Ferguson & Son Manufacturing Essay Example for Free

Ferguson Son Manufacturing Essay Ferguson Son Manufacturing company is attempting to increase efficiency and reduce cost by introducing monthly performance reports for each department. Robert Ferguson Jr is trying to introduce this new type of accounting system and when you try something like this you will always run into some problems, but Robert is creating a culture of resentment. Robert Ferguson is using a static planning budget to analyze the performance of each department. Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) define a planning budget as a budget â€Å"prepared before the period begins and is valid for only the planned level of activity (p. 385)† Robert is using a budgeted level of activity and comparing it to the actual level of activity as the basis for the evaluations. The information that is received from an evaluation done in this manner is going to be misleading. The budgeted level of activity is not always going to be the same as the actual level of activity, so a true comparison is impossible. For example my company manufactures safety belts for motor vehicles and the budget is based on an activity level of 5000 units for the period. The actual level of activity for the period is 4000 units and in result costs and revenue are lower than the budget amount. If our company compared the costs are going to be different simply because the activity level is different then the unchanged planned amount and the results will not provide conclusive data for performance and efficiency because there is no true controlled factor. Garrison, Noreen Brewer describe this as comparing apples to oranges. This type of system is going to provide incorrect data for performance, in result the company will not be able to understand their costs and true revenue potential. The planning budget system is going create discrepancies in the spending variance. According to Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) the spending variance is â€Å"the difference between how much a cost should have been, given the actual level of activity, and the actual amount of the cost (p. 91)† The spending variance can be evaluated as favorable or unfavorable, and this could effect how the product is priced or even purchasing new high tech equipment. You can not effectively utilize a spending variance in a planned budget system because you do not use the same activity level to compare cost. These are big decisions that can make a big impact on a companies revenue and if the system is not using the actual activity level and costs and comparing to the actual levels, the spending variance will be evaluated incorrectly. The planning budget system is going to effect the morale of the supervisors and employees dramatically. Robert Ferguson Jr is evaluating the performance of the supervisors and departments monthly based on amounts and activities that they have budgeted. This budget could be completely unrealistic and this will cause the entire staff to feel hopeless and bitter. Once people begin to feel hopeless, their work performance will fall, production and efficiency will naturally follow. Their work performance will take into consideration the quantity of their work, but more importantly the quality of their work. If your employees feel they have to cut corners to meet budget to keep their jobs, they will do so and the company could begin to alienate their customers. To continue the seat belt example, if my company had to produce 5000 units and this was impossible unless the workers cut a few corners; now the company has faulty seat belts going to car companies. This could cause a large recall on the cars that our clients produce and those clients are going to find a new company to work with for these products. In this example, my company just lost a tremendous amount of money due to an accounting system that demands so much of their workers that the quality of their work has to be sacrificed. This is all due to notion of increasing efficiency without comparing the activity levels and costs in the same manner. Ferguson Son Manufacturing should adapt a flexible budget system to improve efficiency. Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) define a flexible budget as â€Å"an estimate of what revenues and costs should have been, given the actual level of activity for the period(p. 385). Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) go on to say that â€Å"when a flexible budget is used in performance evaluation, actual costs are compared to what the costs should have been for the actual level of activity during the period rather than to the static planning budget (p. 385). † The activity level will change each period, through out the period as the business activity increases and decreases. Emory says, â€Å"those reports dont tell the whole story. We always seem to be interrupting the big jobs for all those small rush orders. All that set up and machine adjustment time is killing us. This is an example of the type of activity that is going to happen and needs to be taken into consideration when one is evaluating efficiency. The flexible budget will take into consideration this activity and compare the costs to the same level of activity. The current planned budget does not take this into consideration and these are issues that the supervisor has no power over. With the knowledge from the flexible budget, Robert Ferguson Jr may decide that if they purchase a new machine they could complete these rush orders, not have any idle time and in result increase efficiency. In the flexible budget system, Robert will be able to effectively evaluate the spending variance and assess the performance of his workers. The flexible budget is going to make the supervisors and other workers feel they are being measured fairly and can have a positive sense of accountability. During each accounting meeting supervisors like Tom and Jim will be able to walk in confidently, look at the activity of their departments, what their costs should have been based on the activity, what it was actually and see where they can improve. Tom and Jim have been working at Ferguson Son for a very long time and understand what they and their teams can accomplish. They have been praised for the quality of their work by Robert Ferguson Sr and their expertise can be the most efficient tool Robert Ferguson Jr has in the factory. Flexible budget system will create realistic goals for the workers and in turn relieve the negative stress being placed on them. The quality of work will not be sacrificed to cut costs, Tom and Jim will incorporate new work practices to increase efficiency. Activity-based costing could be a great tool for Ferguson Son Manufacturing f used properly. Activity-based costing is defined by Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) as â€Å"a costing method that is designed to provide managers with cost information for strategic and other decisions that potentially affect capacity and therefore â€Å"fixed† as well as variable costs. Activity-based costing is ordinarily used as a supplement to, rather than as a replacement for, a companys usual costing system (p. 273). † Activity-based costing takes into consideration all different types of costs as they relate to the activities, so managers can make more effective decisions. Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) state the implementation process for activity-based costing breaks down into five steps and these steps are define activities, activity cost pools, and activity measures; assign overhead costs to activity cost pools; calculate activity rates; assign overhead costs to cost objects using the activity rates and activity measures, and finally prepare management reports. The first step is going to require the company to interview supervisors of each department to understand the activities, activity cost pools and activity measures. This will involve the supervisors and give the company a better grasp of the activity, but make the supervisors feel they are a part of the process and team. This will in turn improve their confidence and overall morale. Once they have interviewed the supervisors and understand the activities, they will be able to assign overhead costs to activity pools such as the rent for the factory to production or the salaries of the marketing managers to the marketing department. The next steps will have them assign rates and costs to certain objects. Activity-based costing will allow Ferguson Son Manufacturing to become more efficient by giving them the ability to see what areas need the most improvement. Activity-based costing breaks down the costs for each department and activity in a way that Robert Ferguson Jr can assess the report and use the theory of constraint to locate the department that needs to improve and effectively take the steps to improve that department. As the system is continued to be used the company will see their efficiency rise and in results so will the company profits. Individuals are always working towards a purpose or some type of goal and that is what a budget can provide. I would utilize a budget to create a sense of urgency, competition and direction in the work place. I would utilize a responsibility accounting system. Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) define responsibility accounting as â€Å"a system of accountability in which managers are held responsible for those items of revenue and cost—and only those items—over which they can exert significant control. The managers are held responsible for differences between budgeted and actual results (p. 337). † This type system will allow the managers to be held responsible for the items they can directly control, by involving them in the process and not automatically penalizing them for not meeting their goals immediately. Everyone wants to feel there are part of a team and involved in the process of creating their own goals. I would implement a self-imposed budget system to help create a sense of control for all workers and managers of the organization. Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) define a self-imposed budget as â€Å"a method of preparing budgets in which managers prepare their own budgets. These budgets are then reviewed by higher-level managers, and any issues are resolved by mutual agreement (p. 338)†. I would create a budget committee that includes the managers to provide everyone in the organization this sense of unity. Once a budget is created and the workers have a sense of control and unity I would create an incentive program to encourage workers to accomplish and exceed their goals. I would implement a bonus incentive plan for my workers. This system would utilize the budget created by the organization and further inspire the workers to excel. People are motivated by many different things and most of them involve factors that are not directly related to the work place. People work to provide financial security for their family, prestige outside of work and pride for the work they do. A bonus program will give each individual the opportunity to accomplish any or all of these personal goals and contribute to the success of the organization. If each person in the organization is striving to surpass their goals, the organization will do the same and the results will be evident to the shareholders. Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) define return on investment as the â€Å"net operating income divided by average operating assets. It also equals margin multiplied by turnover (p. 475). † The return on investment is the profit of the organization. Activity-based costing allows larger companies to understand what their costs are, where they are coming from and how to effectively reduce them to create the largest return possible. Activity-based costing systems do have start up costs associated with them. The organization must train personal to understand the process and systems in order to properly accomplish these activities. The organization must interview staff to research their departments properly to get the accurate information vital to the success of activity-based costing. These costs are the reason many smaller organizations can not apply this system. Activity-based costing provides the organization with the ability to dissect their departments activities and costs. This will allow the organization to see what areas need improvement, what costs can be avoided, in result increase profits and free cash flow for possible expansion or upgrades. If Robert Ferguson Jr can see what departments are costing the company excessive amounts of money, he can lower or eliminate those costs. Once Robert reduces the cost of production, the revenue will rise and the return on investment will grow.

21st Century :: essays research papers

In A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking There were very many interesting theories and facts that were brought up about physics. A couple of these theories and fact help lead me to deciding on my opinion about the future of physics in the 21st century. My opinion is that in the 21st century a couple of things will happen in the way of physics. First I think scientist will continue work on old experiments and make new theories. Another one of my thought are that scientist will prove previous theories wrong. The continuation of scientist finding out more theories and furthering previous experiment is a big possibility. This is likely to happen because since about 200 BC scientist and philosophers have been making theories about Earth and how things on Earth work as well as in the Universe. One of the earliest examples of these theories was Aristotle. Aristotle thought that the Earth was stationary and that the sun, the moon, the planets and the stars moved in circular orbits around the earth. Then in the 2nd century ad , Ptolemy made a model which elaborated the theory made by Aristotle. In his model "The earth stood at the center, surrounded by eight spheres that carried the moon, the sun, the stars and the 5 planets known at the time. Years and years after all these first theories of how the universe was setup scientist found that all the planets revolve around the sun. This is an example of how was seems so simple now like how the planets work was so complicated to our predecesso rs, and as for what I think, what we find so complicated right now will be so simple in later decades. I also believe that in the 21st century scientist will prove that previous theories that were made by scientist are false. Stephen Hawking sums this up by saying "At the beginning of this century, it was thought that everything could be explained in terms of properties and continues matter which shows how quickly things can change in the world of science, because of this Max Baron put it this way "it is possible for physics as we know it to be over in six months" because theories change so quickly that physics may not be where it is now in six months.

Psychological study: “Geenie the Wild Child!” Essay

The development of language comes naturally for most people; as they grow from an infant to a child. Noam Chomsky believes that languages are genetically pre-programmed by a language acquisition device in the brain. The deep structure of language and words is not learned. Yet the surface structures, such as phonetic sounds are learned. A few children do not master the basic foundation of language like in Genie’s case. Genie (and her mom) was victims of abuse and neglect inflicted upon them by Genie’s father. In November, 1970, Genie’s [a.k.a. â€Å"The Wild Child†] horrible plight was documented and this is my personal assessment of it†¦ I would think that Genie can one day master English (or another language) because of one specific reason: Genie’s brain, as slow and below average for a 13 year old as it was, did show some progression. Genie did have a 20-word vocabulary. She could correctly identify colors, she knew her mom and could say things like, â€Å"walk, door and No more.† However, this was not the case. After over 6 years of being observed, poked and researched by scientist, Genie never did master the English language. Also, Genie had a most bizarre and unfortunate life starting at the very moment she was born. In the beginning she was constrained and not given any attention. When she was discovered by the world, she was bombarded with attention from many researchers. From the multitude of research done on her, one bit of information that held true to Lenneberg’s theory is the inability to produce speech after puberty even when exposed to it. However, in the end the researchers became insensitive and overlooked Genie’s own well-being for scientific research.

Discuss the themes of identity explored Essay

Identity is made up of individual characteristics by which a person is recognized individually, as a member of a group, and of a wider society. We can draw this identity from our environment and setting, other individuals, memory, and also by contrast and similarities. Identity is needed to give people the ability to know who they are and to exude their individuality, as a form of existence, upon others. The forms of identity explored in these two plays are; the confirmation of identity and the sense of self. We can then maintain our identity by having physical identification and keeping personal relationships. The search for identity is a theme in Sophocles’ Ancient Greek tragedy, â€Å"King Oedipus†. Oedipus lacks sense of self because of a curse set upon him from birth. Before he was born, a curse stated that he would fulfill the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother. The play focuses on the gradual and delayed revelation of this oracle that he has already fulfilled. Moreover, it specifically focuses on Oedipus’ quest for his inner identity. In â€Å"King Oedipus†, Oedipus has drawn his identity from his surroundings. The setting of the palace, the riches, and the status define Oedipus, which is one reason as to why he is very confident at the beginning of the play. He also exudes confidence because he had previously saved the city of Thebes from the curse of the Sphinx and became king. However, his confidence is ironic, because he begins to question â€Å"who am I?† as his quest for the identity of the murderer of King Laius is eroding his own identity. Therefore, the revelation that Oedipus was the man who killed his real father, King Laius, married his true mother, the Queen, and raised a family through incest, begins to erode his confidence. Further evidence of this loss of identity is presented, when Oedipus goes through this discovery that he has fulfilled the prophecy. After insisting on hearing the truth, again and again, in the face of reluctant tellers, and after calling for an investigation of La ius’s murder, Oedipus says:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Then once more I must bring what is dark to light.† This brave statement is ironic because it is not brave at all. The underlying meaning is that these words foreshadow his future blinding. It is foreshadowing because the investigation will reveal the dark secret of his incest, which metaphorically enlightens him with the truth, therefore giving him back his identity and individuality, but literally blinds him. This foreshadowing comes to the forefront when presented in the desperate tone of the comment: â€Å"Let all come out,  However vile! However base it be,  I must unlock the secret of my birth.†Ã‚  At this point Oedipus realizes he can no longer bear to look at his family, so he blinds himself by extracting his eyes with the Queen’s brooches. He is famed for his clear-sightedness and quick comprehension, which is ironic because he has been blind to the truth and is now physically blind. This blinding symbolizes that he cannot accept his true identity and has therefore lost his sense of self. The search for identity is also a theme in Samuel Beckett’s â€Å"Waiting for Godot†. The character Pozzo is constantly in need of confirmation of his identity, since he does not truly know whether he is recognised as an individual entity by those in his surroundings. The two most frequent characters, Vladimir and Estragon also need confirmation of existence. However, this is due to the fact that they are contemplating whether they truly exist. In complete contrast to these characters, there is Godot. He is a character that never appears, and rather than having his own obscure beliefs about his own identity, it is questioned by Vladimir and Estragon. Although, he does not have a search for identity, Vladimir and Estragon question his identity. A display of the constant need for confirmation of existence is shown through the character Pozzo. He attempts to achieve this confirmation through needing to be witnessed at all times. He demonstrates this in two ways: through material possessions, and through voice. Pozzo owns many material items such as a watch, a slave, and a food basket with wine and chicken, which is in complete contrast to the turnips and carrots consumed daily by Vladimir and Estragon. This contrast between Vladimir and Estragon and Pozzo provide Pozzo with his identity, and because he can compare himself to them, he knows he is Pozzo. He often consults his possessions such as his watch and his slave, he also pretends he has a need to use them like when â€Å"he puts on his glasses†¦he takes off his glasses.†3 Pozzo is lonely and starving for attention, which is why he strives for companionship in Lucky and attempts to stay as long as possible in Vladimir and Estragon’s company. A strong proof for this need of attention is presented in his â€Å"|terrifying voice|†;  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I am Pozzo! Pozzo! Does that name mean nothing to you? I say does that name mean nothing to you? †¦PPPOZZZO!† This authorative language is a faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade covering his insecurities with himself, as is his use of power and cruelty over his slave, ironically named Lucky. Pozzo knows who he is, it is evident in the way he informs everyone he is â€Å"PPPOZZZO!† However, he needs confirmation of his identity from other people’s perception, which is why he always consults Vladimir and Estragon, questioning, â€Å"I am perhaps not particularly human, but who cares?†5 In this there is a great lack of self-acceptance, which demonstrates Pozzo’s strongest weakness. Additionally, Pozzo wants to make an impression on whomever he meets so that they can confirm his existence for him.

Ethical Treatment of Animals Essay Sample

Ethical Treatment of Animals Essay Sample Ethical Treatment of Animals Essay Animals are literally the humanity’s best friend because it is the closest being that is able to establish a relationship with their human counterparts. This is because animals provide comfort with their affection and presence whenever they are with their human counterparts. Most households around the world have a pet as a companion inside their households. There are individuals who are glad to have their animal counterparts because they believe that animals should be treated with respect and dignity while living with their human masters at home. The only problem is when humans become violent towards animals that occur at home, in the community, or in the wild. This means that humans are also responsible for causing life expectancy disruption with animals anywhere in the world. One major issue about animals is the threat of their ecosystem because humans are now competing with their settlements against the natural habitat of animals. Increasing number of housing facilities has been responsible for depleting natural resources that should have been applied for animals. In this case, the number of animal population in the wild has been decreasing over time. This is brought about by the hazards of building construction facilities across communities that are populated with wild animals. When there are new housing facilities that are established, humans often exterminate all animals that they see in the wild to pave way for the creation of new houses that are essential to improve their housing units. The only problem is that displacement toward animals causes a competition with the territories in the wild as well as depleting their food supply due to growing number of settlements across the area. In a household, humans who are suffering from emotional disabilities are likely to cause violent impact towards their household pets. At some times, pet owners do not regularly feed their pets, which is an offensive remark against the welfare of animals that should be treated with respect in their own households. As a result, pets become aggressive towards other individuals that usually cause attacks such as bites that are sometimes infectious. Training animals for a variety show are also a sign of animal cruelty, violating the essentials of animal treatment ethics. It may seem to appear entertaining, but animals are forced to do things through force, making them uncomfortable. Their body usually becomes exhausted after being forced repeatedly to accomplish certain tasks that should not have been applied to them in a fair manner. Laboratory experimentation for animals is also an indication that there is an animal rights violation. Ethical treatment of animals is usually violated when companies use animals for their experimentation of their products. One example is the cosmetics companies that use animal experimentation to determine if it is safe for humans. In some zoo around the world, animals are often underfed and physically harassed by zookeepers to keep animals from becoming aggressive. From this position, animals have been treated unfairly in the modern society due to the competitive advantage of humans to improve their lifestyle while segregating animals as the lowest form of being in the world. This is because humans are the supreme organisms on the planet, having the ability to think, feel, and act together to accomplish one specific goal such as to rule the world and make a difference to the whole civilization (Evans, 2015). Reference Evans, Woody  (2015).  Posthuman Rights: Dimensions of Transhuman Worlds.  Teknokultura. Universidad Completeness’, Madrid.

Charlie Gordon

Charlie Gordon is the hero of a flower for Algernon. Charlie is a 33-year-old adult with mental retardation. Especially in a family who struggled to adapt to his illness and experienced a very difficult childhood, he wants to be very smart. Charlie has a good attitude towards changing his life and will make every effort to complete his clever job. Charlie underwent surgery to improve his intelligence. It was done only with the mouse, especially the mouse named Algernon. In the book by Daniel Keys' Flower for Algernon there is a chance to become a genius through surgery for the mentally disabled person Charlie Gordon. Charlie Gordon is the subject of the experiment to increase intelligence. The experiment was successful, Charlie Gordon became a genius. However, he has many emotional problems and understands how serious he is receiving. Finally, as he got dull again, could Charlie Gordon get a better surgery? It is not well understood. When Charlie was stupid, he was very happy. He thi nks he has friends, everyone likes him. But when he got better, he noticed his so-called friends were not his friends. He said: When I am late, I have a lot of friends, now I do not have anyone.Oh, I know a lot of people.It is a lot of people.This is my friend I do not mean anything to me, what it means (p.174) Charlie Gordon's brave Charlie Gordon is a hero, regardless of wisdom, for his bravery. Charlie's intelligence is slow, but his courage depends on what he intellects. I said that I was taken care of because I did not have anything, I am very strong and always fine, my rabbit's leg is next to me 11) Author Daniel Case, Charlie's obstacles are shown using misspelled words and highlights

A core concept across nursing theories Research Paper

A core concept across nursing theories - Research Paper Example Core concepts are the ideals upon which any practice is based.For most professions, core concepts are distinct to each, with practices like biology, sociology and psychology having their own concepts specifically applicable to their practice. These concepts are broadly defined in their metaparadigm, and such metaparadigms comprise of several major concepts.Such metaparadigms are considered to be the boundaries or limits of any practice. This is not much different in the nursing practice. The core concepts or metaparadigm of nursing, according to Fawcett (1984, as cited by Daniels and Daniels, 2004) include: person, environment, health, and nursing. These concepts help define and shape the nursing practice. While theorists have come up with different models for the practice in each area of nursing care, there are common concepts or threads to all these areas of nursing practice. Regardless of the area of nursing involved, the nurse will still be concerned with the following concepts: person, the environment, health, and nursing. In recent times, the concept of care has been included as an essential concept of nursing because it is crucial to the delivery of efficient nursing care (Daniels and Daniels, 2004). With these above considerations, this paper shall now identify a core concept which cuts across nursing theories. It shall compare and analyze the concept definitions based on the selected contemporary theories while considering the practical applications of these core concepts. Discussion A core concept which is common to two contemporary theories is the concept of nursing. This concept applies to the theories laid out by Dorothea Orem and Virginia Henderson. In her theory, Orem acknowledged the four concepts which comprise the nursing metaparadigm. She further defined human beings as â€Å"an integrated whole composed of an internal physical, psychologic, and social nature with varying degrees of self care ability (Chinn and Kramer, 2004). She also emphas izes that human beings are also self-care agents with different interdependent parts, which, when functionally sound, leads to contentment, pleasure, and happiness. When considering the concept of nursing, Orem sets forth that it is an art by which the nurse can deliver specialized care to individuals with disabilities requiring special assistance in compliance with daily needs for self-care (McLaughlin-Renpenning, 2002). In effect, nursing considers actions which are specifically chosen and delivered by nurses to guide individuals under their care in the sustenance and management of conditions in themselves or their general environment (Orem, 1985). In other words, the nursing conceptualization under Orem’s theory is founded on self-care and management; such care and management which is supported by a holistic nursing of the person’s needs and disabilities. Nursing under Orem is also based on nursing agency and nursing systems theory. These are elements which make up the nursing practice under the metaparadigm concept of ‘nursing.’ According to Orem, nursing agency is the human power and action qualities related to nursing practice. Its exercise includes the establishment of the legitimacy of a relationship; initial operationalization of interpersonal systems; and diagnosis related to patient variables (Bridge, Cabell, and Herring, n.d). The nursing systems theory emphasizes that nursing systems are seen when the nurses adopt and deliver care which manages a patient’s individual and self-care capabilities – and such care then applies to therapeutic self-care requirements (Kozier, Erb, and Blais, 1997). Orem also emphasizes the fact that humans need constant inputs in order to remain alive; that human agency is practiced through care of self and others; that mature humans experience hardships through the restrictions in their self-care; and that