A risk management strategy

A risk management strategy Introduction This report details a risk management strategy for a given organization based on Australian Standards AS4360. Risk Management Strategy details: 1 2. Rationale for managing risks and risk management objectives All companies face risk. The main rationale for managing risk is to reduce the likelihood of project failure, be it financial, schedule or performance based. A formal risk management strategy provides a structured way to highlight threats to a project success. The strategy provides advice to the project team and management to benefit the organization as a whole by assisting in the decision and planning process, identifying opportunities or threats and gaining value from changing situations. The strategy takes a proactive approach to management and allocates resources more efficiently. Reduction of loss can be reduced and stakeholder trust is improved (Australian Standards, 2004). A balance between being able to take action on opportunities versus protecting the company against loss must be decided upon. Risk management should be part of company culture so that everyone in the company has a role to play and is aware of risk management. In the early days insurance was how organizations managed risk but now it is an essential part of all management teams. According to Sadgrove (2005), there are two types of business risk, non entrepreneurial risk and entrepreneurial risk. Non entrepreneurial is for example company fraud, theft or fire. Entrepreneurial risk is for example the opening of a new shop or produces a new product. It is in the best interests for the company directors to manage risk as it applies to all manage decisions. Risk is a pre-condition for innovation, a key ingredient of a successful company (Sadgrove, 2005). Risk management objectives are to reduce company cost, disruption and unhappiness (Sadgrove, 2005). It rates which activities are worth investigating for risk and which activities do not present current risk. By identifying risks earlier, managers can better plan for their possible occurrence in the future. Further objectives and benefits to the company include improved planning, greater resource efficiency, more timely scheduling, prevention reduced costs, improved company reputation, less surprises, enhanced communication between managers and staff, reassurance of stakeholders, higher quality products and more flexible and robust contingency plans (Carol and Elizabeth, 2005). As indicated in AS4360 when formulating objective for a risk management process, they must take into account the internal and external environmental factors (Australian Standards, 2004). Risk management is growing in importance these days for a number of factors. These include tougher legislation, more expensive insurance, customers less likely to accept product failure, higher standards for public image and changing management attitudes to a more global outlook. 3. Risk strategy issues According to Sadgrove (2005), issues covered by a risk strategy may be based on operation, strategic, compliance and financial issues. Operational issues include risks associated with employees, suppliers or natural events such as rain. Strategic issues include other markets, the economy and legal issues. Compliance issues may be accounting standards, tax requirements or government legislation. Financial issues include cost issues, interest rates and profitability concerns. The areas covered by the risk strategy will be influenced by the requirements of the company and its objectives. The products and / or services it supplies and the processes and practices used by the company will also affect the type of risk strategy employed. 4. Acceptable risk tolerance. According to Fischoff, Lichtenstein, Slovic, Derby and Keeney (1981), acceptable risk describes the likelihood of an event that has two factors. Firstly, the chance of occurrence is small. Secondly, the consequence is small. s are so slight, or whose benefits (perceived or real) are so great, that individuals or groups in society are willing to take or be subjected to the risk that the event might occur. The stakeholders and managers often determine acceptable risk factors. It is based on their perception on what they believe constitutes firstly a risk and secondly whether or not it is an acceptable one. An acceptable risk determination can vary and depends on factors such as differences in values, different requirements, project assumptions, concerns, concepts as they relate to the project being considered. According to AS4360, (Australian Standards, 2004), a team approach is very effective in determining and identifying risks more effectively. Risks are compared against a set of criteria from which priorities are set. The decision is then made to either treat the risks if they are deemed unacceptable or to continue to monitor and review the risks if they are currently viewed as acceptable. The risk criteria which is used to determine whether a risk a acceptable or not is based on financial, operational, humanitarian, legal, technical, social, environmental, or other criteria. The risk is evaluated and decisions are made about which risks need attention. The company or organization must make a decision on how much risk it is willing to accept as part of normal business practice. This level can then be set as the benchmark and gives the company a tolerance level to work with. This tolerance may depend on the maturity of the risk management plan, experience of management, data available f or consideration and other important factors. Some firms want to accept new ventures with higher risks while other companies want to maintain a steady course. Often young companies with less to lose will take larger risks where as older individuals may not wish to risk as much (Sadgrove, 2005). The acceptable risk tolerance depends on the reward. As the risk increases so to must the reward in order to make it worthwhile. 5. Risk infrastructure, management, identification, assessment and treatment. A company, which has a risk management strategy in place, needs an appropriate policy plan and an adequate support system in place to ensure the strategy is implemented correctly (Australian Standards, 2004). According to AS4360, in assessing the risks once they have been identified, there are three general types of analysis. These are qualitative analysis, Semi-quantitative analysis and Quantitative analysis. Qualitative analysis may be used as an initial tool to identify preliminary risks which are to be analyzed in more detail later. It should be combined with factual information when it is able to be sourced. Semi-quantitative analysis must be used with care since the data chosen to support the qualitative words may be misleading that can lead to inappropriate outcomes. Quantitative analysis depends on the accuracy of the numerical values and they may be expressed in terms of the criteria initially set by the risk identification. According to an article by the Project Management Institute (Project Management Institute, 2008), if you dont identify risk areas and have a response plan then possible tough times may be ahead. By beginning with a brainstorming session, and including a wide cross-section of stakeholders from many levels throughout the company, possible problems on the way to success may be identified. Ms. Reed, a vice president of an American project management firm notes that when running such meetings criticism should be left at the door, otherwise it may turn into an unorganized discussion. 6. Risk management responsibilities. Risk identification, assessment and treatment. System review, documentation and maintenance. Responsibilities for the risk management process should be detailed in the risk management plan and this plan should also detail how the plan shall be conducted throughout the organization. Treatment plans may either be separate from the risk management plan or included with it. An example of an organization which follows the AS4360 guidelines is the State Records Department of the New South Wales Government in Australia (NSW Government State Records. 2009). With their plan, senior management are allocated the responsibility of ensuring that the risk analysis, identification and assessment procedure are implemented regularly. They are also responsible for managing the budget allocated for the risk management strategy and ensuring that it is implemented to protect the records and systems of the State Records Department. The review of their systems is continuous as is stated in the AS4360 guidelines. According to the AS4360 guidelines (Australian Standards, 2004), few risks remain static. Continual review is essential to ensure that the risk management strategy remains relevant. The Risk Assessment will be continuously monitored and updated throughout the life of a given project, with monthly assessments included in the status report and open to amendment by the Project Manager. The company senior directors and executives are responsible for managing risk in their organization. All employees are responsible for the risk management within their given areas of managerial responsibility. The risk management plan can be broken down into specific sections based on different functions and areas within the project. Each area should have a separate plan, consist with the main company risk management plan, that details risks most relevant for their particular team and sub project requirements and concerns. The project manager for each team is responsible for the management of each risk management plan and ensuring his or her team is under the watch of the localized plan. This manager must also however ensure that the risks of the organizational risk management plan are also kept in mind. The senior staff of an organization must also be committed to the risk management strategy of all these senior managers (Australian Standards, 2004). Documentation to record details of risks must be generated to record priorities and highlight changes in risk priorities. Reports should record treatments and if incidents occur the lessons learned should be recorded. The entire risk management plan system progress should also be documented as a whole. 7. Risk management documentation requirements. A common tool used in the documentation of risk management system is the risk matrix. The risk matrix is a table used in risk analysis in which rows show the risks and columns show their likelihood or probability of occurrence and their impact. For each important business function or area, a risk matrix can be created. Often numerical values from one, meaning no impact, to five, meaning maximum impact, can be assigned for each function. This simple approach to documenting risk can provide a useful set of raw data from which appropriate plans can be devised. Many larger organizations also use this simple approach (National Computing Centre, 2009). 8. Risk management system budgets and its determination. Such a risk management strategy has a cost associated with it and this cost must be balanced against the cost of the potential loss if it were to occur (Microsoft Press, 2009). Through the application of risk management methodologies, a company can manage risk levels so that it does not reach a determined unacceptable level. The budget size for a risk management system will of course depend on the size of the company, its complexity and the responsibilities of the manager in charge of the risk management program (Sadrove, 2005, p55). A good policy is to make the risk management services free to departments and only charge the departments when they make a loss. By charging them when mistakes are made the managers are more likely to seek help and pay more close attention to the risk management strategy. This is better than just waiting for an issue to occur. Too much investment in risk management will burden the company and make it uncompetitive. Underinvestment in risk management will make it more vulnerable and likely to receive expensive incident costs. The optimal position is somewhere in the middle (Sadgrove, 2005, p14). Mochal (2006), shows that a risk management system budget can be established by basing it on the Expected Monetary Value (EVM) index. For each risk there are two parameters assigned. Firstly, the probability that the risk will occur and secondly the impact to the project if the risk occurs. If this is completed for all the risks the potential impact to the project can be calculated. Hence the risk management system budget should reflect the impact of the risk and the likelihood that it will happen. According to AS4360, if the budget for the risk management system is restricted, there should be a clear priority order for the risk treatments. 9. Risk management policy approval and its source. Senior management should review and endorse the risk management policy for an organization. The source of the policy should come from all higher end managers concerned as well as all concerned stakeholders. Dialogue with key internal and external stakeholders should be undertaken as to avoid a one way flow of information. Stakeholders often have different views on what should be ranked as high-risk priorities due to factors such as differences in values, requirements concepts and concerns about the project concerned (Australian Standards, 2004). References Alexander, C., Sheedy, E. 2005. The Professional Risk Managers Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Current Theory and Best Practices. PRMIA Publications. Fischoff, B.; Lichtenstein, S.; Slovic, P.; Derby, S. L.; and Keeney, R. L. 1981. Acceptable Risk. Cambridge. UK, Cambridge University Press. Microsoft Press. 2009. Why Manage Risks Formally? Retrieved on 5th October, 2009 from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc500373.aspx Mochal, T. (2006). Create a risk contingency budget using Expected Monetary Value (EMV). Retrieved on 5th October, 2009 from http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-6069576.html National Computing Centre. 2009. A matrix approach to risk assessment. Retrieved on 5th October 2009 from http://www.nccmembership.co.uk/pooled/articles/BF_WEBART/view.asp?Q=BF_WEBART_113283 NSW Government State Records. 2009. Risk Assessment. Retrieved on 5th October, 2009 from http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/recordkeeping/government-recordkeeping-manual/guidance/guidelines/guideline-5/guideline-5-part-3 Project Management Institute. 2009. Risk Identification Uncover project troubles before they blow up. Retrieved on 5th October 2009 from http://www.pmi.org/Pages/Risk_Identification.aspx Sadgrove, K. (2005). The complete guide to business risk management. England, Gower Publishing Limited. Standards Australia. 2004. Australian/New Zealand Standard AS 4360 2004. Australia, Standards Australia International Limited.

Understanding the Benefits of Ethnic Divide Essay -- Racial Ethnic Rac

Understanding the Benefits of Ethnic Divide Does society truly stand to gain from what some might call a breaking of racial and ethnic barriers? When we as a society propose the overly-voiced concepts of 'embracing racial equality' and the 'dissolving of stereotypical values' in an effort to support societal efficiency, do we consider that perhaps these revolutionary ideals will hurt more than help us in the long run? The average individual, in an effort to function properly in the society to which he or she belongs, will follow that which society generally accepts as politically correct, as normal. The downside to this is the possibility of a society's ignorance to the greater picture or, rather, the future effects on economy and the civilization towards which we hold such value. It is obvious, especially in light of certain economic and undying cultural facts, that this adamant dream of bringing together the varying mismatched groups of the world population is not only futile -- when considering that it is in our nature as human beings to define and rationalize our surroundings by recognizing the natural differences in what we see -- but is also illogical with respect to the imposing threat this societal revolution imposes on the capitalist system to which we all owe our lives. The settling of racial and ethnic indifferences is commonly seen as a problem handled effectively by government inventions. Affirmative action, established in 1965 by US president Lyndon Johnson, is a system designed to overcome societal discrimination of the past by forcing privileges into the hands of minorities (Brunner, par. 1). These privileges translate into unquestioned college enrollment, job opportunities, and additional resources. Hera... ...5 Jan. 2001 . Anonymous. Free Palestine. 1999. 30 Sep. 2002 . Bollyn, Christopher. ?The Real Cost of US Support for Israel.? Axis of Logic. 20 Sep. 2003. . Stauffer, Thomas R. ?The Cost of Conflict in the Middle East, 1956-2002: What the U.S. Has Spent.? Middle East Policy Council. Spring 2003 . Anonymous. ?The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Basic Facts: Arab Countries versus Israel.? Israel Science and Technology. 15 Nov. 2003 . Province, Jonathan. ?World?s Richest Countries.? cylist.com. 2003. .

Murder of Emmett Till Essay

Emmett Till was a fourteen year old boy who lived in Chicago. He was very outgoing and friendly with everyone he met. After his uncle, Moses (Moh-ss) Wright, came up to visit, he took Emmett and his cousin down to Money, Mississippi. Before he left, his mother informed him that life is very, very different for blacks in the South and the way he acted at home could not be the same as how he acted down there. He didn’t believe her warnings. As Emmett and his mother got to the train station Emmett ran for the train in haste as to not miss his ride. Mamie Till, his mother, yelled to him â€Å"Emmett, aren’t you gonna say good bye? What if I never see you again?† Emmett said, â€Å"Awhh mama.† Then he gave her a kiss on the cheek and handed her his watch so that she had part of him while he was away. She asked about his father’s ring and he said he was, â€Å"going to show it off to the boys† and was on his way without regard to his mother’s warnings. Money, Mississippi was just a stretch of road with a post office on one end and Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market at the other. Bryant’s sold cool drinks to passing field workers and candy to the neighborhood children. So African Americans were often regulars. As Mamie had said, the south was like a whole other world compared to Chicago. In the south, when a white woman would walk down the sidewalk and a black man was walking towards her, he would have to get off the sidewalk and look at the ground because a black male can never look a white woman in the eyes. Blacks weren’t even allowed to enter through the front doors of white businesses. Moses Wright worked on a field picking cotton. He lived in a small shack on the plantation that he worked for. There were only three small rooms in the shack so everyone squeezed in to the available beds. Emmett had to sleep with his cousin in one room; Moses was in another and in the other room, Wheeler Parker, Emmett’s close cousin and the others. While there Emmet and his cousins would help Moses in the field. On August 24, the boys drove into town from the field and went in to Bryant’s Grocery to get candy and drinks. Emmett went in and purchased two cents worth of bubble gum and on the way out turned back to Carolyn Bryant, the wife of the owner of Bryant’s Grocery, and whistled to her. She was furious and ran out to chase the boys, so they got in the car and drove off to their uncle’s house. While driving home Emmett begged his cousins not to tell Moses of the events that occurred. After three days, the boys forgot about the whole scenario. On the fourth night, at about 2:30 am while everyone lay asleep in bed, Roy Bryant, Carolyn’s husband, and his brother J.W. Milam broke into the house. They went into the first room to find Moses sleeping and woke him, shinning a flashlight in his eye and holding a rifle to his head and asked where Emmett was. Moses pleads for them to leave the boy alone but they did not listen and went into Emmett’s room and kidnapped him. Days went by with no word, so as does most blacks when someone goes missing, they started to check around the Tallahassee River, to try to find his body. Days later, a young man fishing in the Tallahatchie reported Emmett’s body floating in the nearby weeds. When Moses went to identify the body, the only way he could verify that it was Emmett, was by his father’s ring that was on his finger. Both men were arrested and set to be tried in the Tallahatchie County Court in September of 1955 for the murder of Emmett Till. The friends of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam as well as other white families collected money to buy every lawyer they could for the two. When it came to the trial the defenses main strategy was that the body could not be identified as Emmett Till. They claimed that Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam let him go alive. Any Black people that came forward with information for the prosecution mysteriously disappeared so most remained neutral to avoid having the same fate. The two men were acquitted and set free, Mamie Till sent to higher courts and even President Eisenhower, who all refused to investigate further. After the trail Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam sold their story about what they did to Look Magazine. They made Emmett carry a 75-pound cotton-gin fan to the bank of the Tallahatchie River and ordered him to take off his clothes. They beat him nearly to death, gouged out his eye, shot him in the head, and then threw his body in; with the cotton-gin fan tie around his neck with barbed wire, his body sank into the river. After the story was published and the government did nothing about it, Mamie Till and All African Americans in America, realized the magnitude of their predicament. They knew that their rights as humans were at risk. Thus, the murder of Emmett Till became renowned as the spark that began the Civil Rights Movement.

Language in the Byzantine Empire

Language in the Byzantine Empire Constantinople, the new capital that Emperor Constantine developed in the East in the early fourth century CE, lay in a largely Greek-speaking area of the Roman Empire. That doesnt mean that before the Fall of Rome the emperors headquartered and the people living there were native Greek speakers or, even if they were, incompetent Latin speakers. Both languages, Greek and Latin, were part of the repertoire of the educated. Until recently, those who considered themselves educated might be native English speakers but could piece out a short passage of Latin in their literary reading and get by speaking French. Peter and Catherine the Great ushered in an era where the politically important, the nobility of Russia, knew the French language and literature as well as Russian. It was similar in the ancient world. Greek Culture Greek literature and themes dominated Roman writing until the mid-third century B.C., which is about a century after Alexander the Great had started the spread of Hellenism including the Greek Koine language throughout the vast areas that he had conquered. Greek was the language Roman aristocrats demonstrated to show their culture. They imported Greek pedagogues to teach their young. The important rhetorician of the first century BCE, Quintilian, advocated education in Greek  since Roman children would naturally learn Latin on their own. (Inst. Oratoria i.12-14) From the second century CE, it became common for the wealthy to send their already Greek-speaking, but native-Latin-speaking Roman sons to Athens, Greece for higher education. Latin Gaining in Popularity Before the division of the Empire first into the four parts known as the Tetrarchy under Diocletian in 293 CE and then into two (simply an Eastern and a Western section), the second century CE Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote his meditations in Greek, following the affectations popular with philosophers. By this time, however, in the West, Latin had gained a certain cachet. A bit later, a contemporary of Constantine, Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 330-395 CE), from Antioch, Syria, but living in Rome, wrote his history not in his familiar Greek, but in Latin. The first century CE Greek biographer Plutarch went to Rome to learn the language better. (p. 85 Ostler, citing Plutarch Demosthenes 2) The distribution was such that Latin was the language of the people to the west and north of a dividing line beyond Thrace, Macedonia, and Epirus down to northern Africa west of western Cyrenaica. In rural areas, the uneducated would not have been expected to know Greek, and if their native language were something other than Latin it might be Aramaic, Syriac, Coptic, or some other ancient tongue they might not even have known Latin well. Likewise on the other side of the dividing line, but with Greek and Latin reversed In the East, they probably knew Greek in rural areas, to the exclusion of Latin, but in urban areas, like Constantinople, Nicomedia, Smyrna, Antioch, Berytus, and Alexandria, most people needed to have some command of both Greek and Latin. Latin helped one advance in the imperial and military service, but otherwise, it was more a formality than a useful tongue, beginning at the start of the fifth century. Last of the Romans The so-called Last of the Romans, Constantinople-based Emperor Justinian (r. 527-565), who was an Illyrian by birth, was a native Latin speaker. Living about a century after the Edward Gibbon-driven date of 476 for the Fall of Rome, Justinian made efforts to regain sections of the West lost to European barbarians. (Barbarian was a term the Greeks had used to mean non-Greek speakers and which the Romans adapted to mean those who spoke neither Greek nor Latin.) Justinian may have been trying to retake the Western Empire, but he had challenges closer to home  since neither Constantinople nor the provinces of the Eastern Empire were secure. There were also the famous Nika riots and a plague (see Lives of the Caesars). By his time, Greek had become the official language of the surviving section of the Empire, the Eastern (or later, Byzantine) Empire. Justinian had to publish his famous law code, the Corpus Iuris Civile in both Greek and Latin. Greeks vs Romans This sometimes confuses people who think the use of the Greek language in Constantinople means the inhabitants thought of themselves as Greeks, rather than as Romans. Particularly when arguing for a post-5th-century date for the Fall of Rome, some counter that by the time the Eastern Empire stopped legally requiring Latin, the inhabitants thought of themselves as Greeks, not Romans. Ostler asserts that the Byzantines referred to their language as romaika (Romanish) and that this term was in use until the 19th century. In addition, the people were known as Rumi a term obviously much closer to Roman than Greek. We in the West might think of them as non-Romans, but that is another story. By the time of Justinian, Latin was not the common tongue of Constantinople, although it was still an official language. The Roman people of the city spoke a form of Greek, a Koine. Sources Chapter 8 Greek in the Byzantine Empire: The Major Issues Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers, Second Edition, by Geoffrey Horrocks; Wiley:  © 2010.The Latin Language, by L. R. Palmer; University of Oklahoma Press: 1987.Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin, by Nicholas Ostler; Walker: 2007.

Revenue recognition requirements in U.S. GAAP, IFRS and IASB The WritePass Journal

Revenue recognition requirements in U.S. GAAP, IFRS and IASB Introduction Revenue recognition requirements in U.S. GAAP, IFRS and IASB IntroductionMain bodyConclusionReferencesRelated Introduction In an industry there are some accounting and financial standards that company must follow to be legal to corporate. Therefore, accountants should follow some rules and guidelines, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and U.S. GAAP, which adopted by the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) and Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB). The  IASB is an independent, privately-funded accounting standard-setter based in  London. It was founded on 2001 as the successor to the  International Accounting Standards Committee  (IASC). The  Financial Accounting Standards Board  (FASB) is a private,  not-profit organization and it was created in 1973. One of the general accepted accounting principles is the revenue recognition, which is an important principle in accrual accounting. It determines the specific conditions  under which income becomes realized as revenue. Under IAS 18  Ã¢â‚¬Å" Revenue, is defined as â€Å"the gross inflow of economic benefits during the period arising in the course of the ordinary activities of an entity when those inflows result in increases in equity other than increases relating to contributions from equity participants.† Generally, revenues are recognized when the amount of revenue is measured reliably, when it is probable that the economic benefits of the transaction will flow to the entity and when the costs (both incurred to date and expected future costs) are identified. (Jamil Khatri, Akeel Master 2009). Many problems involved in revenue recognition about the usefulness of the existing standards. So, in June 2002 the IASB and the FASB started a project to develop coherent conceptual guidance for revenue recognition and to eliminate inconsistencies on the subject in their conceptual frameworks. Following we are going to analyze the main problems that occurred, the views taken by the two boards and a reasoned critique of their thinking. Main body Revenue recognition requirements in U.S. GAAP differ from those in IFRS. Accordingly IASB and FASB the main objectives of the project are to provide a single revenue recognition model that could apply consistently across various industries and transactions, to develop a model on changes in specific assets and liabilities that would eliminate inconsistencies in existing concepts and standards and to converge IFRS and U.S. GAAP requirements. ( Barry J.Epstein   Eva K.Jermakowicz   , 2010) However, some problems occurred from revenue recognition standards, which reduce the comparability of revenue across entities. In U.S. GAAP there are numerous standards that define an earnings process inconsistently. The application of the earnings process provide more than 100 standards on revenue and gain recognition which some of them are industries specific and can produce conflicting results for economically similar transactions. This has a result, people disagree how it applies to particular situations. Despite the numerous standards, there are also gaps in guidance which creates conflictions with asset and liability definitions. Sometimes earnings process leads to a misrepresentation of an entity’s contractual rights and obligations in financial statements. Thus, if they focus on changes in assets and liabilities the earnings process could be improved. (Putra 2010) IFRS contain fewer requirements than U.S. GAAP, but also those standards need improvement. The revenue recognition standards provide inconsistencies between assets – liability approach. Under the asset – liability approach, revenue recognized by direct reference to changes in assets and liabilities that occur from an entity’s contract with a customer, rather than by direct reference to critical events. ( Barry J.Epstein   Eva K.Jermakowicz ,2010)   Another deficiency in IFRS relates to the lack of guidance for transactions involving multiple-element arrangement. IAS 18 does not state clearly when or how an entity should separate a single transaction into components and how to measure the elements in a multiple-element arrangement. Therefore, entities apply different measurements for similar transactions, which reduce the comparability of revenue across entities. Also, some problems occur and from the distinguishing between goods and services. If there was a c lear principle to ever-changing and increasingly complex transactions then gaps in guidance would not be a problem. (Putra 2010) However, the Boards have reached some preliminary views in developing a revenue recognition model.   Following I will summarize those views. Firstly, the proposed model would apply to contracts with customers. Revenue should be recognized on the basis of increases in an entity’s net position in a contract with a customer. When an entity enters into a contract with customer, the company gets rights to payment from the customer and assumes obligations to provide good and services to the customer. When an entity satisfies a performance obligation in the contract then company should recognize revenue. Performance obligation is a promise in a contract with a customer to transfer a good or service to that customer. If an entity promise to provide a good, then it is a promising to transfer an asset to the customer. Moreover, if the promised goods or services are transferred to the customer at different times then entity accounts of performance obligations will separate. The aim to separate performance obligations is to ensure that the revenue of the entity is representing the pattern of the transfer of assets to the customer, over the life over the contract. An entity satisfies a performance obligation when the promised good has transferred to customer. We know that an entity has transferred that promised asset when the customer obtains control of it. Consequently, activities that an entity undertakes in fulfilling a contract result in revenue recognition only if they simultaneous ly transfer assets to the customer. The boards have not yet expressed a preliminary view on how an entity would measure the rights.   However, the rights will measure based on the amount of the transaction price (the promised consideration). As the boards propose, performance obligations should be measured at the transaction price.     If a contract comprises more than one performance obligation, an entity would allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in proportion to the stand-alone selling prices of the goods and services underlying those performance obligations. As each obligation is satisfied, the amount of revenue recognized is the amount of the transaction price that was allocated to the satisfied performance obligation at contract inception. Finally, the boards propose that after contract inception, a company should remeasure a performance obligation when it is deemed ‘onerous’. A performance obligation is estimated ‘onerous’ when an entity’s expected cost of satisfying the performance obligation exceeds the amount of that performance obligation. In that case, the performance obligation is remeasured to the entity’s expected cost of satisfying the performance obligation and the entity would recognize a contract loss. As we can see, the proposal model on how and when revenue is recognized under both IFRS and US GAAP are likely to discuss from the entities. The objective of the project to develop a single revenue recognition model that would apply to a wide range of industries to improve the financial reporting revenue was very helpful for all the industries. It helps remove inconsistencies and weakness in existing revenue recognition standards and provide a stronger framework for revenue recognition issues. On the other hand, for many entities the implementation of the proposed model will be relatively ineffectual and for others, the process could be effectual. Specific, construction industries have concerns regarding how the indicators of control should be applied to long-term contracts. Also telecommunications and technology sector, express concerns about the requirement to determine a stand-alone selling price for each performance obligation. Therefore, both Boards should focus on fixing the pr oblems in the existing standards, and to make a better model which will work well in practice. It’s obviously that many problems arise in determining when revenue is earned. Let’s consider Apple, one of the biggest tech. industries in our days as a live example. Apple has the issue that â€Å"how FASB might rework the rules related to recognizing revenue for software thats bundled into a product and never sold separately†. This is very important for Apple because it affects the revenue related to two of the companys most successful products, the iPod and the iPhone. If the rules are recast the company could be able to book revenue faster, yielding less time between product launches and associated revenue gains. Also it would drive up Apples earnings and possibly stock price. (Marie Leone, 2009) Conclusion Having a clear enough view of the problems involved in revenue recognition and the views taken by the two boards, I’ve tried to paint a picture of the proposed revenue recognition model by the two Boards. The proposed model would not be easy and it would be difficult to apply in all entities. However, Boards are trying to develop a model without any inconsistencies and based on changes in specific assets and liabilities. It will take many hours of meetings and discussions between the two Boards before complete any issues about the proposed project. References [1] Barry J.Epstein , Eva K.Jermakowicz (2010) Interpretation and Application of International Financial Reporting Standards, 1st Edition, Canada, New Jersey : Willey [2] ERNST YOUNG (2010) US GAAP vs. IFRS: the basics Revenue Recognition, ey.com/US/en/Services/Assurance/Accounting-and-Financial-Reporting/US-GAAP-vsIFRSthe-basicsMarch-2010Revenue-recognition [Accessed 11/03/2010] [3] International Accounting Standard Board (19/6/2009) Preliminary Views on Revenue Recognition in Contracts with Customers iasb.org/NR/rdonlyres/0E3D5E00-B961-42F0-BA64-AB1D20BB9FE9/0/DP_PreliminaryViewsRevenueRecognition1208.pdf [Accessed 16/03/2010] [4] International Accounting Standard Board (06/2010) Revenue from Contracts with Customers iasb.org/NR/rdonlyres/74E37A73-0A4D-447F-A8DF-3574002B7406/0/SnapshotRevCon.pdf [Accessed 17/03/2010] [5] Jamil Khatri Akeel Master (2009) IFRS Revenue Recognition, KPMG https://www.in.kpmg.com/Securedata/ifRS_Institute/Files/Revenue%20recognition.pdf [Accessed 11/03/2010] [6] Marie Leone, (2009) â€Å"New Revenue-Recognition Rules: The Apple of Apples Eye?†, CFO [7] Putra (2010) â€Å"Problem with Current Revenue Recognition. Change? How? (24/1/2010) http://accounting-financial-tax.com/2010/01/problem-with-current-revenue-recognition-change-how/ [Accessed 13/03/2010]

Microsoft's Current Development Strategy Case Study

Microsoft's Current Development Strategy - Case Study Example As a company, Microsoft values integrity, honesty, openness, personal excellence, constructive self-criticism, continual self-improvement, and mutual respect. They are committed to their customers and partners and have a passion for technology. They take on big challenges. They hold themselves accountable to their customers, shareholders, partners, and employees by honoring their commitments, providing results, and striving for the highest quality.Microsoft’s best selling products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software. These products have prominent positions in the desktop computer market, with market share estimates as high as 90% or more as of 2003 for Microsoft Office and 2006 for Microsoft Windows, in line with the company's original mission of "a computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software".Microsoft has footholds in other markets besides operating systems and office suites, with assets such as the MSNBC cable television network, the MSN Internet portal, and the Microsoft Encarta multimedia encyclopedia. The company also markets both computer hardware products such as the Microsoft mouse and home entertainment products such as the Xbox, Xbox 360, Zune and MSN TV. Known for what is generally described as a developer-centric business culture, Microsoft has historically given customer support over Usenet newsgroups and the World Wide Web, and awards Microsoft MVP status to volunteers who are deemed helpful in assisting the company's customers.

Your Ideal Family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Your Ideal Family - Essay Example As the term ‘ideal’ meant â€Å"satisfying one’s conception of what is perfect; most suitable† (Oxford University Press, 2014), for me, an ideal family should be balanced; meaning, aside from the presence of both parents, siblings should be at least two. But due to China’s one child policy which was previously mandated as a means to prevent population explosion, my parents adhered to the rule. Therefore, being an only daughter did not fit my definition and concept of an ideal family. I would have wanted at least one sibling to share childhood experiences and a common bond to express the love, caring and support that I received from my parents. From my personal perspective, I strongly believe that some forces that affect families include internal and external forces. Internal forces are the values, beliefs and philosophies of each family member, as individuals, that shape one’s personality. Of course, I affirm that each individual was raised in a different familial environment which makes experiences and belief systems distinct and unique. Likewise, external forces that affect families include the political system, economic and financial condition, social factors (how people within the community related to each other), technological factors, and environmental factors. All of these factors have affected my family. For the social forces, it was emphasized that the following factors were noted to affect families: education, housing, employment, childhood cultural trends (Ryan, 2014). For instance, internal forces, which were described as the value systems of each of my parent, have affected the way I was raised. My father had been more of a disciplinarian and exhibited a more authoritative style. In contrast, my mother is very democratic in her parenting style. Therefore, there were instances where my father and mother expressed contrasting views on the way to address some concerns and issues on raising me or in solving problems. The