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What Is The Potential For Addiction - 1320 Words

6. Addiction- What is the potential for addiction? Is it physical or psychological? How severe is the addiction? Getting addicted to meth is not very hard. Because the dopamine release feels so pleasing, many people become obsessed and chase that feeling over and over again. Methamphetamine is known as one of the easiest drugs to become addicted to. The addiction is very severe, many people relapse after long periods without the drug. However, the more the drug is used, the harder it is to receive a â€Å"high†. Methamphetamine is both psychologically and physically addictive. The drug is known to be psychologically addictive because users have anxiety while in withdrawal to the drug. The drug is also physically addictive because the body†¦show more content†¦The effects last for differing amounts of time depending on the person. However, the longer of withdrawals last ten weeks. There are two phases for withdrawal, being â€Å"the crash† and â€Å"the craving s†. The crash lasts a few days and the cravings last up to ten days. The crash entails a lot of sleeping and eating; the cravings are pretty self-explanatory in that the user feels an extreme need for methamphetamine. Side effects for withdrawal include sweating, suicidal thinking, weight gain, low energy, weakness, and depression. 8. Pregnancy- What happens to the baby? How does it affect the baby during pregnancy? How does it affect the child long term? The baby is affected during pregnancy by an increased risk of premature birth, smaller size, lethargy, placenta disconnected from the uterus lining, and abnormalities of the brain and heart. However, research is still being done and there is no absolute conclusion to the side effects of meth use during pregnancy. Another problem with research is that the test samples have been very small and inconclusive about how many different drugs the mothers had been using. After birth, the babies often have trouble focusing and increase d stress which long term will make the baby’s life much more difficult. While in the mother’s body, researchers know the drug crosses directly through the placenta. However, researchers do not know whether the drug influences the fetus through the placenta or by

Decency clause still haunts the NEA Essay Example For Students

Decency clause still haunts the NEA Essay We have been engaged over the last four years, since the emergence of Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano as apparent threats to the Republic, in an extended battle, both in the Congress and in the Executive Branch, over the development of standards designed to contain or scourge dangerous or subversive ideas from arts projects supported by the government. We are all aware of the repeated attempts by Senator Helms, the Robespierre of American cultural affairs, to impose content restrictions on federal funding in the arts. By and large these restrictions have been beaten back in Congress, with the current exception of the so-called decency clause, passed in November 1990, which provided that grant applications to the National Endowment for the Arts are to be judged taking in consideration general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public. That standard was challenged in a case involving Karen Finley, Holly Hughes, John Fleck and Tim Miller. The case had two major elements. The first, which has been recently settled, alleged that the NEA denied grants to these artists on political grounds, not on the grounds of artistic merit. And there has been some clear evidence of the fact that NEA chairman John Frohnmayer nixed these applications on political grounds, with the support of the President. That part of the case recently was settled with a $250,000 payment by the government; $50,000 of that amount went to compensate the artists for their denied grants and invasion of their privacy. Is it content or not? The other part of the Finley case, which is still pending, involves the decency clause. Notwithstanding then-chairman Frohnmayers assertion that he was not going to enforce the decency clause, a federal district court in California proceeded to consider whether the clause on its face was consistent with the First Amendment. In a strong and stirring reaffirmation of our basic principles of free expression, the court said: The right of artists to challenge conventional wisdom and values is a cornerstone of artistic and academic freedom Therefore, the court holds that government funding of the arts is subject to the constraints of the First Amendment. One can hope that the debate against content restrictions will be much more contained in the future. President Clinton came out strongly against content restrictions during his campaign. He has reaffirmed, in the current reauthorization cycle for the NEA, his opposition to content restrictions. Nevertheless, he is not asking Congress to delete the decency provision in the NEA statute, notwithstanding the fact that it has been declared unconstitutional by the District Court. This would have the obvious benefit of essentially mooting the decency debate. In an effort to scotch any further debate on content restrictions, to avoid a political battle, his people have said on the Hill that the decency restriction simply isnt a content restriction, as implemented by the NEA. What then is left on the constitutional front? Since the government is the patron, why cant it promulgate the rules as to who is going to get the money? After all, no artist is being denied the right to produce controversial or blasphemous art. One simply cant do it on a federal stipend. Art critic Hilton Kramer and his acolytes take that position. This issue is now focused on the federal appellate courts in the Finley appeal. It has the most profound implications to the artistic community. The central issue evolves from the Supreme Courts decision in Rust vs. Sullivan, which was the abortion gag rule case. There, the Supreme Court held in a tight five-to-four decision that it was constitutional for the government, as part of its program to support family planning clinics, to insist that doctors not advise women about an abortion option. The theory of that decision was that the government could define a federal program in any way that it wants; here, it had established a program that would provide adoption advice or birth advice, but excluded abortion advice from the scope of the program. .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641 , .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641 .postImageUrl , .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641 , .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641:hover , .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641:visited , .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641:active { border:0!important; } .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641:active , .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641 .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ue3867ab7ca0070098d9f3788dc33e641:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Jeff Daniels: the Purple Rose of Chelsea is his baby EssayThe Supreme Court decision created havoc throughout the university, scientific, library, foundation, research, arts and humanities communities. It laid out a blueprint for those who want to use federal funding as a weapon to limit discussion of controversial issues. The government is speaking Thus, one could simply define a federal arts program as one that deals with non-blasphemous art, and determine that a proposal for a blasphemous picturesay, Christ with a needle in His armwas outside the program and thus nonfundable. Ones worst fears were realized in the Bush Administration. A senior Bush Justice Department official told Congress that when government funds are involved, the government itself is speaking and may constitutionally determine what is to be said. Then, in the decency challenge in the Finley case described above, the Bush Justice Department advanced the Rust decision as a rationale to deny federal funding. It argued that since the federal government was funding the art, under Rust it could deny grant applications on political grounds, on decency grounds or any other grounds. The District Court squarely rejected the Rust rationale. So far so good. However, the government last year filed a notice of appeal to take Judge Tashimas opinion up to the Court of Appeals. Enter President Clinton. Amazingly, the initial brief filed by the Clinton Justice Department echoed the rationale advanced by the Reagan and Bush Justice Departments. The brief, written by Bush holdovers, took the Rust rationale and applied it, without compromise, to arts funding. It said a straightforward application of the general rule in Rust means that the government can limit its subsidies to art projects that are not indecent. If the position set forth in the initial Clinton Justice Department brief is right, then Far Right opponents of the NEA will be able to argue for every conceivable restrictionrejecting arts funding on grounds that art is un-American, blasphemous, anti-Christian or rejects family values. A transition snafu This appears, we fervently hope, just a transition snafu. This first brief was filed at a time when there were virtually no new appointees serving in the Justice Department and, amazingly, those that were there apparently had no sensitivity to the explosiveness to this issuethe Clinton Administrations first statement on constitutional restrictions on the arts. Not surprisingly, the entire arts community, as well as all of the other communities that would be affected by this decision, erupted. An amicus brief with more than 60 signatoriesranging from National Public Radio and PBS, to the Museum of Modern Art, to Actors Equity, the Association of American Publishers and Theatre Communications Grouprecently urged the Court of Appeals to reject the Justice Department position. I believe that the Administration found itself genuinely abashed that it was taking a position in the litigation that seems totally inconsistent with its stated opposition to content restrictions. We have now seen the governments reply brief in Finley, and it has some good news and some disappointing news. First, we are disappointed that the government is continuing in its reply brief to press the position that the decency clause is constitutional. We think that this position is based on a misreading of congressional intent; the District Court was correct in evaluating the decency provision as a content standard and finding it unconstitutional. As far as the Justice Department position on Rust v. Sullivan, one can be pleased that the department has attempted to clarify some quite troubling statements in its initial brief. The department says that it wants to make clear that it is not calling for an extension of the Rust decision to apply in the arts funding context here. Given that position, the potentially contradictory statements in the earlier brief should now be inoperative. We take the Justice Department at its word that it is not intended to extend Rust to this situation and we trust that will be their clear position at oral argument in this matter. .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6 , .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6 .postImageUrl , .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6 , .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6:hover , .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6:visited , .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6:active { border:0!important; } .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6:active , .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6 .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ufd0899f94061ee0b22a730f8eb9620b6:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The climax of 'The Crucible' is the personal crisis faced by John Proctor EssayAlthough the governments reply brief claims that the arts community misunderstood the thrust of its earlier brief, in fact there was no misunderstanding. That prior brief quite clearly said that the Rust doctrine would constitutionally shelter administrative decisions to limit NEA grants only to projects that are decent. There was no mistake at all. In fact, the Justice Department appears to have beat a strategic, and proper, retreat. However, the Lord loves a repentant sinner, whatever the rationale.

The Glass Jar Essay Example

The Glass Jar Essay The Glass Jar, dedicated to Vivian Smith, is a narrative poem about a childs fear of the dark, and reflects, as many of her poems do, Gwen Harwoods knowledge and understanding of children. The poem can be read at a number of levels. At one level it is a story; at another it explores fears and taboos common to humankind, expressed in the language of myth or childhood fantasy; at a third level it addresses the struggle between good and evil from a Christian viewpoint, finally offering hope through Christs Resurrection, symbolised in the last stanza as the resurrected sun. The Christian perspective established early in the poem by words such as disciples, host, monstrance, bless, exorcize, and holy contributes to the poems unfolding spiritual meaning. The childs awareness of evil expressed in his fear, is a reminder of Adam and Eves loss of innocence, an act which condemned humankind to suffering and death. Gwen Harwood counterbalances this universal loss of innocence with the boys naivety, captured in the poems first striking image when the child attempts to trap some of the suns light in a glass jar he plans to use later as a night light to scare away the demons of his dreams. The poem is overlaid with Christian imagery symbolising the struggle between good and evil implicit in the boys attempts to defeat his demons. Apart from the religious overtones, the language of the poem is also reminiscent of mythical stories of dragons and devils of the type a young boy might be expected to have read or know about. Many modern psychologists, following Freud, have inferred parallels between well-known myths and legends and the symbols which occur in dreams representing powerful instinctive impulses. The psychoanalyst Carl Jung developed the concept of the collective unconscious, the inheritance of humanitys past experience which is embedded in the psyche of each individual. This collective memo ry consists of archetypes of primordial imaes which find their way into dreams, visions, motifs and the creative human imagination to be expressed in art, music, story and literature. Among primordial acts explored in literature are patricide and filial incest. The taboos on such behaviour as killing your father and marrying your mother are strong and deep, and common to many cultures. We will write a custom essay sample on The Glass Jar specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Glass Jar specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Glass Jar specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The young protagonist of Gwen Harwoods poem is in a state of conflict because of jealousy and resentment of his father. The distressing, fantastical creatures of his nightmares, which express his most secret hate, are monsters and fiends, archetypes such as Jung recorded. His conscious mind is unaware of the origins of these demons; the sidelong violence of his unconscious is the source of the evil on which his fear feeds. It is his father whom he hates and fears; his father whom he sees as his rival for his mothers affection, his tormentor and the macabre fiddler of his nightmares. The boys dream becomes for the reader a mean of gaining further insight into the human psyche. The boy, however, is too young to learn the lessons his dreams can teach him. Even as a man he will have an imperfect knowledge of himself. The echo of the once upon a time opening a fairy tale in the first line of the poem, especially in the phrase one summers evening, is in keeping with the poems narrative style. The fantastic, poignant expectations the boy holds of capturing the suns light in the glass jar, continues the fairy tale quality. The use of the word soaked suggests how desperate the boy is to trap as much light as possible and hints at the degree of fear his demons generate in him. Words such as disciples and host introduce the Christian symbolism. The poet creates a pun on the word sun which in the poem is both a celestial body and a symbol for Christ, who as Gods son is the light or hope of the world in humanitys struggle against the powers of darkness. Through His passion or sufferings on the cross and resurrection from the dead, actions motivated by love, Christ defeats death and offers hope for humanity. For the boy, his glass jar full of light is his hope or weapon against the dark, but as the poem de velops we become aware that from a Christian viewpoint the boys hope is futile while he harbours his most secret hate. A further allusion to Christ is evident in the imagery of lines five-six of the first stanza. On the night before his arrest and crucifixion Christ went with his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. His disciples slept, the suns disciples cloaked in dream, while Christ experienced great anguish anticipating the physical suffering of his road to Calvary. Just as his disciples slept through his suffering on the previous night so their fear kept them from his crucifixion from his passion fled. Harwood uses light/dark symbolism in a traditional Christian way in this poem: light represents good, dark represents evil. In other poems the fading or dispersal of light can signal a movement into the past, as in The Violets when the onset of twilight triggers the memories of the poets childhood. In Alter Ego, lights lingering tones disperse to allow the poet to remember the first time she experienced the power of love. These journeys into reverie are learning experiences for the poet, part of the lifelong journey of self-discovery. The boy in this poem is at the beginning of his journey and cannot as yet decipher the symbolism of his dreams nor recognise his part in creating his own nightmares. Gwen Harwood is very interested in the artistic potential of memory and dream and uses both as a resource for her art. The two are closely linked as a dream becomes a remembered experience in the waking world. In The Glass Jar the boys dreams are graphic stories. Full of monstrous creatures with trident and vampire fang, and dramatic action, they: reached and came near to pierce him in the thicket of his fear. The boys dream, when he wakes and recalls it, becomes a new conscious memory. When he fails to gain comfort from either the glass jar or his mother, it becomes the source, later in the poem, of a more terrible nightmare with his father as the gruesome skeletal fiddler, a character borrowed from Saint-Saenss ballet, Dance Macabre, the Dance of Death. The metaphor of a wood as the setting of the boys nightmares is threaded throughout the poem, expressed variously as intricate wood, holy commonplace of field and flower, the thicket and the last clearing. The wood acts as an allusion to the Garden of Eden where the first conflict between good and evil was enacted yet it is also used to link the boys nightmares with his life by day. When he wakes from the monster-world of his dreams and finds no light in his jar he seeks comfort but must cross the last clearing of his parents bedroom to reach his mother, his comforter. He is barred from crossing the threshold to his parents bedroom by taboo, by fear and resentment of his father and by his childish inability to understand the nature of his parents love, especially its physical aspects which he interprets as gross violence done to his mother by his father. The reader is encouraged to empathise with the boys plight and his vulnerability, both of which are due to his lack of understanding of adult behaviour. Gwen Harwoods art makes her insights into the fears, pain and confusion of childhood pognantly realistic, with words such as trembling, grope and sobbing being partcularly evocative in the context of the boys experience. Children appear frequently in Gwen Harwoods poems and in each a distinctive facet of being is explored, illustrating her grasp of the complexity of youth. In The Glass Jar she shows her knowledge of the psychology of childhood through the boys naive faith in the power of his glass jar, his dreams and his jealousy of his father. In the two other poems set for study in which children appear, they are given a different treatment by the poet. In In the Park children are presented negatively as whining creatures who have sapped their mothers life, whereas the titian-haired schoolgirl in Prize-Giving is presented as intuitive and dynamic, possessing knowledge beyond her years and offering Eisenbart an enlightening image of himself. The boy, through his simple faith in the power of his glass jar, reveals his innocence; he thinks and acts as a child yet quests for an understanding of the world as would an adult. Even as an adult however, he will see through a glass darkly as the disciple Paul explains in Chapter Thirteen of his first Epistle to the Corinthians, suggesting that whatever self-knowledge he acquires will be incomplete, an imperfect reflection of his true self. As on Alter Ego, a knowledge of the whole self comes at the end of lifes journey. The implications of St Pauls Epistle are relevant to both poems. In stanza four of The Glass Jar, when the boy discovers the truth about his jar of light, his hope falls headlong from its eagle height. In his Epistle, Paul discusses the relative value of faith, hope and love and concludes that faith and hope are of little worth without love. As the boy is motivated by fear and hate his attempt to defeat his demons from a Christian perspective is doomed. In Alter Ego, because the poet accepts the path of love and pain in life, she seems assured of gaining complete self-knowledge, of meeting her other self face to face at the end of lifes journey. The boy has not consciously acknowledged the existence of another self and is unaware of the lessons his spirit self can teach him, so he must continue to struggle. He gropes for connections between his conscious and unconscious, between the darkness of his dreams and the light of his waking hours, between hatred for his father and love for his mother. It is only in sleep when his conscious mind is at rest, that the spirit self exerts its power. What it reveals is the boys inner darkness: His sidelong violence summoned fiends whose mosaic vision saw his heart entire. This is very different from Alter Ego where the adult poet consciously recognises that her spirit self: knows what I was, will be, and all I am The poem concludes on a hopeful note despite the boys anguish. The boy will outgrow his fears and in adulthood will grow to understand the many facets of his psyche. The boys final nightmare of perpetual dance ends with the sunrise, a symbol of hope, to a fresh morning. There is also a feeling of hope to be gleaned from the Christian symbolism of the final stanza. Christ, the resurrected sun, atoned through his life, death and resurrection for mans sins, and defeated death and evil, offering an alternative way to live and a promise of eternal joy to those who choose to follow his example. In her reference to the resurrected sun of the final stanza; whose long triumph through flower-brushed fields would fill nights gulfs and hungers the poet alludes to the hope Christ offers, nights gulfs and hungers symbolising lifes suffering and sturggles. The abandoned glass jar and crumpled scarf allude to the boys futile attempts to defeat his fear while the sun rises to wink and laugh, expressing his future hope. Homecoming An early opponent of the war in Vietname (in which Australia fought for years alongside the USA), Dawe responded to that bloody conflict with typical compassion. 1968 was the year of the Tet offensive (a major push by the Viet Cong) and the beginning of the end for Western intervention in the region. American troops were suffering about 1000 casualties a week. Our losses were proportionately almost as high and included a large number of conscripts. These were the young men compelled by the law of the time to join the armed services because their birth dates corresponded to certain numbers drawn by lottery. Dawe wrote this poem after viewing a photograph of a US tank returning base with dead and dying men draped over it. He had also read a report of how US troops were flown to Vietnam in transport planes, and how those same transport planes served to ferry home the latest corpses. This macabre shuttle service focused his mind on the chilling waste of life involved. Note the irony of the title. Homecoming suggests a celebration, something in which family and friends can share, a joyful reunion. Indeed, it is the term used by citizens of the US to describe the return of the warrior on. The typical heros homecoming would involve a parade down the street, with drums and marching girls, red white and blue banners waving and the whole citizenry out in force. There are similar rites of passage for the return of the Homecoming Queen, the favoured daughter who has gone away to college and who is now returning. All these are the typical associations with a homecoming. Now these same boys are coming home to a different kind of Homecoming, to families frozen in grief. Never was the sheer monotony, the boredom and soulless regimentation of army life so well captured in a poem. Marrying the idea of doing things by the book to the business of zipping up bodies into green plastic bags gives a chilling edge to the poem. Like some great sausage factory, some industrial corporation, neatly and without any feeling whatsoever, the army must dispose of that which it once clothed, fed and trained. The anonymous theyre occurs ten times in as many lines. It does not seem to matter who is living and who is dead. They who are dead could just as easily be doing the bringing, the picking up, the zipping, the tagging. Perhaps, yesterday, they were. All roles are interchaneable in this vast machinery of death. The poem is a lament, and like any song of lamentation, it requires rhythm, repetition, moments of urgency and quieter moments. Listen carefully to the repetition of the present continuous verbs in that memorable opening (brickingpickingbringing). The create a long continuous drone which seems to capture the reverberations of the big aircraft, as well as the grinding numbness of spirit such sights always induce. Contrast them with those quieter moments, as the relentless urgency of the poem eases for a millisecond; such as: theyre picking them up, those they can find, and bringing them home Those moments of pause renew our terror, giving us just time enough to ponder fresh horrors, before more are piled upon us. Like the soldiers themselves, we feel that a veritable flood of corpses is being unleashed. It is almost a relief when the nightmarish parade eases. Yet while the dead remain anonymous, Dawe gives us very specific details about everything related to them: the green plastic bags, the deep freeze lockers, the tarmac at Tan Son Nhut. But of the dead men themselves nothing. Their identity is reduced to various categories of hair colour and style. They are curly heads, kinky hairs, crew-cuts, balding non-coms. There is a kind of forensic taxonomy about this roll-call. Yet, paradoxically, it might be the only way a mother could idenity a son in death, his larrikin features shattered but still recognisable her carrot-topped boy. In ironic contrast to their silent baggage, the living and all they touch seem charged with energy. The poem moves at a blinding speed through the variety of chores which they must undertake. We can almost hear the drill sergeant shouting: Move em out, move em out! The business of war is too relentless, the momentum too great for anyone to be distracted by a moments grief. Even the noble jets, those behemoths of the sky, are whining like hounds. They sniff the night air. Its time to ho home! They have an energy which will not be impeded. Yet these silent corpses, frozen in their bodybags, have no one to speak for them. They are simply the obscene detritus of war. Not until they are released to their families will there be time for emotional release. The long flight home then begins. With great economy Dawe tracks the movements of the jet planes over the land, the steaming chow mein of the paddyfields, their shadows tracing the blue curve of Pacific and then the planes diverge, heading south, heading east, some to Australia, some to America. From the wider theatre of war, from the globes furthest reaches, the action now narrows perceptibly. Line fourteen declaims home, home, home in he moment of homecoming is at hand, the arrival of a dead son to those humble souls waiting in suburbia. In those last six lines, Dawe paints a stunning portrait of fear, grief and longing. The dogs on ancient verandahs howl at sunset for their lost masters. Like lone sentinels it is their muzzles which are raised in mute salute, rather than any jingoistic flag. Then on to the wide web of anonymous suburbs, where telegrams tremble like leaves from a wintering tree, an oblique reference to the suffering of their families in whose trembling hands the fateful messages are cradled. Finally, the last image of the spider grief which swing in his bitter geometry. Before such a extraordinary metaphor we are virtually mute. It simply refuses to budge, to yield to critical analysis. Yet we feel that we have been touched at the very limits of imagination, where words are almost out of reach. One critic has said that, once written, there is a kind of inevitability about such images which seem reached at the intersection of thought, feeling and language. Unless we consider it carefully, the last line might seem something of a let-down. But bringing them home takes us back to the first line and, by this deliberate contrivance, reminds us of the idea of homecoming. The interpolated now is what we are left with. Here they are now, presented to us and to their families. By their sheer physical presence they pronounce their fates to us. They are forever suspended in a kind of now time. Too late to have avoided their bitter fate, too early for a proper (living) homecoming, one that might salute their endeavours with joy and with dignity. Dawes opposition to the Vietnam war never gets caught up in the trivial politics of either side. It focuses instead, with overwhelming force, on the essential tragedy of all wars: the senseless death of young men, the terrible indifference to human life which is the central onscenity of war. This poem is justly one of his most famous.

The maintenance of accurate records Essay Example

The maintenance of accurate records Essay Example The maintenance of accurate records Essay The maintenance of accurate records Essay unless there is a change in circumstances when a different approach might be warranted. In this situation full disclosure is made in the accounts. * Prudence concept: provision for doubtful debts and valuation of stock are examples of the prudence concept. The company requires to give a conservative profit figure when there is any doubt, this avoids an over optimistic appearance of the companys annual reports. * Going concern concept: this states that the organisation will continue operating in the foreseeable future. The annual reports are drawn up with no intention to decrease the size of the company; otherwise assets could have different values that will have a huge amplify on its balance sheet. Accounting policies: This policy emphasises on the method each business uses, to demonstrate the effect of transactions, assets and liabilities in its accounts. Referring back to the example in the consistency concept, a business needs to select one appropriate method to depreciate each class of fixed assets e.g. reducing balance method or straight line method. Accounting standard: Accounting standards are a set of rules to frame the accounting of a limited company, which fall under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) or UK Statements of Standard Accounting Practise (SSAP). The choice of standards will depend on the type of company. A publicly listed company is required by law to produce its financial statements using IFRS. FRS 18 Accounting policies: This policy is an extended version of the consistency concept; it states that a business needs to select the most relevant accounting policies to its business circumstance in order to give a true and fair view. The accounting policies need to be reviewed at regular intervals to make certain that they are still relevant to the business circumstances and are adjusted when required. Enough information is revealed in the financial statements to allow users to understand the accounting policies used and how they have been implemented. SSAP 5 Accounting for Value Added Tax (VAT): VAT is a form of tax that is charged on the supply of goods at a rate up to 17.5%, which is charged at each stage throughout the production and distribution channel. Businesses generating a certain amount of turnover must register for VAT, and generally each quarter makes VAT payments on the total of output tax collected on sales made subtracted the total of input tax collected on purchases to HMRC. If a circumstance where the amount of the input tax is larger than the output tax, the business has got the right to claim the difference of the VAT from HRMC. Besides personal taxation and VAT, the company is liable for corporation taxation as well. Russell Stokes needs to pay out a certain percentage of Corporation Tax calculated from its net profit; all companies in the UK are liable to this tax as stated under various Taxes Acts. Companies that generate taxable profits (being reported profits adjusted for certain items allowed by tax laws) up to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½300 000 need to make a payment of 19%; companies generating taxable profits over à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1.5 million are charged 30%. Companies generating taxable profits between à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½300 000 and à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1.5m are charged Corporation tax on a marginal rate of 32.55 to claw back the benefit of the small companies rate by the time the upper profit limits is reached. The full rate of Corporation tax will decrease to 28% with effect from 1 April 2008. Any internal stakeholder at Kutz ltd, who is classified as an employee is eligible for National Insurance payments to cover state benefits (including medical through the NHS and pensions). Employees with earnings below à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 per week make no contribution. Between à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100-670 per week employees pay 11% over the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 and employers pay 12.8% over the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 floor. An additional 1% is paid by employees and amounts exceeding à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½670 per week and employers pay an additional 12.8% on the wages exceeding à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½670 per week. A new company has specific rules which need to be obtained when deciding under what name the company can trade. The Business Names Act 1985, Company and Business Names Regulation 1981 states that a business cannot register and trade under the name of an existing company e.g. Marks ; Spencer, words such as Royal and Government are not permitted to use and names that origins discrimination or offence are not permitted to use as well. Limited companies have special formalities that must be followed: Public Limited Companies (plc) * The company is required to display on all its paperwork that it is a plc. * A starting up authorised share capital of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50 000 distributed to its share holders. * It must have a minimum of two directors and two members, and a secretary to be able to operate. Private Limited Companies (ltd) * The company is required to display on all its paperwork that it is an Ltd. * It must have a minimum of one director and a secretary to be able to operate. Companies trading as a Plc or Ltd must both complete the following forms which needs to be sent to Companies House * An Article of Association * a Memorandum of Association * Form 10 * Form 12 Article of Association: This document states the following: * The companys internal workings * The issue and transfer of shares * The meetings and voting of members Memorandum of Association: * The business objectives * The location of the companies registered office e.g. Wales, England or Scotland. * The companies name Form 10: This form must be completed be signed and completed by a new establishing companies, it states the following: * The details of the first director and secretary * The address of the registered office * Name and address of the company * Date of birth, occupation and details of the board of directors Form 12: This form needs to be signed by a professional legal person e.g. the companies solicitor or secretary, it is a statutory declaration that states that all legal requirements regarding to a limited company has been completed. The legal requirements of partnerships and sole traders are less onerous compared to a limited company. Sole trader and partnerships must also comply with the Business Names Act and Regulations as discussed earlier. Similar to a limited company, partnerships and sole traders are also liable for taxations. A sole trader needs to make a payment of up to 40% on its taxable profit for Corporation tax, whereas in a partnership the rate of tax that is due per partner depends on the ratio distribution of the profits each partner receives and the level of profit. . For example: partnership xyz has a taxable profit of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½300 000, it will need to pay à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½120 000 tax allocated between the partners based on their share of interest in the partnership. The owners or partners (who are classified as self employed for tax purposes) need to make a contribution towards National Insurance which is a fixed amount of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2.20 per employee weekly. If annual generated profit is less than à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½4635, then the partner or sole trader is not charged for National Insurance. Even though a sole trader and a partnership have lots in common due to its similar structure of ownership, there are some differences as a partnership has a statutory framework to follow. The Partnership Act 1890 shows the details of the statutory framework, which include the following: * The partnership is shaped to make a profit and there must be a sharing distribution for the profits * The partners must have common actions, to enable them to have an equal say in the management * The partners must be carrying on a business, I.e. they must be operating a trade (for example, accountancy partnerships carry on the business of providing accounting, tax and audit services) Layout/Template As technology is advancing it enables businesses to use computerised accounting systems instead of manual book keeping, which helps in the production of accurate and efficient decision making. Small businesses such as a sole trader could use spread sheet for forecasting and financial modelling. The use of spreadsheet ensures the accounts are more accurate due to the automatic calculations and formulas. As everything is linked to each other due to the formula, when something is adjusted everything will be automatically updated. Computers set up properly tend to make fewer mistakes than humans! As Kutz ltd is a Limited company it can make use of accounting packages such as SAGE to record its book keeping and to produce annual statements. The key advantage of using accounting softwares is that it can produce automatic reports , which will helps with the control and monitor of the business as the reports can be used as statistics to analyse trends occurring, which will be an important factor to rely on when analysing ratios. Furthermore it decreases the chance of mistakes occurring as entry is made only once for each transaction. Nevertheless, the main drawbacks of a computerised system include capital cost of the installation, the cost of training employees to be familiar with the system, health problems occurring and the danger of system crashing. Even though the introduction of the computerised accounting system could cause short term difficulties it will have long-term benefits; it will have a clear view of its debtors, which will enable quicker debt collection that will increase the inflow of money. For this reason I think it is a very useful tool to use. It also tends to be more accurate, reliable, quicker and able to deal with large volumes. The key reasons to use templates or to follow a specific layout when preparing annual statements (e.g. trading, profit and loss statement (P/L) and balance sheet), it allows the business to make comparison between companies and firms operating in a similar industry worldwide. It is more accessible to external stakeholders such as shareholders, who are interested if investment is worthwhile. The layouts of the annual statements of a sole trader are slightly different compared to the annual accounts of a limited company because of the different industry the business is operating in. Referring to appendix 1A, the P/L template of a sole trader has a clearer structure as it is separated into three columns; it represents an understandable view of its income and expenses. While the P/L template of a limited company has got two columns, especially a public limited company because as they need to publish their accounts to the public they would want to represent the company positive as possible, (Referring to Appendix 1B). The trading account, which is the top section on the P/L of a sole trader and limited company are done in the same way; the way gross profit is calculated. The major difference is in the profit and loss account, the bottom section. In a sole trader P/L, after adding any income and deducting any expenses from the gross profit it will have a net profit figure. Wh ile the P/L of a limited company will have an appropriation section at the bottom, which will show the distribution of net profit. Corporation tax is deducted from profit before tax to give an after tax number. Tax is another expense of the business. The appropriation section is divided into the following sections: * Interim and final dividends * Retained profit Interim dividends paid This is dividends that are paid half way through the year to shareholders. They come in two forms depending upon the capital structure of the group, ordinary shares and preference shares: Preference shares: the shareholders that get paid off first e.g. employees Ordinary shares: the shareholders that get paid off after preference shares. Dividends proposed A share of the profits paid to share holders after dividends have been paid; this again comes in two forms preference shares and ordinary shares. Referring to appendix 2a/b, the balance sheet of a sole trader and limited company have similar headings; fixed assets, current assets, current liabilities and long term liabilities. However, the bottom section represents the equity in the business owned by the shareholders. The financed by section of a sole traders balance sheet will be funded with the owners equity; opening capital, net profit and drawings. While the financed by section of a limited company will be funded by; authorised share capital, issued share capital, capital reserves and revenue reserves. * Authorised share capital: is the value and number of the shares the company is permitted to issue. * Issued share capital: is the value and the number of shares the company has issued. * Capital reserves: represent other reserves generally established by law. This might include the share premium account representing the amount received upon the issue of shares in excess of the shares nominal value (if a company receives à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10 per share for a share that has a nominal value of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1, a share is issued at a premium of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½9 and this is taken to the share premium account that can be used only for certain purposes prescribed by law). * Revenue reserves: retained profit from the Profit and loss account Task F Ratio After drawing up final accounts, a business would want to assess the businesss strengths and weaknesses. This can be done through calculating ratios, which enables management to draw up conclusions on the profitability, solvency and performance of the business. The ratios enable Russell to analyse current years performance, identify trends occurring through comparing the ratio with previous years and to compare its result to a business operating in the similar industry as a bench mark. Unfortunately I could not have access to the annual accounts of a business operating in the similar industry as Kutz ltd as the information is kept confidential; therefore I was not able to measure Kutz ltd ratios to a bench mark The table below represents Kutz ltd ratio figure and its calculations are on the workings page see appendix. year 2006 year 2007 Profitability Ratios Profitability Ratios Gross margin 62.04% Gross margin 61.94% Net margin 0.74% Net margin 10.89% ROCE 2.22% ROCE 41.00% Liquidity ratio Liquidity ratio acid test ratio 10:1 acid test ratio 2.68:1 current ratio 22:1 current ratio 6.49:1 Performance ratio Performance ratio debtor collection period 34 days debtor collection period 73 days creditor collection period 15 days creditor collection period 55 days stock turnover 183 days stock turnover 242 days * Profitability ratios It shows the relationship between profit, sales turnover, assets and capital employed. Basically how much profit the business makes weighting it against its size. Gross profit margin This represent the gross profit figure, it shows the link between the revenue generated (sales) and cost of sales. It indicates how much profit the business has made on every à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 of sale before subtracting any expenses. The higher the gross profit margin is the better. A successful business needs to have a sufficient figure for gross profit margin to be able to cover its expenses and to maintain an up to standard return on capital. If there is a huge decrease in the gross profit margin compared to the previous years, the business should start making investigations into the selling price and purchasing. The table above demonstrates that for every à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 of sale, the gross profit earned was à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½62.04 in 2006. The following year it dropped to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 61.94. There is a minor decrease of 0.1% in the gross profit margin that is not a big issue; this could have occurred due to the increase in the prices of raw materials while the same selling price is retained or a decrease in the volume of sales. To prevent the decrease over the long term to happen in the years following, Kutz ltd should take action to avoid bigger decreases through looking for suppliers with lower prices or to persuade the salons with offering discounts, to increase the volume of sales. Net profit margin This represents the net profit figure; it shows the link between the revenue generated and the total expenses of the business. It indicates how much profit the business has made on every à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 of sale after subtracting all expenses. The net profit margin figure should increase each year if possible, which shows that the business is keeping its expenditure under control. As with gross profit, net profit should be investigated when a huge decrease occurs. The table shows that in the year 2006 for every à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 of sales the business earned à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.74 after all operating costs and cost of sales had been covered. The following year it increased to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10.89, this is a positive aspect as Kutz ltd will receive a higher return on capital; huge increase in net profit. Bearing in mind that net profit and gross profit are strongly linked together, this is not always necessarily true as you can see Kutz ltd has increased it net profit by 10.15% whereas it has decreased its gross profit. It could have happened due to a huge decrease in expenditure. Kutz ltd should try to maintain the reduction of expenditure through building up good relationships with its creditors and try to negotiate lower prices or making use of economies of scale. ROCE Return on capital employed is the most significant ratio; it shows the link between the capital and net profit earned. The best way to measure the ROCE is to compare it to other investments, for example would I receive greater return on my capital if I put the capital in a savings account? The table shows that in the year 2006 for every à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 invested into the business, the profits were à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 2.22. The following year for every à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 invested into the business, the profits were à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½41.00; this shows an increase of 38.78% a better result. This has been occurred due to the huge increase in the net profit margin. The current interest rates are 5.5%, so if I was putting à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 into a savings account I would be receiving a return of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 5.5 for every à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100. However, as an investor I would be investing my money into Kutz ltd because I would be receiving a greater return on my capital with à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½41. In conclusion the overall profitability is positive, Russell should try to maintain on this level of performance if not try to increasing the profitability would be better * Solvency ratios: This shows the financial stability of the business, how quickly the business can cover its current liabilities with its current assets. (How quickly it can pay off its debts) Current ratio This shows the link between current assets and current liabilities. An ideal figure would be 2:1, which means the business will have assets worth à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2 to cover every liability worth à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1. You need to consider that this ideal figure is not applicable to a business operating in a retail industry because immediate payments are made for sales; this decreases the number of debtors. This will result in a lower current ratio figure e.g. 1.5:1 or even less. The table shows that in the year 2006 the current ratio was 22:1. In the year 2007 the current ratio was 6.49:1, it decreased nearly 3 times it has improved. Kutz ltd had tied up assets in unproductive resources in 2006, which was more under control in 2007. It is currently still a huge figure compared to the ideal figure, therefore the Kutz ltd isnt in its best state of liquidity it should have been. Furthermore Kutz ltd has got an enormous amount of cash tied up in working capital of stock of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½150000 and debtors of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½104000 outstanding. Acid test ratio This ratio works in the similar way to the current ratio; the only difference is that stock has been omitted. Stock has been omitted as it is the least liquid asset; it takes long to convert it into cash. The ideal figure is 1:1; the business will have for every à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1 of liability à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1 of assets to cover it. The table shows that in the year 2006 the acid test ratio was 10:1. In the year 2007 the acid test ratio was 2.68:1, a decrease of 7.32 a positive aspect. Even though the figure of the acid test ratio has decreased, it is quite high currently compared to the ideal figure. Comparing the current ratio to the acid test ratio, it decreased nearly 3 times. This shows that Kutz ltd relies mainly on its stock of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½150000, which is why it has not got enough cash flowing in. Russell should use its assets more efficiently through selling off its stock using discounts and making use of just in time production in the future rather than having too much stock piled up, this will enable him to expand in the current product range as he suggested because then he will have enough fund that will support his suggestion. In conclusion, overall the solvency of Kutz is lacking and the suggested improvements should be made, which were discussed earlier on. Performance ratios This shows how effectively management controls the current aspects of the firm, whether assets and liabilities are being utilised properly. Creditor collection period This ratio shows on average, how long the business takes to pay its creditors. This figure should be higher than the debtor collection period; if its shorter the business might face cash flow problems. The table shows that in the year 2006, it took Kutz ltd15 days to pay its creditors. In the following year it took him 55 days, an increase of 40 days which is a good thing although too long, might impact relationships with suppliers. Russell could use this as a useful temporary source of finance; however payments over 60 days can cause problems. Russell should try to prevent an increase in the years following as this will establish poor relationships with its suppliers, which will have a negative impact on Kutz ltds reputations. Debtor collection period This ratio shows on average, how long it takes a business to collect it debts the ideal figure is 30 days. The quicker it can collect it debts the better. If the number of days is rising from year to year, the firm might be facing difficulties in collecting money it is owed to. The table shows that in the year 2006, it took Kutz ltd 34 days to collect it debts, which is an acceptable figure. However in the year 2007, it took him 73 days. This is nearly increased twice, which is a bad result. The huge increase could make Kutz ltd end up in cash flow problems as he does not have enough inflows to pay of his outflows e.g. creditors, instalments and interest of his loan. When comparing the debtor and creditor, the creditors are being paid much quicker than cash is being received from the debtors. The situation should be the other way around. Kutz ltd could prevent this through offering discounts for early payments or charge the creditors for late payments. I predict that if Russell doesnt take any action based on the debtors collection period, it should increase the provision for doubt full debts. Even though this will decrease gross profit but it will prevent him from overspending and getting trapped into current liabilities he cannot afford. Stock turnover: This ratio measures how many times a business turns its stock around in an accounting period. The table shows that in the year 2006, Kutz ltd turned its stock over every 183 days. In the year 2007, it took Kutz ltd 242 days to turn it stock over, it has increase by 59 days, this has worsened the situation. This shows that the stock has either increased or the trading has slowed down, increased investment in stock means that the stock is piled up in the warehouse. As part of my secondary research, we went to Price Waterhouse Coopers. I received feedback from my mentor on my work; he suggested to me that Russell should stop purchasing more stock and perhaps invest into a new product range that might result in a quicker stock turnover. In conclusion, overall the performance of this business is lacking as well, it should try to make improvements for the future. Limitation of ratios: Bearing in mind that ratio is a useful business tool to use to analyse; performance, solvency and the profitability of the business, however it has got its draw backs as well: * Different companies use different accounting policies, which makes comparison difficult. * It does not necessarily show future performance as the data is based on numbers only, it should bear in mind the external factors it could affect; economical influences. * It needs to be compared with the businesss past performance, in Kutz ltd case it only had one previous years to compare the data with, which didnt enable me to identify trends occurring as the data was very narrow. Task G Cost of the business having too much cash, including loss of interest and opportunity costs. It is a superior aspect to have a positive bank balance, because this prevents Russell to suffer from cash flow problems; a good state of liquidation. Nevertheless if Russells bank balance is too huge this might mean that he is using his cash ineffectively. Even though he will be earning interest on his cash at the bank account but as shown in the example of ROCE, it could be earning a greater return if he invested the money in other more profitable operating activities. He could also make use of the business tool; opportunity cost in this situation, as he can only spend his money once he would need to consider his most relevant option. For example, If Russell had a huge bank balance and he chooses to expand through investing in new machinery or diversification through buying new beauty products. The danger he would be facing is that if he suddenly needs his money to support the financial state of the business, he would need to sell the machine or his stock most likely at a lower pri ce, which will result in a loss. Costs of the business holding too little cash, such as inability to meet creditors demand and need to borrow at expensive rates It is a negative aspect to have too little cash, because this could make Kutz ltd suffer from cash flow problems as he would not have the funds to cover his current liabilities. If the business is facing problems to cover its current liabilities, during the short term Russell could obtain an external or internal source of finance. It could get an arranged bank overdraft, which is an effective way to cover the cash flow shortage. Nevertheless, overdrafts are very expensive due to the high interest rate charged. It could also try to pay off his creditors as late as possible to use the cash somewhere else for the time being, however late payments could cause problems with Kutz ltd creditor. Furthermore creditors could also charge interest on the debt as a penalty for late payments or they could start to lose confidence in Kutz and stop trading with them. In addition, this will have an effect on the profitability and solvency of the business. Russells current ratio suggests that he has excess cash stored in his business, which is not a good aspect as discussed earlier. Whereas when comparing the current ratio with the acid test ratio, a conclusion can be drawn up that he has not got excess liquid cash (once stock had been taking out). Based on the analysis of the ratios it shows that the business has a huge amount of stock piled up in its warehouse; 242 days. In addition the business has got too much assets, which is not being use effectively. Kutz ltd could be converting the huge amount of stock into liquid cash through selling off his stock in bulks and offering discounts to its customers, as a result this will improve the cash flow of the business He should also send out reminding letter to his debtors that are overdue as his debtor collection period has increased enormously compared to the previous year. As stated earlier, otherwise in view of his large amount of debtors, his provision for doubtful debts could increase in the future and he would not be able to meet his liabilities. To prevent the decrease in Kutz ltd cash flow in the future, it should try to decrease the number of stock purchased through applying the business term just-in-time to its stock as discussed earlier. Kutz ltd doesnt have a huge problem in its state of cash but he is using it ineffectively, which results in a poor cash flow management. The huge decrease in its stock turnover shows that Kutz is having lower volumes of sales; there is not enough demand compared to the supply he is offering, he could improve this through introducing a new product range related to hairdressing e.g. beauty products. My advice to Russell is to use the cash available for expansion through purchasing a new range of beauty products; using diversification as he mentioned as one of his aims. I suggest that he purchases a small amount of beauty products at the beginning and see how profitability, performance and solvent his new investment is, particularly if the stock turns over has increased. If it is very successful he should continue operating with the new product range, as he will be able to utilise his cash quicker because he will make higher profits than the current product range. However, if the product range is not successful it can try to invest in a new resource and it would not have a big impact upon the business as he has only invested in a small amount of beauty products. Methods of improving cash flow It is a significant factor to monitor the business cash flow as it enables Russell to have a better understanding regarding its income and expenses; if it is able to meet his current liabilities. The cash flow forecast will also help him to predict when an internal source of finance needs to be obtained. Furthermore this will help him to avoid problems rising, like overspending or being unable to get the external finance when needed. As discussed earlier it can send out warning letters to its debtors that will increase the inflow of the business, basically a method shortening the length of time taking to collect the debts. My advice to Russell is to take immediate action based on its debtors because if he remains paying off his creditors before he receives any debts that is owed to him, Kutz ltd will be financial unstable that obviously will have an enormous impact on the cash flow of the business. Bearing in mind that his loan repayment is due soon he needs to have sufficient cash flow in order to pay off the loan on time, without affecting the relationship it has with the bank currently. He therefore needs to increase his provision for doubtful debts, to get a picture of the financial stability of the business in the future and try to look for different alternatives for the problems he will be facing. A credit payment can be up to 60 days; Russell should try to negotiate his credit payment period from 55 days to an extended period of 60 days. He should be able to exceed the creditor payments as he is a medium to large size business, he will have some influence upon its suppliers as he most probably buys in bulk. Cash versus profit Profit does not necessarily mean the business has a got efficient cash flow. Profit is the money the business makes when all expenses have been subtracted from revenue, it takes into account the non monetary values such as depreciation and provision for doubtful debts. Cash is the money that enables a business to operate that doesnt take into account the monetary values, for example paying off his loan, dividends to its shareholders, water and gas bills. The non monetary values will have an effect on the profit of the business as they are deducted from the net profit the business generates, however this will not have an impact on the out flow of the business as it is not deducted on the cash flow. Another difference is that on the profit and loss statement outstanding payments to be received will still be included in the turnover when net profit is calculated, but as the business has not received the actual money it will not have an inflow on the cash flow statement. This has the sam e affect on purchases that are outstanding. The profit and loss statement will include the figure of purchases that are still outstanding; this will result in a lower gross profit. While it will not be included in the business outflow as it has not been paid off yet, therefore it will not have an effect on the cash flow of the business. As touched onto earlier, Kutz ltd is in its poor state of solvency. As profitability and solvency ratios are linked to each other, I suggest he should improve its net profit through introducing the new product range, which I assume will increase the volume of sales. To prevent a decrease in the gross profit due to the new expenses, it should try to switch to a cheaper supplier. As the volume of sales are increasing the rate of stock turnover will automatically increase; stock is sold quicker at the same time, which means more cash is available to the business. In conclusion this will solve both problems at the same time as Kutz ltd will have a better cash flow, which will not affect the profit of the business. The business changing its aim due to such things as expansion, diversification, downsizing, and its impact on financial planning. In my opinion Kutz ltd should develop and expand, as it is a limited company it should take the advantage of the limited liabilities it will have, it is easier for him to get access to external finance. The main reasons I think Kutz ltd should expand is to use make use of economies of scale, as the firm is growing it can produce at lower average costs compared to smaller businesses. For this reason they can give consumers lower selling prices which will help them increase their sales and profits. It should diversify its product range (beauty products) as it can sell into different markets, therefore it can reduce the risks that a decrease in sales of one product will have a negative impact on the business; there is less threat to their profit. In my opinion to solve the current cash flow problems Kutz ltd faces, he should also take on the request of the national hairdressing business as he is not using the first floor at the moment; the income he will be receiving from renting out the space could be used to fund the repayment of the loan. Kutz ltd should invest its capital in a delivery service to get ahead of competitors, as this will also help to increase the customer base and the volume of sales. Conclusion The most significant aspect to Kutz ltd at the moment is improving its state of liquidity; a suggestion to recover this problem is through cutting stock. I will be prioritising the significance of the steps Russell could take to become solvent. Reduce level of stock Russells first priority should be reducing the number of stock he purchases as I have discussed previously, he has got excess amount of stock piled up in Kutz ltd warehouse, which could be used to improve his state of liquidation. First of all, I have suggested that he has a 50% cut in his stock (therefore purchases will drop from 238384 to 117374.5) I assume this will deduct his revenue by 10% only (therefore sales will drop from 500000 to 450000) as he turns his stock over at an enormous slow rate. After he implements the changes, Kutz ltd will have a negative net profit (as demonstrated in appendix). From my secondary research at PWC, my mentor emphasised on the fact that cash is king and profit does not equal cash (source Partner at PWC; Simon Friend). Russell is legally insolvent as he has the sufficient assets that could be used to fund his financial obligations but converts them with insufficient time into cash. Furthermore he faces a cash flow shortage through using his assets ineffectively as I have explained earlier. Referring to the words of Simon Friend, lower profits do not indicate the business is not successful; the most important aspect is that the business is solvent. I advice Russell to implement the changes as this will improve the cash flow management of Kutz ltd and at the moment he needs a good cash flow to fund the repayment of his loan, otherwise he will be creating poor relationships with his external shareholders e.g. bank. year 2007 stock turnover: average stock=(100000+150000) = 125000 2 125000 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 365 = 242 368468.5 After the reduction of stock stock turnover average stock=(100000+150000) = 125000 2 125000 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 365 = 124 368468.5 Based on the analysis of the ROCE Ratio, the time taking to turn over stock has increased nearly twice from year 2006 to the year 2007. As demonstrated above after implementing the changes, the time taking to convert stock into cash has decreased nearly by 50%. This shows that even though Russell has got a negative net profit the overall performance of the business has increased by 50%, which is an excellent aspect. Collect debts quicker/ extend creditor payment periods Russells second priority should be taking action on the period of time he receives his debtor payments. I believe he should send out warning letters and stop offering credit payments to its debtors, he should insist on direct cash payments as 80% of his sales are on credit. Through this Russell will receive immediate cash from its sales and could decrease the amount of provision for doubtful debts. Furthermore if sales increase rapidly, I assume Kutz ltd would end up with a positive net profit while having a healthy cash flow. Russell should also try to negotiate a longer credit payment period. If he succeeds to collect his debts quicker and get longer credit payment period offer, he will have more liquid cash around that can be used to fund the repayment of the loan or to invest in the new product range. In conclusion, this will enable Russell to finance the business with its short term liabilities that will be beneficial to Kutz ltd as it does not increase the business cost with in terest payments if he had to take an external source of finance to fund the business. Take request Russells next best option would be renting out the first floor to the National Hairdressing business. The reason behind this is that this form of internal finance, besides being used for the repayment of the loan and investment of a new product range as discussed earlier. It could be used as reserves for the future, instead of risking making repayments including huge amounts of interest on bank loans for investment in other operating activities; it could use the reserves to fund the business objectives without the business facing financial difficulties. Diversify, expand and develop The internal sources of finance that has been collected from reducing the level of stock, taking on the request, collecting debts quicker and extending the creditor payment periods can now be invested into the purchase of a delivery van that will help to increase the customer base and increase volume of sales. It could also be used to diversify into beauty products, which will with anticipation to result in an increasing volume of sales. This means that Russell will still end up with a positive net profit figure and a healthy cash flow, even though I discussed earlier that profit is not important compared to cash but external stake holders might have a different view towards it. So to prevent the loose of stake holders and creating a bad public image, Russell should expand and diversify Kutz ltd. Appendix Trading, profit and loss account of Kutz Ltd for the year ended 31 may 2007 after the reduction of stock *Workings Sales 450000 less sales returns -1923 net sales 448077 opening stock 100000 purchases 121009.5 less purchase returns 3635 117374.5 carriage inwards 1094 less closing stock -150000 cost of sales 368468.5 Gross profit 79608.5 Add other income: bank interest received 42 discount received 14887 94537.5 less expenses rent and rates 2 66000 motor vehicle expenses 7720 advertising expenses 14500 sundry expenses 2 34977 light and heat 3 16460 wages 76251 discount allowed 11238 Depreciation 1 10050 doubtful debts 4 (5200+2080 7280 loan interest 3 22500 266976 operating profit -172439 less directors dividends 12000 retained profit -184439 add retained profit at the beginning of year 2000 balance of retained profit at the end of the year -182439 *The workings are found in appendix

Free Essays on German Historical Art

Many people know that Adolph Hitler was an artist in his youth as an Austrian, but just how much art played a role in the National Socialist Germany seems to get underrated in history books. Just as a radical war waged against the Jewish population and the military fought the French and Slavic people, an artistic cleansing for the Germanic culture was also in progress. Special Nazi units were searching the ancient arts of antiquity for evidence of a great Germanic race that existed well before history. Hitler had monuments and museums built on a grand scale with carefully designed architecture that would last a thousand years. Art of this nature was a priority because Hitler wanted to capture Chronos, not Gaea. He wanted to dominate the rest of time, not the limits of the earth. Hitler was born and raised in the town of Linz. As a youth he studied art, primarily as a painter capturing mostly the surrounding Alpine Mountain landscapes that he grew up with, but he also had an interest in architecture. When he turned eighteen he applied to the Vienna Art Academy, and was rejected. Along with art, Hitler was facinated with Linz, Antiquity, and Wagner. It was at this time in his youth that Hitler and his friend, Kubicheck would try to finish an opera that Wagner had abandoned. This opera was about a leader trying to establish the Roman Empire by overthrowing the Papal government, nation, and people. It is not just coincidence that he would be surrounded by National Socialist leaders with backgrounds in the arts. Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda and head of the Reich Chamber of Culture, was an experienced writer and aspiring poet. Rosenberg was a painter and Von Sherot wrote poetry. Hans Fredrick Munch of the Reich’s Chamber of Literat ! ure once said â€Å"This government born out of opposition to rationalism knows the peoples inner longings and dreams, which only the artist can give them† (Cohen). Less tha... Free Essays on German Historical Art Free Essays on German Historical Art Many people know that Adolph Hitler was an artist in his youth as an Austrian, but just how much art played a role in the National Socialist Germany seems to get underrated in history books. Just as a radical war waged against the Jewish population and the military fought the French and Slavic people, an artistic cleansing for the Germanic culture was also in progress. Special Nazi units were searching the ancient arts of antiquity for evidence of a great Germanic race that existed well before history. Hitler had monuments and museums built on a grand scale with carefully designed architecture that would last a thousand years. Art of this nature was a priority because Hitler wanted to capture Chronos, not Gaea. He wanted to dominate the rest of time, not the limits of the earth. Hitler was born and raised in the town of Linz. As a youth he studied art, primarily as a painter capturing mostly the surrounding Alpine Mountain landscapes that he grew up with, but he also had an interest in architecture. When he turned eighteen he applied to the Vienna Art Academy, and was rejected. Along with art, Hitler was facinated with Linz, Antiquity, and Wagner. It was at this time in his youth that Hitler and his friend, Kubicheck would try to finish an opera that Wagner had abandoned. This opera was about a leader trying to establish the Roman Empire by overthrowing the Papal government, nation, and people. It is not just coincidence that he would be surrounded by National Socialist leaders with backgrounds in the arts. Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda and head of the Reich Chamber of Culture, was an experienced writer and aspiring poet. Rosenberg was a painter and Von Sherot wrote poetry. Hans Fredrick Munch of the Reich’s Chamber of Literat ! ure once said â€Å"This government born out of opposition to rationalism knows the peoples inner longings and dreams, which only the artist can give them† (Cohen). Less tha...

Scholarly Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Scholarly Project - Essay Example Such writings made it possible for future generation to know the culture of Native Americans as well as their contribution to American life. Therefore, it can be observed that the Native Americans made some significant contribution. The following are some of the most significant contributions of Native Americans to American life and culture namely; they made a significant role in maintaining the land by ensuring that the ecology was in good condition. For example, Native Americans could not destroy the land or kill an animal that they did not use instead they preserved it for the sake of future generation. Secondly, Native Americans made a significant contribution in agriculture; they grew food like potatoes, pepper, sunflower tomatoes, corns, sunflowers, to mention just but a few. It has been reported that Native Americans made a significant contribution prior the coming of European settlers in America. For example, they shared their food and farming method with the European settler s who came to settle in the Northern parts of America. Research indicates that most of the groups such as scouts and played in the present America were invented by the Native American. Example of those games includes; American soccer, tag of war-games to mention just but a few (Nabokov, 197-390). In above connection, Native Americans made a profound contribution in terms of the present administration system in America. It was reported that the idea of having a federal government in the United State was borrowed from the Native Americans where administrative power were distributed to the central government and states. Moreover, the Native American made a great contribution in the field of medicine, they used to each plants that are reached in Vitamin to prevent certain diseases like scurvy, they passed this idea to the Europeans who later passed it to the present American natives. Moreover,

Final Exame Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Final Exame - Essay Example When individual living in the society will have a clear idea about the basics of his life then the positive aspects of the culture are also adopted by the neighboring civilizations. There are various primary functions of religion. One such function is provision of mental peace. Human being is surrounded around difficulties and insecurities therefore religion provides them the binding force. Religion also promotes positive social values such as honestly and integrity. Another function of religion is the promotion of solidarity. It provides the platform at which people of different races can unite together. Question 2: Not all religious practitioners are equal in terms of their strength of their prayers. Religious practitioners are important part of the religion since these are the real people who are transferring religion to the younger generations. Religious practitioners are classified into four broad categories. These include individualistic, shamanistic, communal and ecclesiastica l. Individualistic is the basic practitioner of the religion. Shamanistic is the part time religious practitioners who practices religion on behalf of other people which could also be his clients. Communal practitioners propagate the religious values to the group of people. Ecclesiastical practitioners are those who practice religion with a proper hierarchical structure. Catholic Church can be considered as an example of these practitioners. Question 3: The whole world has become one marketplace this is an era of globalization. Therefore immigration is inevitable in this modern world. Tourism is going to flourish in this modern era because of the changing demographics and psychographic elements of the world. Indigenous will interact with international artistic works. Only those people will survive who can provide best possible things (Nanda & Warms, 2009). Question 4: Expression of body art is becoming one of the most popular artistic works in the modern world. Instead of portraying on paper, experts are of the opinion that body expressions can describe the conceptual background in an effective manner. It is a difficult task for an artist to provide attention to details. Therefore body art is the best way to project the concept clearly. Question 5: Colonialism has played an important role in the development of modern culture in majority of the regions where British has ruled. The language of colonial areas is influenced by the culture and values of those people who have ruled them. For example Hindi has adopted various words of English language. Similarly many African countries still understand French because African countries had been French colonies in the past. There are many Muslim states like Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey which have taken influence from European Colonialism. Majority of the countries which were ruled by British, have adopted their political culture. Most of the English and French colonies are still based on democratic system. L egal system is one of the key components for the efficient and effective functioning of the state. Colonial era’s law is still followed in majority of the countries with certain amendments. People living in these areas are of the opinion that they have learnt a lot from different civilization with which they have interacted. The architecture of colonial areas reflects the adoption of English or French design in the construction. Sociologists are of the opinion that interaction of two different civilizations has brought positive results for the overall development

Managing Team Conflicts Essay Example for Free

Managing Team Conflicts Essay Why do you think that Carly didn’t come to you sooner to discuss the project delays? Carly didn’t come sooner to discuss the problem delays with the supervisor because of the affective conflict that arises between her and Morris (Team Conflict: How to Manage it, n.p.). Truly, it is quite undesirable to present â€Å"human conflict† as a reason in the delay of a certain project. It is obvious that Carly was threatened by the wits that Morris have. Since Morris obtained a higher level degree than Carly, the manager seems to be insecure about her status. She sees Morris as a competitor in her position and not as a member of the team. 2. Why do you think Carly hasn’t had a conversation with Morris, or vice versa, about their differences? How do you think each of them would respond to this type of conversation? Explain. Both person (Carly and Morris) did not initiated to have a conversation regarding their differences because both parties are afraid that upon the conduct of their conversation, they might not be able to work on and come out with the proper solution to address the problem. On the conduct of the conversation, they may reach a point that both of them would be in denial regarding the delay of the project. Both people possess different personality and dealing with their differences might be a critical approach to be done. Carly, being insecure with the wits that Morris have, might put all the blame on the latter mentioned person. On the other hand, if Carly would over impose her power in the conversation, the immediate reaction of Morris would be to defend his self and try to make Carly realize that she also has a fault regarding the problem. What would happen in this conversation is that, both parties would tend to throw off their own defence regarding themselves thus, rather than solving the problem of conflict, the outcome could be to worsen the situation. What is the biggest problem with the way these team members interact? What could they do to remedy the problem? Explain. The biggest problem with these team members is that they do not know on how to deal with their own differences. Differences in terms of personality as stated above is just but common in a team. Such differences could be positively or negatively affect the team. In the case given, Carly and Morris chooses to embrace the negative side thus, bringing the project to a delay. Communication is the element that is missing in the case presented. Communicating in a constructive manner would give each person a chance to express his thoughts and ideas clearly and directly. Coupled with his expression of thoughts, respect (for each other and for the work of the team) should also be reflected (Ten Qualities of an Effective Team Player, 2005, n.p.). The scenario being pictured out in the case is that Morris seems to be tongue tied to express his thoughts while Carly is too much dominating in expressing her thoughts, thus the communication process is not working well. Another element that is lacking in the case is the quality of active listening. In order for a team to function effectively and meet its goals, every member should be a good listener. Every member should consider and listen to the ideas of other team members and should avoid biased reaction regarding the proposed ideas. Arguing or debating every idea presented would not do any help (Ten Qualities of an Effective Team Player, 2005, n.p.). Members should also be prepared and willing to hear and accept criticisms. It would be better if one would listen first and then react to have an effective conversation and get things settled. Firmness of thought is important as a team player, but one should make her mind open to what other members has to offer. Do you think Carly should continue to serve as Project Manager? Explain. Yes, Carly should continue to serve as Project Manager but she should first change her attitude in handling the job. She should note that she is part of the team. Although she has a higher position compared to the other members, it is not right to over used this power because of being threatened by others wits and guts. As a project manager she must be confident in her own capability and sees the ability of other members of the team as an asset and not as a threat. She should reassess her self and avoid being a problem-blamer. She should not look for others to fault but instead, she should look at the problems that arise as a common thing that occurs in a team. Being regarded as the project manager, she should address problems (not create problems) and bring this out for discussion with other members of the team (Ten Qualities of an Effective Team player, 2005, n.p.). Upon doing such, she would be most likely to find the right solutions for the problem. Though Carly obviously has a fault on the delay of the project, she should continue to work on as the project manager because she was given that job and trusting her that job means that she is knowledgeable enough and rightly fitted for it. 5. How would you begin to address this situation? Come up with a plan to remedy this problem and outline a plan for getting the project back on track for the January 1 release. The first action had been done, that is to talk with the persons involve in the conflict as well as with other team members. The next step would be to review to the team regarding their purpose and goal. I would be emphasizing on their role as a team in achieving the targeted goal and meet the targeted deadline. I would preferably design a team building activity that would reunite them and develop their working ability as a team. I would consistently remind them that there is no â€Å"I† in a team and that presence of conflicts is inevitable. I would also relay to them the essence of conflict management. Rules in order to lessen conflict would be implemented incorporating processes or behaviours that the group will be allowed or prohibited (Team Conflict: How to Manage it, n.p.). The following will serve as a guide in getting the project back on track for the January 1 release: Conduct Team building activity Relaying the concept of conflict and conflict management. Assess the characteristics of members in position. Assess the overall coordination of the team. Project Plan Guide Review the goal and extent of the project. Identify weaknesses and strengths in the conduct of the project. Retain strengths and address the weaknesses. Strategic Planning for the Completion of the Project Address conflict in the workplace. Set timeframe and task to be completed within a week and make sure that all materials to be used would be provided (How to Organize Successful Project Teams, n.p.). Constantly check and collaborate with the team regarding the progress of the project Acknowledge the team’s effort upon the completion of the assigned task. References AllBusiness.com, Inc. (2005, August 12). Ten Qualities of an Effective Team Player. Retrieved May 16, 2008, from http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/employee-development-team-building/8516-3.html How to Organize Successful Project Teams. Retrieved May 16, 2008, from http://www.ehow.com/how_2156392_organize-successful-project-teams.html Team Conflict: How to Manage it. Retrieved May 16, 2008, from http://www.chumans.com/skills3.htm.

Teen Pregnancy Essay -- Teenage Mothers

In the US, teen pregnancy rates have been decreasing in the last decade even though current rates remain twice as high as those found in other industrialized nations (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994). In spite of decreasing rates, among African American teenagers, the pregnancy rate is particularly high. In 1996, the pregnancy rate was 178.9 per thousand among African-American females aged 15 to 19 years, compared with a pregnancy rate of 82.6 among whites (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1999). Additionally, on the basis of the findings of the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, it was determined that African American females (48%) aged 15 to 17 were more likely than their white (34%) counterparts to have had sexual intercourse since menarche. On the basis of information provide by the National Center for Health Statistics (1997), African-American females aged 15 to 19 were more likely than their white peers to have had their first sexual experience (i.e., intercourse) without u sing effective contraception (24% versus 14%, respectively). Consequently, on the basis of such risky behavior, African American teenagers are at greater risk than their white peers for experiencing a pregnancy. pregnant, especially if it was with the baby's father. A concluded by Harris, most of the mothers believed that sexual intercourse was a behavior they were going to continue to engage in, regardless of threat of disease or pregnancy. As compared to the adolescent fathers participating in the study, Harris reported that most of the fathers indicated that they were now engaging in protected sex. Environmental Influences As many have suggested, while engagement in unprotected sexual intercourse at an early age places adolescents at risk for pregnancy, there are a number of other factors that influence African American teen pregnancy rates. According to Dervarics (2004), African American teen mothers and fathers are often represented among the rising number of minority "disconnected" youth in the US. This group is comprised of teens ages 16 to 19 who are both out of school and out of work. Dervarics reported that nearly A quarter of African Americans ages 18 to 19 falls into the disconnected category. As a consequence of being disconnected, as explained by the author, African Amer... ...with poverty. It is these issues that attention must be directed towards in order to reduce teen pregnancy rates. References Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1994). Sex and America's teenagers. NY: The Alan Guttmacher Institute. Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1999). Teenage pregnancy: Overall trends and state-by-state information. NY: The Alan Guttmacher Institute. Dervarics, C. (2005). Minorities overrepresented among America's 'disconnected' youth. Population Reference Bureau. Found online at: http://www.prb.org/Template.cfm?Section=PRB&template=/ContentManagement /ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=11335 Lardner, J. (2005). Arline Geronimus on teen parenthood. Inequality.Org. Found online at: http://www.inequality.org/teenparenthood.html National Center for Health Statistics. (1997). Fertility, family planning, and women's health: New data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.

Subcultures in Organization

Discuss whether an organization might be better considered as consisting of many sub-cultures which are conceptually different, rather than one ‘major' culture. * An introduction Culture, whether in some organization or society, is about people. People play a key role in culture. People create culture.And because people are individual units with different opinions, values, goals, attitudes, wants and needs but at the same time they interact with other people, they share all of these things with others on the base of the communication and they influence each other, so naturally it leads to exchange of their opinions, many confrontation and conflicts. But confrontation and conflicts do not always mean something wrong, it can bring improvement, progress, and change. And likewise, it goes the same in organizations. One person is equal to one opinion in some particular issue.And nobody can say this is a good or bad way or decision. For somebody it is obvious that some manner is the best and for another person it can mean something totally different. More people, more opinions and more points of view. Sometimes it can make more difficulties and another time make things easier. That is why it is not easy and clear to say whether an organization might be better considered as consisting of many sub-cultures which are conceptually different, rather than one ‘major' culture. Because we have to take into account all of these things which I mentioned before.In this essay I try to assess all factors related to corporate culture and its sub-cultures and find out pros and cons of one ‘major' culture and sub-cultures in the organization. * A central part In the beginning let's have a look at two basic terms which are fundamental in this topic. These are corporate culture and sub-culture. Everybody knows what to imagine under these words. But everybody can imagine something else, each of us perceives corporate culture differently and this is the reason why ther e exist a lot of definitions of culture.Of course I will not write down many definitions here but I would like to mention just one which on my opinion is the most apposite. According to Andrew Brown (1995, 1998) who stated the definition of organizational culture in his book Organizational Culture is the following: â€Å"Organizational culture refers to the pattern of beliefs, values and learned ways of coping with experience that have developed during the course of an organization’s history, and which tend to be manifested in its material arrangements and in the behaviors of its members. Simply said, organizational culture is everything what surrounds us at work. Organizational culture influences everything what it happens in a company, company's success and efficiency. When we are taking into account two companies with the same technological equipment, so theoretically they should be equally successful, but they are not. Why? The answer is different corporate culture. Corp orate culture can support strategy and company's goals but on the other side it can mean for company obstacles in progress, higher cost and low competitiveness. Every organizational culture can contain many sub-cultures.And sub-culture in organization is the second very important term which I want to mention. We can say that sub-culture is natural phenomenon within the company and a subgroup of a larger organizational culture with the unique values and beliefs. Subcultures are caused by a particular employee's interests, different levels of management (e. g. hand worker x manager) different functional areas (people have another scope of employment or solve totally different types of problems or with the same scope of employment but with insufficient cooperation – e. . Human resources x Informatics) or by large distance within the same organization. In many cases the presence of sub-cultures is desirable for company and positive but the culture in the company has to be dominan t and people within the sub-cultures have to follow common goals and values. In other cases it is counter-productive and subcultures deny dominant culture and they can damage the whole company because subcultures can get in to the conflict and complicate integration and coordination within the organization.For dominant culture are typical definite communication within the company, clear company's goal and values, desirable behavior, uniform attitudes and following quick decision making and planning and increasing motivation and team belonging. The majority of company believes in the core values of organization. But the strong cultures have to deal with some problems as less  flexibility,  sticking to the  past experience; company is not too  willing  to accept change, isolation from the surrounding environment and information.On the other hand there exist weak corporate cultures where there are really bad communication among members of company, variety of opinions and valu es and people do not follow company's core ideas. If the managers do not support meetings, cooperation a communication among employees, sharing information and experience, then people look for their own way how to communicate, solve the problems, make decisions and set up the priorities according to their own values, needs and wants. * A conclusion And back to the question â€Å"what is better†? One company = 1 culture or 1 company = many subcultures?Do we want one major culture where the well-defined values and principles will be followed by almost all employees in the company? If course, we do. But what will be happening if these values and principals are not so clearly defined and managers do not follow it? Or these values are considered as fundamental and unchangeable and company never wants to accept another new approach although things are changing with time. The company finds itself in crisis. And what about the other possibility? What about the presence of some subcul tures in the company? The one strong culture and co-existed other subcultures?Subcultures which are different from each other, with different values, needs, behavior for example according to level of management or function but still identifying with the core values of dominant culture of the company. But what will be happening in the case that the culture is not so dominant? Then people in the subcultures will have totally different opinions, they will follow other values and the goal of the company will be different and company will have big difficulties to achieve their goals, satisfy their employees and also customers, the communication will be confused and a lot of conflicts will be occurred.So how to get to the ideal solution? As we know nothing is ideal but we can try to get to ideal solution as closer as possible. In case of one main culture and other subcultures on my opinion the organization should insist on clear and accurate definitions of its strategy, mission – t he fundamental purpose of the organization, what business the company is, vision – where does company wish to go? , core values – what are the desired behavior and characters, attitudes and etc. Also another really important thing is clear formulation of well-arranged conditions of work, e. g. equired ways of behavior at work (dress code, manners), assessment, remuneration, education and trainings (mandatory or voluntary) of employees. Company should inform their employees not only about changes but also about all things mentioned above as much as possible. Each a new employee should be familiarized with company’s strategy, its values, mission, vision and so on. Company should also support communication among particular subcultures for example organizing regular meeting where they will make them acquainted with all news in each subculture, with changes, outcomes, future plans and all important things which happened.Another advice which I would recommend is to ar range teambuilding activities and trips, company-wide actions (cultural, sport, charity) which converge employees together. And managers also take care of different opinions and values of his employees and appropriately motivate them. In case of the one dominant culture without any subcultures in the company I would recommend to target the opened mind during a decision making and take into account and assess more alternative than one and for example the company can hire some external experts in a lot of tasks because they can bring a lot of new ideas into the company.Also an employee participation in many staff trainings, courses and seminars and their exchange of experience there can help to see things in a different light. Because nowadays the life is going really fast, things are change every day, technological progress and also people's thinking as well that is why I think that company should be open to all changes, new approaches and methods so on my opinion and with respect to present time the one strong culture with many subcultures is the most suitable for companies.And we have to take into account that organizational culture is not important only for current employees of the company but also for new coming employees; sometimes people prefer atmosphere in the company to for example salary. And corporate culture gives current employees some confidence what direction the company will take and what they can expect. Because when we have a look at this fast going and changing world it is clear and understandable that people need security jobs and income and the right corporate culture can help to find it and also maintain it.A list of referenced sources Books: LUKASOVA, R. , NOVY, I. and et al. : Organizacni kultura, 1. ed, Prague: Grada Publishing 2004, 176 p. ISBN 80-247-0648-2, s. 64 SIGUT, Z. Firemni kultura a lidske zdroje. 1. ed. Prague: ASPI, 2004. 87 p. ISBN 80-7357-046-7. Internet: SUN, S. cit. : â€Å"BROWN, A. , Organizational Culture. (2nd ed). Pitman Publishing, 1995,1998† in: International Journal of Business and Management 2008, December http://ccsenet. org/journal/index. php/ijbm/article/view/760/726] ——————————————- [ 1 ]. SUN, S. cit. : â€Å"BROWN, A. , Organizational Culture. (2nd ed). Pitman Publishing, 1995,1998† in: International Journal of Business and Management 2008, December [http://ccsenet. org/journal/index. php/ijbm/article/view/760/726]. [ 2 ]. LUKASOVA, R. , NOVY, I. and et al. : Organizacni kultura, 1. vydani, Prague: Grada Publishing 2004, 176 p. [ 3 ]. SIGUT, Z. Firemni kultura a lidske zdroje. 1. ed. Prague: ASPI, 2004. 87 p. ISBN 80-7357-046-7.