The nature, incidence and ethical issues of creative accounting free essay sample

Creative accounting is also called â€Å"Earnings management† which is known as the manipulation of financial information. The term can be defined in many ways. Initially we define it as a process whereby accountants use their knowledge of accounting rules to manipulate the figures reported in the accounts of a business (Naser, 1993, p.59). Creative accounting, at root, is the origin of numerous accounting frauds. Many accounting scandal cases (like the scandals in Enron, WorldCom, and other firms) in the past few years had happened with the result of collapse. Most of these scandals were conducted by the senior management of organisations and many victims include the employees, shareholders as well as the society had been suffered from these fraudulent cases. Therefore, it draws our attention to why and how a company may use the creative accounting to commit its so-called â€Å"window dressing† (Ghosh, 2010, p.2). This research will explore the nature, incidence and techniques of creative accounting as well as how it works. We will write a custom essay sample on The nature, incidence and ethical issues of creative accounting or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This research will first review the previous literatures to find out the certain definitions of creative accounting by various authors. Then it will look into what motivate people to commit creative accounting and techniques applied to commit creative accounting. The next is looking into the measures and responsibilities of detecting and combat creative accounting. In the rest we will discuss the key findings, recommendations and conclusion of this research. 1.2 Literature Review There are various views of the definition of creative accounting by different scholars. Copeland (1968) defines it ‘Involves the repetitive selection of accounting measurement or reporting rules in a particular pattern, the effect of which is to report a stream of income with a smaller variation from trend than would otherwise have appeared. Griffiths (1986:1) presents his point of view that: â€Å"Every company in the country is fiddling its profits. Every set of published accounts is based on books which have been gently cooked or completely roasted. The figures which are fed twice a year to the investing public have all been changed in order to protect the guilty. It is the biggest con trick since the Trojan horse. . . In fact this deception is all in perfectly good taste. It is totally legitimate. It is creative accounting.† Naser (1993, p. 59) defines creative accounting as â€Å"the transformation of financial accounting figures from what they actually are to what preparers desire by taking advantage of the existing rules and/or ignoring some or all of them†. It is the procedures of playing the financial numbers by skilfully applying the accounting standards and the selection of measurement and disclosure choices to achieve the financial performance which a company expected. Klein (2002) illustrates ‘Whereby the true financial performance of a company is distorted by managers for private gains. The above series of definition presented by various authors who although from different decades, their basic perspective towards creative accounting reach consensus. They agree that the primary concept of creative accounting is ‘a process whereby accountants use their knowledge of accounting rules to manipulate the figures reported in the accounts of a business. 1.3 Motivations of Creative Accounting Numerous scholars have researched on the issue of what motivate the behaviour of creative accounting towards the management. Mulford and Comiskey (2002) identified various positive effects the managers would receive from manipulating figures. They show that â€Å"the rewards may be any of the following: lower corporate borrowing costs as a result of an improved credit rating, favourable effect on share prices, political gains, and/or incentive compensation plans involving stock option or profit-sharing for top management and key employees which are tied to income measurement†. Shafren (2009) analysed internal and external of Satyam. He illustrates that shareholders are more aware of the financial reports of this company because financial reports present how well the company operates and its performance in the market. Therefore, managers or directors mean to depict good performance and position by manipulating figures hence in such way the stakeholders will be shown positive indicators from the financial statements. By this way, investors will more likely to be attracted and given confidence with this superb financial report. This can be achieved by modifying the figures in the statements using the tricks of creative accounting. In addition, how many bonuses directors will receive in a year may base on the percentage of the profit reported (Shafren, 2009). For this reason of their private interest, directors may manipulate financial figures to meet their desire. Lttner, Larcker and Rajan (1997) have the same perspective. They illustrate that when the directors or managers private interest (such as stock options and bonuses) is rely on the performance of the company, they are more likely to use creative accounting to manipulate the figures in order to achieve their favourable results. Another motivation of creative accounting is the positive effect that the income smoothing brings to the valuation of security and reduces the risk for the analyst. â€Å"Where management observes a gap between analysts’ expectation and the actual performance of the company and when major capital market transactions are being expected† (Amat, Blake Dowds, 1999, p. 7). Therefore, directors or managers manipulate financial figures to match with the figures they expected. Fox (1997) researched the company of Microsoft to look into how their accounting rules are designed to tie in the actual profits to forecasted profits. He identified that a considerable high proportion of the firm’s profit made by selling products was deferred to the following years with the aim to cover the potential upgrades and other costs. Amat, Blake and Dowds (1999) suggest another motivation of creative accounting is related to the share price of a company. They illustrate â€Å"companies raise capital from new share issues, offer their own shares in takeover bids, and resist takeover by other companies†. Therefore, directors or managers try to lessen borrowing and create the performance of a positive earnings trend in such way to maintain or boost the share price of the company. Where the managers participate in conducting shares of their firm, creative accounting may be used to postpone releasing the information for market. Hence, in such way, it would enhance the managers’ opportunities to obtain benefits from their inside information. Dharan and Lev (1993) have noticed that companies are likely to use creative accounting when their share prices start to drop comparing to the share prices which they have reported previously. This is for the reason of huge stress produced by the various obligations as well as constraints depended on the value stated in the reports. Hepworth (1953) reported in his work the existence of tax levies on the basis of income and confidence by the stakeholders and employees in management is also an important reason of using creative accounting. Directors or managers my apply the creative accounting to help lessen the pressure of tax levies in such way to pay lower possible taxes of income as long as the involving cost provided is not more than the income tax benefit (Beatty and Harris, 2001). Niskanen and Keloharju (2000) have researched on the companies in Europe, they identify that the organisation tax would be the motivation for managers in the companies to use creative accounting. The above motivations identified are some of the common reasons for creative accounting. In general, the main reasons for using creative accounting are because of the gaps between the actual performance of companies and their internal targets and stakeholders’ expectations, desire of tax benefits and providing income smoothing. Thereby, stakeholders should be more aware of these areas. 4.4 Techniques of creative accounting

Differences Between an Initialism and an Acronym

Differences Between an Initialism and an Acronym An initialism is an  abbreviation that consists of the first letter or letters of words in a phrase, such as EU (for European Union) and NFL (for National Football League).  Also called an alphabetism.   Initialisms are  usually shown in  capital letters, without spaces or periods between them.  Unlike acronyms, initialisms are not spoken as words; they are spoken letter by letter.   Examples and Observations ABC (American Broadcasting Company, Australian Broadcasting Corporation), ATM (Automatic Teller Machine), BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), CNN (Cable News Network), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), HTML  (HyperText Markup Language),  IBM (International Business Machines Corporation), NBC (National Broadcasting Company)Some names that began as initialisms have evolved into brands independent of their original meanings. For example, CBS, the American radio and television network, was created in 1928 as the Columbia Broadcasting System. In 1974, the name of the company was legally changed to CBS, Inc., and in the late 1990s, it became CBS Corporation.Similarly, the letters in the names SAT and ACT no longer represent anything. Originally known as the Scholastic Achievement Test, the SAT became an Aptitude Test in 1941 and an Assessment Test in 1990. Finally, in 1994, the name was officially changed to SAT (or, in full, SAT Reasoning Test) , with the letters signifying nothing. Two years later, American College Testing followed suit and changed the name of its test to ACT. Initialisms and Acronyms   My favorite current acronym is the DUMP, a term universally used in Durham, New Hampshire to refer to a local supermarket with the unwittingly unfortunate name the Durham Market Place. Initialisms are  similar to acronyms in that they are composed of the first letters of a phrase, but unlike acronyms, they are pronounced as a series of letters. So most people in the US refer to the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the FBI...Other initialisms are PTA for Parent Teacher Association, PR for either public relations or personal record, and NCAA for National College Athletic Association.(Rochelle Lieber, Introducing Morphology. Cambridge University Press, 2010) [S]ometimes a letter in an initialism is formed not, as the term might imply, from an initial letter but rather from an initial sound (as the X in XML, for extensible markup language), or from the application of a number (W3C, for World Wide Web Consortium). Furthermore, an acronym and an initialism are occasionally combined (JPEG), and the line between initialism and acronym is not always clear (FAQ, which can be pronounced either as a word or as a series of letters).(The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. The University of Chicago Press, 2010) CD-ROM CD-ROM is an interesting mix because it brings together an initialism (CD) and an acronym (ROM). The first part is sounded letter by letter, the second part is a whole word.(David Crystal, The Story of English in 100 Words. St. Martins Press, 2012) Usage The first time an acronym or initialism appears in a written work, write the complete term, followed by an abbreviated form in parentheses. Thereafter, you may use the acronym or initialism alone.(G. J. Alred, C. T. Brusaw, and W. E. Oliu, Handbook of Technical Writing, 6th ed. Bedford/St. Martins, 2000 AWOL In AWOLAll Wrong Old Laddiebuck, an animated film by Charles Bowers, a woman presents her calling card to a soldier and it reads Miss Awol. She then lures him away from camp without permission. The film is silent, of course, given the 1919 date, but the calling card indicates that AWOL is pronounced as a word, making it a true acronym and not just an initialism.(David Wilton and Ivan Brunetti, Word Myths. Oxford University Press, 2004) Pronunciation: i-NISH-i-liz-em EtymologyFrom the Latin, beginning

HOW TO QUOTE IN AN ESSAY

HOW TO QUOTE IN AN ESSAY You wonder how to use quotes in essay, search no more. We are eager to share with you how to quote in an essay. Quoting passages in books, magazines, etc, essays, research papers and other articles is determined by two major points. First is the appropriateness belonging to the passage you wish to quote which is highly important. The second is choose the main idea of your paragraph that will reflect the whole subject concept and to incorporate the quotation. Additionally , there are a minimum of two fundamental rules that you need to pursue remember when you are putting sentences directly from your source for instance a book to your writing composition. One, you must put the proper citation at the end of the direct quote. Two, you should always place quotation marks in the beginning and at the end of your quote to indicate out that the phrase within your paragraph is actually taken out from a different source. It is vital to make note of that your quotation for your direct quotes should stick to the citation format required by your teacher. It is also important that you should thoroughly select the quotes you want to incorporate into your essay or essay. You have to make sure that each direct quote is highly relevant to your paragraphs main idea or main subject. Otherwise, your quoted line will make your argument, discussions or research vulnerable and weak.

Choose an environmental problem that the world is facing and prepare a Essay - 1

Choose an environmental problem that the world is facing and prepare a REPORT - Essay Example In the year 1931 as many as 22 nations signed the Geneva Convention to bring Whaling under control but this has not been done even to date. This treaty was modified with new protocols in the year 1938 and 1945 and the same served as a platform for International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling signed in the US in the year 1946. An International Whaling commission was established in order to safeguard the Whales. The dwindling of Whales could not have been solved with a better way than establishing a separate entity to safeguard the population of Whales. This Whaling commission took many steps to safeguard the population of Whales, they forbid the illegal capture of Whales, set a particular no and size for the Whales that could be taken and did many other things to ensure that the population of Whales does not dwindle. The IWC conducts annual meetings to reflect upon the progress and any country can become a member of the IWC provided it adheres to the rules of IWC. This committee has been very successful in safeguarding the Whales, significant changes have been noticed since this committee has been established. The members of this committee work really hard to ensure that the population of Whales remains stable. Wales are the primary symbols of Marine life but off late the strength of the Wales have constantly dwindled because of the poachers and this has drawn intense criticism from all across the globe. One of the biggest concerns that have affected the marine life and the Wales primarily is the use of Sonar by the US navy and the US is in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. The US navy uses sonar to protect its vessels and to detect enemy submarines. The sonar used is affecting the marine life and especially the Whales. The US has invested a lot of money in developing their sonar operation because they face a constant threat from countries like Iran and North Korea. This is the only reason why the US has increased the use of sonar

Estimation of Weighted Average Cost of Capital Essay

Estimation of Weighted Average Cost of Capital - Essay Example The paper also discusses the various project evaluation techniques like Net Present Value Method, Internal Rate of Return, and so on. The paper takes a quantitative approach for the explanation of various concepts in Capital Structure and Project Evaluation Techniques/Capital Budgeting Techniques. Cost of capital is an important phenomenon in determining the overall/weighted average cost of capital. In fact, the financial risk is judged by investors and other stakeholders in line with cost of capital and nature of capital structure. The overall cost of capital can be reduced and value of the firm can be improved by maximizing the debt content in the capital structure. But, as debt content goes on increasing, equity investors expectations about risk will also change. Investors feel risk in investment with highly levered firms and vice versa. Capital structure theories postulate the various possibilities of capital structure. It does not speak about which approach is most beneficial to companies in various situations. Capital structure is not a static phenomenon. It keeps on changing with every change in the mix of various sources of capital/fund. The profitability of a business proposal/ project can be evaluated in various ways using both discounted and non-discounted project evaluation methods.

Drug Abuse and Addiction Essay Example for Free

Drug Abuse and Addiction Essay Drug abuse and addiction are a major burden to society. Many people do not understand why individuals become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to foster compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behavior. What people often underestimate is the complexity of drug addiction that it is a disease that impacts the brain and because of that, stopping drug abuse is not simply a matter of willpower. Through scientific advances we now know much more about how exactly drugs work in the brain, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing drugs and resume productive lives. So what is drug abuse and why do we became addicted to certain drugs? Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is a patterned use of a substance (drug) in which the user consumes the substance in amounts or with methods neither approved nor supervised by medical professionals. Addiction is the continued use of a mood altering substance or behavior despite adverse dependency consequences, or a neurological impairment leading to such behaviors. Addictions can include, but are not limited to, drug abuse, exercise abuse, sexual activity and gambling. Classic hallmarks of addiction include: impaired control over substances/behavior, preoccupation with substance/behavior, continued use despite consequences, and denial. Habits and patterns associated with addiction are typically characterized by immediate gratification (short-term reward), coupled with delayed deleterious effects (long-term costs). Physiological dependence occurs when the body has to adjust to the substance by incorporating the substance into its normal functioning. This state creates the conditions of tolerance and withdrawal. Drug addiction and drug abuse, chronic or habitual use of any chemical substance to alter states of body or mind for other than medically warranted purposes. Traditional definitions of addiction, with their criteria of physical dependence and withdrawal (and often an underlying tenor of depravity and sin) have been modified with increased understanding; with the introduction of new drugs, such as cocaine, that are psychologically or neuropsychologically addicting; and with the realization that its stereotypical application to opiate-drug users was invalid because many of them remain occasional users with no physical dependence. Addiction is more often now defined by the continuing, compulsive nature of the drug use despite physical and/or psychological harm to user and society and includes both licit and illicit drugs, and the term â€Å"substance abuse† is now frequently used because of the broad range of substances (including alcohol and inhalants) that can fit the addictive profile. There are many different types of drugs you should be aware of. Some are prescribed, others are known as club drugs, illicit or illegal substances, and some are called designers drugs. They include: Antidepressants, Barbiturates, Cannabis, Depressants, Hallucinogens, Inhalants, Narcotics, Steroids, Stimulants and Tobacco.

Plagiarism: The Illegal Recycling of Information Essay -- Plagiarizing

Plagiarism: The Illegal Recycling of Information Plagiarism is defined as using others people’s ideas, writings, and quotes without giving credit to the author by citing the material in the paper. Plagiarism can come from copying many things including charts, graphs, text, and music. Even paraphrasing an author’s work without citing it can be considered plagiarism. Plagiarism certainly has been around long before the first research project was assigned. One of the most famous scientists Gregor Mendel had his work plagiarized by another scientist Hugo de Vries in the 19th century.[1] Mendel had come up with breakthroughs in genetics, but no one realized what he had accomplished. Later in the early 1900’s, de Vries published a paper with very similar to Medel’s work. It was not realized until a third scientist Carl Correns was doing some similar experiments and read the works of both Mendel and de Vries. In his paper, he gave credit to Mendel and discredited de Vries’ work.[2] The problem of plagiarism has increased drastically over the years with all of the new electronic sources. Now, all that the student has to do is to copy an article, highlight it and paste it into a word processing program. It was not much harder for a student to plagiarize before the Internet. A lazy student could easily copy an entire section out of a book word for word and conveniently â€Å"forget† to cite the reference from which it came. It would take the professor forever to find this source especially if it was not well known. With just some quick manipulating of words, professors can be tricked into believing that they are looking at a new original work. There are several reasons why students... ... forced to stop selling term papers over the Internet. As long as professors stand strong in their fight against this illegal recycling of information, plagiarism will be cut down. [1]More, Randy. Rediscovery of Mendel’s Work. Bioscene, 27. 16-20. [2]More, Randy. Rediscovery of Mendel’s Work. Bioscene, 27. 16-20. [3]http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm [4]http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm [5]http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm [6]http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm [7]http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm [8]http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm [9]http://rbs2.com/plag.html [10]http://rbs2.com/plag.html [11]http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm [12]http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm [13]http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm [14]www.wordcheck.com, www.plagiarism.org [15]www.plagiarism.

Culinarian Cookware Case Study Essay

To some extent, it makes sense. Culinarian takes a good advantage of utilizing push promotion for their premium cookware products. Because 55% of consumers with income over $75000 would be drawn to stores with attractive displays or informed staff to shop for cookware. In addition, 20% of them would respond to a sale and only 10% would respond to multimedia advertising. At the same time, Culinarian have sales 12 visits per year while other competitors only have 6. It also offers a higher retail margin for its products which is 52% and builds an incentive program for retail clerks. According to the above analysis, the majority of the market would respond positively to the push tactics. However, Culinarian’s pull promotions are relatively ineffective. Managers of Culinarian always focus so much on advertising expense which is higher than average, that is, 4% of sales versus 3% of premium competitors. Meanwhile, some of them ignore that price promotions are beneficial to a pull s trategy. 3. Was the 2004 promotion profitable? Calculate the profitability using Brown’s and theconsultant’s logic. How would you calculate it? According to the formula: incremental contribution impact =(actual units * actual contribution – forecast units * normal contribution) We can calculate the profitability of Brown’s: $23.76 * 184,987units – $33.36 * 59,871units = $2397994.56 The consultant’s: $10.35 * 184,987units – $19.95 * 119,504units = – $469489.35 Average contribution: | Nonpromoted| 20% promotion| Brown| $33.36=($72-$38.64)| $23.76=($62.4-$38.64)| The consultant| $19.95| $10.35| So, according to Brown’s logic, the promotion of 2004 is profitable. However, using the consultant’s logic, it can conclude that it lost profit. 4. . What are some other possible promotion strategies for Culinarian? Recommend whetherCulinarian should run a 2007 price promotion. Which promotion/terms (which products topromote, how, how much, when, how frequently, and for how long) would you suggest. Other promotion strategies: A. We can use contests as a promotion strategy for Culinarian. Because people like to win prizes, if consumers take part in those contests, it has a good opportunity to promote its brand and put its logo and name in front of the public rather than make money through a hard-sell campaign. B. Another way is to encourage current customers to refer new customers to shop Culinarian’s products, which is the referral incentive program. We can use free products, big discounts and cash rewards as the incentives you can use. It is a great promotion strategy to leverage Culinarian’s customer base. Suggestions of 2007 price promotion: The company should run a price promotion in 2007. It can promote the boxed set of cookware, because considering cookware bought as gifts would help gain more market shares. And the promotion should occur from April to July, in order to capture the majority of the wedding market. Imagine that if a person buy a 5 piece set for a wedding , and then the newly married couple may need some more items and would purchase them at full retail. This Price promotion will not cheapen the prestigious image because the cookware will still be priced in the premium cookware price range. Besides, it still should be a 20% discount for consumers who purchase on all 5 piece sets or sometimes 3 or single piece items and retailers can take a 48% margin on the items.

Human Factors in Aviation Essay

A large number of flight accidents occur mostly due to lack of efficient vision of the surrounding environment. Traditional visionary systems rely on synthetic vision or specifically vision of the existing environment devoid of mist, fog and other abnormalities. Real scenarios require the ability to provide reliable vision overcoming natural hindrances. Humans learnt the art of flying when they abandoned the idea of flapping of wings. Similarly, the latest developments of enhanced vision systems have sidestepped the existing traditional vision systems to ensure flight safety. In recent years, Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFID) has posed a significant risk in both civilian and military aviation. One of the aviation’s worst accident occurred in Tenerife, when two Boeing 747’s collided as one aircraft was attempting to take off while the other was to land. The risk of CFID can be greatly reduced with the aid of a suite of Radar and collision avoidance equipment commonly termed as Enhanced Vision systems (EVS). Rationale One of the primary causes for many runway accidents is reduced visibility. One solution to this limitation lies in the use of infrared sensing in aviation operations. All objects on earth emit infrared radiation and their emissions and features can be detected through total darkness as well as intervening mist, rain, haze, smoke and other scenarios, when the objects are invisible to the human eye (Kerr, 2004). The first EVS system was targeted for production in 2001 as standard equipment on Gulf Stream GVSP aircraft. The system was developed in part by Kolesman Inc under the technology license from Advanced Technologies, Inc. utilization of EVS addressed critical areas like CIFT avoidance, general safety enhancements during approach, landing and take off, improved detection of trees, power lines and other obstacles, improved visibility in brown out conditions, improved visibility in haze and rain, identify rugged and sloping terrain and detect runway incursions. Enhanced Vision Systems Enhanced visibility system is an electronic means to provide a display of the forward external scene topology through the use of infrared imaging sensors. They are a combination of near term designs and long term designs. Near term designs present sensor imagery with super-imposed flight symbology on a Head up display (HUD) and may include such enhancements as runway outlines, other display argumentations like obstacles, taxiways and flight corridors. Long term designs include complete replacement of the out-the window scene with a combination of electro optical and sensory information. Infrared Sensors EVS uses Infrared (IR) sensors that detect and measure the levels of infrared radiation emitted continuously by all objects. An object’s radiation level is a function of its temperature with warmer objects emitting more radiation. The infrared sensor measures these emission levels which are then processed to produce a thermal image of the sensor’s forward field of view. EVS IR sensors operate in the Infrared spectrum (Kerr, 2004). The different types of spectrum are Long wave IR, Medium wave IR and Low wave IR. Two variants of this technology are currently in aircraft use. A single sensor unit operating in the long wave, maximum weather penetration band has significant far penetrating capability. Short wave sensors have the ability to enhance the acquisition of runway lighting. A dual sensor variant composed of short and long wave bands used for both light and weather penetration fuses both sensor images for a full spectrum view. Image sensors operating in long wave Infrared spectrum are Cyro-cooled. Models of EVS One of the commonly used EVS systems is EVS 2000. The operation of the model EVS 2000 dual image sensor is given in figure 1. Long Wave Infrared sensor provides best weather penetration, ambient background and terrain features. Similarly, the Short Wave Sensor provides best detection of lighting, runway outline and obstacle lights. The signal processor combines the images of both the sensors to display a fused image picturizing the current environment (Kerr, Luk, Hammerstrom, and Misha, 2003). (Source: Kerr et al, 2003) Boeing Enhanced Vision System Boeing’s EVS enhances situational awareness by providing electronic and real time vision to the pilots. It provides information at low level, night time and moderate to heavy weather operations during all phases of flight. It has a series of imaging sensors, navigational terrain database with a virtual pathway for approach during landings, an EVS image processor and a wide field of view, C-through helmet mounted display integrated with a head tracker. It also consists of a synthetic vision system accompanying the EVS to present a computer generated image of the out-the window view in areas that are not covered by the imaging sensors of the EVS. The EVS image processor performs the following 3 functions. It compares the image scanned by the ground mapping Radar and the MMW sensor with a database to present a computer generated image of the ground terrain conditions. It is accompanied by a Global Positioning System (GPS) to provide a location map during all phases of flight. The IR imaging sensors provide a thermal image of the front line of view of the aircraft. Typical HUD symbology including altitude, air speed, pressure, etc is added without any obscuration of the underlined scene. The SV imagery provides a three dimensional view of a clear window site with reference to the stored on board database. Figure 2 gives the Boeing’s EVS/SV integrated system. The projection of SV data should be confirmed by the EVS data so that the images register accurately. The system provides for three basic views i. e. , flight to view or the normal view, the map views at different altitudes or ranges and the orbiting view or an exocentric/ownership from any orbiting location from the vehicle (Jennings, Alter, Barrow, Bernier and Guell, 2003). (Source: Jennings et al, 2003) EVS Image processing and Integration Association Engine Approach This is a neural net inspired self organizing associating memory approach that can be implemented in FPGA based boards of moderate cost. It constitutes a very efficient implementation of best match association at high real time video rates. It is highly robust in the face of noisy and obscured image inputs. This means of image representation emulates the human visual pathway. A preprocessor performs the feature extraction of edges as well as potentially higher levels of abstraction in order to generate a large, sparse and random binary vector for each image frame. The features are created by looking for 0 crossings after filtering with a laplacian of guassian filter and thereby finding edges. Each edge image is then thresholded by taking the K strongest features setting those to 1 and all others to 0. For multiple images, the feature vectors are strung together to create a composite vector. The operations are performed over a range of multi resolution hyper pixels including those for 3-D images. FPGA provides a complete solution by offering the necessary memory bandwidth, significant parallelism and low precision tolerance. Figure 3 provides an illustration of an association engine operation (Kerr et al, 2003). Fig 3: Association Engine Operation (Source Kerr et al, 2003) DSP Approach One approach to perform multi sensor image enhancement and fusion is the Retinex algorithm evolved at the NASA Langley research center. Digital signal processors from Texas instruments have been used to successfully implement a real-time version of Retinex. C6711, C6713 and DM642 are some of the commercial digital signal processors (DSP) used for image processing. Image processing which is a subset of digital signal processing enables fusion of images from various sensors to aid in efficient navigation. Figure 4: EVS Image Processing (Source: Hines et al, 2005) Image processing architecture and functions of EVS, Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) and Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) processing can be done simultaneously. The multi spectral data streams are registered to remove field of view and spatial resolution differences between the cameras and to correct inaccuracies. Registration of Long Wave IR data to the Short Wave IR is performed by selecting SWIR as the base line and applying affine transform to the LWIR imagery. LaRC patented Retinex algorithm is used to enhance the information content of the captured imagery particularly during poor visibility conditions. The Retinex can also be used as a fusion engine since the algorithm performs nearly symmetrically processing on multi-spectral data and applies multiple scaling operations on each spectral band. The fused video stream contains more information than the individual spectral bands and provides the pilot a single output which can be interpreted easily. Figure 4 illustrates the various processing stages in fusing a multi spectral image (Hines et al, 2005). Design Tradeoffs LWIR based single image system is no panacea for fog, but reduces hardware requirements. It is also a low cost solution with lower resolution. An image fusion system provides active penetration of fog and better resolution but comes at a higher cost. Increasing the bandwidth provides better size and angular resolution and satisfactory atmospheric transmission but costs high. Basic diffraction physics limits the true angular resolution but can be overcome by providing sufficient over sampling. Sensitivity vs. update rate and physical size vs. resolution have traditionally been issues with passive cameras. Fortunately, dual mode sensors overcome these trade offs (Kerr et all, 2003). A successful image capture of landing scenario is given in figure 5. Figure 5. EVS view Vs. Pilots view (source: Yerex, 2006) Human Factors Controlling the aircraft during the entire period of flight is the sole responsibility of the pilot. The pilot seeks guidance from the co-pilot, control tower and inbuilt EVS to successfully steer the aircraft. The pilot controls the aircraft based on a representation of the world displayed in the cockpit given by the inbuilt systems and may not see the actual out-the-window visual scene. Visual information is presented but may not otherwise be visible. Some of the information may be lost due to limitations of resolution, field of view or spectral sensitivities. Therefore, with EVS, the world is not viewed directly but as a representation through sensors and computerized databases. More importantly, the essential data for pilotage should be available on the display. Though EVS systems gives a representation of the exact view of the flight environment, its accuracy plays a significant role in flight safety. Thus human factor are vital for flight control.

Free Essays on Acceptance Letter

Medicine offers the opportunity for me to integrate different scopes of science while trying to improve human life. Medicine has intrigued me all throughout my life because it’s a never-ending mystery and every answer has questions, and vice versa. Throughout my life, I have worked towards one goal which is to become a doctor. I know that the road that I take to become a doctor is going to be very challenging, however I fee that my past has prepared me for taking on the challenge. My struggle began when I was 5 months old. My mother sent me to Liberia, Africa to live with my grandmother due to the unsuspecting birth of me. After living in war for eight years, without my mother, and living in a n impoverished country I came back to the United States. I began my education in the second grade without having any previous schooling, therefore I was demoted to the first grade at an age of eight years old. The school system labeled me as retarded and placed me in remedial clas ses. I had an early determination to prove to myself and others around me that I wasn’t retarded because I knew that it wasn’t that I was retarded, it was only because I wasn’t taught the materials. After two months of learning how to read and write, I slowly became the top of my class. The first term of my first grade year I finished by making average grades and then through persistence and the help of my mom, I excelled throughout the second term of my first grade year. Since then I knew that I started out disadvantaged amongst my peer but through hard work I could do anything. However, I knew when I was 9 years old in the second grade that I was behind. My mother and step-dad move to a different state and made me skip third grade without acquiring any knowledge. Therefore, I had to learn everything I needed to know about the third grade when I was placed in the fourth grade. I knew that I had to jump over this hurdle with me skipping the third ... Free Essays on Acceptance Letter Free Essays on Acceptance Letter Medicine offers the opportunity for me to integrate different scopes of science while trying to improve human life. Medicine has intrigued me all throughout my life because it’s a never-ending mystery and every answer has questions, and vice versa. Throughout my life, I have worked towards one goal which is to become a doctor. I know that the road that I take to become a doctor is going to be very challenging, however I fee that my past has prepared me for taking on the challenge. My struggle began when I was 5 months old. My mother sent me to Liberia, Africa to live with my grandmother due to the unsuspecting birth of me. After living in war for eight years, without my mother, and living in a n impoverished country I came back to the United States. I began my education in the second grade without having any previous schooling, therefore I was demoted to the first grade at an age of eight years old. The school system labeled me as retarded and placed me in remedial clas ses. I had an early determination to prove to myself and others around me that I wasn’t retarded because I knew that it wasn’t that I was retarded, it was only because I wasn’t taught the materials. After two months of learning how to read and write, I slowly became the top of my class. The first term of my first grade year I finished by making average grades and then through persistence and the help of my mom, I excelled throughout the second term of my first grade year. Since then I knew that I started out disadvantaged amongst my peer but through hard work I could do anything. However, I knew when I was 9 years old in the second grade that I was behind. My mother and step-dad move to a different state and made me skip third grade without acquiring any knowledge. Therefore, I had to learn everything I needed to know about the third grade when I was placed in the fourth grade. I knew that I had to jump over this hurdle with me skipping the third ...

Business Strategy for Analysis of Wesfarmers

Wesfarmers is one of the leading organizations in Australia, and as a 102 year old organization, Wesfarmers has been dominating the retail market of Australia as well as New Zealand. Besides, the organization, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, the organization deals with the production of fertilizers, chemicals, industrial products and many more. The organization employing as many as 2,00,000 people across Western Australian and New Zealand, the organization boasts of 4,00,000 shareholders, and owing to the diverse market, the organization has even greater prospect to flourish in future. Keeping this in consideration, it is important to conduct the environmental analysis of the organization (David and David 2016). The importance of environmental analysis of an organization cannot be overemphasized. It helps an organization to comprehend and analytically evaluate the strategies necessary for the survival and growth of an organization. As far as Wesfarmers is concerned, the internal analysis of the organization will help it in identifying the factors within the organization that can enable the organization enjoy sustainable competitive advantage. Hence, the application of the SWOT analysis method is highly beneficial here. With the help of the SWOT analysis method, Wesfarmers will be able to gain an insight into the strength, weakness, opportunity as well as threat of the organization (Grant 2016).  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wesfarmers enjoys a diversified market, and as such the organization, with a huge variety of diverse business, comprising of Coles, Target, and many more, can easily experience persistent growth without the impact of industry downturn.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The organization is one of the most reputed organizations in the world, and it has earned huge brand recognition over the years.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The organization enjoys an exceptionally high growth rate in the market.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The organization has as many as 4,00,000 shareholders.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The organization has a strong presence in Australia, and hence as a large scale industry, the organization encounters strong business risk.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The profit making capacity of the organization is not as strong as it could be and the operating profit of the organization has been suffering a steady rate of decline since the last few years. For example, from the year of 2006 to 2007, the net profit of the organization dropped from $772.5 million, to $618.1 million (Kenny 2013).  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  The organization also operates in a highly competitive market.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The current financial crisis of Australia may harm the financial stability of the organization (Yuan 2013).  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Global expansion will help the organization enhance its revenue and profitability, and as a widely recognized organization, it will be easier for Wesfarmers to establish itself beyond Australia and New Zealand.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The organization can enhance quality and its service.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The income level of the consumers is at a constant increase.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The cost of the raw material is increasing rapidly in Australia.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Huge competition from rival organizations, such as Woolworths, MetaCash Limited, Myer, and others (Biddle 2016). It is crucial for Wesfarmers to analyze the stakeholders of the organization. The organization has a huge number of stakeholders, such as shareholders, consumers, employees, government and media. The stakeholders are the main assets of any organization, and hence understanding their expectations is highly important. The consumers of any organization play an important role, and hence insufficient consumer involvement can be highly detrimental to the growth of an organization. The organization has conducted sufficient market research, which has helped it to evaluate the expectations of the consumers in a highly competitive market. The organization has recently invested an enormous amount of money for offering its service via online channels (Hackshall 2013). The organization has improved its optimism about retail sales, via the introduction of online shopping platforms. Besides, the employees also play a vital role in the organizational success of Wesfarmers. The organization has been providing on-job training so as to help the employees improve and enhance their professional skills. The quality of the workers increases with the opportunities they get to groom and enhance their professional skills. Further, the organization also employs a diverse workforce that allows it to hire people from various ethnic groups, such as Aboriginal Island and Torres Strait Island as well.   One of the best features of the employee engagement policy of Wesfarmers is that the organization adopts a diverse workforce, not only in terms of cultural diversity but gender diversity as well. As far as the consumers and the employees are concerned, Wesfarmers is successful in exercising a positive impact on the stakeholders. The organization communicates and updates each piece of information as well as the relevant procedures to the concerned stakeholders.   The managing authority of Wesfarmers believes in adopting the most effective communication strategy that will help it in communic ating each of its strategies or achievements to the stakeholders. Hence, the organization prepares and submits annual as well as half-yearly reports and announcements via the ASX (James 2013). Apart from the internal factors, Wesfarmers is also required to identify and assess the external factors of an organization, bot at the micro as well as in the macro level. The major advantage of the external environmental analysis is that it will help Wesfarmers understand as well as to evaluate the size and opportunity of growth in the market, the intensity of the competition existing among the rival organizations, and to estimate the impact of the market condition on the profit earning capacity of the organization. In order to conduct an external environmental analysis, Wesfarmers is primarily required to conduct the PESTEL analysis. The PESTEL analysis of an organization explains the framework of macro-environmental factors, such as the political factors of the economic factors that directly influence the growth or profitability of an organization. The PESTEL analysis of Wesfarmers is as follows: Political: By the political factors, is implied the extent to which the government of a country plays an important role in influencing the business of an organization, in the form of taxes, or other legal regulations. Coal mining is an important department of Wesfarmers, and it should be remembered that the federal government of Australia has made it mandatory that the exploitation of the mining industry has to be approved by the state government of the respective state. The government t policies of Australia are more focused on the elimination of the trade protectionism, and restrictive policies, and as a result free trade can be conducted by the foreign organizations much more conveniently by the foreign organizations. This policy of free trade may not facilitate the economic growth of Wesfarmers, as a large number of non-Australian retail sectors may get easy entry into the market. This can definitely imply huge competition for Wesfarmers (Antonini 2016). Economic : The economic factors of an organization , such as interest rates, exchange rates, inflation rate can largely affect the growth of an organization. Service sector plays an important role in the market of Australia, and in fact it is noteworthy that 71.1 % of the GDP of Australia is being contributed by the service sector only. Finance and service are the two most important service organizations in Australia, an keeping this into consideration, it can be stated that the insurance market of Wesfarmers can enjoy a highly profitable position in the market of Australia. Social: The social environment of Australia also plays an immensely important role for the future growth of Wesfarmers. Social factors such as demographics, cultural trends, population analytics play an important role in the success of an organization. It is important to note here that most of the citizens of Australia tend to rely on one-stop shopping method.   The Australians usually prefer to buy the necessary items in large quantity once in every week, so that it can suffice for the rest of the week. Hence, it is favorable for Wesfarmers to have the supermarkets and departmental store chains in Australia (Chan et al. 2013). Technological: . It should be remembered that sustainable method of conducting business, plays an extremely important role in Australia. Hence, organizations such as Wesfarmers also are required to rely more on technologically progressive means of production that can help the nation maintain its ecological sustainability in future. Keeping this in mind, it is important to note here that Wesfarmers has adopted the use of low emission coal technology which is an innovative change that is expected to sustain the business in future. Coal mining, energy, chemicals and fertilizer production are some of the most important areas Wesfarmers works in, and hence good technological foundation as well as continuous innovation is highly needed for the future development of the enterprise (Luftman 2013). Legal : There is a variety of new laws ruling and governing the trade system of Australia, such as the labor law business laws, resource law and many more. The organization is required to abide by each, while conducting trade. Environmental : Ecological sustainability plays an integral role in the process of conducting business in Australia, and hence organizations such as Wesfarmers has been creating value for its consumers for its shareholders via sincere engagement for a wide range of environmental issues, such as prevention of environmental pollution, conservation of energy, and many more. It is noteworthy here that the organization operates its business activities in accordance with the 10 Community and Environmental Impact Principles that sets the guideline to the organization for energy efficient means of production. The in initiatives undertaken by the organization, for ensuring community well-being, decreasing product packaging, or maintenance of ecological sustainability help the organization conduct business smoothly in Australia (Islam et al. 2016). In order to adopt the most effective strategy required to enhance the competitiveness of the business organization, the Five Forces Analysis of Wesfarmers is needed: Threat of New Entrants : Wesfarmers is one of the most recognized organizations in Australia, that deals with the production and retail trade of various items, such as energy, industrial and safety chemicals, fertilizers, hardware, insurance and many more. Hence, it can be understood that Wesfarmers has a higher entry obstruction as far as its competitors are concerned. Owing to its recognition, and brand awareness as well as its diverse market, the threat of new entrant is low (Dobbs 2015). Supplier Power: Wesfarmers avails its resources from different markets, as a result of its diverse variety of products it deals with, however it should be remembered that there is only a limited competition in the supplier market of Wesfarmers. Hence, this can be a major obstruction for Wesfarmers, as the organization is depended on too many suppliers at a time (James 2013).   Buying Power : Wesfarmers regularly conducts sufficient market research to understand the changing expectations and modern trends of the buyers. The organization also promotes its sustainable approach of conducting business that fetches further recognition to an already recognized organization like Wesfarmers. Hence, the buyer power is moderate, given the strategy adopted by Wesfarmers, despite the competitive market the organization operates in (Hubbard 2014). Competitive Rivalry: Wesfarmers is still one of the most recognized organizations of Australia, and it is needless to state that the organization is absolutely dominating the Australian retail market. The organization is already enjoying competitive advantage in the region, and hence the risk of competitive rivalry is low for the organization (Silva 2012). Threats of Substitutes: The threat of being substituted was undoubtedly high for Wesfarmers even in the last few years, however, the organization has adopted environment friendly, energy efficient method of production and has introduced a very high quality consumer service that can is sure to provide the organization with competitive advantage. Hence, the threat of substitute is low (Booth and Coveney 2015). From the above analysis, it can be concluded that Wesfarmers enjoys a very strong position in Australia, and the organization has a huge prospect to flourish in future as well. The environmental analysis of the organization is a strategic tool that helps in assessing and analyzing the internal as well as external factors that facilitate or threaten the market condition of the organization. Wesfarmers is one of the leading names in the retail industry of Australia, however, it is important for the organization to be aware of its strength, weakness, competencies and other requirements so that it can bring about the desirable improvement in the organization. Again, at the same time, the organization will need to adopt the necessary strategy to sustain itself in a highly competitive market, and hence the organization must also conduct external analysis to have a comprehensive knowledge about the economic trends of the market, rival giants as well as the opportunities and threats in the r etail market of Australia. Antonini, C., 2016. An empirical analysis of environmental externalities incidence on financial performance. Biddle, I., 2016. The Wesfarmers/Woolworths duopoly war: The Bunnings vs. Masters battle.  Busidate,  24(3), p.3. Booth, S. and Coveney, J., 2015. ‘Big Food’—The Industrial Food System. In  Food Democracy  (pp. 3-11). Springer Singapore. Chan, E., Yau, O.H. and Chan, R., 2013. Consumer sentiment in Australia: a replication and crossà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ national comparison.  Asia Pacific International Journal of Marketing. da Silva, M., 2012. A broad business challenge-Sustainable Company of the Year.  Ethical Investor, (98), p.14. David, F. and David, F.R., 2016. Strategic Management: A Competitive Advantage Approach, Concepts and Cases. Grant, R.M., 2016.  Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons. Hackshall, D., Kassis, N. and Sutherland, J., 2014. Putting the customer first.  CIO, (Spring 2014), p.16. Hubbard, G., Rice, J. and Galvin, P., 2014.  Strategic management. Pearson Australia. Islam, M.A., Jain, A. and Haque, S., 2016. A Preliminary Analysis of Australian Government’s Indigenous Reform Agenda ‘Closing the Gap’and Corporate Accountability. In  Key Initiatives in Corporate Social Responsibility  (pp. 341-354). Springer International Publishing. James, D., 2013. Supermarket self-regulation is a joke.  Eureka Street,23(24), p.55. James, H., 2013. Tag Archives: Strategic Management.  Evolutionary Theory. Kenny, G., 2013. The stakeholder or the firm? Balancing the strategic framework.  Journal of Business Strategy,  34(3), pp.33-40. Luftman, J., Zadeh, H.S., Derksen, B., Santana, M., Rigoni, E.H. and Huang, Z.D., 2013. Key information technology and management issues 2012–2013: an international study.  Journal of Information Technology,  28(4), pp.354-366. Yuan, H., 2013. A SWOT analysis of successful construction waste management.  Journal of Cleaner Production,  39, pp.1-8.

The Role of the Uniqueness of the Holocaust in two Jewish religious Essay

The Role of the Uniqueness of the Holocaust in two Jewish religious responses to the Holocaust - Essay Example His priority is to document and explain the Jewish experience of the Shoah evaluating its impact on Judaism. Jacobs begins by describing the ‘holocaust’ as murder, debunking the historical connotations that word has of a ‘burnt sacrifice’. He prefers Shoah which means ‘total destruction’. He considers this to be an important distinction given that it was not Germans who were sacrificed, but Jews who were put to death. Jacobs refers to the Shoah as ‘unprecedented’ rather than ‘unique’. 'unprecedented' rather than 'unique'. It was Katz1 who first referred to the 'unique' intentionality of the holocaust, distinguishing 'genocide as the intent to destroy the national, religious, or ethnic identity of a group' from 'the intent to destroy physically all persons who identify with and are identified by a given national, religious or ethnic identity'. Denialists argue that this mystifies and removes the event from its place in history, denying the historical fact that others were subjected to similar genocide, and -- ironically - to make all those who experienced the Shoah less human. "those Jews who suffered did not think of themselves as victims of a "Holocaust." Nor did [they] use such terms as "Churban" or "Shoah," . Rather, one typically spoke about the "recent Jewish catastrophe," or the "disaster."2 Denialists claim that the original goal was resettlement in Madagascar or Russia; it shifted to extermination for expediency. What, they argue, is 'unique' about that Ethnic cleansing is quite common. Look at the Interahamwe of Uganda, the Bosnian Serb paramilitaries led by Karadi and Mladi, or the anti-independence militias of East Timor. American - Indian Ward Churchill views Steven Katz as a member of an exclusive tribe of Jewish historians who "argue the uniqueness of Jewish victimization" and who consequently "downgrade and shunt into historical oblivion" the suffering "not only the victims of the many genocides occurring outside the framework of Nazism, but non-Jews targeted for elimination within the Holocaust itself," specifically Gypsies and Slavs. Jewish theologians continue to disagree with the Denialists, since "it was never the quality of [the Shoah's] sheer terror or unlimited suffering that set it aside from other catastrophes but the meaning of this suffering, its causes and effects, what has been called the intentionality of the Holocaustt"3. Katz responds to Particularists (eg Jacobs) and Universalists (eg Denialists) as follows: 'the Nazi program of genocide, if understood as a war against a self-conscious Jewish identify, is neither unique in Jewish historical terms nor world historical ones'4 Further, 'Quantity and proportion are not sufficient by themselves to establish a judgment to uniqueness pro or contra'5 Why then do Jewish theologians believe that the Jews were intentionally treated differently from other proscribed races Hitler said; 'If with the help of his Marxist creed, the Jew is victorious over the other peoples of the world, his crown will be the funeral wreath of humanity and this planet will, as it did thousands of years ago, move through the ether devoid of menby defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting the work of the Lord.'6 The Nazis dehumanized Jews and embellished their own rhetoric with demonic