrates the racial impacts of the apartheid. The connection between Lucy’s disgrace as the victim and David’s shame as the rapist demonstrates hardships both flaws. Each aspect of these flaws represents the difficulties of the apartheid in South Africa.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Perinatal Mental Health Midwife

Application for Temporary perinatal health midwife There is increasing awareness of perinatal mental health as a public health issue. The Government is keen for midwives to further develop their role in public health. Midwives need to be adequately prepared to take on a more developed role in perinatal mental health if practice improvements are to be made. I am aware that death from psychiatric causes has been the leading cause of maternal death for the last few years. Although the most recent Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health indicated that this is no longer a leading cause, mental health problems before and after childbirth have a significant impact on the health of women, family relationships and children’s subsequent development. I believe that midwives need to be able to detect women with current mental health problems and those at high risk of a serious mental illness following delivery, in order to improve the care and support offered to them throughout their contact with maternity services. One of the most serious areas where we see ongoing harm is in adult mental health. Recent research shows that a large proportion of adult mental health problems can be laid at the door of early childhood. We need to consider the likely future effects of not breaking the cycle while these people are young. The ACE Study estimates that 54 per cent of current depression and 58 percent of suicide attempts in women can be attributed to adverse childhood experiences, which also correlate with later high levels of alcohol and drug consumption. In order to screen systematically and sensitively, and to enable them to refer on appropriately, I feel that midwives need to understand why they are asking questions about mental health; how to encourage women to disclose past and current problems; what the risks of recurrence and relapse are; and what services are available in their area of practice. 1|Page I feel very strongly that having post graduate qualifications and experience like my own in counselling and different approaches to psychotherapy are essential attributes for this post. The facts about childbirth and mental illness are startling (reference, Oates M 2001): About one in ten women will develop postnatal depression after delivery. < After psychosis (puerperal) postnatal develop will women 500 in one> Suicide is one of the leading causes of maternal death in the UK. A woman is 20 times more likely to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital in the two weeks after delivery than at any time in the two years before or after. Despite this, talking about and confronting the issue of mental illness during pregnancy or the postnatal period still poses challenges for healthcare professionals. Motherhood is loaded with emotive expectation. This contributes to a large number of cases of perinatal mental illness going undiagnosed. This can have serious consequences including poor bonding between mother and baby; reduced quality of life for the mother, baby and father; prolonged disability caused by living with an untreated serious mental illness; and potential risk to the health and safety of the mother, baby or other family member, either through neglect or harm due to illness. As a midwife with 20 yrs of clinical practice and with some experience as a service user, I was pivotal in setting up the current bereavement service and have been Counselling women and their families at West Middlesex Hospital since June 2009. I also have experience of providing supportive psychotherapy to a diverse range of clients with differing pathologies in a primary care and private setting since 1999. In my Role as Midwifery Matters facilitator (2007-2009) South East Strategic Health Authority, I regularly travelled across the patch, giving presentations to multi professional audiences. I am confident in designing, producing and presenting a 2|Page range of presentations, including role play, power point, interpersonal workshops and formal lecture format. I have experience in writing academic papers (published) and information leaflets, guidelines and information posters. I am a naturally creative person who enjoys implementing evidence based practice change at a strategic and operational level. I am very excited about the opportunity to be potentially involved with designing an E-learning package. Whilst working with other experts in this industry I have gained some knowledge in the process of elearning development. I think that routine antenatal and postnatal care present an excellent opportunity to screen the mental health of pregnant women and women with a new baby. To do this effectively however, requires working more collaboratively across different professions to meet the needs of our patients. Having the post of a specialist midwife in mental health could allow me to provide focused care to pregnant women with mental illness. This could include co-morbid substance & alcohol misuse problems. I envisage the role as working closely with a perinatal psychiatry team at W. M. U. H and as an important point of liaison between the other midwives, especially safeguarding and case loading midwives, obstetricians, health visitors, child and family social services, obstetricians in the hospital, and mental health services. A useful means to achieve partnership working would be for the S. M. M. H to attend the weekly midwifery team meeting. Here, all midwifery community and labour ward teams meet to discuss the caseload and update the antenatal progress notes. This provides a valuable opportunity for potential referrals to be discussed, both with the specialist mental health midwife and the perinatal lead psychiatrist/obstetrician. Many women will prefer and only require additional support and advice from a midwife with specialist expertise, rather than see a psychiatrist. However, some pregnant women will need to see a perinatal psychiatrist for expert advice, for example, if having severe mental illness, or to discuss medications in pregnancy or breastfeeding. 3|Page The referrals could be women with a history of mental illness during childbirth or preexisting mental illness who are now pregnant. However, quite often at booking or routine antenatal checks, midwives may pick up new onset psychological distress in pregnant women who have no history of mental illness. Women may at first feel more inclined to disclose things to a midwife rather than a psychiatrist or doctor. This may include apprehension or fear centred on the impending delivery itself, increased general anxieties about coping, depression or other psychological symptoms. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines (2007) on antenatal and postnatal mental health have sought to address this, suggesting that at a woman’s first contact with primary care, at her booking visit and postnatally (usually at four to six weeks and three to four months), healthcare professionals (including midwives, obstetricians, health visitors and general practitioners) should routinely ask the following two screening questions to identify possible depression: During the past month, have you often been bothered by feeling down, depressed or hopeless? During the past month, have you often been bothered by having little interest or pleasure in doing things? A third question should be considered if the woman answers â€Å"yes’ to either of the initial questions: Is this something you feel you need or want help with? As a specialist mental health midwife, I would want to scope the current service and rapidly undertake a gap analysis to work towards providing equal access to perinatal mental health services. I could provide consultation and advice with the knowledge and skills that I already have and from which I accrue whilst undertaking my MSc in Psychodynamic approaches to Mental Health. I could perhaps investigate the possibility of providing a link to the local mother and baby unit. 4|Page In This role I could also act as a useful resource for other staff and support other midwives with their clients. They can be involved at an early stage in antenatal care and assist with monitoring women who may be developing or at risk of mental illness in childbirth. They can link up between physical and mental healthcare and can work in partnership with pregnant women to develop care plans for their individual needs. Having this post would give me the opportunity to hopefully address the stigma around mental illness and childbirth and improve screening and detection of women who need further specialist help — ultimately improving clinical outcomes and quality of life for new mothers and their families and long term financial benefits to the Trust and the N. H. S. A study of provision of perinatal mental health services has already been undertaken in two English strategic health authorities: views and perspectives of the multiprofessional team. Reports and policy recommendations have highlighted the need for early detection, appropriate referral and management. (Rowan1, McCourt 2 & Bick 3 (2010) This study has reported the in-depth views of relevant healthcare professionals on the extent to which perinatal mental health services are meeting policy and practice guidance. Their views highlight that although there have been developments in service provision, gaps persist particularly with respect to appropriate ongoing identification of needs and appropriate follow-up of women. Real challenges for the maternity ervices persist in relation to complex boundary issues that impacts on opportunities to support effective continuity of care and funding issues. Additionally, examples of good practice may still depend on the initiative and commitment of individual professionals, rather than the support of the organisation, including dedicated resources. Further research is required to ascertain the extent to which resource issues and t he drive to cut NHS healthcare budgets are limiting appropriate service provision for women with perinatal mental health needs. 5|Page There is always a need to elicit the views of the women who use the service. I would approach this by Iinking with our existing Maternity Service Liason comittee and carrying out appropriate patient satisfaction surveys and audit. References Felitti V & Anda RF (2008) ‘The relationship of adverse childhood experiences to adult health, wellbeing, social function and healthcare’ in R Lanius & E Vermetten (Eds) The Hidden effects of unresolved trauma. 134Epidemic: The Impact of Early Life Trauma on Health and Disease, Cambridge University Press, Mary Ross-Davie, Sandra Elliott, Anindita Sarkar, Lucinda Green British Journal of Midwifery 14(6): 330 – 334 (Jun 2006) National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. 007. Antenatal and postnatal mental health: clinical management and service guidance. NICE clinical guideline 45. London: NICE. Oates M. 2001. Perinatal maternal mental health services. Recommendations for provision of services for childbearing women. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists Cathy Rowan1 RM, PGCEA, MA. Christine M cCourt2 BA, PhD. Debra Bick3 RM, BA, MedSc, PhD. (2010) Evidence based Midwifery:Volume 8 (2010)  » issue 3  » Provision of perinatal mental health services in two English strategic health authorities: views and perspectives of the multi-professional team.. 6|Page

Friday, November 8, 2019

Computer Risks and Exposures Essay Example

Computer Risks and Exposures Essay Example Computer Risks and Exposures Paper Computer Risks and Exposures Paper Computer Risks and Exposures Computers of all kinds within an organisation are constantly faced with a variety of risks and exposures. It is helpful if we first define these terms: Computer risk Probability that an undesirable event could turn into a loss Computer exposure Results from a threat from an undesirable event that has the potential to become a risk Vulnerability A flaw or weakness in the system that can turn into a threat or a risk The total impact of computer risks range from minor to devastating and could include any or all of: Loss of sales or revenues Loss of profits Loss of personnel Failure to meet government requirements or laws Inability to serve customers Inability to sustain growth Inability to operate effectively and efficiently Inability to compete successfully for new customers Inability to stay ahead of the competition Inability to stay independent without being acquired or merged Inability to maintain present customer/client base Inability to control costs I nability to cope with advancements in technology Inability to control employees involved in illegal activities Damage to business reputation Complete business failure Computer risks. exposures and losses may be characterised as intentional or unintentional and may involve actual damage, alteration of data or programs as well as unauthorised dissemination of information. Objects which can be affected include physical items such as the hardware or hard-copy outputs which are both vulnerable to risks such as theft or loss; the tele-communications system which can cause major corporate grief if unavailable for any reason as well as being vulnerable to internal or external penetration; the applications software which, being a major control lement, is vulnerable to change, bypassing or direct sabotage; systems software such as the operating system itself which can also be amended or circumvented; computer operations where control procedures may be amended or bypassed and the data itself where virtually anything could happen. The risks in I. S. are the reverse of the control objectives and must be treated as business risks. As such they are the responsib ility of executive management with enforcement at a technical level. Obviously, the relative importance of risks will vary and the control techniques will vary from industry to industry and from company to company. The risks may be minimised but they can never be totally eliminated. Computer System Threats Threats may come from either external or internal sources and may be intentional or unintentional as well as malicious or non-malicious. Internal threats may come from: Users Management IS Auditors IS Staff Others Acting alone or in collusion. Users Threats from this source are the most commonly occurring and include errors, fraud, breach of confidentiality (commonly accidentally) or malicious damage. The most common causes of these threats are poor supervisory control combined with poor personnel procedures. In many cases far too much power has been granted to users who already have access to the assets. In many cases the users have an in-depth knowledge of the system’s control weaknesses and are in a position to exploit them. Management Threats here again include error and fraud but may also include systems manipulation for Corporate reasons such as profit smoothing or advance booking of sales or delayed recording of costs. Again breach of confidentiality is a hazard together with malicious damage. Common causes here are likely to involve inadequate segregation of duties with management, in many cases, unquestioned regarding decisions they make and transactions they authorise. This, combined with poor personnel procedures and too much power granted, can lead to major problems, particularly when combined with management’s access to assets and their authority to override conventional control levels. IS Auditors A commonly ignored threat, IS auditors again are in a position to commit errors or fraud, to breach confidentiality or cause malicious damage. In many cases there is little or no supervisory control exercised and far too much power granted. The auditors have access to the assets and a detailed knowledge of system weaknesses. In addition they have the right to attempt to break the system, although it is not supposed to be for their gain. IS Staff Threats here include the normal problems of error, fraud and breach of confidentiality as well as malicious damage. In this case, however, the impact of errors etc. tend to be further reaching since they may affect, not single transactions, but every transaction passing through a system. Once again the most common problem is accidental destruction rather than deliberate sabotage. Common causes are typically too much power granted, for example granting of access to live data; poor change control and ineffective division of duties. In many cases computer staff hold the keys to the kingdom and again they have the power associated with knowledge of the system. Others Other people also have access to computer systems, including engineers, salespersons etc. Threats here include again errors, fraud, loss of confidentiality as well as malicious damage and accidental destruction. Common causes in these cases include poor disposal of outputs, careless talk, inadequate access control both physical and logical, publicity and the advent and promotion of open systems. External Threats Threats may come from legitimate external users as well as inter-computer links such as the Internet, Electronic Data Interchange systems, system hackers and viral attacks as well as from natural causes. Such threats are commonly caused by inadequate logical access control resulting in high value systems being unguarded. A poor security attitude within staff coupled with an incorrect concept of Computer Security and an incorrect risk evaluation can also open up such exposures. Risk Management With such a plethora of risk exposures, management must adopt a position on risk. It may involve any or all of accepting the risk, reducing the risk (normally by increased internal control) or transferring the risk. The option which is NOT acceptable is simply ignoring the risk. In order to adopt an appropriate position, management must know and understand the risk. The Risk-based Audit Approach In order to achieve an audit which is both efficient and effective, the risk-based approach allows the auditor to focusing in areas of highest impact. The initial audit activity is therefore to gather or update information about the organisation in order to determine the audit strategy. This determination includes forming audit judgments regarding the organisation and assessing the inherent and control risks in order to determine the appropriate audit testing plan. Inherent risk may be seen as the risks the organisation faces without the mitigating impact of internal controls. Control risks involved those elements of inherent risk not successfully mitigated by the internal control structures. The initial information required would include knowledge of the organisations business and place within its industry, as well as a knowledge of the applicable accounting, auditing and regulatory standards within the industry. These allow the determination of the overall business objectives of the organisation or departmental function. Once the business objectives have been determined the auditor may proceed to identify and isolate the individual details control objectives. For example, the overall objective of the purchasing function is to buy items for the organisation. The control objectives for this function would include ensuring that only the right items are purchased, at the right price, in the right quantity, of the right quality, in an authorised manner, for delivery to the right place at the right time. The risks then become those factors which can prevent fully or partially the achievement of the control objectives. The auditor must then determine which controls will mitigate those risks and what source of evidence exists as to the adequacy and effectiveness of that mitigation. Even prior to testing, the auditor can determine the adequacy of the control structures designed to mitigate the risk on the assumption that the controls function as intended. In other words, if all controls function as intended, would the risks be controlled to management’s predetermined acceptable level. Once the source of evidence has been identified, the auditor can select the appropriate audit technique to determine whether the control objective has been achieved. These techniques could include interviews, reviews of documentation, reviews of systems or the use of computer-assisted audit techniques. After the auditor has decided upon the appropriate audit technique, the appropriate audit tool may be selected. For example if the technique is to interview, the auditor must decide whether the interview will be face-to-face, by telephone, or by videoconferencing. If the technique is to review data on files within the computer, the tool could be generalised audit software, general-purpose software or a specific audit software.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

All About Like

All About Like All About Like All About Like By Mark Nichol Like is one of the most versatile of words, with senses encompassing multiple parts of speech. Here’s a review of its various meanings and uses. As a verb, like means â€Å"enjoy,† â€Å"feel affection for,† â€Å"regard favorably,† â€Å"thrive in,† or â€Å"wish to have.† It can also mean â€Å"approve† or â€Å"prefer.† The noun like refers to preference or something that one likes. In recent years, it has acquired the sense of â€Å"an acknowledgment given online in approval of content another person has posted.† The word appears as a noun in idiomatic phrases such as those in â€Å"We haven’t seen the likes of him for a long time† (meaning â€Å"Someone resembling him hasn’t been seen for a long time†) and â€Å"She’s partial to lavender and the like† (meaning â€Å"She’s partial to lavender and things that are similar to it†). As an adjective, like means â€Å"possessing the same or similar characteristics or qualities,† as in â€Å"They finally admitted that they did not have enough like interests to sustain a relationship.† As a suffix, it has an adjectival function. Treatment depends on what precedes it. Most words with the suffix are closed, with no hyphenation, as in â€Å"birdlike movements.† However, if the base word ends with l (â€Å"the cell-like room†) or is a proper noun (â€Å"a Christ-like bearing†), employ a hyphen. The adverb like, stands in for approximately or nearly, as in â€Å"It was more like a dark orange than a pale red.† When informally referring to measurements, the adverb is sometimes used interjectionally: â€Å"It was, like, as long as my arm† or â€Å"He seems to come around every few years, like.† Similarly, it is parenthetically employed in conversational English for emphasis (â€Å"I was, like, astonished†) or, paradoxically, to suggest an offhandedness (â€Å"They were, like, hoping somebody would offer them a ride†). Casually, it can also mean probably, as in â€Å"I’ll be there in time, like enough.† The preposition like means â€Å"comparable,† â€Å"similar,† or â€Å"typical†; that’s the part of speech that is essential in a simile such as â€Å"The grass, ruffled by the wind, looked like a rolling wave.† As a conjunction, like means â€Å"the same as† or appears in place of â€Å"as if† (â€Å"She looked like she was about to cry†). Informally, it is employed similarly to the casual adverb to introduce a quotation, paraphrase, or thought (â€Å"He’s like ‘Don’t even think about leaving now’†) or, following it’s, to express a widely held opinion (â€Å"It’s like, it’s not going to make any difference.†) As a preposition, like is often considered inferior to or even improper as a substitute for â€Å"such as,† but as with some other supposedly undesirable usages, this is acceptable in even formal prose. The adjective like derives from the Old English term gelic, meaning â€Å"similar.† Most of the other parts of speech derived from this usage, but the verb stems from lician, which means â€Å"please† or â€Å"be pleasing or sufficient†; the connection is perhaps that to be sufficient is to be suitable, which is to be similar. Words based on the root like include the following: alike: similar likeable: agreeable likelihood: probability likely: seeming to be right, suitable, or true, or very probable; also, promising or attractive liken: compare likeness: similarity likes: preferences likewise: in the same manner liking: the action or feeling of enjoying a person, place, or thing Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:25 Subordinating ConjunctionsDo you "orient" yourself, or "orientate" yourself?Punctuation Is Powerful

Monday, November 4, 2019

Describe the Assessment Form Dr Agile Webside Essay

Describe the Assessment Form Dr Agile Webside - Essay Example Agile assessment. This is an interpretation of the Dr. Agile test results and questionnaire, which explain the relevance of the results in context According to the results of the Dr. Agile analysis, in the practice of ‘Managing Requirements Using a Backlog’, the team was rated â€Å"Not Suitable† by 28% in the field of ‘Welcoming constant change’ and â€Å"Partially Suitable† by 60% in the areas of ‘Importance of Prioritizing’ and ‘Realizing the Evolutionary Nature of Software Development’ (Dr. Agile, 2010). These results indicate that the team needs additional work in adjusting to changing circumstances and acclimating themselves to the field of software development and technology. The rapidly expanding technological market brings constant changes to the work environment and employees within this field must be able to adjust to the daily changes that may occur so they will be better able to service their customers. In the remaining field of ‘Management Buy-in’, the team was rated as â€Å"Largely Suitable† by 73% (Dr. Agile, 2010). ... Agile, 2010). These indications mean that the team requires work in these areas before they can successfully adopt these practices into their work scheme. The characteristic of ‘Handling Stress’ was rated as â€Å"Largely Suitable† by a margin of 61% and ‘Buy-in of the Development Team’ was rated â€Å"Largely Suitable† by 83% (Dr. Agile, 2010). The â€Å"Group Estimation† practice achieved a 28%rating of â€Å"Not Suitable† in the characteristic of ‘Multi-Disciplined Team Members’ and the practice of â€Å"Self-Organized Teams† received the same rating for the same characteristic (Dr. Agile, 2010). This reveals the necessity for strong supportive training in the area of working collectively to achieve a goal and independent decision-making. In the practice of â€Å"Group Estimations†, the team was rated â€Å"Largely Suitable† by 73% in the characteristic of ‘Management Buy-in’ and à ¢â‚¬Å"Fully Suitable† by 93% in the characteristics of ‘Trust between Management and Team Members’ and ‘Developer’s Buy-in’ (Dr. Agile, 2010). They also earned the â€Å"Fully Suitable† by 93% rating in the characteristic of ‘Developer’s Buy-in’ within the practice of â€Å"Daily Standup Meeting† and ‘Management Buy-in’ and ‘Trust between Management and Team Members’ within the practice of â€Å"Self-Organized Teams† (Dr. Agile, 2010). The characteristics of ‘Management Buy-in’ in the practice of â€Å"Daily Standup Meeting† and ‘Developer’s Buy-in’ in the practice of â€Å"Self-Organized Teams† both received the rating of â€Å"Largely Suitable† by 83% (Dr. Agile, 2010). Overall, the ratings demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of the team as a whole and demonstrate which areas need

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Alcohol Abuse in Men and Women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Alcohol Abuse in Men and Women - Essay Example Epidemiologic evidence suggests that the problem with alcoholism lack the stereotypical features of other substance abuse disorders mainly due to the fact that alcohol drink is considered a socially acceptable beverage, although society does not accept the excess and abuse. That which starts as a social norm may eventually turn out to be an addictive behaviour. Psychiatric manifestations apart, a history of alcoholism provides the explanation of many other health conditions that a nurse may come across, and from that point of view, awareness that many other organ system disorders are secondary to alcohol abuse is an absolute necessity for the nurse who cares for the patient (WHO, 2002). The effect size and effect count of alcohol abuse on other health conditions appear enormous and numerous, and these patients would require care for these other health issues eventually, and the impact on the nursing management and management plan consequently become numerous (Goldacre et al., 2004). In this literature review, current evidence would be sought as to how alcohol abuse in both the sexes affect the baseline health status of the individual, setting aside the problem of alcoholism per se. The literatures that would be reviewed would deal with all the parameters of health, such as, pathologic processes involving other organ systems, morbidity, mortality, and quality of life issues for adult men and women. In the short span of this review, it should be admitted that, it is not possible to discuss in detail all the studies to extract the specific health implications (Rehm et al., 2003b); however, it is presumed that it would serve the purpose of an overview so it can generate awareness about alcohol abuse health effects in both the sexes from the angles of impact on care, so the reader can ultimately make an informed decision about the management of such cases from the available evidence from literature. The common causes of death among persons with the alcohol-related disorders are suicide, cancer, heart disease, and hepatic disease. Apart from these, alcohol abuse has been implicated in many other pathologic processes in the body to contribute to mortality and morbidity of the individuals who misuse alcohol. Current research indicates that drinking level rather than drinking pattern bears the strongest relationships to alcohol-associated problems. At low drinking levels, frequent drinkers would be expected to have highest levels of problems. There are certain gender differences in relation to health issues between adult men and women. At lower levels of drinking women have a slightly lower drinking frequency and fewer problems than men. Research has shown that the Whites have the highest rate of alcohol use, and men are much more likely than women to be binge drinkers and heavy drinkers. Although alcohol misuse appears to be prevalent in higher socioeconomic classes, alcohol-relate d disorders appear among persons of all socioeconomic classes. In the past few decades, alcohol consumption has increased substantially in the population. Expressed as liters of pure alcohol per year per capita, the current

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Abstract Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Abstract - Assignment Example This wall provided a platform in which most artists created their art with the main aim of communicating. The street art in Germany, Berlin to be precise, went on after the wall was pulled down in the year 1989 when Germany was reunited again (Visconti et al., 520). Street art has been seen to have a large influence on both political and social cultures of people all over. For instance, artwork in San Francisco, worked a lot for the people by communicating with both leaders and society. It was used by people in San Francisco to struggle of peace movements, gay rights, and the horrors of capitalism. At the same time, the artwork in both the middle class, underprivileged and wealthy neighbourhoods, which always acts as a reminder for equality throughout social classes (Dickens, 70). Art work in Berlin, paid a lot more over the time when there was oppressive and the country was separated into two, street art, worked as the voice of the people without much rebellion and did not all go in vain, it led to Germany being reunified. At the same time, these artworks serves as the best custodian of the historical revolutions Germany has gone through (Riggle,

Monday, October 28, 2019

Effects of Drinking Alcohol Essay Example for Free

Effects of Drinking Alcohol Essay Drinking alcohol is like taking a drug. It is a form of drug abuse, and drug addiction. This is a worldwide problem that many people are involved in. There are good effects of alcohol if it is in small amounts, and in moderation. On the other hand there are bad short and long term effects. The effects that a person will get are all based on certain factors like, how much and how often alcohol is consumed, the age of the person, when the person started and how long they have been drinking for, gender, their family history and last but not least based on their health. Lately scientists have been saying that a little bit of alcohol with dinner is not only okay but it is also good for you. This is true in moderation. They say that if you drink a small amount of alcohol it will help you sleep. Also if you drink a moderate amount every day it can help your health in the long run. A moderate amount is considered to be 1 drink for women daily and 2 drinks for men daily. This can help bring your HDL level up, which helps protect your heart against disease that causes heart attacks. Also a moderate amount of alcohol everyday can lower your risk of developing diabetes by increasing your insulin sensitivity. It can also raise ‘good cholesterol’ levels. In the long run they have said that for women it helps keep the mind sharp in later years. Now when they talk about having a helpful amount of alcohol they mean small doses of it a day with a meal, so that the absorption rate is slowed down. Now this doesn’t mean that a person should start drinking for the benefits that it gives, it just means that if you drink in moderation already it could be slightly helpful to you in the future. If you take advantage of that and drink in excess there are effects that you should be aware of. Contrary to some beliefs, alcohol is a depressant. This is the opposite of a stimulator, meaning that it calms you down, and slows down some organs in your body. Alcohol therefore has short term effects on your body. With about 0. 05% blood- alcohol level you start to get dulled judgment and your inhibitions are released. After that stage you start to get clumsy and will have slurred speech with about a 0. 10% blood-alcohol level. Once you come close to unconsciousness you have a 0. 30% blood-alcohol level. After that point it starts to get dangerous, because you can go into a coma at 0. 45%, and then at 0. 70% the brain starts to shut off and stop controlling things like breathing, and your heart, which will end up in death. These facts are not meant to scare you, because most people can’t drink past 0. 40% because they are asleep. Some other short term effects include blackouts, where you can’t remember what happened, and insomnia, where you can’t fall asleep. While you are drinking you will be less alert, less aware of your surroundings, lose your muscular coordination, have difficulty walking, have blurred vision, and have slow reaction times. This can lead to accidents, injuries, and death. Also after drinking you may get a hangover the next morning which will include effects like headaches, nausea, thirst, heartburn, dizziness, and fatigue. If you are not careful with the amount of alcohol that you drink you can get some bad side-effects. Once you start to become addicted to alcohol you are considered an alcoholic. There are many long term effects that come along with drinking lots of alcohol for a prolonged amount of time. Drinking alcohol like this will damage your organs, like the brain, liver, stomach, intestines, and heart. The brain is affected, because brain cells die which leads to memory loss, confusion, learning difficulties, problems with attention, and brain disorders. The liver is effected, because cancer can develop there, and also in the mouth and throat. The stomach may acquire ulcers. From prolonged drinking you can have a stroke, or have heart failure. The nervous system can also get damaged, and when this happens the person will get physical and behavioral problems. Impaired vision can also be a result of this type of drinking. It also affects your health. One reason for this is because alcohol is high in calories which can lead to obesity. Another reason is that poor nutrition normally comes side by side with lots of drinking. This could be because the alcohol interferes with the absorption and storage of the vitamins you get. Also the water soluble minerals get lost because of the increased urination that happens. Because of the lowered health you also have a lowered resistance to infections. Some other less serious effects of prolonged drinking are vomiting, profuse sweating, hallucinations, tremors, and sleep disturbances. All of these problems can quickly lead to injury to oneself or to others, violence, and death. Also it leads to a loss of employment, and a loss of family life. If you are addicted to alcohol or drink a lot of alcohol for a long period of time you will shorten your life span by about 12 years, and get a lot of serious side-effects. In conclusion alcohol can affect your life in a good or bad way depending on how you drink, how often you drink, and how much you drink. It is better to drink in moderation, and responsibly. This normally means drinking only 1 to 2 glasses a day with a meal, and to also have a healthy diet that goes along with that. Otherwise the health benefits of drinking alcohol are gone, and replaced with some horrible side-effects. Everyone can make their own decision on what drinking in moderation is and what drinking responsibly means, but everyone should be informed with the facts.