The Philosophical Revolution of Early Seventeenth Century

The Philosophical Revolution of the 17th century has a close link with the Scientific Revolution. It provided the foundation for the latter by stimulating it in different ways. The two were therefore intimately tied together such that the Scientific Revolution could not be described without making reference to the Philosophical Revolution.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Philosophical Revolution of Early Seventeenth Century specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More â€Å"Although philosophy was influenced by both religion and science during the classical era, it defined the world view of the literate culture.† (Tarnas 273).However, this role became a reserve of religion with the arrival of the medieval period while philosophy took a lesser role in linking faith to reason. The advent of the modern era marked a turning point where philosophy remarkably shifted its allegiance from religion to science. Two philosop hers namely Francis Bacon and Descartes were instrumental in shaping and fostering the Scientific Revolution during the Philosophical Revolution of the 17th century. In the seventeenth century, Francis Bacon pioneered the birth of a new era in natural science. He claimed that man required material redemption that was supposed to accompany his spiritual progress towards the Christian millenium, something that was to be done through natural science. Since the global explorers had discovered a new world, Bacon believed that it was important to discover a corresponding new mental world in which verbal confusions, subjective distortions, traditional prejudices and old thinking patterns were replaced by new methods of acquiring knowledge. He argued that for science to succeed there was need to replace verbiage and preconceptions with direct attention to things and their observed orderings. The true order of nature could only be discovered after the mind had been purified of all internal o bstacles that emanated from the fictitious forms of traditional philosophers. Bacon fostered the Scientific Revolution by expressing the spirit of Reformation and Ockham. This was inspired by his belief that recognition of the difference between God and his creation and his mind and that of man was the only way through which man could succeed in science. He elaborated the distinction between science and theology by pointing out that each realm was governed by unique laws and methods.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More He therefore advocated for the separation of science and theology since theology belonged to the realm of faith while science belonged to the realm of nature. He promoted the Scientific Revolution to a great extent since he believed that experiments were instrumental in correcting the evidence of the senses and revealing truths obscured by nature. â€Å"Through the astute use of experiments, the evidence of the senses could be progressively corrected and enhanced to reveal the truths hidden in nature.’’(Tarnas 275). The other philosopher who made remarkable contribution in the Scientific Revolution during the seventeenth century philosophical revolution was Descartes. As Bacon inspired the distinctive character, direction and vigor of the new science, Descartes was instrumental in establishing its philosophical foundation. He noted the contradictions between different philosophical perspectives and the fact that religious revelation could not lead to adequate understanding of the empirical world. These factors combined with the residual confusions of his education compelled him to find out irrefutable basis for certain knowledge. His important contribution in the Scientific Revolution began by the first step of doubting everything. His intention was to eliminate all the past presumptions that confused human knowledge and pick out only the truths he himself could not doubt. Descartes used mathematical principles to accept only ideas that were devoid of internal contradiction, clear and distinct to him. By doing this, he discovered a new science that ushered man into a new era of practical knowledge, well-being and wisdom. â€Å"Skepticism and mathematics thus combined to produce the Cartesian revolution in philosophy. The third term in that revolution, that which was both the impulse behind and the outcome of systematic doubt and self-evident reasoning, was to be the bedrock of all human knowledge: the certainty of individual self awareness.† (Tarnas 278).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Philosophical Revolution of Early Seventeenth Century specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Descartes asserted the essential dichotomy between extended substance and thinking substance and by doing so, he played an important role in â€Å"emancipating t he world from its long association with religious belief, freeing science to develop its analysis of that world in terms uncontaminated by spiritual or human qualities and unconstrained by theological dogma.† (Tarnas 280). The natural world and the human mind gained autonomy they had never experienced before, as they were separated from God and from each other. Descartes and Bacon were the prophets of scientific civilisation and rebelled against ignorant past. These qualities enabled them to proclaim ‘the twin epistemological bases of the modern mind.† (Tarnas 280). Astronomy falls in the realm of physical sciences and is the oldest in this category. In most of the earliest civilisations, the regular movements of celestial motions were documented through astronomy and the records used in the prediction of future events. Both the ancient and modern astronomy played an important role in the Philosophical Revolution. The most remarkable astronomical developments in an cient times were associated with the Greeks who employed methods that were different from the ones employed earlier. Ancient astronomy is believed to have made important contribution in the Philosophical Revolution through the introduction of geometrical ideas. In his quest for absolute certainty, Descartes, who played a great role in the Philosophical Revolution employed mathematics and geometry to find absolute truth. He realized that geometry and arithmetic were characterised by rigorous methodology and this guaranteed him the certainty he was looking for with regard to philosophical matters. Geometry started with the statement of simple self-evident first principles, foundational axioms from which further and complex facts could be deduced through strict rational method. This method therefore helped Descartes to eventually establish absolute certainty. In this sense, ancient astronomy made an important contribution in the development of the Philosophical Revolution.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In addition to ancient astronomy, modern astronomy also played an important role in the growth of Philosophical Revolution. Galileo was an instrumental philosopher whose astronomical knowledge made remarkable contributions in the revolution. He was a mathematician and an astronomer who conducted many astronomical discoveries. Astronomy was a technical discpline and most of the content was descriptive in nature. As a result, it was viewed that the statements philosophers made with regard to the nature could have been erroneous. This prompted philosophers to conduct more research hence the Philosophical Revolution was enhanced. Since he was interested in mechanical experimentation, Galileo came up with new traditions of natural philosophy whose focus was experimentation. This played an important role in the development of Philosophical Revolution. Many other philosophical reformists like William Gilbert expanded on his astronomical experiments even after his death. As a pioneer of mod ern astronomy, he significantly took part in the development of Philosophical Revolution hence modern astronomy played a crucial role in its growth. Work Cited Tarnas, Richard. The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas that Have Shaped Our World View, New York: Ballantine Books, 1993.Print This essay on The Philosophical Revolution of Early Seventeenth Century was written and submitted by user EmmaFrost to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Finding Your Flow Structuring Writing Time to Maximize Productivity

Finding Your Flow Structuring Writing Time to Maximize Productivity Finding Your Flow: Structuring Writing Time to Maximize Productivity Writers from all over the globe will likely agree that writing time is precious. The big question, of course, is how to use that time wisely? How to make sure that you’re as efficient and creative as possible during your allotted hours? Every writing project has its own particular needs, but structuring writing time to maximize productivity saves you time while helping with finding your â€Å"flow.† Start with the big picture, then work your way down to the details; this is a great way to stay on point and make the most of those precious minutes. Follow this step-by-step system to get the most out of your writing process. Step One: Clarifying Your Topic It may seem obvious, but knowing what you’re writing about is essential for a productive process. Is your subject clear? Do you require a thesis off the top? Do you need to refine or adjust your first idea to provide a more active, engaging launching pad for the piece? Being sure your topic is sharp and compelling will save you time later. Building an outline for your piece can be useful even at this early stage. It helps bring your main idea into focus while identifying any weaknesses or gaps in your thinking. This step will also determine whether your current topic is strong enough to carry you through to a conclusion. Step Two: Collecting Your Ideas. Whether the project you are working on requires extensive research, or you’re just jotting down your thoughts, gather as many of these building blocks as you can before you start to write. This will help shape and focus your thinking, and it will increase your efficiency. Online resources are plentiful and easily accessed, but consider researching your facts the old-fashioned way, too: at a library. Where web searches can be cluttered, requiring painstaking sifting to find what you need, libraries are more organized. A library helps you get precisely what you need, with real live experts working to help you. They’re also terrific places to do your actual writing! Don’t be afraid to gather more research material than you think you need. Once you put pen to paper, having a deep pool of resources gives you room to grow your piece in surprising ways – it will also help you drop any ideas that aren’t panning out the way you’d hoped. Fill your arsenal with as many relevant concepts, facts, and arguments as you can before moving on to the next step. Step Three: Organizing Your Thoughts. If you haven’t already created your outline, now is the time. With your topic, theme or thesis as your starting place, take yourself step-by-step to your conclusion. If it’s a narrative, what’s the structure? How does the story unfold? If it’s a research paper, how could you best cover your topic? What are the salient pieces of information, and what’s the most unambiguous order in which to present them? If it’s an argument, how does it need to develop? Decide how you plan to argue your thesis, and how you’ll respond to potential counterarguments. Lay out the specific markers that will guide the direction of your piece, determining where the information you’ve collected fits in. Expand your outline by connecting your ideas and research to the appropriate points, and then assess their strengths. Is there any critical research you haven’t made room for in your outline? Do you require ideas or facts that you haven’t yet gathered? Make you have a robust and detailed outline before proceeding with your work. Step Four: Writing! This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. This is where all the groundwork you’ve laid will pay off at this point. You have a clear map to follow, with solid research to back up your ideas. The focused thinking you’ve done earlier equips you with the mental clarity you’ll need to find all the right words. At this point, set up your writing environment in whichever way works best for you. Do you prefer to work in quiet, or with background music? Are you more focused at home or the library? Will you need coffee or water? Consider whether you’ll require access to the internet for research or reference purposes. For some, a co-working environment provides inspiration and energy. Create an individualized work environment that is comfortable and conducive to focus. Have all of your preparatory work handy, so that you can access it and cross-reference if you need to. Make sure you have pens and paper available if you like to make notes and edits the old-fashioned way. Then, get to it! Don’t be discouraged if you struggle through those first few pages; developing your ideas and arguments in a clear, compelling way isn’t easy. However, the work done during the first three steps means that your energy will now be used in the best way possible – writing the piece that you want to write. You’ve reduced the likelihood of false starts, missing parts, and wasted drafts by preparing well. You have fertile ground in which to grow your best writing. Stick to your outline as best you can, but don’t be afraid to adjust as you go. In doing the actual writing, you’ll no doubt make discoveries that you couldn’t have predicted. However, even here, your thorough preparation will make it possible for you to add to, subtract from and modify your piece without becoming lost. Trust your homework and keep your guiding topic in mind. Once you’ve completed a draft, you’re ready for step five. Step Five: Editing and Proofing. There are online tools that can help immensely at this point. Hopefully, spelling and grammar features have been alerting you to errors as you write. Some people find this helpful; others find it distracting, as it can interrupt their flow. Remember that you can turn off these features if you prefer to wait until you’ve finished a draft before checking its technical accuracy. Regardless, proofing spelling and grammar is only a small part of the editing process. Before you buff that piece to a high shine, you need to be sure that it’s solidly built. Try to read your draft as though seeing it for the first time. Is it clear? Does it say what you intended it to? Do the arguments and images connect comprehensively? Is it convincing? Consider whether any points or ideas are underdeveloped. Look out for overly long sections that can unbalance the flow of the overall piece. Evaluate whether your writing takes the reader where you want to go. Once you’re happy with the structure and flow of your work, then use those technical tools to be sure you deliver the most polished and powerful piece possible. As you spend more time writing, you’ll undoubtedly discover what works best for you. In the meantime, use this basic structure to help maximize your time, and begin the of finding your flow! For any questions about your next writing project, call 1 (800) 573-0840 to speak to an expert at . Servicing a range of academic needs throughout Canada, we’re ready to help you put your best foot forward at school, or in the competitive international job market.

Activism and Change for New South Wales Prison in Australia

The proportion of the assaults in overcrowded New South Wales has soared up to 37 percent. Between the 20 th and 21 st centuries, the imprisonment rate in NSW rose by 20 percent. In 2008, the capital expenditure and net recurrent on the Australian’ prisons were noted exceeding over $2.6 billion per year (Butler & Kariminia, 2010, p. 19). The strategies to reduce imprisonment was not being successful. In the same time, the rate of indigenous imprisonment rose by percentage of 41. More than 27,000 people were held in the prison where it could cost the prison $200 daily to keep that particular person in the prison. Back two decades, Territory governments and the states have come up with alternatives in prisoning the criminals. This assisted in curbing the growth of the numbers in the prisons as well as correctional outlays. It is evidenced that these sprouting alternatives are effective in reducing imprisonment which is quite costly. Due to the current developments in Australia, the rate of crime has reduced. The political shift has contributed to escalating rates of imprisonment and introduction of justice in criminal strategy in reliance on crime response (Preen, 2011, p. 66).In the NSW there was the introduction of justice reinvestment. The movement is gaining a lot of traction in Australia. Justice reinvestment is concerned with the advancement of fiscally-sound, the criminal justice and data-driven policies in breaking the recidivism, make the safety of the communities and avert the prison's expenditure (Krieg, 2007, p. 532). The aim of the strategy is to quantify subsequent reinvestments and savings in the high-stakes of the neighborhoods in which majority of the people who are released from the jails and the prisons return. For example; abandoned housing, redeveloping and the better coordinating of services which include; treatment of the mental health, substance abuse, education and job training. In Austr alia, the justice reinvestments strategies have started to gain political traction in the aid of pressure-groups work; for instance, Sydney-based Crime and the Justice Reform Committees (CJRC) which was established by Hal Sperling QC, the retired judge of the Supreme Court in NSW. Eventually, the dominant factors of reducing the rate of property crime appeared to be justice reinvestment, reduction of heroin use, managing the long terms unemployment and the rising of weekly earnings. Due to the rapidly increasing population in the NSW prisons, the stakeholders came up with some ways to reduce this population growth in the prisons. Some of the ways to reduce Aboriginal incarceration rate include; Empowering the communities was one of the best ways of reducing the Aboriginal rates  (Baldwin & Leete, 2012). The empowerment will make the people not to engage in offensive behaviors to meet their needs. Provision of loans to the Aboriginal people made it possible to reduce the crime rates which in turn reduce the populations in the prisons. Aboriginal leadership and Employment are crucial ways for successful reduction of the population in the NSW prisons  (Butler & Kariminia, 2010). There was a strong Aboriginal women group who held a position on the committees who worked as liaison officers. They dealt with the offenders when the police officers were not around.   The youths were trained in horticulture and tourism jobs. These programs assist in reducing the domestic violence rates. When the population of the young offenders was noticed being high in the prisons, the government introduce some passages of their mentoring program and imaginations which include, sport, IT and music. In NSW, the prisoners were given a chance to go for boxing training 3 times weekly  (Krieg, 2007). The trainers were mentoring these young people because they were elder. This changed the attitudes of the offenders and could not engage in crime because they feared being jailed. The Australian state copied Canadian model known as healing lodges. The lodges are set according to the Aboriginal culture where the Aboriginal staff was the majority  (Maplestone, 2006). In the healing lodges, there was a therapeutic treatment which assisted the residents to overcome the driving force to offending. There were also programs for spiritual healing. The spiritual programs assisted the offenders by drawing attention to the Aboriginal ancestors who could bring the connections with the land, culture, and family leading to population reduction in the prisons. To achieve the national agenda reform, the government propose some reforms which will move the mere concept of justice reinvestment leading to the measurable and tangible national reforms agenda. For the government to succeed, it established sites for local implementation (Weatherburn & Corben, 2009, p. 6). The government has set some goals which would help in creating justice in the NSW. Goal 1. Improvement of all the Australian systems of justice in order to deliver justice needs comprehensively of the Torres’ Strait Islander and Aboriginal people in a very equitable and fair manner. Goal 2. Reduction of Torres Straits Islander and Aboriginal offenders, victims, and defenders in the systems of criminal justice. Goal 3. Making sure that the people feel safe in the places of residence. Goal 4.   Safety increment and offending reduction within the indigenous communities through addressing of alcohol and the substance abuse. The NSW correction systems contain two main components. There are about 13,000 inmates on prison side (Hew & Simba, 2013, p. 20). There are around 60 offices on community side and around the estate. The aim was to supervise the offenders in the community serving the court orders from the community services orders to parole. Its main goal is the preservation of the community’s safety through keeping the inmates secure, reducing reoffending and supervision of the community’s offenders.   The corrective Services' need is the provision of education to the inmates, vocational training and coming up with programs of addressing the behavior offending (Kilroy, 2016, p. 8). Corrections system has undergone a significant change because there are government investments over extra programs and dozen current prisons in reducing reoffending and raising standards. There are complex needs for women prisoners. The women's needs are vulnerable and complex in high population prisons. The complex connections between the economic, social, gathered issues and health are brought to greater focus during the process of looking disadvantaged group, for instance, Aboriginal women (Maplestone, 2006, p. 10). Indigenous women are making a high population percentage in the NWS imprisoned women. Some qualitative studies were conducted to learn the needs and experiences of the indigenous women are involved in the criminal justice systems. It was thought that the indigenous women are overrepresented because of the over policing in the Aboriginal community. The sentence lengths were reduced by the license release systems.   There was the conviction of corruption in the imprisonment in the conjunction of the scheme. Due to lack of transparency in the prisons, the National Reform found it challenging in controlling the criminal offenses in the NSW prisons. The Government has set recommendations in advancing the justice issues in the prisons. The government has come up with the establishment of; Rehabilitation centers: It is an essential element of providing safety in the community in delivering an effective response in promoting rehabilitation and reducing reoffending. It has been a key consideration for framing the deliberations of the panel in its reviews of availability of rehabilitation evidence in the current practice. One of the ways to safeguard a community is by imprisoning the offenders. The community as well can be protected by minimizing offensive likelihood after the release. The protective factors when emphasized can help in reducing the population in the prisons. The individual risk involves one avoiding such experiences which trigger in committing a crime. These factors include; peers, family ties, life experiences and the community environment. Risk factors may include; criminal behavior, family breakdown, living conditions and poor health. The government has emphasized more on meeting the basic needs and self-actualization. It was realized that by the government that offending it is not criminal and legal justice problem, offending is also a social problem which has effects and social causes (Vienna, 2014, p. 124). There are some social factors that contribute to the likelihood of criminal behavior. International research has shown that there are strong links between social factors, individual and predisposition in reoffending.   The government has come up with workshops which help in reorganizing one’s behavior and ceasing the injustice ways. Baldwin, J., & Leete, J. (2012). the challenge of an aging prison population. Behind bars, 1, 16-20. Butler, T., & Kariminia, A. (2010). Perspectives and epidemiology. Prison violence, 17, 17-20. Hew, R., & Simba, T. (2013). Barriers to Parole for Aboriginal and Torres Strait. Prisoners' legal service, 10, 1-26. Kilroy, D. (2016). Women in Prison in Australia. Current Issues in Sentencing, 2, 1-12. Krieg, A. S. (2007). health and social impacts. Aboriginal incarceration, 184, 534-536. Maplestone, P. (2006). Ex-Prisoners, Homelessness and the State in Australia. Prison, 39, 1-14. Osborn, M. (2013). New South Wales, Australia. Oral health status of prison inmates, 40, 34-38. Preen, D. B. (2011). estimating the number of deaths among. Counting the cost:, 195, 64-68. Vienna. (2014). Women and Imprisonment. UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION. Weatherburn, D., & Corben, S. (2009). Crime and Justice, 138, 1-12

Marketing Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Marketing Management - Essay Example Management is the process of performing activities by using the help of other people. Managers use the management elements, which include planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. Chwala highlights that marketing management is a business process, which involves â€Å"analyzing market opportunities, researching on the target markets, developing strategies for them, planning market tactics, implementing, and controlling the marketing initiatives. Further, Kotler describes marketing management as the process of achieving desired outcomes from a target market (13). It is therefore, a business process, which involves applying marketing techniques, and managing resources and activities related to marketing. Kotler highlights that marketing management process involves analyzing market opportunities, developing marketing strategies, planning marketing activities, managing, and controlling the marketing efforts (33). In the first step of analyzing market opportunities, the l eader identifies potential opportunities in the market while considering the organizations competences. This should be done by analyzing both the micro and macro environments in order to identify the best opportunities. In this step, the company can research and select market opportunities that are available. This can be done by defining the market, segmenting the market, market targeting and positioning in the market. The next step is the development of strategies for marketing whereby the marketer positions the organization strategically in the market. This step involves deciding on the brand, product lines, designs and the market. This is performed using the four P s marketing mix tools. Planning of marketing programs is the other step, and it involves making decisions on the expenditures, marketing mix and market allocation and budgets. One should set the level marketing budget that they intend to spend. Then, they allocate the budget among the various activities and the marketi ng mix tools. Lastly, they should allocate the budget to the various marketing programs in the target market (Kotler 34). The last step is management and control of the marketing programs. This step involves executing the plans, collecting feedback from the market and starting again in the planning step. Resources should be mobilized to implement and control the marketing programs of the organization Entrepreneurship is defined by the activities done by Entrepreneurs. Akrani highlights that Entrepreneur was derived from the French word Entrepredre meaning performing of activities. Entrepreneurs are the people who engage in the risky business activities of creating new businesses using their personal resources, through innovation of ideas, which are focused to satisfy the market needs (Akrani). Therefore, Entrepreneurship is the process of establishing opportunities in the market, and taking advantage of them to make a profit. There are ways in which responsible Entrepreneurial quali ties become essential for marketing management. Firstly, the Entrepreneurial qualities enable the leader to develop plans that meet their marketing goals. This can be applied in finance, production, sales, promotions, and personnel areas of marketing management. Secondly, responsible Entrepreneurial qualities enhance communication skills in marketing managem

Leadership communication Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Leadership communication - Term Paper Example It will be beneficial to both of us since I will be motivated to put more effort in my duty while, on the other hand, you will continue enjoying the benefits of leveraging from my skills, experience, and knowledge. Indeed resources can be limited but the resourcefulness of a person has no limits. You can have no resources at all but by making yourself resourceful you will definitely make a difference in your life and even in someone else’s. Personally, I have been working at our family’s pharmaceuticals firm for a considerable amount of time. Initially, when I began the job I was not paid I just took it as a personal initiative to make good use of myself for the overall benefit of our family. I worked diligently to ensuring all management issues are sorted and within a short period the business had expanded considerably. My parents are very grateful for my services since the firm has grown in revenues, and now I am getting a monthly salary. I choose to volunteer, for the job, to put the skills I had learned in school into practice, but it has turned out to be a formal employment. My knowledge and skills have also improved immensely. Recently, I received an invitation from a multi national pharmaceuticals company offering me a lucrative job. The fact that I decide to make myself resourceful has opened new opportunities that are making my life better. The old saying ‘practice makes perfect’ is still relevant in today’s life. When I decided to venture into voluntary work in our family’s business I had no idea of whatever was taking place there but because of the interest that I had for the job I strived to overcome any shortcomings that confronted me. For instance, I made numerous mistakes in my entry by misplacing crucial documents and at times making stupid and obvious mistakes. However, I never gave up on

Hamlet is a thinker not a man of action Essay Example for Free

Hamlet is a thinker not a man of action Essay Hamlets one mission in the play is to revenge the death of his father by killing Claudius, however his procrastination leads to his untimely death, the deaths of many others in the Danish court and the relinquishment of Denmark to Fortinbras. Hamlets first words show a desire of revenge towards Claudius A little more than kin and less than kind. But later in his soliloquy we see that he is actually closer to killing himself, than killing Claudius or the perpetrator: O that this too too sullied flesh would melt, / Thaw and resolve itself into a dew, He doesnt even contemplate killing Claudius; he hopes that the situation will resolve itself, which it never will, showing his unwillingness to act. This soliloquy also shows that he is not the bravest of people, as he cannot tell his mother how he really feels, another restrictive character trait when trying to revenge someone: But break, my heart for I must hold my tongue. In his soliloquy straight after Hamlets conversation with the Ghost he seems determine to kill his uncle, thy commandment alone shall live / Within the book and volume of my brain. The use of the word commandment shows that he will follow the Ghosts word religiously. This shows that he is resolute, as a man of action would be. However, this is countered almost immediately at the end of the scene O cursed spite, / That ever I was born to set it right. This shows that Hamlet is scared to carry out what he has to do, he would much rather someone else revenge his father than he. The first device that Hamlet uses to carry out his revenge is to pretend to be mad. By this pretence he hopes to draw the attention away of the court away from him so that he can watch and follow Claudius to see if he is showing any signs of guilt. He tells Guildenstern of his madness. I am mad but north-north-west. When the wind is / southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw. His stated intention is to gain irrefutable evidence of Claudiuss villainy. He initiates this by visiting Ophelia in a state of undress and handing her a love letter, making Polonius believe that his madness is due to Ophelias rejection of him. Hamlet uses his feigned madness to show his true emotions and insult people he doesnt like: You are a fishmonger. A fishmonger in Elizabethan times could have meant pimp, showing that Hamlet thinks that Polonius is using his daughter to gain favour within the court. Hamlets feigned madness does affect Claudius: in the first act he delivers long speeches, but by Act 2 he is reduced to short sentences like We will try it. This is an action, but it is one that allows him to procrastinate. When Hamlet is left alone he laments his weakness and inactivity. An actor could weep at the imagined grief of Hecuba, whereas Hamlet fails to respond to the murder of his father: Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect, / A broken voice, and his whole function suiting / forms to his conceit? And all for nothing! / For Hecuba! Hamlets principles cause him a great deal of self-criticism: Why what an ass am I! This is most brave, / That I the son of a dear father murderd, / Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, / Must like a whore unpack my heart with words/ And fall a-cursing like a very drab, He curses his inactivity, showing that, although he is a thinker, he would prefer to be a man of action. At the end of the soliloquy he seems resolved to revenge Claudius, the Mouse-Trap play is a form of revenge against Claudius, but again it is not direct revenge, as he is still procrastinating. The fact that he has not confronted Claudius four months after confirmation from the ghost that Claudius is the guilty party shows that he is definitely a thinker. Hamlets soliloquy at the start of Act 3 still shows his overwhelming desire to think, particularly about suicide To be or not to be. The fact that he is still has time for soliloquies, and that he is not trying to hunt Claudius down and kill him, shows that he is definitely a thinker. Hamlet shows a lack of self knowledge as he cannot, as he intended in Act 1 sc 5 with wings as swift / As meditation or the thoughts of love / May sweep to my revenge. Instead he broods on his fathers death and even when he gets proof from Claudiuss reaction to the Mouse Trap play, Ill take the ghosts word for a thousand pound. He hesitates and needs further spurring by the ghost in Act 3 to whet thy almost blunted purpose. Hamlet has the perfect opportunity to kill Claudius in Act 3 sc 3, but again he procrastinates, letting himself think about what will happen to Claudius soul A villain kills my father, and for that I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven. He doesnt act, because he thinks that Claudius is praying, cleansing his soul. This would send him to heaven, not hell where he belongs. The irony is that Claudius himself has too much on his conscience and cannot pray, My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. / Words without thoughts never to heaven go. Hamlet curses himself in a later soliloquy for his lack of action. Hamlets first action of physical revenge is to stab Polonius behind the arras. This action shows that he can only do something on the spur of the moment. If hed had time to think about it, he would have found a way around stabbing the person behind the arras, electing instead to procrastinate. Hamlet meets Fortinbras army in Act 4 sc 4, which makes him feel depressed when he compares himself to Fortinbras: the Norwegian Prince is prepared to fight over something of very little value, while he hasnt yet taken revenge for the murder of his father and the seduction of his mother: How all occasions do inform against me, / And spur my dull revenge. Hamlet does what he always does when confronted with a problem; he has a soliloquy. However, this is his last soliloquy, which could suggest that he is done with thinking now, and will finally carry out his revenge. Hamlet shows another decisive action, in dealing with the betrayal of his one-time friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and with Claudius attempt to have him killed on his way to England. He replaces his own name with that of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in the letter, ensuring that they will be killed in his place. He also Boards a pirate ship so that he can return to Denmark, these are all very decisive actions focused to towards revenging his fathers death. Hamlets entrance into Ophelias funeral certainly is more action-focussed than his previous actions: This is I, / Hamlet the Dane. His fight with Laertes, declaration of his love of Ophelia and his switch from prose to verse show that he is longer talking his self into lying and misleading others. Therefore he is not thinking as much as he is acting. Hamlets next action is to duel with Laertes, not knowing that it has been fixed so that Hamlet will die, but as with most strategies in the play, it does go according to plan: Both Laertes and Hamlet are wounded by the poisoned sword, Gertrude drinks the poisoned wine, and one of Hamlets dying acts is to force Claudius to drink the poisoned wine, which he does with relish, enjoying the power he has, and the fact that he is killing the person who killed his father, seduced his mother, taken his thrown and plotted to kill him twice Here thou incestuous, murdrous, damned Dane, / Drink off this potion. Is thy union here? / Follow my mother. His action here was done purely, without any thought. As he dies Hamlet names Fortinbras as his successor to the throne of Denmark. He admires Fortinbras as a man of action, seeing that that is what his country needs to return stability to it, I do prophesy thelection lights / On Fortinbras. He has my dying voice. The time frame of the play helps to reinforce the impression of time passing. Individuals in the play travel from Denmark to Norway, Poland and England, from the court to the countryside. Contrasting the activity of Laertes and Fortinbras with the prolonged inactivity of Hamlet. As the hero in this tragedy Hamlet doesnt have one, sole, character flaw that leads to his untimely death. He is a thinker involved in a dilemma that can only be solved successfully by a man of action. His inability to act swiftly and decisively without high motivation in connection with his fathers murder brings havoc to the Danish court, his own death and the death of many others in the court. If he had been a man of action Claudius would have been killed months before.

News and Current Affairs :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the television was invented in 1924, news and current affairs programs have surly become one of our main media sources. With this in mind, reporters and stations alike are able to manipulate their audiences through a variety of techniques, to make them believe a representation of reality as opposed to the true fact. This is evident in the current affairs story â€Å"Video Game Violence† and the standard news story â€Å"Music Video Ban†. These similar stories both originated from Channel Nine and represent violence in society’s youth today, stating children are at risk if exposed to such material. Through a selection of techniques, the audience is lured into supporting the told story and agreeing with the general attitudes promoted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Parents are the desired target audience of these stories which is evident through the mentioning of â€Å"children† and â€Å"youth†. Both news reports state that the media available to children today has proven to be devastating on the way they portray everyday life events. â€Å"Music Video Ban† is about a graphically violent music video produced by Perth band Beaverloop, creating outrage in society. â€Å"Video Game Violence† is a story about the effect of both suitable and non-suitable video games on children, supported by interviews and a psychiatric case study. In â€Å"Music Video Ban† to heighten the seriousness of this situation, the Columbine massacre is randomly mentioned and images of victims’ families are shown. This is to ‘help’ the viewer in understanding the attitude given, and reveals the possibilities of what can happen when access to violent media is too broad. In the â€Å"Video Game Viole nce† story, images of a devastated family from an incident involving a copy-cat murder are displayed. The ideas were taken from an R-rated Australian film known as â€Å"Bad Boy Bubby† and were used on Perth girl Natasha in her sleep by her 17 year old boyfriend. This is evidence enough that even the most unexpected can be influenced by meaningless entertainment media. The stories are shown to be warnings for parents around Australia to keep careful watch over what their children are exposed to and through graphic examples, express that failure is not an option.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The lead in on a report is very important for its ability to give first (and often last) impressions. This consists of the first few sentences (often containing connative terms) spoken to introduce the story, giving a general overview of what the report will be about. News and Current Affairs :: essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the television was invented in 1924, news and current affairs programs have surly become one of our main media sources. With this in mind, reporters and stations alike are able to manipulate their audiences through a variety of techniques, to make them believe a representation of reality as opposed to the true fact. This is evident in the current affairs story â€Å"Video Game Violence† and the standard news story â€Å"Music Video Ban†. These similar stories both originated from Channel Nine and represent violence in society’s youth today, stating children are at risk if exposed to such material. Through a selection of techniques, the audience is lured into supporting the told story and agreeing with the general attitudes promoted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Parents are the desired target audience of these stories which is evident through the mentioning of â€Å"children† and â€Å"youth†. Both news reports state that the media available to children today has proven to be devastating on the way they portray everyday life events. â€Å"Music Video Ban† is about a graphically violent music video produced by Perth band Beaverloop, creating outrage in society. â€Å"Video Game Violence† is a story about the effect of both suitable and non-suitable video games on children, supported by interviews and a psychiatric case study. In â€Å"Music Video Ban† to heighten the seriousness of this situation, the Columbine massacre is randomly mentioned and images of victims’ families are shown. This is to ‘help’ the viewer in understanding the attitude given, and reveals the possibilities of what can happen when access to violent media is too broad. In the â€Å"Video Game Viole nce† story, images of a devastated family from an incident involving a copy-cat murder are displayed. The ideas were taken from an R-rated Australian film known as â€Å"Bad Boy Bubby† and were used on Perth girl Natasha in her sleep by her 17 year old boyfriend. This is evidence enough that even the most unexpected can be influenced by meaningless entertainment media. The stories are shown to be warnings for parents around Australia to keep careful watch over what their children are exposed to and through graphic examples, express that failure is not an option.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The lead in on a report is very important for its ability to give first (and often last) impressions. This consists of the first few sentences (often containing connative terms) spoken to introduce the story, giving a general overview of what the report will be about.

The Role Of Discretionary Fund Management Accounting Essay

The topic of Discretionary Fund Management for IFAs divides sentiment. Some see it as an indispensable tool in supplying an holistic service to clients. Others see it as an unneeded and potentially dearly-won craze. As usual, the truth lies someplace between these two extremes. Used right, aˆÂ ¦ However, there are legion considerations etc This usher will explicate what DFM is and the cardinal considerations. Most significantly, it will assist you to place whether Discretionary Fund Management can profit your clients, and the stairss that should be taken to set in topographic point an effectual DFM service. ROLE OF DISCRETIONARY FUND MANAGEMENT Discretionary Fund Management involves deputing the twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours investing determinations to a professional investing director, normally referred to as a â€Å" Discretionary Manager † . The Discretionary Manager will specialise in pull offing investing portfolios, and the purpose is that they will possess a higher degree of cognition and experience than a general fiscal advisor. The Discretionary Manager will take duty pull offing the client ‘s portfolio, and does non necessitate to obtain blessing for the client for single determinations. They will alternatively utilize their expertness to run into the client ‘s aims, which will be agreed at the beginning. While the advisor and client will keep regular contact with the Discretionary Manager, for the agreement to work efficaciously it is indispensable that the Discretionary Manaher is given liberties over twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours determination devising. The advisor ‘s function is still an of import 1, as the Manager will be working towards run intoing whatever wants and needs the advisor has agreed with the client. It is besides critical to emphasize that while the activity may be delegated, the advisor can non depute regulative duty for run intoing the client ‘s demands. Economic Backdrop? RULES AND REGULATION While it can non be credited with kickstarting the usage of Discretionary Managemtn by IFAs, the Retail Distribution Review ( RDR ) has brought the ( issue to the forefront.. ) , peculiarly in the runup to the RDR â€Å" deadline † ( 31st December 2012 ) . One of the key alterations brought by the RDR is that it will widen the scope of merchandises that an Independent Financial Adviser must see within client portfolios, which for many will necessitate increased expertness and more robust procedures for research and due diligence. As a consequence, increasing Numberss of IFAs are looking towards Discretionary Fund Management to help them with run intoing their regulative duties. Resource Wage Expertness However, advisors need to be cognizant that neglecting to utilize Discretionary Directors right could ensue in them transgressing regulative regulations, instead than helping them. Recent counsel from the FSA stated that houses would necessitate to see a broad scope of investing solutions in the market before urging a Discretionary investing service. & lt ; analyse paper and cardinal findings & gt ; FSA CIP paper This counsel from the regulator underlines the importance of robust due diligence before come ining into a discretional agreement, and besides highlights their concerns with clients potentially being â€Å" shoe-horned † into unsuitable agreements. Tax The cardinal revenue enhancement consideration with discretional fund agreements is that for each dealing within a Disretionary portfolio, a possible Capital Additions Tax ( CGT ) liability arises. Each sale is treated as a disposal for CGT intents, and any addition on that sale is added to the sum of the client ‘s nonexempt additions in that revenue enhancement twelvemonth. Any losingss on gross revenues can be offset against additions, and any additions above the client ‘s one-year freedom ( ?10,600 for 2012/13 ) are taxed at either 18 % or 28 % , depending on the client ‘s entire nonexempt income. It is the duty of the advisor and the client to guarantee that these additions are documented on the client ‘s one-year self-assessment. This means that the Discretionary director will necessitate to be familiar with the client ‘s revenue enhancement personal businesss to avoid making unneeded liabilities. The FSA have besides made it clear that they expect revenue enhancement to be taken into history when measuring the suitableness of any investing solutions This once more highlights the demand for the advisor to place the client ‘s fortunes and ends to outset, and for there to be a clear definition of duties between client, advisor and Discretionary Manager. Another possible complication is that the European Court of Justice has late recommended that all elements of discretional direction services should be capable to VAT. While the full deductions of this recommendation are yet to be clear, this is something that all advisors will necessitate to maintain an oculus on traveling frontward. Appropriate Tax WRAPPERS/PLATFORMS As revenue enhancement is an of import factor to see, the pick of revenue enhancement negligees and platforms used to ease Discretionary Management is highly of import. We will supply an overview of the most common below. This is non an thorough list, but is intended to cover the most common negligees available. ISA – Individual Savings Accounts are available to all UK occupants aged 18 and over ( although cash-only ISAs are available to occupants 16 and over ) . The ISA acts as a â€Å" negligee † , within which all additions are free from income and capital additions revenue enhancement. As discetionaryu minutess can incur a CGT liability, ISAs are a potentially valuable tool to minimise revenue enhancement liabilities. The chief drawback with ISAs is that one-year parts bounds are comparatively low ( ?11,280 for 2012/13 ) , and it can take many old ages to construct up the size of portfolio where Discretionary Management is likely to be most effectual. However, a cardinal portion of sound fiscal advice is that clients should maximize their one-year ISA parts whenever possible. SIPP – Another common revenue enhancement negligee for DFM is the SIPP ( Self-Invested Personal Pension ) . SIPPs are a specific type of Personal Pension, and portion the common features as below: Contributions – Contributions upto ?50,000 per input period ( revenue enhancement twelvemonth for most persons ) receive income revenue enhancement alleviation. This is known as the â€Å" Annual Allowance † threshold. Tax Relief – Contributions receive full revenue enhancement alleviation upto the client ‘s highest fringy rate. For illustration, a higher rate taxpayer will have revenue enhancement alleviation of 40 % on all parts paid into a Personal Pension. Eligibility – Clients must be UK occupant and under the age of 75 to put up a Personal Pension Plan and obtain revenue enhancement alleviation on parts. Personal Pensions enable the client to do big parts, which will turn in a tax-efficient environment. The major disadvantage is that under pension legilsation benefits can non by and large be accessed until age 55, and even at this point there are limitations on how benefits can be taken. Typically a client will buy an rente ( income for life ) with their pension fund, or pull down financess from the strategy within authorities bounds. While pension financess these yearss are used for an increasing assortment of intents, it is of import to emphasize that for most clients the cardinal intent is to supply for an income in retirement. SIPPs differ from conventional Personal Pensions in that they allow a greater scope of investings to be held, giving more freedom to do investing determinations. This flexibleness lends itself to DFM services, as the specializer fund director can The downside is that charges It is of import to set up whether the SIPP will let DFM, and what the costs of this will be. These costs should be factored in when measuring whether DFM services are appropriate for the client. usage SIPP instance survey Offshore INVESTMENT Chemical bond Investing Chemical bonds are corporate investings written under Life Insurance statute law. The regulations may at first glimpse appear esoteric, but a house apprehension is required to place their possible usage for Dicretionary Fund Manahement and fiscal planning in general. A thorough analysis of Investment Bonds is beyond the range of this article, but a brief overview will follow. The Life Insurance is normally nominal, with the huge bulk of the investing applied to the financess held within. The investing financess are capable to life company revenue enhancement on income and capital additions, with no farther liability for the investor. Offshore bonds ( typically based in revenue enhancement oasiss such as the Isle of Man or Jersey ) differ from conventional onshore bonds in that investing returns can are rolled-up without farther revenue enhancement, which enables investings to be switched without incurring a CGT liability. Tax is basically deferred until enchashment. This construction offers possible advantages for DFM, as switches can be made without CGT being an issue. Clients utislising a DFM service are likely to be higher rate revenue enhancement remunerators due to the big amounts typically involved, and it is possible to postpone encashment to a point where they are no longer higher rate revenue enhancement remunerators, cut downing the overall revenue enhancement payable. Offshore Chemical bonds do non hold the little part bounds of ISAs, and there is greater flexibleness than a SIPP over how and when benefits can be taken. As a consequence, they are normally used in Discretionary Fund Management. However, it is of import to emphasize that they do non keep the same revenue enhancement advantages. A common misconception is that Offshore Bonds are â€Å" tax-exempt † , but the financess are taxed within the bond, and there may be a farther revenue enhancement liability at encashment. They are besides well more complex, and must be used carefully to optimise revenue enhancement efficiency. Platform Over recent old ages, â€Å" Platforms † are going an progressively common tool in IFA services. Platforms are described by the FSA: ‘Internet based services used by mediators ( and sometimes clients ) to position and administer investings. They tend to offer a scope of tools which allow advisors to see and analyze a client ‘s overall portfolio, and to take merchandises for them. Equally good as set uping minutess, platforms by and large arrange detention for clients ‘ assets ‘ â€Å" Wrap † is the term typically used to depict a type of platform that offers entree to a broad scope of investings, with an â€Å" unbundled † bear downing system where payments to fund directors and advisors are crystalline. They besides provide hard currency direction installations, and enable all investings to be held in one topographic point, cutting down on paperwork and easing the administrative load. In the context of DFM, there is a possible struggle as both the platform and DFM will necessitate detention of the assets held, and this ab initio created barriers to the two services being used together. It is going more platitude for DFMs and Wrap suppliers to work together, and at that place will frequently be a list of DFMs available via the Wrap. An advantage of utilizing DFM via a wrap is that the advisor can keep sight and a degree of control over the assets held, and it is besides possible to choose which portion of the portfolio the DFM has entree to. This can do it easier to see how the financess under discretional direction tantrum into the overall image for the client. The obvious disadvantage is that the wrap adds another bed of bear downing to the service. This once more steers the service towards higher cyberspace worth clients, and emphasises the demand to place clients for whom discretional direction AND wrap disposal are an indispensable demand instead than an expensive luxury. ADVANTAGES OF DFM Advocates of DFM point to several benefits from IFAs in utilizing this service. Improved Investment Performance – although this can non be guaranteed, the increased investing expertness and specializer cognition of the discretional director should hopefully take to overall greater investing returns Frees up clip and resource – a common ailment from IFAs is that they spread themselves excessively thin. The clip and resource they would otherwise hold spent on twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours montoring of investings can in theory be put to more effectual usage in other countries. The obvious illustration is that it allows the advisor to pass more clip with the client, constructing relationships and looking at a holistic image of their fortunes and aims. Speed – As the DFM is able to move without the client ‘s consent, they can respond more rapidly to altering fortunes, and take advantage of new chances that arise. Reduced Investment Risk – The DFM ‘s greater cognition and deepness of research should enable the building of a more diversified portfolio, which can cut down the impact of investing volatility. DISADVANTAGES OF DFM On the other side of the coin, critics of DFM cite a figure of hazards and drawbacks to utilizing a DFM service Fees and charges – Discretionary direction services do non come cheaply, and it adds another bed of payments that the client must run into, either from their fund or their ain pocket. In order for the service to be of value to the client, the DFM must reimburse these extra charges through improved investing public presentation. Many argue that the existent benefit provided by DFMs is limited. Impact on Adviser/Client Relationship – DFM involves a 3rd party taking twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours investing determinations on behalf of the client. For many clients, this raises the inquiry of what the fiscal advisor is making to warrant THEIR fees. Unless the client sees the value of the advisor ‘s function, this can hold a negative consequence on the client ‘s relationship with the advisor. Lack of Control – The DFM will hold authorization to do determinations without confer withing the advisor. There is the hazard that the DFM will non pull off the investings in the manner the advisor and client expected, particularly if the original footings of the understanding and the client ‘s aims were obscure. To battle against this, the advisor will necessitate to supervise the activities of the DFM. The enticement could be for the advisor to pass valuable clip watching what the DFM is making, particularly if the advisor does non hold full assurance in the DFM. Regulatory duty – As has been stressed antecedently, the advisor is still responsible for the overall service being provided to the client. A hapless DFM non merely reflects severely on the advisor ; it can set down the advisor in hot H2O with the FSA! Cardinal COMPONENTS OF A DISCRETIONARY MANAGEMENT SERVICE Therefore far we have explained the function of the DFM, the relevant regulations and ordinance, and distribution channels for DFM services such as revenue enhancement negligees and platforms. We have besides provided what are considered to be the most common advantages and disadvantages in a DFM service. We will now concentrate on the stairss that should be taken Client Cleavage Central to the service being provided is the client. Discretionary Fund Manahement services are unoikely to be of value to clients who do non necessitate them, and alternatively do jobs. Besides, the advisor runs the hazard of falling foul of the regulator if clients are non provided with suited solutions to their demands. The FSA identified that â€Å" shoe-horning † of unsuitable clients into DFM agreements was s important concern, and highlighted that Size of Fund: As the Discretionary Manager will incur charges, it is improbable to be suited for clients with financess of less ?100,000 to put Control: With a discretional service determinations will be made without the client ‘s blessing Engagement: How frequently does the client want to be involved twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours etc Trust: Is the client willing to release control to another professional. Inserts another person into the client/adviser relationship Aims – What is the client looking to accomplish with their investings? Clients with more conservative ends are less likely to be suited for a DFM service. Due Diligence Degree of Discretion Investing Vehicles Client Meetings Goals Reporting Charges Wage Documentation Review – Even if the above stairss have been completed, there is no warrant that the agreement will be successful. CASE STUDIES Decision

An Introduction to Management and Cost Accounting

International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 1, No. 2, August, 2010 2010-023X Factors Influencing Activity-Based Costing Success: A Research Framework Zhang Yi Fei and Che Ruhana Isa becoming more and more popular [3-7] ABC aims to provide accurate costing information to managers to allocate activity costs to products and services by applying cost drivers [8].Academics who advocate ABC, such as, Cooper and Kaplan [9], and Swenson [10] argue that it provides more accurate cost data needed to make appropriate strategic decisions about product mix, sourcing, pricing, process improvement, and evaluation of business process performance. These claims have led many firms to adopt ABC systems [8]. The benefits of ABC and its positive impact on firm’s performance motivated a numerous studies which examined various aspects of ABC.Among such studies are McGowan [11] who assessed the integrity of ABC success, Innes and Mitchell [4, 12] and Yanren [13] who conducted research on factors affecting ABC adoption, and Shield [3], Shields and McEwen [14], Gosselin [15] and Baired et al. [16, 17]who concentrated on factors influencing ABC success especially at the implementation stage. However, there is mounting evidence that suggests most of firms are experiencing problems in implementing ABC and, in some extreme cases, ABC implementation is not successful [3], which later resulted in abandoning the ABC systems altogether [15].Questions arise as to why ABC implementation is successful in certain companies and fails in others. Based on the contingency theory, researchers have argued that the reasons for different degrees of ABC success could be due to the different contextual factors faced by each firm. These have led researchers to recognize assessing factors that influence ABC success implementation as an important research area.The following are among the research that have been carried out to examine factors that influence ABC success: Anderson [18]; Shie ld [3]; McGowan and Klammer [19]; Krumwiede [20]; and Anderson and Young [21] This article has two main objectives; the first objective is to identify research gaps based on the revision of previous research and the second objective is to propose theoretical research framework for current research.This article is organized as follows: Section II presents a discussion of selected articles related to factors influencing ABC implementation and gaps or limitations of previous studies and suggestions for current research are stated in the section III and IV. The framework for current research is provided in section V, Section VI defines each research variable and the final section presents the conclusion. II. PREVIOUS RESEARCH In this section, selected ABC implementation empirical 144Abstract—In today’s advanced manufacturing and competitive environment, accurate costing information is crucial for all the kinds of businesses, such as manufacturing firms, merchandizing firms , and service firms. Argued to be superior to the traditional volume-based costing system, Activity-Based Costing system (ABC) has increasingly attracted the attention of practitioners and researchers alike as one of the strategic tools to aid managers for better decision making.The benefits of ABC system and its impacts on companies’ performance have motivated numerous empirical studies on ABC system and it is considered as one of the most-researched management accounting areas in developed countries. Previous research on ABC have examined pertinent issues related to ABC implementation such as the levels of ABC adoption in various countries, the reasons for implementing ABC, the problems related to ABC and the critical success factors influencing ABC.This paper reviews the research on ABC carried out within the last decade, from 1995-2008, and from the review research gaps are identified. Specifically, this paper examines the selection of factors influencing successful ABC i mplementation, variables used by previous research and the definitions and operationalization of the variables. The review reveals that past research concentrated mainly on behavioral, organizational, and technical variables as the main determinants of ABC success but very little research have been done to examine the roles of organizational culture and structure.Based on the research gaps identified, a research framework for future research is provided. Index Terms—Advanced Manufacturing Activity-Based Costing, ABC Success Environment, I. INTRODUCTION In today’s competitive and continually changing business environment, firms need to be vigilant of the impacts of the changes in the business environment and devise appropriate strategies to survive and prosper. Advancements in manufacturing and communication technologies have drastically changed the ways businesses conduct their activities.Adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies such as robotics and computerized manufacturing have resulted in significant changes in the manufacturing cost structure which have led academics and practitioners to argue that the traditional costing methods are no longer sufficient within this new manufacturing environment [1] (Johnson and Kaplan, 1987). This had resulted in the change from the traditional volume-based cost model to new costing methods such as Activity Based Costing (ABC) [2].Due to its ability in providing more accurate costing information and enhancing firms’ performance, ABC is International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 1, No. 2, August, 2010 2010-023X studies, which spanned 1995-2008 periods, were collected from four prominent refereed accounting research journals, in management accounting field: Journal of Management Accounting Research, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Management Accounting Research and British Accounting Review.Factors used by previous research to investigate the effect on ABC success impleme ntation are summarized, and stage of ABC implementation also is outlined. A. Technical Variables Early studies of ABC adoption and implementation undertaken by previous researchers concentrated on technical factors, such as identification of main activities, selection of cost drivers, problem in accumulating cost data. Example of these research are Cooper [9], Morrow and Connelly [22].However, technical factors alone may not be adequate to explain the factors influencing ABC success implementation. Cooper et al. [23] argued that the key problem during ABC implementation stage is that companies only focus on technical factors. They suggested that to make ABC implementation more effective, non-technical factors such as involvement of non-accounting in ABC implementation process, top management championship, adequate training program to employees about the objectives and benefits of ABC should be emphasized as well.Similar opinions were expressed by Shield [3] and Shields and McEwen [1 4]. Shield (1995) found no significant relationship between technical factors and ABC success. Shields and McEwen [14] also highlighted that sole emphasis on the architectural and software design of ABC systems leads to the failure of ABC implementation. Therefore many researchers have suggested that new variables should be considered to investigate factors influencing ABC success. B.Contextual, Behavioral and Organizational Variables Recognizing the research gaps in identifying factors that may affect ABC success, academicians shifted their focuses from technical factors to other variables, such as contextual, behavioral and organizational, culture, as well as organizational structure. Anderson [18] conducted a longitudinal investigation of ABC process in General Motor (GM) from a period of 1986 to 1993. In his research, he examined the effects of organizational variables and contextual variables, and segmented ABC implementation into four major stages, initiation, adoption, adapta tion and acceptance.He found that organizational factors, such as top management support and training for the ABC system affected various stages of ABC significantly, while contextual variables, such as competition, relevance to managers’ decisions and compatibility with existing systems produced different degree of impact on different stages of ABC. Shield [3] examined the relationships between diversity of behavioral, organizational and technical factors and the success of ABC implementation.She employed Shield and Young’s [24] framework and summarized behavioral and organizational variables as top management support, adequate resources, training, link ABC system to performance evaluation and compensation, non-accounting ownership, link ABC to competitive strategies as well as clarity of ABC objectives. She found that top management support, linkage to quality initiatives and to personal performance measure (pay/appraisal), implementation of training and resource ade quacy were the significant predictors in explaining ABC success.She also found that technical variables were not associated with ABC success. Shield’s findings are supported by other researchers, such as Shield and McEwen [14], who argued that a significant cause for unsuccessful implementations of ABC of several companies could be due to the emphasis of architectural and software design of the ABC system and less attention given to behavioral and organizational issues, which were identified by Shield [3]. Krumwiede and Roth [25] also stated that barriers of ABC implementation can be overcome if firms could give importance to behavioral and rganizational variables identified by Shield [3]. Similarly, Norris [26] agreed with Shield’s [3] findings that the association between ABC success and behavioral and organizational variables is stronger than with technical variables. She further highlighted that the impact of behavioral, organizational and technical should be focus ed at individual level. McGowan and Klammer [19] conducted a survey of 53 employees from 4 targeted sites in the U. S. o examine whether employees’ satisfaction levels are associated with ABC implementation by They also measured their perceptions of the factors associated with the degree of satisfaction, such as top management support; the degree of involvement in the implementation process; objectives clearly stated; objectives shared; training; linkage to performance evaluation system; adequate resources; information quality and preparer over user. Their results indicated that employees’ satisfaction with ABC implementation was positively related with clarity of objectives and quality of ABC information.Gosselin [15] carried out a survey of 161 Canadian manufacturing companies to examine the effects of strategic posture and organizational structure on adoption and implementation of general forms of Activity-based costing. He segmented the ABC implementation stage int o adoption and implementation. The research findings showed that a prospector strategy was associated with manager decision to adopt ABC, while centralization and formalization were significantly associated with ABC success implementation. Krumwiede [20] surveyed U.S manufacturing firms to study how contextual factors, such as the potential for cost distortion or size of firms; organizational factors, such as top management support, training or non-accounting ownership, affect each stage of ABC implementation process. His findings showed that the different factors affected the various stages of implementation of ABC and the degree of importance of each factor varies according to the stage of implementation. Contextual factors, such as usefulness of cost information, IT existence, less task uncertainty and large organizations were related to ABC adoption.Moreover, organizational factors, such as top management support, non-accounting ownership, and implementation training affect ABC success implementation. 145 International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 1, No. 2, August, 2010 2010-023X In another study by Anderson and Young [21], the relationship between organizational and contextual variables, such as organizational structures, task characteristics, management support, information technology and ABC success was examined.The result confirmed the importance of organizational factors (top management support and adequacy resources) during the ABC implementation stage. In South Africa, Sartorius et al. [27] carried out a mail survey to investigate the effect of organizational factors such as top management, adequate resources, coherence with organizational goals and strategy on ABC success. They found top management support and resources were the crucial factors in explaining ABC success. In the UK, Innes and Mitchell [4] and [12] surveyed the extent of ABC adoption among largest firms.The study aimed to find out factors influencing ABC success by u sing behavioral and organizational variables, and it was found that top management influenced ABC success significantly. In another study conducted by Khalid [28] using a questionnaire survey among the largest 100 firms in Saudi Arabia, ABC adoption was found to be positively related to diversity of products. In Malaysia, Ruhanita et al. [29] conducted a mail survey and a case study to examine that factors influencing ABC success, especially at adoption stage.They found the significant factors were cost distortion, decision usefulness, information technology and organizational factors. In addition, the findings showed that decision usefulness, top management support, link ABC to performance measure and compensation influenced the ABC success adoption significantly. A case study of one Chinese manufacturing firm was carried by Lana and Fei [30] in China. Their research aimed to examine some key success factors pertinent to ABC implementation within Chinese organizational and cultural setting.The research findings showed that top management support, hierarchical and communication structure and high proportion of dedicated professionals were the significant factors in determining ABC success implementation. Majid et al. [7] used a case study approach to describe the process of ABC implementation in a Malaysian service company and a Malaysian manufacturing company. In this research, they categorized ABC implementation into initiation and adoption, design, implementation and use of information.The purpose of the research was to find out the problems faced during ABC implementation, He found that the factors determining ABC success were top management support, suitable ABC software, and finally, ensuring that all affected employees understand and participate in the ABC implementation stage. And they also found that at different stages of ABC, the dominant factors influencing ABC success were also different. Colin et al. [31] adopted behavioral and organizational fac tors summarized by Shield (1995) to examine factors influencing the adoption and degree of success of ABC systems and determinants of that success.In their research, the targeted research population was manufacturing and service firms in the UK. They found that top management support, non-accounting ownership, adequate training provided to ABC determined the ABC success. Besides behavioral, organizational and technical variable, some researchers also indicated that the dimensions of national cultures could affect the level of ABC success [32, 33]. Brewer [32] used Hofstede’s taxonomy of work-related cultural values to examine the relationship between national culture and Activity-Based Costing system.In the study, Hofstede [34]’s work was applied to the case of Harris Semiconductor (HS), which has implemented ABC at plants in Malaysia and the USA. The results showed that the level of ABC success in Malaysia was higher than that of U. S due to high-power-distance and co llectivist cultures in Malaysia. In addition, Supitcha and Frederick [33] also included national culture’s dimension into framework in a case study of one Thai state-owned enterprise’s budgeting system.They found that due to cultural differences, modifications were required when the organizations in Thailand tried to implement ABC system in Thai environment. Apart from national culture, corporate culture factors were also tested by prior research. Baird, Harrison and Reeve [17] conducted a study to investigate the relationship between the extent of ABC adoption and the organizational variables of size and decision usefulness of cost information and business unit culture. In their research, data were collected by a mail survey questionnaire and samples were randomly selected from business units in Australia.The research finding showed significant relationships between ABC adoption and decision usefulness, cultural dimensions of outcome orientation and tight verse loose control. Baird, Harrison and Reeve [16] examined the relationship between success of activity management practices and organizational factors (top management support, training, link to performance evaluation and compensation, and link to quality initiatives), and organizational culture (outcome orientation, team orientation, attention to detail, as well as innovation).They adopted a survey questionnaire method on randomly chosen business units in Australia. The findings showed that two organizational factors (top management support, link to quality initiatives) explained the variations in success of activity management practices, such as ABC, and outcome orientation and attention to detail of organizational culture were associated with ABC success. They also stressed that compared with organizational culture, organizational factors had stronger associations with the ABC.Table 2. 1 presents a summary of the previous research discussed in this section, which highlights the factors inf luencing ABC success and the research method adopted by each research. TABLE 2. 1: A SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH RELATED TO ABC SUCCESS IMPLEMENTATION Author Shield (1995) Method Survey Variable Behavioral, organizational, technical Individual, organizational factors, technical, task and so on Stage Not specify All the stages Anderson (1995) Case 146International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 1, No. 2, August, 2010 2010-023X technical variables Innes et al. (1995) Gosselin (1997) Survey Behavioral & organizational variables Structure & strategy Adoption implement ation Survey Adoption & Implemen tation Not specify Not specify Not specify Not specify All the stage Implemen tation Adapted from Lana and Fei [30] III. GAPS FROM PREVIOUS RESEARCH From the review of previous research, this section highlights the gaps from previous research.First, as highlighted by Lana and Fei (2007) a majority of ABC research still was done in developed countries and very little research has been done in developing country, especially in Asian context. Thus it is necessary to identify whether the Asian culture and way of doing business may have a different impact on the extent of ABC adoption and implementation. Second, a majority of ABC research reviewed adopted the behavioral and organizational variables identified by Shield [3] to investigate factors influencing ABC success. So far only one research. which was conducted by Gosselin [15] examinedthe effect of organizational structure on ABC success among Canadian business units. The importance of organizational structure effect on management accounting practices is stressed by many researchers. For example, Damanpour [35] stated that whether an innovation can be successfully adopted or implemented to some extent is determined by the type of structure the a firm adopts, so the current study also will consider organizational structure as one of the predictors of ABC success.Third, few research have examined the eff ect of corporate culture on ABC success empirically. Hence it is necessary to examine the association between ABC success and corporate culture, as well as how important cultural factors might be relative to organizational, non-cultural factors [16]. Forth, very few studies have investigated the effect of national cultural on ABC and so far, only two researchers, namely, Brewer [32] and Supitcha and Frederick [33], have included this variable in their studies.Supitcha and Frederick [33] argued that national culture differences often require successful accounting practices in one country to be modified for effective use in another country. So the influence of national culture should not be ignored [32]), especially in developing countries, and differences in term of perceived ABC success could be explained by national culture. The next research gap is that some previous research did not specify the ABC implementation stage for example, Shield [3] and Brewer [32].According to Krumwied e and Roth [25], ABC implementation has six different stages. They are initiation, Adoption, Adaption, Acceptance, Routinization, Infusion, the final two stages are considered as â€Å"mature stage† [25]) and it is argued that at different stage, the dominant factors that determine ABC success implementation are also different. In order to investigate the factors influencing ABC success more accurately, the current research will concentrate on one particular stage of ABC implementation that is mature stage.Finally, the selected articles show most of ABC implementation research were conducted using quantitative method such as questionnaire survey, and there are very few research used qualitative method (see Table 2. 1). According 147 Norris (1997) McGowan & Klammer (1997) Foster & Klammer (1997) Brewer (1998) Krumwiede (1998) Anderson & Young (1999) Case Survey Behavioral & Organizational Behavioral & organizational Non Survey Case Survey National culture Contextual & organiza tional Organizational & contextual variables Interview &survey Supitcha et al (2001) Case National cultureNot specify Innes et al. (2000) Sartorius et. al (2000) Cotton et. al (2003) Khalid (2003) Baird et. al (2004) Ruhanita et al. (2006) Lana & Fei (2007) Survey Behavioral & organizational variables Organizational variables Behavioral & organizational variables Size, production, overhead Size, decision usefulness of cost information, culture Cost distortion, decision usefulness, IT, organizational Technical, behavioral, organizational, contextual factors Organizational factors, culture Organizational, technical factors Behavioral & organizational Behavioral, organizational &Adoption Survey Survey Not specify Adoption Survey Survey Adoption Adoption Survey & Case Case Adoption All the stage Baird et al. (2007) Sartorius et al. (2007) Colin et al. (2008) Majid et al. (2008) Survey Survey Survey Case Implemen tation Adoption Implemen tation Adoption & International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 1, No. 2, August, 2010 2010-023X to Cavana et al. [36], questionnaire survey of data collection often encounters problems of low response rate and to counter this problem researchers are encouraged to use multiple methods to collect data. IV.PROPOSED FRAMEWORK FOR FUTURE RESEARCH As very few empirical research have been done in developing countries on ABC adoption and implementation, future research should be conducted in developing nations, especially, in Asian countries such as China. Since China is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it would be interesting to know if ABC success is affected by similar factors as in the western countries. Furthermore, since joining the WTO in the year of 2001, Chinese enterprises started adopting western management accounting techniques, thus it is necessary to know the impact of Chinese culture on the ABC success.Hence the current study will focus on ABC success among Chinese manufacturing companies. Kr umwiede and Roth [25] classified ABC implementation into different stages; initiation, adoption, adaption, acceptance, routinization, and infusion. It has been suggested in the literature that the dominant factors that determine ABC success implementation are also different at different stages [20]. A review of the literature shows that more research has been done to examine the determinant factors at the adoption and very few studies on implementation stage.Thus the current research will concentrate on one particular stage of ABC implementation, especially, the ‘mature’ stage (Routinization, Infusion). The current research will also examine the effect of structure on ABC success. It has been argued that in order to examine the effect of structure, the sample should come from only one industry. Gosselin [15] argued that different industries have different level of centralization, and formalization, and he suggested that a study should concentrate on one particular indus try.Similarly, Rotch [37] stated that compared with manufacturing firms, non-manufacturing firms are very different in terms of characteristics. For instance, hotels are different from manufacturing firms and output of non-manufacturing firms are extremely hard to determine. Moreover, activities in non-manufacturers, especially in service sectors are hard to be predicted, and also large proportion of total cost are joint costs, which often difficult to assign to output. Similarly, Clarke, Hill and Stevens [38] highlighted that significant differences exist in terms of cost structure between manufacturers and non-manufacturers.In non-manufacturing sector, direct labor and direct material cost are almost equal to zero, and fixed overhead costs are the dominant costs in the cost structure and this difference makes researching ABC application in this type of industry more problematic. Hence the current study will focus on manufacturing industry only and since ABC is more likely to be im plemented by larger firms [28], this research will also concentrate on large sized manufacturing business. As discussed in the earlier section, previous research has not systematically examined the effects of organizational structure and organizational culture on ABC success.This motivates the current research to investigate the effects of these variables on ABC success. V. RESEARCH FRAMEWORK A. Proposed theory The current research will adopt Contingency theory and organizational theory to develop the research framework. Contingency theory has been widely adopted to conduct research in management accounting field [39-41]. Contingency theory asserts that the design and application of control systems are contingent on the environment of the organizational setting in which these controls operate and function [39].It is widely used to explain the characteristics of management accounting system [42]. Waterhouse and Tiessen [43] stated that the design and structure of management control s ystem is contingent on number of factors; there are product diversity, cost structure, size, level of competition and degree of customization [44, 45]. Sartorius, Eitzen and Kamala [45] illustrated an example to explain the relationship between ABC and the contingency factors. They stated that increasing fixed costs leads to a need for more accurate cost allocation technique such as ABC.This is especially true for firms which produce more than one products as different product products use differential amounts of resources [17]. Competition is another contextual factor that leads to the emergence of more sophisticated costing system such as ABC. In addition, large sized firms are more likely to adopt ABC than smaller firms due to the size of overhead, number of activities needs to be coordinated, as well as limited resources[16, 45]. However, adoption and implementation of an innovation are totally different[41].Hence, Contingency theory alone may not be adequate to explain ABC impl ementation stage. Krumwiede [20] concluded from a survey among US firms that contextual factors may influence the ABC adoption stage while implementation stage is more associated with organizational factors. He also suggested that once a firm arrives at ABC implementation stage, it should pay attention to organizational factors. Hence, another theory should be applied to explain ABC implementation stage, which is organizational change theory [29].According to organizational change theory, changes in organizations could be classified into four categories: technology, products, structure, and culture [29]. Gosselin [15] categorized ABC implementation stage as the administrative procedure. Therefore, ABC could be considered as a structural change and its success is determined by top-down approach. Based on organizational change theory, Cooper and Zmud [46] divide IT innovation into six sequence stages; 1) initiation, 2) adoption, 3) adaptation, 4) acceptance, 5) routinization, as well as 6) infusion.They also stated that at various stages the dominant factors in determining IT innovation are also different. B. Research Framework In view of the discussion in the previous sections, the following framework is proposed, depicted by Figure 1, for this research. Prior research test the relationship between ABC success and behavioral, organizational variables, hence 148 International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 1, No. 2, August, 2010 2010-023X the current research will also base on Shield [3]’s model to examine the impact of behavioral, organizational variables on ABC success.In addition, it also will include two additional variables, organizational culture and structure as Gosselin [15] stated that effect of organizational culture and structure on ABC success should not be ignored. also will adopt those dimensions. As for ABC success, the current study will adopt McGowan ‘s [11] definition. 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They are: 1) Top management support; 2) linkage to competitive strategies, 3) performance evaluation and compensation, 4) non-accounting ownership, 5) sufficient resources, 6) training in designing, implementing and using cost management system and 7) consensus about the clarity of the objectives of the cost management system, so current study will use all this indicators as behavioral and organizational variables.Lana and Fei [30] reviewed past empirical research about factors influencing ABC success and summarized the technical used by prior research, they are software packages, gathering data on cost drivers, identifying activities, knowledge of data requirement and data collection, the participation of external consultants. The current study also employed Lana and Pan [30]’s definition and its measurement for technical variables. 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Activity based costing implementation success in Australia. 2008 [cited 2008 26th August]; Available from: http://eprints. usq. edu. au/3719/1/Byrne_Stower_Torry. pdf. First Author: Mr. Zhang Yi Fei was born on Sept 9th, 1978. He obtained his bachelor degree in Accounting from Sichuan Normal University, Cheng Du City, Si Chuan province, China in the year of 2002. He obtained his Masters in Business Administration specializ ing in Accounting in 2005 from University Malaysia Sabah. Currently he is pursuing his PhD degree in Management Accounting at University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Second Author: Che Ruhana ISA (PhD) is currently an associate professor in accounting at the Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya (UM). She joined UM as a tutor in 1987 after obtaining the BBA (Accounting) from Oklahoma State University, USA. In 1990, she graduated from London School of Economics and Political Science with the degree MSc in Accounting and Finance. She obtained her PhD in Accounting from University Putra Malaysia in 2005. Her current research interests are management accounting change, management accounting and performance measurement systems in public sector organizations. 150