Describing three examples of activities in health care organizations Assignment

Describing three examples of activities in health care organizations - Assignment Example The immunization activities entail giving children BCG, DPT, polio, and measles immunization (Stahl, 2004). There is also epidemic preparedness and response to epidemics which is crucial to the health care organization employees because they have to start isolation of the people with the epidemic. When there is an epidemic outbreak for example the Ebola outbreak, people-centered management should be applied to give employees chances to suggest on the way forward on whether to isolate the infected people or whether to let them live with the other people. When giving an employee a chance to give a solution, it opens up their minds and makes them think. Supervisors and managers should award employees that show bravery during a difficult time of responding to an outbreak, for example an employee who saves a patient’s life. The reward will be a motivation to the individual and to the other employees who will work hard and be fully dedicated to their work. Fully participation of the employees can also earn their organization world awards. Communication between the supervisors and the employees is important for the growth of a health care organization. Where there is communication, people understand each other’s needs. When an employee’s opinion is taken into consideration, such an employee is motivated to keep on being committed to their work because they feel appreciated and respected. Moreover, meetings help employees to pass their complains and the supervisors and managers’ compliment and critic on the employees work (Carroll, 2001). The managers and supervisors encourage the employees on teamwork. In epidemic preparedness, the employees in different departments should be able to know where their teammates are, to make the daily routine surveillance for the epidemic easier. Furthermore, this aids the teammates to avoid losing a colleague to the outbreak without the knowledge of

Nietzsches Attitude to Religion Essay Example for Free

Nietzsches Attitude to Religion Essay I carefully read Ms S Ramola Naidu’s Ph. D. dissertation entitled â€Å"Culture, History, Politics: The Representation of Women in the American War Novels of Ernest Hemingway, e. e. cummings, Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. † submitted at Osmania University, Hyderabad. Divided into four chapters, the dissertation is neatly chalked out with a very informative introduction and a befitting conclusion. All the four novels undertaken for the study dwell upon the image of the American women against the background of the World Wars. Chapter I, â€Å"Fragmentation of Society: The Enormous Room,† shows that women are not the weaker sex but are the pillars that support family and society. Chapter II entitled â€Å"Triumph of Love: A Farewell to Arms† deals with the evil effects of the First World War on society in general and on women in particular. Chapter III, â€Å"Parental Indifference: Mother Night,† focuses on the catastrophe of the Second World War disapproving â€Å"the ultra-modern American woman who sacrifices the basic demands of her family† (page 9, Abstract). The last chapter, â€Å"Bureaucratic Callousness: Catch 22† depicts the chaotic military organizations and the ugliness and brutality of human exploitation. Ms Naidu’s topic has a great relevance to the present political context in the entire world standing on the threshold of another atomic war. It has become our responsibility to avoid war upto the possible limit for the peace, prosperity, and happiness of human beings. Through her study Ms Naidu tries to evince that the holocaust of World Wars has engendered a lot of human miseries problems, the loss of human dignity and ntegrity, eventually reducing man to the status of a tragic figure. She is also sure that women problems cannot be solved through any slogan or being a liberate women or feminist. A woman can achieve her dignity cherishing a firm faith in the sanctity of true love, basic emotions and feelings, sacrifice and moral and social values. Ms Naidu is quite successful in delineating the writers’ vision about a bright future that is not far fetched provided every individual develops a positive attitude towards life. It is good piece of research embodying clarity, critical acumen, and hard industry of the candidate. The thesis is characterized by a refined and chiselled language, though a few syntactical, grammatical, and punctuation errors are also visible here and there. It is a purely thematic study. The candidate has adopted an analytical method; and the representation of women in the American novels of the mentioned writers has been highlighted through the analysis of plots, characters, dialogues, and settings. She is capable enough to display her critical insight, logical coherence, and the skill of the assimilation of material in the corpus of the thesis. It is well-written and fulfils all the requirements of a good dissertation. In view of the above, I am pleased to recommend that Ms Ramaola Naidu deserves the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English of Osmania University, Hyderabd.

Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle :: Kurt Vonnegut Cats Cradle Essays

Paradoxical Nature of Life Exposed in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut's apocalyptic novel, Cat's Cradle, might well be called an intricate network of paradox and irony. It is with such irony and paradox that Vonnegut himself describes his work as "poisoning minds with humanity...to encourage them to make a better world" (The Vonnegut Statement 107). In Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut does not tie his co-mingled plots into easy to digest bites as the short chapter structure of his story implies. Rather, he implores his reader to resolve the paradoxes and ironies of Cat's Cradle by simply allowing them to exist. By drawing our attention to the paradoxical nature of life, Vonnegut releases the reader from the necessity of creating meaning into a realm of infinite possibility. It appears that Vonnegut sees the impulse toward making a better world as fundamental to the human spirit; that when the obstacle of meaning is removed the reader, he supposes, will naturally improve the world. Like a dream filled with complex characters and situations which one is compelled to discuss and analyze the next day, Vonnegut uses dark humor to penetrate his reader's world. The Cornell medical student whom the narrator, Jonah, first interviews by mail turns out to be a midget. The brilliant nuclear physicist, the father of the atom bomb, is infantile. Writers and college professors are essential to human existence, and Boko-maru is a form of love that can happen anytime, anywhere, and with anyone. By creating new religious and scientific vocabularies, Vonnegut infiltrates the reader's very mind. Bokononist ideas and principles that are almost reasonable give the reader a temporary framework for interpretation, "'As it was supposed to happen,' Bokonon would say" (Cat's Cradle 63). Never too far from reality, "Bokonon tells us that it is very wrong to not to love everyone exactly the same. What does your religion say?" (CC 141). Vonnegut's prophet cuts close to the bone, and so he must in order to reach the philosophical roots of the reader's belief system. Yet, the security of any and every belief and interpretation of any and all of the characters is in one way or another polluted until there is nowhere to turn.

Geometry Kite Making

1) Search for a kite you’d like to build. It can be any shape kite, but keep in mind that the easier the build, the more difficult I grade it. The harder it is to build, the more chance it won’t be completed in time. So evaluate yourself & the directions to determine which kite you decide on building. a. Google the web (not videos, nor images) – â€Å"How to build a kite with step by step directions† †¦ You can word your search in any way that is similar to what I just gave you. b. Be sure what you pull up has Step by Step Directions on how to build the kite (i. e. t will tell exactly how & where to cut the material, where to place the dowels, where to tie the string, etc, etc).c. Be sure what you pull up has Clear Materials Listed – meaning you will be able to list off what is needed to build a kite (i. e. exact centimeters or inches of dowels, the diameter of the dowel, if plastic tubing is needed, string length, etc, etc). d. Print all this out – preferably with photos (always helpful when building). 2) Write up a materials list with the totals (dowel length, string length, fabric, etc) on a lined piece of paper so that it’s legible.This is for me to go shopping with, so I need the exact total & I need to read it. I’m not interested in how many ___ sized pieces of dowel you need because we’ll just cut up the total length later; I just need you to calculate from your internet, printed materials list the exact totals of each item. 3) Build your kite – we’ll be doing this in class as a group. You won’t be taking any of these items home, so you need to make sure you are here for each class we designate as build days. e.Each â€Å"build day† you will need: yard stick (science lab has some), pencil, pen, lined paper for calculations, calculator, ruler, protractor, kite instructions & a servant’s heart (because we’ll need to bring other items to & from my c lassroom each of these days = teamwork). f. Measure the perimeter & area of your kite, once completed. g. Were there any angles in your kite? What types; how many; what degrees were they (calculate algebraically being sure to write down how you calculated †¦ same side interior, complementary angles, etc. )? h.Are there any parallel &/or perpendicular lines? Transversal lines? i. As you build along, rewrite the steps in your own words so that someone else could build your kite. Use as many geometric terms as articulately possible. Reason: 1) I asked; and, 2) the directions you find on the internet are often more complicated than need be, so you’ll be helping someone else out. Maybe we’ll start our own website someday! 4) Project items from the book: j. Page 453: You’ll need to draw diagonals on a plain, white sheet of copy paper using a yard stick for accuracy.Mark off your half-inch measurement (the  ½ inch past center point) with a pencil so that it†™s visible to others. The â€Å"front corners† are considered the ones where you folded the paper, not the ones where it’s unfolded. **There is a â€Å"typo†: you’ll be folding the corners & stapling them about 3-4 in. from the front of the kite. You will staple those folds together perpendicularly to the first fold. ** Tie one end of string through the back of the staple. Open up the unfolded paper to create a kite surface. ~ You are not creating a paper airplane, and so therefore will follow these directions with the book’s directions to create a paper kite. ~~ k. Page 468: When â€Å"describing† each effective area, the book is asking you to compare the effective area to the actual kite (i. e. : does the effective area have the same area as the part of the kite that’s facing the wind; or less, or more; etc, etc). When you compare, do so in words (using as many geometrical terms as possible) as well as with some calculations.l. Pa ge 476: SKIP †¦ this is what you did in Parts 1 & 2. ) REPORT: Research the history of kites, and be sure to write down your sources for use in a reference page later (when you hand in your final project). m. When were they first used? What were they used for? In what country did they first get used predominantly? n. Find examples of how kites were used for: rescuing sailors, vanquishing enemies, predicting the weather, etc. Give me any other uses for kites †¦ be thorough & creative. o. Tell me any interesting facts you discovered about kites while doing this research.

Literacy: Mrs. Fleming Essay

There are few fundamental skills in life that are of greater importance than the ability to read and understand the written word. It can take a person of any background as far as they can dream. This is truly evident in the essay, â€Å"Superman and Me†, by Sherman Alexie which tells of the author’s struggle growing up poor on a Native American reservation in Washington State. From a young age, his literacy became Alexie’s saving grace, thanks to his father who inspired him to begin reading. This inspiration changed the path of his life. I, too, was inspired and encouraged at a young age to be a great reader by my Mother and a special teacher. I am thankful to my Mother for starting me on my path to literacy. I grew up in a house full of books, music and loud women. My Mom was never without a book in her hand, my middle sister loved to sing and write poetry and my oldest sister always had her eight tracks blaring. From the time that I was tiny, I wanted to be just like my Mother. She had beautiful hair, perfect makeup, and lovely flowing dresses. Since I was too young for these things, I latched on to something else that my mother loved; books. Alexie felt much the same way about his Father. Alexie writes, â€Å"My father loved books and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well† (89). My Mother and I spent many hours roaming the library aisles for our next great read. She encouraged me to try new authors and different genres. I discovered Judy Blume and even attempted Charles Dickens and Louisa Mae Alcott. My Mom challenged me each summer to read as many books as I could and she was always ready for me to tell her all about them. Mama and I still recommend books to one another and tell each other all about the characters that we meet in between the pages of our latest book. I was fortunate enough to have many fantastic teachers during my school years. One teacher In particular is my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Elizabeth Fleming. I was a twelve year old girl that felt awkward and self-conscience and Mrs. Fleming always found a way to boost my self-confidence. She made  it a point to compliment me every day on anything from how I read aloud in class or what I was wearing or my hair style. Mrs. Fleming’s interest in me built up my self-esteem by leaps and bounds. We also bonded over our mutual love of books. Mrs. Fleming would take the time to ask about a book I was reading and recommend others that she thought I might like. She found ways to let me know that she loved that I was so excited about reading even if it was just a sweet smile that seemed like it was just for me. Mrs. Fleming made me feel special. As an adult, I have, on occasion, run in to Mrs. Fleming and even after all these years she still remembers me as her little bookworm. I am thankful to have had the support and encouragement throughout my life to keep me reading and learning. It continues today as I show my children how fun and entertaining it can be to read a good book I love to read with my girls and the sound of their voice reading on their own is like music to my ears. As I continue my education I hope that they can see through me that a love of reading can take you anywhere you want to go. So dream big†¦and go read a book!

Strategic plan outsourcing

Strategic plan outsourcing Over the last decade it has become increasingly important for the strategy in the overall firm's operations to include or at least evaluate outsourcing options. Companies in the U.S. pay about $68 billion every year to other companies for outsourced services and although a major part of these contracts succeed, there is an increasing concern due to recent broken deals. A recent study shows that 80% of companies that outsource their customer based functions are failing to meet their cost savings targets. Usually companies fail to budget hidden outsourcing costs such as customer dissatisfaction that can eventually jeopardize the future of the firm. In the information and white papers on outsourcing evaluation matrix includes four main points of value influencing the success of outsourcing strategies: the firm's Comparative Advantage, Employees, Suppliers and Customers. ¢Ã‚€ÂÆ'Every year in the United States, companies pay about $68 billion to other companies for key services or pr oducts that help them focus on their core business and delegate other functions (Thurm, 2007).OutsourcingThe value of IT Outsourcing contracts worldwide was $119 billion in 2004 (Pai, 2007). Without a doubt, outsourcing is a major part of the business strategy that drives organizations to success. Whether at its simplest version of buying raw materials from a large supplier to its most complex variation of offshoring services, outsourcing is present in all business strategies.However, outsourcing strategies are not always successful; therefore it is crucial to understand the factors that influence a firm's outsourcing strategy. In 2004, J.P Morgan Chase Co. took its main technology functions to be in-house again abandoning a $5 billion agreement and Electronic Data Systems Inc. backed down from a $1 billion deal (Thurm, 2007). Although a few years ago outsourcing was used by some manages as another mean to cut costs,

buy custom Leisure Managers essay

buy custom Leisure Managers essay The above exemplified authors agree on several very pertinent points. For one, leisure is useful in creating the border between life and work. Leisure is an engagement that helps demarcate the point at which work is no longer an obligation and where an individual gets a moment to rest, rejuvenate and replenish his or her enthusiasm for the next session or work. Hard work, goals and accomplishments can never replace the need for doing nothing and if one insists on it, the body will automatically switch off in self preservation or worse, break down in health complications. For an individual to balance life and work, whether at home or at the work place, leisure activities act as the measuring rod. Even in work places, frequent coffee breaks, lunch breaks and a chat here and there helps improve productivity `and efficiency at work, since the work-only spells have been broken down. The experts agree that the importance of leisure is underscored by the fact that it is the only time that the body and the mind get to renew, relax and reinvigorate itself ready for more taxing engagements (Trenberth Dewe, 2002). The greatest test of life today is maintaining a balance in life and work. Experts agree that it is important to use leisure as the scale of scoring the balance between work and life, and maintaining that balnce at the optimal level. Without achieving that balance and maintaining it, life will be plagued by one adversity and another, from health to social problems (Gini, 2003). From the foregoing arguments, it is easy to see the role that leisure managers can play to facilitate the balance of work and life. It means that managers of leisure facilities must craft such activities as will stimulate enjoyments and not other taxing engagements. Leisure managers must strive to create environments that are different from work places, where the mind and the body are not taxed but relaxed (Cooke, 1994). Activities like massages, games, therapies, meditation are fine examples of the exact type of activities that will help people put demarcations on their work and personal lives. One thing that leisure managers should avoid is creating formal environments typical of most work places. Leisure facilities should places where individuals are themselves, without obligations and expectations, where only creativity, modesty and self control are called for. If people can be themselves, they can break off from the outside world and attain complete relaxation, the leisure facility will have attained a great and royal clientele base (Cooke, 1994). At the end of the day, the greatest leisure facilities are those that have no comparison with foormal work places or even homes. Experts use football fans, soccer fans and other sports fans as an example of what leisure manager should strive to build in their facilities. These fans are attracted by the lack of expectations on their part and the complete informality of their participation (Cooke, 1994). As a conclusion, I feel that there is a great link between happiness and the balance between personal life and work life. If these two areas of life are balanced and kept from overriding each other, there is a chance that an individual will perform better in each and thus derive more satisfaction and happiness from his or her life in general. Ideally, the more balanced an individuals life is, the longer he or she can sustain it at optimal productivity, the happier healthy and productive that individual will be. Leisure activities are essential in measuring the existing balance of the two, life and work. If one cannot manage to consistently engage in leisure, then work has dominated personal life. That means that leisure acts as a barometer to measure the commitment and attainment of balance between personal life and work. More importantly, leisure activities are a way of rejuvenating the self in readiness of the next engagement, further enabling one to perform more efficiently in work sessions (Trenberth Dewe, 2002). Buy custom Leisure Managers essay

Definition and Examples of Narrators

Definition and Examples of Narrators A narrator is a person or character who tells a story, or a voice fashioned by an author to recount a narrative.   Professor Suzanne Keene points out that the  nonfiction narrator  is strongly identified with the author, whether a first-person self-narrator  in autobiography or a third-person historian or biographer (Narrative Form, 2015).An unreliable narrator (used far more often in fiction than in nonfiction) is a first-person narrator whose account of events cant be trusted by the reader. Examples and Observations The term narrator can be used in both a broad and a narrow sense. The broad sense is one who tells a story, whether that person is real or imagined; this is the sense given in most dictionary definitions. Literary scholars, however, by narrator often mean a purely imaginative person, a voice emerging from a text to tell a story. . . . Narrators of this kind include omniscient narrators, that is, narrators not only who are imaginary but who exceed normal human capabilities in their knowledge of events.(Elspeth Jajdelska, Silent Reading and the Birth of the Narrator. University of Toronto Press, 2007)Narrators in Creative Nonfiction- Nonfiction often achieves its momentum not just through narrativetelling the storybut also through the meditative intelligence behind the story, the author as narrator thinking through the implications of the story, sometimes overtly, sometimes more subtly.This thinking narrator who can infuse a story with shades of ideas is what I miss most in much nonfic tion that is otherwise quite compellingwe get only raw story and not the more essayistic, reflective narrator. . . . [I]n telling nonfiction stories we cant as writers know anybodys interior life but our own, so our interior lifeour thought process, the connections we make, the questions and doubts raised by the storymust carry the whole intellectual and philosophical burden of the piece.(Philip Gerard, Adventures in Celestial Navigation. In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction, ed. by Lee Gutkind. W.W. Norton, 2005)- Readers of the nonfiction work expect to experience more directly the mind of the author, who will frame the meaning of things for herself and tell the readers. In fiction, the writer can become other people; in nonfiction, she becomes more of herself. In fiction, the reader must step into a believable fictional realm; in nonfiction, the writer speaks intimately, from the heart, directly addressing the readers sympathies. In fiction, the narrator is generally not the author; in nonfictionbarring special one-off personas as encountered in Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposalthe writer and narrator are essentially the same. In fiction, the narrator can lie; the expectation in nonfiction is that the writer wont. Theres an assumption that the story is, to as great an extent as possible, true; that the tale and its narrator are reliable.(New York Writers Workshop, The Portable MFA in Creative Writing. Writers Digest Books, 2006) First Person and Third Person Narrators[S]imple, direct storytelling is so common and habitual that we do it without planning in advance. The narrator (or teller) of such a personal experience is the speaker, the one who was there. . . . The telling is usually subjective, with details and language chosen to express the writers feelings. . . .When a story isnt your own experience but a recital of someone elses, or of events that are public knowledge, then you proceed differently as narrator. Without expressing opinions, you step back and report, content to stay invisible. Instead of saying, I did this; I did that, you use the third person, he, she, it, or they. . . . Generally, a nonparticipant is objective in setting forth events, unbiased, as accurate and dispassionate as possible.(X.J. Kennedy et al., The Bedford Reader. St. Martins, 2000)- First-Person NarratorOnce there, beside the ocean,  I felt a little frightened. The others didnt know Id gone. I thought of the violence in t he world. People get kidnapped on the beach. A sneaker wave could take me out, and no one would ever know what had happened to me.(Jane Kirkpatrick, Homestead:  Modern Pioneers Pursuing the Edge of Possibility. WaterBrook Press, 2005)- Third-Person NarratorLucy felt a little frightened, but she felt very inquisitive and excited as well. She looked back over her shoulder and there, between the dark tree-trunks, she could still see the open doorway of the wardrobe and even catch a glimpse of the empty room from which she had set out.(C.S. Lewis,  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, 1950) Narrators and ReadersIt is well known that in linguistic communication I and you are absolutely presupposed one by the other; likewise, there can be no story without a narrator and without an audience (or reader).(Roland Barthes, An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative, 1966) Pronunciation: nah-RAY-ter

Set size and search type effect on search time during visual search Essay

Set size and search type effect on search time during visual search task - Essay Example Feature Integration theory There are a number of researches with various stimuli, while most prevalent idea proposed for human visual search comes from A. Treisman (1980), who conducted a research illustrating Feature integration theory. It asserts that a visual search is faster in presence of dissimilar background and the number of distracters involved in background do not affect the time consumption in case of a feature search (a search that involves identification of a direct feature like color, shape, orientation or curvature). On the other hand, a conjunction search is affected widely with the number of distracters presented in the background. A conjunction search is defined as a search which does not involve a direct feature but a similarity of multiple features among the various objects. (For example ‘blue square’ has similarities with ‘blue triangle’ and ‘red square’.) Consequent of the propositions, feature integration theory illustrate s that those two searches consists of different methodology for human visual search. Those methods are characterized as parallel searches and serial searches for feature and conjunctive patterns. As further illustrated in Feature Integration theory, feature search and conjunction search differ widely on time consumption patterns as conjunction search follows a twofold process which requires identifying the features and categorizing the conjunctions to create a pattern of search. The distracters found in the patterns are responsible for time consumptions. The feature-integration theory of attention suggests that attention must be directed serially to each stimulus in a display whenever conjunctions of more than one separable feature are needed to characterize or distinguish the possible objects (Treisman and Gelade, 1980) There are number of arguments and theoretical results that involve some serious diversions and modification to this theory. However, most of the theories involve th e base of feature integration which asserts that there are found clear differences in the types of searches when direct features are involved or eliminated. Other theories and Guided search In contrast with feature integration theory there are some proposition which offers different arguments and researches for visual search. A major theory is in the propositions of Wolfe (1989) who offers a broad research for how visual search is not limited only to the factors if the searches are parallel or serial but it also depends largely on the motivating factors for a visual search. Wolfe presents this theory as the guided search theory. In his propositions, a number of subjects were passed through the experiments with varying number of stimuli and the data outcome was measured over the graphs to provide a serious deflection from Feature integration patterns. Subjects searched sets of items for targets defined by conjunctions of color and form, color and orientation, or color and size. Set s ize was varied and reaction times (RT) were measured. For many unpracticed subjects, the slopes of the resulting RT x Set Size functions are too shallow to be consistent with Treisman's feature integration model, which proposes serial, self-terminating search for conjunctions (Jeremy M. Wolfe, 1989). As those results offer a diversion in self-terminating s

Facebook and Privacy Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Facebook and Privacy Issues - Essay Example While social networking has its advantages, it is also important to note that, there are drawbacks related to the use of social media platforms. This is because, social networking involves sharing of information between two or more people, and in some occasions, the information shared can reach wrong hands. This in essence, creates problems concerning privacy issues since users may want some of the information they share through the social media to remain private. In this regard, a leading social media site like Facebook is embattling problems related to privacy issues for its users. This paper examines privacy issues as one of the drawbacks for Facebook considered the leading social media platform globally.Prior to the advent of digital communications, sharing of information between persons or institutions in the society was rather cumbersome. This is because in order to interact with other people, this had to be done physically and involved moving from one point to another point. I n addition, dissemination of information was slow and mails had to be delivered physically to their destinations. The only means of a quicker communication network in the 19th and early 20th century was through the telephone or telegram. But these communication tools were the preserve of those with higher social standing. The rest of the society was left to rely on one-on-one communication or postal mails. While it was slow to interact with other people or disseminate information in this era, issues related to privacy were not a concern for people.

Child of the Dark The diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus Essay

Child of the Dark The diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus - Essay Example Another deterrent of having faith in democracy is the lying that politicians do. Carolina wrote a poem, "Politicians on their platform, Promise they will give you raises, And the people find out soon enough, That its their suffering that was raised" (Maria, 123). Through Carolinas views, one can see that support of democracy weakens with the distrust of politicians. The problems within Brazil also deter Carolina from having sympathy to democracy. She says, "The cost of living makes the worker lose his sympathy for democracy" (Maria, 103). She also makes the promise that, "If the cost of living keeps on rising until 1960, were going to have a revolution" (Maria, 119). The key word, revolution, supports the claim that democracy and poverty cannot coexist, at least not for long. If the cost of living does not change, the democratic state will be challenged. Another challenge of democracy is corruption. Carolina talks of how the collector for electricity money is allowed to charge those living in the favelados whatever he wants (Maria, 147). When the poor realize that they are being stolen from, they are not willing to accept a flawed form of government. On the other hand, Carolina also negates the argument that democracy cannot coexist with poverty. She does this through her political actions. On July 7th, 1958 Carolina went to register to vote. She said, "When I got to Semanario Street, I needed a photo for registration papers. I had a picture taken in Foto Lara. It cost me 60 cruzeiros" (Maria, 76) This may not jump out as an action to support democracy, but when one takes into account how much 60 cruzeiros is worth to her, one can see how much she sacrificed to register to vote. 60 cruzeiros was the equivalent to about 1 kilo of beans in Brazil in the 50s. She could have fed her family for days, but yet she still made it a priority to take part in the political process. Another example of her participation occurs while addressing

Aboriginal studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Aboriginal studies - Essay Example Anon (no date) racismnoway.com [online search portal] Accessed online May 06, 2008 at: http://searchportal.information.com/index.mas?epl=00860032VFAXVE0DWlgVVRBeVwMAFQVbC1YKW1kADFAISllXWBZYWg1PWBwdVw5dRAZADBJDDkRbWAVTEQA_XFEFDgMIUQ An online search portal for issues and resources connected to racism. The site is appropriate for supervised use for older or advanced students. It is heavily text-based, so is less appropriate for indigenous students than non-indigenous students. Board of Studies NSW (2007) Affirmations of Identity: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Visual Artists Resource Kit - Teacher’s Handbook. Retrieved May 06, 2008, from: http://ab‑ed.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/aboriginal‑art/affirmations‑of‑identity#gallery Contents cover eight new units of workdesigned to cover the NSW Visual Arts Years 7‑10 Syllabus (2003). â€Å"These units provide opportunities for students to study a range of artworks made by Indigenous artists using traditional and contemporary practices, and to investigate how ideas and interests are represented in artmaking and in critical and historical interpretations art.† The units are appropriate for both indigenous and non-indigenous learners. The role of art in the traditional culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is highlighted. This resource can also be used for cross-subject units such as geography and visual art. Board of Studies NSW (2007) Affirmations of Identity: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Visual Artists Resource Kit - References and further reading on contemporary Indigenous art in Australia. Retrieved May 06, 2008, from: http://ab‑ed.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/aboriginal‑art/affirmations‑of‑identity#gallery The bibliography contains information on a wide variety of resources for teachers of year 6-12 visual art and aboriginal studies. Resources are listed by format and include: syllabuses and support documents, government reports, educational

Restriction Fragment Pleomorphism Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Restriction Fragment Pleomorphism - Coursework Example Restriction enzymes are highly specific in nature and single alteration in its recognize site (Restriction site) leads to complete inhibition of its activity. In RFLP technique particular gene having restriction site for an enzyme is used to generated DNA fragment(. If there was a mutation in this gene leads to altered restriction site which subsequently resultant in to DNA fragment having altered length. Based on size of a fragment and comparing with standard one can conclude mutation in given gene. Here in case of sample A three bands were obtained when digested with DdeI indicating heterozygous for Gal6V while XhoI digest indicates homozygous for Gal6V clearly indicating anomaly in the results as digestion with two different enzymes give exactly opposite results. Comparing the banding pattern of Gel1A with theoretical banding of standard, there should be 3bands on XhoI digest compared to single band on DdI in case of Gal6V homozygous. But the banding pattern obtained on image 1A was not fitting in to the criteria indicating abnormal preparation. thus all the interpretation were drawn from gel 1B. in case of sample B there was three bands found corresponding to homozygous for CD5(-CT) standard sample while it was found to be heterozygous for GAL6V. Similarly sample C was found to be heterozygous for CD5(-CT) and heterozygous for Gal6V. Three control samples were given as standered namely C1 homozygus for Gal6V, C2- normal individual and C3 homozygus for CD5(-CT). Banding patte rn obtained after digestion with DdeI and XhoI was as shown in fig 1A and 1B. Tabel 1 indicates phenotype and genotype of given sample. Table 1: Summary of Genotype and Phenotype of given sample Sample DdeI enzyme XhoI enzyme Genotype Phenotype A Glu6Val / + CD5(-CT)/ CD5(-CT) Heterozygous Glu6Val and Homozygus CD5(-CT) Thalassemia disease carrier of sickle cell anemia fetus B Glu6V/+ CD5(-CT)/ CD5(-CT) Heterozygous Glu6Val and Homozygus CD5(-CT) Thalassemia disease carrier of sickle cell anemia fetus C Glu6Val / + CD5(-CT)/ + Heterozygous Glu6Val Heterozygus CD5(-CT) Carrier sickle cell Crrier CD5(-CT) Conclusion: Genotyping of given sample were carried out using RFLP technique. The main objective of this study was to identify and differentiate closely related genetic disorder namely sickle cell anemia and thalassemia. Experimental results have indicated that there was some anomaly in electrophoretic patterns and thus experiments has to be performed again be for came in to any conclusion. Similarly experiments have demonstrated both aspect of RFLP at on side the technique was found to be easy, rapid and sensitive while other side it was found that it has some limitations like repeatability, requirement of large

Aboriginal studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Aboriginal studies - Essay Example Anon (no date) racismnoway.com [online search portal] Accessed online May 06, 2008 at: http://searchportal.information.com/index.mas?epl=00860032VFAXVE0DWlgVVRBeVwMAFQVbC1YKW1kADFAISllXWBZYWg1PWBwdVw5dRAZADBJDDkRbWAVTEQA_XFEFDgMIUQ An online search portal for issues and resources connected to racism. The site is appropriate for supervised use for older or advanced students. It is heavily text-based, so is less appropriate for indigenous students than non-indigenous students. Board of Studies NSW (2007) Affirmations of Identity: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Visual Artists Resource Kit - Teacher’s Handbook. Retrieved May 06, 2008, from: http://ab‑ed.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/aboriginal‑art/affirmations‑of‑identity#gallery Contents cover eight new units of workdesigned to cover the NSW Visual Arts Years 7‑10 Syllabus (2003). â€Å"These units provide opportunities for students to study a range of artworks made by Indigenous artists using traditional and contemporary practices, and to investigate how ideas and interests are represented in artmaking and in critical and historical interpretations art.† The units are appropriate for both indigenous and non-indigenous learners. The role of art in the traditional culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is highlighted. This resource can also be used for cross-subject units such as geography and visual art. Board of Studies NSW (2007) Affirmations of Identity: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Visual Artists Resource Kit - References and further reading on contemporary Indigenous art in Australia. Retrieved May 06, 2008, from: http://ab‑ed.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/aboriginal‑art/affirmations‑of‑identity#gallery The bibliography contains information on a wide variety of resources for teachers of year 6-12 visual art and aboriginal studies. Resources are listed by format and include: syllabuses and support documents, government reports, educational

Role of Entrepreneurs in Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Role of Entrepreneurs in Organizations - Essay Example An entrepreneur is a person who organizes and mobilizes resources-people, money, skills, ideas and market to create something that did not exist before and which is feasibility profitable.( Academy of engineering, 1978).An entrepreneur according to Drucker(1985) is someone who perceives and exploits opportunities. This implies that an entrepreneurship is a process of creating new and valuable things which includes ideas and converting into a usable product that satisfy a need (Hisrich and Peter, 1985). The increasing importance of entrepreneurship accentuates why small ventures are growing at a faster rate than larger organizations. A similar survey indicates that over the last decade, small ventures created more jobs than the larger which instead, continues to lose jobs (Drucker, 1985). Furthermore, the changes in the business environment such as harsh global as well as the local competition, sudden and unexpected alteration of demand, the rapid acceleration of technological develop ment and increase in risks. Innovation and creativity have become essential for survival, growth and profitability in today’s business world as evidenced in the leadership styles, product and market development strategic moves and innovations and immense creativity. Another feature of that has changed the face of entrepreneurs in an organization is the growing networking. This network can be characterized by increasing market forces, co-operation between firms, collaboration for research and development, subcontracting, outsourcing and strategic alliances that have leapfrogged firm’s profitability and ironed further the roles that entrepreneurship performs in organizations. As no firm can really operate on its own, each depends on the other for survival in the competitive world. Question two There are various types of entrepreneurs. The scope of entrepreneurs is determined by the nature of the business venture, the ‘real’ objective of starting up the busin ess. First, there is a business entrepreneur. This is entrepreneurs who conceptualize of a business idea, start and manage the business. In business arena, they generate noble ideas, exchange goods and services with tailoring all the marketing and brand building to attract and increase the sales volume of their products. They manufacture and innovates new and unique products and services which satisfy the customers’ needs by alleviating the prevailing problems. For instance, Sir Branson of UK serves as an imperative example. Business entrepreneur plans, organize, develop and manages corporate affairs with immense creativity and skill that champion their corporate firms into profitable ventures. For instance, former General Electric long-serving CEO, Jack Welch who stirred the firm into greater heights in performance. Second, there are technology-based entrepreneurs endowed with skill and high technical knowledge in technology. The technical entrepreneur poses high skills in p roduct crafts and focuses mainly on the product design and development so as to supply the market with sophisticated products. The non-technical entrepreneurs focus on the non-technical aspects such as marketing, distributions and pricing strategies to promote the sales of the product while the professional entrepreneurs are the one who creates new technology or an idea and sells to others in form patents and other copyrights. Third, there are motivational based entrepreneurs. First, pure motivational entrepreneur create jobs for other rather than seeking a job for himself. They pose a high desire to create a new venture or an idea that will create jobs and improve the living standards for others. Others in this category include ,induced entrepreneurs who are encouraged by the government to invest in

Food, Inc Essay Example for Free

Food, Inc Essay In America, whoever has the big bucks dictates how things are run. With money, there is no limit to what can be done in America. The documentary â€Å"Food Inc. produced by Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser, takes an in depth look at America’s food industry and the terrible but completely legal way our food is genetically engineered. The narrator makes the argument that profit is put before the consumer’s well being,. The vision of the American farmer, workers safety, and our precious environment is far from the correct vision of the many major corporations that are producing our food. I firmly believe that these corporations have put aside and have deliberately tried to hide the truth about how unhealthy the food they produce truly is for the American public. The purpose of this video is to shock the American public with clever filmography and facts about the food Americans consume every day. The food industry is full of misconceptions. â€Å"Food Inc. † declares that the food industry is using deceiving images of American farmlands to sell their product. Images of lush green fields, picket fences, and 1930’s farmhouses is only a â€Å"spinning of a pastoral fantasy†. In reality the food being consumed is coming from mistreated animals and large factories all over the country. As the video continues, images of your typical everyday supermarket are cleverly displayed giving the audience something they can relate too. â€Å"There are no seasons in the American supermarket†. (Food Inc. ) The narrator gives details on how we as consumers get to enjoy ‘tomatoes’ all year round. He states that they were â€Å"grown half way around the world, picked when it was green and ripened with ethylene gas† (Food Inc. ). This is meant to inform the audience that what they are eating isn’t what it seems. It definitely makes viewers stop and think next time they are buying a tomato in winter. There has been little understanding and awareness of food in America until the film Food Inc. , which helped show the basis of how food is produced, packaged and sold locally in our grocery stores. We have been made to believe that local stores carry a wide variety of foods in all areas, including meats, dairy and especially in the fast food industry. A typical grocery store has on average 47,000 products and has made us to believe that there is a wide variety of choices inside the grocery store (Food, Inc. ). In today’s food industry most of the products are produced by only a few main companies which allow for cheaper foods in the stores. The current raw food production method has made a huge increase in our fast food companies since the 1950’s (Food, Inc. ). In fact, the production of our food has changed so much since the 1950’s, than the thousand years prior. The food industry which is controlled by only a few companies has turned the industry from the ordinary farmer, to the production of large quantities of food, feeding the nation at low costs which results in enormous profits for the producers. Because of this, health and safety of the food itself, how the animals are raised, the current method of workers being on assembly lines, and the consumer eating the food are now being overlooked by the companies and government; to provide cheap food regardless of the negative consequences. The reason for this innovation has been based on the advancement in science and technology which is a main reason for the negative side effects. With the addition of Carl’s Law, companies now come up with ways to throw more science at the problem to help eliminate the issues and not the root causes for the matter. I believe the message of Food Inc. s that most of what Americans now eat is being produced by a handful of huge corporations which is more detrimental to health, our environment and even our own human race. The horrible known facts about animal mistreatment and food contamination are being covered up by the secretive industry, by not talking to the filmmakers or let the insides of their companies be shown to the world, which include the enormous chicken farms, cattle ranches, slaughterhouses and the meatpacking plants. This film also said that â€Å"exploitation and malpractice in the meat industry were exposed as far back as Upton Sinclairs 1906 muckraking book, The Jungle. † Food Inc. , is a movie that address’s the voices of advocates, farmers, and journalists, to show what’s wrong with the food and what we can do about it. There are many factors that lead to the killing of the environment. There is a scene in the movie that shows cattle standing in about of a foot of its own feces. The feces that the cattle is standing in is full of harmful chemicals. Not only do the cattle have this bacteria in its body, but it is also spreading the bacteria in the ground, rivers, streams, etc. When it rains, the run off from these â€Å"farms† are affecting the health of the animals in the surrounding areas and further. The factories are polluting the air and killing more of the ozone layer due to the harmful chemicals that the factory is pushing out. It is sad to see how companies can allow cattle that will be slaughtered to stand in a foot of its bacteria infested feces, but worse to then see the cow be slaughtered and eventually be put on the shelves of grocery stores. There is no empathy on how the food is processed from beginning to end. Animals are treated horribly, known bacteria that they oversee and more important the health of the people consuming the products is not in any of the company’s top interest. All in all, this movie has shown me how brutal Americans can be to animals and how our own US Government seems not to care about its citizens health. I have learned to eat organic foods and to shop for produce only in season. The one question that kept arising in my mind during the movies was, I wonder where the food that the white house serves comes from. Is the president eating the same steroid injected chicken her is letting his country eat? It was a great movie and should, by law be shown in schools around the United States.

Oral Communication English Forms Functions and Strategies

Oral Communication English Forms Functions and Strategies 1.0 Introduction When we refer in the question context, oral communication in english: forms, functions, and strategies to a group of english language instructors at a local college/university, the first think in our mind is oral communication Communication is the activity of conveying information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the senders intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast online in time and space. Communication requires that the communicating parties share an area of communicative commonality. The communication process is complete once the receiver has understood the sender. Communication as an academic discipline, sometimes called communicology, relates to all the ways we communicate, so it embraces a large body of study and knowledge. The communication discipline includes both verbal and nonverbal messages. A body of scholarship all about communi cation is presented and explained in textbooks, electronic publications, and academic journals. In the journals, researchers report the results of studies that are the basis for an ever-expanding understanding of how we all communicate. Communication happens at many levels (even for one single action), in many different ways, and for most beings, as well as certain machines. Several, if not all, fields of study dedicate a portion of attention to communication, so when speaking about communication it is very important to be sure about what aspects of communication one is speaking about. Definitions of communication range widely, some recognizing that animals can communicate with each other as well as human beings, and some are more narrow, only including human beings within the different parameters of human symbolic interaction. 2.0 The Oral Communication Process According to Shannons (1948) model of the communication process is, in important ways, the beginning of the modern field. It provided, for the first time, a general model of the communication process that could be treated as the common ground of such diverse disciplines as journalism, rhetoric, linguistics, and speech and hearing sciences. Part of its success is due to its structuralist reduction of communication to a set of basic constituents that not only explain how communication happens, but why communication sometimes fails. Good timing played a role as well. The world was barely thirty years into the age of mass radio, had arguably fought a world war in its wake, and an even more powerful, television, was about to assert itself. It was time to create the field of communication as a unified discipline, and Shannons model was as good an excuse as any. The models enduring value is readily evident in introductory textbooks. It remains one of the first things most students learn abo ut communication when they take an introductory communication class. Indeed, it is one of only a handful of theoretical statements about the communication process that can be found in introductory textbooks in both mass communication and interpersonal communication (http://davis.foulger.info/research/unifiedModelOfCommunication.htm) Shannons (1948) Model of the communication process The ecological model of communication, shown in Figure 6, attempts to provide a platform on which these issues can be explored. It asserts that communication occurs in the intersection of four fundamental constructs: communication between people (creators and consumers) is mediated by messages which are created using language within media; consumed from media and interpreted using language.This model is, in many ways, a more detailed elaboration of Lasswells (1948) classic outline of the study of communication: Who says what in which channel to whom with what effect. In the ecological model, the who are the creators of messages, the says what are the messages, the in which channel is elaborated into languages (which are the content of channels) and media (which channels are a component of), the to whom are the consumers of messages, and the effects are found in various relationships between the primitives, including relationships, perspectives, attributions, interpretations, and the continuing evolution of languages and media. It is in this layering of interdependent social construction that this model picks up its name. Our communication is not produced within any single system, but in the intersection of several interrelated systems, each of which is self-standing necessarily described by dedicated theories, but each of which is both the product of the others and, in its own limited way, an instance of the other. The medium is, as McLuhan famously observed, a message that is inherent to every message that is created in or consumed from a medium. The medium is, to the extent that we can select among media, also a language such that the message of the medium is not only inherent to a message, but often an element of its composition. In what may be the most extreme view enabled by the processing of messages within media, the medium may also be a person and consumes messages, recreates them, and makes the modified messages available for further consumption. A medium is really none of these things. It is fund amentally a system that enables the construction of messages using a set of languages such that they can be consumed. But a medium is also both all of these things and the product of their interaction. People learn, create, and evolve media as a vehicle for enabling the creation and consumption of messages. The same might be said of each of the constituents of this model. People can be, and often are, the medium (insofar as they act as messengers), the language (insofar as different people can be selected as messengers), or the message (ones choice of messenger can be profoundly meaningful). Fundamentally a person is none of these things, but they can be used as any of these things and are the product of their experience of all of these things. Our experience of messages, languages, media, and through them, other people, is fundamental in shaping who we become and how we think of ourselves and others. We invent ourselves, and others work diligently to shape that invention, through our consumption of messages, the languages we master, and the media we use. Language can be, and often are, the message (that is inherent to every message constructed with it), the medium (but only trivially), the person (both at the level of the language instinct that is inherent to people (following Pinker, xxxxx) and a socialized semiotic overlay on personal experience), and even the language (insofar as we have a choice of what language we use in constructing a given message). Fundamentally a language is none of these things, but it can be used as any of these things and is the product of our use of media to construct messages. We use language, within media, to construct messages, such as definitions and dictionaries) that construct language. We invent and evolve language as a product of our communication. As for messages, they reiterate all of these constituents. Every message is a partial and incomplete precis of the language that it is constructed with, the medium it is created in and consumed from, and the person who created it. Every message we consume allows us to learn a little more about the language that we interpret with, the medium we create and consume messages in, and the person who created the message. Every message we create is an opportunity to change and extend the language we use, evolve the media we use, and influence the perspective that consumers of our messages have of us. Yet fundamentally, a message is simply a message, an attempt to communicate something we imagine such that another person can correctly intepret the message and thus imagine the same thing. This welter of intersecting McLuhanesque and interdependencies provides a second source of the models name. This model seeks, more than anything, to position language and media as the intermediate building blocks on which communication is built. The position of language as a building block of messages and and communication is well understood. Over a century of study in semantics, semiotics, and linguistics have produced systematic theories of message and language production which are well understood and generally accepted. The study of language is routinely incorporated into virtually all programs in the field of communication, including journalism, rhetoric and speech, film, theater, broadcast media, language arts, speech and hearing sciences telecommunications, and other variants, including departments of language and social interaction. The positioning of the study of media within the field of communication is considerably more tenuous. Many departments, including most of those na med in this paragraph, focus almost entirely on only one or two media, effectively assuming the medium such that the focus of study can be constrained to the art of message production and interpretation, with a heavy focus on the languages of the medium and little real introspection about what it means to use that medium in preference to another or the generalized ways in which all media are invented, learned, evolved, socialized, selected or used meaningfully. Such is, however, the primary subject matter of the newly emerging discipline of media ecology, and this model can be seen as an attempt to position media ecology relative to language and messages as a building block of our communication. This model was created specifically to support theories of media and position them relative to the process of communication. It is hoped that the reader finds value in that positioning 3.0 Interpersonal Communication Judging from the types of interaction in communication, communication can be distinguished in three categories: interpersonal communication, small group communication and public communication in Malaysia context. What is Interpersonal Communication: Interpersonal communication is the exchange of information among persons with at least one or the other usually between two people who can immediately know. According Devito (1989), interpersonal communication is the delivery of messages by one person and receiving a message by another person or a small group of people, with different effects and the opportunity to provide immediate feedback. Interpersonal Communication is communication between people in face to face, which allows each participant to catch other peoples reactions directly, either verbal or nonverbal. Interpersonal Communication is communication that only two people, such as husband and wife, two colleagues, two close friends, teachers, students and others. Interpersonal communication is the communication between the communicator with communicant, communication is considered the most effective type of effort to change attitudes, opinions or behavior of a person, because of its dialogic form of conversation. At the launch of communications, communicators know for sure whether positive or negative communication, successful or not. If he could give the communicant to the opportunity to ask the widest. Classification of Interpersonal Communication developed a classification of interpersonal communication to the intimate interaction, social conversation, interrogation or examination and interview. Intimate interaction, including communication between friends, family members, and those who already have a strong emotional bond. Type of face to face communication essential to the development of informal relationships within the organization. For example, two or more people together and talk about the attention, interests external to the organization as a political issue, technology and others. c) Interrogation or inspection is an interaction between a person who is in control, is requested or even demanded information from the other. For example, an employee accused of taking the goods, the organization will superiors to know the truth. d) The interview is one form of interpersonal communication in which two people engage in conversation in the form of questions and answers. For example, a boss who interviewed his subordinates to seek information about a job. 3.1 The purpose of Interpersonal Communication Interpersonal communication may have several purposes. Finding Yourself One goal of interpersonal communication was found personal or private. When we engage in interpersonal meetings with other people we learned a lot about ourselves and others. Interpersonal Communication provides an opportunity for us to talk about what we like, or about ourselves. It is very interesting and exciting when discussing feelings, thoughts, and our own behavior.   By talking about ourselves with others, we provide an incredible source of feedback on the feelings, thoughts, and our behavior. Discovering The World Outdoors Interpersonal communication only makes us to understand more about ourselves and others who communicate with us. A lot of information that we know comes from interpersonal communication, although many of the amount of information that comes to us from the mass media that is often discussed, and finally learned or discovered through interpersonal interaction. Develop and Maintain Relationships The Full Meaning One of the biggest desire is to form and maintain relationships with others. A lot of times we use in interpersonal communication to establish and maintain the permanence of social relationships with others. Changing Attitudes and Behavior Many times we use to change the attitudes and behaviors of others by interpersonal encounter. We can wish they chose a particular way, such as trying a new diet, buy a certain item, see the film, wrote the book to read, to enter certain areas and believe that something is true or false.   We have a lot of   the time period involved in the interpersonal position. To Play And Pleasure Playing covers all activities that have the main goal is to find pleasure Talking with friends about our activities during the weekend, discussing the sport, telling stories and funny stories in general it is a conversation to pass the time. With that kind of interpersonal communication can provide an important balance in mind the need relax from all the seriousness in our environment. To assist The members of the psychiatric, clinical psychologist and therapist interpersonal communication in their professional activities to direct clients. We all also work to help others in our interpersonal interactions daily. We consulted with a friend who dropped out of love, in consultation with the student on a course that should be taken and so forth. Interpersonal Communication Effectiveness Interpersonal Communication Effectiveness started with five general quality to be considered: transparency (inclusive, and accountable), empathy , the attitude of support, and equality. 3.2 Openness (inclusive, and accountable) Quality of disclosure based on at least three aspects of interpersonal communication. First, effective interpersonal communicators should be open to the people who interact . This does not mean that people should immediately open up all the history may attract, but usually does not help communication. Instead, there must be a willingness to open themselves to disclose information that is usually hidden, so long as the disclosure itself is worth. The second aspect of transparency refers to the willingness of communicators to respond honestly to the next stimulus. People who live, not critically, and no response in general is a dreary conversation participants. We want people to react publicly to what we say and we are entitled to expect this. There is nothing worse than a lack aeven much more enjoyable. We show openness to spontaneously react the way for others. The third aspect concerning the ownership feelings and thoughts. Open in this sense is acknowledged that feelings and though ts that you throw is really yours and you are responsible for it. The best way to express this responsibility is the message that using the word. 3.3 Empathy Henry Backrack (1976) defines empathy as the ability to know what is being experienced by others at a certain moment, from the viewpoint of the other person, through the eyes of other people. Sympathy, on the other is the feeling of others or go to feel grief while empathy is to feel something like a person who experienced it, is in the same boat and feel the same feeling the same way. Empathic person is able to understand the motivations and experiences of others, feelings and attitudes, as well as their hopes and wishes for the future. In nonverbal, to communicate our empathy by showing (1) active engagement with people through facial expressions and gestures are appropriate, (2) includes a centralized concentration eyes, attentive posture, and physical proximity, and (3) touch or caress the proper. The attitude of support (supportiveness) Effective interpersonal relationship is a relationship where there is the attitude of support. The formulation of a concept based on the work of Jack Gibb. Open communication and empathic cannot take place in an environment that does not support. We showed the attitude to be supported by descriptive, not evaluative, spontaneous, non-strategic, and provisional, not very confident. 3.5 Positive attitude (positiveness) We communicate a positive attitude in interpersonal communication with at least two ways: express a positive attitude, and positively encourages people to interact with our friends. A positive attitude based on at least two aspects of interpersonal communication. First, interpersonal communication, if someone has developed a positive attitude toward themselves. Second, positive feelings to the situation of communication in general is very important for effective interaction. Nothing is more fun than to communicate with people who do not enjoy the interaction or does not react favorably to the situation or environment interactions. 4.0 Small Group Communication Small groups can as any collection of individuals who touch each other for a particular purpose and have a degree of organization among them. Most researchers define a small group should be composed of at least three members and no more than twelve or fifteen members. If a member of a group that fewer than 3,easy to apply and when a member of more than 12 people were the group will have trouble. In small groups, each group member must be free to interact and be open to all members of the group. Each team member must have a purpose or a common goal and they should work together to achieve that goal. 4.1 Culture The word culture is the result of combining the words Budhi and power. The word Budhi is borrowed from the Sanskrit language mediators fitness of mind and intellect, while the power is a Malay word meaning Polynesia authorized strength, power and influence. When combined the word culture is to mean power of mind, spirit or energy of moving the soul. Culture as a way of life which is made by people who are members of certain groups and include elements of social systems, organizational structures of economic, political, religious, beliefs, customs, attitudes, values, cultural tools such as those generated by community members. Generally speaking, culture is a way of life practiced by an individual or group of individuals (society). It includes various tools that are created and used, ways of thinking and beliefs passed down from generation to generation. Culture does not only refer to the heritage, ethnicity or race, but it is also determined by age, gender, age, lifestyle and economi c status. The Group is the first time in life as we join the family system, a group of friends at school, or maybe our neighbors. Most times this group provides the communication needs for affiliation (affiliation), authentication (Affirmation) and affection (affection). 4.3 Working Group This type of group on a more formal and the rewards will be received as a result of completion of a task. The group we got and learn the values and norms of behavior we are.   It a standard (standard) for us to compare ourselves. In other words, we assess our successes and failures based on results given by all members of the reference group. Reference group may be primary or secondry. Group that is accompanied by an individual. However, her participation intended to be the benchmark. Participation is simply alone. For example, individual in uniform units sometimes just to meet alone. 4.4 Gender Gender aspects are important elements in determining the value, actions and way of life. In many communities, members are given certain privileges and recognition based on gender. Thus, gender becomes a key determinant of the tasks and roles assigned. For example, in Malay society, men are given priority to be a leader or leaders, especially in families and small groups. In a small group of men usually like to dominate the group and its members, but the problems that exist in small groups are often created by men. 4.5 Practice The practice or habit is the basis of the so-called tradition. It refers to the procedure to do something that is followed by every member of the group concerned and for generations. For example, in each of the ethnic cultural groups, there are certain procedures (traditional) to celebrate births, marriages and deaths. Every human community to impose rules (taboos) to control the behavior of certain members. Taboo is actually a manifestation of what is important for each group. 5.0 Public Communication Communication is a complex process of exchanging messages through words, symbols, expressions and body language. Public communication involves the sending and receiving of messages on a large scale to and from the general public. Public communication includes mass media, public relations and public speaking, but can include any form of sending a message to a large group of people. Effective public communication is a skill that is learned and perfected over time.   Public communication is the sending and receiving of messages on a large scale that impacts groups of people. For the communication to be considered effective, the messages must be clearly and accurately sent and received with full comprehension. 5.1 Purpose The purpose of effective public communication differs based on the intention of the message. For example, a public relations representative might use mass media to repair a companys public image after an alleged scandal breaks out. In this situation, effective public communication is intended to inform the public. On the other hand, a billboards intention is to entice an audience to buy a product or service. Effective public communication is used to inform, educate, persuade and inspire the audience. 5.2 Types Effective public communication can manifest itself in different ways. Public speaking in any form is considered public communication. This can be a school assembly, a business meeting or a presidential speech at TV, radio, newspaper or any other mass-produced medium, is another type of effective public communication. 5.3 Results The result of effective public communication is the successful delivery of a message to a large group of people where each individual is impacted and moved to take action. Effective public communication is able to relate to the individual needs of the listeners while speaking to the masses. Effective public communication causes listeners to respond to the public communications message. 5.4 Considerations Effective public communication must refrain from biased words, philosophies and ideologies. For example, when the president is making a speech, his words and thoughts need to be portrayed in a universal way so that one group does not feel isolated or left out. Effective public communication keeps statements generic and neutral to gender, race and religious beliefs. 6.0 Conclusion My conclusion for Oral Communication in English: Forms, Functions, and Strategies in the Malaysian Context in short, the transmissive model is of little direct value to social science research into human communication, and its endurance in popular discussion is a real liability. Its reductive influence has implications not only for the commonsense understanding of communication in general, but also for specific forms of communication such as speaking and listening, writing and reading, watching television and so on. In education, it represents a similarly transmissive model of teaching and learning. And in perception in general, it reflects the naive realist notion that meanings exist in the world awaiting only decoding by the passive spectator. In all these contexts, such a model underestimates the creativity of the act of interpretation. Alternatives to transmissive models of communication are normally described as constructivist: such perspectives acknowledge that meanings are act ively constructed by both initiators and interpreters rather than simply transmitted. However, you will find no single, widely-accepted constructivist model of communication in a form like that of Shannon and Weavers block diagram. This is partly because those who approach communication from the constructivist perspective often reject the very idea of attempting to produce a formal model of communication. Where such models are offered, they stress the centrality of the act of making meaning and the importance of the socio-cultural context.

Graduation Speech: Finding the Good Stuff :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

The culmination of a dozen years of formal education is at hand - a just cause for celebration! You have fulfilled a quantifiable set of requirements, but what did you really learn? You have demonstrated your ability to cope with deadlines, social stress, challenging situations, major life changes, and even smelly gym socks. Knowledge is the progeny of struggle. Every challenge and adverse situation you've endured has served to strengthen your adaptability and taught you valuable lessons. All of the events that have been shared with friends, educators and parents in the past four years are experiences that have been infused into each individual's sense of self and will continue to influence your future. You have reached the end of an era, yet that era will remain forever with you. As you venture out, hopefully instilled with the knowledge you have gained, the future will abound with new and challenging opportunities. As you begin a new stage of life, (and the beginning of the end of your life), I want to tell you something someone once told me: "You know, life is like a possum in a trash can." That was a new one on me! "Yeah," I said. "How?" "Well, if the possum just sits in the can, it'll scrounge on the tidbits on top. But if the can gets shaken and rolled around a bit, the possum can get to the really good slop at the bottom." At first it just sounded like one of those "You might be redneck if ..." cartoons, but then I realized that there was a pertinent message underlying the seemingly mundane adage. Don't be contented with the bare minimum - what's given to you, what's comfortable, what's familiar, what's easy - that's just grazing the top. Shake the can! You can be like that lazy possum and nibble on the discarded pudding wrappers, soggy Cheetos and wood shavings of yesterday. Or, you can seize the moment and rattle the can around to get at the licorice, fudge, chocolate truffle ice cream and half-eaten cheesecake of last week. The world holds much more to be experienced than it easily and readily delivers. Often times, school and social pressure condition us to think and act certain ways. Throughout our daily routines young people are pressured by society to think and act certain ways, to settle neatly into a niche that feels comfortable. Over time, we become accustomed to conforming to preconceived notions of what is expected and "normal.

United States

The Golden Gate Bridge (California) The Golden Gate Bridge was named one of the â€Å"Seven Wonders of the Modern World† by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The Golden Gate Bridge was built in 1937 to connect the city of San Francisco to Marin County across the Golden Gate Strait. Chicago (Illinois) Welcome to Chicago, America's third largest city and one of its best tourist destinations! Chicago's skyline is quite impressive. Indeed, the city is famous for its architecture. Atlantic City (NEW JERSEY) Atlantic City is a resort town located in South Jersey, New Jersey, USA. The town is famous for its gambling casinos, its boardwalk and its beach. Las Vegas (Nevada) Are you interested in gambling, seeing a show, or perhaps exploring the Hoover Dam and Red Red Rock Canyon? Want to see more of this famous desert city ? Mount Rushmore (South Dakota) Mount Rushmore is located in South Dakota. Carved into the granite wall of Mount Rushmore are the faces of 4 presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. These presidents symbolize the United States ideals: Washington standing for independence; Jefferson for democracy; Lincoln for equality; and, Roosevelt for the role in world affairs. The Statue of Liberty (New York) The Statue of Liberty is one of the best known American landmarks. It was a gift to the United States from France to commemorate their alliance during the American Revolution. It is located in the New York harbor near Ellis Island. The statue welcomed new immigrants to the United States who entered the country through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. The statue is 111 feet, 1 inch tall and made from 225 tons of copper. It was given to the people of the United States by France on July 4, 1884 to commemorate the 100 anniversary of the American Revolution. It was dedicated on October 28, 1886. Liberty Bell – Philadelphia, (Pennsylvania) Also in Philadelphia is the ever popular Liberty Bell. Once housed in Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell now has its own home in a safe building right across the street on the lawn at Independence Mall. Entrance to the hall is free, but all visitors must go through security before entering. The Liberty Bell is open every day except Christmas. Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona) The Grand Canyon is one of the top natural wonders in the world. Nothing compares to seeing it in person, but on the following pages, I will try to impress you with the pictures I took while visiting this National Park. Sedona (Arizona) Sedona is renowned for its beautiful Red Rocks that seem to change color and hue each time you glance their way, and its mystical Vortexes where the soul and energy flows flourish. Big Sur (California) If you want to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco (or vice versa), you should drive along Highway 1, a road with the most awesome coastal views in the United States. San Francisco (California) For a better understanding of San Francisco's uniqueness among North American cities, let's take a Photographic Tour of a few points of interest which can define it: Fisherman's Wharf, the Union Square, the Civic Center, the Financial District, North Beach, Chinatown, and last but not least, Pacific Heights. Los Angeles (California) The second biggest city in the US is worldwide famous for its attractions. Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Long Beach, Downtown. San Diego (California) The second largest city in California is famous for its nice weather, the Sea World, its Zoo, and its nice beaches. Yosemite National Park (California) Yosemite National Park, Central California, is famous for its granite cliffs, its waterfalls, its streams, its giant sequoias groves, and its bio diversity. Washington, D.C. Landmarks The city of Washington, D.C. is the capital city of the United States of America. The Whitehouse The Whitehouse, located in Washington, D.C., is the home of the United States president. It has been the home for every U.S. president, except George Washington. Construction was started on October 13, 1792, on a site selected by George Washington. The house was not completed until 1800, when President John Adams moved in. The original home was burned by the British in 1814, during the War of 1812. The house was rebuilt and painted white to cover its fire-blackened walls. This is how it got the name the Whitehouse. The Washington Monument The Washington Monument is the tallest structure in Washington, D.C., The Washington Monument was built to honor George Washington, first president of the United States. The monument was completed and dedicated in 1885. It is a white marble structure 555 feet, 5-1/8 inches tall. The Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial, located in Washington, D.C., was built to honor Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. Inside the monument is a 19 foot white marble statue of Abraham Lincoln. On the walls are etched the words of his Gettysburg Address calling for unity of the country, â€Å"that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.† The Capitol Building It is located in Washington, D.C., on Capitol Hill. The Capitol Building is the home of the United States Congress. The Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives, to make laws that govern the country. The Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution is the largest museum in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian Institution consists of several museums including: the National Museum of Natural History; the National Air and Space Museum; the National Museum of American Art; and, the National Museum of African Art. War Memorials Washington, D.C. is home to many of the nations war memorials such as the Korean War Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Washington, D.C., make sure you see these monuments. They are even more impressive in real life. Iwo Jima The Iwo Jima Memorial honors the U.S. Marine and Navy corpsmen at the battle of Iwo Jima at the end of the Second World War. Vietnam Memorial The Vietnam Memorial was built to honor the soldiers who died in the Vietnam War. It is a large black stone wall. On the wall are etched the names of all the United States soldiers who died in the Vietnam War.

Human Nature and the Goodness of a Person in Plato’s Republic I Essay

Hailed as Plato’s greatest masterpiece, the Republic is considered one of the best guides of ethics and politics not only in a5th century Greece but in modern and contemporary times. Just like in the Dialogues, throughout all the sections or books of the Republic, the main character is Plato’s mentor, Socrates, whose conversations with prominent Greek personalities on the subjects of ethics and politics the former documents. Book One is particularly important as it opens the series of dialogues that discusses ideas relevant to human nature and the definition of a good man. This paper seeks to present the views of Plato on the subjects of wealth, friendship and justice as it relates to the idea of what a good man should be. The Important Points of Republic I on Human Nature The ideas on human nature and goodness in Book One of the Republic are hinged upon the important points in the conversations among Socrates, Cephalus, Polemarchus and Thrasymachus. On Wealth. Socrates talks to Cephalus in the first part of the first book of the Republic. Socrates is curious about Cephalus’ mild demeanor when it comes to his wealth. First of all, Socrates states that in order for one to value money, he has to make it himself. He speaks of this important concept in the following statement of his to Cephalus: â€Å"Men who have made money take this money seriously as their own creation and they also value it for its uses as other people do† (Plato, Republic I, 330c). Socrates points out further that â€Å"those who have themselves acquired [their money] have a double reason in comparison with other men for loving it† (330c) and â€Å"so [the men who have made money] are hard to talk to since they are unwilling to commend anything except wealth† (330c). In short, Cephalus states that â€Å"the best thing about wealth is that it can save us from being unjust and thus smooth the way for an agreeable afterlife† (Brown). This is clearly one of the best insights on human nature related to wealth. This line implies that a good man is supposed to make his own money in order for him to appreciate it much and to value it. Wasteful men who do not value their money may have been those who did not make their own money and have acquired it only through inheritance. The second important point regarding how wealth relates to human nature is that a good man should know that the importance of money is for him not to cheat his fellowman. Socrates asks Cephalus â€Å"What do you regard as the greatest benefit you have enjoyed from the possession of property? † (330d). And after a long explanation, Cephalus answers, â€Å"I affirm that the possession of wealth is of most value not to cheat any man [and] not remaining in debt to a god for some sacrifice or to a man for money [and] it has also many other uses† (331a-331b). It is clear from a Cephalus’ statement that the purpose of money is not to do harm to one’s fellowman even though this harm is unintentional. He therefore presumes that a man who does not have enough money has a natural tendency to wrong his fellowman. It is therefore imperative that people should make money for such a purpose. On Friendship. From the subject of wealth as it relates to human nature, Socrates concludes that the purpose of acquiring wealth is somehow based on the idea of doing justice to one’s fellowman. And this idea of justice extends to friendship. In the conversations between Socrates and Polemarchus, one of the conclusions they have arrived at is that it is but just for one to do good to his friends and not to do evil. This is explicitly stated by Polemarchus as: â€Å"Friends owe it to friends to do them some good and no evil† (332a). This is based on the saying according to Polemarchus that â€Å"according to Simonides, it is just to give to each what is owed [or due] to him† (Humphrey), which means that because your friends do good to you and not bad, then it is but just to return the favor. Polemarchus also says that in order to do justice to one’s enemies, one should do to him â€Å"what also is proper for him [and] some evil† (332b). This means that since one’s enemies do bad things then one should give them a taste of their own medicine through doing bad things too. On Justice. Both the aforementioned subjects of wealth and friendship as they relate to human nature can be reduced to the idea of justice. The ideas on how justice relates to human nature are somehow lifted from the dialogue between Socrates and Thrasymachus. A just man first of all should not try to take advantage of another man. Socrates asks Thrasymachus, â€Å"Do you think the just man would want to overreach or exceed another just man? † (349b) and he answers, â€Å"By no means† (349b). This means that a just man recognizes the fact that since the other person has not wronged him, he has no right to wrong him either. However, Thrasymachus states that a just man would deem it proper and just to overreach an unjust man, although â€Å"[the just man] wouldn’t be able to† (349b). This means that if someone wrongs a just man, he would think it is but just to retaliate, only that out of kindness he might not be able to do it. However, it is implied here by Thrasymachus that a just man may rejoice when the unjust are punished for the former thinks just punishment is well-deserved. However, it is believed that this provides â€Å"a contrast to the preciseness of Socrates’ claims† (Kanak). Nevertheless the just man is still better than the unjust man, for â€Å"the just man does not seek to take advantage of his like but of his unlike, but the unjust man of both. (349c-349d) From the aforementioned statements, it has been concluded that â€Å"the just man is like the wise and good, and the unjust is like the bad and the ignoramus† (350c). The â€Å"wise and good† man, or the â€Å"just† man, according to the Republic, is not really someone who accepts all ridicule and unjust treatment without question. He is rather someone who treats in a good way those who do good to him and may choose to treat in a similar way those who do bad things to him. This is basically the idea of a just and good man based on the first book of the Republic. Conclusion The good man according to Book One of the Republic is the man who is just. Specifically, he is a firstly a man who makes his own wealth in order that he may appreciate it. He is also one who â€Å"recognizes that the importance of money is for one to be able to treat his fellowman justly and to avoid causing any unjust treatment† (Kozlovic). Moreover, a good man is one who gives to his friend what is due him and to his enemy some evil that he rightfully deserves. Lastly and most importantly, a good man is a man who does to others what others do to him, whether this is good or bad, although out of kindness he may choose not to do something bad. Nevertheless, a good man believes that a just punishment should serve its necessary purpose. We therefore learn so much from the words of Cephalus: â€Å"When a man lives out his days in justice and piety, sweet companion [is] with him, to cheer his heart and nurse his old age. † (331a)

Research Survey on Use of Opportunity Cost in Project Evaluation

RESEARCH SURVEY ON USE OF OPPORTUNITY COST IN PROJECT EVALUATION AT SELECTED COMMERCIAL BANKS IN THE KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN A RESEARCH PAPER PRESENTED TO THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE AMA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN BY MUBEEN FATIMA August, 2012 ABSTRACT Accounting and Economics work for two different purposes. Today managerial decision making uses economics, as well as accounting concepts, methods & practices of scrutiny given by decision sciences.Literature shows that there are four basic tools and techniques of decision making used by economists, these are; augmentation, statistical valuation, projecting, numerical study, and game theory, most of which are equally procedural in nature they helps us to gather the idea of how decisions are made in economics. Since resources are limited relative to wants, the usage of resources in one way hinders their use in other means.This implies the cost of opportunity, which is lost, is actually the profit of whose output is given up, this indicates that, lost time, satisfaction or any other benefit that provides usefulness should also be taken as opportunity cost. Opportunity cost in literature is the cost referred as the next-best choice available to a rational consumer who has to select between a number of mutually distinct projects. It is, thus the key concept in economics. It has been illustrated as conveying â€Å"the basic relationship between deficiency and choice. Yet its relation to the economic profit is seldom discussed.CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Background of the Study Prior research work provides us the idea that opportunity costs is one of the key differences between the concepts of economic cost and accounting cost. Being treated as a cost, opportunity cost had always been considered vital in calculation of the true cost of a project & has always effected a management accountant decision However the modern economists, particularly the Austrian school of thought treats opportunity cost as something that has neither existence nor has any importance in decision making.Though the field of economics gave birth to the concept of opportunity cost, the awareness about assessing the second best alternate is now taken over by management accounting, today this concept is being taught in academic graduate courses of economics however; in practice, the economists today emphasize on mathematical techniques in decision making there by ignoring various conceptual factors like opportunity costs and worth of projects being missed. Evaluating opportunity costs is important to find out the true cost of any project under consideration.If the financial worth of second best alternative of an investment project is low, then, overlooking that opportunity costs, gives an impression that benefits of next best alternative, cost practically nothing. The invisible opportunity costs then become one of the hidden costs of that particular project. Mr. John Stuart Mill, a British philosopher and a civil servant was the first man to give the idea of Opportunity Cost in his economic theory of free markets as well as explaining his concept of liberty and an individual and freedom of choice.Opportunity costs are thought of as the retrospective costs that cannot be recovered in the field of Economics and Corporate decision making. Opportunity costs are occasionally compared with â€Å"potential costs† which obviously are the future costs that may or may not incurr depending upon the decision taken. Both past aswell as prospective costs can be either static or dynamic Austrian school of thought pay attention to the concept of opportunity costs on both sides of the market links very deeply to the importance of finance and economic profit estimation in their model of the market process.They argue that the money of an investor having opportunity cost means that his money has many uses but the uses are not unlimited. With the assumption of a market with seamlessly exclusi ve capital goods, those goods will have no opportunity cost as every exclusive good has only one yield. In a market of seamlessly standardized capital goods, they have no opportunity cost because all of the goods are same in terms of use and benefit thus can be used equally well for each yield. In practice the calculation of project cost by an accountant is different from that of an economist.This variance is not grounded in different fundamentals on what to assess or how, but lies in the basic difference in understanding-of costs and profits. However if opportunity costs are not ignored by the economist then while calculating the GDP of Country the economist must also consider the large scale pearl diving industry in certain areas of Bahrain. Statement of the Problem The study aims to discuss the relevance of the concept of Opportunity Cost in project evaluation procedure adopted by commercial banks in Kingdom of Bahrain.The opportunity cost has different importance in the opinion of economists and accounts professionals and therefore the use of this concept in project costing . This research will attempt to find out importance of Opportunity cost while considering an investment proposal. Specifically it sought to answer the succeeding questions. 1. What is the status of the opportunity cost in project evaluation at Selected Commercial banks in Kingdom of Bahrain? 2. What are the banking operations where opportunity cost is deemed important by Commercial Banks in Kingdom of Bahrain? 3.What are the factors effecting the importance of opportunity cost faced by Commercial Banks in Kigdom of Bahrain? 4. What are the problems encountered in application of Opportunity cost concept by the Bankers while evaluating a project? Assumption The study assumed that the respondents are honest in answering all the questionnaire Significance of the Study The study is beneficial to the following: Decision Makers: the study will help the decision makers in Commercial Banking ind ustry to find the true cost of a project and therefore finding the true profit or loss generated by itFuture Researches: the study will help in relating the two concepts i. e, opportunity cost and Project Costing by using the quantitative methodology of research. It will further help in decision making and project evaluation for the accounts Managers and Economists. Scope and Limitation The aim of this study is to deliberate the significance of the concept of Opportunity Cost in project evaluation procedure adopted by Commercial banks in Kingdom of Bahrain. The opportunity cost has different importance in the pinion of economists and accounts professionals and therefore the use of this concept in project costing . The study includes Bank Officers at selected Commercial Banks working in Kingdom of Bahrain. The target population is Executives and managers (top and middle level ) who are directly involved in decision making This research focused on finding out importance of Opportunity cost while considering an investment proposalstudy is conducted in Commercial Banks of Bahrain, the responses therefore reflect the most important sector of Bahrain economy. The study is conducted in the natural settings i. during the business hours and responses are taken while the samples are on their work places, therefore 100 percent reliability of responses is not possible due to various un controllable distractions. The period covered by this study is January till December 2012. All the data is collected in Bahrain and responses therefore will represent the local population. Definition of Terms Opportunity Cost (OC) The cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action. Put another way, the benefits you could have received by taking an alternative action (John Stuart Mil)Economic Value Added (EVA) A measure of a company's financial performance based on the residual wealth calculated by deducting cost of capital from its operating profit (Stern St ewart) EVA is also referred to as â€Å"economic profit†. CHAPTER 2 Review of Related Literature and Studies Foreign Literature Mankiw ( 2000) from Harvard University USA and the author of† Principles of Microeconomics† explained here that Economic profits are calculated by using both explicit as well as implicit costs however Accounting profits are calculated using only explicit costs.Therefore , accounting profits are higher than economic profits Neale( 2001) have found that due to forgoing opportunity costs, delayed decisions can be seen as option between certain loss and the risk of greater or zero loss. Chung, (2005)from Princeton University have conclude in their work â€Å"The Opportunity Cost of Admission Preferences at Elite Universities† that economic cost of a decision relies on the cost of the project that is selected and also the profits that the second best alternative project may had given if selected.This perspective of scarcity of resource leads to the dimension of opportunity cost. Hawkins et. al ( 2008 ) in their article â€Å" Cost and benefit Analysis† are of the view that the â€Å"next best alternative† is an important concept in cost and benefit analysis (CBA). The benefits gone by not implementing the second favorite choice are known as opportunity costs. Opportunity costs are relevant in calculating costs of a project. Opportunity costs help in economic scrutiny. In financial investigation market values are used as the market price for man power has the market value same as a person’s wageThe Indian scholars are also of the view that Opportunity Cost of Idle Capacity Zero, supporting the work of (Coase 1938). The researchers of M2 Presswire publications have found that opportunity cost of ignoring the markets, have disastrous results as eBay failed to beat yahoo in this regard. Buchanan (1969 ) says that it is just to bind the term opportunity cost to this idea that only decision changing cost represents an analysis of given up â€Å"opportunities. † and to invent other vivid terms to mention ecision altering cost in a logic of choice and to the objective cost of the predictive theory. Hebert (1985 ) gave a very comprehensive idea about the market value. Yet his belief of fundamental value has quite possibly been a red-herring in the antiquity of economic analysis, according to him market value is sensitive to elements other than â€Å"on record costs† few of them are independent. Horwitz (2010) identifies the partiality of opportunity costs on either sides of the market connections so well to the importance of capital and economic calculation in the Austrian theory of the market process.Aherns (2008) says that management accountants’ most prior duty is to relate the available reserves with the future dealings of the business. Whereas this process is rather simpler in economics to determine which of the available alternates is going to pay off h ighest future cash flows Kearing et. al (2005) are of the view that multiple allocation of capital funds , commercial analysis and manufacturer side opportunity costs are all the unified part of the Austrian ideology. Woodbery (2000) says that the true opportunity cost of using the additional capability is the change in the worth of the firm's choices.By emphasizing on the state-contingent nature of best decisions, his framework distinguishes that the cost is not always identical to the present value of explicit venture or manufacturing decisions. Taylor (2005) suggests that many proficient economists may not completely comprehend opportunity cost. Frank (2005) said that comparative prices helps in finding out the comparative worth of ordained opportunities. His hypothesis is based on an indepth study of consumer indifferense curves. According to the author the economic cost is virtually the opportunity cost.Samuelson( 2009) puts stress on a close link between opportunity costs and cost of available resources. Economic cost consist of not only the noticeable monetary purchases or on record financial transactions but also more indirect opportunity costs, such as the profits on the manpower supplied by the owner of a resource company and other returns of similar nature. The factors mentioned are firmly controlled by the quotations available and demand in competitive markets. Henderson (2011), said that by â€Å"opportunity cost† of a resource, the economist mean the financial worth of the second favourite utilization of the available resource.Opportunity costs as in (Lawrance Gitman 2000) are those profits or returns that could be obtained from best alternative use of an a retained asset. So opportunity cost is the cash that shall not be obtained because of engaging an asset in project under consideration. Due to this, opportunity cost should be included as an expense or loss while doing the project evaluation. Raftery et. al(1999) writes that considerati on of opportunity cost is essential for the economist's while determining the costs. As resources are less compared to the needs, so application of resources in one profitable project hinders their use in other profitable pojectsBauman (2011) says that opportunity cost is the second best choice, he said that it is difficult to clearly frame the opportunity cost as identifying second best choices is a knotty matter. According to him the concept of opportunity cost can only be clearly defined in academic problems as in practical field a project â€Å"price to worth† calculations are complex Kimberly (1998) said that computerized accounting systems today solely emphasize on cash in and out of the firm, this eventually attracts clever dealers to dump credits that produce a big accounting profits.By the introduction of opportunity cost in persuit of calculating the true costs enforces further control on reporting process. Such concept implication helps the auditors to identify the fake earnings shown in the financial statements made in the year end. Recklies (2001) argues that from economic perspective the cost include all those expenditures that are crucial for perpetual succession of a business as as going concern, it also consist of the reimbursement for owners in shape of profit so that they maintain their investment portfolio within the firm.Marshall (2009) identifies the income as a total of personal skills, capital funds invested, assets possessed and the reputation of the business. Leeson (2008) has explained in his research work the uses if the concept of uncertainty and derives from this concept of the value of information and how it can be calculated. And emphasized upon the role of management accounting in the decision-making Berntell (2005) have focused on the optimum utilization of scarce resources like water to give maximum utility by reducing various costs and losses. For which economist must make a clear cut cost and benefit analysisDmytrenk o (1997 )has elaborated in his price to value investigation the opportunity cost of increased automation in a firm via changing the human resource by computers and equipment Caplan (2003) says that the term opportunity cost is sometimes confusing. Sometimes it is used to submit to the profit foregone from the next best option, and Often it is used to mention the difference in benefit of decision made and the benift of second favourite decision that is given up Fraker( 2006) suggests that EVA is a unique financial performance determining tool .Unlike other financial efficiency ratios, it gives a different outlook of a Bank’s financial health by including the cost of Capital employeed in the business and is more of concern to its shareholders. Shcherbakov( 2012) explains that implication of the concept of EVA is an enhanced measuring technique to find out the effect of internationalization on the commercial performance of any business King (2009) explained that Accountancy and Economics work for different purposes. He explained the multi-national corporation scenarios and compared the use of economic profits with that of accounting profitsLocal Literature (Hasan Al-Basteki 1998) worked on the use of modern Accounting techniques in the decision making in Bahrain and he concluded that not just the western world is implementing the new costing techniques but the middle east is also adopting the modern techniques Synthesis of the Literature Review The synthesis of the literature reviewed enlightens few similarities and differences with this research studies . The main similarities found in the literature are as follows i) Opportunity cost has been used in different parts of the world particularly in Banks and Construction industry ii) The No. f alternatives available influence the Opportunity Cost iii) Economic factors like inflation has effect on the project evaluation by the Banks . A closer review of these research papers show that Economists belonging to the Austrian school of thoughts are of the view that i) Opprtunity cost is not as important as Economic Profits are for economic decision making ii) Scarcity of resource is a factor which effects the decision makers approach The literature explains the significance of opportunity cost in framing the actual picture of the financial position of a company, same is the case evaluation of an investment project.Opportunity cost helps identifying the true cost of a project Opportunity cost is important in the determining the accurate financial position, hence in this research the relationship between the factors effecting opportunity cost and decision making is under study Theoretical Frame Work The study tends to explore the Opportunity cost and EVA for a given project in order to understand their relationship with each other. Very little literature is available in Economics and Accounting to determine the true profits of an organization(Denise Woodbery).The idea behind this research is t o establish the nature of relationship between Economic value added that reflects the monetory importance of a given project or in other words the economic profit and that of Opportunity Cost that reflects the accounting profit of the same project. Conceptual Frame Work The idea behind this research is to find out how effective is Opportunity cost in project evaluation perceived by the Bankers in the Kingdom of Bahrain.The data is collected and analysed to understand what status opportunity cost concept holds in project financial evaluation and its relative efficiency perceived by the bankers at selected commercial banks of Kingdom of Bahrain The study tends to explore the two concepts for a given project in order to understand their relationship with each other. The Opportunity cost as discussed in literature like any other relevant cost adds to the overall project expenditure (Ferraro & Laura O Taylor)Opportunity cost effects the total Cost of a Project , any increase in Opportuni ty cost means increase I nthe total cost of the project The higher the Opportunity Cost of a Project is the Smaller will be the net profit of it However the higher the net profit of the project is Opportunity Cost of the Project will be lower. Financial decision making tends to go for a project with smaller cost and hence inclusion of opportunity cost will alter the project cost and alter the decision ultimately.Various factors like availability of alternatives (James Raftery 1999), Scarcity of resources (Robert Frank 2005), Economic factors like trade cycle recession, inflation (Peter T leeson 2008) effects the use of opportunity cost in Project costing CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter presents the research design and methodology, sampling design, respondents of the study, research instrument, validity and reliability of the instrument, data gathering procedures, and statistical treatment of the gathered data.Research Design This study used the descriptive type of resear ch which involves assembling data which provide knowledge about the variables and then systematically tabularizing, portraying, and defining the data gathered (Glass & Hopkins, 1984). To get evidence concerning the current standing of the incidences to describe what happens in terms of change in value of the variables or settings in a state of research.. Opportunity Cost reflects the monetary importance of the next best alternative project.The study helps to find out how effectively this concept is incorporated in project evaluation procedure Research Design This is a descriptive research in which the population from which data is collected are the Management Personals from different business concerns established and working in Kingdom of Bahrain, directly or indirectly associated with the decision making and investment evaluation . Respondents of the Study The target population includes the working class particularly the managers , assistant managers and executives who work in Bahr ain and their field esponsibility include Investment Analysis ,Project evaluation and decision making of similar nature. Sample Size The sample size is 50 and the response rate is well above the international standard of quantitative research required to validate the result of the study Sampling Design There are many methods of sampling; however for this study Random Sampling is used that is from the target population a sample of 100 is collected on random basis.The study uses random sampling for convenience and to avoid bias of respondents that work in one organization have one opinion(as in cluster sampling) Research Instrument The instrument used in this study is Questionnaire, the content of the questionnaire that consist of 20 queries the first five of which are about the general information of the respondent, remaining queries for which the respondents will answer on a Likert Scale. All the queries will help to find the relation between the two variables Opportunity Cost (IV) and Decision Making (DV)Part I: Provide demographics of the respondents in terms of age , gender, educational attainment, work experience in years Part II: Provide the data about the respondents opinion on various factors that influence their decision while making financial evaluation of a project. The answers to these questions will be given on a five point rating scale. 5. Strongly Agree 4. Agree 3. Moderately Agree 2. Disagree 1. Strongly Disagree Validity of the InstrumentThe validity of instrument is carefully checked by the research committee that includes research professors, statisticians and advisors. The recommendations were incorporated. The justification of this validation was to avoid vague items and bias statements which have been correctly achieved. Reliability of the Instrument The questionnaire is pre-tested to test the reliability of it, with a small group of individualsworking in different companies in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in order to check their understanding of the questions.Data collection Method Questionnaire copies were distributed among bank officers in different branches of distinct commercial banks in various regions of Kingdom of Bahrain. The target respondents are expected to be acquainted with the subject and questions, included in the questionnaire. There are other methods of data collection like documentary analysis and interview however for this study survey methodology is opted. A copy of questionnaire is provided in the appendix Statistical Treatment of the DataThere are many choices of appropriate statistical methods however Correlation Coefficient as statistical method is used, so to find out the relation between the two variables. The survey form was used the Likert five point scale for the respondents to choose from as follows: [pic] Very few enterprises are using opportunity cost for just one reason. It is clearly evident that Opportunity cost related information is being used to accurately manage wide range of activi ties across a banking organization. Activities influenced by Opportunity cost calculation Activities |% of respondents | |Product Costs & Profitability |65 | |Performance Measurement |47 | |Shared Service Costing |41 | |Planning & Budgeting |40 | |Customer costing |38 | |Customer/Channel Costs & Profitability |38 | |Transfer pricing |25 | |Outcome / Output based management |25 | Expectedly, opportunity cost is used for product costing by approximately two by three of those respondants working in banking sector. It’s precision over traditional costing methods is borne out later in the survey with 87% finding that their Opportunity Cost product costs differed substantially from traditional costing methods, leading around 50% to reprice their products as a result!Validating the views expressed by Kaplan & Norton in their latest book ‘Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible Outcomes’, which lays emphesisis on the importance of using Opportunity Cos to support a Balance Scorecard, nearly half of all respondents are using their Opportunity Cost data to support their Performance Management The use of Opportunity Cost to support Shared Services costing has increased in popularity over the last few years. Now that internal services are represent up to 30% of an organisation’s costs, it has become imperative to accurately reflect how those services are consumed by business units. Over 40% of respondents are using opportunity cost to support Shared Service costing, enabling them to understand who and what is driving consumption of their internal services, and thereby increasing the effectiveness of their focus an core business. These trends are repeated by those who do not yet use opportunity cost, but are planning to. They want to use opportunity cost to support Initiative |% of respondents planning to use OPPORTUNITY COST | |Product Costing |55 | |Planning & Budgeting |36 | |Customer costing |27 | |Process/Continuous Improve ment |27 | The most noticeable difference is that only 18% are planning to use the information to support Performance Measurement. This could well be because the ease of which opportunity cost lends itself to Performance Measurement is not evident until an opportunity cost is up and running.Alternatively, the respondents may be looking to introduce opportunity cost to solve a pressing business requirement, and the links between Opportunity Cost and performance metrics are not immediately apparent. Opportunity Cost for Planning The emphasis of Bankers has moved from historical costs to future costs. An enormous 94% of those questioned are now using opportunity cost, or plan to use, opportunity costs for developmental drives. Opportunity cost Planners are looking at all aspects of their organisations in order to identify improvement opportunities. Some 60% are looking to identify process improvements, with 55% looking at activity level improvements via resource planning, and 49% looki ng to affect strategy formulation. However, only 13% are questioning their organisation’s process design in a fundamental way.Consistent with historic uses of opportunity Cost planning data is being used to support a variety of initiatives, although there is a surprising focus on opportunity cost for goal setting. |Initiative |% of OPPORTUNITY COST Planners | |Shared Service Costing |51 | |Product Costing |49 | |Defining team/dept goals |27 | |Defining organisational goals |13 | Product/Service Costing and Customer ProfitabilityBy using cause and effect tracing rather than allocations, opportunity cost better reflects the value chain of how organisations consume costs and provides more accurate product, service and customer costings than achieved using traditional costing techniques. The difference in opportunity cost product costs to absorption or other allocation based costings can be dramatic. The survey shows that 87% of practitioners found that their product and service costs differed from traditional costings markedly. The majority had an average variation of between 5 and 10%, which can be dramatic at a gross or net margin level. However, a surprising number of respondents (11%) experienced variations of over 100%! |Average variation |% |Maximum variation % | |0 |13 |; 10% |25 | |1-5% |15 |10-25% |17 | |5-10% |26 |25-50% |25 | |10-15% |13 |50-75% |14 | |15-20% |10 |75-100% |8 | |; 20% |23 |; 100% |11 | Cost Reduction and Process ImprovementThat ABC can improve your bottom line is beyond doubt, with potential cost savings amounting to 25% of cost bases being identified. Some organisations are yet to find where they can reduce their costs, but it is worth noting that over 70% of those who have not identified cost savings have less than 100 activities in their model. Whilst it is important to prevent ABC models become too large and unmanageable (primarily because they can induce analysis paralysis), it is essential that a reasonable level of detail is available, so that there is sufficient information on which to make cost reducing or revenue enhancing decisions. After all, profit outcomes are the result of process design and activity workflow†¦ Maximum potential cost saving as a % of cost base |% | |0% |18 | |1-5% |21 | |5-10% |33 | |10-15% |8 | |15-20% |13 | |20-25% |2 | |;25% |5 | A variety of methods are being used to help organisations translate their ABC data into real cost reductions. Cost driver analysis is the most frequently used method for aiding cost reduction and/or process redesign, with 67% of organisations using this technique. Process mapping and benchmarking are also popular, as is repricing of products and/or services, and analysis of the value that an activity adds to an organisation. Top techniques used to aid cost reduction |% | |Cost driver analysis |67 | |Process mapping & redesign |52 | |Benchmarking |52 | |Repricing |50 | |Value adding analysis |42 | |Product rationalisation |38 | |Value chain an alysis |32 | Conclusions ABC can, and does, add value to organisations. 96% of respondents have found the experience to be beneficial to their organisations, and 98% are expecting their implementations to deliver even more positive returns on their investment in the future Level of benefit delivered by ABC |% achieved |% future | |Adverse impact |4 |2 | |Negligible benefit |22 |13 | |Moderate benefit |54 |60 | |Substantial benefit |20 |25 | Regardless of the benefit analysis above, respondents recommend the use of ABC unanimously! In particular, practitioners recommend using ABC for product costing and cost reduction, to derive the most benefits, although there is a general belief held by ABC practitioners that the methodology should be broadly used as shown below. ABC supporting |% of organisations | |Product/service costing & profitability |80 | |Cost reduction |65 | |Continuous Improvement Program |56 | |Business Process Re-engineering |55 | |Shared Services Costing |51 | |Custom er, channel or value chain analysis |44 | ABC is generating real benefits for all sorts of organisations across Australia. These benefits can only increase as more organisations are looking to start an ABC project for the first time, but the full potential of ABC will not be realised as so many existing ABC users are still not employing ABC to its full capabilities. It is important that experienced ABC companies capitalise on their implementations to achieve the maximum possible benefits.Increasing the scale of an ABC project need not be an expensive, time-consuming process. There are cost-effective solutions that combine ABC, Process Mapping and Balanced Scorecard, to produce automated, regular reports with a minimum of manual intervention. With organisation-wide implementations providing much greater cost savings, expanding your ABC project can only be advantageous to your organisation’s bottom line. CHAPTER 4 Analysis and interpretation The data collection method for this study is survey questionnaire conducted face-to-face with 51 randomly chosen Bankers from various commercial banks in Bahrain from various cities. The questionnaire includes multiple choice, open-ended, and Likert scale questions.Some questions of the survey were adopted form various previous studies (Brierly et al. , 2001; Van Triest and Elshahat, 2007; Wijewardena and Zoysa, 1999). The data collection period ranges from October 2012 to November 2012. (1) general information on the business organizations and respondents; and (2) cost and management accounting practices. Table 4. 1 Information gathered from the first part of the questionnaire. |Bank Classification |Percent | |Commercial Banks |  40 | |Islamic Banks |  10 | |Other Banks |  1 | |No. f Employees |Percent | |10 to 49 |   | |50 to 99 |  90% | |100 and more |  10% | |Age of the Banks |Percent | |10 years or less |  10% | |20 year or less |  80% | |20 years or more |  10% | In the Table 1, Bank classifica tion, position of respondent, number of employees, and age of Banks are presented. In Bank classification, the highest percentage belongs to commercial banks (5banks), and â€Å"others† includes Banks dealing particularly in investment (1 bank) 4. 1. Product costing methodsThe respondents were asked to specify the cost factors they implement in an investment project costing. According to the answers, the most widely used costing factor is Financing cost (31 respondent), followed by opportunity cost (11 respondent) and loan process cost (9 respondents). In Table 2, which shows the detailed answers to this question, the most significant points are the financing cost widely by lower managerial levels, and that of opportunity cost largely by top managerial level. Primary cause for the financing cost by banks is that they offer more of the saving accounts than fixed deposit accounts. Table 4. 2 Most important Cost elements in an Investment Project Bank Classification |Financial Co st |Loan Processing Cost |Opportunity Cost |Other | |Commercial Banks |  20 |  3 |  3 |  0 | |Islamic Banks |  6 |  3 |  5 |  0 | |Other Banks |  5 |  3 |  3 |  0 | |Total |31 |9 |11 |0 | 4. 2. Complications faced in product costing The respondents were also asked to point out the difficulties they encounter in Investment project costing. Out of 51 respondents, 22 see the limited Complexity in cost evaluation as top difficulty (43 percent), availability of alternative resources(33. 3 percent), followed by economic instability (24. 7 percent). 4. 3. Role of Opportunity Cost in Management Accounting PracticesIn another part of the survey, which was adopted from Van Triest and Elshahat (2007)’s study, respondents were asked to score the role of opportunity cost in various financial analysis on a Likert scale of 1 (no role) to 5 (major role). To evaluate the results, one sample t-test was conducted (Table 4). The results showed that pricing decisions are t he most important area where opportunity cost is deemed important at an average of 4. 16, followed by customer profitability and activity analysis at 4. 07. Performance measurement and make or buy decisions with an average of 4. 04 and 3. 96 respectively are also important areas where opportunity cost is used. However, opportunity cost is not seen important in product mix decisions, and adding or deleting products as much as other areas. Management Accounting Practicies |Mean |S. D |t-test | |Pricing decisions |  4. 15 |  1. 146 |4. 29 | |Customer profitability |  4. 08 |  1. 034 |  4. 01 | |Performance measurement |  4. 03 |  1. 071 |  3. 714 | |Activity analysis |  4. 08 |  1. 120 |  3. 793 | |Make or buy decisions |  3. 96 |  0. 62 |  3. 576 | |Product mix decisions |  3. 54 |  1. 168 |  0. 289 | |Adding or deleting products |  3. 47 |  1. 370 |  0. 199 | Table 4. Results of one sample t-test for use of Opportunity cost in management accoun ting practicies (Test value=3. 5) |Management Accounting Practicies |Mean |S. D |t-test | |Pricing decisions |  4. 15 |  1. 146 |4. 9 | |Customer profitability |  4. 08 |  1. 034 |  4. 01 | |Performance measurement |  4. 03 |  1. 071 |3. 714 | |Activity analysis |  4. 08 |  1. 120 |  3. 793 | |Make or buy decisions |  3. 96 |  0. 962 |  3. 576 | |Product mix decisions |  3. 54 |  1. 168 |  0. 289 | |Adding or deleting products |  3. 47 |  1. 370 |  0. 199 |Furthermore, the findings are compared with the results of Van Triest and Elshahat (2007). The comparison indicated that two studies yielded parallel results. As seen in Table 5, first three items with the highest mean are the same. In both countries, pricing decisions, customer profitability, and performance measurement are the most prominent areas in which costing information is applied. Among the remaining four application areas, the rank of activity analysis is different. In this study, ac tivity analysis is the fourth in ranking, but it is the last in ranking in Van Triest and Elshahat (2007)’s study. Table 5. Comparison of results with the results of Van Triest and Elshahat (2007) Management Accounting Practices |Mean |Rank |Mean* |Rank* | |Pricing decisions |  4. 15 |  1 |  4. 44 |  1 | |Customer profitability |  4. 06 |  2 |  4. 19 |  2 | |Performance measurement |  4. 06 |  3 |  4. 11 |  3 | |Activity analysis |4. 08 |  4 |  2. 33 |7 | |Make or buy decisions |3. 99 |  5 |  3. 5 |  4 | |Product mix decisions |  3. 54   |  6 |  3. 33 |  5 | |Adding or deleting products |  3. 50 |  7 |  2. 89 |  6 | * The results of Van Triest and Elshahat (2007) 4. 5. The ratio of opportunity cost to total cost In the questionnaire survey, the ratio of opportunity cost to total cost (O. C/T. C) was also questioned. Overall mean for all the banks is 34. 48 percent. (Table 6) was conducted to see the significant differences a mong banks. The results showed that there is a significant difference among industries (significant at 0. 10).Duncan test from Post Hoc tests showed that Commercial Banks has the highest OC/TC ratio and is significantly different than Islamic Banks and Investment Banks and miscellaneous Banks. Table 6. The ratio of opportunity cost to total cost (percent) 4. 6. The reasons for the increased interest in opportunity cost manifestation in banks dealing The respondents were asked to score the reasons for the increased manifestation of Opportunity cost in their daily dealing on a Likert scale of 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree). A list of reasons was provided for the respondents so that they evaluated each. The results of one-sample t-test in Table 7 showed that decreasing profitability (4. 9) is the primary reason which increases the importance of opportunity cost. Other reasons which increase the importance of opportunity cost are increasing costs (4. 57), increasing dom estic and global competition (4. 30), and economic crises (4. 23). Actually, means of four items above 4. 00 indicate that they are all factors considered important for the increased interest in opportunity cost . This means profitability of companies is decreasing, possibly due to increasing costs, and increasing domestic and global competition. Economic crises which hit companies from time to time are also important reason for the increased interest in opportunity cost identification and implication. Table 7.The reasons for the increased interest in opportunity cost Calculation (Testvalue=3. 5) |Mean |S. D |t-test | |Decreasing profitability |  0. 566 |14. 170   | |Increasing costs |  0. 666 |  11. 929 | |Increasing domestic and global competition |  0. 940 |  6. 450* | |Economic crises |  1. 020 |  5. 399* | Significant at 0. 001 level 4. 7. Perceived importance of opportunity cost in overall Banking Operation Lastly, the respondents were asked to evaluate the per ceived importance of Opportunity cost that are utilized in banking organizations on a Likert scale of 1 (unimportant) to 5 (very important). The results of one-sample ttest in Table 8 indicated that the most important management accounting practices in decreasing order are budgeting (4. 48), planning and control (4. 33), cost-volumeprofit analysis (4. 3), target costing (4. 16), quality cost reporting (4. 09), performance measurement and evaluation (4. 02), responsibility accounting (4. 0), standard costing and variance analysis (3. 89), and strategic planning (3. 78). Transfer pricing (3. 65) is unique practice that is significantly not important based on test value of 3. 5. These findings indicate that companies perceive traditional management accounting tools still important. For example, budgeting, planning and control, and cost-volume-profit analysis are perceived the most important of all management accounting practices. Quality costing and target costing as new management acc ounting practices are utilized by the companies. However, strategic planning, and transfer pricing are perceived the least important ones. This may be due to size of the sample firms.Since the sample consists mostly of small and medium-sized enterprises (according to number of employees), some tools may be too sophisticated to be utilized. Szendi and Shum (1999) states that the larger the firm the more sophisticated the management accounting system and the more likely isthe firm to utilize sophisticated management accounting techniques and practices. Abdel-Kader and Luther (2008) also proved that large firms adopt more sophisticated management accounting techniques and practices than small firms. Table 8. Perceived importance of Opportunity Cost in routine banking operations (Test value=3. 5) |Mean |S.D |t-test | |Budgeting |0. 754 |  9. 911** | |Planning and control |0. 819 |  7. 500** | |Cost-volume-profit analysis |  0. 871 |  6. 900** | |Target Costing |  0. 849 |  5 . 820** | |Total Quality Management |  1. 115 |  3. 890** | |Performance measurement and evaluation |  1. 027 |  3. 39** | |Responsibility accounting |  1. 056 |  3. 450** | |Standard costing and variance analysis |  1. 140 |  2. 480* | |Strategic planning |  1. 011 |  2. 050* | |Transfer pricing |  1. 300 |  0. 860 | ** Significant at 0. 001 level * Significant at 0. 05 level CHAPTER 5 Summary and Conclusion The survey revealed the perceived importance of Opportunity Cost at selected commercial banks in the Kingdom of Bahrain.The findings are expected to contribute to the existing literature about the subject, especially in developing markets. The major findings of the study are as follows: The most vital cost element for Commercial Banks is financial cost The complexity in loan costing poses as the highest ranking difficulty due to the availability of alternative projects, Customer Activity Analysis and pricing decisions are the most important area where op portunity cost is calculated (parallel to the finding of Van Triest and Elshahat, 2007), Overall mean of the ratio of overhead to total cost is 34. 48 percent for all Commercial Banks in the Kingdom of Bahrain,The highest opportunity cost/total cost ratio belongs to non-islamic Commercial Banks, Decreasing profitability, increasing costs and competition, and economic crises are reasons which increase the importance of opportunity cost The most important use of Opportunity Cost is in Budgeting out of all routine functioning of Commercial Banks (parallel to the finding of Chenhall and Langfield-Smith, 1998) The findings indicate that Banks perceive traditional management accounting tools less important. The new management accounting practices such as strategic planning, and transfer pricing are perceived more important than traditional ones. Therefore, the banks have been calculating the Opportunity Costs for these management accounting tools. Scope for further researchSince the sampl e consists mostly of medium sized local branches of International banks , they may not reflect the applications of large scale banking corps. Secondly, the results are confined to the Commercial Banks and should not be generalized to the other sectors. Thirdly, since the survey conducted on companies operating in Bahrain , the findings may not be generalized for the worldwide policies of the Banks. For future research, whole region wide and more comprehensive survey could be conducted with the participation of more banking companies from different countries. Moreover, case studies can be conducted to make more in-depth analysis about cost and management accounting practices.