Company needs to analyze the general environment

Company needs to analyze the general environment A large company needs to analyze the general environment when making global strategy and doing international business. Included by the general environment, the terms of demographic, economic, political/legal, sociocultural, technological and global have different impacts on the strategy of a company. Demographic In the term of demographic, it can be divided into two factors, gender and age, which are important to the market of Nike, because Nike, a large multinational company, has stores in almost all regions over the world, and the strategy making can be focused on these two factors. Focused on the gender, the market of female is great and the need of sportswear for women is high. Firstly, the women sports players are getting more and more professional and begin to stand on the stage of the world high level games such as Olympic Games and grand slam in tennis, which makes female sports players and their fans have a need of sportswear. Secondly, with the development of the society of most countries, women are getting aware the importance of their rights (Foster, 2001), which helps them have a thought of taking sports like males. Also, in the term of age, Nike has a market of middle aged people in some countries especially in China, and it can provide casual sportswear to meet the target customers needs. First of all, though Nike used Jordan to make advertisement several years ago and changed the person who cooperates with the company, the fans of the heroes will not change and still have a need of Nike sportswear (Jung, 2005). Also, after entering the Chinese market in 1995, the revenue of Nike is stably growing and gains a group of people who have high loyalty of the Nike brand (Jung, 2005), and the age of these loyal customers is getting higher, which may become a huge needs of sportswear suitable for middle aged people. Through demographic, the females and middle aged people may have a huge need of Nike sportswear and will become a large market. And, when Nike is meeting the youngsters needs of profession, the middle aged customers may have more needs of fitness rather than competition. So Nike can design some new series of sportswear to meet their needs. Political/legal To save the cost is essential for a large company like Nike; Asian sourcing has allowed low manufacturing costs relative to the quality of the products. Thus, Asian sourcing has always been nearly as central to Nike strategy as using famous athletes to attest to the virtues of Nike equipment in athletic performances (Kahle, Boush and Phelps, 2000, p43). However, Nike is blamed for using low labor in low cost lacking of humanity. Nike seems to pay salaries lower than the standard given by the Indian government (Jung, 2005). This problem will leave really negative influences on Nike. Also, outsourcing production to factories in Vietnam and labors are used without human rights, such as working overtime and being neglected the health situation, brings out conflicts between the company and the society. Nike may lose its reputation among customers, and the brand of Nike may become not as cool as it should be. When the challenge started coming about labor conditions in Vietnam and Southeast Asia and other parts of the world, everyone heard about Nike workers without, of course, making the distinction that they were contract workers. When all of this was going on, about a third of the senior managers were in tears during the meeting. They were embarrassed- with their neighbors, their families, and their friends- by being Nike employees. Said Schwartz (2000, p8) The legality of labor using should be concerned by Nike even it just outsource the production to other factories, because the legality may affect Nikes reputation a lot. And both the revenue and the royalty of customers will be affected by the changes of reputation. So, the legality is what manufacturing companies like Nike has to concern about, because society confirms a businesss legitimacy, and failure to consider societal impact can destroy a reputation. (Schwartz, 2000, p7) Economic The economic situation for a country should be concerned by companies doing international business like Nike, because peoples budget that affects the marketing potential is influenced by the economy and financial policy of the country. Since the needs of the market will depend on the budget and economic behavior of people (Boje, 2001), companies should think about the economic term. With the broken out of subprime crisis, the economy of US is going worse, and a large number of countries, such as Iceland, have been negatively influenced, which will lead to a retrench of budget and the market. Also, in countries who are sensitive to finance such as US, UK and Swiss, people are going with the budget strictly (Francesco and Gold, 2001, p27), and with the downward economic situation, the market may get smaller. However, the markets in the regions not affected greatly such as Asia and Middle Eastern is more stable relatively. Under this kind of situation, the needs of products and the market should become lower and smaller. Also, with the growth of the cost, it may lead to a reduction of revenue in the whole and restrict the development of Nike in the worldwide market though Nike may have the capability to keep the market share and still win the competition among Adidas, Puma and Nike. Sociocultural As a sportswear company, Nike needs to know what the socioculture, a persons understanding of sports, should be in a region or a field of sports events. First of all, it is found that people are always showing the respect to heroes, especially the sports heroes in real life (Jung, 2005), so companies including Nike uses excellent sports players like Jordan to make film and advertisements for it in order to develop peoples adoration to the heroes so that the needs will be created. Also, because of the culture of success adoration, the needs may get enhanced if fans of the heroes feel that Nike can make positive effects on them. And Nike got additional market value when Tiger is in contention to win and a positive impact on his performance because of Nikes products is believed by the society (Farrell, Karels and McClatchey, 2000, p3). However, people in different areas have different sociocultures on sport events, such as soccer for Europe and basketball for US, so when making strategi es, Nike can try to identify the different needs in the target markets. So, to understand the socioculture of a region can help companies like Nike define its target market and find an appropriate way to make marketing and promotion. Also, according to the sports culture of an area and the needs of target market, to communicate with local players and design a product with them might be helpful in terms of both market and technology. Technological Customers nowadays have higher requirements on the technology of the products. Firstly, people are more captious than before. The technology of Nike Air gets blamed because people find that the air cannot support feet enough and may lead to injury(CBC News, 2006). Also, people need Nikes products be made with the technology of not only fitness and safety but also fashionable and cool one such as IT technology. Nike is working with Apple and produce Nike+ with a sensor connecting iPod in order to meet peoples needs. The needs of hi-tech make companies like Nike and IT companies like Apple come together, working out a strategy and making innovation in order to enhance the strength of them and achieve the markets needs. Global With the pace of globalization, areas in different parts of the world get connection and MNCs are setting more and more stores in different regions. Though Nike has great quantity of store all over the world, it can control all the stores at the same time (Hansen and Nohria, 2006, p12). However, though countries go closer because of the globalization, special needs in different cultures are still exist, which makes Nikes products have some differences when selling in different regions. This situation leaves Nikes products a diversification even in one series. But too diversified products will lead to a mass in the market and make customers feel confusing (Hemp, 2006, p50). Nike should make some differences in its products in order to meet different needs, but the standardization of products should also be focused. So, to make the balance between centralization and diversification of the products is what Nike should concern about in the global market. Industrial Environment In the term of industrial environment, the five forces model created by Michael Porter will be used to analyze Nike. Rivalry among competing firms Since Nike is an international company that has their product selling worldwide, it has countless of competitors, including many domestic local firms. However, only a few international companies are Nikes major competitors, such as Adidas, Reebok and Puma. Also, merger makes the athletics industry more concentrated. Nike bought Converse in 2003 and Adidas bought Reebok in August 2005, and half of the worldwide market is shared by these two top players (Jung, 2005). And, the notable companies such as Adidas, New Balance have different values and markets. Nike has a main market for US basketball while Adidass is European soccer and fashion and casual sports for New Balance, which makes them have different markets and target customers. However, to enter a new market like soccer is not easy for Nike even it made great efforts. Nike worked with Google to create joga.com, an Orkut-like site for soccer fans (Christopher, 2008, p6) in order to develop the soccer market which is defined as on e of the most important in terms of growth rate (Pagliano, 2004). So the rivalry among competing firms is low because there are few companies with strong competing power, but the competition among large companies is great. And, if Nike wants to develop the soccer market in Europe, the great investment on advertising and a method of changing the classic and traditional culture of Europeans should be concerned. Threat of new entrants Top players, such as Nike, Adidas and Puma, in the footwear industry made a high entry barrier to reduce the threat of new comers. First of all, these companies put a great investment on advertisement and marketing. Nike had 50 sponsored Athletes win a gold medal in Athens 2004. Adidas spent $80 million for the Official Sportswear partner title in Beijing 2008. And the high investment makes new firms hard to compete with them, even enter the market because sales for companies in this industry mainly depend on the marketing performance (Christopher, 2008, p6). Innovation is another way to keep a lead on would be competitors. Companies are making efforts to develop their technology and create new functions such as Nike+, the sensor connecting with iPod, which can not only gain more customers but also keep new firms with low technology out of the worldwide market. However, though Nike and Adidas are leading the market, a local company, Li-Ning, came to the worldwide market. Li-Ning sponsors 4 Chinese teams for the Olympics, and its products are about half as expensive as those of its foreign rivals, and its network of stores dwarfs that of any other player (Terjesen, 2007), which might be the advantage for Li-Ning. So, local companies may succeed to enter the local market and use its low price as advantage to compete with leaders though the entering barrier is high. Nike should focus on the new comers with both the development of technology and lower price who might become a strong threat to top players in the future when making strategies, even though these local companies cannot compete with Nike today. Threats of substitutes Since athletic shoes and sportswear are designed to improve comfort and personal safety during sports, the substitutes for athletic footwear products are low because there are little alternatives to switch. Though people except athletes are still likely to use boots or sandals to substitute sportswear, doing sports is an essential and basic factor in peoples life and the need of sportswear is exist for everyone. Therefore, there are no real substitutes for athletic footwear and sportswear. Bargaining power of supplier In order to reduce the cost, Nike make outsourcing of their process of production to low labor cost countries, mainly China and Vietnam. Nikes products are manufactured in more than 700 factories and more than 500,000 workers in 51 countries, but only over 20000 direct employees for Nike working in US (Locke, 2006, p6). Suppliers have very low power since they are competing worldwide with thousands of other suppliers. Also, firms like Nike are able to switch between suppliers quickly and cheaply, so these suppliers become dependent on these firms for survival. And, the competition among factories is really high even problems such as low wages in Indonesia, child labor in Pakistan and health and safety problems in Vietnam occurred (Locke, 2006, pp.13-16) because of the low bargaining power of supplier. Bargaining power of buyer The threat of bargaining power of buyer is low because customers do not have a lot of choices when they are choosing athletic wears. First of all, unlike other products, footwear has its own function such as an improvement of safety. Customers, especially athletes, have a need of the technology of the shoes which is the strength of large companies such as Adidas, Nike even Li-Ning. Also, the fans of sports players will use what the players use, which helps companies like Nike and Adidas build a loyalty of customers. The sales of Nike Golf products grew a lot when Tiger Woods showed an improvement in his performance (Farrell, Karels and McClatchey, 2000, p3) because customers also want to improve their performance by using Nikes products. However, though the bargaining power of buyer is low in the industry, some people are buying products of Nike because of the apotheosis of their sports heroes, which shows that a lot of customers may have a loyalty to other brand like Adidas and Li-Ning. So to attract people without brand loyalty is much easier and more important than concentrating on those with a high loyalty to their heroes. Conclusion The analysis of general environment and industrial environment can be concluded that Nike nowadays is under low threats in the industry with some problems still existing. Also, as a leading company of sportswear industry, Nike should not only focus on the development of technology and working with companies in other industries, but also keep the high quality of marketing and promotion. And, the factories Nike does outsourcing business with should be executed by direct employees from Nike because the neglecting of the problems happened in these factories will result in a loss of reputation. With the pace of globalization, there are both threats and opportunities for Nike. And to concern the environment of the industry and the world market will help Nike make strategies and develop more easily and scientifically.

Killing- the only way to solve problems? Essay

At about two o’clock. The argument between the Montague and the Capulet has once more messed up the whole town. A woman with a baby said: â€Å"It is not safe to walk on the streets with children any more. This is the third time that the two (Montague and Capulet) families have been fighting against each other in open public places. If anything like that happens then it must be those two families. † Sampson who is a servant of the Capulet family, and Abraham who is a servant of the Montague were the main people of these incidents. From a witness’s information, Sampson started the fight. He went up to Abraham and annoyed him by telling him that he is better than him as a servant. Abraham did not care about what he said and walk away. Sampson didn’t get what he wanted, so he kicked the old man who is also a servant of the Montague’s family. Abraham could not stand the rudeness of him. So he asked to draw with that man. As soon as they took out their swords, all the people who are in their families took out their swords as well. They messed up all the markets. It was like a war: Chickens were flying across the streets: vegetables were making to pieces. Women with children were running away trying to protect their children. People were throwing things from the windows†¦ On of the Capulet’s servant said: â€Å"Capulet heard the noises out at the center place. He asked for long sword. And run out to join the ‘war’. When Montague heard about the fight, he wanted to fight as well. Because he knows that it must be the Capulet that they were going to fight with. His wife held him, but that doesn’t do anything. He told his wife to let him go and he went to fight as well as the rest of the family. Why can’t the two families be peace? That is a question that many people have tried to find out. Both families had been against each other since a long time ago. If one does some thing wrong, the other must have some kind of reaction to it. Conflicts and conflicts over and over again. God knows what happens next between the two families. Minutes after the fight started. Some one went up to the bell tower, and ran the bell. Prince Escalus came to the place with his train. As they go pass, all the people were running away from them, because they didn’t want to get arrested by the prince. When the prince arrived at the place where the fight took place, everyone stopped fighting. The prince spoke, and mentioned that the old Capulet and Montague have disturbed the quite of the streets. And if they ever do that again, their lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace. Both Capulet and Montague ended up going back with the prince in the afternoon.

Challenges of Harmonization of Accounting System

QUESTION: Discuss the challenges of harmonization of accounting system. Accounting Standards are the statements of code of practice of the regulatory accounting bodies that are to be observed in the preparation and presentation of financial statements. The Generally Accepted Accounting Principles is comprised of a large group of individual accounting standards. Accounting Standards in other words can be stated as rules which govern the preparation of financial statements. They are the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Where by accounting practices are the actual used practices by accountants.They are influenced by Accounting Standards, which govern the preparation of financial reports. Harmonization of accounting standards† can be defined as the continuous process of ensuring that the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are formulated, aligned and updated to international best practices (GAAPs in other countries) with suitable modifications and fine t uning considering the domestic conditions. Harmonization is the process of increasing compatibility of accounting practices by setting bounds on their degree of variation.Harmonization can be defined as â€Å"the process of bringing international Accounting Standards into some sort of agreement so that the financial statements from different countries are prepared according to a common set of principles of measurement and disclosure† (Haskins et al. 1996:29). According to Wolk et al. described harmonization of Accounting Standards as â€Å"the co-ordination or similarity among the various sets of national Accounting Standards and methods and formats of financial reporting†. (Kleekamper et al. , 2002) Kleekamperet al. xplain, that the aim of the international harmonization process of Accounting Standards is to reduce or overcome differences world-wide, in order to reach a better international Comparability of financial statements. International accounting harmonization can be defined as â€Å"the process of bringing international Accounting Standards into some sort of agreement so that the financial statements from different countries are prepared according to a common set of principles of measurement and disclosure† (Haskins et al. 1996:29).This harmonization is needed due to the globalization of businesses and services and increase in cross-border investments and borrowings and academicians, regulators and governments have been constantly striving to harmonize the local/domestic Accounting Standards(AS), also referred to as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), with the International Accounting Standards (IAS) issued by the UK based International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) (formerly the International Accounting Standards Committee-IASC).The IASB has been trying to harmonize international accounting principles since 1973. Further, the IASB and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have been join tly working on harmonization since July 1995, and in May 2000 the IOSCO finished its review of the IAS and recommended usage of certain IAS, supplemented with reconciliation, disclosure and interpretations. Some benefits of harmonization of accounting practices is as follows * It ensures reliable and high quality financial reporting and disclosures. In certain cases, it can prove to be crucial to the economic and financial development of a country * It enables a systematic review and evaluation of the performance of a multinational company having subsidiaries and associates in various countries wherein each country has its own set of GAAP * It makes the comparison of the performance of a company against its domestic and international peers easier and more meaningful * It is a precursor for accessing international capital markets which can, in turn, reduce the capital cost and consequently, improve the performance of a company * Multinational companies, the multinational companies be nefit from closer harmonization for the following reasons a) Access to international finance is easier, the international financial markets understand the financial information presented to them more easily. If the information is provided on a consistent basis between companies irrespective of their country of origin. b) Improved management control, in a business operating in several countries management control is improved. Internal financial information is more easily prepared on consistent basis if externally required financial information is required on a uniform basis. c) Consolidation of financial statement is easier ) A reduction of auditing cost due to harmonized accounting practices and standards. e) A transfer of accounting staff across national borders would be easier f) It would be easier to comply with reporting requirements of overseas stock exchanges. g) Appraisals of foreign entities for take over and mergers would be more straightforward. * International economic gr oupings, international groupings like EU (European Union) could work more effectively if there were international harmonization of accounting policies. Part of the function of international groupings is go make cross-border trade easier. Similar to accounting regulation would help this process. Government of developing countries would save time and money if they would adopt international standards and, if these were used internally, governments of developing countries could attempt to control the activities of foreign multinational companies in their own country. These companies could not hide behind foreign accounting practices which are difficult to understand. * Tax authorities, it will be easier to calculate the tax liability of investors, including multinationals who receive income from overseas sources. * Large accounting and auditing firms would benefit as accounting and auditing would be much easier if similar accounting practices existed throughout the world.Despite the imp ortance of harmonizing accounting standards, there still challenges facing harmonization of accounting standards between the member countries using IFRS (international financial reporting standard) and also between United States using US GAAP. These challenges are brought about different tax laws, different culture, different legal requirement, nationalism and different needs of financial statements. Speaking of harmonization we should put in consideration of International accounting standard board (IASB) based in UK and Financial accounting standard board (FASB) based in US. The  International Accounting Standards Board  (IASB) is the independent,  accounting standard-setting body of the  IFRS Foundation.The IASB was founded on April 1, 2001 as the successor to the  International Accounting Standards Committee  (IASC). It is responsible for developing  International Financial Reporting Standards  (the new name for  International Accounting Standards  issued afte r 2001), and promoting the use and application of these standards. The  Financial Accounting Standards Board  (FASB) is a private,  not-for-profit organization  whose primary purpose is to develop generally accepted accounting principles  (GAAP) within the  United States  in the public's interest. The  Securities and Exchange Commission  (SEC) designated the FASB as the organization responsible for setting accounting standards for public companies in the U. S.It was created in 1973, replacing the  Committee on Accounting Procedure  (CAP) and the  Accounting Principles Board  (APB) of the  American Institute of Certified Public Accountants  (AICPA). The FASB's mission is â€Å"to establish and improve standards of financial accounting and reporting for the guidance and education of the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of financial information. † To achieve this, FASB has five goals. * Improve the usefulness of financial reporting by focusing on the primary characteristics of relevance and reliability, and on the qualities of comparability and consistency. * Keep standards current to reflect changes in methods of doing business and in the economy. Consider promptly any significant areas of deficiency in financial reporting that might be improved through standard setting. * Promote  international convergence of accounting standards  concurrent with improving the quality of financial reporting. * Improve common understanding of the nature and purposes of information in financial reports. The two boards have been making efforts to harmonize the accounting principles, as of September 2011, there was a push to harmonize, or integrate, the accounting standards of the United States, which operates under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), with International Accounting Standards (IAS).The rationale is that it would level the playing field for global businesses by providing regulators, auditors and decis ion-makers (investors) uniform information based on the same accounting methodologies. Supporters believe that this would improve accountability, reduce international transactional and exchange rate risks and improve information transfer to enhance economic policy decision-making. The difference between IAS and US GAAP is that the former is more principle based and the later is rule based. The following are Challenges to harmonization of accounting systems. Licensing and Enforcement, Individual accountants, CPAs and tax lawyers worldwide would need to comply with and obtain licensing through an internationally accepted rules-making body. If he international body lacks enforcement authority, there is no prosecutorial authority for breaking international laws. However, if the international body does have prosecutorial authority over a U. S. citizen, there would arise jurisdictional and constitutional issues regarding the rights of an international body's rights to prosecute an America n under international law. Finally, issues arise from the perspective of U. S. -only based businesses regarding forced compliance IASB standards are principles-based. Thus the countries that have rules-based standards are expected to experience considerable difficulty in harmonization of their standards with IFRS. There are challenges that IASB and nations adopting IFRS need to address in the coming days.One big challenge for countries adopting IFRS is the shortage of manpower and more particularly, IFRS-trained manpower. For case in point, with just six months to go before China’s listed companies adopt IFRS, demand for accountants is rising and could run into millions in the coming years, if the new standards are rolled out for all of the country’s companies and not just the listed ones. Accountants say that the challenge for China, as it scrambles to meet the accounting shift deadline, will lie in getting its over-1,100 listed companies to establish the appropriate financial reporting systems and in training enough qualified accountants by January. The risk is that some of these companies may fail to make the transition on time.Estimates reveal that China has a shortfall of 300,000 qualified accountants and is likely to require a further three million over the coming years to keep pace with its current rate of economic growth Difference purpose of financial reporting, in some countries the purpose is solely for tax assessment, while others it is for investor decision making, Different legal systems, these prevent the development of certain accounting practices and restrict options available. The Accounting world can be divided into â€Å"those countries which have a ‘legalistic’ orientation toward accounting and those with a ‘non legalistic’ orientation† (Nobes et al. , 1997:8). The non-legalistic approach can be found in countries, which use common law. In Common law countries, Accounting does not depend upon law. Accountants (professional organizations) arrange accounting rules. Hence, it is the private sector, which determines Accounting and not the law (Choi et al. , 2002). The task of the legal system is to give an answer to a specific case rather than to formulate general rules for the future (Choi et al. 2002). The legalistic approach can be found in countries, which use the so called code (or codified) law. In contrary to the common law, the codified law system needs to develop rules in detail for the Accounting and financial reporting (Nobes, 1994). This means that â€Å"Accounting rules are incorporated into national law and tend to be highly prescriptive and procedural† (Choi et al. , 2002:43). In these countries the role of law is to describe behavior, which isconsidered to be acceptable in the society (Choi et al. , 2002). Different user groups, countries have different ideas about who the relevant user groups and their respective importance.In USA investor and credit groups are given prominence, while in Europe employees enjoy a higher profile. Provider of finance, there three main sources for external capital are shareholders, banks and government (Hill, 1999). It varies from country to country, which of these three provides most of the financial capital to companies. In countries like Germany and Italy banks provide companies with capital. In countries like England and the United States shareholders provide companies with capital. The government is the provider of capital in countries like France and Sweden. (Hill,1999) This diversity of capital providers means that Accounting Practices differ in order to satisfy needs of capital providers.In the case of shareholder ownership, (e. g. in the U. K. and the U. S. ), information disclosure will be more important than in countries, where capital is raised from banks or governments. This is explained by the fact that in the latter countries information will be transmitted more directly. (Radebaugh a nd Gray, 1997) It is impossible for a company to inform each shareholder with its specific information needs, because they are a big and unorganized group. Therefore financial statements in the US and UK are â€Å"oriented toward providing individual investors with the information they need to make decisions about purchasing or selling corporate stocks and bonds† (Hill, 1999:593).Tax laws, the key question here is to ask, how much taxation regulations determine Accounting measurements. In countries like the U. S. , U. K. and Netherlands there is no interplay between tax and Accounting law. When Accounting Standards are developed, the only focus is how to conduce the information function. Questions about taxation are not considered in those countries (Achleitner, 2000). In contrary, in nations as France and Germany, tax and Accounting Systems are ruled equal (Nobes and Parker, 2000). There is the principle of decisiveness in continental European countries. This means that the profit of the balance sheet is at the same time the foundation to snap income taxes (Achleitner, 2000).In Tanzania income tax act is in dis agreement with some accounting procedures like computation of depreciation, Bad debts and therefore disagree on how accountant compute organization profit and therefore in Tanzania should prepare to set of financial statement one for tax purposes and the other for other users of accounting information. Cultural differences result in objectives for accounting systems differing from country to country for example Islamic laws does not recognize the use of interest rate. The lack of strong accountancy bodies, many countries do not have strong independent accountancy or business bodies which would press for better standards and greater harmonization.Unique circumstances, some countries may be experiencing unusual circumstances which affect all aspects of everyday life an d impinge on the ability of companies to produce proper reports, for example hy perinflation, civil war, currency restriction. Nationalism is demonstrated in an unwillingness to accept another country’s standard. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the U. S. is responsible for setting accounting standards based primarily on â€Å"Federal securities laws and state CPA licensing laws. † All countries have specific securities laws, tax laws and banking and financial regulations that dictate accounting principles. Furthermore, in the United States, there are individual state laws that govern business, banking and insurance activities. Adopting international accounting standards would not only conflict with U. S. tatute law, but also constitutional law associated with â€Å"states' rights. † Stable Platform, Beginning in 2005, all 7,000 EU publicly traded companies are required to apply IFRS in the preparation of their consolidated financial statements. This represents yet another challenge as preparers of financial statements fro m Latvia to Portugal and from Poland to Sweden grapple with unfamiliar requirements. In preparation for this sweeping change, the IASB completed its â€Å"stable platform† of standards in March 2004. New and revised standards included five new IFRSs and 17 amended IASs, resulting from the IASB’s Improvements Project and Phase I of its Business Combinations Project.Some of the more significant revisions to IFRS that resulted from these projects include: * The LIFO method for costing inventories is no longer allowed; *   The concepts of â€Å"fundamental error† and â€Å"extraordinary items† are eliminated; *   Trading securities are now included in a larger defined category of financial instruments â€Å"at fair value through profit or loss† and entities may designate any financial asset or liability into this category (commonly referred to as â€Å"the fair value option†); *   Fair value hedge accounting may now be used more readily fo r a portfolio hedge of interest rate risk; *   Guidelines for share-based payments have been added;   The pooling-of-interests method for business combinations is no longer allowed; *   Goodwill is no longer amortized, and negative goodwill is not recorded in a business combination World wide acceptance, National accounting standards are highly politicized and there is often a natural tendency to place the interests of the national economy ahead of those of the global economy. Private sector businesses and professional accounting bodies also have a vested interest in accounting practices and financial reporting. Pressure from these groups to change or reject certain standards can carry a lot of weight with political decision makers. Adopting international financial standards is met with additional challenges in developing countries. They often lack the resources and infrastructure to adapt national legal and legislative frameworks in which to house the standards, making proper implementation difficult.Training and Retraining, When a country decides to harmonize with the international standards, its companies, accountants and auditors need to be retrained in the new standards and reporting procedures for financial statements. College and university programs in this field also have to undergo significant changes in order to educate new people entering the profession. Before any of this can happen, trainers and professors will require training so they can instruct professionals and students. This will require the development of new learning materials and curricula, new examinations for professional licensing and new accounting software and reporting systems. To further complicate matters, the adoption of harmonized standards has to be phased in, so for a number of years, two different systems are in operation. Such a omplex transition requires a lot of safety mechanisms to ensure it achieves uniform results. To sum up with, Harmonization of financial statem ent is very crucial for accounting profession and also for the global business growth especially for multinational companies which will now find easily in preparation of parent and subsidiary financial statement since have to be prepared according to IFRS. IFRS IS very important to developing countries like Tanzania such as increasing confidence of investors, reduce cost of doing business, facilitate smooth operation of international groupings like EAC and the countries accountant become competitive worldwide. REFERENCES WORD LENGTH: 3517 words Arbnor, I. Bjerke, B. (1997): Methodology for Creating Business Knowledge, Sage Publications, Thousands Oaks, 2nd edition. Ghauri, P. ; Gronhaug, K. (2002): Research Methods in Business Studies, Prentice Hall, London. Choi, F. ; Frost C. ; Gary, K. (2002): International Accounting, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 4th edition. Choi, F. ; Mueller, G. (1992): International Accounting, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2nd edition. Epstein, B. ; Mirza, A. (2 001): IAS, Interpretation and Application, John Wiley ; Sons, New York. Ghauri P. ; Gronhaug, K. ; Kristianslund, I. (1995): Research Methods in Business Studies: A practical guide, Prentice Hall, Bodmin. Gummesson, E. 2000): Qualitative Methods in Management Research, Sage Publications, Inc, Thousand Oaks, 2nd edition. Helgesson, T. (1996): Culture in International Business: an Introduction, Academia Adacta, Lund. Hill, C. (1999): Competing in the Global Marketplace; Irwin McGraw Hill, Boston, 3rd edition. Hofstede, G. (1991): Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. Howard, K. ; Sharp, J. (1983): The Management of a Student Research Project, Gower Publishing Company Ltd. , Aldershot. Johansson, L. (2000): Introduktion till Vetenskapsteorin, AIT Falun AB, Stockholm. Kam, V. (1990): Accounting Theory, John Willey and Sons, New York, 2nd edition. 70 Kleekamper, H. ; Kuhlewind, M. ; Alvarez, M. 2002): Grundlagen, Ziele, Organisation, Entwic klung und Bedeutung des IASB, in: Rechnungslegung nach International Accounting Standards (IAS), editedy by Baetge, D. ; Kleekamper, H. ; Wollmert, P. ; Kirsch H. (2002), Schafer-Poeschel, Stuttgart, 2nd edition. Naciri, A. ; Hoarau C. (2001): A comparative analysis of american and french financial Reporting philosophies: the case for international Accounting Standards, in: Advances in International Accounting, edited by Sale, J; Salter, S; Sharp, D. (2001), Elsevier Sience Ltd, Oxford. Nobes, C. ; Parker, R. (2000): Comparative International Accounting, Financial Times – Prentice Hall, Hartlow. Nobes, C. 1999): Towards a General Model of the Reasons for International Differences in Financial Reporting, in: International Accounting and Comparative Financial Reporting, edited by Nobes, C. (1998), Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham. Nobes, C; Mueller, G; Gernon, H; Meek, G. (1997): Accounting an International Perspective, Richard D. Irwin, Inc; Chicago, 4th edition. No bes, C. (1994): Accounting Harmonisation in Europe: Process, progress and prospects, FT Business Information Ltd, London. North, D. (1990): Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Miles, M. ; Huberman, A. (1994): Qualitative Data Analysis – An expanded source book, Sage Publications, Inc, Thousands Oaks, 2nd edition. Mueller, G. 1997): Harmonization Efforts in the European Union, in: International Accounting and Finance Handbook, edited by Choi, F. (1997), Wiley and Sons, New York, 7th edition. Mueller, G. ; Gernon, H. ; Meek, G. (1991): Accounting – an International Perspective; Richard D. Irwin, Inc; Homewood, 2nd edition. Radebaugh, L. ; Daniels, J. (2001): International Business, Environment and Operations, Prentice Hall, London, 9th edition. Radebaugh L. ; Gray S. (1997): International Accounting and multinational enterprises, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 4th edition. Remenyi, D. ; Williams, B. ;Money A . ; Swartz E. (1998): Doing Research in Business and Management: An Introduction to Process and Method, SAGE Publications, London. 71 Riahi-Belkaoui, A. 2000): Accounting Theory, Thomson Learning – Business Press, Padstow, Cornwall, 4th edition. Roberts, C. ; Weetman, P. ; Gordon P. (1998): International Financial Accounting – a comparative approach, Financial Times Pitman Publishing, London. Samuels, J. ; Piper, A. (1985): International Accounting: A survery, Croom Helm, London. Wolk, H. ; Tearney, M. ; Dodd, J. (2001): A Conceptual and intestinal Approach: Accounting Theory, South-Western College Publishing, 5th edition. Wollmert, P. ; Achleitner A. (2002): Konzeption der IAS: Rechnungslegung, in: Rechnungslegung nach International Accounting Standards (IAS), edited by Baetge, D. ; Kleekamper, H. ; Wollmert, P. ; Kirsch, H. (2002):, Schafer-Poeschel, , Stuttgart, 2nd edition.

Historical Development Of Personnel And Human Resource...

INTRODUCTION Within an organisation the human resource management department is very important. It is essential to keep employees happy for companies to achieve the maximum profits. This reports main aim is to cover the historical development of personnel and human resource management and how it has changed from the days of Robert Owen in the Victorian era to the 21st century. This report will also include definitions of personnel and human resource management along with their main functions. DEFINITION OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Human resource management is the division of a company that is focused on activities relating to its most valuable resource – the employees. There are several HRM areas, however there are six essential functions of an employee in this department. These are, recruitment, employee relations, compensation and benefits, safety, training and development and finally compliance (Mayhew, 2014). An efficiently run human resource management department can present your company with structure and the ability to meet business aims. HOW HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DIFFERS TO PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT There is much confusion over human resource management and the difference it has to personnel management. â€Å"The major difference between personnel management vs. human resource management is that personnel management is the traditional approach and human resource management represents the modern approach toward managing people in an enterprise.† (Nayab, 2013).Show MoreRelatedHistorical Development of Hr Manager (Ireland)1673 Words   |  7 PagesHistorical Development of Hr Manager (Ireland) In explaining the historical development of the personnel function of the Hr manager, I will begin by giving a brief description of the 6 different types of personnel manager: The Social Reformer Before personnel emerged as a specialist management activity at the beginning of the 20th century there were those who intervened in industrial affairs to support the severely under privileged factory workers. The Acolyte of benevolence The first peopleRead MoreEvolution Of Human Resource Management1263 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Human resource management (HRM) recognized by most organizations today as contributing strategically important functions, which contribute towards their success. Exploring HRM’s beginnings will provide insight regarding progression and development of previous practices leading to current human resource management processes and its future challenges in Canadian healthcare organizations. Prior to the 1900s, Anastakis (2006) indicates the existence of diminutive businessesRead MoreHrm and Ir1533 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction â€Å"Human Resources Management† and â€Å"Industrial relations† has different concepts about the determination and functions of the both spheres. The essay deliberates the comparison and contrast on the key features of Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations in academic fields. Definitions of terms HRM and IR will be identified through the review of the origin and development of these two areas. Moreover, I have pointed out the theoretical scope of the two subjects and key featuresRead MoreThe Modern Human Resources Department1361 Words   |  6 Pagesfoundations of the modern human resources department and covers the three historical periods of development to where modern human resources has evolved. There are three main historical periods that are discussed including - pre-industrial, bureaucratic, and high performance. All three of these periods have played a vital role in the field of Human Resources. The pre-industrial period ended with the revoluti onary war. This time period saw a lack of human resource management due to â€Å"inequality, inflexibilityRead MoreHow Strategic Management Plan And The Human Resource Planning Process1410 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract: For this assignment we will examine how strategic management plans are established and redefine to keep the organizations moving forward in growth. Management promotes and brings about a change in the structure to keep it active and efficient in the approaches to achieving its goals and objective. The strategy behind the approaches correlation is what leads to actually implementing and providing data to analyze on an ongoing basis to enhance the strategic plan of the organization. TheRead MoreThe Role Of Human Resource Management And Personnel Management1439 Words   |  6 Pagesover the past few hundred years, mainly due to the development of the most essential part of an organisation. The Human Resource Department. The human resource department ensures that high morale of employees is kept constant to make sure that high output is produced. A happy workforce means a high output rate studies have shown. Within this report the main aim is to delve into the historical development of human resources and personnel management. In addition, the report will look at how the workplaceRead MoreWhy The Artifact Was Selected988 Words   |  4 Pagestrends in HRD in the course Seminar in Human Resource Development. This artifact considers strategic human resource management (SHRM) practices in terms of what human resource (HR) practitioners are doing and how it affects the organizations they are doing it in and the field of human resource development (HRD). Definition s of SHRM are represented as; a human resource system designed for the mandates of business strategy and a planned model of human resources activities to allow the organization toRead MoreGovernment Employees Services Division ( Gesd ) Essay1108 Words   |  5 Pagespayroll/personnel operations, and web applications. These six division work together to provide software development and maintenance, customer service, and business development services such as payroll/personnel, human resource (HR), and insurance lines of business to various government agencies and internal organizations. GESD maintains various business data sets on payroll, personnel, billings, etc. These data are used by GESD’s customer service representatives, financial management analystsRead MoreHuman Resource Management Development Into A Prevailing Application Of Research1085 Words   |  5 PagesConsequently, is it not surprising that the literature of the 1990s points to human resource management’s development into a prevailing application of research. Marciano (1995) suggests that human resource management had practically displaced â€Å"personnel and in many schools threatening to supplant industrial relations and organizational behavior† (p. 223). Yet, at the same time defining human resource management was elusive with the inability â€Å"in identifying its boundaries, or in distinguishing itRead MoreThe Labour Management s History1297 Words   |  6 Pagesthe power of relation in an historical perspective is going to be explained. Human Resource Management is defined as a strategic, integrated and coherent approach to the employment, development and well-being of the people working in organization. Beer (1984),â€Å"All management decisions and actions that affect the nature of the relationship between organization and its employees – its human resources.† while Storey (1995), â€Å"A distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive