Balance sheet Financial Reporting

Balance sheet Financial Reporting
Balance sheet Financial Reporting

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Balance sheet Financial Reporting

The balance sheet captures the current financial position of the NGO. Net assets should balance with the liabilities and equity since the each of the asset is funded by the resources contributed by members and other sponsors. The statement should provide a snapshot of the assets, liabilities, and net assets as the specified date. Gabel’s statement of financial position gives detailed information about the financial position of the company as indicated by the figures. It has the assets section, the liabilities section, and the equity section.

Each fixed asset should have its book value minus the depreciation to get the current net value. By giving the value of the asset in a different line with its total depreciation value makes the balance sheet untidy and crowded making it hard to analyze (Elizabeth, 2010). The net of the fixed asset is the one used to analyze the current financial position of the organization. It is therefore important to indicate the net of the fixed assets to avoid confusion. Deductions and accruals should just indicate the total amounts instead of individual amounts since the receipts will be attached to the statement to avoid congesting the statement.

Since the company is a non-profit, the balance sheet should only indicate the assets and the liabilities. The assets and liabilities are the values used to indicate the financial position of the organization and not the equity hence the net income and equity are not inclusive.

Also, it is important for the accountants to indicate the previous year’s balance sheet values for comparison purposes. The current values should be shown against the previous year’s or, at least, the past three years to make the analysis of the statement viable. When the values of two periods are shown, it makes it easy for analysts to make comparisons and understand the changes that may have taken place to get the current balance sheet values.

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Income Statement

The statement is used to give information regarding the operating activities of the organization from one date to another. It gives information pertaining the revenues and expenses during a particular time, and it’s useful to forecast future activities. For NGOs, activities are measured as received and used contributions. The statement is divided between temporary, restricted, unrestricted, and permanently restricted activities.

Recorded revenues should be classified into one of the four activities based on the donor’s intent. Expenses should be divided into the program, administrative, and fundraising expenses. Revenues are either in the form of activities, membership dues, program revenues, special event and investment income. By categorizing revenues and expenses in the different classification, it provides for better analysis as well as being in line with the global accounting standards.

Gabel’s statement does not give columns for the different activities under income and expenses. By generalizing the revenues and expenses and indicating their categories randomly makes it hard for analysis and is not in line with the required reporting standards. It is also important that the statement also records prior year values for comparison purposes. Categorizing each activity and expense into the section they fall helps stakeholders identify gaps in the company for improvement.

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Statement of cash flows

Statement of cash flow is used to record the cash inflows and cash outflows over a specified period. The statement is divided into three sections: cash flows from operating activities, cash flows from investing activities, and cash flows from financing activities (Ron, 2013). The total amount from the three sections gives an explanation of how the cash flow from the beginning of the period was converted to the balance at the end of the operating period.

Gabel’s statement should show the net cash for each of the sections and sum up the amounts resulting from same activity instead of detailing each activity. The statement is supposed to provide an overview of the cash flows to make it easy for reporting.

Accrual accounting

NGOs have a stringent requirement of using the accrual method of accounting as per the Generally Accepted Accounting Standards (Elizabeth, 2010). The accrual method records revenues when earned and expenses when they have been incurred. By using the accrual method, an organization can indicate its current financial position in a pronounced manner than the cash accounting method.

As an NGO, it is possible to get donors that offer to donate at a later period and when the amount is recorded, it gives the organization a stronger financial position. If Gabel uses the accrual methods, it can recognize pledges of donations and income when they have been made and record cash when it has been received making the income higher than if it used the cash accounting. Cash accounting only considers income when cash has been paid and expense when the amount has been disbursed making it hard to present the current financial position of the organization.

As long as a transaction is to take place and all the necessary conditions have been met then it should be recorded in the financial statements. With addition of statement of activities to the three financial statements, the company should apply accrual accounting to all its recordings not only to meet the required regulations but also to enable stakeholders have a correct view of the current financial position of the firm.

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Recommendations

1.    Gabel’s Company should increase its campaigns to reach to more people hence increase its chances of donations. Though the company has net profit, it has a lot of activities it requires to attend to and perform using its wide assets base. Through fundraising campaigns, more donors will be attracted to pay and if they are followed up, they may end up increasing the contributions amount hence increasing the net realized income.

2.    Another method the company can use is to increase member’s contributions and subscription fees as well as holding part of dividends to investment in rentals. The amount contributed by members can be added up at a small percentage with respect to individual member’s contribution and set of activity. If each member’s contributions is increased by a small margin, the total amount will subsequently increase helping to cover up for the administrative and other expenses to have a high income at the end of the period.

3.    The company should also dispose of some of its unused assets before they lose their value. The amount generated can then be used to invest in some of its productive investment activities. There is a lot of available assets that may be disposed of to increase the net income. Some of the depreciating assets should be sold and a portion of the land rented out or even sold to raise extra income for the company to facilitate its daily operations.

References

Elizabeth, 2010. How to assess non-profit financial performance. Retrieved from: http://www.nasaa-arts.org/Learning-Services/Past-Meetings/Reading-5-Understanding-Financial-Statements.pdf

Ron, 2013. Cash flow statement for NGOs. Retrieved from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/purpose-cash-flow-statement-nonprofit-organization-11283.html

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Strategic Risk Management Essay Paper

Strategic Risk Management
Strategic Risk Management

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Strategic Risk Management

Strategic risk management has been effective in promoting stability and mitigating risk within an organization. Specifically, international corporations are exposed to a different forms of risk from internal to external factors. In this relation, the need to adopt a suitable strategic risk management process is mandatory. This will be useful in ensuring continuous business operation as well as offer a tool for risk analysis and opportunity discovery for an organization operating in international markets.

The two method of risk management that can be used by the overseas organization to counter their risk effective are external risk management and human resource risk management (Frigo & Anderson, 2011, p. 22). Each of the two categories is specific to the nature and type of risk that they mitigate for the organization. They also offer various alternatives and opportunities in solving risk faced by the organization.

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External risk management

External risk management focuses on the competitive risk and market changes risk that an organization experiences while conducting business overseas. International markets are very competitive, and companies adopt a more elusive method of tackling external risk. Foreign companies operating in overseas market face external challenges such as economic factors, differences in market performance and preference, competition from local corporations and political constraints.

External risk factors can be minimized through increasing capital efficiency and support decision making. These strategies will help a company maintain its competitiveness in the new market and identify new forms of business operation. Companies have prospered through building investors’ confidence and establishing good working relationship to protect them from external risks such as competition and market changes.

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A case example of external risk management factors can be observed on a Thai non-profit organization, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, operating in ICT which conducted a risk management on their company through analysis the external factors (Dana, 2011, p. 505). They are faced with poor technological competitiveness and market influence from other ICT companies operating in the international market.

Therefore, through validating and finalizing their risk the company developed a build alternative method of tackling the competitive risk. They also developed investor cooperative relationship with the local organization to tackle the external challenge.

Human resource risk management

This form of strategic risk management focuses on the relationship between the foreign company and the level of staffing coordination and employee theft being experienced. This kind of risk encountered by an organization can be managed through having a well-structured human resource management system (Frigo & Læ, 2012, p. 27). A strategy that is capable of taking care of the company staffing procedure and avoids employee theft in international markets is considered highly useful.

International companies face challenges in maintaining their staffing process and having a reliable team of workers. This, in turn, affects the development and strategic performance of the company. Accordingly, the adoption of human resource risk management can be imperative in controlling risk allocated by employee relationship and staffing

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International companies are advised to identify and evaluate their location and acclimatize with the local to ensure the stable relationship with the locals (McConnell, 2012, p. 115). Favorable employee relationship is effective in increasing business performance in various sector of the organization. The benefit of conducting a human resource management scheme is to guide the company in the pattern or performance among their staffing and have a reliable team to work within the business environment.

A case study of Black CAP, a volunteering international non-profiting organization that faced challenges in their workplace through the balance of fund and their staffing process is a good example (Cooper & Winsor, 2015, p. 34). Through adopting the human resource risk management strategy, they improved their annual operation through identity with the local employee to balance the cost of operation.

Reference List

Cooper, T. & Winsor, B. 2015, “A Practice Approach to Addressing Strategic Risk and Uncertainty for Management Consultants”, Journal of Management Policy and Practice, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 31-44. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/1726800835/42051F6C6D2A41E7PQ/3?accountid=45049

Dana L.K. Hoag 2011, “A strategic risk management program for agriculture”, China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 505-517. Retrieved from search.proquest.com/business/docview/912292275/42051F6C6D2A41E7PQ/2?accountid=45049

Frigo, M.L. & Anderson, R.J. 2011, “What Is Strategic Risk Management?”, Strategic Finance, vol. 92, no. 10, pp. 21-22,61. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/885149857/42051F6C6D2A41E7PQ/7?accountid=45049

Frigo, Mark L, C.M.A., C.P.A. & Læ ssoe, H. 2012, “Strategic Risk Management At The Lego Group”, Strategic Finance, vol. 93, no. 8, pp. 27-35.retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/928760551/42051F6C6D2A41E7PQ/5?accountid=45049

McConnell, P. 2012, “Strategic Risk Management – A Tale Of Two Strategies”, Journal of Risk and Governance, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 83-117. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/1627151526/42051F6C6D2A41E7PQ/6?accountid=45049

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External risk management Essay Paper

External risk management
External risk management

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External risk management

External risk management focuses on the competitive risk and market changes risk that an organization experiences while conducting business overseas. International markets are very competitive, and companies adopt a more elusive method of tackling external risk. Foreign companies operating in overseas market face external challenges such as economic factors, differences in market performance and preference, competition from local corporations and political constraints.

External risk factors can be minimized through increasing capital efficiency and support decision making. These strategies will help a company maintain its competitiveness in the new market and identify new forms of business operation. Companies have prospered through building investors’ confidence and establishing good working relationship to protect them from external risks such as competition and market changes.

A case example of external risk management factors can be observed on a Thai non-profit organization, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, operating in ICT which conducted a risk management on their company through analysis the external factors (Dana, 2011, p. 505). They are faced with poor technological competitiveness and market influence from other ICT companies operating in the international market.

Therefore, through validating and finalizing their risk the company developed a build alternative method of tackling the competitive risk. They also developed investor cooperative relationship with the local organization to tackle the external challenge.

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Strategic Risk Management

The two method of risk management that can be used by the overseas organization to counter their risk effective are external risk management and human resource risk management (Frigo & Anderson, 2011, p. 22). Each of the two categories is specific to the nature and type of risk that they mitigate for the organization. They also offer various alternatives and opportunities in solving risk faced by the organization.

Strategic risk management has been effective in promoting stability and mitigating risk within an organization. Specifically, international corporations are exposed to a different forms of risk from internal to external factors. In this relation, the need to adopt a suitable strategic risk management process is mandatory. This will be useful in ensuring continuous business operation as well as offer a tool for risk analysis and opportunity discovery for an organization operating in international markets.

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Human resource risk management

This form of strategic risk management focuses on the relationship between the foreign company and the level of staffing coordination and employee theft being experienced. This kind of risk encountered by an organization can be managed through having a well-structured human resource management system (Frigo & Læ, 2012, p. 27). A strategy that is capable of taking care of the company staffing procedure and avoids employee theft in international markets is considered highly useful.

International companies face challenges in maintaining their staffing process and having a reliable team of workers. This, in turn, affects the development and strategic performance of the company. Accordingly, the adoption of human resource risk management can be imperative in controlling risk allocated by employee relationship and staffing

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

International companies are advised to identify and evaluate their location and acclimatize with the local to ensure the stable relationship with the locals (McConnell, 2012, p. 115). Favorable employee relationship is effective in increasing business performance in various sector of the organization. The benefit of conducting a human resource management scheme is to guide the company in the pattern or performance among their staffing and have a reliable team to work within the business environment.

A case study of Black CAP, a volunteering international non-profiting organization that faced challenges in their workplace through the balance of fund and their staffing process is a good example (Cooper & Winsor, 2015, p. 34). Through adopting the human resource risk management strategy, they improved their annual operation through identity with the local employee to balance the cost of operation.

Reference List

Cooper, T. & Winsor, B. 2015, “A Practice Approach to Addressing Strategic Risk and Uncertainty for Management Consultants”, Journal of Management Policy and Practice, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 31-44. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/1726800835/42051F6C6D2A41E7PQ/3?accountid=45049

Dana L.K. Hoag 2011, “A strategic risk management program for agriculture”, China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 505-517. Retrieved from search.proquest.com/business/docview/912292275/42051F6C6D2A41E7PQ/2?accountid=45049

Frigo, M.L. & Anderson, R.J. 2011, “What Is Strategic Risk Management?”, Strategic Finance, vol. 92, no. 10, pp. 21-22,61. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/885149857/42051F6C6D2A41E7PQ/7?accountid=45049

Frigo, Mark L, C.M.A., C.P.A. & Læ ssoe, H. 2012, “Strategic Risk Management At The Lego Group”, Strategic Finance, vol. 93, no. 8, pp. 27-35.retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/928760551/42051F6C6D2A41E7PQ/5?accountid=45049

McConnell, P. 2012, “Strategic Risk Management – A Tale Of Two Strategies”, Journal of Risk and Governance, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 83-117. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/1627151526/42051F6C6D2A41E7PQ/6?accountid=45049

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Impact of Motivation on Productivity

Impact of Motivation on Productivity
Impact of Motivation on Productivity

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Impact of Motivation on Productivity

Manzoor, Q (2014). The impact of employees’ motivation on organizational effectiveness. Retrieved from: European Journal of business management, 3. Retrieved from http://www.iiste.org/Journals/index.php/EJBM/article/viewFile/265/150

The success of a business is influenced by the level of employee motivation. Productivity and profitability are the results of happy and hardworking workers. Motivation is dependent on individual employee since some may be motivated by money, others promotion and others are motivated by having equity in the business. The only way to motivate employees is finding out what each wants and making it available or assisting them to earn it. If all employees are motivated, the result will be high productivity and profitability.

Weldeyohannes, G 2015. Employee motivation and its impact on productivity in the case of National Alcohol and Liquor Factory. Journal of Poverty, Investment and Development, 15. Retrieved from http://www.iiste.org/Journals/index.php/JPID/article/viewFile/24894/25497

The author carried out the research to identify the existing motivational strategies in National Alcohol and Liquor Factory and assess their impacts on productivity. The quality of the motivating system, type of motivation, and roles played by the motivated employees are some of the items analyzed to address the issue of employee productivity. By carrying out the research, the company was able to identify gaps in its motivational system and focus on motivation since it affects the productivity of the organization.

Barg, J Ruparathna, R, Mendis, D & Hewage, K (2014). Motivating workers in construction. Journal of construction engineering, 11. Retrieved from http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jcen/2014/703084/

Construction industry lagged behind in productivity compared to other industries. Attitude, employee-employer relationship, and lack of communication are some of the main issues affecting motivation in the workplace.  Work climate, employee development, perceived equity, work objectivity, and organizational climate should be addressed with relation to employee motivation.

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Serchuk, D (2010). Shareholders win when employees are motivated. Forbes, 3.  Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/23/employee-motivation-stocks-intelligent-investing-returns.html

An environment that fosters motivation makes employees feel that there is constant communication, have control over their work and are respected. According to the research, firms that had motivated employees had a subsequent increase in their stock prices resulting in high dividends for shareholders. Being less strict on internet use, measuring performance with set goals, and consistent measurement of performance are some of the ways the author indicates crucial in improving productivity.

Michael, J (2015). Increasing productivity of retained employees after a workforce reduction. Scholarly works: Walden. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3009&context=dissertations

The study was carried out in the United States telecommunication industries due to the increased downsizing of workers. Systems theory was used to assess the available strategies for managers to increase the motivation of the retained workers. Communication is the most crucial element in motivating the workers.

Willyerd, K (2014). What high performers want at work? Harvard Business School, 1. Retrieved from:  https://hbr.org/2014/11/what-high-performers-want-at-work

High performers are the most productive compared to average workers according to the research. High performers are few in the workplace yet they the most satisfied with their jobs. The best strategy should be to increase retention rates for the high performers. The study was conducted in 27 countries to determine the future expectations of the workforce. Base pay and bonuses are what satisfies most employees.

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McGregor, L & Doshi, N (2015). How company culture shapes employee motivation. Harvard Business School, 1. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2015/11/how-company-culture-shapes-employee-motivation

Culture is critical in an organization as it drives performance and affects business processes. A good culture encourages play, potential, and purpose while at the same time reducing economic and emotional pressure. The research was carried in 50 companies around the world.

Sullivan, J (2011). Increasing employee productivity: The strategic role the HR essentially ignores. ERE Media, 1. Retrieved from http://www.eremedia.com/ere/increasing-employee-productivity-the-strategic-role-that-hr-essentially-ignores/

According to the author, morale can be defined as an individual’s state of mind resulting from emotions and feelings. It is an elusive quality that determines the attitude towards other team members, workplace environment, and the overall organization. Job insecurity, excess outsourcing, perceived unfairness, and poor compensation lead to poor morale. Thus, employees focus on how to improve their careers instead of being productive. Managers are encouraged to build an organization culture that meets the needs of each employee to increase their motivation and productivity.

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Puwanenthiren, P (2011). The reward system and its impact on employee motivation in the commercial bank of Sri Lanka, PLC. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 11. Retrieved from https://globaljournals.org/GJMBR_Volume11/9-Reward-System-And-Its-Impact-On-Employee.pdf

Organizations are focusing on having an equitable balance between employee contribution to the firm and the firm’s contribution to the workers. Recognition, benefits and compensation are some of the rewards associated with the balance between the firm and the employees in the bank. Balance leads to motivation hence increase in productivity.

Williamson, F (2014). Enhancing strategies to improve workplace performance. Walden, 121. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1105&context=dissertations

The author applied Maslow hierarchy of needs to analyze motivation in relation to productivity. Strategies must be put in place to address the misunderstandings that happen when there are changes in organizations. Attitude, beliefs, and background can result in destructive or constructive acts that affect workplace performance.

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Low-calorie Microwavable Food: Long term investment Decision

Low-calorie Microwavable Food
Low-calorie Microwavable Food

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Low-calorie Microwavable Food: Long term investment Decision

From the previous assignments, it was determined that the demand for low-calorie microwavable food is inelastic. The market for the product is also competitive meaning that the price of the commodity fluctuates from time to time. Therefore, the price of the low-calorie microwavable food can be made less responsive to market fluctuations or less price elastic in two ways. First of all is by making the product become more of a mass product that niche.

Secondly is to make its market rigid so that the clients for the product will have no alternative. This is because the customers will find no substitutes for the commodity and thus stick to it regardless of fluctuations (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2013). The low-calorie microwavable food is healthy and convenient. To emphasize on these two main aspects, it is imperative to market and advertise the product with no close substitute by the two key attributes.

Government policies have both positive and negative impact on production and employment in the market. Governments always put in place rules and regulations that guide the way business is done in the market (Mason & Brown, 2013). These policies have an influence on profitability and competitiveness of business enterprises. Government policies act as market catalysts by changing the social behavior in the business environment.

By exempting some companies or particular sector in the economy from tax and duty, the government will be able to trigger investment and generate growth. On the same note, government policy helps to create political stability and hence promote local businesses as well as attract foreign investors.

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Government spending also has an effect on businesses, increased spending result in increased taxes that might discourage investment. Similarly, the government can influence the interest rates. An augment in interest rates add to the cost of borrowing. Therefore, it will discourage business because the entrepreneurs and business enterprises will not be in a position to obtain enough capital at a low price (Tricker, 2015). Low-interest rates, on the other hand, encourage investment.

Trade regulations also have an impact on business activities. Regulations such as the requirement for permits, federal minimum wage among others affect business practices. However, fair and effective regulation tends to promote business growth.

In our case, the government policies help to ensure that there is fairness in the microwavable food industry. Government involvement in the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food industry has led to fairness in the following ways.

Fair Competition: Government involvement in the industry has let to fair competition among the key players in the industries. Some firms often use unfair competitive strategies that may be of harm to other key players in the industry. For instance, use in predatory pricing strategies where firms set low prices to attract more customers and drive out other competitors who do not enjoy the economies of scale.

Large companies with high economies of scale can maintain low prices while small and medium-sized firms may not be in a position to maintain such low prices without incurring losses. Therefore, such small companies may end up quitting the market making the remaining large corporations enjoy monopoly power. As such, these strategies are unfair to small companies and thus the government comes in to regulate prices and protect small infant firms.

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Minimization of corruption through regulations: Government regulations often prohibit firms from taking advantage of their positions to ask for special treatment that can lead to their success in certain commerce or market economy. For example, some firms may bribe auditors to avoid scrutiny. Such practices are often illegal and unethical and result in unequal distribution of resources.

Undue advantage by some firms in the industry: Firms that are large and powerful often manipulate individual to gain favors at the expense of other firms. It is the requirement of the government to come up with regulations and rules that will ensure that there is an equal distribution of resources in the industry. The government should intervene and prosecute firms that take advantage of their position to make companies avoid such behavior. Therefore, it will enable companies in the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food to embrace legal and fair strategies that may not end up being unfair.

Therefore, government regulations have enabled the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food firm to enjoy fairness. Government regulations have enabled the company to have an equal opportunity of achieving tremendous success as long as it is in a position to develop legal and effective business strategies.

Similarly, government involvement in the industry helps to shield consumers from exploitation.  It is the responsibility of the customer to ensure that products and services available to consumers are safe for consumption. In the same way, government develops rules that help ensure market efficiency and govern international trade.

Some of the major complexities that would arise under expansion via capital projects include:

Uncertainty: The process of capital budgeting is primarily based on future cash flow estimates. However, in the real situation, there are some uncertainties that can make a project fail. Capital budgeting analysis also utilizes multi-period model which lay down costs and benefits of more than one year. During this period, the cost or benefits factor may drastically change. Therefore, use of estimates and uncertainty, realities may result in complexities in capital budgeting (Kardes et al., 2013).

Discount factor: The process of capital budgeting is time-weighted. The future cash flow is often discounted using the present time discount rate. It is also difficult to choose a discount rate. Each project assumes a unique risk associated with itself making it difficult to approximate a discount rate for a project

Indivisibility: It is hard to divide a project. Therefore, a project must be taken up either in entirely or not at all.

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Evaluation is also a big challenge: There are different techniques that are used such as discounted techniques and non-discounted technique, when evaluation techniques conflict, business acumen, and manager’s prudence takes over the capital budgeting decision (Healy & Palepu, 2012).

In the case of low-calorie, frozen microwavable food company the big issue is the agency problem. This problem is because of the conflict of interest between the managers and the stockholders. Therefore, the microwavable food company can take the following steps to help bring convergence between the firm’s managers and stockholders.

First of all, the firm should align some part of the compensation package to the sales and profitability growth of the firm. Similarly, the firm should plan for stock options with the requisite T & C and provide it to the management to make them feel that they are part of the company (Grant, 2015). This way, the managers will be able to think for the betterment of the firm. Finally, the firm should develop a profit sharing plan that is linked to the performance of the managers.

By employing the above strategies, the firm will be able to motivate managers to work towards achieving the organization goals (Tricker, 2015). This is because the managers will begin perceiving their owned align with organization goals. Due to their hard work the firm will achieve growth in profitability, sales and profitability of the company. Increased sales will result in an increase in the compensation of managers. On the same note, it will increase the share price of the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food company. Therefore, both the managers and stockholders will mutually benefit.

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The name of the firm should not be used as an initiative of converging manager’s interest with those of the stockholders. The reason is that such strategy may result in copyright related issues. Be as it may, an organization with good HR practices can align the interest of managers, employees, and the stockholders. Performance management linked and motivation strategies such as bonus payment will also helps to converge the manager’s interest with those of the stockholders.

In conclusion, the low-calorie microwavable food can make its commodity less price elastic by making the product more of a mass product and making its market rigid. The government, on the other hand, helps in the regulation of the industry to ensure fairness in the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food industry (Mason & Brown, 2013). When it comes to capital expansion, firms face complexities because of uncertainty, discount factor, abandonment options, indivisibility and conflict between evaluation techniques.

Finally, the low-calorie, the microwavable food company can converge the company managers and stockholders interest by making the managers feel like they are part of the company and linking compensation schemes with the performance of the managers.

References

Mason, C., & Brown, R. (2013). Creating good public policy to support high-growth firms. Small Business Economics40(2), 211-225.

Kardes, I., Ozturk, A., Cavusgil, S. T., & Cavusgil, E. (2013). Managing global megaprojects: Complexity and risk managementInternational Business Review22(6), 905-917.

Healy, P., & Palepu, K. (2012). Business Analysis Valuation: Using Financial Statements. Cengage Learning.

Grant, R. M. (2015). Contemporary Strategy Analysis 9e Text Only. John Wiley & Sons.

Tricker, R. B. (2015). Corporate governance: Principles, policies, and practices. OUP Oxford.

Brigham, E., & Ehrhardt, M. (2013). Financial management: Theory & practice. Cengage Learning.

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Corporate Culture and Strategy

Corporate Culture and Strategy
Corporate Culture and Strategy

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Corporate Culture and Strategy

An organization’s mission strategy is a précis of the way in which the firm perceives its role and the beliefs the company employs in attaining its objectives. The culture of an organization signifies the professional values an organization espouses which dictate how the company interacts with its customers, partners, vendors and workers. Since the culture of the organization is a driving force in how the business organization carries out its business, it has a significant impact on developing business strategy (Hofstede, 2014).

This paper delves into the topic of culture and strategy. In this investigation of the topic, the subject of culture and strategy is analyzed exhaustively and critically. In particular, this paper provides an in-depth discussion of the relationship between company culture and strategy, importance of alignment between culture and strategy, and how national culture really influences an organization’s strategy.

Correlation between corporate culture and strategy

There is a strong relationship between corporate culture and strategy. In general, strategy is considered as a product of culture while culture, on the other hand, is considered as a product of strategy (Browaeys & Price, 2009). In spite of how good the company’s strategy is, when it really comes down to it, Schneider (2011) noted that it is the people who usually make the difference. At its core, strategy is logical and rational, simple and clear.

Strategy has to be easy to talk about and to understand. A business organization is lost if it lacks a clear strategy. In essence, strategy is the pattern of activities that a company follows as it pursues its long-term purpose. Put simply, it refers to where the company is at the moment, where the company wants to go, and how the company intends to get there (Akbar et al., 2012).

Strategy comprises a number of factors which include the following: objectives and goals of the company; mission statement and vision; and critical success factors, or the things which the company has to get right for it to succeed in its mission. It also includes core values; reputation/brand, which entails developing and communicating meaningful and powerful differences between the company’s offerings and the offerings of the company’s competitors; and positioning, whereby a company builds a preferred and valued position within the minds of its target audience (Cristian-Liviu, 2013).

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Conversely, culture is understood as the set of beliefs which drive the behaviours of workers. These could be things that everyone within the organization knows and shares, in addition to implicit rules. It is worth mentioning that the range of acceptable behaviours of workers in the company is rooted in these underlying beliefs (Weick, 2014). On the whole, organization culture consists of the shared values, norms as well as ideals in a business organization and it actually sets the basis and groundwork for strategy.

An important starting point of understanding the culture of a company is to understand its founding principles: that is, its legacy, heritage, the clients and markets which it serves, and its points of differentiation. Anderson, Anderson and Lee (2015) pointed out that culture of a company is an aggregation of the beliefs and mindset of the company’s workers. It is the manifestation of the mission, vision and principles which bind employees in the organization together.

In the current business world in which sell-offs, diversifications, acquisitions, expansions and mergers are becoming increasingly common, it is becoming very important to understand corporate culture in strategic decision-making. The consolidation of AOL with Time Warner did not succeed because of culture clash as did the DaimlerChrysler merger. Organization culture is a very powerful factor in an organization’s lasting success.

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For a strategy in a company to develop and be successfully executed, that strategy has to align fully with the corporate culture. As such, goals and initiatives need to be established within the company in order to support and establish a corporate culture which embraces the strategy of the company over time (Su, Yang & Yang, 2012). Corporate culture has a significant impact on strategy execution within the organization.

Characteristics of stability: an organization culture that is stable, a culture that would systematically support implementation of strategy, is one which promotes a culture of cooperation, unity, partnership and teamwork amongst staff members. This kind of organization culture would certainly enhance commitment amongst workers and focus on productivity in the company instead of resistance to regulations and rules or external factors which prohibit success.

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Flexibility and adaptability: according to Fombrun (2012), companies which remain flexible tend to embrace change and establish an environment that is open to both communication and production. This creates a model which welcomes cultural diversity and helps in clarifying implementation of the strategy. In any company, corporate culture could serve a number of different purposes such as unifying employees in the company and helping to establish a set of common rules or norms within the company that members abide by.

Goal unification: corporate cultures that are unified, strong and flexible would approach strategy execution and affect execution positively through aligning goals. In essence, goals could come into alignment when the culture of the business organization is working to focus on productivity and getting the mission of the company achieved. This might include shipping out more product items compared to the company’s main competitors, getting products delivered to the company’s clients on time, or similar objectives.

This would create a domino effect within the company which would ensure that all work carried out by every work group and employee within the organization is really focused on performance and on the company’s strategic importance (Dutch, 2013). This would allow corporate culture of the company to be in alignment with strategy execution at the most basic level. Hanson and Melnyk (2014) noted that for this unification level to work, it is important that goal setting aligns with and is supported by processes, procedures, policies and systems within the company, which would help to attain strategy execution and continuing the organization’s cultural integrity.

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Process implementation: part of strategy implementation and cultural alignment entails process implementation. It is noteworthy that processes include the use of technology in facilitating goal achievement as well as the results which an organization is looking for when it works with clients to satisfy their needs. Although the hard problems and needs of a company are attained most of the time, the corporate culture becomes overlooked during the process. This is where processes actually come into place and execution of the strategy slowly comes into existence to maintain and sustain corporate culture and strategies (Dutch, 2013).

Cultural alignment: when corporate culture is in alignment with implementation of the strategy, a company can operate more efficiently within the international marketplace. Corporate culture allows the senior managers of a company to work both as teams and individually in developing strategic initiatives in the company. These might include re-establishing old partnerships and creating new partnerships to continue to deliver the best services and products to an international marketplace (Slater, Olson & Finnegan, 2011).

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Organizational strategic alignment, in its simplest form, is lining up the strategy of the company with its organization culture. For an organization to experience organizational strategic alignment, then its goals, processes and management should align. In order to create a supportive culture, an organization should clearly define the competence of its resources by assessing whether its processes, employees and equipment could actually handle new changes. If staff members do not have the competence for handling a new strategy, then the organization should offer training to improve the skills of its workers and managers.

If there is no sufficient support and training, the relationships between managers and staff members within the organization would suffer and the company would lack flexibility. To establish a culture of support, the top managers need to be involved in organizational strategic alignment from the beginning and provide the right resources to help in ensuring success of the workers and the organization (Yarbrough, Morgan & Vorhies, 2011). Workers should commit to supporting an organization’s strategic alignment and senior managers could help ensure this success by defining the goals of the organization in a clear manner and giving incentives to help workers accept new strategies.

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When strategy and organization culture are misaligned, the misalignment would short-circuit performance and increase the probability that the company will not attain its goals. An organization culture which all employees within the company subscribes to will help in creating focus amongst the workers.

When workers comply with the values and beliefs of the organization, it will give a unified impression to partners, customers and vendors (Bushardt, Glascoff & Doty, 2011). The organization could then formulate a strategy knowing that every member would uniformly apply the guidelines and improve the likelihood that a strategy would succeed.  

In aligning corporate culture with strategy, the following steps are important: first, the senior managers should define their company’s long-term set of guiding principles – the philosophy and purpose –, which are essentially the organization’s identity. A strategic plan would not succeed if the strategic plan is really not supported by these key principles of the company’s core culture.

Secondly, the senior management should evaluate the weaknesses and strengths of the company as well as the external factors which could impact success (Simoneaux & Stroud, 2014). Thirdly, the executives should create the company’s vision and then set strategic goals that are measurable and specific. Fourthly, the senior management should decide the strategic priorities which are in alignment with those strategic goals. It is worth mentioning that strategic priorities are a part of the organization’s core culture.

They are basically the values and principles which could alter given that their function is to align the corporate culture with the organization’s strategy. A company’s core corporate culture has to drive the company’s strategy and align with it (Mintzberg, 2011). Fifthly, with a clear understanding of the organization’s core corporate culture, strategic goals and vision, the top managers should create an action plan with measures for guiding performance. Finally, the senior executives should turn the strategic goals into measurable outcomes. Processes and employees should be aligned with the company’s core corporate culture and strategy (Simoneaux & Stroud, 2014).  

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National culture and strategy

A country’s national culture greatly influences the strategy adopted by a company. National culture has an impact on organizational strategy and implementation of the strategy, and can ultimately result in business failure or success. In essence, all national cultures have an impact on companies in both negative and positive ways, depending on the particular business, the business cycle, as well as the specific strategies being pursued (Hammerich & Lewis, 2013).

Cultural dynamics could either derail or enable performance depending on these different factors. It is important that a company’s senior management recognize the cultural factors which have a negative impact on performance and the ones which could be harnessed to foster superior performance (Hammerich & Lewis, 2013). To formulate strategy, a company needs to identify and interpret strategic issues.

In this process, the company scans, selects, interprets and validates information and establishes priorities amongst issues. The national culture of any country could actually influence this process given that it affects the nature of the relationship of a company with its environment and the nature of the relationships amongst employees in a company (Schneider, 2011). 

Whether it is big company pursuing international growth strategies or a small start-up firm in its initial phases of the growth curve, culture plays a vital role in making sure that the company does not swerve off the path and that it remains on course. Usually, driving and executing effective strategic change is a medium-term to long-term priority for a company’s management.

Likewise, the corporate culture of a company also develops with time, with a combination of active support by the company’s top leaders and voluntary cohesion and dissemination as the company’s purposes and beliefs pervade through the hierarchy. Owing to the intrinsic patience which the company’s top management requires to drive a strategic change and establish a focused culture, it is really sensible that both of them – strategic change and purposeful culture – work alongside each other and not against (Schein, 2012).

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Companies which are highly successful in driving strategic change and implementing it share 3 fundamental principles by which they embrace corporate culture and utilize it in the process as an enabler. Firstly, such companies are aware of differences in global cultures – this factor might be more pertinent and applicable to multinational corporations although it is equally applicable to small start-up firms that have ambitious aspirations for growth.

For instance, knowing the way that a worker in Malaysia would react to a new strategic initiative in comparison to how a worker in the Netherlands would react is of great importance in executing strategic change at the ground level (Schwartz & Davis, 2011). In essence, it implies that the overarching aspects of the strategy should be modified to fit the with local market-level ways of operation.

The second underlying principle is recognizing what culture means to different peoples – Cristian-Liviu (2013) reported that this second principle is more of a challenge for big companies with scale than to new, start-up firms. Within an organization, culture implies different things for different individuals.

In a brand consultancy company for example, the design/creative department might think that their department is really the best place to work in the organization, but the sales and marketing department whose role is to sell the design solutions, might think that the design/creative group’s capabilities are dull and outmoded. Broader changes within the company would impact employee groups in different ways and the cultural aspect of the change should be carefully measured (Schwartz & Davis, 2011).

The third underlying principle entails aligning strategic change initiatives with corporate culture – the Time Warner-AOL and DaimlerChrysler mergers were both in the same industry but still they did not succeed, they both failed. This evidently illustrates the dangers of overlooking culture as a factor when planning and executing a company’s strategic initiatives (Mühlbacher, Vyslozil & Ritter, 2014).

Although both Chrysler and Daimler produced vehicles, the styles of management and the collaboration processes in each firm were driven very much by their nation of origin; that is, the German and American cultural ethos. These 2 cultural ethoses were never reconciled and adapted in the merged organization and they clashed all the time. In essence, every form of strategic planning should take in corporate culture as a factor that impacts success, as well as manpower, finance and capabilities (Weick, 2014).        

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Conclusion

To sum up, there is a really strong correlation between corporate culture and strategy. Strategy is considered as a product of culture while culture, on the other hand, is considered as a product of strategy. For a strategy in a company to be formulated and executed successfully, this strategy has to align completely with the culture of the organization. Thus, goals and aims need to be established within the firm so as to support and establish a corporate culture which embraces the strategy over time.

When organization culture is in alignment with execution of the strategy, a firm can operate more efficiently within the international market. When strategy and organization culture are not aligned, then this misalignment would short-circuit performance and increase the likelihood that the firm would not accomplish its goals. National culture has a significant impact on organizational strategy and implementation of that strategy, and could eventually result in business failure or success.

References

Akbar A. S. A., Salamzadeh, Y., Daraei, M., & Akbari, J. (2012). Relationship between Organizational Culture and Strategy Implementation: Typologies and Dimensions. Global Business & Management Research, 4(3/4), 286-299.

Anderson, G. M., Anderson, M. J., & Lee, J. B. (2015). Defining Corporate Culture. NACD Directorship, 41(2), 36-37.

Browaeys, M. J., & Price, R. (2009). Understanding cross-cultural management (1st ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Limited

Bushardt, S. C., Glascoff, D. W., & Doty, D. H. (2011). Organizational culture, formal reward structure, and effective strategy implementation: A conceptual model. Journal Of Organizational Culture, Communications & Conflict, 15(2), 57-70.

Cristian-Liviu, V. (2013). Organizational culture and strategy. how does it work? An empirical research. Annals Of The University Of Oradea, Economic Science Series, 22(1), 1690-1696.

Dutch, M. A. (2013). A Symbiotic Framework of Human Resources, Organizational Strategy and Culture. Amity Global Business Review, 89-14.

Fombrun, C. J. (2012). Corporate Culture, Environment, and Strategy. Human Resource Management, 22(1/2), 139-152.

Hammerich, K., & Lewis, R. D. (2013). Fish can’t see water: How national culture can make or break your corporate strategy. New York City, NY: Wiley

Hanson, J. D., & Melnyk, S. A. (2014). Culture Eats Strategy … and how to deal with it. Supply Chain Management Review, 18(4), 20-26.

Hofstede, G. (2014). Cultural dimensions in management and planning. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 12(9):81-99.

Mintzberg, H. (2011). Patterns in strategy formation. Management Science, 24 (9): 1-18.

Mühlbacher, H., Vyslozil, W., & Ritter, A. (2014). Successful Implementation of New Market Strategies–A Corporate Culture Perspective. Journal Of Marketing Management, 3(2), 205-217.

Schneider, S. C. (2011). Strategy formulation: The impact of national culture. Fontainebleau, France: ISEAD.

Schein, E.H. (2012). Organizational culture and leadership. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, Inc.

Schwartz, H. & Davis, S.M. (2011). Matching corporate culture and business strategy. Organizational Dynamics,11(9): 30-48.

Simoneaux, S. L., & Stroud, C. L. (2014). A Strong Corporate Culture Is Key to Success. Journal Of Pension Benefits: Issues In Administration, 22(1), 51-53.

Slater, S., Olson, E., & Finnegan, C. (2011). Business strategy, marketing organization culture, and performance. Marketing Letters, 22(3), 227-242. doi:10.1007/s11002-010-9122-1

Su, Z., Yang, D., & Yang, J. (2012). The match between efficiency/flexibility strategy and organisational culture. International Journal Of Production Research, 50(19), 5317-5329. doi:10.1080/00207543.2011.618149

Weick, K.E. (2014). The significance of corporate culture. In Frost, P.J. et al. (Eds.) Organizational Culture. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publication, 381-390.

Yarbrough, L., Morgan, N., & Vorhies, D. (2011). The impact of product market strategy-organizational culture fit on business performance. Journal Of The Academy Of Marketing Science, 39(4), 555-573. doi:10.1007/s11747-010-0238-x

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Water Conservation and Prevention of Pollution

Water Conservation and Prevention of Pollution
Water Conservation and Prevention of Pollution

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Water Conservation and Prevention of Pollution

Water is a very essential commodity in life. It supports the life of human beings, plants and animals. Additionally, water is used in various processes in the world. All production processes are supported by water. As a result of the great importance of water in life, it is important to ensure water conservation all the time. It is important to conserve water to ensure that it is always available and in a safe state.

For water conservation, everybody should play a part through planting of trees. According to Ehlers, and Krafft (2011), planting as many trees as possible plays a major role in water conservation. This is through preventing direct heat from the sun. Plantations are known to prevent water sources from being interfered with. Additionally, trees are known to play a major role in the formation of rain. Additionally, everybody should be able to try as much as possible to create water reservoirs within their environment.

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Prevention of water pollution should be made the responsibility of every individual in the world (Unesco, 2006). So that water may be kept free from pollution, there are actions that should be taken by all means. Ensuring that sewerage systems are well managed is one of the things that are likely to avoid water pollution. With proper sewerage systems, all waste will be driven to the desired disposal areas and not the water points.

Secondly, proper garbage disposal is also necessary in the prevention of water pollution. Additionally, everyone should ensure that chemical substances are not poured or drained into water points. Chemical substances should be disposed off as per the requirements of the control boards. This will ensure that no water is polluted by anyone using chemicals in one way or another. Furthermore, everyone should try as much as possible to come up with proper sanitation systems. This is a good way of ensuring that all refuse is managed properly thus avoiding water pollution.

References

Ehlers, E. &Krafft, T. (2011), Intergrated Management of Water Resources, Springer

Unesco (2006), water: a shared responsibility, Berghahn Books.

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Principles of Financial Accounting

Principles of Financial Accounting
Principles of Financial Accounting

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Principles of Financial Accounting

Major accounting concepts and conventions used in accountancy form the major guidelines and rules of the accountant’s life. Historical cost accounting convention is a technique in accounts that ensures valuation of an existing benefit for the balance sheet at the cost of the asset at its purchase.

Assets, revenue, and expenditures are recorded at the money’s worth that was historically paid to complete the transaction (Deegan 2013). All the items in the financial statements are recorded at what cost the company for an item and not the fair market value and not what the company could currently sell the item.

The major criticism of historical cost is that it considers the cost of acquisition despite this cost of an asset not recognizing the current market value. It only interests itself in the cost allocated and not in an asset’s value. It tells the acquisition value and decrease in succeeding years but ignores the likelihood of the present market worth of the asset being elevated or lower than its suggestion (Miles 2015).

Historical costs also exhibit an obvious fault during times of inflation. Its validity rests on an assumption that currencies for recording the transactions remain stable or stagnation of the purchasing power. During inflation, the price of an asset rises, however, the corporate finance model’s objective centers on creating value for shareholders.

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The main advantage of historical cost is that the accounts are straightforward in producing them. The original value of the asset is known and recorded thus based on an actual value and not an estimation of value. Historical costs do not also record gains to the company until full realization is realized thus, presenting the actual performance of a company. Historical cost accounts further are still utilized under many accounting systems such as the GAAP that requires the value of an asset recorded at its historical costs with an exception of marketable securities (DRURY 2013).

The alternative methods or bases introduced by IASB is the Capital Maintenance in Units of Constant Purchasing Power, that allows for the quantification of financial assets maintenance in ostensible monetary units or in units of purchasing control that can be constant regardless of deflation or inflation levels (Kaplan et al., 2015). The major advantage of this technique is that it allows the management to make a judgment when applying or developing an accounting policy when there is an absence of interpretation applying to a transaction.

The major disadvantage of this system is that it provides no applicable international standard for financial reporting with regards to the assessment of invariable but real value items that are non-monetary. These may include share capital that has been issued and capital reserved. It is also not chosen by accountants in non-hyperinflationary economies despite its automatic maintenance of the actual worth of non-monetary items with steady genuine value (Van Dooren et al., 2015).

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An analysis of the qualitative analysis indicates that historical cost accounts are easily understood because it is based on original costs. The values are relevant because it is a true representation. The values can however not be reliable on the verge of hard economic times.

However, comparability is possible depending on the underlying assumptions and the judgment of the management. Alternative bases by IASB are relevant because they represent the current economic conditions (DeVellis 2012). They are easy to understand and compare the figures hence, reliable as a tool for financial reporting.

Historical cost is the most appropriate basis for measurement in financial reporting. The underlying factor here is that it is free of any bias information and is follows the GAAP procedures. It is also simple and a more conventional method and helps in leading to absolute certainty by fitting perfectly with the statement of cash flow.

References

Deegan, C. (2013). Financial accounting theory. McGraw-Hill Education Australia.

Miles, L. D. (2015). Techniques of value analysis and engineering. Miles Value Foundation.

DRURY, C. M. (2013). Management and cost accounting. Springer.

Kaplan, R. S., & Atkinson, A. A. (2015). Advanced management accounting. PHI Learning.

Van Dooren, W., Bouckaert, G., & Halligan, J. (2015). Performance management in the public sector. Routledge. DeVellis, R. F. (2012). Scale development: Theory and applications (Vol. 26). Sage publications

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Self Harm: Safe Guarding in Health and Social Care

Self Harm
Self Harm

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Self Harm: Safe Guarding in Health and Social Care

Self harm is a complex issue not only in its definition but also in relation to the insufficiency of data available with regards to the patterns and frequency of this subject across the globe. It is important to not that there is no “universal definition” of self harm. Moreover, diverse views have been raised concerning the causes and risk factors among individuals that harm themselves or others. Generally, self harm which is also referred to as self injury is best understood to entail an individual causing intentional physical pain as a way of solving difficult or painful emotions.

According to the study conducted by Hawton et al,it was determined that some people may harm themselves or others as a means of communicating their distress to the general public (Hawton et al, 2012). This disorder can also be an act of rebellion and the attempt to individualize oneself, a manner of relieving intense anxiety temporarily, a way to regulate pain, an effort to manage emotional numbness, or more still an effort to manipulate other people.

Individuals who harm themselves or/and others may develop an immediate sense of relief by partaking in it. However, it is worth noting that this feeling is a temporary solution the feelings that were distressing them initially will end up recurring once more. Additionally, chronic self harm can result in the development of irreversible damage to the body and/or permanent scarring. This paper seeks to find out why some individuals are more vulnerable to abuse and harm self and others as well as the associated risk factors to this type of behavior.

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Causes of vulnerability to abuse and harm

Just like all other mental disorders, there is no single factor that predisposes a person to engage in self harm. In general, self harm results due to inability of a person to properly manage psychological pain in a manner that is healthy. Often, individuals who engage in this form of unhealthy conduct find it difficult to regulate, express, or understand their emotions.  The factors that make individuals to be prone to abuse and harm self or others can be classified as follows;

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Social factors

These are ranked asthe commonest cause of abuse and harm due to the emotional distress that they arouse in people. Social factors that have been pointed predispose individuals to harm include;

  • Having difficult relationships especially with friends and partners
  • Having difficulties at school. This is seen commonly among the youth who work hard to obtain good grades but then they end up not getting the results they expected.
  • Difficulties at work such as demotions, unfair treatment by senior workers and layoffs can also make people to be prone to harm and abuse.
  • Bullying: This can be at home by older siblings, relatives, or neighbors. It can also be exercised in school or at work. An example of harm to others that was due to bullying is the recent case that was all over the news whereby an American student went to school with a gun and started shooting  fellow students randomly (Fisher et al, 2012).
  • Poverty, whereby a person has several responsibilities such as paying house rent, paying for children school fees, and providing the basic needs for his/her family. This is common among adults who end up being depressed and may subject their depression on their children by beating them up over petty reasons or even without any reason at all.

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  • Drug and substance abuse: Individuals prone to alcohol and substance abuse disorders tend to be aggressive and are more likely to make claims of having suicidal thoughts or even previous suicidal attempts. In a recent study by Daine et al (2013) of about 6500 adults who enrolled in addiction treatments it was proven that individuals who had engaged in serious acts of violence such as murder, rape, and assault leading to serious injury were more than twice likely to report several suicidal attempts.
  • Sexuality- Persons who come to terms with their sexual orientation such as being bisexual or gay may be a danger to themselves.
  • Cultural expectations can promote vulnerability of harm to self. A good example is that of arranged marriages whereby ladies are often forced into marriages against their will or worse even at a tender age.
  • Trauma can also enhance vulnerability of this disorder. Some causes of trauma include; physical or emotional, sexual abuse such as rape or domestic abuse. The death of a close family member or a close friend and having a miscarriage are also common predisposing factors.

Emotional Distress

Emotions have also been linked abuse and harm vulnerability. An unhappy situation or the distress from a traumatic experience can result in feelings of self hatred or low self esteem. These emotions gradually build up and it becomes difficult for people to seek help. Therefore, self harm or harming others may be a means of releasing these pent-up feelings.

They also indulge in this behavior as a way of coping with their problems. Usually, this is not a sign of seeking attention, but an indicator of emotional distress. Some of these emotions include; guilt, anger, anxiety, grief, numbness or emptiness, loneliness, silenced as a result of abuse, and a feeling of being disconnected from the world.

 People that are more prone to harm themselves and others may be having difficulties in regulating or managing their emotions (Figley et al, 2013). Therefore, they use self harm as a means of managing the anger and tension. Further research also reported that such individuals are poorer in solving problems.

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Psychological Causes

These also increase the tendency of people to take part in abuse and harm. For example;

  • People may be having repeated thoughts about harming themselves and they feel like doing it,
  • Self harm can also be linked to borderline personality disorder- a disorder that causes instability in a manner that one thinks, behaves, or feels,
  • Dissociation or loss of touch with oneself- self harm occurs without realizing it,

Organic reasons have also been associated with aggressive outbursts. Take an example whereby a person has damage to his/her frontal lobe or certain forms of epilepsy. In such circumstances, it is difficult to pin-point comprehensible argument for the expression of aggressive episodes.

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Risk Factors for Harming Self and Others

The risk factors of self harm and others are not static. Their value of prediction keeps changing depending on period they occur in a person’s development, social contexts, and the circumstances that one faces. They can be found in an individual, the surroundings, or the individual’s ability to react to the requirements or demands of the environment.

Some factors start manifesting as early as childhood while others do not appear at all until adolescence period or adulthood.  Some risk factors entail the family, the school, the neighborhood, or the peer group. Risk factors will be classified as follows for clarity.

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Depression and mental illness

This is one of the most obvious risk factors for indulging in harm to self and others. According to the research conducted by Andover et al, it was proven that mental and addictive disorders result in almost 90% of the suicidal cases reported (Andover et al, 2012). At least one in every twenty youths suffers from mental disorders that are severe enough to impair judgment. However, the sad news is that less than 20% of these individuals receive treatment. Most of those who harm themselves suffer from depression.

School risk Factors

Individuals who view their instructors as not understanding or caring or do not coexist peacefully with their peers have vulnerability of harming others or themselves. They may be associated with the following features;

  • Past suspension or expulsion for violent behavior
  • Social isolation, aggressiveness in grade K-3 or hyperactivity
  • Misbehaving in class, truancy, or being involved frequently in fights
  • Severe disciplinary issues

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  • Anger or frustration when handling school artwork or essays
  • A student that has previously brought a weapon at school
  • Academic failure when joining school
  • Academic pressure from parents and guardians.

Community risk factors

Persons that are highly exposed to community violence are at severe risk of engaging in self-destructive behavior. This usually arises when one shapes his/her conduct after what they have learned and experienced in the community. Moreover, some youth who grow up without having meaningful connections with responsible adults lack the necessary guidance that they should acquire so that they may cope with their daily lives (Moran, et al, 2012). Other community risk factors include;

  • Severe economic deprivation
  • Easy accessibility to guns, weapons, and other dangerous equipments
  • Poor community organization and low attachment in the neighborhood
  • Few recreational activities for people in the community especially the youth
  • Individuals who have engaged previously in vandalism and destruction of property

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Personal Risk Factors

  • Persons who have been involved in violent behavior previously
  • History of being bullied by friends, classmates, or relatives
  • History of uncontrolled angry outbursts and tantrums
  • Individuals who have previously bullied their peers and younger youths
  • Aggression to animals
  • Alcohol and substance abuse
  • Previous attempts of suicide
  • Fire- setting
  • Persons that result in calling of names and cursing when they are mad
  • Recent experience of loss, humiliation, or rejection
  • Cult or gangs involvement
  • Unstructured time
  • Preoccupation with explosives and other weapons
  • Does not own up and blames others for problems they are responsible for
  • Often having mood swings and significant depression

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Family Risk Factors

  • History of possession of a weapon and use by a family member
  • History of being punished frequently
  • Previous family violence
  • Inconsistent or severe punishment
  • Lack of support or proper supervision from parents and guardians
  • Youth has a past history of abuse by a family member
  • Individuals who grew up without clear expectations or standards of behavior being imposed on them by their care givers.

Cultural Risk Factors

Conformity issues and assimilation, variations in expectations and gender roles feelings of victimization and isolation can all increase the levels of stress and vulnerability of people. In addition, some cultures especially the Pacific and Asian cultures view self harm particularly suicide as a rational reaction to shame.

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Situational Crises

Daine et al argues that about 30% of individuals’ cases of abuse and harm to self and others are linked to an identifiable precipitating occurrence such as loss of a valued relationship, divorce of parents, the passing away of loved one, or sexual abuse. Normally, all these events coincide with other risk factors (Daine et al, 2013).

Conclusion

Some individuals view self injury engagement as a means of coping with their emotions. However, the troubles they are running away from will still be present even after their self-mutilation. Moreover, the relief that these individuals feel after involving themselves in self harm or abuse of others is usually short term.

Therefore, it can result in greater amounts of self-injurious conducts to acquire relief. Some people have even gone further and described self harm as an addiction. It is difficult to manage such behave just like any other compulsive behavior or addiction. However, proper management plan should be put in place to help these people fight the condition.

Some of the interventions that can be used include interpersonal treatments, therapies of problem-solving, and use of “emergency card” mode of interventions (Rossouw and  Fonagy, 2012). Other treatment forms that have proved to be essential include dialectical conduct therapy which is administered often among individuals who self-harm themselves and/or others from time to time.

The burden associated with injury to self and others is often a heavy one, especially because people who engage in this behavior do it in private where they hide their secret from their loved ones and friends. They create a burden that is extremely hard to carry. This may result in more severe self injury to escape the feelings. Therefore, proper platforms should be established whereby such people can be access easily for counseling and support.

References

Andover, M. S., Morris, B. W., Wren, A., & Bruzzese, M. E. (2012). The co-occurrence of non-suicidal self-injury and attempted suicide among adolescents: distinguishing risk factors and psychosocial correlatesChild and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health6(11), 1-7.

Daine, K., Hawton, K., Singaravelu, V., Stewart, A., Simkin, S., & Montgomery, P. (2013). The power of the web: a systematic review of studies of the influence of the internet on self-harm and suicide in young people. PloS one8(10), e77555.

Figley, C., Huggard, P., & Rees, C. (2013). First do no self harm: understanding and promoting physician stress resilience. Oxford University Press.

Fisher, H. L., Moffitt, T. E., Houts, R. M., Belsky, D. W., Arseneault, L., & Caspi, A. (2012). Bullying victimisation and risk of self harm in early adolescence: longitudinal cohort study. bmj344, e2683.

Hawton, K., Saunders, K. E., & O’Connor, R. C. (2012). Self-harm and suicide in adolescents. The Lancet379(9834), 2373-2382.

Moran, P., Coffey, C., Romaniuk, H., Olsson, C., Borschmann, R., Carlin, J. B., & Patton, G. C. (2012). The natural history of self-harm from adolescence to young adulthood: a population-based cohort studyThe Lancet379(9812), 236-243.

Rossouw, T. I., & Fonagy, P. (2012). Mentalization-based treatment for self-harm in adolescents: a randomized controlledtrial. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry51(12), 1304-1313.

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