Police Authority and Accountability in Australia

INTRODUCTION Police officers in Australia, as well as worldwide, have been consistently accused of abusing their authority over the years. Police officers are known to protect and serve and to be the law enforcers of the land, but due to the reality that some human beings are concerned about self-satisfaction and lawlessness, police authority can often times be misconceived as abusive and aggressive.The powers of the police are consistently being scrutinized by the media, the community and even politicians, not to mention that police are, and not just in Australia but worldwide, held as one of the most accountable in society (Robertson, 1998). In order to essentially resolve these issues, the focus of the research should be related to police officers and specific issues such as use of force, police discretion, delegation of authority and the attempts that were made to control officers behaviours’ in Australia.WHAT IS POLICE AUTHORITY? Firstly, authority can be defined as gener ally and basically, Persons having power or powers that other people will not naturally be allowed to have. Bringing this definition toward linking it to police authority, this is where the police officer has legal power of enforcing laws, and at all times should be given the respect, because they are the gate keepers of society, our â€Å"guardian angels† who will be watching over us twenty four seven.For example, we are to respect our parents; they care for us and provide for us our basic needs, I believe that police officers are somewhat the same because they provide us the citizens with safety and when there is a problem we can run to them at many times. Although police authority maybe a good thing, there are also the pit falls with it, in that, there is the abuse of police authority.Some officers due to â€Å"bad apples† meaning some officers are dirty cops, because of greed and selfishness, also some officers believe that they are above the law, because they enfo rce the law, but I believe in the â€Å"eye for an eye† theory: if you do the crime, you should do the time; no one is above the law. WHAT IS POLICE ACCOUNTABLILITY? Firstly accountability is It is a fundamental principle of a democratic society that the police should be held to account for their actions. Accountability includes both what the police do and how they perform.What an officer does or how they do what they do is extremely critical in the world of policing. The entire concept of police accountability revolves around these two criteria, which according to how efficient they are executed, may make or break an officer’s policing career. Agency-level accountability involves the performance of law enforcement agencies with respect to controlling crime and disorder and providing services to the public (National Institute of Justice, 1999). Individual-level accountability involves the conduct of police officers with respect to lawful, respectful, and equal treatmen t of citizens. walker, 2007). I honestly believes that police accountability should be very vital within policing. Officers should be held accountable for their actions like any other individual. POLICE AUTHORITY IN AUSTRALIA In Australia the authority and powers of the police services are clearly defined and understood by officers, these powers are being tested by the courts and even the police themselves, the police know the limit of their authority and powers, but at sometimes politicians, legal professions and even the community are reluctant to greatly alter those powers.Hence the reason why officers may have to use force, law enforcement officers are authorized to use force in specific circumstances, officers in Australia are trained as any other police officer worldwide, but the matter of the issue is how much force to use, this is referred to as police discretion. Authority and abuse needs to be differentiated, because they are not at all supposed to be equal to the same thi ng. Generally, the way in which the police may maintain social order successfully is mainly in alignment with the use of force exercised by the police officers.Many people, citizens of Australia and even the world, here the term use of force being used consistently, whether it may be via the media or directly from a police officer, but what does the term really mean? Use of force is simply and basically the amount of force that is required of a police officer to ensure that an unwilling offender complies with the law enforcer (National Institue of Justice, 2012). Where it is unnecessary to use brute force, a police officer ought to refrain from so doing. An officer can use force in ifferent ways, either verbally or physically; also it may be less lethal or lethal (National Institue of Justice, 2012). Even as it remains that the police officer in Australia has the right to use force where necessary, how then do we determine when he should use which method of force, and how to deal wi th an offender on the whole? Police discretion is used often times when it comes to more of the minor offences, such as alcohol use and urination, but one major encounter in Australia in which police discretion ought to be used is in relation to people suffering from mental illness.Police discretion though, can be influenced by either personal relationships, or race or status, which ought not to be so, but realistically is it. There was one scenario in which a police officer encountered a cafe proprietor who had a traffic violation. The officer in this scenario, decided not to give the driver a traffic offence notice due to the relationship that had developed from before.Although many other officers agreed with the officer’s decision to exercise gratitude toward the violator, this is not a welcoming and promising prospect for the future of law enforcement on the whole. Police discretion can be altered and affected by many other factors surrounding an offender in society. An u nwilling and unruly suspect has a higher risk of being arrested than one who cooperates with the officer. Also, the police records of an offender may also influence the decision of the police.Even with relation to juvenile, police discretion can be altered but not by the juvenile themselves. The parents or Guardians of the juvenile may weigh in heavily on the decision and discretion of the police officer. In the case where the parent or guardian may be uninvolved or uncooperative, the officers may be led to take a different approach to the handling of this situation (Holmgren, 2012). POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY IN AUSTRALIA The face of the matter remains, and one which makes complete logical sense, is that whatever a police officer does, he/she need to account for it.Police in Australia, however, have been given a sense of discretion and freedom to fulfil their roles in society without too much interventions of any judicial or supreme official (Lewis, 2012). Police are not to be seen as i ndependent and totally able to do as they will by members of society, which is not at all the case. Police usually have to consult the judiciaries in the commission of enquiry pertaining to accountability for their actions or allegations, but what prompted this move by the Government?Police in Australia in the past; have been accused for many different things, such as police corruption, inefficiency and brutality. These falls of the police officers are not overlooked by the judiciary, and even though police are the protectors of society, they are very liable to punishment and sanctions for their wrong if it is not properly accounted for (Lewis, 2012). Police accountability has over years become viewed as more of a problematic issue than that of an encouraging one.One of the major ongoing disturbances in Australia’s society is the case where civil litigation is constantly overlooked as a form as accountability (Ransley, 2007)what exactly is civil litigation? Well, civil litiga tion is where someone is accused of doing wrong, but not necessarily a crime, and it is formally submitted to a court (Honeyman, 1999-2010) In fact and very evident to the world today, there have been many cases in Australia, in which persons have been involved in disputes with police officers for doing wrong yes, but not crimes.The reality that the purpose of civil litigation is to settle and attain some form of compensation for being wrongfully accused or dealt with, makes civil litigation a very critical aspect that should more than likely be incorporated in the field of Police accountability mainly because it is a form of correction, just that it is from the civilian stand-point (Ransley, 2007).If in fact, the intent of the more recent police reform is directed toward the strengthening and to some extent upgrading of the individual and organisational accountability, then that makes civil litigation a very fundamental, effective and also it should be, a mandatory component in the effective completion of this goal. Attempts to control the behaviour of police officers are not only affected by civil litigation, but also by the measures in which police officers are dealt with for misconduct.Without the emphasis on the errors of police officers, the police force may adapt to the conditions which could lead to the abuse of their powers and authority. The lack of consistent correction of officers often times may lead to the diminishing of confidence in the community in the police service (Perez, 2008). Internationally, this have become the evident scenario in the present society, as the trust and corporation between Police officers and communities is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, and this have been ighly influenced by the lack of legitimate duty and procedures by police officials. Officers have confrontations of a sort among their own organisations because of the corrections that they may face having the issue to argue that to balance the leniency of misco nduct and the harshness of crimes is difficult to manage (Perez, 2008). A common observation presently is that since authority is delegated rather than chosen gives police officials the opportunity to select the appropriate officers to do the reputation and compatibility with the relative scenarios at hand.CONCLUSION Whether it may be the favourable opinion to some, or the contradicting bias to others, Policing authority and accountability is one of the fundamental aspects of efficient law enforcement. In the case where any of the two may fail or fall short in any aspect, there will always be a conflict in the relationship between Law enforcement and community, and also it may serve as the catalyst for the diminishing status of the police force.From the use of force, to the correction of police officers by their own organisations, the main concept is to ensure that the standard and reputation of the Australian law enforcement department. There have been a lot of complaints geared to wards or targeted at the police officers, but in fact as much as the reality is that they do make some really uncharacteristic errors, they do uphold the law relatively efficiently.This is just another reinforcing point that the society at large tends to make judgements, especially toward individuals and systems within the law enforcement sector based on their benefit and fair treatment. Whether or not the case would have been that police officers in Australia abuse their powers or not, the comparison of the rate in which civil litigation is turned away and how vast the difference is between the corrections that the police officers correct citizens to how intense and consistent the punishment and corrections of officers themselves are, would have still caused some sort of rift within the system.Nothing, it seems can truly be completely satisfying and totally effective, and especially in a world where crime and deviance, because of the continuous introduction of laws and stereotypes via media interventions and other sources, the balance between being lenient and modest in terms of acts of misconduct, and being harsh and enforcing in situations that are more serious, or crimes, is very difficult to assess. The fact remains that o matter where the police system is today, in Australia, and even worldwide, the law enforcement sector cannot afford to cease from continuously modifying and developing their efforts and adaptations to the criminal advancements in society. REFERENCES Holmgren, L. (2012, April 12). Factors that affect Police officers' discretion. Retrieved April 5, 2012, from ehow: http://www. ehow. com/list_5960237_factors-affect-police-officers_-discretion. tml Honeyman, C. (1999-2010). Civil litigation. Colorado, united States of America. Lewis, C. (2012, may 5). Police, civilian and democratic accountability. Monash, Australia. National Institue of Justice. (2012, January 20). police use of force. D. C. , Washington, United States of America. Perez, M . R. (2008, august). Police discipline and community policing: New models. Los angeles, USA. Ransley, J. A. (2007).Civil Litigation against Police in Australia:Exploring its extent, Nature and implications for accountability. Australian and New Zeland Journal of Criminology(Australian Academic Press) , 143-160. Robertson, D. (1998). Public and Private policing: Issues and options for collaboration within Australia. sydney: n/a. walker, s. (2007, may N. D). police accountability: current issues and research needs. POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY , p. 4.

Example Research Paper

The Effects of Preferred vs Standard Colors on College Students’ Short Term Memory Kristen N. Williams Emporia State University Abstract Can color help enhance students' ability to learn and better prepare for tests and with other school assignments? The participants were 15 college students at Emporia State University. I used an independent two-group design where students signed up via Blackboard. Participants had 2 min to look at the word list, either black words or color words, then another 2 min to recall what they had seen.I was expecting to find more color words recalled than black words. However, I found no significance between colors and black words. This finding is inconsistent with the findings of Camp, Pecher, Schmidt, and Zeelenber (2009) where color did in fact affect a participant's ability in remembering. Keywords: recall, colors, memory, word list The Effects of Preferred vs Standard Colors on College Students’ Short Term Memory The ability to obtain and store information in a short time is short-term memory. Factors can help increase the ability to retain more information.According to Sagi (1980) â€Å"words of colors are recalled well than and at the expense of printed colors† (p. 149). Previous research by Dreschsler (1960) has suggested that different colors have different effects on individuals and can have some connection to one’s subconscious as well. According to Tait (1912), â€Å"colors may affect multiple aspects of one’s memory† (p. 1). Past research using recall-testing (Noble, 1952; Radvansky, Gibson, & McNerney, 2011; Rockway & Duncan, 1952; Watkins & LeCompte, 1991) studied how well people can retain information.Radvansky, et al. , (2011) found that among four experiments performed, when individuals had another sense manipulated, sense of sight, the individuals were able to retain words from the word list presented to them. The best perception that increased memory retention was the aspec t of colors (Radvansky, et al. , 2011) MacKinnon, Geiselman, and Woodward (1985) found that participants’ effort and their ability to retain information when paired with an interference decreased. As one progresses with age their memory may tend to fade ut some research has found an increase in memory retention when older adults performed a recall test using colors although multiple responses does tend to decrease after multiple features (Gagnon, Soulard, Brasgold, & Kreller, 2007, p. 210). Within this research, participants were in into two groups by their ages. They underwent three different conditions, the same for each group. While one test varied on one feature, like color, the second varied with color and size, while the third varied in three different features, color, size, and font.They tested participants to see how well they were able to retain the word list, along with the other features, because of the colors, both groups had the ability to remember more from the word lists, but the older individuals were not able to remember the other features as well as the younger participants. Many have used recall tests as their form of testing in their study, whereas the others use colors within their tests to help measure how it affects the individuals memory, whether it deals with emotional ties (Tait, 1912) or to just test whether it affects one’s ability in remembering (Camp, Pecher, Schmidt, & Zeelenber, 2009).The primary goal of my research was to see if participants would memorize a higher percentage of words in color than in black. I believe that this experiment could help students better their studying, may help students remember words for a test, or quiz, and possibly use color to help transfer items from short-term memory, to long-term. Method Participants Participants in this study were 15 college students enrolled in undergraduate psychology courses in the spring of 2012 at Emporia State University. Participants possibly earned cour se credit for their participation, but their instructors will make other alternatives available.I obtained my participants via sign-up online through Black Board. Materials The following words were on a power point slide (Appendix A; Chair, Moon, Tape, Armadillo, Kitchen, Glue, Phone, Newt, Notebook, Cookie, Ring, Flower, Couch, Blanket, Fire, Sand, Lion, Bully, Window, & Hair). The recall survey (Appendix B) contained a number list for participants to fill out, along with a short demographic form (e. g. gender). Design and Procedure I obtained an ESU IRB approval (Appendix C) prior to conducting any procedures of the independent two-group design experiment.When the participants signed up for the study I assigned them to either Group Black Words (views word list in black and white) or Group Colored Words (views same word list, except in different colors). I gave and read the informed consent form (Appendix D) to the participants as they read along. They had 2 min to memorize the wor ds. After that, participants had another 2 min to recall the words onto their surveys. After time was up, I debriefed them (Appendix E). Results The independent variable was color of words (Black, Colors) and the dependent variable was participants' percentage of recalled words.I included total of all words recalled in color. I determined the mean and standard deviation for each group's recall percentage (see Figure 1). I performed a t test for independent samples to compare the group means, Black words (M = 98, SD = 3. 4) and Color words (M = 37, SD = 2. 3). However, there was not a significant difference between the means of black words and color words. Discussion The present experiment was designed to assess the effects of colored words on memory. I did not find a significant difference between words in black, and words in colors.This experiment was different from past research. For example, Sagi (1980) looked at the recall of colors and the ability to remember those colors versu s printed colors, whereas this experiment looked at how colors affect an individual’s memory in recalling a simple list of words. Also, Tait (1912) looked at how colors that are repeated can increase an individual’s ability to remember, where I searched to find if color could do the same thing except with words. The findings I had received were different from the other researches, in terms of not finding any significant effect.There were hopes in finding a connection to color, by means of memorization because Dreschsler (1960) found that individual’s were giving more emotional responses to colors rather than neutral, plain colors. That which showed it affected the individual and because of this association, I had hoped through this research I could find that aspect and show that color could also help individuals in terms of memorizing a list of words. MacKinnon, Geiselman, & Woodward (1985) found that individuals who looked over the words twice as long as the co ntrol group, they had recalled more of the word list.The reason this experiment had a different result is because they changed the length of time, whereas I changed the colors, which would explain why they found an increase in successful recall. The possible problem I could have encountered that caused an insignificant affect was that the word list could have been too simple for the college students. I had used such simple words so it could transfer to any age group, to make an easier generalization or another problem could have been the number of words, 20.Although I did not find a significant effect, I did show the great amount of words a college student can retain in their short-term memory. Just like in past research done by Gagnon, Soulard, Brasgold, & Kreller (2007), who found that as one increases in age, their memory and attention decreases, but much younger, college age, can remember and recall better, and faster. This experiment is still of worth, although there was no sig nificant affect, in terms of finding a way for individuals to better learn in school, and help with studying habits.It has opened doors to new ideas to better students, whether they are in elementary, or college. The next step to take is to increase the group sizes, and choose a greater variety of colors and more complex words, but not overly complex, because it still needs to be easily generalized to other individuals. If a significant affect is discovered then the aspects of favorite colors can be researched in hopes of finding ways for students to better themselves in school. References Camp, G. , Pecher, D. , Schmidt, H. G. , & Zeelenberg, R. (2009).Are independent probes truly independent? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35(4), 934-942. Drechsler, R. J. (1960). Affect-simulating effects of colors. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 61(3), 323-328. Gagnon, S. , Soulard, K. , Brasgold, M. , & Kreller, J. (2007). Effects of normal a ging on memory for multiple contextual features. Brain and Cognition, 64(3), 208-216. MacKinnon, D. P. , Geiselman, R. E. , & Woodward, J. A. (1985). The effects of effort on stroop interference. Acta Psychologica, 58(3), 225-235. Noble, C. E. (1952).The role of stimulus meaning (r) in serial verbal learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 43(6), 437-446. Radvansky, G. A. , Gibson, B. S. , & McNerney, M. W. (2011). Synesthesia and memory: Color congruency, von restorff, and false memory effects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37(1), 219-229. Rockway, M. , & Duncan, C. P. (1952). Pre-recall warming-up in verbal retention. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 43(4), 305-312. Sagi, A. (1980). Color-word interference in a recall test. Journal of General Psychology, 103(1), 149-154.Tait, W. D. (1912). A short study in dislike. The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 7(1), 1-4. Watkins, M. J. , & LeCompte, D. C. (1991). Inadequacy of recall as a basis for frequency knowledge. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 17(6), 1161-1176. Appendix A Word Recall PowerPoint Slide Appendix B Survey Appendix C ESU IRB Approval Letter Appendix D Informed Consent Form Appendix E Debriefing Statement [pic] Figure 1. Mean recall scores for participants who either saw black words (n = 7) or color words (n = 8). Error bars show standard deviations.

Language and Communication Essay

Communication has no specific description but main essence of it revolves around conveyance, exchanging, giving or sharing of ideas & information. Communication can be both verbal and nonverbal. Communication takes place all around us in school, colleges, homes, markets and most importantly businesses. Businesses use communication in Public Relations (PR) to maintain image of company toward public, organizations, and programs and to gather employees, customers, investors or even general public. For effective communication, message should be clearly conveyed and interpreted by both parties. Our communication, perception and interaction can greatly be effected by noise, which is a barrier in communication. Literal meaning of noise is not what is meant here. Noise can be anything that effect communication in one way or another. 3. Some people are better at communication for several of reasons. They convey their message easily because they are extremely good listeners and to be a good communicator first key is effective listening. They are patient listeners and try to read between the lines of the communication. This makes their grip on the subject matter very sound. This in turns helps them to communicate effectively. Along with effective listening, they have good presentation skills and have ability to make sure that each word is understood by the audience. They have clear vision of the message to be conveyed and are well prepared for it. Simplicity in conveyance also makes them better communicators. All of this comes down to effective listening for effective communication. 4. Yes, I somewhat agree to this. The advancement in IT and other technological advancements in internet usage have proved beneficial for companies to advertise on internet. This trend is increasing rapidly and with the creation of facebook, skype, twitter, other social networking sites and many other web platforms has made companies go for internet advertising more. People of almost all age groups have now easy access and availability of internet. So this mode of communication is becoming more important for organizations and will continue in future. But nevertheless, newspaper has always been more accessible and easy to carry source of information. Newspaper will lose some of its significance but this mode of advertising can not be ignored by organizations.

Language and Culture in New Zealand Organization Research Paper

Language and Culture in New Zealand Organization - Research Paper Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that various languages are spoken in the country where some are officially recognized, and others are not. These diverse languages bring about different cultures and influence the organization structure of the country. New Zealand is located in the Southwest of the Pacific Ocean. The country is mainly made up of two landmasses namely the South and North Islands. Several ethnic groups can be found in New Zealand, which includes the Maori, Europeans, Asians, and Pacific Islander among others. The country's official languages are Maori, English and the New Zealand sign language. English can be termed as the main business language, as it is spoken by 98 % of the citizens this can be attributed to the British Commonwealth ties. Maori is considered a Polynesian language which can be compared to languages spoken in other Pacific Cultures such as Tongan, Samoan and Hawaiian. As per the census done in 2006, more than 157,000 peopl e in the country speak Maori. This language has existed in New Zealand culture from as early as the country’s discovery. Maori people were the first to get to New Zealand and were later followed by the European settlers. However, it was only after passing of the 1986 Maori Language Act that the language was formally recognized as an official language. The use and the development of Maori language is consistently encouraged by the New Zealand language Commission. English and Maori are used all over the country in varied media outlets especially in radio and television programs. As apparent in most regions of the world where cultures have intermixed, Both English and Maori cultures have influenced each other. Various words have been absorbed into the vocabulary of the two languages. There are quite a number of differences in the above cultures especially when tribal circles are involved.

Choosing the Right Coach for Your Employees Article

Choosing the Right Coach for Your Employees - Article Example The importance of hiring the right coach and the available options has been extensively addressed by Leslie Allan in his book, From Training to Enhanced Workplace Performance. Allan points out that the coach plays a major role in determining whether your coaching program will be a failure or a success. He or she may be someone with a prior working relationship with your organization's employees and may be hired from within or outside the organization. A manager is one of the internal coach options suggested by Allan. By manager, he is referring to anyone in a leadership position within the organization such as the supervisor or team leader; someone who the employee's report to directly or who is higher up the managerial ladder. Those higher up bring in some degree of objectivity and are best suited for leadership, professional and interpersonal skills coaching. Managers are a good choice if the training involves technical aspects that they are conversant with. It will also serve to make managers more productive and to strengthen the manager-employee working relationship. You can also choose a trainer especially if the coaching program is related to a running training course. Through a trainer, the employees will be able to apply the skills acquired in the training course on the job. The trainer possesses the required knowledge and is familiar with the learning styles of each employee. Subject matter experts also make good coaches as they possess the relevant expertise in a particular area and can pass this on to employees. In all choices, you should ensure that the coach has the necessary coaching skills and the time (Allan, 2008) Allan also offers suggestions on who to hire outside the organization. These include external consultants who are skilled in coaching and who bring in objectivity due to their unfamiliarity with the organization. Peers can also be hired and these are people working in the same level as the employees being coached. This is somewhat unconventional but can be made to work by encouraging employees to share their work experiences and learn from them. You do not have to work with a single option only and can organize for multiple coaching interactions which will cater to the learning styles of each employee. The quality of the coach's skills is crucial and should not be overlooked. The coaching schedule should also be made available to participants and a system of monitoring and evaluation set up to monitor the program's success (Allan, 2008). Choosing the right coach for your employees is not an easy task. You have to ensure that he or she is the best possible candidate for the job and will bring out the best in your employees. Allan's book offers great insight into the hiring of coaches and is a great read for employers seeking to create a good coaching environment for their employees. His proposition to hire managers from within the organization as coaches is especially valuable since they are the best placed to ensure the success of the program. This is because they are in constant contact with the employees and therefore understand his or her background, including strengths and weaknesses very well. Being managers, they should possess at least the technical skills for the job that they will pass on to the employees through training. Most employees look up to their managers for direction and if coached by them, are likely to put more effort to appear productive and increase their

Single Parenting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Single Parenting - Essay Example This situation can be reached with divorce, separation or break up after the relation without marriage. Though single parent families started originating in the early 1950's, they were at their peak somewhere around the late 1980's and 1990's. The main cause of a complete family being broken down into a single parent family was the death of a partner. However, the trend changed, and the main cause turned towards the divorce between partners. It is this addition of several new causes, especially divorce, that the single parent family form is the fastest growing form of family in the North America. The first surprising fact about single parenting is that this phenomenon has been defined in two different ways. The following definition of single parents is distinct by only a single feature. Single parenting is a situation where the sole parent is responsible for the upbringing of the child. The sole parent does not receive any form of assistance from the other parent due to circumstances such as death, abandonment, etc. There can be several other reasons beside a few listed. According to this definition, some single parents might not be entitled to hold the status of being a single parent. However, as discussed earlier, the changing trend brought with it, changes in the causes of becoming a single parent. ... However, the second half of this decade saw a general decline in the rise of single parent families. The rise of single parent families that dominated the US culture for 4 decades, ended 1996 onwards (Statistics). Reports in 1960 suggested that only 9 percent of the total children’s' population in the US was living in single parent families. This rose to a staggering 25% in 1990 and to 28% in the year 2000 (Simmons and ’Neill). It is interesting to note how these changes came about in statistical terms. Three separate trends of the family culture can be identified. Between 1996 – 2000, the share of children living with a never married parent rose to 11.0 percent from 10.6 percent. However, this first trend was offset by the second trend. The percentage of children living with a divorced parent dropped to 15.6 percent from 17.3 percent. The third trend, children living with a widowed parent, maintained a constant percentage of 1.2 percent. These figures depict tha t the number of children living with a never married parent increased by 400,000 whereas the number of children living with a divorced parent decreased by 1 million (Statistics). The US Census from the year 2000 shows us that 12.2% of all households are female single parent households whereas 4.2% of all households are male single parent households. According to these statistics there are a total number of 17,294,115 single parent families in the US alone (Weiss). The trend in the United Kingdom has been similar. Over a quarter (26%) of the families in Britain are single parent families. In numbers, there are over 2 million parents in Britain today, though this number has remained more or less constant since the

Research foundations in criminal justice Term Paper

Research foundations in criminal justice - Term Paper Example Research foundations in criminal justice This paper explains my developed knowledge. Stages in conducting a research are one of the developed knowledge from the course. The research process involves presentation of a research proposal for approval and implementation of the proposal to generate data that is then analyzed and results and recommendations communicated. Doing a research involves identification of a problem to be investigated that may result from social concerns or personal interests in a field and culminates to research questions, based on background information. Review of literature on the topic of interest follows, leading to accurate identification of existing knowledge gap and potential approach to bridging the gap (Sampson, 2012). A problem statement, statement of purpose, and research hypotheses are then established before development of research methodology. When the research committee approves a proposal, the methodology is implemented and data analyzed, documented, and communication done to target audie nce (Scuth, 2010; King and Wincup, 2008). Literature review informs a researcher of previous developments such as investigated and developed theories together with involved methodologies, and findings. Identified consistency in applied research method, research design and data collection instruments, for example, communicates tradition in a research topic and unless a researcher can develop alternative strategies that better suits the research, such traditional practices informs a proposed research methodology.... dology such as data collection instruments and measures for ensuring ethical studies as other researchers have applied in conducting their researchers (Acton, 2013). Research by other people also helps in development of new theories or modification of existing theories because reviewing and comparing existing knowledge allows for identification of flows in existing theories that new research initiatives can remedy (Corrigan, 2013). Review of other researchers’ findings can inform the need for codification of scattered knowledge into a theory while a review of existing theories may induce problem statements into new research that adds to the existing theories or develops new and overruling theories (Dantzker and Hunter, 2011). The role of existing research as bases for informing future study is another derived knowledge from the course concepts. In addition to directions that a researcher develops from analysis of results from previous studies, a research may recommend further research to remedy its reliability and validity concerns or effects of its confounding factors in research (Bayens and Roberson, 2010). A researcher should therefore be critical to note potential challenges in a study and communicate the challenges together with possible remedies in future research by the researcher or other researchers (Maxfield and Babbie, 2011). Deployment of theory through identification and implementation of a theoretical framework is another area of knowledge that the course concepts have covered. In addition to the role of previous research in facilitating development of research problems and guiding methodologies, theoretical frameworks offer bases for identifying variables in a study and forecasting relationships among the variables. This further informs research

Competitors of Trading Company in Singapore Assignment

Competitors of Trading Company in Singapore - Assignment Example The company’s portfolio consists of an impressive collection of about forty premium beer brands which includes famous brands like Heineken, ABC Extra shot, Barons Strong Dew etc. The company represents the premium Netherlands based brand Heineken in about sixty markets which are spread across ten nations of the globe. The company has achieved credible quality certifications like the ISO 9001: 2000, â€Å"Critical Control Point† and â€Å"Hazard Analysis† recognition as a mark of its strive towards marinating high-quality standard in the products. The firm has been consistently rated by many organizations including KPMG for providing excellent quality products and consistently adding value for its customers (Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd, 2010). Chiap Seng & Co is a Singapore based company which is engaged in importing food items from various nations. The company was established in the year 1958 and has carved a niche for itself in the Singapore market. The product portfolio of the firm is quite varied and includes food kinds of stuff like oils, bottled grocer, canned foods, preserved foods, dry fruits etc. In addition to these products, the company also imports products like vermicelli, olive, pork etc from various nations across the globe. The company has expanded over the years and is presently engaged in exporting and whole selling goods in the Singapore market in addition to importing premium quality branded food items into the nation (Chiap Seng & Co, 2002). Wine Boss is a wine importing firm based in Singapore. It is incorporated as Wine Boss Trading Pte Ltd. The company is engaged in the import of quality wines from Australia, USA, France, Argentina and Spain. The firm imports premium branded wines from these nations and sells them to various channels in Singapore. The company also provides special customized packages for its customers. This includes providing wine arrangements at parties, clubs, and hotels.  

Team Leadership & Self Managed Teams Term Paper

Team Leadership & Self Managed Teams - Term Paper Example These groups are also responsible for performing other supportive roles that include performance appraisal, quality assurance and production scheduling among others (Cork 1-100). THESIS STATEMENT The paper intends to discuss about the aspects of team leadership and self-managed teams along with highlighting the background of the key issues surrounding these aspects. Moreover, the procedure of handling these aspects by certain specific companies would also be discussed in the paper. HISTORY/BACKGROUND The history of team leadership dates back to the period of 1980s when certain skills representing leadership aspects came into public display and have been addressed for the first time. In relation to the aspects associated with the notion of team leadership, it can be apparently observed that this particular idea demonstrated the influence made by individual hereditary facets on leadership. It is worth mentioning that the changing business environment has eventually raised the significa nce of performing effective teal leadership qualities along with skills and building self-managed teams. All these significant aspects ultimately highlight the importance of the aforesaid aspects by a certain degree (McCarthy, â€Å"Global Leadership: An Analysis of three Leadership Competency Models in Multinational Corporations†). In order to highlight the history or the background of the key issues surrounding the above discussed aspects, it can be affirmed that the word ‘team’ can be well related with the Anglo-Saxon word i.e. ‘family’, which is basically referred to as harnessed animals that are responsible for pulling a load towards the accomplishment of certain common objectives. With the passage of time, the notion of teamwork has been able to gain all round importance within organizations to a very large extent. This notion primarily considers specific measures that are needed to be adopted along with executed effectively, so that a team is fully empowered and equipped enough to perform various significant functions (Cork 1-100; McCarthy, â€Å"Global Leadership: An Analysis of three Leadership Competency Models in Multinational Corporations†). EXAMPLES OF SPECIFIC COMPANIES Development of both of these aspects i.e. self-managed teams along with team leadership can be duly considered as an issue, which is on the rise. This factor can be provided with the maximum amount of weightage owing to the fact that development of such team and skills are highly demanded in the present day context. This issue can be well addressed in the future by way of analyzing and highlighting its importance in the overall management context. It is quite evident that both of these aspects i.e. self-managed teams along with team leadership is of primary importance in the modern day management context, as these represents high end sense of performing various job responsibilities. In relation to this context, issues pertaining to both of t hese management aspects are needed to be delivered high amount of weightage owing to the fact that it will help organizations to build greater leadership skills that are required for the purpose of creating organizational efficiency. Moreover, team leadership can help individuals to be highly competent in meeting the

Use the knowledge gleaned from this course to write an opinion piece( Assignment

Use the knowledge gleaned from this course to write an opinion piece( using microeconomic insights) on any topic of your choice - Assignment Example These units include separate households, microbusinesses, or persons (Morath). Education, health, infrastructure are all sectors that employ aggressively and so need the minimum wage for the overall peaceful and fair management of remuneration standards. The concept of minimum wage bears innumerable progressive and adverse impacts on industries, kinfolks, and individual employees. In the business world, it presents far reaching effects on the management and success of commercial entities. Organizations that employ a big number of employees who tend to be unskilled are normally greatly affected. The reason is that these companies occasionally face tremendous increases in their budget for wage coverage as a result of actualization of the minimum wage. A significant factor is that companies get no capability to negotiate what they feel is commensurate to pay their low cadre employees. Consequently, industries that employ untrained labor experience significant deterioration in their profit limits (Morath). On the other hand, their operating expenditure surges. A challenge to their inclusive economic growth becomes visible. A new dimension is then introduced to their economic methodology of crafting strategies and policies. On homegrown employment, several companies view the minimum wage as an extraordinary financial commitment to the untrained staff. Mitigating the aspect requires that the companies resort to introducing unfavorable conditions in the approaches they employ in hiring people. In some cases, the companies make a choice to cease employing unskilled labor totally. The resultant implication of this move to the overall performance of the economy is obvious. The employment opportunities that require the use of the minimum wage suit the young adults who probably are just leaving school. However, every increase of the minimum wage normally automatically leads to a lesser youth being absorbed

Powers of police Essay Example for Free

Powers of police Essay Polo Games limited was initially involved in manufacture and sale of electronic typewriters changed its product line and started developing and manufacturing hand held computer games and devices. From the scenario of this company it comes out clearly that the company was involved fraudulent and counterfeiting practices and as such it was suspected of having committed a crime. The police came to the business premises one day to search, arrest and seize suspected counterfeit materials used in the fraudulent activities. Police have the powers conferred up on them to do the search and make arrests. Such powers are outlined hereunder: Police and other government authorities have been conferred some powers to arrest, search and even seize property. These powers are available for use by such authorities only in the given circumstances and conditions. For instance the power to search a person for anything is allowed when the person can cover up evidence relating to an offence, or anything which might enable the person to escape from unlawful custody. Other reason or conditions is to search to an extent which is reasonably required to get the required evidence (http://www.11kbw.co.uk/html/articles/policepowers.html, assessed on April 1, 2008). Police have powers conferred to them that enable them to enter and search premises. These powers of entry and search states that: power to enter and search a premise in which a suspected person is hiding; the power only applies to the extent that the police man has reasonable grounds to in believing that there is evidence in the premises. Section 18 of the EPA (Emergency Provisions Act 1996) gives the police power particularly the cop who is the rank of inspector to gain entry into premises occupied by a person under arrest. The inspector in this case should have sufficient belief that there is some evidence in the premises. When such an officer gets into the premises they are covered by the power conferred to them to seize any materials which are suspicious or can be used as evidence in court. This power is deemed critical in cases where it is assumed that some delay may lead to destruction of evidence by the suspected person. Section 17 of the EPA also mandates the police to enter into premises of suspected people in order to execute a warrant of arrest or arrest a person who has committed an arrestable offence. Other reasons for entry and search could involve the capturing of a person who has escaped from the police custody. Such person could have had committed a business related offence. Also in the context of business, police enters or force their way into a premise when there is anticipated damage of the property or evidence. There is section 19 of the EPA which mandates the police officers to enter premises and seize all things obtained through commission of crimes or which act as evidence related to crime.   Police also have power to seize property where there is evidence that it relates to given offence. The basis of this is to prevent the suspect from concealing, losing, altering or destroying the evidence.   Police officers have powers to arrest any person whom they have sufficient evidence or reasonable ground to suspect as having committed or is about to commit crime. To enter business premises, police normally have to obtain warrant from Justice of Peace. The Justice of Peace only grants such warrants when fully convinced that there is sufficient strength of the offence committed. Police seeking such warrants must specify reasons for the search and the things or items to be looked for. Reference: Police powers of search and seizure, available at: http://www.11kbw.co.uk/html/articles/policepowers.html, assessed on April 1, 2008

The Effects of War and Peace on Foreign Aid Essay Example for Free

The Effects of War and Peace on Foreign Aid Essay

Reward Management To Motivate Employees Commerce Essay

Reward Management To Motivate Employees Commerce Essay From the inception of organisational science, pay has been considered an important reward to motivate the behaviours of employees (Taylor Vest, 1992). A consistent literature on rewards has been that to influence performance, pay level must not only be high enough in the absolute sense, but must also be adequately different to reflect the differences in contribution, human capital and efforts that exist within an organisation (livernash, 1957:143). For this reason, Hamilton and Macy (1923:15) maintain that differences in pay must reward excess ability, knowledge, skills, training, diligence possessed by its recipient over the common labourer. In addition, Lawler and Jenkins (1992), also agree that the impact of reward systems cannot be discussed without considering what behaviours they affect in an organisation. They argue that a number of factors influence reward system and this in turn influences organisational effectiveness. Research has shown that the attraction and retention of workers in an organisation is influenced by the kind, and level of rewards an organisation offers (Mobley, 1982; Mobley, Hand, Meglino Griffeth, 1979). Thus Lawler (1971) posits that organisations which give the most reward would attract and retain the most people, as individuals satisfied with their jobs would want to stay within the same organisation. According to Alan Price (2007), the term reward management covers both the strategy and the practice of pay systems. Traditionally, human resource or personnel sections have been concerned with levels and schemes of payment whereas the process of paying employees the payroll function has been the responsibility of finance departments. There is a trend towards integrating the two, driven by new computerised packages offering a range of facilities. Financial rewards normally come in the form of monthly salary or hourly wages (Bratton Gold, 1999). Most employees that work in organisations or company that have professional human resource management in the UK will attend appraisal which will allow both employees and employers to discuss about their current pay and if it should be increased. According to Allen Kilmann, (2001) his studies has shown that assumption is not always true because solid evidences have confirmed that employees earning less than  £25,000 per year can be motivated with the use of financial reward, while those who earn more than  £25,000 per year are willing to stay with one job and do their best if they have high level of job satisfaction. This shows the more money an employer pays his or her employee the more job satisfaction expected by the employee in order to stay in the job leading to more reward management. Reward Management Research studies have shown that organisations have an interest in reward management because of two reasons. Cost effectiveness and profitability, which is based on organisational type and relative cost of workers (Romero Kleiner, 2000). Organisations can save cost of employees in order to gain competitive advantage in the UK market, Which are done by reducing the cost of employees and make use of the benefits of reward management to motivate employees to apply their best efforts. They must also ensure that its pay meet the minimum requirement of employment law. Organisation use reward management as a tool to motivate their employees, influence their attitude and change their behaviour, with an aim to improve their work quality and responsibilities. Organisation can use reward management to help it maintain its competitiveness in its marketplace. Which are done by reducing the cost of its employees and make use of the benefits of reward management to motivate employees to put their best efforts in the organisation. Bratton and Gold (2003), state reward can be divided into individual rewards, team rewards and organisation rewards Individual reward: This reward system will be paid directly to the employees which would lead to having different rate of pay depending on their years of experience in the organisation and energy commitment. Organisational rewards: In this case organisation offer rewards in form of profits with its employees which is increasingly employed by many organisations who has a custom driven culture. This enable organisation gets the best outcome in terms of employees performance, staff commitment and organisational productivity. Team rewards: This reward has been increasingly been used and recognised in the UK. This is because the work system recognised self-management team in the organisation. Team reward is also believed to give greater performance and productivity from each worker (Yahya Goh, 2002). According to Gratton (2004) he states while motivation is determined by both monetary and non monetary factors, money has come to play an overly important role in our thinking about the causes of behaviour. In most companies, very limited time and effort are spent on considering non-monetary sources of motivation This has prove that financial rewards are important as a mechanism to aid recruit and retain talent, and as a means of providing tangible recognition of effort in the organisation. Financial Reward This the use of money as a tool to motivate employees in a working environment, whereby employees are rewarded in the form of pay, bonuses thereby leading to applying more effort to better financial reward in an organisation. 1 Instrumental theory This theory states that money provides a means to achieve an ends. It is an instrument for gaining desired outcomes and its forces will depend on the strength of the need and the degree to which people are confident that their behaviour will earn the money they want to satisfy the need. Gellerman (1963), state that money in itself has no intrinsic meaning and acquires significant motivating power only when it comes to symbolize intangible goals. Firms use money as the powerful force which linked directly or indirectly to the satisfaction of all the basic needs of employees in the organisation. 2 Equity theory This theory was developed by Adams (1965) which argues that satisfaction with pay is related to the perception about the ratio between what one receives from the job and what one puts into it compared with the ratios obtained by others. Lawler (1971) state equity theory is related to discrepancy theory which indicates that satisfaction with pay depends on the difference between the pay people receive and what they feel they ought to receive. According to Jaques (1961) he states they exist in an unrecognised system of norms of fair payment for any given level of work, unconscious knowledge of these norms being shared among the population engaged in employment and an individual is unconsciously aware of his own potential capacity for work, as well as the equitable pay level for that work. Organisation can establish this principle; its pay must be felt to match the level of work and the capacity of the employees to do it in the organisation. Non Financial Reward This is a method of identifying individual employees for a particular praise or acknowledgement. Rose (1998) state a non cash awards given in recognition of a high level of accomplishment or performance such as customer care or support to colleagues, which is not dependent on achievement of a pre-determined target. 1 Self-actualisation Self-actualisation model is one of the most famous models of motivation. It was developed by Abraham Maslow (1954). This model explains that a person has a need to fulfil his/her capability and potential because a person has a desire for growth. Self-actualisation model is one of the most famous models of motivation. Ambitious and determined employees will seek and find these opportunities for themselves, although the organisation needs to clarify the scope for growth and development it can provide. Mullins, (1996) state once a lower need has been satisfied it no longer acts as a strong motivator, the needs of the next higher level become the motivating influence Organisation can use the self actualisation model to motivate employees to their best efforts if they know their highly demanded need, e.g. Staff member wanting to build a career goal and development in a firm. Thus, putting the staff in the right training and human resource development program cannot only increase positive outcomes, but also gain his loyalty in the organisation. 2 Achievements Achievement needs by McClelland (1975) is known for competitive success measured against a personal standard of excellence, which can be increased by organisations through processes such as job design, performance management and contributing skill in the organisation. McClelland also mentioned that power was a prime motivating force for managers, the needs for warm friendly relationships with others was also present to managers. Organisation policies for involvement can provide motivation by putting employees into situations where their view can be expressed, listed to and acted upon, thereby forming a means of empowerment in the organisation. Motivation Many contemporary authors have also defined the concept of motivation. Motivation has been defined as: the psychological process that gives behaviour purpose and direction (Kreitner, 1995); a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific, unmet needs (Buford, Bedeian, Lindner, 1995); an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need (Higgins, 1994); and the will to achieve (Bedeian, 1993). Seligam(1990) also states that motivation may be rooted in the basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired object, hobby, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, selfishness, morality, or avoiding mortality. Conceptually, motivation should not be confused with either volition or optimism. Workers in any organization need something to keep them working. Most times the salary of the employee is enough to keep him or her working for an organization. However, sometimes just working for salary is not enough for employees to stay at an organization. An employee must be motivated to work for a company or organization. If no motivation is present in an employee, then that employees quality of work or all work in general will deteriorate. A) Intrinsic motivation This is described as the process of motivation by the work itself in so far as it satisfies peoples needs or at least leads them to expect that their goal will be achieved. This is also a self-generated in that employees seek the type of work that satisfies them, but management in an Organisation can enhance this process through its values as well as empowerment, development and job design policies and practices in the firm. Research studies have indicated that this type of motivation is generally involved with educational enjoyment and achievement of many higher education students (ODonohue et al., 2007). Intrinsic motivation has also been discussed and referred to by many researchers, such as attribution theory of Fritz Heider and cognitive evaluation theory of Ryan and Decis (Guest, 1989). Under the concept of intrinsic motivation, it can be assumed that a person can be intrinsically motivated or influenced if they give credit of their hard work outcomes to internal factors that they cannot control, e.g. an employee of an Organisation works hard to make sure that all of its customers get served within five minutes after their entrance into the restaurant. An employee can also be intrinsically motivated if he or she believes that their skills, knowledge and hard work can help the firm to achieve the desired goals. Intrinsic rewards can be explained under the scope of enjoyment, while another one is based on obligation, it also occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it either brings them pleasure, they think it is important, or they feel that what they are learning is significant. (Herriot et al., 1997). Obligation refers to motivation of an employee and its based on what he or she thinks it should be done or completed. E.g., an employee has a responsibility to serve customers well under limited time, but the quality of the service should exceed expectation. This would be seen as a challenge for the employee when they exceed the standard set by the firm, thereby leading to motivation in the organisation. B) Extrinsic motivation This is what is done to and for people to motivate them. It arises when management in a firm provides rewards as increased pay, praises or promotion. Research studies have revealed that threat of punishment is also recognised as common extrinsic motivations (Cooper et al., 1999), e.g. management of an Organisation can deduct their pay if they are more than 15 minutes late for work. This kind of punishment is part of extrinsic motivation that can influence employees to get to work on time in the restaurant. Incentive theory of motivation This refers to a reward, which are both tangible and intangible forms. Incentive reward is likely to be presented to a person after the occurrence of an expected action or behaviour. Such reward is given to a person with an intention to cause desired behaviour to ensure that it happens again. This can be done by relating positive meaning to action or behaviour of a person (Clutterbuck, 2005). If an incentive reward is not presented immediately, it is likely to decrease satisfied behaviour (Guerrero Herrbach, 2008). This can be believed that if an organisation uses repetitive action reward combination, it can lead to certain action or behaviour to become a habit. Applying proper motivational techniques can be much harder than it seems. Steven Kerr notes that when creating a reward system, it can be easy to reward A, while hoping for B, and in the process, reap harmful effects that can jeopardize your goals (kerr, 1995). Expectancy theory Victor Vroom (1964) was the first to put forward his theory of expectancy, which was specifically aimed at work motivation. He produces a motivational force notion, whereby the product of valence and expectancy, is the motivational force. Vroom Valence expectancy theory is that employee effort will lead to performance and performance will lead to rewards. The employee would be more motivated when the reward is positively high, the more negative the reward the less the employee will be motivated. Galbraith and Cummings (1967) found little support for Vrooms model they outline difficulties with the methodology and the concepts involved and found it very hard to apply to organisations. This theory is applied by organisation by setting a target for employees e.g. sales target; this will enable employees to carry out his or her daily activities effectively in return for values, goals which lead to an effective performance in the organisation. Vroom distinguishes valence from value Mullins (2002) This is shown in that a person may not gain as much satisfaction from receiving an object as from the desire of obtaining it In this situation an employee may not gain as much job satisfaction from receiving an object e.g. money and employee may find more satisfaction in the working environment than expected from an object in the organisation. (Armstrong,2006 Mullins, 2002) THEORY OF MOTIVATION According to Maslow, employees have five levels of needs (Maslow, 1943): physiological, safety, social, ego, and self- actualizing. Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees. Herzbergs work categorized motivation into two factors: motivators and hygienes (Herzberg, Mausner, Snyderman, 1959). Motivator or intrinsic factors, such as achievement and recognition, produce job satisfaction. Hygiene or extrinsic factors, such as pay and job security, produce job dissatisfaction. Vrooms theory is based on the belief that employee effort will lead to performance and performance will lead to rewards (Vroom, 1964). Rewards may be either positive or negative. The more positive the reward the more likely the employee will be highly motivated. Conversely, the more negative the reward the less likely the employee will be motivated. Adams theory states that employees strive for equity between themselves and other workers. Equity is achieved when the ratio of employee outcomes over inputs is equal to other employee outcomes over inputs (Adams, 1965). Furthermore in some specifiable conditions, reward has been observed to motivate performance (Blinder, 1990; Vroom 1964). Majority of literature on motivation strongly upholds the view that rewards such as pay has a huge impact on an employee (Vroom, 1964; Lawler, 1971). In recent times, important rewards have been perceived to be tied to performance. Study after study has shown that an effective pay system can increase motivation of individuals to perform well (Kerr, 1975; Blinder, 1990). Armstrong and Murlis (1994) went further to state that reward process would most likely improve motivation, performance and commitment if they are operated fairly and the rewards are equitable in the sense that they are proportionate with the value of the job and of the person to the organisation Conclusion

Violence in the media Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Through the past few years you have heard people saying that TV, music, and video games are leading to the increase in violence among teens and the society. There are so many different opinions on the subject, and no real answers. I have an opinion that not everyone would agree with, but when people hear what I have to say they can see where I am coming from.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Through the last five to ten years there have been many reports of school shootings. Everyone immediately turns to the violence in the media. They say that it was the rock music or the violent TV shows. No one stops to look behind the scenes at the family life. The kids that were the ones that commit these crimes, were unpopular and were made fun of on a daily bases. The question that people need to be asking is what made them be the outcast. Most of these teens have parents that work outside the home, and are never there. They are not there to monitor what these kids are watching. They are not taught what is right and what is wrong. They watch violent TV and listen to the cuss words that are being said, and no one is telling that it is not the right for them to act that way, and that it is not expectable. I am not saying that violence comes from the media, what I am saying, is that it comes from the lack of parenting.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In my experience growing up, I do have to admit that I did watch the violent shows and listen to what we call â€Å"i...

Powerful Imagery and Themes in The Killer Angels Essay -- Killer Angel

  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara fictionally illustrates the historical facts of the battle at Gettysburg. Shaara gives action and words to characters of another time, and then places these players on the stage of this great battle. Through the use of powerful biblical and non-biblical imagery and themes the epic nature of the battle at Gettysburg and its characters are enhanced. Such imagery and themes, combined with Shaara's fictionalization, help to contribute to why this single battle holds such monumental significance and influence upon the lives of Americans over a century removed from its occurrence. In the Foreword, before the battle begins, Shaara starts with a list of the principle players in the upcoming tragic drama of the battle at Gettysburg. Like in a program to a stage play, the armies and the characters are listed before they take the stage. As the curtain opens, the first actor who appears on this stage is the Confederate spy, Harrison, who is actually an actor by profession. Through this solitary and seemingly insignificant man, the reader is taken backstage to witness the drama unfold in person.    Upon meeting General Robert E. Lee, "the spy worshipped" (Shaara 14) Lee as he spoke to the General. Although this behavior of the spy may seem rather excessive, it is consistent with the Confederate troops' attitude towards Lee. To the Confederates, the Civil War was a type of "Holy War" (Shaara 67) and Lee was like God the Father leading them in "the Cause". (Shaara 361) Indeed, even to General Longstreet, Lee's second-in-command, Lee had taken the place of God. (Shaara 134)    Through the use of biblical imagery and themes, the epic proportions of the battle at Ge... ...that what has been will always be a part of what remains. It is doubtful that the curtain will ever close on Gettysburg.    Works Cited "John." Serendipity Bible for Groups: New International Version. 3rd ed. Ed. Lyman Coleman. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998. 1416-1474. "Luke." Serendipity Bible for Groups: New International Version. 3rd ed. Ed. Lyman Coleman. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998. 1416-1474. "Matthew." Serendipity Bible for Groups: New International Version. 3rd ed. Ed. Lyman Coleman. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998. 1326-1377. Shaara, Michael. The Killer Angels. New York: Ballantine Books, 1996. Thoreau, Henry David. "Walden." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. 2107-2141.    Powerful Imagery and Themes in The Killer Angels Essay -- Killer Angel   Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara fictionally illustrates the historical facts of the battle at Gettysburg. Shaara gives action and words to characters of another time, and then places these players on the stage of this great battle. Through the use of powerful biblical and non-biblical imagery and themes the epic nature of the battle at Gettysburg and its characters are enhanced. Such imagery and themes, combined with Shaara's fictionalization, help to contribute to why this single battle holds such monumental significance and influence upon the lives of Americans over a century removed from its occurrence. In the Foreword, before the battle begins, Shaara starts with a list of the principle players in the upcoming tragic drama of the battle at Gettysburg. Like in a program to a stage play, the armies and the characters are listed before they take the stage. As the curtain opens, the first actor who appears on this stage is the Confederate spy, Harrison, who is actually an actor by profession. Through this solitary and seemingly insignificant man, the reader is taken backstage to witness the drama unfold in person.    Upon meeting General Robert E. Lee, "the spy worshipped" (Shaara 14) Lee as he spoke to the General. Although this behavior of the spy may seem rather excessive, it is consistent with the Confederate troops' attitude towards Lee. To the Confederates, the Civil War was a type of "Holy War" (Shaara 67) and Lee was like God the Father leading them in "the Cause". (Shaara 361) Indeed, even to General Longstreet, Lee's second-in-command, Lee had taken the place of God. (Shaara 134)    Through the use of biblical imagery and themes, the epic proportions of the battle at Ge... ...that what has been will always be a part of what remains. It is doubtful that the curtain will ever close on Gettysburg.    Works Cited "John." Serendipity Bible for Groups: New International Version. 3rd ed. Ed. Lyman Coleman. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998. 1416-1474. "Luke." Serendipity Bible for Groups: New International Version. 3rd ed. Ed. Lyman Coleman. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998. 1416-1474. "Matthew." Serendipity Bible for Groups: New International Version. 3rd ed. Ed. Lyman Coleman. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998. 1326-1377. Shaara, Michael. The Killer Angels. New York: Ballantine Books, 1996. Thoreau, Henry David. "Walden." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. 2107-2141.   

Internet Resource Comparison :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Internet Resource Comparison The Internet contains a limitless amount of information. However, the information must be accessible, organized, and comprehensible to be of value. A series of questions were used to compare and exam these merits in four related web sites, the Institute of Management Accountants , Beta Alpha Psi , the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants , and the National Business Education Association . Â ¨ Question 1: Are student benefits of membership easily identified? Â · The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and the National Business Education Association (NBEA) provided pathways to well defined benefits and services. Offerings were fundamentally shared by all three organizations and included scholarships, access to job banks and information resources, special insurance, credit, publication offers and support for political concerns. An IMA article best summed up other benefits. Student member, Anissa Eggen, suggested less tangible advantages of membership. "In search of guidance, I found much more." Â · Beta Alpha Psi was the exception. The mission statement presented some idea of membership benefits, "providing interaction among students, faculty, and professionals, and fosters lifelong growth, service and ethical conduct." Job opportunities and scholarships were also linked within the site, but a clearly defined list of benefits was either absent or beyond simple access. Â ¨ Question 2: Is the information current? Â · All sites were maintained remarkably well and provided current information. Examples included IMA's Special Events Board, which ranged from scholarship deadlines in February to the annual conference in June, NBEA provided access to current Business Education Standards, BAP listed recent summary reports from their National Office, and the AICPA site contained reports updated every weekday. Â ¨ Question 3: Is the information helpful? Â · Helpful insights, downloads, and links provided an abundance of useful information. IMA's offerings included a wide range of online accessible information that ranged from interviewing tips to passing certification exams. Â · AICPA was also successful in providing useful information. Its strength was in providing information relating to career paths and opportunities. Although some of the information was broad in scope, most of the information was targeted for CPAs. Â · BAP was limited in the amount of information available to non-members. Nearly all the information was specifically related to the organization. Â · NBEA was useful in pointing out available resources for educators such as books and conferences but didn't possess much information beyond that used to describe the organization and its functions.

A comparison of Haydn and Beethoven Essay

Franz Josef Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven are two of the greatest classical composers in the history of music, rivaled only by the masterful Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Beethoven, who was much younger than Haydn, moved to Vienna when he was young to study under Haydn. However, due to Haydn’s increasing age, and Beethoven’s increasing temper, the lessons only lasted for a little over a year. The lessons, if only for a short period, clearly left a mark on Beethoven, as can be seen in his compositions. Make no mistake, however, Haydn and Beethoven were not carbon copies of one another. When comparing compositions of the two composers, namely Haydn’s symphony No. 95 in C minor and Beethoven’s symphony No. 5, the two composers differ in various areas, including form, theme, tonality, orchestral structure, and the overall effect their work had on the audience. The only way to truly understand the similarities of these two legendary composers is to delve into their music, comparing them movement-by-movement of the two aforementioned pieces. Only then will we truly understand what makes Haydn and Beethoven so similar, yet so different. The first movement of both pieces start out in their own special way. Haydn’s piece starts out loudly with a quick timpani strike accompanied by the strings, followed by an almost somber sounding melody in C-minor. The second theme of Haydn’s first movement is much more cheerful sounding as it is in C-major. After the exposition is finished, Haydn goes through an eventful developmental period followed by recapitulation. Beethoven’s first movement starts out with the infamous short-short-short-long, which is then repeated. This becomes the motive of Beethoven’s piece, which can found intertwined throughout the entire piece. The intertwining of this single motive creates a consistency throughout the entire symphony; making all four movements feel as one. Although Beethoven may have not intentionally tried to do this, as it was never really done before, it really gives the symphony a special sound as a whole, something that Haydn’s symphony no. 95 lacked. Beethoven’s first movement is sonata form, something that he inherited from Haydn, and starts out in C-minor, just as symphony no. 95 does. The first theme of Symphony no. 5 is made up of imitations and sequences of those first 4 bars, which give off a tense, conflicted feel. The second theme ofBeethoven’s first movement is much more lyrical than the first theme. Here Beethoven completely changes keys to E-flat, rather than simply switching to a major tonality like Haydn does. In the second movement, however, Haydn starts out in E-flat major. The second movement, as per usual, is a much slower piece to contrast the strong, fast, first piece. Haydn uses a series of variations in this movement to keep the audience attentive, switching between major and minor tonalities from time to time. The amount of variation in this second movement is extensive, and really adds a lot to the movement. Beethoven’s second movement is in A-flat major and opens with two themes being presented, which are then varied in alternations. The second theme of this movement incorporates a harmony that features the clarinets, which are present due to Beethoven’s expansion of the orchestra over Haydn. Other instruments that Beethoven uses that Haydn does not in these symphonies are the piccolo, contrabassoon, and trumpets. By expanding his orchestra, Beethoven is able to create a larger, more diverse sound than Haydn is able to do. Beethoven’s second movement includes a 3rd theme that has thirty-second notes played by the strings with a counter phrase being played in the winds simultaneously, and the movement ends loudly in fortissimo, with many crescendos. Although these two composers first movements were somewhat similar in form and style, it is clear in the second movement that were starting to see the similarities morph into differences between the two composers, which continues into the third movement. Haydn’s third movement follows the prototypical minuet, trio, minuet form. However, this is a stylized dance piece, rather than an actual dance piece due to Haydn throwing in little twists that would throw off any attempted ballroom dance. The minuet returns to the original tonality of C-minor, while the trio switches to C-major. The trio form consists completely of even eighth notes played by a solo cello, which Haydn included to satisfy his audience in London. Beethoven does something very different in his third movement, as he forgoes the typical minuet-trio-minuet form for the scherzo-trio-scherzo form. Scherzo, which translates to â€Å"joke† in Italian, is derived from the minuet. The main difference is that scherzo form is played much more playfully and somewhat humorously, like a joke. Beethoven, like Haydn, returns to the starting tonality of C-minor for this movement. At the end, the short-short-short-long motive from the beginning of the symphony returns, and begins to take over the piece as it moves directly into the fourth movement without any hesitation. The fourth movements of these two symphonies also differ in form, as Haydn chooses to go with a rondo form while Beethoven chooses a variation of the sonata form. Haydn’s rondo form allows the music to transition beautifully into the finale. Haydn’s finale consists of loud, furious music including brass fanfares that is starkly different than a normal classical finale. Beethoven’s fourth movement is a fast, unusual sonata that begins immediately following the third movement. His finale is played in C-major, and consists of 29 bars of chords played in fortissimo. These chords allow Beethoven to conclude the symphony by ending the tension that has been furiously building throughout the entire piece. Beethoven’s incredible finale, as with Haydn’s, are perfect endings to these two monumental symphonies that surely leave a lasting effect on their respective audiences. As can be seen throughout Haydn’s symphony no. 95 and Beethoven’s symphony no. 5, the two composers were very similar, yet very different from one another. Beethoven uses a lot of what he learned from his time with Haydn, but is able to expand on those ideals and create something of his own being. His ideals, however, are soundly built off of the foundations that Haydn paved for him, which is a benefit from being the student rather than the teacher. Even through all of the differences in the two symphonies, such as Beethoven’s expansion of his orchestra or Haydn’s refusal to stray form minuet form in the third movement, these two composers share one main thing in common, and that is their ability to create beautiful pieces of art that won’t be soon forgotten in the minds, and the hearts, of their listeners.

Comparing of Financial Statement for Similar Companies

Introduction Freds, Belk, Big Lots and Dollar Tree are all famous variety store in United State. All of them provide various and qualified goods to customers. This analysis report, discussing different financial data based on the 10-K document of the four companies, wants to give readers a meaningful describe to these companies so investors can have clear opinions to help decide. Company Profiles Freds, Inc. Freds) is to meet the general merchandise and pharmacy needs of the small – to medium- sized towns it serves by offering a wider variety of quality merchandise and a more attractive price-to-value relationship than either drug stores or smaller variety/dollar stores and a shopper-friendly format which is more convenient than larger sized dis count merchandise stores. The company’s sales of p harmaceuticals have a percentage of 33. 5% in 2010, 34. 1% in 2011, and 34. 9% in 2012, comparing to the total sales. And its major sales of others include households good and f ood products, etc. showing that the company tries its best to execute its business strategy. Big Lots, Inc. is a Fortune 500 retail corporation. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio, USA and currently operates over 1,400 stores in 47 states. Its department stores focus mainly on selling closeout and overstock merchandise. There are some items in the stores, such as foodstuffs, that are replenished on a continual basis. What’s more, Big Lots also operates a wholesale division, which provides merchandise in bulk for resale from a variety of categories.Financial StatementsBig Lots uses an existing building, such as a grocery or department store that had either moved or ceased operations. Dollar Tree, Inc. began its operations in 1953 and was incorporated in Virginia. The company is an American chain of discount variety stores that se lls every item for $1. 00 or less. The company targets low to lower-middle income consumers and sells everyday products from food and personal ca re products to non-essentials. It sells its product in three business segments:1) Consumable merchandise, which accounted for 48. % of its sales in 2011, 2) Variety merchandise, which accounted for 46. 9% of 2011 sales, and 3)seasonal goods, explained 5% of 2011 sales. Belk, Inc. , together with its subsidiaries, is the largest privately owned mainline department store business in the United States, with 303 stores in 16 states, as of the fiscal year ended January 28, 2012. Generated revenues of $3. 7 billion for the fiscal year 2012, and together with its predecessors, have been successfully operating department stores since 1888. Belk Stores Services, Inc. , a subsidiary of Belk, Inc. rovides a wide range of services t o the Belk division offices and stores, such as merchandising, merchandise planning and allocation, advertising and sales promotion, information systems, human resources, public relations, accounting, real estate and store planning, credit, legal, tax, distribution and purchasing. Accounting Policies (see Exhibit 1) All of the four companies are United State location so that part of their accounting policies are the same, but because the area location and business strategy, they have some different accounting policies.The four companies do not amortized goodwill and tested them for impairment annually, using an income approach and a market approach in determining fair value for purposes of goodwill impairment tests. All four of them report income taxes in accordance with FASB ASC 740, the asset and liability method is used for computing future income tax consequences of events . The major differences exist in revenue recognition, merchandise inventories and Stock-based compensation.Based on their requirements, Freds records its sales when the merchandise is shipped from the Company’s warehouse; Dollar tree records sales revenue at the time a sale is made to its customer ; Big Lots’ sales Revenue is recognized when the customer ma kes the final payment and takes possession of the merchandise and sales of Belk is recorded at the time of delivery. Freds values inventories at the lower of cost or market using the retail first -in, first-out method for goods in stores and the cost first -in, first-out method for goods in our distribution centers. And the rest of hree companies values inventories at the lower of cost or market using the average cost retail inventory method. Under the average cost retail inventory method, inventory is segregated into departments of merchandise having similar characteristics at its current retail selling value. Profitability, Liquidity/Solvency (see Exhibit 2) If we analyze the current ratio and quick ratio they are relatively small. So paying the short term debts might be a problem for the company as well as the liquidity is getting decreased from year 2010 – 2012 as 1. 43 to 1. 23 to 0. 88.So it might be difficult for the company to stay with the current obligations. If we analyze the debt -equity ratio seems to be in high end for the Belk, but it is gradually decreasing 1. 36, 1. 06 to 1. 03. This seems to be a good sign for the company. But still the ratio is high and need quite bit of work to get it down to an acceptable value. Freds’ ROE keeps a increase from 5. 99% in 2010, to 7. 17% in 2011 then to 7. 89% in 2012 because its profit margin increasing from 1. 32% to 1. 61% and 1. 78%, respectively in 2011 and 2012, in the same time, its assets turnover keeps a steadily level from 3. 20 to 3. 06, just a slightly decrease.Additionally, the gross margin just has a higher change from 27. 92% in 2010, to 28. 66% in 2012 than profit margin. The inventory turnover has a decrease from 4. 33 to 4. 15 respectively in 2010 and 2012, due to the cost of goods sold increasing slower than inventory. What’s more, the current ratio and quick ratio keeps falling down, and debt/equity ratio grows up during the 3 years, showing that the debt increases f aster than equity. Big Lot’s ROE continues to grow from 20. 01% in 2010 to 25. 15% in 2012. However, it s profit margin and gross margin have been going downwards since 2010, dropping to 3. 98% and 39. 9% respectively in 2012. What’s more, its current ratio and quick ratio have also decreased, the former one has slacked from 2. 069 in 2010 to 1. 721 in 2012, a nd the later one has slummed from 0. 72 to 0. 31, which indicate that the company’s fund are more tighten up in recent years. Through further study, we found that the D-E ratio is increasing from 1. 208 in 2010 to 1. 704 in 2012, which presented the company’s new financing strategy from borrowing, other than getting capital from the shareholders. The ROE of Dollar Tree increased rapidly from 22. 43% in 2010 to 27. 23% in 2011 and to 36. 32% in 2012. On examining the three omponents of ROE, the profit margin was 6. 3% in 2010 but in 2012 it increased at 7. 36%. In addition, its assets turnover mainta ins a steady growth. It was 2. 28 in 2010, 2. 47 in 2011 and 2. 85 in 2012. Over the three years, the debt -equity ratio also grows steadily. Besides, the current ratio and quick ratio of Dollar Tree in the past three years obviously declined. That mostly resulted from the increasing debt and surging sales . Return on Equity almost doubled from 2010 to 2011 as 6. 31% to 11. 33% and has a steady growth from 2011 to 2012 as 15. 30%. This implies Net Income increased and it is proportional to good increase in profit margins as from 2% to 3. 63% almost doubled from 2010 to 2011 and 4. 95% in 2012 which is a steady growth. When we compare the Total asset turnover in last 3 years seems to be decreasing, though it is 13. 1 in 2010 decreased significantly form 2011 and 2012 as 1. 14 and 1. 50 respectively. This might be due to competition from other department and specialty stores and other retailers, including luxury goods retailers, mail o rder retailers and offprice and discount stores. Opportunities/Threats Opportunities: from the above, we get the idea that the variety store industry has a good time during the several years.These four companies are keeping increase in profit and they have lower financial distress so that they could borrow more money from banks and investors, which gives them more chances to execute expansion strategy: more available cash from borrowing, better financial statement which can give more confidence to in vestors and higher return to support the future development. Threats: we should notice that most of the four companies have a higher gross margin increasing than profit margin, and a continuous lower inventory turnover.They show that these companies’ structures include threaten in the future. What’s more, the high debt means that the banks and investors tighten polices and requirements to the companies so their business and expansion will be influenced by investors. Meanwhile, the raising interest rat e of debt gives hig her financial distress to the companies. Overall Assessment Retail industry is a highly competitive and dynamic business to work with. So it needs to be change whenever it needs to be. Here we can see that when one company doing well other companies are struggling to stay in the race.If we analyze the overall challenges retail business facing is like high Employee turnovers, also Auditing issues as they regularly engaged in competition with one another, and this competition can creat e price wars, forcing a need to keep tight control over inventory, as the nation prospers and people have more money to spend, the retail industry generally flourishes. As for the companies we can see that Fred’s, Dollar tree and Belk is seems to be doing well in this difficult situations, but the Big Lotus is losing some ground as profit margins getting lower as well as their funds getting tightens up.However when we see the COGS each company has a problem as COGS selling slower than the invento ry, this might be hurting all four companies as if their items old they have to write off them and which might eventually losing money. Exhibit 1: Significant Accounting Policies Freds Revenue recognition Merchandise inventories Goodwill Stock-based compensation Income taxes Dollar tree Big Lots Belk Sales are recorded when the merchandise is shipped from the Company’s warehouse sales revenue at the time a sale is made to its customer Revenue is recognized when the customer makes the final payment and takes possession of the merchandise.Sales from retail operations are recorded at the time of delivery. Valued at the lower of cost or market using the retail first-in, first-out method for goods in our stores and the cost first-in, firstout method for goods in our distribution centers. Stated at the lower of cost or market, determined on a weighted-average cost basis. Under the retail inventory method, the valuation of inventories at cost and the resulting gross margins are comp uted by applying a calculated cost-to-retail ratio to the retail value of inventories. Valued at the lower of cost or market using the average cost retail inventory method. Under the average ost retail inventory method, inventory is segregated into departments of merchandise having similar characteristics at its current retail selling value. Valued using the lower of cost or market value, determined by the retail inventory method. Under the retail inventory method (â€Å"RIM†), the valuation of inventories at cost and the resulting gross margins Goodwill is not amortized and tested for impairmen t annually. Use an income approach and a market approach in determining fair value for purposes of goodwill impairment tests. Goodwill is not amortized and tested for impairment annually. Use an income approach and a market pproach in determining fair value for purposes of goodwill impairment tests. Goodwill is not amortized and tested for impairment annually. Use an income approach a nd a market approach in determining fair value for purposes of goodwill impairment tests. Goodwill is not amortized and tested for impairment annually. Use an income approach and a market approach in determining fair value for purposes of goodwill impairment tests. Uses the fair value recognition provisions of FASB ASC 718, account for stock based compensation by using the grant date fair value of share awards and the estimated number of shares that will ultimately be ssued in conjunction with each award. Recognizes all share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options, in the financial statements based on their fair values. Value and expense stock options with graded vesting as a single award with an average estimated life over the entire term of the award. Uses the fair value recognition provisions of FASB ASC 718, account for stock based compensation by using the grant date fair value of share awards and the estimated number of shares that will ultimat ely be issued in conjunction with each award. reports income taxes in accordance with FASB ASC 740,the asset and liability ethod is used for computing future income tax consequences of events reports income taxes in accordance with FASB ASC 740,the asset and liability method is used for computing future income tax consequences of events reports income taxes in accordance with FASB ASC 740,the asset and liability method is used for computing future income tax consequences of events reports income taxes in accordance with FASB ASC 740,the asset and liability method is used for computing future income tax consequences of events Exhibit 2: Industry Ratio Summary 2012 Freds, Inc. 2011 Profitability Return on equity 7. 89% 7. 17% 5. 99% 25. 15% 23. 50% 20. 01% 6. 32% 27. 23% 22. 43% 15. 30% 11. 33% 6. 31% Profit margin 1. 78% 1. 61% 1. 32% 3. 98% 4. 49% 4. 23% 7. 36% 6. 75% 6. 13% 4. 95% 3. 63% 2. 00% Gross margin 28. 66% 28. 61% 27. 92% 39. 79% 40. 63% 40. 61% 35. 87% 35. 49% 35. 49% 0. 33% 0. 33% 0. 32% Total asset turnover 3. 06 3. 16 3. 20 3. 169 3. 057 2. 831 2. 85 2. 47 2. 28 1. 5 1. 41 13. 1 A/R turnover 62. 61 64. 58 61. 93 42. 45 41. 39 40. 11 76. 42 78. 53 72. 33 104. 9 131. 3 118. 7 Inventory turnover 4. 15 4. 33 4. 33 3. 8 3. 86 4. 02 4. 2 4. 2 4. 1 2. 9 2. 97 2. 83 Short term liquidity Current ratio 2. 47 2. 91 2. 81 1. 721 1. 941 2. 069 2. 08 2. 5 2. 74 2. 51 3. 34 3. 32 0. 33 . 52 0. 57 0. 31 0. 53 0. 72 0. 59 1 1. 31 0. 88 1. 23 1. 43 0. 49 0. 40 0. 43 1. 704 1. 283 1. 208 0. 73 0. 63 0. 6 1. 03 1. 06 1. 36 Quick ratio Long term solvency Debt/Equity ratio 2010 2012 Big Lots 2011 2010 2012 Dollar Tree 2011 2010 Belk. inc 2012 2011 2010 Profit Margin Return on Equity 40. 00% 35. 00% 30. 00% 25. 00% Freds, inc 20. 00% Big Lots 15. 00% Dollar Tree 10. 00% Belk. inc 5. 00% 0. 00% 2012 2011 8. 00% 7. 00% 6. 00% 5. 00% 4. 00% 3. 00% 2. 00% 1. 00% 0. 00% Freds, inc Big Lots Dollar Tree Belk. inc 2012 2010 2011 2010 Debt-to-Equity Ratio Inventory turnover 2. 00 5. 00 4. 00 Freds, inc 3. 00 Big Lots 1. 50 Freds, incBig Lots 1. 00 Dollar Tree Dollar Tree 2. 00 Belk. inc 1. 00 Belk. inc 0. 50 0. 00 0. 00 2012 2011 2010 2012 2011 2010 Exhibit 3: Income statement Fred,inc Statement of Income January 28, 2012 Net sales Cost of goods sold 1879059 1340519 100% 71. 34% Gross profit 538540 Depreciation and amortization 100% 71. 39% 1788136 1288899 100% 72. 08% 28. 66% 527018 28. 61% 499237 27. 92% 34190 1. 82% 29236 1. 59% 26387 1. 48% Selling, general and administrative expenses 453195 24. 12% 451064 24. 49% 434356 24. 29% Operating income Interest income Interest expense 51155 -156 553 2. 72% -0. 01% 0. 03% 46718 -234 424 2. 54% -0. 01% 0. 02% 38494 -189 82 2. 15% -0. 01% 0. 03% Income before income taxes 50758 2. 70% 46528 2. 53% 38201 2. 14% Provision for income taxes 17330 0. 92% 16941 0. 92% 14586 0. 82% 33428 1. 78% 29587 1. 61% 23615 1. 32% $ $ January 30, 2010 1841755 1314737 Net income $ January 29, 2011 $ $ $ Big Lots, Statement of Inc ome January 27, 2012 Net sales Cost of goods sold Gross profit Selling, general and administrative expenses Other Operating Expense Operating income $ January 28, 2011 5,202,269. 00 3,131,862. 00 2,070,407. 00 100. 00% 60. 20% 39. 80% 1,634,532. 00 January 29, 2012 4,952,244. 00 2,939,793. 00 2,012,451. 00 100. 00% 59. 36% 40. 64% 31. 42% 1,567,500. 0 90,280. 00 1. 74% 345,595. 00 6. 64% $ 4,726,772. 00 2,807,466. 00 1,919,306. 00 100. 00% 59. 39% 40. 61% 31. 65% 1,532,356. 00 32. 42% 78,606. 00 1. 59% 74,904. 00 1. 58% 357,345. 00 7. 22% 325,010. 00 6. 88% $ Earnings Before Interest And Taxes Interest Expense 345,422. 00 6. 64% 357,957. 00 7. 23% 325,185. 00 6. 88% 3,530. 00 0. 07% 2,573. 00 0. 05% 1,840. 00 0. 04% Income Before Tax 341,892. 00 6. 57% 355,384. 00 7. 18% 323,345. 00 6. 84% Income Tax Expense 134,657. 00 2. 59% 132,837. 00 2. 68% 121,975. 00 2. 58% Net income 207,064. 00 3. 98% 222,524. 00 4. 49% 200,369. 00 4. 24% Dollar Tree, Statement of Income January 28,2012Reve nues $ January 29,2011 Selling and admistrtive expense 64. 13% 35. 87% 3,794. 8 2,087. 60 1,596. 2 Gross margin 100% 4252. 2 2378. 3 cost of sales 6630. 5 $ 5882. 40 24. 07% 1,457. 60 100% January 30,2010 $ 5,231. 20 100% 64. 51% 35. 49% 3,374. 40 1,856. 80 64. 51% 35. 49% 24. 78% 1,344. 00 25. 69% Restructing charges Goodwill impairment — — — intangible and other asset impairment — — — operating expense $ 1,596. 2 24. 07% operating income interest expense interest income other income 782. 1 2. 9 –0. 3 11. 80% 0. 04% Income before income taxes Net income $ 1,457. 60 24. 78% 10. 71% 0. 10% 0. 00% 630 5. 6 –5. 5 779. 5 ncome taxes $ 11. 76% 291. 2 488. 3 4. 39% 7. 36% 1344 25. 69% 9. 80% 0. 10% -0. 10% 512. 8 5. 2 — 629. 9 $ $ 10. 71% 507. 6 9. 70% 232. 6 397. 3 3. 95% 6. 75% 187. 1 320. 5 3. 58% 6. 13% $ Belk, Statement of Income 2012 2011 Revenues 3,699,592 100% Cost of goods sold (Including occupancy, distribution and b uying $ expenses) 2,461,515 66% 938008 2012 3513275 100% 2353536 66% 25% 914078 3143 0. 08% 2302 —- Operating income Interest expense Interest income Loss on extinguishment of debt Gain on investments Income before income taxes Income tax expense Net income Gain on sale of property and equipment Asset impairment and exit costsPension curtailment charge $ 100% 2271925 68% 26% 886263 26% 6416 0. 18% 2011 0. 06% 0. 06% 0. 00% 6096 —– 0. 17% 0. 00% 39915 2719 1. 19% 0. 08% 300190 Selling, general and administrative expenses 3346252 8. 11% 245981 7. 00% 147441 4. 41% -50218 328 -922 —–250098 66950 183148 -1. 35% 0. 01% 0. 02% 0. 00% 0. 0676 1. 80% 0. 0495 -50679 569 ——–195871 68243 127628 -1. 44% 0. 02% 0. 00% 0. 00% 0. 0557 1. 94% 0. 0363 -51321 1027 —43 97190 30054 67136 -1. 53% 0. 03% 0. 00% 0. 00% 0. 029 0. 89% 2 $ $ $ $ Exhibit 4: Balance Sheet Freds,inc Balance Sheets January 28, 2012 January 29, 2011 January 30, 2010 J anuary 31, 2009 ASSETSCurrent assets: Cash and cash equivalents 27130 4. 29% 49182 8. 26% 54742 9. 58% Account Receivables Inventories 31883 331882 5. 04% 52. 51% 28146 313384 4. 73% 52. 62% 28893 294024 Other non-trade receivables 32090 5. 08% 26378 4. 43% Prepaid expenses and other current assets Total current assets 12321 435306 1. 95% 68. 88% 12723 429813 Property and equipment 161112 25. 49% 139931 Equipment under capital leases 97 0. 02% – Intangible assets, net 32191 5. 09% 22193 3. 73% 16035 2. 81% 9042 1. 66% Other noncurrent assets, net Total assets $ 3276 631982 0. 52% 100% $ 3591 595528 0. 60% 100% $ 4040 571441 0. 71% 100% $ 4442 544775 0. 82% 00% LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 106886 16. 91% $ 81002 13. 60% $ 87393 15. 29% $ 69955 12. 84% 658 0. 10% 201 0. 03% 718 0. 13% 243 0. 04% Current portion of indebtedness $ $ $ $ 35128 6. 45% 5. 06% 51. 45% 28857 301537 5. 30% 55. 35% 25193 4. 41% 15782 2. 90% 2. 14% 7 2. 17% 10945 413797 1. 92% 72. 41% 11912 393216 2. 19% 72. 18% 23. 50% 137569 24. 07% 138036 25. 34% – 39 Accrued expenses and other 44876 7. 10% 45371 7. 62% 39621 6. 93% 46659 8. 56% Deferred income taxes 23878 3. 78% 21142 3. 55% 19373 3. 39% 13061 2. 40% Total current liabilities 176298 27. 90% 147716 24. 80% 147105 5. 74% 137667 25. 27% Long-term portion of indebtedness 6640 1. 05% 3969 0. 67% 4179 0. 73% 4866 0. 89% Deferred income taxes 5633 0. 89% 2069 0. 35% 2009 0. 35% 1328 0. 24% Other noncurrent liabilities Total liabilities 19799 208370 3. 13% 32. 97% 17886 171640 3. 00% 28. 82% 17209 170502 3. 01% 29. 84% 13833 157694 2. 54% 28. 95% Common stock, Class A voting, no par value 105384 16. 68% 131367 22. 06% 131685 23. 04% 136877 25. 13% Common stock, Class B nonvoting, no par value Retained earnings 317364 50. 22% 291649 48. 97% 268350 46. 96% 249141 45. 73% Accumulated other comprehensive income 864 0. 14% 872 0. 15% 904 0. 16% 1063