Group Dynamics Outline Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Group Dynamics - Outline Example This reduces the rate of conflict within the organization. As an illustration from the HS engineering sample the major conflicts that arise due to the change taking place within the organization include; loss in manufacturing industries, there is an expectation of 30% reduction in the financial status of the company. The different group dynamics established had their own needs that lead to the closure of some of them due to poor management. Group dynamics are concerned with how groups work within an organization. Groups, as organization develops due to the activities performed by the group members within an organization, group sentiments, and individual interaction within the group. It is in this case that, when individuals share a common activity they tend to work hard so as to achieve the common goal (Frey, 2000). As illustrated in HS engineering firm several group dynamics are established by the management who work with the aim of achieving a common goal. The following factors can be put into consideration so as to manage conflicts within the group dynamics that result from the introduction of change within the system. The managers can conduct frequent monitoring of the groups, the can dynamics group rotation among group dynamics. Greenberg (2000) holds the opinion that, the managers can develop a system that can be used to motivate workers to improve their working conditions that can result to positive outputs. Organizational politics can be controlled by the managers establishing a work flow between rhythms in work related activities and this does not entail work related activities. The managers are encouraged to assess the group from time to time to determine if there is any political influence within it. The managers are to provide support to each group with the visualized company objective that makes the group active throughout the system. For

SELF-DEFINED PROJECT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SELF-DEFINED PROJECT - Essay Example hat’s left from Experiencing the Divine†¦an expression of the artist’s spiritual nature in the material world†¦[it] is the portal to the soul† (Darlene). According to Andrej Tisma art allowed man to discover â€Å"deep secrets penetrating the source of things†. In primitive society, when religion was held central to the community, the priest was the same as the artist. He created prayers and hymns that allowed man to connect wit the divine. As society modernizes and beliefs become secular, the artist has finally risen up to assert his individuality and his interpretation of what the world is. This new form is called mental art. Unlike the earlier forms of art which tried to depict reality, or make a statement about the imagined reality, mental art allows the artist to communicate using his own concepts. In Rudolf Steiner’s words, â€Å"The basis of artistic creation is not what is, but what might be; not the real, but the possible†. This new form allows the artist to bring forth the â€Å"knowledge† that is burning alive inside him. For some people this â€Å"burning† is the seed of the divine, man’s ultimate connection to the being called God, the Source, the Creator. Because creativity is of divine nature, often the artist cannot recognize an artwork when he/she is done with it. Some would say â€Å"I can’t believe I did this† - an indication of the â€Å"other† which lives inside a person. The nature of this other is no longer within the bounds of this paper, what is sure, however, is that art is the medium of co mmunication between the â€Å"other† and the physical man. Creativity is its highest manifestation – man may deny revealing it, but such denial cannot last forever. When it reaches its peak, it will strive to break all barriers in the same way that mental art is now breaking social norms. This idea is supported by this quote from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, â€Å"If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you

We Are Surrounded By Media Sociology Essay

We Are Surrounded By Media Sociology Essay In todays world, we are surrounded by media. Our lives are saturated by newspapers, radio, books, television, movies, Internet, and many other aspects of media. These can be broadly classified into news media and popular media. In India, both these types provide an insight to Indian life, which is filled with romance, tradition, and all the other day-to-day experiences and situations one might come across. But, even though they might seem the same, they both play very different roles in society. Popular media represents and recounts a vast number of real life stories, and portrays them in a manner enjoyable for the audience. News media on the other hand, provides more facts and gives raw information for the audience to understand, with or without a firm opinion of its own on the matter. Popular media reaches out to a much larger audience, as both literate and illiterate people are able to access it, while news media only reaches out to the literate and wealthy people. This difference can become a problem in certain situations. Both these parts of media reflect society constantly, as they are shaped from and around experiences and stories of the people in the society. Usually, both these types concur with each other in the content and representation of society, but there are specific cases in which this ceases to be true. An example of this is the portrayal of the prominence and effects of the dowry system in India today. For a long time, both popular and news media reflected the aspects of the dowry system in Indian society very vividly and comprehensively, shared the same view about the topic, and thus were in concurrence with each other. But overtime, it was noticed that popular media deviated from this pattern and no longer reflected the prominence of the dowry system in society, while the news media continued to do so, thus creating an ideological difference between the two. The problem of the dowry system is still prominent, and the news media continues to reflect this. But since popular media does not reflect society anymore, a majority of the society comes under the impression that there is nothing wrong in what they are doing. This can cause the dowry system to be persistent in the everyday lives of Indian families. The dowry system is a cultural system in India in which the parents of the bride pay a large sum of money, and give expensive jewelry and other gifts such as cars, to the parents of the groom during marriage. Traditionally, there were many reasons for the establishment of this system. It was a form of inheritance for the bride, since all the family property was inherited by men. It was supposed to be the security for the bride in case any misfortune befell her husbands house. It was also a system of honoring the groom for his willingness to accept the bride as his wife in marriage, and the gifts given could range from anything significant to even a small token of good wishes. However, the greed of dowry has affected almost all ordinary families in India. Nowadays, in marriages between or amongst all hierarchal levels of society, dowry is generally an unspoken requirement. And due to the exposure to mass media, the gifts given in dowry have transformed into a large transfer of wealth, making it an important factor in marriage. The social and cultural effects of the dowry system are devastating to the society as a whole. The system reduced women to a commodity and a source of wealth. Even if the dowry is paid, in most cases, the bride is tortured by her in-laws mentally and physically as they demand for more dowry even after marriage. This torture generally leads to suicide or murder of the bride. The reason why dowry is still persistent in India is not only because it is difficult to enforce the law against it or because the grooms family is very demanding, but also because the brides family continues to bear with it. Despite the widespread awareness of the negative consequences of dowry and the problems cause by it, it is still seen as a way of buying happiness for the bride. Many families believe that giving a large dowry would result in better treatment of the daughter by the grooms family. This has only aggravated the problem as the standard for dowry became high and so marriage was dependent on whether the brides family could reach that standard of dowry or not. A study was done in 1980 which examined students expectations of dowry for people with various education backgrounds. Even though majority of the students viewed the dowry system as an evil in society and considered it unimportant for marriage, most of the brothers of the respondents gave or received dowry for their sisters marriages. Also, depending on the social status and affluence of the family, and the education qualifications of the bride and the groom, the amount of dowry needed to be given varies significantly. There is a positive correlation between a mans education and status to the dowry his family demands. As a grooms educational experience increases, the dowry demanded for the marriage also increases. In 1961, the payment of dowry was prohibited under the Indian Civil Law, and also under sections 304B and 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Despite this, this system of dowry has been a continuous and never ending menace in our society. These laws were made in order to make it easier for women to seek redress from the harassment she is under by the mans family. But these laws have been of little help to brides, who are harassed even today by their in-laws. Instances of such situations have constantly been shown to the public by the media. The power of media in todays world is surprising. The media has the freedom to form opinions, and through this they can change the opinions of people. But, people forget that in the end, all media is doing is reflecting society. The stories the media covers, and the plots of the movies that are made (except fantasy fiction of course), all are based on situations which may occur in day to day life, or real life situations. Same was the case with the dowry system. The media clearly depicted the agonies and pain of Indian women as they were suffering from the cruelties of the dowry system. This can be seen from very far back in popular as well as news media. Dowry-inspired murder cases received immense coverage by news media in the late 1970s and 1980s due to the active role played by womens organizations. The womens organizations played a very important role in increasing awareness and coverage of dowry related cases. A study done on the coverage of dowry related cases from 1979-1984 concludes that there was a noticeable improvement in the coverage of dowry in the national papers due to the womens organizations, although the coverage in regional papers remained the same. By 1979, one dowry related death received serious press coverage. A 24 year old bride from New Delhi, Tarvinder Kaur, was set on fire by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law due to the less dowry paid by her. Another significant dowry-related murder case was that of Tripti Sharma, who worked at the Ministry of Defense. She was burned to death by her husband and his family in 1986. A more optimistic and recent case is that of Nisha Sharma. In May 2003, she handed over her future husband to the police on the day of the wedding itself as he was demanding more dowry from her. This example shows what women need to do in cases of dowry abuse. Nisha refused to come under the pressures of the grooms family, and decided that she is not going to sustain it. These examples from news media are clearly reflective of the state of affairs in India at that time, and case with popular media was similar. In 1992, the movie City of Joy depicted a family which had really high dowry demands. In the movie, the grooms father clearly states, I am firm in requiring for my exceptional son the bicycle, 1000 rupees, and one ounce of gold. The brides father responds by saying, The child of a king might be worth that, and Im not even sure of that! Another 2001 movie, Lajja, clearly displayed the consequences of the dowry system, its working, and how it may be a big burden on the brides family. In the movie, Maithili (Mahima Chaudhary) is about to be married to a wealthy man of a family with a high social status. Maithilis parents give away everything they have in the dowry, including their land and saved money. Upon still falling short, they take loans from their friends, but they are still not able to gather the full amount. Maithili requests her future husband to convince his dad to let the rest of the money be, but he is too scared to do so. Seeing this, and seeing her dad beg in front of the grooms father to accept the money he has, she rebels, and calls of the wedding. She was not able to bear to see her father being humiliated in such a manner by the grooms father. Both these movies showed depicted that the brides family has to struggle a lot in order to gather the dowry for the grooms family, and thus is a big burden on them. This depiction of the dowry system by popular media was in concurrence with its reflection in the news media, but as we move ahead on the timeline, this concurrence slowly fades away. The movie Lajja was the last movie to clearly depict the pain inflicted due to the dowry system. The 2006 movie Lage Raho Munna Bhai also had the concept of dowry, but it did not demonstrate the consequences of the dowry system, and only showed that the concept of dowry existed. Since then, popular media has not depicted anything related to cases of dowry related abuse or murder. And this would have been perfectly fine if the society had transformed to this effect and there were no more dowry related crimes taking place. But this was not true, as news media still continued to report about such crimes taking place. Number of dowry cases goes up (The Hindu, January 2008); Dowry death after love marriage (The Times of India, April 2008); Harassed for dowry, teacher ends life (The Indian Express, November 2007). These are just three headlines from three of Indias popular newspapers that show the persistence of the dowry system and its consequences in modern India. Dowry is still prevalent in modern India, in not only the illiterate section of the population, but also the educated elites in Indias major metropolitan cities. Surprisingly in the past decade, the number of dowry related crime cases has actually gone up, despite dowry being banned since 1961 by Indian law. According to the statistics released by the National Crime Records Bereau, a total of 8391 dowry deaths were reported in 2010 itself, which means that a bride was killed every 90 minutes due to dowry related reasons. In 1988, this number was 2209; in 1990 it rose to 4835; in 2000 (a decade earlier), this number was 6995, and in 2007 it climbed up to an astounding 8093. According to other government records, Delhi itself records a few hundred dowry deaths every year, while womens rights groups estimate this number to be at 900 per year. This is a phenomenal increase compared to the number for the 1990s, which is about 300 per year. It is important to note that these are just official records, and are thus immensely under-reported. 90% of the cases in which women are burnt are recorded as accident, 5% as suicides, and only the remaining 5% of the cases are shown as murder. These shockingly high numbers clearly reflect the continuous increase in dowry related crimes and deaths in India. This is due to the continued commercialization of marriages in the modern Indian society. Indias economic liberalization has seen a proportionate rise in the levels of greed as compared to 1990, and a bride is now perceived by her future in-laws as a source of potential cash flow. A famous quote from former Justice Markandey Katju reads, On one hand, people regard women as goddesses, and on the other hand they burn them alive. This is against the norms of civilized society. Its barbaric. This is in response to an appeal filed by a husband who had just been sentenced to imprisonment for life by a Sessions court for burning his wife due to dowry related reasons. The effects of the dowry system are so far and wide ranging, that they can even be traced back to the womb. This system is the primary cause for female feticide and infanticide as poorer parents get to avoid the lifelong burden of saving up for the dowry for their daughters marriage. The commercialization of marriage and female infanticide is clearly reflected in the movie Matrubhoomi, in which a reverse dowry system is depicted. The movie shows a society in which there are no women left due to excessive female infanticide, and the men have grown to be so sexually frustrated, that they are ready to pay large amounts of money to get a wife for themselves or their sons. So as soon as the head of the family finds Kalki, they literally buy her from her father, by giving him five lakh rupees and five cows, and marry her to all five of his sons. Kalki simply becomes a source of money for her father, and a sex object for her husbands. Nowadays, there are famous advertisements which have been put up in many of the rural villages, which read, Spend 500 rupees today, save 5000 rupees later. This is a reference to the cost of abortion compared to the cost of the dowry which they might have to give. It basically encourages the families to come and get an abortion if their child is a girl, so that they dont have the burden of paying the dowry while getting her married in the future. This is the primary reason why India has a distorted sex ratio of 933 girls for every 1,000 boys. As is evident, the problems due to the dowry system have only been rising over the past decade. Despite this, popular media has failed to reflect these problems. News media has continued to keep up with these updates, and report about them, but popular media has deviated into its own path. Since popular media has a much larger audience compared to news media, this results in the society getting a totally different viewpoint of what is happening in their world: a wrong viewpoint in which what they are doing is not wrong. Also, since popular media has a much larger international audience as compared to news media, people from other countries get a totally different view of India: a world in which the dowry system does not exist and is not causing any problems at all. Thus, an untrue version of the society is shown to the world outside, which is not good, as when these people actually come to India and read about the truth, it is a shocking revelation for them. A shift is Indias attitude towards the dowry systems is urgently due. In simple words, dowry is equal to a family paying a man to accept their daughter as his wife, while the man along with his family, tries to get the maximum price out of the womans family. This association of economic gain with women in marriage is something which has long been persistent in India, and needs to stop. Simply making anti-dowry laws has proved to be inefficient. We need to make the society see their mistakes and realize what they are doing wrong, and this can only be done if popular media continues to reflect society as it did before. India must come together to end this practice. This could see couples channel their funds to provide education to their daughters, instead of saving money for years and years for dowry. The days of the persistence of the dowry system in India must be numbered, or Indian societys claim to be progressive is disingenuous.

workers comp :: essays research papers

It shouldn't hurt to go to work. But in 1998, nearly 6 million U.S. workers were injured at work or became sick because of their jobs. Most working Americans know that they are protected by workers' compensation laws if they are injured on the job. But many are unaware of the prominent role played by organized labor in securing these historic legal protections. Workers' compensation laws became necessary at the turn of the century, when injured workers were faced with rising medical costs and lost time. In those days, an injured employee had to prove that the employer was at fault, due either to an unsafe workplace, lack of safe tools, failing to warn of dangers or failing to furnish adequate help. If the employer was not at fault, the employee received no compensation. Even if the employer was at fault, the injured worker still could not recover if he was partly to blame, or if he knew of the risks beforehand, or if the injury was caused by a fellow servant. In most cases, injured workers received no compensation at all. Employees and their families faced financial ruin. And if a worker happened to overcome the legal obstacles and received money damages, the employer might be put out of business, costing other employees their jobs. To remedy this unfairness, Labor struggled for the passage of workers' compensation laws. Labor argued that an employer could pay for work injuries by merely raising the price of its product or service by a few pennies to purchase workers' compensation insurance. In contrast, an employee bearing the cost of his own injury could become destitute. Labor's battle cry was, "the cost of the product should bear the blood of the worker." The original model for workers' compensation legislation was a compromise between business and labor. Employees gave up their right to sue for large jury awards in exchange for more modest but certain compensation for lost time, medical bills and permanency. Employers gave up their cozy system of fault-based liability in exchange for a no-fault system, but with limits on the amount of money they would have to pay their injured employees. Early workers' compensation laws covered only hazardous industries, such as construction, demolition and mining.

Auditing: Financial Audit and Inventory Essay

Answers to case study: 1. What are the auditor’s primary objectives when he or she observes the client’s annual physical inventory? Ans. The Primary Objective of auditor is to make sure the inventory reflected on the balance sheet actually exists and that the balance sheet includes all inventory owned by the company .This includes all raw material,supplies,inventory in transit.The company may have on consignment with another business and inventory stored off the premises. Confirming the existence of inventory through observation address the occurrence and completeness assertion as well. Auditors job is to watch employees and make sure they following agreed upon procedure of company There are two main objectives of auditing. The primary objective and the secondary or incidental objective. a. Primary objective – as per Section 227 of the Companies Act 1956, the primary duty (objective) of the auditor is to report to the owners whether the balance sheet gives a true and fair view of the Company’s state of affairs and the profit and loss A/c gives a correct figure of profit of loss for the financial year. b. Secondary objective – it is also called the incidental objective as it is incidental to the satisfaction of the main objective. The incidental objective of auditing are: i. Detection and prevention of Frauds, and  ii. Detection and prevention of Errors. Detection of material frauds and errors as an incidental objective of independent financial auditing flows from the main objective of determining whether or not the financial statements give a true and fair view. As the Statement on auditing Practices issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India states, an auditor should bear in mind the possibility of the existence of frauds or errors in the accounts under audit since they may cause the financial position to be mis-stated. Fraud refers to intentional misrepresentation of financial information with the intention to deceive. Frauds can take place in the form of manipulation of accounts, misappropriation of cash and misappropriation of goods. It is of great importance for the auditor to detect any frauds, and prevent their recurrence. Errors refer to unintentional mistake in the financial information arising on account of ignorance of accounting principles i.e. principle errors, or error arising out of negligence of accounting staff i.e. Clerical errors. 2. Identify the key audit procedures that an auditor would typically perform during and after the client’s physical inventory. 1. Ans. company records its inventory as an asset, and it undergoes an annual audit, then theauditors will be conducting an audit of your inventory. Cutoff analysis. The auditors will examine your procedures for halting any further receiving into the warehouse or shipments from it at the time of the physical inventory count, so that extraneous inventory items are excluded. They typically test the last few receiving and shipping transactions prior to the physical count, as well as transactions immediately following it, to see if you are properly accounting for them. Observe the physical inventory count. The auditors want to be comfortable with the procedures you use to count the inventory. This means that they will discuss the counting procedure with you, observe counts as they are being done, test count some of the inventory themselves and trace their counts to the amounts recorded by the company’s counters, and verify that all inventory count tags were accounted for. If you have multiple inventory storage locations, they may test the inventory in those locations where there are significant amounts of inventory. They may also ask for confirmations of inventory from the custodian of any public warehouse where the company is storing inventory. Reconcile the inventory count to the general ledger. They will trace the valuation compiled from the physical inventory count to the company’s general ledger, to verify that the counted balance was carried forward into the company’s accounting records. Test high-value items. If there are items in the inventory that are of unusually high value, the auditors will likely spend extra time counting them in inventory, ensuring that they are valued correctly, and tracing them into the valuation report that carries forward into the inventory balance in the general ledger. Test error-prone items. If the auditors have noticed an error trend in prior years for specific inventory items, they will be more likely to test these items again. Test inventory in transit. There is a risk that you have inventory in transit from one storage location to another at the time of the physical count. Auditors test for this by reviewing your transfer documentation. Test item costs. The auditors need to know where purchased costs in your accounting records come from, so they will compare the amounts in recent supplier invoices to the costs listed in your inventory valuation. Review freight costs. You can either include freight costs in inventory or charge it to expense in the period incurred, but you need to be consistent in your treatment – so the auditors will trace a selection of freight invoices through your accounting system to see how they are handled. Test for lower of cost or market. The auditors must follow the lower of cost or market rule, and will do so by comparing a selection of market prices to their recorded costs. Finished goods cost analysis. If a significant proportion of the inventory valuation is comprised of finished goods, then the auditors will want to review the bill of materials for a selection of finished goods items, and test them to see if they show an accurate compilation of the components in the finished goods items, as well as correct costs. Direct labor analysis. If direct labor is included in the cost of inventory, then the auditors will want to trace the labor charged during production on time cards or labor routings to the cost of the inventory. They will also investigate whether the labor costs listed in the valuation are supported by payroll records. Overhead analysis. If you apply overhead costs to the inventory valuation, then the auditors will verify that you are consistently using the same general ledger accounts as the source for your overhead costs, whether overhead includes any abnormal costs (which should be charged to expense as incurred), and test the validity and consistency of the method you use to apply overhead costs to inventory. Work-in-process testing. If you have a significant amount of work-in-process (WIP) inventory, the auditors will test how you determine a percentage of completion for WIP items. Inventory allowances. The auditors will determine whether the amounts you have recorded as allowances for obsolete inventory or scrap are adequate, based on your procedures for doing so, historical patterns, â€Å"where used† reports, and reports of inventory usage (as well as by physical observation during the physical count). If you do not have such allowances, they may require you to create them. Inventory ownership. The auditors will review purchase records to ensure that the inventory in your warehouse is actually owned by the company (as opposed to customer-owned inventory or inventory on consignment from suppliers). Inventory layers. If you are using a FIFO or LIFO inventory valuation system, the auditors will test the inventory layers that you have recorded to verify that they are valid. 3.What audit procedure or procedures might have prevented Nashwinter from successfully overstating the 1980 year-end inventory of the Gravins Division? Ans. IN 1980 the audit conducted by goodman and company auditors Wilson and Pollard. During the audit of inventory Nashwinter showed the false inventory recorded by him to auditor but they overlooked the inventory statement.The first time when nashwinter was able to escape in showing the false inventory report. Nashwinter used to inflate the profit every year as he had a good position maintained when he was a salesman and he didn’t want to spoil his position. This changes made in the inventory by him were increasing every year . 4. What audit procedure or procedures might have prevented Nashwinter from overstating the division’s 1981 year-end inventory? Ans.In 1981 When the company decided to get the inventory items to be recorded in computer .The audit senior had a check of phsical inventory didn’t match with the statement shown by the computer.Then immediately Frank pollard notified wilson about the fictitious inventory recorded in the computer. He also wrote the matter to Nashwinter to get the clarification of inventory inputed in computer doesn’t match with the Physical Inventory.

Barbie Goes To China

The impact of the recent global financial crisis is vividly seen in the reaction that consumer brands and retail stores are having with regard to their survival. In Europe, the reaction has been drastic, with automobile manufacturers offering huge discounts and trade ins just to boost their sales. In the United States, manufacturers have slashed their prices and offered massive discounts. While there is nothing fundamentally wrong with reducing profit margins to increase or improve earnings, this could be a problem in the long run because it can result in a deterioration of the brand image.The conundrum that exists now is the decision that companies must make regarding improving expenses in the short term and brand image in the long run. The article entitled, Barbie Goes to China, provides and interesting take on this puzzle that companies are now facing. Using the example of Barbie, the authors cite the struggles that Mattel has had in the American market. It shows that there has be en a decline in Barbie sales because of the image that has been attached to the brand. There is no room for Barbie to change the way that she is perceived.This in turn affects the marketability of Barbie, especially in the United States market. Instead, what the article suggests is that the focus should be on maintaining the brand image. Citing the moves that other companies have done, the emphasis falls on being able to choose between sacrificing brand image and maintaining a profit. Several companies have decided to do a mix and offer discount sales for certain items while keeping other items full priced. In relation to Barbie and Mattel, there is a unique opportunity for the company to capitalize on the growing Chinese market and create a new brand image for itself.From a marketing standpoint, there are two important lessons that can be gleaned here. The first is that there is nothing wrong with trying to survive, particularly when the economic crisis has promised to be deep and widespread. In an effort to prevent a total loss, companies have capitalized on the public’s perception and reduced their prices while presumably offering the same quality goods they have always provided. In the same vein, they have tried to protect the image by putting less emphasis on the profit margins and more emphasis on their products.It is also in this part where the brand image that has been created is crucial because it could be detrimental to the brand in the long run. The second lesson to be learnt here is that there are other options. There are several layers of customers and the top tier and loyal customers are not averse to supporting their favorite brands. Top brands such as Mattel need to understand that during uncertain times the one thing that you can count on are the loyal customers. They are willing to overlook the overpriced goods as long as they get what they want. This is what brands need to take advantage of.While there is certain merit in these assert ions, it is wise not to forget the economic fundamentals that are applicable. It can be said that the loyal clientele will always be there but this is not always the case. The reaction is so much more different when one examines an inelastic good and one examines an elastic good. Demand can be inflexible to changes in income if the good is inelastic but it can flexible when it comes to elastic goods. When people need to decide between Barbies and Guccis and buying food or paying their mortgage payments, it is a whole different dynamic and the lessons embodied in this article may no longer hold.