Meaning of Life and Adult Essay Example for Free

Meaning of Life and Adult Essay Like most people, I had the urge to grow up quickly. Despite the constant â€Å"they grow up so fast† from relatives, it was not fast enough for me. I used to say, â€Å"I can’t wait until I grow up,† usually when I was frustrated with my mom’s strict rules. I fantasized about living a posh life, walking under the warm sun wearing designer shades with my athletic boyfriend before stopping at a restaurant and drinking expensive wines without my mom nagging me. My fantasy would abruptly end when my mom shattered my thoughts by reminding me that it was getting late and I had not yet started my homework. Sigh. Through my own experiences—wearing excessive makeup to make myself appear older and dating older guys and enlightenment, my views of being an adult have changed. Adulthood is something that will occur whether we are ready or not. College is a big leap that forces people into that transition from childhood to the beginning of adult life, especially if you are going to be living on campus. In college, I will have to cook and clean and care for myself. I will no longer have my mom telling me to avoid certain people, not to procrastinate and to make the right decisions. However, I will be able to keep the advice my mom has instilled in me so far, even when we are apart, although it may be hard to do so with the partying and alcohol and stress of college. Legally, being an adult could mean being 18, yet there is no way that minute that distinguishes someone from being 17 on one day and 18 the next can determine their adulthood. Being an adult comes gradually as people take responsibilities for their actions, take care of priorities and look out for themselves with limited support of others. Adulthood is not determined by age or ability to bear children or being physically developed. I know people older than 18 who have not yet obtained these traits and I’ve seen many teen moms dependent on their parents to support the baby. I will be an adult when I am able to make the right decisions determined by my morals that I have acquired over my years, when I understand the repercussions of my actions, when I am self-sufficient or accept limited help from parents or friends, and when I care not only for myself but others. The closer I get the more frightened I become. Now I’m in no rush to become an adult. I will take advantage of my mom’s guidance and housing and rules for as long as I can. I will enjoy the moment I am in and embrace my life when I am an adult. What does make you a grown-up? Is it moving out of the house? Hitting a certain age? Having a relationship? Getting a job? How is it that we can do those things, that we consider to be â€Å"adult†, but we still feel like kids? Or that we feel like grown-ups, were certainly old enough, but we havent seemed to have accomplished any of those things â€Å"grown-ups† have done? For me being an adult is a compilation of various features and components and is more or less a personal achievement. There is no exact pattern of becoming an adult as every single person has their own way of improvement. But you always have to make that first step that draws the beginning of your self-improving. There are a number of abilities I believe you have to acomplish in order to even begin to get closer to being an adult. The ability of making reasonable decisions for yourself and people around you, being able to take responsibility for your actions, able to make the most of what you have and try to improve yourself in any possible way. Becoming an adult is a journey everyone should make at a certain moment in order to become the most they can be, to grow as an individual – mentaly and spiritually. Many people find it rather difficult and they [continues] There is no clear determinant for determining when a person becomes an adult, Some say it’s when you turn eighteen others say it’s when you get your drivers license. One thing is for sure though to become an adult you must be mature and ready to take on the world. Being an adult means achieving a separate identity, being able to support your self and/or your family financially, and being able to provide yourself with a house or a place to call home. Adulthood consists of many different aspects, and is not an easy part of life. To become an adult you must achieve a separate identity. Erik Erickson a Austrian psychologist defined identity as â€Å"a sense of self part from one’s family. † This means to be an adult you must become independent so that you will be provided the opportunity to learn and take responsibility for your own lives. Young adults need to know who they are in order to be self-dependent, they also need to know their strengths and weaknesses, and the values they consider to be important to them. People never seem to quite understand the meaning of being an â€Å"adult†. I myself am not very sure of the full meaning of it. It has always seemed to me that age is irrelevant. You can be 12 and understand things better than a 30-year-old or you can be 40, have two PhD’s and still wonder if pigeons are migratory birds. Many people my age think that getting out of their parents’ house is an act of maturity but how does changing your situation prove that you are an â€Å"adult†? If they run away from home it is more likely to lose themselves trying to cope alone and underprepared with the difficulties in life. To become an adult you must achieve a separate identity. Still everyone perceives the world and every thought in it through their own consciousness.

Press Barons Of The 20th Century Media Essay

Press Barons Of The 20th Century Media Essay Studying the history of communication incorporates a review of how media and media form have developed over the years as well as their impact in the socio-political spheres of the contemporary society. In this paper, the discussion shall exclusively focus on the history of the press barons in the 20th Century. The paper is structured in progressively discursive sections where the discussion is elevated in a sequential manner towards a conclusion. To begin with, the paper will define the term press barons and introduce the prominent press barons of 20th century. The second section with then detail the social and political impacts of the press barons with numerous examples as provided by relevant literature. The third section of the paper will review the press barons of the 20th century and their influence of contemporary media. The section will allow for opinionated hypotheses backed by credible research evidence, thus terminating with a conclusion on the issues raised throughout the paper. Press Barons of the 20th Century In typical use, the term press baron denotes a media proprietor, during the time when the media referred exclusively to the printed press. A press baron was any person who controlled, either by virtue of personal ownership or by having a dominant share portfolio in the mass media company. In other contexts, media proprietors have been called media tycoons and media moguls (Coleridge 1993, pp. 18 53). Media proprietors only became a significant group of celebrities at the close of the 19th century consequent to the launch development of newspapers as mass circulating publications (Coleridge 1993, pp. 18 53). During this era, the most notable press owners and or controllers included, Lord Rothermere, Lord Northcliffe and Lord Beaverbrook all from and operating in the UK, while William Randolph Hearst stood as the pioneer press baron in the US (Coleridge 1993, pp. 18 53). At the beginning of the 20th Century, the mass media platforms grew to include radio and television as well as book publishing houses and film studios (Coleridge 1993, pp. 18 53). Consequently, the proprietors of these new media became media barons and not just press barons as they had been referred to when newspapers was all the mass medium available (Coleridge 1993, pp. 18 53). For the purposes of this paper, the term press baron shall refer to the pioneer media proprietors who owned and or controlled mainly newspaper publications in the 20th century. In this age, the press barons of repute with the ownership and control of a series of newspapers, and later several radio and TV networks, have included Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation), Silvio Berlusconi, Robert Maxwell, Axel Springer, Ted Turner, Conrad Black and Bill Bresnan (Bagdikian 1999, pp. 148-154). To this list, one can add Samir Jain add Vineet Jain the proprietors of The Times Group, Serge Dassault of the Dassault Group, Richard Desmond of Northern, Shell and Express Newspapers, Michael Eisner the chairman of Walt Disney Company, Barry Diller the CEO of InterActiveCorp and Ted Turner, of AOL Time Warner (Bagdikian 1999, pp. 148-154). The Social and Political Impacts of the Press Barons of the 20th Century The press barons bore a power that had never been given to any other group of people besides political and religious leaders (Bagdikian 1999, pp. 148-154). The newspapers cultivated a following and the ability to influence popular opinion (Bagdikian 1999, pp. 148-154). The fact that leaders in the society depended on the press to reach to the masses meant that those who had a considerable control over the press acquired a power that seemed even superior to that of political and religious leaders (Bagdikian 1999, pp. 148-154). According to Goodlad (2003), the mass media gained phenomenal importance, popularity and impact during the 20th Century to an extent that the societys mode of life was governed by what the press dictated. Goodlad (2003) points out that the so called late Victorian period saw the press gain an enormous expansion stimulated by the perpetually improving technology, as well as the elimination of the stamp taxes and paper duties imposed on the price. Consequently, the cover price of most newspapers became available to the common populace. London newspapers were courted, feared and used by politicians from all parties as a tool to gain popularity or to attack rivals (Bingham, 2010). This trend continued to the late Victorian age and even during the Edwardian period. Newspapers had a perceptible partisan attachment and loyalty to a particular political party, most being biased towards either of the two dominant parties Liberals and Conservatives (Koss 1990, pp. 67 79). Goodlad (2003) reports of a German loyalty who visited London in 1904 and opined that the chief weapon of the various Parties is the Press. According to Goodlad (2003), it is not possible to gauge in precisely terms, to what extent the readers of these newspapers shared the social and political prejudices the newspapers ascribed to. What can be used as an indicator of the power of the press in its early days is how other forms of mass communication such as posters, church pamphlets and loud announcements in meeting places, declined in circulation as the press gained popularity (Boyce 1987, pp. 56 87). Another indicator of the power that the press barons were given by the society was by the level of effort most political leaders put in cultivating close relations and even patronage with the editors of local newspapers (Bingham, 2010). A good example of such leaders includes the Liberals Grey and Asquith who are documented to have cultivated close association with J. Spender, then an influential Westminster Gazette editor (1896 and 1921) (Bingham, 2010). The press became increasingly powerful after 1910 to an extent that even politicians sought to gain direct control and ownership of the newspapers as a strategy to gain political mileage (Bingham, 2010). Other politicians had their careers made, ruined or marred by press coverage. Stanley Baldwin, the embattled British Prime Minister, once publicly accused all of the London press of biased political coverage and personalized political agendas. According to Baldwin, the press exercised the prerogative of the harlot through the ages: power without responsibility (Seymour-Ure 2008; pp. 77 84; Bingham, 2010; Curran and Seaton 2009; pp. 44 75). Lord Northcliffes The Times is said to have played a very important role in triggering Asquiths resignation as Prime Minister of Britain in 1916, after a Cabinet crisis (Bingham, 2010). The same has been noted with the American press in the last century, most notably Rupert Murdoch of the News Corporation, who was repeatedly accused of supporting particular politicians and abusing his ownership and control of the media to popularize such politicians as Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and John Howard (Bingham, 2010; Curran and Seaton 2009; pp. 44 75). In 1918 for instance, Lloyd George unsuccessfully marshalled a take-over bid for the Liberal Daily Chronicle, followed by another unsuccessful ownership bid for The Times newspaper in 1922 (Bingham, 2010). The Labour Party in collaboration with the trade union movement founded the Daily Herald in 1912 (Bingham, 2010). By 1915, newspapers had become a powerful social and political tool for mass control to an extent that almost every party and or politician desired to own a piece of the industry (Bingham, 2010). However, in the 1920s, printing costs and advertising revenue competition made it relatively unrealistic for political parties to run newspapers directly. What resulted was a series of takeovers and buyouts favouring the emergence and growth of powerful newspaper chains owned and controlled by a few powerful individuals (Bagdikian 1999, pp. 148-154). Thus emerged the press barons most notably Lord Northcliffe who founded the Daily Mail and bought The Times between 1907 and 1922 (Curran, Aelst and Aalberg 2010, pp. 255-271). A huge number of the literature on press barons usually explores ways in which these media proprietors used their positions vindictively to further their political agendas (Boyce 1987, pp. 56 87). The literature concurs that, based on validated research, all the press barons especially those in Britain exercised a great deal of personal control over what was published in their newspapers (Curran, Aelst and Aalberg 2010, pp. 255-271). This control enabled them to wage and propel political campaigns that they personally subscribed to. Geoffrey Dawson, who was the chief editor at The Times between 1912 and 1919 as well as between 1923 and 1941, is documented for having close association with most of the powerful Neville Chamberlain government officials (Bingham, 2010). Consequently, The Times was a staunch supporter for the policies seeking to appease Nazi Germany, mainly proposed by the Neville Chamberlain government. This was against the stance taken by pro-Conservative newspapers li ke the Daily Telegraph (Bingham, 2010). It is notable that the prominent press barons of post-1945 involved themselves only to a minimal extent with party politics as compared to their pre-war peers (Bingham, 2010). The press had acquired the commercial success and potential that was more lucrative than political influence (Bingham, 2010). Such barons as Roy Thomson, owner of The Sunday Times since 1959 as well as The Times since 1967, had a pure commercial motive. In this age, newspapers gained a less partisan social role and refrained acquiring an editorial bias or loyalty to any party (Bingham, 2010). Besides the political influence, press barons were also very influential on the social front (Boyce 1987, pp. 56 87). The newspapers were a source of entertainment and in most cases determined what was accepted as entertainment and what was rejected. If a play or book was positively featured by the press, it garnered huge popularity (Coleridge 1993, pp. 68 97). Entertainment was largely popularized using the press to an extent that concerns were expressed on how the press was handling their double role of entertaining and informing (Coleridge 1993, pp. 68 97; Croteau and Hoynes 2006, pp. 84 93). This concerns triggered several market surveys, the most significance one being the 1938 Report on the British Press conducted by the Political and Economic Planning policy organisation (Bingham, 2010). The report expressed concerns that the press had acquired a dangerous trend where entertainment stopped being ancillary to the news and supersede or absorbed it (Bingham, 2010). Lord Rothermere and Beaverbrook premised most of their social campaigns on a belief that their popular newspapers could mobilize the power of their readers in challenging any social order or tradition (Lloyd 2004, pp. 28 94). This belief was partly correct in that people were only informed by the newspapers at that time, as the only source of news available to the masses (Bagdikian 1999, pp. 148-154). By 1930s, over 70% of the British and US population read a daily newspaper regularly and almost every family accessed a Sunday paper (Bingham, 2010). As Badsey (2010) posts, Lord Northcliffes newspapers constituted half the all newspapers sold in London in 1914. Badsey (2010) opines that it was Northcliffes success that ultimately ushered the press barons era in Britain. Northcliffe would be joined later in this league of nobles by his brother Rothermere and Canadian Lord Beaverbrook (Daily Express owner). According to Badsey (2010), almost every adult in Britain accessed a national an d or local newspaper on a daily basis, including those in tiny country villages where pages of local newspaper were frequently pinned on public notice boards. Press Barons of the 20th Century and their Influence of Contemporary Media I believe that the press barons of the last century have shaped the way contemporary media is owned and operated in several ways. To begin with, the press barons exercised great influence and control on what was published to an extent that their newspapers editorial policy became their personal campaigns. As Bingham (2010) notes, the British press at the age of press barons was accused repeatedly of being irresponsible and untrustworthy. They were accused of undermining and sidetracking the democratic process as well as poisoning the political debate of the country based on the political inclinations of their owners (Bingham, 2010). The 1921 press campaign that opposed government expenditure is a good example of initiatives exercised their clout to shape political and social issues. In this campaign, Lord Northcliffe and Lord Rothermere successfully backed candidates who supported reduction of government waste in three British by-elections, ultimately leading to a drastic cut in publ ic spending in 1922 (Curran, Aelst and Aalberg 2010, pp. 255-271). This trend is still evident, although the level of control that media proprietors exercise today is covert and subtle. Further, the common trend of the British and US media inciting hostility and apathy against immigrants in this countries as well as their ethnic minorities (which is only now declining) originates from this age when the press barons used their newspapers to campaign for what they felt was the appropriate patriotism (Bingham, 2010). Much of the ethnic hatred and acrimony witnessed at the close of the last century and the beginning years of this century originate from the traditions established by the press barons. As Bingham (2010) postulates, the trend of seeking popularity with the masses by brazening entertainment stories and presenting them as news or as more important than the news is what has nurtured the coarsening trends of public life witnessed today. Just like in the interwar period when celebrity news and personality profiles became an important part of the press coverage, modern media has grown to promote the intrusive and sleazy celebrity culture as more important to the informative content that such media could disseminate (Bingham, 2010). On this count, I concur with Bingham (2010) in noting that the contemporary trends where the media narrows public debate to a particular subject is a culmination of historical tendencies. Promoting human interest and celebrity stories dominantly above informative content, for instance, is a trend that has been inherited over the decades from the press barons who wanted to create popular readership. I believe that contemporary media determines who is elected as a leader in many nations of the world. The media endears some candidates to the electorate while depicting other candidates as villains. This tradition is not unique to contemporary media though. The largest basis of the press barons social and political power was based on ignorance and monopoly. Badsey (2010) opines that the lack of opinion polls or any other way of measuring public opinion, made politicians pay exaggerated respect to and fear of popular newspapers and newspaper owners. Nonetheless, press barons had a considerable power adequate to make a non-entity individual the prime minister of Britain. David Lloyd George for instance, belonged to this breed of so-called populist politicians who solely depended on the press to access power. He thus closely associated himself with the press barons in London as well as their editors, an effort that would ultimately pay off in his capturing of the Prime Minister post in 1916. Recent leaders whose popularity was linked to media patronage include President George Bush (US), Prime Minister Tony Blair (UK), President Silvio Berlusconi (Italy) among others. In Fleet Street, Press Barons and Politics, Collin Brooks narrates a personal account as a journalist and editor in the 1930s, both at the Financial News and the Sunday Dispatch (Crowson 1999, pp. 11 64). In his rise through the ladders to a chief editor, Brooks narrates of an intimate friendship and contact with Lord Rothermere, thus providing a unique and even rare insight into the press barons mentality and operations (Crowson 1999, pp. 11 64). What is most instrumental for the purposes of this paper is Brooks testimony of how the press baron orchestrated his perspective upon the right-wing Conservatism during the reign of Chamberlain and Baldwin using the press outlets he owned (Crowson 1999, pp. 11 64). Such tactics as covering what was supportive to the media owners personal allegiances and then avoiding mentioning whatever was contrary to that allegiance, are still being used by many media owners today. The history of the press barons also points out a very important social role that they played that of social advocacy (Boyce 1987, pp. 56 87). Whenever the press barons supported a particular cause, they were able to rally public and government support in a unique way (Boyce 1987, pp. 56 87). Using this ability, the press barons encouraged civic contributions and improvements, promoted agricultural and business interests, inspired encourage public safety policies and city planning initiatives, an encouraged economic growth and economic expansion among the population (Cox 2005, pp. 24 108). George Bannerman Dealey the founder and long-time proprietor of Dallas Morning News, is reputed to have is reputed to have helped initiate the revolution that modernized Texas beginning late 19th Century to early 20th Century (Cox 2005, pp. 24 94). He strongly advocated for reduced defence spending as well as for more federal investments in the state. A good example is how the Texan Morning New s championed the state government and public to initiate a public education system under the leadership of Dealey (Cox 2005, pp. 68 108). This trend is continuing today. Media owners and influential journalists still wield great influence in triggering social change and economic growth (Jenkins 1986, pp. 76 89). Their participation in charitable causes such as providing aide after a disaster usually attracts mass action. Whether it is to support girl child education in Palestine or to feed starving children in Southern Sudan, the participation of media owners and popular journalists always triggers great public support and collaboration (Curran, Aelst and Aalberg 2010, pp. 255-271). Conclusion This paper has endeavoured to discuss the history of the press barons in the 20th Century considering the press barons influenced the social and political scenes of the era in which they were most dominant. It has emerged that the press barons of the 20th Century have had direct impacts on the contemporary trends of media ownership, control and regulation. The paper has argued that the modern trend of seeking popularity with the masses by brazening entertainment stories and presenting them as news or as more important than the news was nurtured by the press barons who wanted a return on their investment. Further, the trend of owning a series of media outlets that continues even today originates from the need to reach as many people as possible so as to gain a political and social significance capable of influencing public debate and policy. Conclusively therefore, this paper opines that for the press to be truly independent and objective, and for the media to play an instrumental role in socio-economic development of the societies in which they operate, there needs to be separation from their owners influence. Perhaps the answer lies in limiting the number of media outlets that an individual controls, since the more audience a particular media owner reaches, the more powerful and influential he or she becomes. Such media tycoons end up gaining a leadership role whose mandate is not constituted or endorsed by the publics right to democracy (Badsey, 2010). A good illustration is that of the perceived importance given to the London press barons during the WW1, which ultimately saw them assigned public leadership roles they did not qualify. Lord Northcliffe for instance was appointed a Director of Propaganda in Enemy Countries as Lord Beaverbrook was appointed the head of a novel Ministry of Information (Badsey, 2010). Neither of these posts was of prime importance to public good. They were just appeasements to a few individuals who controlled the bulk of the nations only mass media outlets (Badsey, 2010).

Benefits and problems concerning traditional approach to budgeting

Benefits and problems concerning traditional approach to budgeting In order to advise two different businesses about the benefits and problems associated with traditional approach to budgeting and budgetary control, i have collected and compiled the information regarding budgeting and divided it into different parts so that the reader may easily understand . 1.INTRODUCTION : A budget is a planning and controlling tool for an oraganisation.This tool can work effectively only when it is used with due care.It is not only the a cost monitoring mechanism but also an integral part of an organisations planning and control activities.It aims at achieving organisational objectives and motivating the personnel concerned.For the success of budgetary system gathering the essential informationand choosing an appropriate budgetary system etc.are necessary. The ideal budegting system is one that encourages goal congruence(i.e. a situation where the personal goals of the employees match the oraganisational goals).Ensuring the greater participation of the supervisory level in the management process can ensure goal congruence. Budgets may be of different types to suit the different practices followed by different organisations.An organisation using a conventional systemof budgeting may somtimes need to switch over to another to suit its requirements.Changing a budegtary system is not a simple task.An oraganisation has to face certain difficultiesin the form of resistance to change by the personnel of the organisation,changes required in the existing support systems etc., inorder to change its budgetary system.The Success of a budget is also largely dependant on the level of accuracy in estimating the revenues and costs for the budget period.There are several statistical techniques which may prove useful in forecasting the figures to be incorporated in budgets. 2. TRADITIONAL BUDGETING: 2.1. Introduction: First of all we begin this topic with the simple definition of budget.In short budget can be defined as Quantitative economic plan made with regard to time. Therefore, for something to be characterised as a budget it must comprise the quantities of economic resources to be allocated and used, it has to be expressed in economic i.e. monetary terms, it has to be a plan not a hope or a forecast but an authoritative intention, and it must be made within a certain period of time (Harper, 1995, p. 318). Only a plan that has such characteristics can be called a budget. However, if a budget is looked upon in its wider context, it can be defined as a management tool that puts executives in control of the financial health of their company. It is an objective measure of the financial structure of companys operation and a tool that forces management to be accountable in a structured and objective way. Budgets as management tools by themselves are neither good nor bad. How managers administer budgets is the key to their value. When administered wisely, budgets facilitate planning and resource allocation and help to enumerate, itemize, dissect and examine all of the products and services that a company offers to customers (Seer, 2000, p. 187). In short and taken at its simplest level, a budget is a mathematical exercise, but in reality it is much, much more than numbers on spreadsheets, which is what following text will definitely show. The purpose of budgeting is that it gives management an idea of how well a company is meeting their income goals, whether or not expenses are in line with predicted levels, and how well controls are working. Properly used, budgeting can and should increase profits, reduce unnecessary spending, and clearly define how immediate steps can be taken to expand markets (Thomsett, 1988, p. 5). In order to achieve this, management needs to build a budgeting system, the major objectives of which are to (Viscione, 1984, p. 42): Set acceptable targets for revenues and expenses. Increase the likelihood that targets will be reached. Provide time and opportunity to formulate and evaluate options should obstacles arise. Since budgeting as a process is very complex, it comes as no surprise that budgets are trying to fulfil numerous functions such as (Harper, 1995, p. 321, and Churchill, 1984, p. 162): Planning a budget establishes a plan of action that enables management to know in advance the amounts and timing of the production factors required to meet desired level of sales. Controlling a budget can be used to help an organization reach its objectives by ensuring that each of the individual steps are taken as planned. Coordinating a budget is where all the financial components of an organization Individual units, divisions, and departments are assembled into a coherent master picture that expresses the organizations overall operational objectives and strategic goals. Communicating by publishing the budget, management explicitly informs its subordinates as to what exactly they must be doing and what other parts of the organization will be doing. A budget is designed to give managers a clear understanding of the companys financial goals, from expected cost savings to targeted revenues. Instructing a budget is often as much an executive order as an organizational plan since it lays down what must be done. It may, therefore, be regarded by subordinates as a management instruction. Authorising if a budget is a management instruction then conversely it is an authorisation to take budgeted action. Motivating in that a budget sets a target for the different members of the organization so that it can act to motivate them to try and attain their budgeted targets. Performance measuring by providing a benchmark against which actual performance can be measured, a budget clearly plays a crucial role in the important task of performance measurement. Decision-making it should never be assumed that a budget is set in concrete and when changing course a well-designed budget is a very useful tool in evaluating the consequences of a proposed alternative since the effect of any change can be traced throughout the entire organization. Delegating budgets delegate responsibility to the managers who assume authority for a specified set of resources and activities. In this way budgets emphasise even more the existing organizational structure within the company. Educating the educating effect of a budget is perhaps most evident when the process is introduced in a company. Operating managers learn not only the technical aspects of budgeting but also how the company functions and how their business units interact with others. Better management of subordinates a budget enhances the skills of operating managers not only by educating them about how the company functions, but also by giving them the opportunity to manage their subordinates in a more professional manner. The requirements that all these functions impose upon a budget make it difficult for one system to meet them all. It is precisely because these requirements differ, that role conflicts in budgeting system arise. These need to be appropriately dealt with so that dysfunctional behaviour like budget padding or other damaging budget games for the company do not appear. Since there are three major roles for any budgeting system, at least three conflicts may arise (Barrett, Fraser, 1977, p. 141): Planning versus motivation For a budget to be most effective in the planning role, it should be based on a realistic assessment of the companys operating capabilities and on managements judgment about what is most likely to happen in the future. Yet this kind of budget runs the risk of setting targets so low that motivation is adversely affected since to motivate properly, budget objectives should be set higher than those for planning and be difficult yet attainable. On the other hand, these difficult yet attainable objectives lead to an overly optimistic budget and run the risk of falling short and under using company resources. Motivation versus evaluation There is a widely held belief that budget objectives should be set as fixed standards against which performance can be judged. Managers are also likely to be more committed to achieving this kind of objective since they know that the performance standards by which they are evaluated are not constantly changing. On the other hand, managers motivation can be impaired by rigid application of a fixed standard philosophy which doesnt consider the impacts of uncontrollable or unforeseeable events and doesnt allow for their removal from budget standards. Planning versus evaluation The planning roles requirement of providing realistic assessment of future prospects can conflict with the need to eliminate the effects of uncontrollable or unforeseeable environmental variables from the budget used for evaluation purposes. Yet, because they are separated in time, the conflict between these requirements is considered a minor one since it can be considerably reduced if appropriate adjustments are done at the end of the budget period. As can be seen in the previous paragraph, functions that typical budgets want to cover are very wide. It comes then as no surprise that those budgets are being used today in practice for many purposes. Bunce, Fraser and Woodcocks (1995) survey showed that general uses of budgets can be divided into financial and operational type of uses. Figure 2 clearly indicates that, of the various uses of budgeting for management, the most important are those financially oriented like the use of budgets for financial forecast, cost control, cash flow management, and capital expenditure supervision. The operational management uses of budgeting have been less common but the interviewed companies have concluded that, in todays business environment, they are of growing importance. The need to improve performance is intensifying to the point that it is no longer enough just to control costs, but That company must also pay attention to things like strategy, communication, and employee evaluation. These are purposes for which budgets have not been used so much in the past. As stated in the opening definition, budgets are plans set for a certain period of time, such as a month, quarter, and year and so on. This time period is then usually broken into smaller sub periods. The most frequently used budgets are annual budgets that are subdivided by months for the first quarter and by quarters for the remainder of the year. Of course, actual time periods for which budgets are made depend mostly on their purpose and use, and it is solely the decision of individual companies as to what time periods will be utilized for their budgeting process. 2.2. History of budgets: The English word budget stems from the French word bougette and the Latin word bulga which was a leather bag or a large-sized purse which travellers in medieval times hung on the saddle of their horse. The treasurers bougette was the predecessor to the small leather case from which finance ministries even today in countries like Great Britain and Holland present their yearly financial plan for the state. So after being used to describe the word wallet and then state finances, the meaning of the word budget in 19th century slowly shifted to the financial plan itself, initially only for governments and then later for private and legal entities (Hofstede, 1968, p. 19). It was only then that budgets started to be considered as financial plans and not just as money bags. The use of budgets as financial planning and control tools for business enterprises is historically a rather young phenomenon. In the US, early budgetary principles in companies were mostly derived from the budget techniques in government. The other source of budgetary principles for business in the US was the Scientific Management Movement, which in the years between 1911 and 1935 conquered the US industry. Many historians agree that early budgeting systems can be seen as a logical extension of Taylors Scientific Management from the shop floor to the total enterprise. However, it was not until the depression years after 1930 that budget control in US companies started to be implemented on a large-scale.Budgets with their focus on cost control simply became a perfect management tool for that period of time (ibid., p. 20). In Europe the idea of using budgets for business was firstly formulated by the French organization pioneer Henri Fayol (1841-1925). There was, however, little appli cation in practice. Another practical stimulus came from the ideas of the Czech entrepreneur Thomas Bata (1876-1925) who introduced the so-called departmental profit-and-loss-control as a tool for decentralizing his international shoe company into a federation of independently run small businesses. Nevertheless, the main inducement for the development of budgets and their implementation in European companies came from across the Atlantic in the years following the Second World War (ibid., p. 21). Companies like Du Pont and General Motors in the U.S., Siemens in Germany, and Saint Gobain and Elà ©ctricità © de France in France, which pioneered the M-form (multidivisional) organizational structure in the 1920s, first started to use budgets to support their rapid growth as they expanded into new products and markets. This was to help them to reduce the complexity of managing multiple strategies (Hope, Fraser, 1997, p. 20). The enormous diversity in the product markets served by these vertically integrated corporations required new systems and measures to coordinate dispersed and decentralized activities. In this kind of environment, budgets and ROI measure rightly played a key role in permitting central management to coordinate, motivate and evaluate the performance of their divisional managers, and perform a proper allocation of internal capital and resources (Johnson, Kaplan,1991, p. 11). However, it is was only in the 1960s that accountants started adding to budgets other functions (like management performance evaluation and motivation) in addition to those functions for which they had originally been devised planning and control (Hope, Fraser,1999b, p. 50). In that period, budgets became the central and most important activity within management accounting or in the words of Horngren, Foster and Datar: the most widely used accounting tool for planning and controlling organizations (2000, p. 178). This is exactly how budgets have remained to this day. The only thing that has changed in the meantime is the competitive environment in which todays companies operate and which has provoked many discussions about budgets disadvantages and their alternatives, some of which will be presented in later parts of this assessment. 2.3. Budgeting Process: The process of budgeting generally involves an iterative cycle which moves between targets of desirable performance and estimates of feasible performance until there is, hopefully, convergence to a plan which is both feasible and acceptable (Emmanuel, Otley, Merchant,1990, p. 31). Alternatively, if we look beyond many details and iterations of the usual budgeting process we can see that there is a simple universally applicable budgeting process, the phases of which can be described in the following manner (Finney, 1994, p. 16): Budget forms and instructions are distributed to all managers. The budget forms are filled out and submitted. The individual budgets are transformed into appropriate budgeting/accounting terms and consolidated into one overall company budget. The budget is reviewed, modified as necessary, and approved. The final budget is then used throughout the year to control and measure the organization. The inevitable dependence of individual budgets on one another requires that budgets be prepared in a hierarchical manner. Figure 3 indicates a common hierarchical form of the budgeting process together with the necessary data flow between particular budgets and phases of their making. This picture shows that despite having only a few general phases, the budgeting process, due to its linearity and iteration loop, is in fact a very complex and time consuming process. Since it is so complex and important, the budgeting process requires lots of decision making on the particular choices that developers of budgets have at their disposal. Churchill (1984, p.151) has provided a list of eight budget choices that managers have to be concerned with when setting up the budgeting system. Thereby, these concerns vary according to whether the company intends to use its budgets primarily for planning or for control. These budget choices are: Whether it is to be prepared from the bottom-up or top-down, How it is to be implemented, How the budget process is linked to the strategic planning process, Whether it should be a rolling budget and how often it should be revised, Whether performance should be evaluated against the original budget or the one relating to the actual activity level of the organization, Whether compensation/bonuses should be based on budgeted performance, What budget evaluation criteria should be used, and What degree of stretch should be incorporated into the budget. In general, accounting theory suggests that large companies should be concerned more with operational efficiency and emphasize coordination and control aspects of budgets, while smaller innovative firms should concentrate more on the planning aspects of their budgets. 2.4. Types Of Budgets: A budget is not a unitary concept but varies from organization to organization. The basic concept of budgeting involves estimating future performance, comparing actual results with the estimate, and analyzing the differences between them. Factors that are relevant in determining the type or style of an organizations budget and its effects include: the type of organization, the leadership style, personalities of people affected by the budget, the method of preparation, and the desired results of the budgeting process (Cherrington, Cherrington, 1973, p. 226). In general, budgets can be classified into two primary categories (Cohen, Robbins, Young,1994, p. 171): Operating budgets: Operating budgets consist of plans for all those activities that make up the normal operations of the firm. The main components of the firms operating budget include sales, production, inventory, materials, labour, overheads and RD budgets. Financial budgets: Financial budgets are used to control the financial aspects of the business. In effect, these budgets reveal the influence of the operating budgets on the firms financial position and earnings potential. They include a cash budget, capital expenditures budget and pro forma balance sheet and income statement. In figure 4, all major budgets that can be used in a typical company and how they are linked and interconnected within the larger system of the master budget can be seen. This confirms what has already been said about the budgeting process that individual budgets are dependent on one another which requires that they be prepared in a hierarchical manner. Except for the usual division of companies budgets into operational and financial, budgets can also be differentiated based on expenditure authority. Using this approach, two major groups of budgets can be defined (Kemp, Dunbar, 2003, p. 3): Line-item budgets These are budgets where the name of each line is set, as is the amount of money that can be spent on each item. If one works within a line-item budget, one can not overspend a specific line item and then compensate this with savings on other line (or vice versa). The authority to move money from one line item to another must be granted at a higher level. Block budgets These are the opposites of line-item budgets. Here a block of money is given. The details of the budget are presented but, later on, if one wants to spend more money on one item and less on another, one is free to do so. As long as the block of money is not overspent before the end of the year, the budget remains under control. 2.5. Budgets as planning tools: Welsch, Hilton, Gordon (1988, p. 73) have defined the budgeting process as a profit planning and control process and in that way not only have identified the two most important functions of budgets in organizations, but have also presented budgeting process in a wider context than it is usually depicted. Figure 5 clearly shows that the budgeting process is more than just a process of combining quantitative financial plans. It is a tool with which top management cascades strategy goals to operating levels. Budgets are ideal for this purpose since they are in essence the detailed quantification of targets for short-term choices of actions. Before continuing, it must be emphasised here that budgeting is not planning it is just the quantification of planning. Since the budget is fundamentally a plan, planning is the first important element of budgeting work. Planning is one of the elementary functions of management. It is the process of developing enterprise objectives and selecting a future course of action to accomplish them. It includes establishing enterprise objectives, developing premises about the environment in which they are to be accomplished, selecting a course of action for accomplishing the objectives, initiating activities necessary to translate plans into action and current replanning to correct deficiencies (Welsch, Hilton, Gordon, 1988, p. 3). It is a phase that involves the interpretation of the broader strategic policies derived during the formulation of strategy and their translation into more specific shorter-range plans. Once these short-term plans are quantified, they become budgets. That is why in many instances short-term planning and budgetary planning are used as synonyms. However, as figure 6 will show, connect ion between planning and budgeting is not isolated from influences of other elements that constitute corporate planning system and it is precisely the coherent functioning of the complete system that allows corporate planning to be implemented, period by period, through the budgetary process and its two elementary phases budgetary planning and budgetary Control (Lucey, 1996, p. 104). Apart from the purposes of setting desired objectives and goals and linking them with strategic long-range and tactical short-range plans, the fundamental objective of management planning within budgeting system is to provide a feedforward process for operations and control. It is this feedforward process that renders the planning phase of the budgeting system vitally important since it allows control and corrections of plans before they are even implemented. The difference between feedback and feedforward concepts is that feedback monitors past results to detect and correct disturbances to the plan, while feedforward reacts to immediate or forthcoming dangers by making adjustments to the system in advance in order to cope with the problem on time, i.e. feedback monitors, feedforward warns (Lucey,1996, p. 144). Since in any organizations it is unlikely that pure feedforward or pure feedback control could operate in isolation because feedback control is too slow, while feedforward control is too risky, these two concepts usually function within a single budgeting system as can be seen in figure 7. 2.6. Budgets as control devices : At the beginning of the period, the budget is a plan. At the end of the period, the budget is a control device to measure performance against expectations so that future performance may be improved. Control is achieved through continuous reporting of actual progress and expenditures relative to plans i.e. budgets (Shim, Siegel, 1994, p. 15). The aim of budgetary control is to provide a formal basis for monitoring the progress of the organization as a whole and of its component parts towards achievement of the objectives specified in budgets (Lucey, 1996, p. 147). Budgetary control process usually functions in a closed loop. This loop, which is illustrated in figure 8, starts with the planning phase, then records actual transactions, and finally reports against the plan and generates management response. In accounting literature, budgeting is also known as responsibility accounting. This means that plans and the resulting information on the performance of the plans are expressed in terms of human responsibilities because it is people, not reports that control operations. We can define responsibility accounting as a system of accounting in which costs and revenues are analysed in accordance with areas of personal responsibilities so that the performance of the budget holders can be monitored in financial terms (Lucey, 1996, p. 147). So the crucial thing for profit control is the division of authority and responsibility to managers. This means that managers should accept responsibility only over those figures that they have control. However, in practice, controllability1 is difficult to pinpoint for at least two reasons (Horngren, Foster, Datar, 2000, p. 195): Few costs are clearly under the sole influence of one manager. Over a long enough time span, all costs will come under somebodys control. For this reason, companies, alongside traditional responsibility centres2, also usually set up budget centres. These can be defined as a part of an organization for which a given manager has responsibility and authority and to which profit control data can be assigned (Harper,1995, p. 320). For budgeting control purposes, a special type of budget is prepared called the flexible budget. In order to understand why only those budgets can be used for the accurate measurement of performance, firstly the difference between them and fixed budgets must be explained. The fixed budget is based on the level of output planned at the start of the budget period. On the other hand, the flexible budget is developed using budgeted revenues or cost amounts based on the level of output actually achieved in the budget period (Horngren, Foster, Datar, 2000, p. 220). For this reason, from a control viewpoint, the fixed budget is likely to be inappropriate (unless by pure chance the actual level of activity turns out to be the same as the planned level which is highly unlikely) and should not be used for control purposes. It is with respect to this sort of budget that the old saying the budget is out of date before the budget period even begins is often a correct one (Harper, 1995, p. 336). 2.7. Benefits and problems associated with traditional budgeting: It is claimed that today as many as 99 percent of European and US companies are using budgets and have no intention of abandoning them (Better Budgeting: A report, 2004, p. 2). However, on the same page, it is stated that as many as 60 percent of those companies claim that they are not completely satisfied with their current budgeting systems and are continuously trying to improve them (ibid., p. 3). From this evidence, it is obvious that budgets carry with them many benefits and problems. Here is a list of some of the benefits that traditional budgeting can bring into organization if properly implemented and administered (Lucey, 1996, p. 161): It is a major formal way by which the organizational objectives are translated into specific plans, tasks and objectives related to individual managers and supervisors. It is an important medium for communication of organizational plans and objectives and of the progress made towards meeting those objectives. The development of budgets helps achieve coordination between the various departments and functions of the organization. The involvement of all levels of management in setting budgets, the acceptance of defined targets, the two way flow of information and other features of a properly organized budgeting system all help to promote a coalition of interest and to increase motivation. Managements time can be saved and attention directed to areas of greatest concern by the exception principle which is at the heart of budgetary control. Performance at all levels is systematically reported and monitored thus aiding the control of current activities. The investigation of operations and procedures, which is part of budgetary planning and the subsequent monitoring of expenditure, may lead to reduced costs and greater efficiency. The regular systematic monitoring of results compared to the plan (i.e. the budget) provides information upon which current operations are adjusted to bring them into line with the previous plan or, adjustments are made to the plan itself where this becomes necessary. The integration of budgets makes it possible to better manage cash and working capital and makes stock and buying policies more realistic. Nobody has better summarized in one sentence all the advantages of traditional budgeting as did Umapathy in his major work on budgeting practices in U.S. industry from 1987.Umapathy stated: There is no other managerial process that translates qualitative mission statements and corporate strategies into action plans, links the short-term with the long-term, brings together managers from different hierarchical levels and from different functional areas, and at the same time provides continuity by the sheer regularity of the process (Umapathy, 1987, p. xxii). It is exactly because of this that budgets will soon celebrate their century long existence. Since budgets encompass so many different functions and are used for so many things in organizations, it is obvious to expect them to have certain weaknesses. A group of authors at the Cranfield School of Management made an extensive review of budgeting literature. As part of their research, they identified 12 significant weaknesses of traditional planning and budgeting practices. These factors fall into three principal categories and can be listed as follows (Neely, Bourne, Adams, 2003, p. 23): Competitive strategy Budgets are rarely strategically focused and are often contradictory. Budgets concentrate on cost reduction and not value creation. Budgets constrain responsiveness and flexibility, and are often a barrier to change. Budgets add little value since they tend to be bureaucratic and discourage creative thinking. Business process Budgets are time consuming and costly to put together. Budgets are developed and updated too infrequently, usually annually. Budgets are based on unsupported assumptions and guesswork. Budgets encourage gaming and dysfunctional behaviour. Organizational capacity Budgets strengthen vertical command and control. Budgets do not re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ect the emerging network structures that organizations are adopting. Budgets reinforce departmental barriers rather than encourage knowledge sharing. Budgets make people feel undervalued. Furthermore, one of the biggest problems with budgets is that they tend to promote an inward-looking, short-term culture that focuses on achieving a budget figure, rather than on implementing business strategy and creating shareholder value over the medium to long term. For all these reasons, it is believed that these weaknesses lead collectively towards business underperformance and should therefore be dealt with (ibid). The above listed benefits and disadvantages of budgeting system have been present since the first d

One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest Essay -- One Flew Over The Cuckoos Ne

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sometimes in life people are forced to conform to a certain situation for lack of a better alternative, and this is the case in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. These such people lack the will to stand up for their scruples, and intern are simply guided through their mundane lives by the powers that be. Until someone comes along offering them leadership and the prospect to become â€Å"big again.† The man who does so is no other than R.P. McMurphy. Scanlon, Harding, Bibbit, and Chief Bromden may have become adjusted to the oppressive system in which they lived, but certainly were much better adjusted to the real world and life in general after their experience with McMurphy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some people may argue that the people of the mental hospital were better off without McMurphy because their lives were â€Å"normal† and routine. Their daily routine guided them through a series of happenings, which were both comfortable and tolerable to them, even though as a result of this they would remain subject to the manipulative ways of Nurse Ratchet. These people would say that the â€Å"oppressive society† that they lived in may not suit everyone, but certainly suited them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  McMurphy, on the other hand, finds this setting to be suitable for no human being, and soon after arriving he sets the tone for change. â€Å" Well what they got that man strapped down for,† says McMurphy, â€Å" I don’t like that, no sir, it just aint dignified.† By coming to the hospital he brings a sense of realism and courage to the lives of these patients. They have been longing for leadership and McMurphy won’t be intimidated. â€Å"I’m thinkin’ a takin’ over this whole shebang,† says McMurphy, and he knows in order to do this he must instill courage into the patients of the ward.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As we are first introduced to the characters, we as the reader meet Harding, a middle aged man, who wears glasses and basically keeps to himself, saying only what he feels need be said. â€Å"Miss Ratched is a veritable angel of mercy and why, everybody knows it. She’s unselfish as the wind, toiling thanklessly for the good of all, day after day, seven days a week†¦ Oh no my egomaniac buddy, she is dedicated, she gives every bit of herself, she desires nothing more to see us walk out of her adjusted and capable once more of coping with life,† says Harding. What Harding does not yet know is McMurphy will... ....) I’m big again, Mac.† He turned and rushed out the window into the horizon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some people are forced to conform to a condemning situation, but thanks to McMurphy these people did not. He brought them all hope and a new light and sense of well being. He taught them how things were on the outside, in the â€Å"real world† and took them away from the boring lives they lived in the hospital even if it was only for a short amount of time. He gave Harding, Billy, and Chief Bromden the courage which they had always longed to have but could never exude on their own, and I certainly think society needs more people like him, more people to lead other and instill them with power. We as human beings long for leadership and someone to give us worth, and R.P. McMurphy was certainly the person to do so for these people. He may not be the best contribution to the economy, but in regards to people in general, there is no denying the potential we could have if only there were more people like him, people to motivate, and give us pride. McMurphy certai nly did this for all of the people he encountered in the hospital and made them better adjusted to live their lives to the fullest every day.

Crime and Punishment :: essays research papers

Crime and Punishment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Injustice is defined as an unjust act; or wrongdoing. Poverty, illness, and death are all considered acts of injustice. Crime and Punishment written by Fyodor Dostoevsky examines all these areas of life. Death is the greatest injustice, especially when it comes by murder. In the novel two murders occur and the man that commits these acts of injustice believes that he had every right to do it. Though he is punished for his actions the time that he has to spend in prison is not comparable to the time that he has taken away from the women. Although his social punishment does not fit his crime, the mental punishment that he puts himself through makes up for societies lack of punishment.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Raskolnikov who is a poor student commits these murders as a way to obtain money. He convinces himself that it is okay to murder the woman because she is an old lady who doesn’t seem to share her wealth. The fact that her sister had to be killed because she wa lked in at the wrong time shows just how unjust the murder was in the first place. Raskolnikov wrote an article while in school, the article argues that certain men are above the general rules of humanity, thus they have a right to commit murder. These ideas are what he used to justify his killings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once Raskolnikov confessed to the murders he was put on trial. At the trial many of his friends and family testified that he really was a good human being. They gave examples of his good deeds towards the community, such as saving young children from a burning fire. Even though he was poor, he gave his money to others in their time of need. The police officer that suspected him all along even lied and said that Raskolnikov confessed on his own and was never suspected. Psychologists testified that he was not physically or mentally healthy at the time of the murder. All of these actions contributed to his sentence being very minimal. He received eight years of hard labor in Siberia. During this time he was allowed to see the girl that he loved everyday. His prison sentence did not meet the severity of punishment that he felt was needed for the women’s murders.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The mental punishment that Raskolnikov put himself through was harsher than any social punishment could ever be.

Diana of the Crossways: A Novel :: Free Essays Online

Diana of the Crossways: A Novel Before reading Diana of the Crossways it is important to understand the facts surrounding the life of George Meredith, as corresponding elements can be found in many of his works. George Meredith was born on February 12, 1828 in Portsmouth. During his early years he faced several accounts of hardship. His mother died when he was hardly five years of age. Shortly after her death, George Meredith's father, Augustus, inherited a failing business and heavy debts from his own father. Augustus was forced to declare bankruptcy and travel to London to earn a living, leaving young Meredith in the care of relatives. At age fifteen, Meredith attended the Moravian school at Neuwied on the Rhine. He remained there for less than two years accounting for his only formal education. Meredith was apprenticed to Richard Stephen Charnock who introduced Meredith to his literary circle of friends. Among them were Edward Peacock and his sister Mary Ellen Nicolls. Mary Ellen Nicolls can be described as havi ng lively intelligence and wit. This seems to characterize many of Meredith's heroines. They married in 1849, but they had very little success as a couple. Since they were both intelligent and demanding they desired more from the relationship. In 1858 Mary Ellen Nicolls eloped with artist Henry Wallis ending her relationship with Meredith. From here, Meredith married his second wife Marie Vulliamy who was the contrast of Mary Ellen Nicolls. She was a very practical, domestic woman who was a good hostess and housekeeper. It is quite ironic that Meredith would desire a helpmeet relationship when all of his works surround the independent, headstrong woman. Meredith was an energetic man who would frequently toss around a weight nicknamed "the beetle" for exercise. In the 1870's Meredith began to develop symptoms of locomotor ataxia, which crippled him. In 1892 Meredith was elected president of The Society of Authors, a position that was previously held by Alfred Lord Tennyson. In 1905 h e was awarded the Order of Merit. Over the years, Meredith became increasingly disabled and deaf before passing away on May 18, 1909 (Casal, The Victorian Web). During his lifetime Meredith produced fifteen novels, eight poetry collections, and countless minor works; most of which are out of print today. His best work is characterized by brilliant insights, carefully chosen diction, and powerful imagery. Diana of the Crossways is rich and interesting with realistic characters that come alive for the reader.

Agricultural Science Essay

The poultry house was properly sanitized in order to keep the chicks healthy and warm in all weather conditions. This was also done to keep away diseases from the chicks. The poultry house was erected at an east – west orientation. * Tools were collected (e.g. broom, empty bags, disinfectant, shovel) * Old litter was shoveled up, bagged and removed to the compost heap. See figure 1. * Using the broom, the mesh and ceiling were cob-webbed. See figure 2. * Materials that were caked onto the floor was scraped using the shovel, the floor was then washed with disinfectant. The tarpaulin was hoisten for sunlight to penetrate the area. * The area was left to dry for two (2) days. * The tools were cleaned and dried then returned to the storeroom. Preparation of the Brooding Area (21|9|11) Brooding is the special care given to the chicks. Brooding is important as it keeps the chicks warm and safe when they are small. * A confined area was constructed for baby chicks. * Tools and materials were collected e.g. sawdust, newspaper, light bulb, waterers, feeders * Sawdust was placed on the floor and covered with newspaper to prevent the baby chicks from swallowing the sawdust. See figure 3. * The tarpaulin was rolled down to prevent cold air and water from entering the area. * An infra red bulb was placed in the brooding area to give warmth to the chicks. * Feeders and waterers were washed and disinfected. Water was placed in the waterers. They were then placed in the brooding area. See figure 4. * The foot bath was washed and disinfectant (Jeyes) was then placed in the foot bath to remove bacteria from the feet. See figure 5. Arrival of chicks (26|9|11) Upon the arrival of chicks, they were checked for abnormalities and were introduced to water before they were given feed. Daily Observations Daily observations are carried out from the arrival date to slaughtering date. During this period a number of activities were carried out. * Feeding: young birds are feed daily to enhance growth and health. * Washing of feeders and waterier. * Removal of old newspaper and replacing them with new ones. * Turning over the litter, with shovel and removing wet litter. * Removal of dead birds and tallying. * Adjust tarpaulin. * Adjust automatic feeder and waterer. Expansion Of Brooders(13|10|11) The chicks were removed from the brooding area to a larger section of the poultry house where they will stay until they are ready for slaughtering. Mortality Rate 75 chicks were bought and a total of 3 died. The mortality rate was worked out to be 4% (375*100) . Preparation for slaughtering A day before slaughtering feeding was withdrawn from the chickens so as to reduce wastage and also to prevent the presence of food in the crop when it is removed. However they were still allowed access to water. Slaughtering (16|11|11) The head of the birds were positioned downwards so that the blood could flow down easily. The heads were cut off using a sharp knife. The chickens were scalded and plucked. Scalding was done by immersing the chicks in a bucket with warm water for about 45-60 seconds. Scalding the chicks allowed the feathers to be removed easily; plucking was done immediately after the scalding process. The chickens were then eviscerated (process of removing everything inside the body and also the head and feet). This process involves * removing by making a cut behind the neck. * separating the esophagus, trachea and crop from the neck skin. * opening the body cavity by making a cut near the vent, extending the cut around the vent. * removing the viscera (including the lungs) through the opening. * washing the chickens thoroughly when all the contents of the cavity were removed * separating the heart, liver and gizzard; the heart was trimmed to remove any thing that may be attached to it. * trimming the gall bladder, carefully, away from the liver. * splitting the gizzard lengthwise and washing the contents away; the lining was peeled away to make it edible. During the eviscerating process the chickens were put on a sanitized table. After evisceration the carcass was cooled by using ice water. They were then bagged and marketed. Dressing & Marketing of Birds (16|11|11) Birds were defeathered and the contents were removed, the offals and the carcasses were placed in clean water and put to chill in ice water. After thirty minutes they were then drained and packaged. They were then placed in a refrigerator for storage. Cleaning up the area (16|11|11) The feathers were remove to a corner of the farm to be dried and burnt, the intestine was boiled, some was given to the dogs while the rest was disposed of, the slaughtering area was sanitized with disinfectant and washed and left to be dried for further use and also to keep away flies and other insects. Projected Income Output * Income Output = 375 lbs Price = $130.00 Projected income = 375 lbs * $130.00 $48,750 Projected Expenditure Spade $1,200.00 Booster $420.00 Broom $150.00 Hose $1,000.00 Waterer (2 * $950) $1,900.00 Feeder (2 * $950) $1,900.00 Dust Mask (1 pack) $600.00 Baby Chicks (75 * $63) $4,725.00 Plasson (2 * $3500) $7,000.00 Sawdust (5 * $200) $1,000.00 Tarpaulin (2 * $250) $500.00 Feed (12 * $1300) $15,600.00 Disinfectant Jeyes $900.00 Labour $3,000.00 Total $39,475.00 Surplus : Projected income – projected expenditure Surplus = $48,750.00 – $39,475 = $9,275.00 Actual Income and Expenditure Actual Income Output * Price Output = 225 lbs Price = $130.00 Actual Income = $29, 250.00 Actual Expenditure Booster (1 * $420) = $420.00 Dust Mask (1 * 450) = $450.00 Feed (12 * 1,300) =15,600.00 Baby Chicks (75 * $63) = $725.00 Labour =$3,000.00 Total = $24,195 Surplus: Actual Income – Actual Expenditure = $29,250.00 – $24,195.00 = $5,055.00 COST ANALYSIS Seventy five (75) chicks were bought, 72 were slaughtered due to a 4% mortality rate. It was estimated that all the seventy five (75) chicks bought would be slaughtered. The average weight per chick was 5lbs; the actual weight was 3.125lbs. This resulted in a change in the income, causing a decrease in profit. The actual income was $5,055.00 for chicken meat while the projected income was $9,275.00. The projected expenditure surpassed the actual by $15,280. This was due to fact that we did not purchase the spade, broom, hose, waterers, feeders, plasson, sawdust, tarpaulin and the disinfectant (Jeyes) as they were provided by the school. The projected income and expenditure was more than the actual, however, we still made a profit and not a loss. General comments Broiler production has become a popular farming activity in the West Indies (W.I.). In Jamaica poultry provide a source of income in a short period of time more than other farm works. To enter the world of poultry you do not need a larger start-up capital so you will find more and more people involve in the poultry business. Another factor is that in less than two month there is a turnover on the capital with proper management and a larger area of production. Since the required space per bird is 6 square inch (15 cm2). It was a success due to the fact that we made a profit and not a loss, however, we could make more profit if we(students) had paid more attention to the chicks. Recommendations * Increase the size of the poultry house and brooding area, in order to increase poultry production. * More attention could be paid to the chicks by students. * Provide a farm man to work on weekends and holidays. Conclusion After carrying the actual project it is concluded that the rearing of broiler bird takes a minimum of 6 weeks. With proper management boiler production also provide a good profit, it is also observed that boiler has a high dressing percentage and a good converter of feed using an average of two to three pounds of feed to provide one pound of meat.