Balance Sheet and Accounting Standards

ANSWER SHEET STUDENT’S SURNAME   OTHER NAMES   STUDENT NUMBER   TUTORIAL DAY & TIME TUTOR’S FULL NAME   Test 1 – Version 2 Session 2, 2012 Course Code: ACCG 224 Course Name: INTERMEDIATE FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING Time allowed: 55 minutes plus 5 minutes reading time Total No. of questions: Three Questions Instructions 1. You must answer ALL questions in the test booklet. No separate booklet will be provided to answer the questions. . This is a closed-book test. You are not allowed to refer to any text material for the test. 3. Show all workings. Handwriting must be legible. 4. Non-programmable and non-text retrieval calculators may be used, but dictionaries are not to be used. Question No. Marks 1 /15 2 /15 3 /10 Total /40 Question 1 – Multiple Choice (15 marks) (Please circle the correct answer) 1. The main functions of the Financial Reporting Council include: I. II. III. IV. V. a. b. * c. d. overseeing the process for the setting of accounting standard s of the AASB. determining the AASB’s broad strategic direction. onitoring and reviewing the level of funding for the AASB. directing the AASB in relation to the development or making of a particular standard. the power to veto a standard recommended by the AASB. I, II, III and V only I, II, and III only I, II, IV and V only II, III, IV and V only 2. The role of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission is to: I. II. III. IV. a. b. c. * d. 3. I, II, III and IV I, III and IV only I, II and IV only II, and III only Regulatory capture is said to occur in which of the following situations? a. b. c. d. * 4. Enforce and administer the Corporations Act.Inform the public about Australian companies, financial markets and financial professionals who deal and advise in financial instruments. Issue accounting standards. Improve the performance of the financial system. When the regulated entities ensure non-performance by the regulating body When the regulated entities co-opt t he regulators into a mutually shared perspective When the regulated entities control the regulations and the regulatory body All of the above Which of these theories could explain a move towards government control of accounting standards setting in Australia? a. b. . d. * 5. Public interest theory Regulatory capture theory Private interest theory All of the above The primary reasons for developing a conceptual framework is: a. * b. c. d. To enable regulators to develop accounting standards that are consistent and logical To provide guidance to accountants in areas where no standard exists To reduce the number of accounting standards needed To assist auditors 2 6. According to the AASBs Conceptual Framework an asset is: a. b. c*. d. 7. A company incurs significant costs in relation to a speculative project that intends to turn rocks into gold.In accordance with the AASBs Conceptual Framework the costs of this project are an: a. * b. c. d. 8. d. it is not necessary to restate the prio r period comparatives; the error may be amended prospectively; it may be deferred and recognised in the subsequent period; a retrospective correction must be made. When changing an accounting policy which of the following has to be applied retrospectively? a. * b. c. d. 11. Relevance, reliability, materiality, consistency, verifiability, understandability Understandability, timeliness, relevance, readability, timeliness, reliability Relevance, faithful representation, comparability, nderstandability, verifiability, timeliness Uniformity, relevance, reliability, consistency, faithful representation Where a fundamental error occurs in the recognition process: a. b. c. d*. 10. expense because there is little probability that future economic benefits will eventuate expense because the recognition criteria for an asset is not satisfied asset because the definition and recognition criteria for assets are satisfied asset because the company will control the future economic benefits. The qu alitative characteristics for financial reporting contained in the Conceptual Framework are: a. b. c. 9. a contingent item depending on another event occurs at some time in the future a future benefits controlled by an entity as the result of a future transaction a future benefit controlled by an entity as the result of past transactions or events an item that has a physical existence and can be converted into cash. a voluntary change to improve the relevance of information presented a change due to the adoption of a new accounting standard a change due to the adoption of a new interpretation all of the above. A company’s workforce went on strike for an indefinite period commencing on 5 August 20X1.The strike was expected to cause severe financial conditions for the company. The financial statements for the year ended 30 June 20X1 were expected to be completed by 7 August 20X1. In accordance with AASB 110 Events after the Reporting Date, the appropriate treatment regarding th e strike is: a. * b. c. d. disclosure as a note to the financial statements, as it is a non-adjusting event; disclosure as a note to the financial statements, as it is an adjusting event; to adjust the financial statements, as it is a non-adjusting event; to adjust the financial statements, as it is an adjusting event. 12. Differences between the carrying amounts of an entity’s net assets determined under accounting standards and accrual accounting, and the tax bases of those net assets determined under the Income Tax Assessment Act, are described as: a. * b. c. d. 13. CTT Limited has an asset which cost $300 and against which depreciation of $100 has accumulated. The accumulated depreciation for tax purposes is $180 and the company tax rate is 30%. The tax base of this asset is: a. * b. c. d. 14. temporary differences permanent differences tax losses the current income tax liability. $120 $220 $80 $20In jurisdictions where the impairment of goodwill is not tax deductible, AA SB 112 Income Taxes: a. * b. c. d. does not permit the application of deferred tax accounting to goodwill allows the recognition of a deferred tax item in relation to goodwill requires that any deferred tax items in relation to goodwill be recognised directly in equity requires that any deferred tax items for goodwill be capitalised in the carrying amount of goodwill. 15. Revaluations under AASB 116 Property, Plant and Equipment apply to: a. b. c. d. * all assets on an individual basis individual current assets only individual non-current assets only ssets on a class-by-class basis. 4 Question 2 – Short Answers (15 marks) Part a. The ASIC Act details that one of the primary accounting standard functions of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is to ensure that accounting standards serve the best interests of both the private and public sector. Why is it important that the FRC ensure that the interests of the public sector are met? (3 marks) One of the crucial roles of FRC is to assess the continued relevance and effectiveness of accounting and auditing standards to ensure that accounting standards serve the best interests of both the private and public sector.Relevant accounting standards lead to required and appropriate accounting information disclosure. Accounting information serves an important public policy purpose — namely improving the flow of information to investors in a country’s capital markets. Accounting information helps investors and other stakeholders make sound economic decisions, which will enhance the efficiency of resource allocation and fairness of wealth distribution in the society. With the development of a country’s economy, the social welfare will increase.The public interest means such social welfare. 5 Part b. You have recently graduated with your Bachelor’s degree and have applied for a position with the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) as a technical adviser. At the interview, the Chai rman stresses that they often have difficulties in determining whether the standards they draw up should follow a ‘principles based’ or ‘rules based’ approach. In particular they want to implement standards to overcome creative accounting practices.Knowing that you have recently completed studies in accounting theory and standard setting, explain the Chairman what are the three main differences between the ‘principles based’ approach as opposed to a ‘rules based’ approach to standard setting? (3 marks) Principles Based ? †¢ †¢ IASB follows a principles-based approach to standard setting. Constructed in a broad framework that is not focussed on specific rules under specific circumstances Allows for professional judgement in relation to substance rather than form Advantages of principles-based standards †¢ Principles-based standards are simpler. They supply broad guidelines that can be applied to many situations. †¢ They improve the representational faithfulness of financial statements. †¢ They allow accountants to use their professional judgement. †¢ Evidence suggests that managers are less likely to attempt earnings management. Disadvantages of principles-based standards †¢ Managers may select treatments that do not reflect the underlying economic substance. †¢ The judgement and choice involved in many of the decisions mean that comparability among financial statements may be reduced Rules-based †¢ Currently FASB follows rules-based approach. Constructed in a framework that is focussed on specific rules under specific circumstances. †¢ Misuse in corporate collapses means that FASB is reconsidering if they should move to principles-based standards. Disadvantages of rules-based standards †¢ Rules-based standards can be very complex. †¢ Organisations can structure transactions to circumvent unfavourable reporting. †¢ Standards are likely to be inco mplete or even obsolete by the time they are issued. †¢ Manipulated compliance with rules makes auditing more difficult. †¢ Rules-based standards can be confusing. Part c.Explain what a conceptual framework is and what are the benefits of having a Conceptual Framework for the accounting profession? (4 marks) Definition of a Conceptual Framework ? ‘A coherent system of interrelated objectives and fundamentals that is expected to lead to consistent standards’; ? Also, it is an attempt to provide a structured theory of accounting that prescribes practice. ? establishes concepts/ideas that underlie the preparation and presentation of financial reports; ? assists standard setters, preparers, auditors, users and those interested in the work of standard setters How the framework is used for the accounting profession? Explains the concepts/ideas that underlie the preparation and presentation of financial reports for external users – What is the purpose of finan cial reporting? – For whom should financial reports be prepared? – What qualitative characteristics should financial information possess? – What are the elements of financial reporting? – What measurement rules should be employed? It provides guidance to the accountants when there is no specific guidance given in the accounting standards.It also assists the accountants when they cannot understand the application of certain IFRS due to the complexity involved. 7 Part d. Barton Ltd uses tractors as a part of its operating equipment, and it applies the straight-line depreciation method to depreciate these assets. Barton Ltd has just taken over Deakin Ltd, which uses similar tractors in its operations. However, Deakin Ltd has been using diminishing balance method of depreciation for these tractors. The accountant in Barton Ltd is arguing that for both entities the same depreciation method should be used for tractors. Provide arguments for and against this pro posal. 2 marks) Para 50 of AASB 116 notes that depreciation is the systematic allocation of the depreciable amount of an asset over its useful life.. Arguments against the Proposal ? Depreciation is measuring the change in value due to the use of an asset over the period. It is possible that Deakin Ltd has been using the diminishing value as it was going to use the tractor more in the early years of the economic life and hence the choice of the depreciation method is justified. Arguments in Favour ? It is important that there is consistency in the type of the asset and depreciation method applied.Part e. a. Explain the difference between the cost model and revaluation model under measurement subsequent to initial measurement. (3 marks) Cost Model AASB 116 requires that measurement subsequent to initial measurement of assets could be carried at cost less any accumulated: – depreciation; – impairment losses. Revaluation model – As an alternative to the cost model AASB 116 allows the revaluation model to be used for classes of assets. Revaluation is an adjustment of PPE’s carrying amount so that it reflects its current fair value. Measurement basis is fair value (FV).Frequency of revaluations is not specified, but must be performed with sufficient regularity such that the carrying amount of assets is not materially different from their FV. Revaluation performed on a class basis. Accounting performed on an asset-by-asset basis. 8 Question 3 – Practical (10 Marks) Bravo Ltd began operations on 1 July 2011 and has provided the following information: 1. 2. 3. Pre-tax accounting profit for the financial year ended 30 June 2012 is $150 000. The enacted tax rate is 30%. Differences between the 30 June 2012 income statement and tax return are listed below: (a) b) (c) (d) (e) 4. Annual leave expense accrued for financial reporting purposes amounts to $15 000. The employees were not allowed to take annual leave in the first year of operat ion. Depreciation of property, plant and equipment for accounting purposes amounts to $120 000. Depreciation of these assets amounts to $80 000 for the tax return. Entertainment expenses of $6 500 were included in computing pre-tax accounting profit. Tax free government grants of $5 000 were recognised as income. As a small business, Bravo Ltd chose for taxation purposes cash accounting for their sales revenue.Accounts receivable regarding sales show a balance of $20 000 at year-end. There was no need to recognise any allowance for doubtful debts. Taxable profit is expected for the next few years. Required (a) (b) (c) Calculate taxable profit for the financial year ended 30 June 2012. (4 marks) Prepare the journal entry to record income tax expense, deferred tax and income tax payable for the financial year ended 30 June 2012. (4 marks) Draft the income statement beginning with ‘Profit before income tax’. (2 marks) (a) Pre-tax accounting profit $150 000 Permanent differ ences: Entertainment expenseTax-exempt revenue Adjusted accounting profit 6 500 (5 000) 151 500 Originating temporary differences: Annual Leave Provision Accounting expense Tax deductible Excess depreciation expense Accounting expense Tax deductible Excess Revenue Taxable profit (b) $ 15 000 (0 ) 15 000 > DTA 4 500 120 000 (80 000) 40 000 > DTA 12 000 (20 000) > DTL 6,000 $186 500 > Income tax payable 55 950 Income Tax Expense 45 450 Deferred Tax Asset 16 500 Income Tax Payable 55 950 9 Deferred tax liability 6 000 DTA = 4 500 + 12 000 (c) Profit before income tax Income tax expense Profit for the period $150 000 45 450 $104 550 10

How to become a good manager Essay

1- What are the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear family? A main advantage of the nuclear family is that a couple has ultimate privacy. Nuclear families incur less stress and trouble when moving into a new home. There is a specific sense of freedom that gives a nuclear family the ability to live life as they wish. It is also easier to avoid stress. A disadvantage is that children are left to take care of themselves. Another disadvantage is that the feeling of safety and security is lacking. There is also not much of a support system. 2- What are the advantages and disadvantages of extended family? Extended families are families where three or more generations are living in the same house. Usually, that means that the grandparents are living with their children and grandchildren. Research has shown that there are several advantages to living in extended families. Extended families are very important in countries where there is no social security net. Extended families help prevent elderly people from becoming poor. Another advantage is that the grandparents can look after the children. During the day, the grandparents watch the children to make sure that they are ok. And they also talk to the children when the parents are busy. This helps the children learn their language. And since the children are well taken care of, both of the parents are free to work on the farm or earn money in jobs. Disadvantages. Sometimes you have no privacy because there are so many members. They can also cause conflict and problems, meddling in other family members’ problems. While it is advantageous when you have a problem to have other members around to help, sharing other family members’ problems can also become burdensome on other members†¦ so that you not only have your own problems to worry about, but those of your extended family. 3- What are the advantages and disadvantages of polygamous family? Advantages of polygamy can be that stereotypical ‘female’ roles can be shared. That means that children get more attention, house work is done quicker and also  that if a woman in a polygamous relationship wants to work outside the home, she can without worrying whether or not ‘strangers’ are raising her child. Disadvantages can occur when people start to think they have ownership over each other and get jealous. Other disadvantages may be that as a wife gets older she can be replaced with a ‘better’ younger woman. She may feel neglected as her time has passed, but monetarily she should still be taken care of and she still has her place in the family. 4- What are the advantages and disadvantages of arranged marriage? Advantages: Your parents know you personally from birth to raising you your whole life so they best know your dispositions and personality and how you cope with others and all that good stuff. When they look for someone for you, they look out for people who best fit your mold and not someone whom you might be enticed by from some few qualities that turn out to be not so great later on. Also, usually arranged marriages occur w/in close communities so people will know each other well from childhood and in that case, people really do know each other, including those getting married and they are strangers. In Islam also, parents not only look for good personal qualities but also good spiritual qualities in how good they are with their religion and so forth. The person getting married also can refuse any person their parent chooses as he/she has no compulsion to marry anyone he/she doesn’t like or doesn’t think he/she will like. Finally, although a non-Muslim wouldn’t consider it anything, Muslim stress a lot on prayer and that Allah leads them in the right direction to the right match and steer them away from a bad choice. Disadvantages: You don’t necessarily know the person so love attraction may take some time. Something which is really bad not b/c of the institution itself but more b/c of various cultural influences on people’s personal agendas or essentially, when parents aren’t looking out for their children but their own needs. They may have personal prejudices against people who look some way or against people of a certain status and while Islam states that a true Muslim looks  past these things and only spirituality matters, not all parents are good Muslims and some are better South Asians than Muslims and are quite superficial. These kind of parents also don’t give much thought to spirituality either so it could be a woman who wears tight clothing or a man who drinks and womanizes. 5- What are the advantages and disadvantages of love marriage? Advantages of Love Marriage One of the most important advantage of love marriage is that it gives you the freedom to choose your own life partner and love marriage offers more independence and freedom to live your life. In love marriage both individuals feel more secured and comfortable as they know each other well and are also aware of strengths and weakness of each other. And they do not find any difficulty or anything new in their life after their marriage. Love marriage has a bright chances of success because it occurs from mutual attraction, love and understanding of individuals. It is not an artificially created union as in an arranged marriage. Love marriage gives your life excitement and peace of mind. You have a life partner of your choice with whom you can go to different places, enjoy your vacations, watch sports events and you’ll see all these things will look more lovely when you have your love with you Disadvantages of Love Marriage In spite of advantages there are certain disadvantages of love marriage. Those individuals who go for love marriages usually don’t get family support and even in some cases their relatives do not approve of their marriage. In love marriage both bride and groom have more expectations from each which can ruin their happiness in coming future as unmet expectations are a major cause of conflict in love marriages. The worst drawback of love marriage is an early break up, as both individuals who were in love with each other before the marriage feel lack of freedom from their families. Love marriages are successful only if a person is chosen wisely but man such marriages are not a result of any careful deliberation or insight but raging hormones. So, as a result there is mismatch between life’s goals and aspirations of the two individuals, which after some time becomes a cause of friction and eventually leads to divorce. Thus it is most important to decide to get married to a person who loves you more than you love that person 8- Why do  we need to study about Asian Culture? If you look at the countries that form the Asian continent, they are as diverse and fascinating as you can get. The continent includes giant nations like China, India and Turkey – and is home to historically-rich countries like Japan, Korea and the Philippines. The Middle East is an area rich in culture and natural resources, and is the theological homeland for all three of the world’s largest religions, which are found in this area. In fact, Asia is the birthplace of most of the world’s religious and philosophical thought. As far as culture is concerned, there is nowhere more fascinating and diverse on earth. From the mountain-tops of Tibet to the sand dunes of Saudi Arabia, Asia is home to a host of really important cultures. 9-What are the advantages and disadvantages of city living? There are many advantages living in a city. Living in a city is very convenient. There ara many important things for life such as cloths, furniture and health care here. There are better choices because there are more shops. We can also choose an expensive or cheap things that suit to our budget. Living in a city can makes chances of getting a proper education because we can go to a better school, colleges or universities. Most of the good and famous universities are situated in big cities. It is also easier to find chances of getting a good job and of course a good salary if you choose to live in a big city. A big city has more opportunity to find job with good salary as there are many companies, corporations and businesses. The facilities are also good. During emergency, we do not have to be transferred to other hospital as we need only short time to get to the hospital. In addition, living in city, we can enjoy the best entertainment. There are many entertainment for our family. Furthermore, we can also enjoy many kinds of food as there are many restaurants in city. The public transportations in city are always better than the one that we have in the rural area. We can choose transport like busses, LRT or monorail which the rural area does not have. These will reduce our expenses.

Statistical Significance and Homemade Shampoo

A Study on Gugo and Okra as Homemade Shampoo A Research Done by: Francine Faye A. Jumaquio Majaline Faye A. Tolentino Romer T. Nepumoceno Talavera National High School Talavera Nueva Ecija A Study on Gugo and Okra as a Homemade Shampoo Claudine M. Lajara I-Rosal Introduction This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a homemade shampoo out of the native Gugo, scientific name Entada phaseuoliodes and Okra, scientific name Abelomoschus Esculentus L. in making different type of hair stronger. Four phases were done: Phase 1, the control treatment; Phase 2, homemade shampoo compared to control treatment; Phase 3, homemade shampoo compared to varied concentration of gugo and okra; and Phase 4, where the acceptability of the homemade shampoo was determine in terms of smoothness, softness, and manageability. Statement of the Problem: Specifically, the researchers aimed to answer the following questions: 1. Can gugo and okra be used as raw material in making shampoo? 2. How effective are gugo and okra on the tensile strength of the hair? 3. Which treatment is more effective – treatments with greater concentration of okra han gugo or more gugo than okra? Procedure A. Preparation of Materials About 10,000 hair strands were gathered from four respondents having different types of hair, (normal, and dry, ethnic, curly). In each type of hair, 2020 strands were used: 240 strands for water, okra, 10 percent gugo, and 100 percent gugo; 240 strands for seven brands of shampoo; 12 0 strands for gugo and okra; and 600 strands for 10 treatments with varied concentration of okra and gugo. Five hundred grams of gugo bark were boiled in 70 ml of water for 30 minutes, and strained to extract the juice. The decoction was placed in a clean bottle. To prepare okra decoction, 200 grams of okra fruits were boiled in 200 ml tap water for10 minutes. The cooked okra was masked for extraction and decoction was strained for the preparation of solution. The homemade shampoo was prepared from 50 ml gugo decoction and 50 ml okra decoction. A 58ml coconut oil was added to the mixture and placed in an earthen pot. It was heated for 5 minutes and placed in a clean bottle. The homemade shampoo was then prepared into two setups: setup A and setup B. The treatment involves four type of hair (normal, dry, ethnic, curly). Setup A Treatment |Gugo (ml) |Okra (ml) | |1 |50 |50 | |2 |40 |60 | |3 |30 |70 | |4 |20 |80 | |5 |10 |90 | Setup B Treatment |Gugo (ml) |Okra (ml) | |1 |50 |50 | |2 |60 |40 | |3 |70 |30 | |4 |80 |20 | |5 |90 |10 | B. Soaking Process and Determination of the Hair Strength In phase 1, four treatments were prepared: †¢ Treatment 1: water, †¢ Treatment 2: Okra , †¢ Treatment 3: 10 percent gugo, †¢ Treatment 4: 100 percent gugo. These are the control treatments. Six bowls were prepared and labeled as 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 minute, respectively. Sixty strands of normal hair were used and divided into 10 strands. The hair strands were simultaneously soaked in the respective bowls with 100 ml tap water and were removed when the time allotted for each bowl had elapsed. Then they were rinsed separately. They were placed in clean sheets of paper labeled according to the length of time they were soaked, (such as T1- water: 5 minutes; T2 – water: 10 minutes; and so on). The bowl used from the first treatment was washed thoroughly and were used again for the other treatments. The process was repeated for treatments 2, 3, 4. To determine the strength of the hair strands, a spring scale was used and five trials were done. From the 10 strands of normal hair, 5 strands from Treatment were tested. The hair strands were tied up to the spring scale at one end. A 15 cm length of the hair strands were maintained between the spring scale and the weight. The weight was pull until the hair snaps. The amount of force in Newton (I Newton = 100 grams) registered on the spring scale prior to the breaking of the hair was recorded and the average result from the five trial was computed. The process was repeated for treatments 2, 3, 4. Also the same process was done for ethnic, dry, and curly hair. In the second phase, 480 strands from four hair types were used. Out 480 strands, 120 strands of the hair were prepared for trial 1 and trial 2, using the homemade shampoo (gugo and okra). The same procedure ion phase 1 was done for these treatments. In the third phase, 2,400 strands of hair were prepared from the four types of hair. Out of 2,400 strands, 1,200 strands were used in setup A and another 1,200 in set up B. Each set up has 5 treatments and 60 hair strands were divided into ten, and each 10 were soaked separately in six bowls labeled 5, 10, 15, 22, 25, and 3 minutes, respectively. The same procedure from the previous phases was done to determine the hair strength. In the 4th phase, 20 female respondents, who had normal and dry hair were asked to apply Treatment 1 in setup A: 10 percent gugo + 90 percent okra. Most of their hairs were equal in length. The respondents treated their hair one by one. They wet their hair first and 20ml of this treatment was applied to the entire crown and was massaged on the scalp. After 1 min. , the hair was rinsed thoroughly with tap water. A clean towel was used to dry and comb their hair slowly. After 1 hour, the effect on the hair was observed using 1 to 4 scales. The following scales were used: |A. Softness |B. Smoothness |C. Manageability | |1 – slightly soft |1 – slightly smooth |1 – slightly manageable | |2 – fairly soft |2 – fairly smooth |2 – fairly manageable | |3 – soft |3 – smooth |3 – manageable | |4 – very soft |4 – very smooth |4 – very manageable | After having applied and observed the effects of treatment 1; treatments with 90% gugo + 10 % okra were used by the same respondents with the same procedure as of Set up A. Results, Discussion and Conclusion Phase 1: Significant comparison on the hair strength among the control treatments: There was no significant difference on the hair strength, considering the different types of hair. However, the longer the longer the time each type of hair was soaked, the greater the hair strength. Among the four treatments in this phase, the hair strength when soaked in 10 %gugo, were the strongest while water was the weakest. Phase 2: Significant comparison between homemade shampoo and control treatment: Normal hair was significantly strongest compared to curly, dry and ethnic. Among the control treatment, hair strength was the strongest when soaked in treatment three: 10% gugo. Treatment 1: water was registered the weakest. It was also observed that as the soaking time increased, the hair strength also increased. Phase 3: Significant comparison among homemade shampoo, control treatment, Setup A and Setup B: Normal hair was significantly stronger, curly hair was the weakest, while dry and ethnic hair were almost comparable to each other. 10% gugo registered the strongest hair strength, followed by okra, then okra and gugo. Together, these three treatments were significantly different from all other treatment. The longer the soaking time, the stronger the hair strength. Phase 4: Acceptability of treatments. For normal hair, the two treatments showed no significant differences in terms of smoothness, softness and manageability. The 90% gugo+ 10%okra treatment was fairly manageable and the 10% gugo + 90% okra treatment was manageable. For dry hair, the two treatments showed no significant difference in terms of smoothness, softness. But there was a significant difference of manageability at 0. 5 probability level. Recommendations Based on the findings, the researcher recommends the following: 1. Use okra as raw material for making shampoo; 2. Further study of the properties of the homemade shampoo to establish the effect on hair; 3. Follow-up research must be conducted on the acceptability for other types of hair; 4. This research would provide information to those who are interested in the production of this product. Bibliography Jumaquio, Francine Faye A. , et. al. , â€Å"A Feasibility Study of Gugo and Okra as Homemade Shampoo†.

Oprah Winfrey Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Oprah Winfrey Life - Essay Example All the ventures that she started achieved a great measure of success. After 25 years of hosting the immensely successful show known as The Oprah Winfrey Show (TOWS) Oprah made the drastic decision to end the show. She also indicated that she has the intention to start up her very on television network to be known as Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Considering that TOWS which is what most people identify with Oprah will no longer be produced, the question becomes whether Oprah’s network OWN can achieve the same success that TOWS achieved or Oprah is overstretching her ability and brand power (http://www.oprah.com/pressroom/Oprah-Winfreys-Official-Biography ) . TOWS was broadcast over the 25 year period and it grew to be one of the most watched television shows. The show had an estimated viewership of 42 million weekly viewers in the US. It was also broadcast in around 145 different countries. The popularity of the show was credited to the confessional approach that the show had. It provided a forum for people to share their story and was used as a platform to empower people to live better and healthier lives. The book club that Oprah formed as a segment of TOWS served to encourage people to adopt a reading culture. Most of the books selected for this role achieved the best seller status. Other brands that were endorsed by Oprah also became immensely successful. The success of the Oprah brand was also extended to the online version or website for TOWS, which is Oprah.com, and to the O magazine. Oprah’s media ventures also included satellite radio when through a deal with XM satellite radio she started the channel Oprah and friends, and later renamed the channel Oprah radio. Aside from her contribution to the media, Oprah is also a philanthropist. She has regularly contributed to causes that are aimed at making education accessible for the disadvantaged in different communities. Her contribution to education also includes starting The Oprah Winfrey Aca demy for Girls, which is aimed at empowering young disadvantaged girls in South Africa. The academy seeks to empower them to achieve their dreams and ambitions and also develop women in South Africa for leadership positions (http://www.oprah.com/pressroom/Oprah-Winfreys-Official-Biography). The different brands that Oprah managed to create and grow to a success are often associated with her personality and her face. This makes it easier for people to identify with the brand and has led to what is considered ‘the Oprah effect’. Her personality has been recognized based on her ability to be honest about different issues that have affected her as well as those that affect people all over the world. She is therefore considered as one of the most powerful opinion leaders and shapers in the world. Celebrity branding has been unsuccessful in several instances. There is therefore the concern that the new venture (OWN) by Oprah may fail following an overuse or overexposure of Op rah as a brand. Celebrity branding has gone wrong such as in the case of Martha Stewart who was once a powerful brand in several instances. Following credibility issues that were brought about by her arrest and jailing, the brand Martha Stewart became one that nobody wanted to have any kind of association with. Despite many attempts to revive the brand, people continued to avoid it and anything that was thought to have any form of

Violence against women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Violence against women - Essay Example Domestic violence against women reaches all the socioeconomic levels. Poverty, education background as well as culture and religion have contributed largely to cases of domestic violence against women in different parts of the world (Peter et al, 446). There is an urgent need for a clear solution to this social problem and create an environment where both men and women respect each other and shun any forms of violence. This essay examines various literature detailing cases of domestic violence against women from various parts of the world in a bid to showcase the magnitude of the problem and provide solutions based on the cases studied. The essay will also attempt to give an overview of the policies, rules and regulations enacted in various jurisdictions to cub the problem of domestic violence against women. A historical perspective of domestic violence against women can be traced back to the 20th century with the emergence of women’s movements aimed at bringing issues affecting women to the forefront in the context of feminism and women’s rights (Peter et al, 455). Attention was drawn towards the concern of the wives being beaten by their husbands. The political agitations occurring in the countries of United States and United Kingdom led to amendments in both legislation as well as popular opinion. Jordan has attracted international attention in the recent years as far as violence against women is concerned. In Jordan for instance, honor killing is almost a normal thing. Honor killing refers to the killing of women by their partners (Peratis 15). Women risk their lives if they are alleged to engage in certain acts considered immoral in the community such as adultery. Culturally, women who engage in such shameful acts are humiliated and even killed ruthlessly in order to s erve as an example to other women who may engage in such acts (Peratis 15). There are several reported cases in Jordan of women who have been battered and in some instances killed by their own husbands. In a male dominated society such as Jordan, men are always left to go scot free if found engaging in similar acts (Peratis 15). The legal structures in Jordan do not expressly deal with the issues of violence against women. This has led to concerns over whether the authorities in the country support domestic violence. In Brazil, the situation is almost similar to the experiences of women in Jordan. For a very long time, women have received inconsiderable support from authorities in Brazil when they report cases of domestic violence (James 23). Lawyers always seem to argue their case up and keep men out of punishment for violence against women. The legal structures in the country have lots of grey areas that need to be cleared in order to ensure that women enjoy mutual respect and lov e in relationships. Cases of honor killing often drag for so many years therefore delaying justice (James 23). In a recent ground breaking and historical judgment, a Brazilian court ruled in favor of women in an honor killing case by stating that a man who kills his wife can never be acquitted (James 23). This judgment is expected to give Brazilian women a glimpse of hope in to the future. The concept of human rights emerged from the idea of the political theories prevalent in the western world about the rights of humans to freedom and autonomy (Lila 119). It can be stated that the emergence of the human rights aimed to protect the individual and the state. The human rights stay

Inclusion of EBD students Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Inclusion of EBD students - Essay Example Eventually, the United States federal government made numerous legislative changes to address this issue and have helped change public opinion to give special needs students many more advantages. Today the goal of the United States’ special education program is to enable children with special needs to become full members of society. One of the problems that the United States faces with special needs programs is that teachers are not preparing all special needs students as several slip through the cracks of an overburdened system. Students with invisible handicaps have been left behind and pushed aside. For example, students with emotional behavior disorders are not fully included in the school programming. The easiest way to deal with them has been to push them away into specially designed ‘behavior’ classrooms. Lack of funding has prevented many systems from including the kind of real support these students need to help them become successful in the classroom and, in turn, become full members of society. Throughout history the treatment of students with special needs has been troubled with injustice and inappropriate practices. Many special needs students were placed in asylums and institutions. The asylums and institutions of the early 1900’s were replaced with â€Å"special classes† by the 60’s and 70’s where students with disabilities were segregated and labeled. Although these classes were improvement over the asylums, the children in these programs were stigmatized and were given little opportunity to interact with the general population in the schools. These students had little understanding of the social networking necessary for integration into society and therefore had little chance of success. With time, these special classes gradually began to include students with less obvious disabilities. In these classes students were taught by

Learning Team Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Learning Team Paper - Essay Example This paper shall seek to answer that question. In the case of the supply chain, there has to be a critical look at ones suppliers. The company deals with material of a delicate nature and one must ensure that the suppliers also adhere to the highest standards possible. The molding company must also manage its supply chain such that so as to only undertake the tasks that are logistically sound. In other words, the supply chain must function at optimum capacity. Capacity management is also critical. The final expected return from the sale of the health parts should determine the necessary capacity. The company must ensure that the right numbers of people are at hand for a specific product. Some products are used in large numbers and so the target market shall determine the necessary capacity in that case. Excessive capacity will underutilize the workforce and lead to overproduction. Lean production is not to be ignored either. The engineer should be close to suppliers so as to minimize on transport costs. The watchword as far as lean production is concerned is waste. Cutting wastage of raw materials, wastage of stock and time wastage before delivery must be cut. After all, these are medical products and they need to be produced

Human Disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Disease - Essay Example This is because such resources are subjected to prerequisite verifications before their publication. Grace, a sixty five year old woman, noted some changes in her cognitive ability that she associated with the general assumption that body processes slow down as people age. Her condition however continued to deteriorate with symptoms that were not reported by people of her age or those who were older than she was. Diagnosis of her condition as Alzheimer’s disease identifies a number of factors as possible causes. Her old age, being 65 years old is one of the risk factors that could have caused the disease. Genetic factors that could have been indicated by the disease’s diagnosis among her close relatives such as sibling or parents, or existence of particular genes in her system are another possible set of causes of her changed condition. Having a reported case of a cardiovascular disease or extreme level of mental stress as well as her gender could also have facilitated development of Grace’s disease. The disease could have therefore independently developed in h er or she could have inherited it from her parents through genes (Jasmin, p. 1). Changes in Grace’s cognitive ability that included forgetfulness of tasks and procedures, reduced ability to perform duties, and reduced decision-making ability raised her concerns of a possible problem. Complications that were more serious and that included change in behavior, difficulty to communicate, deteriorated memory and poor cognitive ability then prompted her medical attentions (National, p. 1; Jasmin, p. 1). Even though the disease started with mild symptoms, it gradually worsened to more serious symptoms and adverse effects on the patient. She for example lost her ability to coordinate words into sentences for communication. There was also a significant level of emotional instability as she could easily get angry and overreact to conditions that never bothered

Elder Ause and Mistreatment Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Elder Ause and Mistreatment - Research Proposal Example The last part of the paper covers standards of the research method and some aspects of the elder abuse and mistreatment in the modern society. Organization of the research under NASW standards also is very important. Elder abuse and mistreatment is a many-sided social problem in the modern society, as it touches such spheres as health care, social services rendering, socio-economic protection and observance of human rights. The elderly are the most vulnerable social group due to their age, low capacity for work and competitiveness on the labor market or serious illnesses. During the previous century level of their social protection has been increasing owing to approval of international social standards and signing of international conventions. Social workers should not only prevent development of these phenomena, but consider them from scientific point of view. Efficient counter-measures should be taken to identify reasons and sources of the abuse of this social group. A developed hypothesis relates to interrelationship of level of social and law knowledge of the elderly and prevention of abuse/mistreatment. This problem has been previously examined by Aurora Salamone, Marion Brickner, Luciana Oginoni and others. For example, Silvernet Study focused upon the elderly mistreatment in the home care programs and their fallacious behavioral patterns. Nikki DiFranks discovered the issue under dissection through the prism of Code of Ethics and social workers’ competency. The proposed research will aim to identify interdependence between social workers’ competency and abuse and mistreatment of the elderly. Research Proposal Question: Do attitudes toward reporting elder abuse negatively effect the likelihood of repor ting elder abuse? Hypothesis: The attitudes toward reporting elderly abuse negatively effect the likelihood of reporting elder abuse. Code of Ethics (NASW) is a basic source of regulation

Prison and National Probation Service cooperation Essay

Prison and National Probation Service cooperation - Essay Example While some perceived of it as a constructive step toward the reduction of reoffending rates and a positive contribution towards the greater national aim of crime reduction, others critiqued it as a misinformed strategy which would confuse the boundaries between prison' and community.' Such confusion, as critics maintain, will have dire societal consequences insofar as it is predicated on the assumption that inmate and out-mate offender management subscribe to the same concern, principles, aims and, thus, paradigms (Valios, 2004; Palmer, 2003; Peters, LeVasseur and Chandler, 2004). Proceeding from the background and controversy outlined in the above, the dissertation shall focus on the aims of the proposed justice system reform, critically analysing Noms from the perspective of best practices managerial theories. The rationale for selection did not simply emanate from the contemporaneous nature of the issue, or solely from its societal value but because the researcher has been professionally involved in both prison and probation services for a number of years and is, consequently, in a position to analyse Noms and argue the exigencies of its implementation on the basis of experiential evidence. Apart from the experiential knowledge and both subjective and professional interest in the issue, the topic was further selected consequent to the fact that the researcher's professional background places him in a position whereby he can collect primary data, conduct the requisite surveys and administer the necessary questionnaires with comparative ease. In other words, the researcher's professional background and awareness of the fact that community safety and societal interests are best served through the articulation and implementation of an effective and...As earlier stated, the primary areas of co ncern are the National Offender Management Service and organisational and people management theory. As pertains to either of these two issues, the existent wealth of academic literature testifies to their respective values and the extent to which the latter may be constructively informed by the former. Over the past two decades, offender management literature has articulated the imperatives of utilising existent people and organisational management tools and strategies in order to attain the managerial efficiency and effectiveness level upon which the goals of the justice system are predicated. The justice system, operating according to the principles of offender exclusion and rehabilitation within a prison system, followed by the release of offenders into society and under the supervisory guidance of the probation service, has been largely incapable of satisfying the justice system’s expressed goal of reducing overall offence rates and eliminating reoffending. The persistent inability to satisfy the articulated goals exposes what some have identified as a fundamentally flawed people and organisational management paradigm. According to the aforementioned perspective, the failure of the justice system to either reduce crime rates or rehabilitate offenders, thereby offsetting reoffense potentialities, is indicative of the greater failure to embrace effective and efficient people and organisational management paradigms.

4.1. Patriot leadership during the battle of Monmouth 1778 Essay

4.1. Patriot leadership during the battle of Monmouth 1778 - Essay Example der-in-chief of the Continental Army managed to have a deep sense of optimism and established himself in the belief that Americans can be guided to the virtue of patriotic courage in achieving the most yearned freedom. Despite the extreme hot weather that prevailed during the battle where a significant number of British and American soldiers died of heat stroke, the American general withdrew not from his original scheme. Though opposed and held back by Major Gen. Charles Lee in his thought of assaulting the enemy’s rear guard near Monmouth Court House at New Jersey, Gen. Washington’s command remained steadfast in pressing his 5000 armed men to seize Gen. Clinton and defeat the British troops (Hickman). The patriotism that emerged with the leading character of Gen. Washington may be identified as one that consists of unshaken revolutionary prospect, with both heart and mind proceeding to work in unity. It occurred that while Lee was most likely thinking of the heavy losses ahead of them under the typical fear of Great Britain’s voluminous power, the general maintained inner strength by the inspiring principle of an independent nation that enabled him to carry on the violent pur suit of victory for the US without

Human Resources Integration Essay Example for Free

Human Resources Integration Essay Hugh McCauley, the Chief Operations Officer of Riordan Manufacturing, has placed a service request, SR-rm-022 to integrate all existing Human Resources tools into a single integrated application across all plant locations. The business would like to take advantage of a more sophisticated, state-of-the-art, information systems technology to replace their current Human Resources Information System or HRIS (Riordan Manufacturing, 2006.) In response to this request, this document will outline the following items. The information-gathering techniques and systems analysis tools proposed for this project. Critical factors to ensure the sucessful gathering of information required for the project. Description of the project scope and the areas of project feasibility, and key stakeholders of which requirements will be collected are also discussed. INFORMATION GATHERINT TECHNIQUES AND SYSTEMS ANALYSIS TOOLS To ensure project success, it is important to gather your key stakeholders together to discuss the system. Key Stakeholders for this project would be key management personnel, IT staff, and users of both the legacy system, and the new system. Your key stakeholders will also be the first level of intelligence gathering performed. Key management personnel such as Hugh McCauley, the COO, who can give the corporate view of the legacy and the new system. HR Director Yvonne McMillian and Payroll/Tax Clerk Anan Richlich can give an exact use case on the HRIS system, and will be the two primary sources of legacy information. Director Yvonne can determine training requirements with the help of the IT department. The IT department can provide information about the legacy system and the capabilities of the current infrastructure of the business. IT can also judge and approve new requirements, privacy structures, and future support needed to maintain the  system. Face-to-face interviews will allow information gathering from these key individuals. Questions, an outline of topics, and a primary agenda will be provided beforehand to maximize the use of available time in hectic schedules. We will also be occasionally meeting to discuss the direction the system is heading, timelines, priorities, and key players lists to ensure success of the project. There is another primary source of information which needs addressing, and this is the group of people who handle information we will be adding which did not exist in the legacy system. This group can submit examples of their files, which will determine another part of the scope of the system, and use cases of how that information is gathered. After this information has been collected, documented and studied, the system development process can begin. The system will be designed using the Joint Application Development (JAD) method. JAD is a prototyping method which gathers our key players listed above, along with other designated individuals to collectively refine business requirements while in conference with the design team of the software and the support team from IT. The JAD process also includes approaches for enhancing user participation, expediting the development, and improving the quality of specifications. It consists of a workshop where knowledge workers and IT specialists meet, sometimes for several days, to define and review the business requirements for the system.† (Joint Application Design Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, n.d.) Using this prototyping method ensures that each key factors such as project support and misdirection will not be an issue. This also ensures that the project gets the continued support it will need in the future to succeed. SCOPE AND FEASIBILITY During the Analysis phase of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), several areas of project feasibility come into play. As discussed above, determining fully the system requirements ensures that you are filling the need of the system. A preliminary study is then conducted to confirm and evaluate the need. A proposal of how the need may be satisfied is then made. (Scope of Feasibility Analysis | Bicara Property, n.d.) The necessity of the system, as well as the improvements and requirements of the new system, will all be handled within the JAD process, allowing final project scope and requirements development. These developments can be realized  financially to allow final budgetary requirements determination. All of these determinations hinge upon the proper system scope being defined. During this process, the unique considerations are also shared. In this project, the request was to Create a detailed system design and a project implementation plan required to complete the proj ect. The project should be completed in approximately six months allowing new system utilization in the second quarter of next year. (Riordan Manufacturing, 2006.) This design process includes checks and balances, giving the project the fullest chance of success. During the entire process, oversight will be maintained by corporate leadership. Final approval before entering the next phase of the SLDC allowing equipment purchasing approval from the COO, Hugh McCauley. By following this process, we can ensure this project produces a system which fulfills the requirements, bringing a sophisticated, state-of-the-art, information system† to Riordan Manufacturing’s Human Resources Department. (Riordan Manufacturing, 2006.) During the JAD process, two methods were determined to fit the requirements, building a system in-house using programmers’ already on staff or using off the shelf software from a major corporation. To fulfill user testing requirements, a trial version of the BambooHR software was tested by staff and management. The BambooHR software fulfills all the requirements with less downtime for the company, saving valuable resources and eliminating the need for more support staff to be hired. The design process for this system began by gathering relevant data for the current system and by building both requirements for the new system and use cases of the current processes in the Human Resources department. After gathering and sorting the new system requirements using the Joint Application Design process, it is now possible to continue to design both the application architecture and apply the tools of system analysis to describe the information systems. SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE The client/server architecture is one of the most prevalent system architectures used in corporations. With Riordans requirements to allow multiple sites access to data and to ensure that data remains secure, the data will be stored on the server, and access routed through a secondary  application server. The application server hosts the applications which access the data, allowing a lower cost local machine, and can allow both intranet access and outside access using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection to create a secure encrypted link between the client and the server. This style of client/server architecture is referred to as a three-tiered architecture due to the three tiers involved in accessing the data. Although this method may seem bulky at first, this will allow many different benefits for data security and lower overall cost of the system as requirements are lower for the client computers. The determined requirements for multiple locations to share and modify data leaving with Riordan only required to supply the client systems with no additional support necessary for a data server or application server. Eliminating the current architecture on hand will save maintenance, upgrade and support costs, both in monetary and staff requirements. The chosen software, Bamboo Human Information Resource System (HRIS) follows the same requirements recommended in terms of hardware as those designed using system analysis. ARCHITECTURE DIAGRAM SECURITY CONTROLS Security is the ability to protect the information system from disruption and data loss, whether caused by an international act (e.g., a hacker or a terrorist attack) or a random event (e.g., disk failure, tornado.) according to SYSTEMS TEXTBOOK. In modern corporations, internal threats can become much more dangerous than external threats. To combat both types of threats implementation of the following security protocols will be included in the system: DATA Data must be kept secure and confidential, protected from both internal and external threats at all times. Data encryption and passwords will be used in addition to other security features to protect employees. Data stored externally to the server, such as the outsourced benefits data will be reviewed for security procedures and evaluated annually. Currently the data is decentralized, being stored in different offices and by various methods, creating a security problem that the new system can correct. The first step  to addressing this will be to ensure secure storage of all data. Consolidating data allows secure controls on the access each person has to the secured data by both the application used to access the server, and the access controls given them when they log in. This will also allow multiple applications to access the same data, while leaving greater flexibility to find the best software to fit multiple needs. Each user can add, remove, and manipulate only the data they are given access to, no matter the platform the data is being accessed form. PROCESSES Some legacy processes consolidation will occur as the data is consolidated, and certain processes would benefit from using third party software thereby gaining security certificates and minimizing the amount of knowledge and training required for our Information Technologies department. Many of the software suppliers will assist with training, modification and installation making the transition from the legacy system easier on staff. INTERFACES System interfaces describe how the system shares information with outside sources such as outsourced data, user requests, and internal data sharing. As Intrusion Detection and Identity Management systems will protect the internal data interfaces, as discussed above, the user interface design process needs to be addressed. As many of the users currently only have forms built for their information and no system to store them in, Riordan Manufacturing can evaluate different third party solutions for a web-based system. Using a web-based system, such as Bamboo HRIS allows applications to be placed on a remote server, lowering the cost of the clients used and saving valuable money and resources. Employees accessing the application server via the intranet will use username/password combinations to decrypt data on their local machine, while access from external sources, including employees at a remote site will use a private key encryption system to decrypt their data. This process minimizes the amount of data stored on the individual clients in case of theft or destruction of client resources. NETWORK The network consists of the backbone, data server, application server, firewall, and clients. There are four processes that will be used to protect  the network from unauthorized access: Implementation of Intrusion Detection System – This system conducts real-time monitoring of the network, database, traffic, and user access and activity to find possible intrusion or security risks. Log Management Program – Almost all software produces logs which store information on user access, file management, and data modification to name a few examples. Consolidating these logs into easier to read and understand can help identify potential security risks. Identity Management Systems – Control access to resources and data based on the users identification within the system, i.e. the users login credentials.   Training for Security Measures – The best security system will not function to its highest potential unless staff are trained in the use of the system. This training includes proper in-processing and out-processing procedures to protect from unauthorized access. Although the Systems Development Life Cycle is a continuous cycle, the final step for this Human Resources Information System project is the Implementation and Operations phase. This is the most expensive and time-consuming phase due to the amount of personnel, resources, and time involved. According to Valacich, George, and Hoffer (2012), there are seven major activities, coding, testing, installation, documentation, training, support, and maintenance. This document will explore the first six activities, giving a brief description and the plan for implementation at Riordan Manufacturing of the Bamboo Human Resources Information System. It is important to ensure that each of these activities are adequately defined, as many of them are conducted multiple times during the life of the system, and some are carried out on a daily basis. Building proper procedures for staff and support personnel to follow ensures that all upgrade or modification testing is accomplished to the same standards as the original system. CODING Coding is the process by which designs are transferred into the physical form that is computer software. As the selected system requires no coding, this  aspect will not be planned for TESTING Testing is an involved process which begins with the first section of code and continues throughout the life of the system. There are several different methods of testing in use today, some in which the code is run to verify operation and output, and some in which a code error review is conducted without operation. The Inspection method involves a physical inspection of the code, checking for syntax, grammar, or other fundamental errors before running the code while ignoring the purpose of the code. The inspection method usually removes the majority of errors found in the program. A Walkthrough allows testing of the code for functionality and to determine if the code fulfills the design requirements identified by the design team. Desk Checking, another form of checking and verifying code involves running the code with paper and pen to determine the logical validity of the code without running any lines of code. The previous methods of testing are focused on catching issues when writing code and may not apply to the code purchased off the shelf, or in modular form to work within an existing system. With the cost of development for code, especially in smaller companies this may not be a viable option, however even if purchasing prepackaged code, there are tests which should be run to ensure no problems will be found during installation. After the code has been validated by manual means, or for purchased code, it can be processed by a program, such as a compiler, to verify that there are no significant errors by Syntax Checking. Syntax Checking can also be run automatically each time the program saves a file to identify issues which arise causing the system to need maintenance. Code is generally written in modular form in todays environments, and there are methods of testing which lend themselves well to this. Unit testing is designed to test each individual module or unit to verify operation before the modules are combined together into a system. Testing individual modules may seem to be difficult as many modules share data and information, the way to fix any call errors is by using Stub Testing. During Stub testing, lines of instructions are inserted in the code to emulate a response from an outside source allowing the program to complete without errors. After testing the modules, they are combined and tested again during Integration testing, using a top-down approach to verifying communications and data sharing logic is sound. The final method  to discuss is System Testing, the act of testing the finalized system, using the same top-down approach from the Integration phase. The software chosen for Riordan Manufacturing to satisfy the needs listed is off-the-shelf giving limited testing requirements. Alpha Testing was accomplished during the final steps of the JAD, or Joint Application Design, process and beta testing will commence using key stakeholders in the project once final project approval has been given. INSTALLATION The installation process involves transitioning from the legacy system to the new system and can occur in several different approaches, direct, parallel, single location, and phased. â€Å"Each installation strategy involves converting not only software but also data and (potentially) hardware, documentation, work methods, job descriptions, offices and other facilities, training materials, business forms, and other aspects of the systems (Dennis, Wixom, Roth, 2012, ). Each of these different installation methods has their positive and negative aspects, and can be combined to fit the needs of the business requirements. The Direct Approach is a cold turkey shut down of the legacy system with no transition time, which can be dangerous if there are issues with the new system, or if support or training are lacking, however, this can drive the new system as there is no choice but success. In the Parallel installation method, the legacy system is left running allowing a safety net; however, this requires support for both systems causing increased cost to the business. A Single Location approach can allow for adjustments before all sites are brought online, however while the other locations continue to use the legacy system, data must be bridged between the two systems and the same additional costs of the Parallel system are incurred. Finally the Phased approach gradually transitions between the two systems, making transitions easier for the staff, yet limits the newer system to the constraints of the older system as they must share data. For Riordans new HRIS, the direct approach will be combined with the phased approach. Currently only the corporate site is using the legacy system, and phasing the other locations onto the system will allow training in phases by location. DOCUMENTATION Documentation of a system comes in several different forms each of utmost  importance. To ensure that the system can be adequately supported and repaired, System documentation is required. To ensure that users properly understand the system, User documentation such as a users guide, release description, system administrators guide, reference documentation and user acceptance are required. Systems documentation, users guide and reference documentation for this system is provided by Bamboo HR after purchase of the system is completed, and acceptance sign-off will be completed as the final step of the installation. TRAINING As systems can only function to the level at which users can operate the system, user training is tantamount to success of an installation. User training can occur in many different forms, classroom led training, literary resources, and online training, all of which are educational tools to heighten productivity and ensure system success. Support staff will also be trained to understand not only how the user accomplishes tasks within the system, but also the how the system performs these tasks if repair or maintenance is to be conducted. Training on the HRIS will be carried out by BambooHR using several different methods for different topics. As the system will be maintained by an outside company, the focus for Riordan will be user training. All staff will be trained using online methods with documentation support for using the new system as all pertinent employee information will be handled through the online system to include benefits, vacation time, and training. Specialist training will be available for the following procedures; benefit tracking, recruitment, employee and management training, employee tracking, login management, payroll activities, report management, change requests and performance reviews by BambooHR. In addition, IT support staff will receive refresher training in application program interface to allow for interactivity and continued development of the system as business needs change. SUPPORT Support of a system is conducted not only on the system itself, in terms of upgrades for the hardware and software, and backups of the data, but also support for the users. With any system, issues occur during use, and an avenue for users to report these quickly and accurately, and receive assistance for problems is required. Tracking these reported problems can  help system analysts and support staff determine if there is a fix for the software or hardware, or if more user training can solve the issues. CONCLUSION Purchasing the Bamboo HRIS program has both tangible and intangible benefits for Riordan Manufacturing. The financial aspect, $16,512 a year ($8 per employee for 172 regular employees) dwarfs the price of purchasing and installing the required hardware to run an on-site system, while removing the current outsourcing which exists for benefits management. Provided training, customer support, security support, data migration, business report design and security upgrades add to the overall corporate value and dispensing of the legacy system releases it support personnel while lowering utility and maintenance bills. Determinations of the proper level of support staffing needed to continue business operations after the legacy system retirement will be conducted to eliminate nonessential personnel. REFERENCES Cutler, T. P. (2015). Internal vs. external threats Digital locksmiths. Retrieved from http://digitallocksmithsinc.com/2013/03/27/internal-vs-external-threats/#.VQ5XR-HZBww Riordan Manufacturing (2006). Riordan Intranet. Retrieved March 15, 2015 from http://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/libraries/IT Service Requests.htm University of Phoenix 2005-2009 Unified Security Management USM Platform. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.alienvault.com/products?utm_source=Googleutm_medium=CPCutm_term=%2Balienvaultutm_campaign=SITELINK-ALIENVAULT_USMgclid=COrosKLUv8QCFRSIfgodGr4AUg Joint application design Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_application_design Bicara, Bedes (2009). Bicara Property. Retrieved January 16, 2010 from http://bicaraproperty.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/scope-of-feasibility-analysis BambooHR: Human resources software for small and medium businesses. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.bamboohr.com/ Valacich, J. S., George, J. F., Hoffer, J. A. (2012). Essentials of Systems Analysis and Design (5th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection.

Managing Multi-Agency Working in Elderly Care

Managing Multi-Agency Working in Elderly Care Managing Collaboration Multi-Agency Working for older people’s services Executive summary and introduction Collaboration in the field of both welfare and healthcare, on one level, can be expedient, efficient and economical. On another, more practical level, it can be a minefield of legislative, practical and interpersonal difficulties. (Arblaster. L. et al 1998) This report will consider these aspects in direct consideration of collaboration of the various aspects of care related to the elderly. It has to be viewed as being within the spirit and the legislative restriction of the NHS Plan (DOH 2000) and therefore considers the methods of collaboration with the PCTs in some detail, and also in the spirit and legislative requirements of the National Service Framework for the elderly. (Rouse et al 2001) What is collaboration between organisations? The transition from the concept â€Å"Empire† culture to the â€Å"Seamless interfaceâ€Å" culture is effectively based on the concept of practical and effective collaboration. (Powell, J. Lovelock, R. 1996) The changes that were proposed in a number of recent pieces of welfare based legislation (after the 1993 changes in the community care organisation and the National Service Frameworks to quote just two), have all espoused collaboration as their raison d’à ªtre. Clearly, in consideration of the elderly, there are numerous organisations that can potentially collaborate (Appendix Two), and all have their strengths, weaknesses and pitfalls. Let us examine one important area as an illustration. If we consider the welfare/health service interface. Primary healthcare teams control access to secondary and community health services through patient referrals. Social Services equally manage funding for home care and residential services including nursing home facilities and control access through assessment and care management. (Glendenning C et al 1998). When it is the case that, in terms of professional organisations, one depends upon another for access to services, their ability to obtain their own organisational or professional objectives can be severely compromised. (Haralambos M et al 2000). In practical terms, the GP is dependent on the social services to fund the appropriate facility whether it is a nursing home, domicillary enhancement services to keep a patient out of an acute medical hospital bed, or other forms of social support to facilitate the timely discharge of a patient from hospital. The arguments for collaboration are so overwhelmingly obvious that they hardly need repeating here. In real terms, the consideration of collaboration between organisations more analytically hinges on the question, â€Å"which organisations?†. The example that we have given is a fairly common collaboration and is therefore enshrined in both common working practice and also with legislative and regulatory boundaries. The advent of the National Service Frameworks have helped promote commonly recognised goals and objectives across the health/welfare spectrum of care, although a number of financial issues and problems with the organisational culture interface can commonly difficulty in everyday practice (Wierzbicki Reynolds 2001). Other organisations have to liaise and collaborate with the Social Services Dept. such as local and national voluntary support groups and specialist interest support groups, (often disease process based,) and these generally have much looser procedural issues and practices which may need different considerations. We shall discuss these in greater depth elsewhere in this essay. What are the problems? Taking a broad overview of the scope and possible nature of collaborative enterprises. Problems can arise from a number of organisational areas. Financial considerations, especially financial accountability, cause problems when this eventuality has not specifically been legislated for. Appendix Three sets out many of the potential pitfalls in this area. We observe that the health based services are essentially free to the patient whereas Welfare is largely means tested and thereby rendered vulnerable to changes of political direction and pressure. (Audit commission 2004) Another major area of potential difficulty stems from the historical development of professional language, terminology and working practices that each collaboration can interface. Client, patient , in need, deserving, dependent – all are terms frequently used by various healthcare professionals, but with different interpretations and nuances of meaning. Collaboration will inevitably require a more exact and specific vocabulary to be evolved and agreed. (Garlick C 1996). Collaboration inevitably means information sharing. The â€Å"Empire† concepts and constructs take a long time to die and be eradicated, but the seamless interface can only realistically be expected to work if all available information is shared. This raises serious problems of confidentiality if information is expected to be shared between healthcare professionals and collaborating agencies from the voluntary sector for example. (Cameron,A et al 2000). What are the solutions? Management solutions can be both complex and difficult to introduce or impose. By virtue of the potentially disparate nature of the collaborative partnerships that we are considering, there is clearly no â€Å"one size fits all† solution. It is for this reason that general principles are more useful than specific suggestions. The management of change (and therefore the solutions) is perhaps the most fundamental element in the discussion. Visions, ideas and directions are of little value if they cannot be translated into reality. (Bennis et al 1999). We can turn to the writings of Marinker (1997) who points to the fact that systems change, and indeed change management itself, are responsive to the acceptance of a division between concordance and compliance. People generally respond better to suggestion, reason and coercion rather than imposition of regulations and arbitrary change. The models that rely on publication and dissemination of information are generally more likely to be well received and more fully implemented, particularly if it is peer driven. (Shortell SM et al 1998) This is perfectly illustrated by the Davidmann Report (Davidmann 1988) on the debacle of the introduction of the Griffiths Reforms in the 80s. (Griffiths Report 1983). His major findings were that the Reforms failed because changes were imposed rather than managed Collaborative solutions should only realistically be made after a careful consideration of the evidence base underpinning that proposed change. (Berwick D 2005). Modern management theory calls for appropriate evaluation of the need for collaborative proposals by considering the evidence base on which the situation could be improved, its implementation by making managers aware of the need for change and proactively encouraging them in the means of implementation, and then instituting a review process to evaluate the effectiveness of the measures when they have been in place. (Berwick D. 1996) (Appendix five) Models of Collaboration There are a great many models of professional collaboration cited in the literature. In order to make an illustrated analysis, we will return to the specific example of the Health/welfare interface to consider some of the models in that area. In general terms, all of the models follow the functional structure Plan, Implement and Review (expanded in Appendix Five). The Outreach (or Outposting) model appears to be a commonly adopted model (McNally D et al. 1996), whereby a social worker is attached to a primary healthcare team. In terms of our analytical assessment here we should note that such arrangements, if subjected to process evaluation, generally promote progression towards a seamless interface in areas such as: The sharing of information and in mutual understanding of the different professional roles, responsibilities, and organisational frameworks within which social and primary health services are delivered. It is also noted that such benefits are generally greater if the implementation of such models is preceded by exercises including team building or joint training exercises. (Pithouse A et al 1996) Other models include the Joint Needs Assessments model in which service commissioning between primary health and social services teams have a common assessment base (Wistow G et al. 1998). This does not appear to have been as successful as the outreach model, and has had a rather variable history (Booth T 1999). Collaboration here has involved a variable number of agencies but not always the primary healthcare teams. The new primary care groups will have a strategic role in the commissioning of a broad range of health and welfare services. All NHS organisations have a clear imposed duty of collaboration and partnership with the local authorities (NHSE 1997) Collaboration in the form of joint commissioning models have also been tried. They tend to fall into one of three patterns including Area or locality as basis for joint commissioning Joint commissioning at practice level Joint commissioning at patient level None have been in place for long enough for a realistic assessment of their relative strengths and weaknesses to be evaluated yet. (Glendenning C et al 1998) Models- Interprofessional/teams One of the more successful models of collaboration is that of the multidisciplinary pre-discharge assessment team which, when it works well, can be considered a model of good collaborative working (Richards et al 1998). This requires all of the elements referred to above to be successfully implemented and to be in place if the optimum result for the client is to be obtained. Such a model calls for professional integration and collaboration of the highest order if National Service Framework Standard Two is to be fully realised. The framework calls for all concerned professionals to: Ensure that older people are treated as individuals and that they receive appropriate and timely packages of care which meet their needs as individuals, regardless of health and social services boundaries. It is, in our estimation, the crossing of these boundaries that, perhaps, is the key to collaboration. Review Collaboration as a concept is comparatively easy to define. Any dictionary will give a reasonable definition. As a workable model of practice, it is far more nebulous and hard to achieve. In this review we have tried to consider the barriers and management problems that make it harder to achieve together with the mechanisms which will militate towards successful implementation. We have identified financial and cultural barriers, as well as structural and organisational ones equally we have pointed towards models of collaboration which appear to be working well. It would appear to be the case that the prime factor in the success or ultimate failure of a collaborative exercise, is the success and management skills with which it is initially introduced.   References Arblaster. L. et al (1998) Achieving the impossible : interagency collaboration to address the housing, health and social care needs of people able to live in ordinary housing: Bristol Policy press and Joseph Rowntree. 1998 Audit commission (2004) Older People – Independence and well-being: The challenge for public services London: The Audit Commission 2004 Bennis, Benne Chin (Eds.) 1999 The Planning of Change (2nd Edition).. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York: 1999. Berwick D. 1996 A primer on the improvement of systems. BMJ 1996; 312: 619-622 Berwick D 2005 Broadening the view of evidence-based medicine Qual. Saf. Health Care, Oct 2005; 14: 315 316. Booth T. 1999 Collaboration between health and social services; a case study of joint care planning. Policy Polit 1999; 19: 23-49. Cameron,A. Brown H and Eby,M.A. (2000) Factors Promoting and Obstacles Hindering Joint Working; School for Policy Studies, Bristol. 2000 Davidmann 1988 Reorganising the National Health Service: An Evaluation of the Griffiths Report HMSO : London 1988 DOH 2000 Department of Health (2000) The NHS Plan. A Plan for Investment. A Plan for Reform. Cm 4818. London: The Stationery Office Garlick C. 1996 Social solution. Nurs Times 1996; 92: 28. Glendenning C. Rummery K, Clarke R 1998 From collaboration to commissioning: developing relationships between primary health and social services BMJ 1998;317:122-125 Griffiths Report 1983 NHS Management Inquiry Report DHSS, 1983 Oct 25 Haralambos M, M Holborn 2000 Sociology: themes and perspectives, Harper Collins 2000. Marinker M.1997 From compliance to concordance: achieving shared goals BMJ 1997;314:747–8. McNally D Mercer N. 1996 Social workers attached to practices. Project report. Knowsley: Knowsley Metropolitan Borough and St Helens and Knowsley Health , 1996. NHSE 1997 National Health Service Executive. Health action zones invitation to bid. Leeds: NHS Executive , 1997(EL(97)65.) Pithouse A, Butler I. 1994 Social work attachment in a group practice; a case study in success? Res Policy Plann 1994; 12: 16-20. Powell, J. and Lovelock, R. (1996), Reason and commitment: is communication possible in contested areas of social work theory and practice?, in Ford, P. and Hayes, P. (eds), Educating for Social Work: Arguments for Optimism, Aldershot, Avebury, pp. 76–94. Richards, Joanna Coast, David J Gunnell, Tim J Peters, John Pounsford, and Mary-Anne Darlow 1998 Randomised controlled trial comparing effectiveness and acceptability of an early discharge, hospital at home scheme with acute hospital care BMJ, Jun 1998; 316: 1796 – 1801 Rouse, Jolley, and Read 2001 National service frameworks BMJ, Dec 2001; 323: 1429. Shortell SM, Bennett CL, Byck GR. 1998 Assessing the impact of continuous quality improvement on clinical practice: what will it take to accelerate progress? Milbank Quarterly 1998; 76: 593-624 Wierzbicki and Reynolds 2001 National service frameworks financial implications are huge BMJ, Sep 2001; 321: 705. Wistow G, Brookes T, eds.1998 Joint planning and joint management. , London: Royal Institute for Public Affairs, 1998. ############################################################ 25.1.06 PDG Word count 2,290

Implications of change management on organizational behavior

Implications of change management on organizational behavior Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have-and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up. (James et al 1994) Change Management is the process, tools and techniques to manage the people-side of change to achieve the required business outcome (Prosci 2009). This report outlines a massive Change Management exercise rolled out at Infosys Technologies Ltd (ITL), India. ITL is a NASDAQ listed fortune 500, Indian IT company with 63 offices across the globe with an employee base of 1, 22,468 (Infosys 2010). Pre-recession scenario in Indian IT companies witnessed employee promotions in every 2-3 years. As a result, a person works on technology for 4-5 years and then moves up to management. This has resulted in clients complaining about the lack of technically strong people. To urgency to meet the client expectations triggered the launch of iRACE (Infosys Role and Career Enhancement) change management exercise in October 2009 amidst peak recession climate (Huczynski et al 2010 pp. 563). iRACE, implemented by global HR services firm Mercer Consulting, was a career transformation exercise with 24 career streams to ensure the growth will no longer be defined by movement up due to frequent promotions. This review sights the analysis of the nature of iRACE transformation using Scale Of Change and Change Leadership Style plot (Stace and Dunphy, 2001), change agents approach, communication strategy and implications of iRACE change and compares it with theory. Also suggestions that could have led to effective change management at Infosys with minimum resistance and impact on the employees have been proposed. Change characteristics Scale, Leadership style Context Analysis: With approx. 1, 00,000 employees getting affected by the iRACE change rollout the analysis of the scale, leadership style context of the change becomes very significant. Stance and Dunphy (2001) defined that the change of scale using four characteristics: fine Tuning, incremental adjustment, modular transformation and corporate transformation. Stance and Dunphy (2001) also defined the categories of change leadership style: collaborative, consultative, directive and coercive. Plotting Scale Of Change against Change Leadership Style and Dunphy Stace contingency approach to change implementation helps to analyze the scale of change, leadership style and evaluate the approach of iRACE change whether it fits in the right context or not . (Huczynski et al 2010 pp. 574). Fig1 : Scale of change and leadership style Scale of change Style of change leadership Fine Tuning Incremental Adjustment Modular Transformation Corporate Transformation Collaborative Type 1 Type 2 Consultative Participative evolution Charismatic transformation Directive Type 3 Type 4 iRACE Change was a necessity for survival. Had to rely on external support for doing the change. Coercive Forced evolution Dictatorial transformation Source: Adopted from (Huczynski et al 2010 pp. 574). This matrix analysis categorizes iRACE into a Corporate Change with Coercive leadership style and fits iRACE into a Dictatorial corporate transformation context. Role and approach of Change Agents in fostering the change: Effective management of change is necessary to sustain the competition. Balogun and Hope Hailey (2004) report a failure rate of around 70% of all change programmes initiated. The facts thus suggest that there is no well-defined framework across domains that outlines the management and implementation of change. What is available is a wide range of confusing theories and approaches (Burnes, 2004). Guimaraes and Armstrong (1998) support this by saying that mostly superficial analyses have been published in this basic area. With the lack of a fundamental framework of change, the role of change agents becomes exceedingly crucial. A change agent is defined as a manager who seeks to reconfigure an organizations roles, responsibilities, structures, outputs, processes, systems, technology or other resources in the light of improving organizational effectiveness (Buchanan and Badham 1999). Buchanan and Boddy (1992) list competencies of effective change agents: clarity of specifying goals, team building activities, communication skills, negotiation skills and influencing skills to gain commitment to goals. Gronn (2002) and Bennett et al (2003) sight that distribution of change agency means that more people need to have the skills required. Also contrary to Gronn (2002) and Bennett et all (2003) sighting, iRACE change agency was not distributed as major part of the change was formulated by Mercer Consulting (external change agent) and a committee of only 65 top level managers (internal change agents) Fig2 : iRACE Change Management and Communication (Phases and Timelines) Source: Self-understanding of knowledge of iRACE gained at Infosys (2009) Kanter (1989) speaks of superhuman change agents, with wide-ranging expertise, as a business athlete. Although the change agents seemed to be effective in Phase I but contrary to Kanter (1989) argument, change agents in Phase II couldnt perform effective organizational diagnosis and Phase III IV were ineffective because of the lack of expertise the change agents took much longer time than expected in dealing with the design complexities. This resulted in excessive delay in (Phase V) and thus delayed communication led to mismatch with the stakeholders expectations of the change resulting in resentment of the stakeholders (Kubler Ross, 1969). Importance of Communication- An underestimated picture An effective communication smoothens the delivery of the change. Bovee and Thill (2000, p.4) believe that effective communication only takes place when participants achieve a shared understanding, stimulate others to take actions and encourage people to think in new ways. Opposite to Bovee and Thills (2000) saying iRACE change communication lacked shared understanding at the managerial level. Gibb (1961) argues the importance of Communication Climate. Contrary to Gibb (1961) argument the climate was not favorable for iRace change with global recession cloud, layoffs and other stringent policy amendments (e.g. 9.15 work hour policy, ISTAFF policy) and communications taking place simultaneously. The communication process also lacked effective communication strategy. The communication was merely based on tactical analysis. Even though communication involved just tactical analysis, It failed to cater to all the areas of tactical analysis i.e. it lacked right channels for communication flow, timeliness and efficient monitoring. Communication was made highly complex. The delay in design phase worsened the communication by percolating the delay in delivery phase and as a result of shrinked timelines, communication process lacked two-way communication, dialogue and feedback, review exercise for the communication delivered and last but not the least the employee discomfort went un heard during the entire communication phase (Huczynski et al 2010 pp. 226-27). Fall out of the Change Impact on Organizational Behavior : Role Restructuring Demotions: Over 4,500 people got demoted because of the iRACE implementation. This created a furor. Loss of Loyalty of Employees: The employees criticized iRACE and the HR leadership through use of social media to express their resentment and the fading out loyalty. Unprecedented Attrition- A key failure indicator: In the initial half of 2010- Infosys lost 4000 employees in the month of February 2010 alone accounting for 3% of its total strength (Dexter 2010). Over 10,000 that have quit since October 2009, 4,000 left in February10 alone. About 1,000 e-separations were filed on the intranet on a single day: December 31st (Current IT Market 2010). Fig3 : Attrition Rate at Infosys Pre and Post iRACE change implementation Source: (Infosys Reports Filings 2010) Pre iRACE Implementation- Q3-09 to Q2-10 relate to Peak recession scenario iRACE design phase. iRACE Implementation- Q4-10 iRACE Implementation phase Post iRACE Implementation- Q1-11 to Q2-11- iRACE fall out phase. Refurbishing process- The Resolution : Unitarist frame of reference views organization as fundamentally harmonious, co-operative structures, consisting of committed, loyal, worker-management teams that promote harmony of purpose (Huczynski et al 2010 pp. 662-63). Ackroyd et al (1999) and Johnston (2000) identified the key features of unitarist frame of reference which use communication failures between management and employees to explain the workplace conflict. To overcome the communication failures continuous impacts, management must re-structure the communication process so that the objective of the change is communicated to the employees clearly. Firstly, using Gronn (2002) and Bennett et al (2003) theory of distribution of change agency management must involve more skilled persons in the communication thus distribute the change agency. Secondly, iRACE change agents should restructure the communication process by using a Strategic Planning- Iceberg which outlines the strategic approach to communicating change based o n four levels of planning outlined below (Clampitt et all N.D.). Fig3 : Strategic Planning Iceberg Source: (Clampitt et all N.D.) The Ice Berg strategic planning will benefit iRACE change agents in focusing on all four strategic approaches contextual analysis (anticipate possible resistance points), audience analysis (isolate key groups of employees that may be directly or indirectly impacted by the change) and strategic design (development of a sustainable strategy based on the outcomes of contextual and audience analysis) unlike the previous approach which focused on Tactics (how to s?) only. As the market is stabilizing after the recession, substantial rewards (salary hikes, exceptional performance promotions, role progressions if not role change) can be given to the employees which will be beneficial for the employees and the organization as a whole. Conclusion: The Scale Of Change against Change Leadership Style and Dunphy Stace contingency approach helped in accessing the characteristics of the change. The analysis also uses Gronn (2002) and Bennett et al (2003) change agency distribution theory to analyze the importance of distribution of the change agency viz a viz emphasizes on competencies of effective change agents. These strategies, if used, strategically, would have led to the involvement of more competent people into the change process as change agents. Diversification of change agency if ignored like in case of ITL leads to inefficient change strategy. The unitarist frame of reference helped to identify the causes of conflict in ITL. This analysis further highlights the (Clampitt et all N.D.) Ice Berg strategic planning approach to understand the significance of strategic communication of the change and communication climate Gibb (1961) and its benefits in communicating the objective of the change. Value of the strategic communic ation in fostering the change, if undermined, wreaks serious threats to the organizational behavior. The solutions suggested may involve extra manpower, extra effort and time in restructuring the communication process and communicating the essence of change. Given solution may also incur cost to give wage hikes initially but are competent enough to solve the problem and lead to a smoothened and sustainable organization change viz a viz improvement in organization behavior. References Ackroyd, S. and Thompson, P. (1999) Organizational Misbehavior. London: Sage Publications. Balogun, J. and Hope Hailey, V. (2004) Exploring Strategic Change, 2nd edition (London: Prentice Hall). Bennett, N., Wise, C. and Woods, P. (2003) Distributed Leadership. Nottingham: National College for School Leadership. Bovee, C.L. and Thill, J.V. (2000), Business Communication Today, 6th edition., Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Buchanan, D.A. and Badham, R. (1999), Politics and organizational change: the lived experience, Human Relations, Vol. 52 No. 5, pp. 609-29. Buchanan, D.A. and Boddy, D. (1992), The Expertise of the Change Agent, Prentice-Hall, London. Burnes, B. (2004) Managing Change: A Strategic Approach to Organizational Dynamics, 4th edition (Harlow: Prentice Hall). Clampitt, Phillip, G. and Berk, Laurey, R. (N.D.) Strategically Communicating Organization Change. http://www.imetacomm.com/otherpubs/pdf_doc_downloads/strat_commg_org_change_v5.pdf [Accessed 28/10/2010]. Current IT Market (2010). Most Viewed Posts Today: Infosys to give unheard of increments. http://www.currentitmarket.net/2010/03/infosys-to-give-unheard-of-increments.html [Accessed 27/10/2010]. Dexternights (2010). Daily dose of Technology and Reviews: Infosys iRace makes employees say I QUIT. http://www.dexternights.com/2010/03/20/infosys-irace-makes-employees-say-i-quit/ [Accessed 27/10/2010]. Gibb, J.R. (1961) Defensive Communication, Journal of Communication, 11(3): 141-48. Gronn, P. (2002) Distributed leadership as a unit of analysis, Leadership Quarterly, 13(4):423-51. Guimaraes, T. and Armstrong, C. (1998) Empirically testing the impact of change management effectiveness on company performance, European Journal of Innovation Management, 1(2), pp. 74-84. Huczynski, A., and Buchanan, A. (2010) Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition. Harlow: Pearson Education, pp. 563-575, 662-663. Infosys (2010). About us: What We Do http://www.infosys.com/about/what-we-do/pages/index.aspx [Accessed 23/10/2010]. Infosys Reports Filings (2010). Quarterly Reports, FY 09-11: Fact Sheet: Consolidated financial data: Attrition. http://www.infosys.com/investors/reports-filings/quarterly-results/2010-2011/Q1/Pages/index.aspx [Accessed 26/10/2010 ] James, A., Belasco and Ralph, C., Stayer (1994). Flight Of The Buffalo http://www.leadershipnow.com/changequotes.html [Accessed 23/10/2010]. Johnston, R. (2000) Hidden capital. In J. Barry, J.Chandler, H. Clark, R. Johnston and D. Needle (eds), Organization and Management: A Critical Text. London: International Thomson Business Press, pp. 16-35. Kanter, R.M. (1989) When Giants Learn to Dance: Mastering the Challenge of Strategy. Management and Careers in the 1990s. London: Simon Schuster. Kubler-Ross, E. (1969) On Death and Dying. Toronto: McMillan. Prosci (2009). Proscis Change Management Webinar Series http://www.change-management.com/Prosci-Webinar-Prereading-2009.pdf [Accessed 23/10/2010]. Stace, D., and Dunphy, D., 2001 The strategic management of corporate change, Human Relations, 46(8), pp. 905-918.