The Hurt Locker Leadership

Another OB theory that is examined in The Hurt Locker is Leadership. This theory is defined as the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute towards the effectiveness and success of organizations of which they are members. There are four perspectives on Leadership; these perspectives include Trait, Behavioral, Contingency and Transformational. The trait or competency perspective of leadership proposed that leaders are more likely to have certain personality, social, physical, or intellectual traits than non leaders. Trait perspective emphasis on leadership competencies, which are learned behaviors such as skill, abilities, and values. Successful leaders acquire competencies that include; * Drive and energy (includes achievement, motivation, ambition, tenacity, and initiative) * Leadership motivation (the desire to lead but not to seek power as an end in itself) * Honesty and integrity * Self-confidence (associated with emotional stability) * Cognitive ability * Knowledge of the business. Another component of Trait perspective is leadership agility, which is the ability to make wise and effective decisions amid complex changing conditions. The next leadership perspective is behavioral. This perspective proposes that effective leader behave in a certain desirable way. This behavior can be perceived as task-oriented, people oriented, neither, or both. A task-oriented style of leadership spells out duties and specific tasks, tells people what to do and how to do it, ensures employees follow rules, and encourages employees to reach peak performance. This style is also referred to as production-oriented and autocratic. On the other hand a people oriented or democratic style of leadership shows trust and respect, engages in two-way communication, listens, encourages, give recognition, and provides socio-emotional support to followers. The third style is call Laissez-faire or uninvolved leadership style, this is an employee-centered style in which the manager permits his or her employees to function within prescribed limits. A balanced leadership style is when the manager exhibits both task and people orientation. The third leadership perspective is Contingency; this is a perspective that proposes that effective leadership depends upon the degree of fit between the leader’s style and various factors in the particular situation. By nature, contingency theories are â€Å"if-then† theories; If the situation†¦. , Then†¦.. Depending upon the situation an appropriate leadership behavior will be used. There are three leadership theories that take a contingency perspective. First is Path-Goal Contingency theory. This theory proposes that leader effectiveness is based on an expectancy theory of motivation. This theory advises that the basic role of the leader is to clear the follower’s path to the goal. Research suggests that leaders can and should change their style to fit follower and workplace characteristics (contingencies). Leaders should use one of four behavior styles to help followers clarify the paths that lead them to work and personal goals. 4 behavior styles are; directive, supportive, participative and achievement-oriented. Second is Fiedler’s Contingency Theory, this theory suggests that high task and high people orientation is not best in all situations. Effective leadership depends on the match between the leader’s style and the degree of control he or she has in the situation. When control is high, situation is considered to be â€Å"favorable† and vice versa. Favorableness depends on three key factors or contingencies. Position power: the authority associated with the leader’s formal position in the organization. Leader-member relations: the quality of interpersonal relationships between a leader and the group members. Task structure: the degree of clarity, or ambiguity, in the work activities assigned to the group. The last theory is Leadership Substitutes Theory. This theory suggests that in some situations leaders can reduce the amount of leadership they exercise because it becomes unnecessary due to existing substitutes or neutralizers. Things that can substitute for leadership include; high skills of employees, team cohesiveness, formal controls. The fourth and last perspective is transformational. The theories mentioned so far have been, transactional leadership theories: a process of social exchange between followers and leaders that involves a number of reward based transactions. The transactional leader clarifies performance expectations, goals, and a path that will link achievement of the goals to rewards. Transformational leadership is leadership that inspires followers to share a vision, empowers them to achieve the vision, and provides the resources necessary for developing their personal potential. Transformational leaders serve as role models, support optimism, and mobilize commitment as well as focus on the followers needs for growth. Characteristics and Behaviors of Transformational Leaders Characteristics | Behaviors| Charisma (idealized influence): followers have complete faith in him/her| Articulates vision, mission| Inspirational motivation; inspires loyalty in the organization| Models the vision| Individualized consideration; gives personal attention to all members | Builds commitment to mission| Intellectual stimulation: enables followers to think about old problems in new ways| Demonstrates personal integrity | Evident of leadership is consist ently shown throughout The Hurt Locker from Staff Sergeant, Matt Thompson and First Class Sergeant, William James. At the beginning of the movie Matt Thompson lead the U. S Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) in the Iraqi-American war. The trait perspective of leadership demonstrated by Matt Thompson includes Leadership motivation, honesty and integrity, and knowledge of the business. Matt seem to know what he is doing hence he is leading the team. He steps up when required; during the first scene of the movie Sergeant JT Sanborn, responsible for controlling the remote control vehicle is unable to execute his duties so Matt steps in and help out. Matt illustrates people oriented behavior because he tries to communicate with his partners. Matt Thompson is not confident enough and he doesn’t have that motivation and ambition, he tries to play it safe. During that scene Sanborn informs Matt that he is within the blast radius and Matt says â€Å"thanks for reminding me† in a sarcastic way which shows lack of confidence. Matt also lacks in leadership agility, as he was not able to make a wise and effective decision during a complex situation which cost him his life. First Class Sergeant, William James is Matt Thompson’s replacement. He is an extremely talented individual who shows outstanding leadership skills. After meeting Sanborn he gets emotional and tells him that he isn’t trying to replace Matt but just wants to do his best. This shows initiative and leadership motivation. James is very knowledgeable about his business which helps him to be self-confident. James has a balanced leadership style as he exhibits both task and people oriented behavior. James tells people what to do and how to do it, he ensures employees follow rules, and encourages employees to reach peak performance. As a Specialist, Owen Eldridge looks up to James. James recognizes this and tries his best to make sure Eldridge reaches his peak performance by telling him what to do and how to do it. During one of the scenes the bullet of a sniper rifle is jammed and James asks Eldridge to fix it. Unable to do so Eldridge asks James for help. James endangers himself to show Eldridge that he must spit on the bullet to remove to blood because the blood is causing the jam.

Psychological Factors in Health Essay

Psychological Factors in Health By Samantha Weitzell Axia College of the University of Phoenix Contracting an illness rather it be the flu, a cold, or even heart disease can have many factors, some including genetic and lifestyle. Most of us only look at genetic factors when it comes to our health. If our grandmother had cancer then we will probably contract it as well. This is not entirely true, studies show that behavior, culture, environmental and stress can make a big difference in our health. Chapter 4 in our book states the multicultural model is â€Å"The belief that health and illness are a function of multiple factors involving biological, psychological, and cultural domains, and their interactions† (Axia College, 2009, Week Four reading). When we think about psychological factors such as anxiety or depression we tend to believe those only affect our mental health, however preventing or controlling these psychological illnesses can have effect on our physical health and well being. Psychological factors also are important in understanding and treating medical disorders. One medical disorder that is one of the biggest stress related are headaches. In the United States 20% of the population suffer from severe headaches (Axia College, 2009, Week Four reading). There are two types of headaches to discuss those are muscle tension headaches and migraine headaches. Muscle tension headaches are caused from the contraction of muscles in the shoulder, head and neck. When our body is experiencing a great deal of stress these muscles start to contract constantly causing us to have a muscle tension headache. Blowing issues out of proportion can lead to these headaches as well. Tension headaches come on gradually, most people will experience pain on both sides of the head and pressure throughout the head (Gorman & Park, 2002). One out of every ten Americans experience migraine headaches. A migraine headache is a throbbing headache caused by wavelike firing of neurons on the brain, which create ripples of neural activity that reach pain centers in the brain stem (Axia College, 2009, Week Four reading). Muscle tension headaches will experience pain on both sides of the head where in a migraine headache you will only experience pain on one side. Muscle tension headaches usually go away within a few hours at the most whereas migraine headaches can last hours or even days at a time. These types of headaches can cause blurred vision, sensitivity to things such as smells or light, nausea, and loss of eating. The cause of migraine headaches are said to be complex and not well understood. Most Doctors feel it is due to an imbalance of blood flow and imbalance of neuron activity in the brain. There are many things that can trigger these headaches such as stress, hormones, drug use, and even certain types of chemicals. According to the American Heart Association Coronary Heart Disease also known as CDH is the leading cause of death in the United States (American Heart Association, 2000). The choices we make and our behavior actually have a large effect on our risk of suffering from CHD. There are quite a few factors determining this. Our family history does have some effect but, there are also many other psychological effects we will discuss as well. A person who has a family history of CHD is most likely to contract it then others. Someone with psychological conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure or cholesterol are also at high risk. Many times when we feel stressed we think our blood pressure is too high but, that is not always true that is why it is important to get this checked regularly. Our eating habits can play a role in our risk for heart disease. Over eating, smoking and alcoholism are some of the most common. Type A behavior can have an effect on developing heart disease. Type A behavior is someone that is usually impatient, aggressive, feel rushed, and under a great amount of stress. Reducing these types of behavior patterns can help lower our risk of developing heart problems and even many other health issues. One CHD is developed we can undergo surgery and take medication. There are quite a few different ways that we can prevent developing this disease and eliminate risk of being one of those every ten Americans that suffer from CHD. One of the biggest challenges we face that we can change is to stop smoking, controlling our weight and to follow a healthy diet. All, three of these things are something that we control and we have the choice as to how we live our lifestyle. Keeping these types of things under control can help us in maintaining our health. Maintaining good behavior patterns and not living with a type A personality can help in reducing risks to heart disease. Finding ways to relieve stress and hypertension such as relaxation exercises or working in jobs that do not put so much stress on our bodies are good ways in controlling this.

Antivirus Programs: Methods and Benefits Essay

Today, people rely on to create, store, and manage critical information, many times via a home computer network information transmited over networks has a higher degree of security risk than information kept in a user’s home or company premises. Thus, it is crucial that they take measures to protect their computers and data from loss, damage, and misuse resulting from computer security risks. Antiirus program are an effective way to protect a computer against viruses. An antivirus program protects a computer against viruses by identifying and removing any computer viruses found in memory, ontorage media, or on incoming files. ! When you purchase a new computer, it often includes antivirus software . antivirus program work by scanning for programs that attempt to modify the boot program, the operating system, and other programs that normally are includes antivirus software . antivirus program work by scanning for programs that attempt to modify the boot program, the operating system, and other programs that normally are read from but not modified. In addition, many antivirus programs automatically scan files (Bulowski) (Bulowski) (Bulowski, Protection and Precaution Keeping Your computer Healthy, 2008)download from the web, e-mail attachment, opended files, and all types of remoble media inserted in the computer (karanos 201 – 205) One technique that antivirus programs use indentify a virus is to look for virus signatures, or virus definitions, which are known specific patterns of virus code. According to Shelly and Cashman (Antivirus Programs), many vendors of antivirus programs allow registered users to update virus signarure files automatically from the Web at no cost for a specified time. Updating the antivirus. Bullowski points out that most antivirus also protect against worms and Trojan horse (55-61).Program’s signature files regularly is important, because it will download any new virus definitinion that have been added since the last update. Methods that guarantee a computer or network is safe from computer viruses simply do not exist. Installing updating and using an antivirus program, though, is an effective techniques to safeguard your computer from loss.

Intergovernmental Immunities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Intergovernmental Immunities - Essay Example At the macro level, we have the national government while at the micro-level, we have the state or provincial governments. These levels of government co-exist with â€Å"an established division of governmental powers; legislative, executive and judicial.†1 Federal governments hinge on the idea involving â€Å"territorial divisions of authority, typically entrenched in the constitution which neither a sub-unit nor the center can alter unilaterally† (Follesdall 2003). This form of government is different and should be distinguished properly with the decentralized authority in unitary states where the central government has direct authority to revoked at will legislation governing the government. â€Å"What a legislature can do under a unitary system of government may be denied to either the central or regional governments and, sometimes as s  92 of our Constitution2 shows, to both the central and regional governments.†3 As Dicey pointed out, "The object for which a federal state is formed involves a division of authority between the national government and the separate States. 4 According to Dicey, the ceding of the some of the powers States to the national government created so many limitations upon the authority of the States. However, he also noted that such ceding of powers does not carry with it the right of the national government to â€Å"have the opportunity of encroaching upon the rights retained by the States.†5 It is, therefore, an acknowledged fact that the parameters of the powers given to the national government and those, which are retained by the States, should be subjected to â€Å"rigorous definition."  Nonetheless, separation of powers as what is espoused by the principles of federalism does not necessarily purport a total abdication of powers where there is total and complete immunity of intergovernmental sectors and its instrumentalities.  

The Use and Impact of Total Quality Management in the UK Business Literature review

The Use and Impact of Total Quality Management in the UK Business Sector - Literature review Example Introduction Over the last few decades in the U.K, quality management models have been used to improve on the performance of the firms. It is thus applied by these firms in realization of excellent results. The literature review here has discussed whether the quality management fosters change and flexibility of firms in trying to realize their set goals or whether on contrary it hinders the firm’s interest in their new developments. Consequently, quality management has evolved considerably hence it is very much vital to try to determine whether these practices have provided effective means in order to respond to the flexibility necessary in the new competitive conditions (Hariharan 2004). Research design A list of techniques was generated from various sources, which included textbook, scholarly works. The initial list included 13 techniques. These are the techniques applied. Balanced score card, cooperate social responsibility, customer surveys, improvement teams, mission and vision statements, employee suggestion scheme, lean, knowledge management, QMS, Six sigma, supplier evaluation, SWOT analysis, and 5S (Hariharan 2004). Questionnaire and Questionnaire administration The questionnaire included the following questions on how quality management has been used in the following principles in the company. 1) Employee involvement 2) Company culture 3) Executive management 4) Company decision-making and continuous improvement. (Fahey 1997). First of all, a covering e-mail and survey was sent to the sample of 10 managers of the registered telecom companies in U.K. 5 days after the mail had been sent, a reminder postal card was also sent to non-responders. A total of 10 requests where made whereby seven of the interview requests were accepted. As a result, the whole interview yielded a total of 17 usable responses, which included seven from the structured interviews hence it yielded response rate of 17.8% and 9 from e-mail responses yielding a response rate of 30%. So, the overall response rate was 24.3%. (Fahey 1997). Non-response bias In trying to assess the non-response bias in the mail survey, the statistical significance different tests now between the earlier responses and the later response is used. So, using this method, first five responders and the last five responders were then compared. The test of the 20 randomly selected survey items then found there was no any statistical significant difference. This brought us to our conclusion that non-response may not be a major problem in our study. (Fahey 1997). Literature review According to Jackson (2002), total quality management is one of the management approaches applied by firms in seeking to establish zero defects when running your business. It comprises of team leadership, worker empowerment, and creative problem solving in order to achieve its set goals. These programs are now available in marketing, production, customer support, and finance. A TQM program includes all aspect s of organizations operations, which include, the structure of the company, the culture the company has developed, and its hiring and promotional practices. TQM evolved from the quality assurance methods that were first developed during the First World War. It was as a result of these was which led to large-scale manufacturing efforts that produced poor quality of goods and services in the world. Principles of total quality man

WEEK 7 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

WEEK 7 - Assignment Example For this section, the topic of discussion is conjunctivitis, in particular, bacterial conjunctivitis. Bacterial conjunctivitis is common in children (Dolan & Holt, 2013). Any further history questions include: A positive or negative retort given by the patient will give a proper diagnosis of the medical condition. This is by attaining the exact information in determining the diagnosis, thereby an exact diagnosis. A negative response will refute the differential diagnosis. Thus, intensive patient history will be done so as to get the right diagnosis. The signs presented by the 10-year-old that support the diagnosis of bacterial conjunctivitis. This is by the symptoms exhibited- pink eye, crusted right eye with lashes held together. In addition, the patient complained of a sensation of grit in the eye. Bacterial conjunctivitis is presented by acute redness, discharge and burning. The discharge appears in the morning and is variable (Yanoff & Duker, 2008). The patient also has challenges in opening the eye because of the glue effect of the discharge. Moreover, the patient presents with an earache that persists night, which suggest otitis externa. Signs of right ear tenderness over tragus, copious creamy yellow exudates in the canal, and the canal narrowed are seen; which are linked to the disease (Buttaro, 2013). Additionally, the patient complains of a sore throat is a strong indication of streptococcal pharyngitis. The patient exhibits signs of loss of appetite for solid foods, which is a strong indication of this condition. Als o, there is evidence of tonsils enlarged with purulent exudates bilaterally and uvula midline (Nair & Peate, 2015). Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva. The infecting organism in bacterial conjunctivitis is received through contact with an infected person and transported to the eye through fingertips. The common causative agents include Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenza and Streptococcus pneumonia.

Decision tree Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Decision tree - Essay Example So far the example fabric has met PPF’s essential performance standards but additional testing will illustrate if it can attain their maximum specification. Decision hypothesis is a logical and systematic strategy to the analysis of decision making. A fine decision is one that is oriented on logic; reflects on all accessible data and potential alternatives, and the quantitative strategies of data. In terms of the expected values calculated, and consequent decision, it does not matter if costs are to the left of amount or vice versa; though rationally the costs are incurred prior to the site acquisition revenue is earned so it generates more sense to put expenses to the left of amount. Clearly nothing will be achieved if PPF management decides not to go on with the project what he needs to find to decide to drill is an EV for this act that is greater than $0. The EV for drilling is $140k so he should drill. When p (abandoned) = 0 this means the likelihood of it failing to acquire the site and make profit is 1 (i.e. certain) and from the pertinent section of the decision illustration it can be observed that the EV is 1 x -$- Â £14.8.M In case of p (maximum) = 1 then there are two potential it can be possible to buy Curie site or delay decision making and maintain Faraday site. These double events are equally exclusive and comprehensive so must add up to 1. To attain this one must normalize the probabilities of buying the Curie site and expanding Faraday site to make them add up to

Write a critical commentary on the following document about the Lille Literature review

Write a critical commentary on the following document about the Lille to Paris Hunger March 18 November- 2 December 1933 - Literature review Example This study will therefore assess and help in noting down a viable commentary about The Lille to Paris Hunger March. The document seeks to expound on the problematic factors that contributed to this march. Mass unemployment pops up as the main reason contributing to the rise of the hunger march. It is also the main reason that sparked other protests in France, protests that occurred at different times in history, before and after the Lille to Paris Hunger March. This commentary is therefore posed to highlight on the pre and post-march periods, provide the main arguments and facts with evidence, and finally draw a conclusion of the important points that are pointed out in the document. The author of this document had in mind the urge to bring forth the intended message of history as regards the famous hunger march. The languages used are French and English though the former is used sparingly in the document (Perry, 2007). The document (Lille to Paris Hunger March) was written with the intention of providing information to Newcastle University students and other persons with the urge to know more about historical labour events in France and specifically, the 1933 Hunger march. The document is structured in such a way that one is able to highlight the sequence of events that took place prior to and after the famous 1933 hunger march. It is an explanatory kind of document where the causes, the actual hunger march event, and the repercussions of the march are clearly highlighted for easier understanding of what really transpired during that period in the history of France. In between the two world wars, France experienced four recessions that contributed heavily to a sharp increase in unemployment. The origins of this march lie with the success of the Saint-Nazaire to Nantes march that took place that same year (June 27-28 1933) and organized by the local CGT (Confà ©dà ©ration Gà ©nà ©rale du Travail [General Confederation of Labour]),and

Geology of the Great Basin area Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Geology of the Great Basin area - Essay Example The floor of the valleys of great basin is four or five thousand feet above sea level (Fiero, 9). Surface water is removed from the basin not by drainage but by evaporation alone (Fiero, 9). There are many streams flowing through the basin like tributaries of the Deschutes, John Day, Owyhee, and snake river (Fiero, 8). The tributaries of Colorado have created deep canyons in the southern part of the great basin. But the most important feature of Great Basin is â€Å"interior drainage of rivers and streams into remnant pleistocene lakes or playas† (Sturtevant and D’Azevedo, 6). The geological character of the great basin comes under the category, ‘Basin and Range’, which is a geological region with â€Å"uplifted and tilted ranges separated by broad elongated basins† (Fiero, 9). Great basin, is geologically, a part of the Basin and range that spreads over Nevada, Utah, Oregone, Idaho, Wyoming and also New Mexico and Arizona (Sturtevant and D’Az evedo, 6). There are geological evidences showing the existence of â€Å"deep lakes and rushing rivers† in pre-historical period, in the Great Basin (Sturtevant and D’Azevedo, 33). In the northern part, the basin has volcanic lava covers amounting to thousands of feet depth (Fiero, 9). Around 2000 and 1000 B.C., the Mount Mazama had erupted and this was the source of lava and volcanic ash spread over the north of Great Basin (Sturtevant and D’Azevedo, 35).

Assignment on us history Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

On us history - Assignment Example All the more along these lines, we verbalize that the outlaw laws requires the way that the profit of slaves "for ache of overwhelming punishment" is acknowledged yet allowed a jury trial under the condition that outlaws be restricted from affirming with all due respect (Gordon, 2013). Because of this and thinking about the historical backdrop of west domains possessed by the slaves, being a stakeholder I feel that slaves dont possess and additionally propose to o claim any slaves and hence the bearings could be viewed as invalid and void. The War of 1812 was, it could be said, a second war of freedom, for before that times the United States had not been concurred fairness in the group of countries. With its decision, a large number of the genuine challenges that the adolescent republic had confronted since the Revolution now vanished. National union under the Constitution brought a harmony between freedom and request. With a low national obligation and a landmass expecting investigation, the possibility of peace, success and social advancement opened before the country. Pondering the part of the uncovered framework, the position of the central government at this point is incredibly reinforced by a few Supreme Court choices as saw from the way that a conferred Federalist, John Marshall of Virginia, got to be head equity in 1801 and held office until his demise in 1835. Subjection, which had up to now have gained minimal open consideration, started to expect much more amazing vitality as a national issue. In the early years of the republic, when the Northern states were accommodating prompt or progressive liberation of the slaves, numerous pioneers had assumed that bondage might vanish. In 1786 George Washington composed that he passionately longed some arrangement could be embraced "by which bondage may be abrogated by moderate, beyond any doubt and subtle degrees. The desire from that point forward have been turned out to

Major American Political Ideology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Major American Political Ideology - Essay Example This paper would explore these two ideologies. Fundamentally, conservatism and liberalism differ in issues of freedom and responsibility. American conservatism is derived from the idea that all human beings share an equal nature, an ability to make decisions based upon a common-sense morality while liberalism, at its core, denies that such a common-sense morality exists and, even is such a morality were to exist, doubts the average person’s ability to understand it. (Janiskee and Masugi p. 30) This difference in ideology is demonstrated in the following analogy: Conservatives in America maintains the position that conserves the tradition of the American founding and the purposes and objectives of the Founding Fathers for the establishment of the country. American liberal takes the opposite direction by asserting that such traditions are restrictive and, therefore, the nation need to be liberated from them. Presently, the two parties that fight each other every four years in the American presidential elections are the Republicans and Democrats. The former is seen to be identified with conservatism while the form with liberalism. The two parties derive their ideologies to two fundamentally different views of human nature that is why each ideology calls for different kinds of government response to different issues. For instance, conservatives are more inclined to be against gun control but favor the death penalty while liberals want the reverse: gun control and no death penalty. An interesting aspect in the dynamics of American conservatism and liberalism is that they could assume an entirely different attitude towards certain issue compared to conservatives and liberals in Europe. A demonstration of this is how the conservatives and liberals in America want to address the question on how far should the free market be left alone: how far

Notes on History of Dhammapada Essay Example for Free

Notes on History of Dhammapada Essay According to Wikipedia, Dhammapada is the most famous book of the Tipitakas. It is also the book that has been translated into English and other languages more times than any other book in Buddhist literature. According to Ven. K Sri Dhammananda (1988), the founder of Sudharma Buddhist Institute, Dhammapada (literally meaning The Words of Truth or The Path of Noble Truth) consists of 423 verses in Pali uttered by the Buddha on some 305 occasions for the benefit of a wide range of human beings. These sayings were selected and compiled into one book as being worthy of special note on account of their beauty and relevance for molding the lives of future generations of Buddhists. It is also surprising that according to Britannica Encyclopedia, Dhammapada is accepted both in Theravada Buddhism and in Mahayana Buddhism although there is a difference in the number of verses in the two versions. However, according to Encarta Encyclopedia, the most translated version is that of Theravada. The history of Dhammapada is also not so different in both branches of Buddhism. The Lord Buddha historically had to go round the northern India and Nepal preaching his Dhamma, meeting many people. According to the prescribed text book (Module no. A -Ya 2004) of the second year university students specializing Oriental Studies in Myanmar ), the Lord Buddha preached his Dhamma ( guides and sermons for the cessation of all the sufferings) both in the form of speech called cunniya and occasionally in poetically versed form called gatha. According to Ohn Myint , Daw (2004), the verses uttered by the Lord Buddha had been compiled by 500 Buddhist Senior Arahants in Rajaghyo, India, in the First Dhamma Council (Pathama Sangayana) in 483 BC. Venerable Buddhagosa, the most famous commentary author in Theravada Buddhism, wrote the commentary of Dhammapada named Dhammapada Atthakatha in Sri Lanka. In his commentary book, Ven. Buddha Gosa, studying thoroughly from the elderly monks and old canons, noted the historical backgrounds of the verses in Pali Language. In this book, he told the story of each verses including whom theses verses were uttered by Buddha for, where, how, when and why these verses were uttered by Lord Buddha and so on. According to Subhodha Lankara, a famous Buddhist Literary Guide throughout the history of Buddhism, the verses in Dhammapada and Buddhist Literature are composed and uttered by systematic rules of rhythm, rhyme and meter. Moreover, Thanissaro Bhikkhu (1997) writes as follows: As the Buddha himself is quoted as saying, Meter is the structural framework of verses. According to Goinka S. N, the founder of Vissapana Research Institute in India, verses in Dhammapada were just orally handed down at first before the fourth Dhamma Council held in Tambapai [Sri Lanka] in 29 B. C in which all of the Buddhist Scriptures were recorded on written forms on palm leaves. According to the Commentary of Dhammapada by Ven Buddhagosa, these verses are intentionally uttered in accordance with the listeners background knowledge, their social backgrounds, and the situations in order to enlighten their mind. As soon as the Lord uttered the verses, Ananda, the chosen attendant and constant companion of the Buddha during the last twenty-five years of his life. memorized it and handed down again to the other monks and people. According to Mahaparinibana Sutta in the first book of Suttanna Pitaka named Mahavagga, after the Lord passed into the nirvana ( His death), the senior Buddhist monks met together and held the First Buddhist Council in order to preserve the holy teachings of the Lord Buddha. In the council, all of the Buddhas teachings were divided into three parts. According to Goenka, S,N (1999), the founder of Vipassana Research Institute in India , the first part is known as the Vinaya Pitaka and it contains all the rules which Buddha laid down for monks and nuns.. The second part is called the Suttanna Pitaka and it contains the Discourses. The third part is known as the Abhidhamma Pitaka and comprises the psycho-ethical teachings of the Buddha. The first pitaka is Suttanna pitaka and it is divided into five parts according to the length and form of the discourses. The poetical verses that the Lord uttered were compiled into a book named Dhammapada. Dhammapada is included in the first part of Suttanna Pitaka named Khuddhakanikaya ( Short Discourses). According to Daw Ohn Myint, Professor of the Department of Oriental Studies, Yangon University of Distance Education ( 2004), throughout the history of Buddhism, Dhammapada has been studied and memorized by Buddhist monks. Even nowadays in Sri Lanka, the novices who want to be transformed into monkhood have to memorize all the verses in Dhammapada as a compulsory skill.

PhD Proposal Writing | Contributing to knowledge

PhD Proposal Writing | Contributing to knowledge To define an original contribution to knowledge in the context of PhD studies is complicated. In one sense, it can be seen as something which someone else has not done before and requires a large amount of innovation and commitment from the researcher. Gall et al. (1996:47) noted that the imagination and insight that goes into defining the research problem usually determines the ultimate value of a research study more than any other factor. This definition however may be construed as too broad and can be complimented by the reasoning given by Grix (2001) who says that a substantial contribution to knowledge means you must have produced original research on a given topic and embedded it firmly in the received wisdom of a particular field To pin point a definition for an original contribution to knowledge is difficult. However, Madsen (1983:25) offers the following as a possible start: Original means the potential to do at least one of the following: uncover new facts or principles, suggest relationships that were previously unrecognized, challenge existing truths or assumptions, afford new insights into little-understood phenomena, or suggest new interpretations of known facts that can alter mans perception of the world around him. It is widely agreed within academic fields that a contribution to knowledge may be achieved through a number of ways. Frances (1976) pinpoints eight ways in which originality can be achieved. However, Estelle and Derek (2010) only concur with six of these points which are as follows: Setting down a major piece of new information in writing for the first time; Continuing a previously original piece of work; Carrying out original work designed by the supervisor; Providing a single original technique, observation, or result in an otherwise unoriginal but competent piece of research; Having many original ideas, methods, and interpretations all performed by others under the direction of the postgraduate; Showing originality in testing somebody elses ideas. Fundamentally, an original contribution to knowledge can be seen as an ambiguous statement or process as it can be interpreted by different people in a variety of ways. Dunleavy (2003) expresses concerns regarding overstating the originality of the research and emphasises the need to balance innovation against the subject context. He goes on to suggest that the best way to proceed in research is to think of the contribution as value-added. He clarifies this by saying, Focusing on your own value added means keeping a critical eye on the extent to which you have transformed or enhanced or differentiated the starting materials of your analysis. He also goes on to say that, It also means retaining strong relational patterns of argument in which you appropriately acknowledge the extent to which you draw on the existing literature. The importance of reading literature in the chosen area of research cannot be over emphasised. Without this fundamental grounding of knowledge, a serious student cannot begin to propose an original contribution to knowledge. Without having a working understanding of the literature in their field, it is made more difficult for students to refine a researchable topic and then subsequently contribute original knowledge. Knowledge of the field is critical and includes knowing what has already been done, what the current hot topics are and projected issues and trends. Ultimately, researchers need to understand what has already been accomplished before attempting to add their own contribution to the field. Consideration must be given to any personal relevancy the proposed topic holds for the student and what area of their study would represent the biggest contributions of their work. When researching the literature, it is important to keep in mind such questions as: Is there any controversy or inconsistencies in the research or data? Does a deficiency appear in the literature on a particular topic? From a historical perspective, how has the field arrived at its present level of understanding the phenomenon that is being pursued? Broader topics are probably more helpful because the broader the topic is, the more numerous are the kinds of research questions that can be asked (Crowl, 1996:20). During the processes of PhD studies and writings, students can only make initial proposals as to what they perceive as original contributions. However, as time progresses and more literature is explored, these initial proposals will change if it is discovered that there has already been some research of a similar nature, and therefore if the initial proposals do not adapt, new ones are creased in their place. Put succinctly, it means not just passively following the authors train of thought but more importantly, it means anticipating where the authors line of argument leads, considering alternative extensions and constructing your own framework that covers these possibilities. Some of the best ideas are born this way. (Krathwohl, 1994:29) Relating this contextually, my PhD research is in the area of Dyslexia in the public and private sectors and its affect on policy making and implementation. The topic chosen is still broad in terms of the area I may investigate. However the focus of my research is narrowing as more literature is read and evaluated. After discussions with my Supervisor who is a specialist in Diversity and Equalities, my research will also attempt to grasp what the perceptions are of dyslexia in the public and private sectors and will see how these mind sets influence the decisions of various departments and relationships within the business and public sectors. An area I am also keen to investigate is the education of staff and the general public through schooling and awareness programmes and other media. From the literature that I have reviewed to date, I know that there has been little research undertaken with regards to dyslexia policies in the educational sector. What has been researched quite extensively is the educational policies which relate primarily to primary and secondary education. There has been little discussion relating to dyslexia during college and university participation. Therefore, I know that any theories I have surrounding higher education and any research I wish to initiate will most likely result in an original contribution to knowledge. There has been next to no academic writing about dyslexia policies in the private sector which gives me, as a researcher, a good opportunity to offer some original contribution to knowledge to this field. What has been written in this field focuses primarily on what is required to comply with national legislation and European law. Drake (1999) summarises policies and laws simply by stating, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ prevailing norms and values reflect the interests of the majority and may subordinate those of the minority. I agree with this statement but wish to find out just how much this holds true in the context of public and private sectors. What has generally been written about dyslexia in the public and private sector areas has been more from a social sciences view stemming from definitions of dyslexia as opposed to stemming from the more business minded and practical view which focuses more on a persons ability to do jobs and the influence this has on company and or educational policies. Therefore, in an area which has been under explored and scrutinised, the research I propose to carry out will be original as it will produce new theories as to why dyslexia is barely acknowledge in these areas, along with new insights into how the current policy systems are produced and operated and possibly where new systems and legislation would be beneficial. There will be an obvious flourish of new ideas and arguments which accompany any original contribution, as well as an opportunity to apply any existing ideas in general literature to the new area of study. This is important in my field, as dyslexia in itself, as a form of disability can be controversial and any new ideas and hypothesis made will be cause for debate and allow past discussions to be revisited. This is also important in the development of original contributions as this will allow any theories created to adapt and grow. Apart from my own literature search, by speaking with other academics in my specific field, I can gain access to a whole new level of expertise and academic knowledge. This will give me the opportunity to test their knowledge of my chosen area of diversity and tap into their resources. Additionally, they will also be able to aide in identifying if my chosen topic has been previously mentioned in any literature that they have read. Academics will not be the only resource I will be able to tap throughout my investigations, as I will also have access to many other resources such as peers, advisors, supervisors, university staff and government offices. Other resources will follow as my research develops. Despite the obvious views of original contributions to knowledge, other questions still remain. One example of this is when a student continues a previously original piece of work, is it truly original? The answer would be in the affirmative in the following cases; for example, if the direct result were to produce new theoretical interpretation to an already given state; to extend, qualify, elaborate existing work; or even create a new research design and/or methodology for research. The latter example would clearly have an impact on any work that I was to produce. This form of original contribution to knowledge is popular when covering an already highly researched area. This allows the researcher to explore areas which have already been explored but have the possibilities to be interpreted in different ways. Also, when a theoretical model is brought from one discipline and applied to another discipline, it can create many interesting results. In the context of my research, there has been one author who has looked generally on policies surrounding disabilities, all be it more substantially from a political (government) viewpoint. However he does not go into detail on dyslexia specifically as this is not the focus of his research when making the general link to companies. What he has passingly touched on in the case of dyslexia would be something I would like to investigate further in my own research. The specific case is the reactions of the managers in companies towards disabled employees. In my research however, I would more specifically want to look at dyslexics. Another area of interest in my chosen topic has been that indirectly covered by wildlife experts. There have been many links made regarding the relationship that exists between mankind and animals, and I believe there are still many more links to be made. For example, if one animal is perceived to be different, then it is often excluded from the group or pack. This link can be made with people. When someone is perceived as different, they can often be persecuted directly or indirectly. This may involve a lowering of self worth or esteem and lead to social exclusion. There can be many assumptions as to why this is, and there are already existing theories with regards to animal behaviour. Therefore I would like to use these theories in a different field/context which again substantiates an original contribution to knowledge. Other areas of originality can be highlighted with fresh data which can lead directly into critical appraisal of previous work. Care needs to be taken not to re-create previous works, or have something which is too closely associated with a previous research specimen. A whole new stance needs to be taken. When a student, using fresh data, undertakes further research of a topic previously covered ten years earlier, there is a strong chance that the results now would differ. This could tentatively lead on to a new theory being uncovered as to the reason behind the change and would thus be considered as another original contribution to knowledge. If during my research I find that an area I wish to explore has already been covered, and yet I find myself disagreeing with the outcomes from the findings I have made, I would gather more data, if time permitted, which would allow me to critically appraise that piece of work with new findings. For example, if twenty years ago research formulated a theory covering managers reactions to disabled people in the banking industry, I would have no hesitation in contemplating further research in this area considering the drastic change in law, disability policies and banking practices over the intervening years. However, if all the work presented is relatively recent, yet I find myself disagreeing with the analysis, my original contribution could be a new analysis and new outcome from the existing data. This in turn could lead onto a fresh theoretical interpretation and even prompt a new analysis and new results derived from the old data. No matter how a research student deduces whether or not they have made an original contribution to knowledge, what matters is that there is a support structure in place to help and guide them. Mauch and Birch (1989) constructed a series of questions to guide researchers when trying to determine the relative strength of research topics, which in my opinion goes hand in hand with original knowledge contribution. Some of the questions highlighted by Mauch and Birch are as follows: 1. Is there current interest in this topic in your field? 2. Is there a gap in knowledge that work on this topic could fill? 3. Is it possible to focus on a small enough segment of this particular topic to make it manageable? 4. Can you envision a way to study the topic that will allow conclusions to be drawn with substantial objectivity? 5. Is the data collection (i.e., test, questionnaire, interviews, etc.) acceptable to your advisor and in your department? 6. Is there a body of literature relevant to the topic? 7. Is a search of the topic manageable? 8. Are there large problems to be surmounted in working in this topic? Can you handle them? Do you want to handle them? 9. Are the needed data easily accessible? Will you have control of the data? Placing the above in context, I can determine whether or not my own research ticks the boxes of this checklist and therefore can ascertain, in another way, whether or not my own work can be considered an original contribution to knowledge. In the instance of the first question, this is irrelevant to an original contribution. However, it does help make the process of PhD writing easier if there is interest and it is therefore a good starting point for a structure. The answer is yes. Interest in disabilities, although diminishing into the background of public awareness over recent years, is still there in the academic world. The second question is vital to original contributions to knowledge as previously discussed. Again, the answer is yes. The area of research I have chosen has been under researched and is therefore a treasure trove waiting to be explored further. Questions 3 to 5 along with 7 and 9 are more focused in and around managing the actual research and data collection. Although not immediately linked to the original contribution to knowledge, they do play a factor in deciding whether or not an area should be further investigated. Question 6 focuses on literature which we have established as being paramount to ascertaining an original contribution to knowledge. In my context, there is literature surrounding dyslexia but more from a sociological perspective. So far in my literature investigations I have not uncovered anything alluding to the subject area I wish to investigate. The final relevant question, number 8, can challenge a researcher when confronted with an original contribution to knowledge in a controversial area. Is it something a first time researcher wants to investigate or is it best left until another opportunity arises in the future? Not only is this an issue, this question also raises further questions about other issues. For example, ethical issues. When thinking about an original contribution to knowledge, a researcher must also take other factors into consideration. Ultimately, the topics surrounding What is an original contribution to knowledge are still quite broad and all encompassing, but with guidance from supervisors and the numerous books available, researchers, including myself, should not have any serious difficulty finding an original contribution to knowledge. A succinct summary for the process of thinking about an original contribution to knowledge is nicely stated by Rojewski in Farmer, E. I., Rojewski, J. W. (2001), Its been almost two weeks now. You spend what seems like, every waking moment thinking about it. And yet, still nothing. In a cruel twist of fate, it seems that the more time you spend thinking about it the more elusive the answer becomes. Why cant someone just give it to you already and then you can be done with it!

Female Genital Mutilation Essay -- Culture Cultural Genital Mutilation

Female Genital Mutilation FGM originated in Africa. It was, and remains, a cultural, not a religious practice. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is also known as female circumcision is performed on young women before they reach puberty. There are three types of FGM practiced. One is Sunna circumcision in which the tip of the clitoris and/or its covering (prepuce) are removed, Clitoridectomy where the entire clitoris, the prepuce and adjacent labia are removed, and Infibulation (a.k.a. Pharaonic circumcision) which is a clitoridectomy followed by sewing up of the vulva. Only a small opening is left to allow urine and menstrual blood to pass. In all types of FGM, the vagina is sown up until the female is ready to have sexual intercourse with her spouse or give birth to a child. The remaining sides of the vulva are stitched together to close up the vagina, except for a small opening, which is preserved with slivers of wood or matchsticks. This leaves them with reduced or no sexual feeling. Orgasms are sometimes im possible to experience later in life. Many health problems are a result of this traditional ceremony. Most women that do not go through female genital mutilation do not get married or society looks down on them, because women are viewed as clean and more desirable if FGM has been performed on them. These are the various types of FGM that the men uphold, but it is the women who usually do the cutting. The women that do the cutting are known as Circumciser’s and usually are elderly women figures in the tribe, who went through the same trauma of FGM when they were young girls. Many women who have expressed their experience openly to someone have described scenes such as a group rape. They describe being powerless, held down ... ...girl is the center of attention and receives presents and moral instruction from her elders. Lastly, it creates a bond between the generations, as all women in that society must undergo it and thus have shared an important experience. She also went on to say that by eliminating a women’s physical sex drive, circumcision made marriages more secure, and thus provided greater stability for families. She ended by saying, â€Å"Perhaps Americans, with their high rates of crime and teenage pregnancy, had things backwards†. While leaving out any personal opinion, we leave a question think about. From the background information of FGM, and the two stories of women who have gone through FGM and have run from it, Is it right for Westerners to impose their views and common experiences to a foreign nation that traditionally for thousands of years practiced Female Genital Mutilation? Female Genital Mutilation Essay -- Culture Cultural Genital Mutilation Female Genital Mutilation FGM originated in Africa. It was, and remains, a cultural, not a religious practice. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is also known as female circumcision is performed on young women before they reach puberty. There are three types of FGM practiced. One is Sunna circumcision in which the tip of the clitoris and/or its covering (prepuce) are removed, Clitoridectomy where the entire clitoris, the prepuce and adjacent labia are removed, and Infibulation (a.k.a. Pharaonic circumcision) which is a clitoridectomy followed by sewing up of the vulva. Only a small opening is left to allow urine and menstrual blood to pass. In all types of FGM, the vagina is sown up until the female is ready to have sexual intercourse with her spouse or give birth to a child. The remaining sides of the vulva are stitched together to close up the vagina, except for a small opening, which is preserved with slivers of wood or matchsticks. This leaves them with reduced or no sexual feeling. Orgasms are sometimes im possible to experience later in life. Many health problems are a result of this traditional ceremony. Most women that do not go through female genital mutilation do not get married or society looks down on them, because women are viewed as clean and more desirable if FGM has been performed on them. These are the various types of FGM that the men uphold, but it is the women who usually do the cutting. The women that do the cutting are known as Circumciser’s and usually are elderly women figures in the tribe, who went through the same trauma of FGM when they were young girls. Many women who have expressed their experience openly to someone have described scenes such as a group rape. They describe being powerless, held down ... ...girl is the center of attention and receives presents and moral instruction from her elders. Lastly, it creates a bond between the generations, as all women in that society must undergo it and thus have shared an important experience. She also went on to say that by eliminating a women’s physical sex drive, circumcision made marriages more secure, and thus provided greater stability for families. She ended by saying, â€Å"Perhaps Americans, with their high rates of crime and teenage pregnancy, had things backwards†. While leaving out any personal opinion, we leave a question think about. From the background information of FGM, and the two stories of women who have gone through FGM and have run from it, Is it right for Westerners to impose their views and common experiences to a foreign nation that traditionally for thousands of years practiced Female Genital Mutilation?

Self-Rated Competency Essay -- Language

As of 2000, 96% of Hmong households reported Hmong (L1) as the primary spoken language at home with English (L2) not being introduced to a child until later in their development (Reeves & Bennett, 2004). Upon entering school, Hmong children progress into sequential bilingual speakers where L2 is introduced after L1 is already well established. Bilingualism is frequently stated as the use of two or more languages by an individual (ASHA, 2004). Two of the most common types of bilingualism include simultaneous bilingualism (acquisition of both languages occur early on from birth) and sequential bilingualism (exposure to the second language occurs after the first language is already established, usually after 3 years of age). A potential consequence of second-language acquisition is a process called language loss or language attrition. Language attrition is defined as a process where â€Å"a person may loose his/her ability to speak, write, read, and/or understand a particular language or dialect due to a lack of use or exposure† (ASHA, 2004). Studies that involve young immigrants in the United States found that younger immigrants were more likely to switch language dominance for L1 to L2 and were more likely to rate L2 fluency higher (Jia et al, 2002; Shi, 2011). Several studies have demonstrated that sequential bilingual speakers can provide valid self-ratings of competency in L2 and the variables or factors that could affect L2 competency (Shi, 2011; Westermeyer & Her, 1996; Jia et al, 2002). The following three studies provide further evidence of the correlation of using subjective (self-rating) and objective measures to examine receptive and expressive competency in L1 and L2. Westermeyer and Her (1996) conducted a longit... ...istically appropriate services [Knowledge and Skills]. Available from www.asha.org/policy. Jia, G., Aaronson, D., & Wu, Y. (2002). Long-term language attainment of bilingual immigrants: Predicative variables and language group differences. Applied Psycholinguistics, 23, 599 – 621. Reeves, T. J. & Bennett, C. E. (2004). We the people: Asians in the United States. United States Consensus 2000. Shi, L. (2011). How â€Å"proficient† is proficient? Subjective proficiency as a predictor of bilingual listeners’ recognition of English words. American Journal of Audiology [serial online]. June 2011; 20(1): 19 – 32. Available from: Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson), Ipswich, MA. Westermeyer, J., & Her, C. (1996). Predictors of English fluency among Hmong refugees in Minnesota: A longitudinal study. Cultural Diversity and Mental Health, 2(2), 125 – 132.

kung san :: essays papers

kung san Among the many cultures in Africa, one of the most well known cultures would be the Kung San. The Kung San are a very unique culture and are the most studied foraging society in the world. As with numerous other cultures around the world, the Kung San are faced with many problems. But one problem the Kung San don't face is that of being a nonentity, partially because of the popularized view of the Kung San shown in the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy. The Kung San are a hunting and gathering people living in southern Africa. Kung San are a varied people in terms of looks and language, and include people living Angola, Botswana, Zambia, and Namibia. The Kung San, like many human groups, have a rigid sexual division of labor, with women doing most of the gathering, food preparation and child care, and men doing hunting and some complementary gathering. There does exist a limited socioeconomic hierarchy by age, with adults controlling more resources and manufactured goods than children. The Kung San usually eat small meals during the day and eat a large supper with the whole family in the evening. Water is a limiting factor in the Kung San environment. The Kung San will disperse in the wet season, and aggregate in camps in the dry season around the few permanent water holes. A Kung San encampment consists of grass huts arranged roughly in a circle, constructed around an area of clearing in the center; these huts are constructe d quickly and rarely used for more than a few months at a time. The Kung San maintain a level of egalitarianism so that no one person is revered more than the next and so that no one thinks they are any better than the next. In the Kung San culture, many are married as young as eight years old in order to keep conflicts and extramarital relations down to a minimum. One of the Kung San's favorite activities is to sit in the shade talking amongst themselves. They are afraid of angry words and violence so the occasional dispute is worked out before it becomes a major one. Since competition might bring dispute, they try to live as equals. The Kung San effectively employ talking and joking to

Accounting Attachment Report

1. 0 INTRODUCTION 1. 1 The objectives of the Industrial attachment The purpose of industrial attachment is to bridge the gap between the theory and the practise of coursework learnt in the University of Botswana. It is meant to give students a clearer perspective of concepts learnt in the academic environment and in turn prepare them for the work environment upon completion of the degree programme. Internship is also aimed at give students a chance to apply the material learnt into a practical environment and get to know the work industry.In applying academic material, it is understood more and in familiarising with the work environment, a career option can be chosen. Part of the attachment was for students to create networks. networks are useful in securing jobs and getting information about the industry. 1. 2 Methodology The industrial attachment was conducted over the period between May 10th and July 27th 2012. This period amounted to a total of 10 weeks over the school holidays. It was after the third year of study in the degree. Each student, with the help of the internship coordinator had to find a company of their choice in the relevant field of study to work in.A place was to be secured through an application letter accompanied by a copy of a transcript, a letter of acknowledgement of student status from the University. A letter of acceptance would then be sent to the university by the company that agreed to attach a student and the area in which the student will work. Students were expected to work in various sectors of the company, but within their course of study while under attachment. The students were also to keep weekly log sheets which were to be signed by the supervisor with the work they had conducted. ? 2. 0 BACKGROUND OF THE ORGANISATION . 1 History of Great Advisory Services Dotaka Investments (Pty) Ltd was incorporated in Namibia in the year 2005. It has two businesses operating, an insurance brokerage called Coverage Insurance and an acco unting business called Great Advisory Services. The company has two directors namely Alex Mundey and Gracia Hunde. Mr Mundey is a non-executive director while Miss Hunde is an executive director. The insurance brokerage was the first business to be registered by the company in 2005 and has since grown to be one of the most renowned insurance broking firms in Namibia.The business headquarters are situated in the Windhoek International Finance Park while another branch operates in the Caesar International Office Park. This is because all insurance companies are found in the Caesar Office Park, making it convenient to get quotes upon request or to make an inquiry quicker. Having become a success and seeing the need for better accounting practise for the smaller businesses, the company diversified into the accounting field and registered a business named Great Advisory Services.The role of Great Advisory Services is to assist entrepreneurs to sustain their businesses by upholding proper and consistent accounting ethos. Great Advisory Services was registered in September 2011 and has been in operation since then. Not only does the business deal with accounting but it also in company secretarial and consultancy. It registers companies, sits as a director on the board and act as agents on submitting applications for permits. The staff includes Gracia Hunde, Elaine Chatonga and Palesa Mosa.Gracia Hunde is the executive director having gained all her knowledge from experience and is currently pursuing a degree in the University of South Africa. She mainly deals in company secretarial and business consultancy. Elaine Chatonga is the head accountant, having graduated with an Honourary degree in accounting and is pursuing chartered accountancy. She draws up the financial statements and calculates the tax returns due for all the clients and for the business as well. As head accountant, it is also her duty to supervise the work of the cler and make necessary changes.Palesa Mosa is the accounting clerk, having acquired an AAT qualification. As a clerk she does the day to day recording of accounts for the business and for the clients. She is also in charge of the petty cash book, answering calls, submitting tax returns and miscellaneous work. MISSION The mission of Geat Advisory Services is to provide accounting services to small, medium and large enterprises. In providing accounting services, the aim is to also influence the practise of proper accounting ethos and to improve the running and quality of business in the country.This is will be accomplished by building a relationship with the clients and explaining accounting procedures to them. By building relationships with clients and keeping a small number of clients, the company is able to focus on each client and not do a rush job. By targeting smaller businesses, the company is also able to probe into the finer details. Clientele These consist mainly of small businesses with very few employees as th ese are the main target of the business. Most of the clients are in the motoring industry and have just been contracted; hence there is not much history that has been built.The range of clients runs from auto mechanics to caterers, and interior designers. Clients are drawn in through word of mouth and through networking, as the company barely advertises itself. The biggest client of the firm is its own spear header- Coverage Insurance Brokers. Most of the clients are for accounting services as opposed to the other branches of the business. The business started with a small clientele base of 4, and has since increased to over 10 contracted clients in the accounting branch. 3. 0 MANAGEMENT, TRAINING AND EMPLOYEE INFORMATION 3. 2 Supervisor assistanceI was also debriefed on other office duties that I would be taught which would have nothing to do with schoolwork but were skills needed in the office for example, filing, photocopying, faxing, filling bank cheques and deposit slips and go ing to the bank. I was also told that I would not have any specific responsibilities but work would come up as and when needed which I would be given a briefing on how to do what at that moment. 3. 3 Qualities and skills possessed and developed The job called for speed, teamwork capabilities, versatility, fluency, flexibility and grasping concepts quickly.This I had no problem with, having gone through internship before and being a member of clubs that required teamwork. Being tossed around between jobs, and not knowing what to be doing when you get to work in the office ensured that I was always on my toes. As the job went by, I learnt to be quick but thorough, to ask questions; to be accountable- work was tossed form one person to the other. If I was capturing information, I had to be thorough so that the next person, in this case the accountant, would be able to use the information. If I gave her the wrong information, it would mess all the accounts up.I also had to learn to be r esponsible ? 3. 0 MANAGEMENT, TRAINING AND EMPLOYEE INFORMATION 3. 1 Job orientation A brief meeting was held on the first day of work in which an assessment of my course work and accounting knowledge was made. The information available on the transcript and curriculum vitae was used for the assessment. This same meeting was also used for the purpose of giving me a tour through the company, debriefing on company history and the services offered by the company. I also got the opportunity to familiarise with the business environment and the rest of the staff around.The next step was to test the skills I had I stated that I had. I was shown how to capture information form a receipt, change it, delete it and create a file for a company in the accounting software. After a series of examples, I was asked to do the same. I went through a series of tests in using the accounting system, which in this case was called Quick books. Having shown adequate knowledge, I was informed that I would as sist in that part of the job. The main job was capturing, but some more office jobs were to be done, which I was kindly briefed on.I was to be the extra hand in the office; hence I would be tossed around everywhere, having been given a short tutorial prior to execution of a task. There were no specific responsibilities that were given to me; most of the work to be done would be broken down before being done. Having been briefed on the jobs to be done, I was shown the office space that I would use. A few minutes later I was assigned to my primary role for the week- filing, organising documents prior to capturing, checking if transactions had been captured properly and at the correct amounts and banking.In between the small jobs, I was to familiarise myself with the software and practise before I could be given any work concerning that. 3. 2 Supervisor assistance My supervisor adequately explained all duties and responsibilities before I undertook them. The first question before doing anything was an enquiry as to whether I had done any such thing. If I answered in the negative, I was shown how to do it. I would then attempt the same job under her watch until I had perfected my work In cases were computer use was required, a different document altogether would be opened for the sake of demonstration.A supervisor was always ready to help if I did not understand anything. As this is a small company, help was easy to find as my slowing down would also affect the other operations. My supervisors were quick to explain and guide through new processes especially those that involved going to NURS, going to clients and going to Company registration. I would receive office calls whenever I spent more time than usual. During the first days in the office, I would also get momentary calls just to check on progress or if everything under control 3. 3 Qualities needed and qualities gainedVersatility and flexibility were needed to succeed in this position as I would be tossed i nto any work. This meant I would have to be a receptionist, or an accountant, or the driver so adaptation and was needed. There was much work to do in the office so I had to be quick to catch onto the job as I would often receive crash courses to do a new task. In a job where there were had no fixed duties, and work to do decided on each morning, it was critical to grasp the concept quickly. The job also called for an ability to work without supervision as there was a lot of work to be done between the three services offered by the company.There was a need to be organised and to ask questions to do with more clarification to get an understanding as soon as a task was given in order to curb backlog. The amount of work to be done was much so that made round the clock assistance rather impossible. Time keeping was also very critical. We all depended on each other as one person’s slow delivery affected everyone. There was a need to pay attention to detail when doing accounts so a s to come up with the correct financial statements and prevent reworking which would waste time.Ten client companies would expected their returns to be calculated every second month so each company had specific time slots for doing their books which had to be maximised in order to prevent a rush job being done or eating into another company’s time. Fluency in English and articulation was a needed quality because there were clients to talk to, going to the Registrar of Companies and calls to be answered when the clerk/receptionist was not around. Qualities gained during the process included the ability to think on my feet, tenacity, responsibility and team working.Concerning the ability to think on my feet, jobs done outside the office required decisions to be made quickly if things did not go according to plan this needed one to exercise discretion and take control without having to call the office first. Thinking on one’s feet required the ability to reason carefully and objectively. Over time, I developed tenacity. It became apparent that not only did the job call for work to be done, but to be completed on or before time. Working after hours became normality and not burdensome and neither was it something to complain over.The key was to understand the importance of completing a task before the next day, regardless of working hours. Honesty and responsibility came with the job. Whenever personal resources were used in incurring company expenses, they had to be accounted for. This called for keeping of receipts and disclosing the corrected amounts actually spent in order to qualify for a refund. These expenses also had to be incurred wholly towards the company and not be mixed with personal expenses. Every business can only achieve its goals through teamwork.Work was passed from one person to the other as processes were interlinked. The clerk and I did most of the primary work- capturing and organising files and it had to be understood by the ne xt user of the information. Having done my part for the day, I would not sit around as others worked but pitch in to also help in order for the task to be completed. ? 4. 0 SPECIFIC JOB INFORMATION 4. 1 Daily Responsibilities There were no specific daily responsibilities given as work arose as and when needed but there were things that became routine, for example filing, faxing and photocopying.The other jobs included capturing invoices and receipts into the accounting system, checking if receipts and invoices had been entered into the system, helping to separate receipts into different expenses and banking. Accounting Capturing accounting information from invoices was a daily task. Expenses had to be separated into cost of sales, company expenses and capital expenditures. That done, a list of all transactions entered would be printed and cross-checked with the corresponding receipts as an internal check on capturing all expenditure and at their correct amounts.Every month end, tax return forms were filled out and withholding tax charges calculated. For those companies which took the liberty to calculate their own taxes, their figures would be matched with those in the tax tables to ensure consistency. The difficult part of this was working with companies that pay employees through commission as they had a different way of calculating applicable charges. Bank reconciliation at the end of each month was a required duty.The task was to go through a monthly bank statement, reconcile the figures with those in the cheque book, adjust for unpresented cheques, account for stop orders and total the bank interest charges for the month. After that the money drawn out for personal use would be calculated for drawings. Filing The first thing upon receipt of files from a client was to sort them out in chronological order. This made it easier to account for the dates on transactions as the date would not be changed with each receipt, it also made it easier to find a missing receipt or to look fo r a query on the receipt if they were in order.The filing work included the tax returns that would come from NURS, documents from the clients in the form of bills, contracts and agreements made between the client and the firm. For withholding taxes, each company had a separate filing place for rental withholding taxes and employee withholding taxes. Printing, copying and faxing Accounting involves a lot of printing, faxing and photocopying. The responsibility assigned was to do exactly that. It was of utmost importance to make sure that the company had one file while the client also had another copy. BankingThis involved drawing up cheques for clients, having been given the due amounts, fill in cheque deposit slips whenever a client made a payment via cheque, signing and accounting for the cheque in the company books before going to the bank to deposit it. This also involved cashing some cheques and depositing them in the respective employee accounts at the en d of the month for salaries. 4. 2 Other responsibilities Messenger Jobs that were done outside the office included fetching files with client’s receipts and invoices for the month and returning them, submitting and collecting returns forms to NURS, getting clients to stamp taxes due forms.Being a messenger also involved following up on company or business name reservations with the Registrar of Companies. The other tasks at the Registrar of Companies were submission of forms for the change of directors and the transfer of ownership of a firm. All paperwork generated from this would be copied and sent to the concerned client Office jobs Part of the office odd jobs was answering the phone when the person responsible was not available. This would involve taking messages and answering for where the required person was, putting through phone calls and answering whatever questions a client had about the business.When clients arrived before their appointed time had to be attended an d entertained until their attendant returned. This was achieved by preparing refreshments and chatting up the client, sitting them comfortably and continuous reassurance that the required person would be with them. Ensuring office security involved locking up doors and cabinets, closing windows, switching off the air conditioners by the last person to leave the office. 4. 3 Knowledge from course work Three years of in the University of Botswana has come with grasping many skills and concepts.Some proved necessary, other premature and some skills use stood out more than others. Knowledge from Accounting Information Systems learnt in BIS309 was the most used and hence the most helpful. It offered a foundation to be able to use any accounting software. BIS309 also helped because it dealt with the daily running of business and how to enter daily transactions into the books of accounts, the separation of bills and invoices and how to create a debit or credit note. BIS309 also included ho w to account for a refund, how to add an account into the list of accounts.Most accounting now is done by software so the ability to use software and the knowledge of the way around the software was an added advantage Knowledge of basic accounting and bank reconciliations was taught in Financial Accounting I (ACC100) and it offered know how on entering costs into books of accounts and drawing up bank reconciliations and treating unpresented cheques. Some clients, being new, lacked adequate accounting information. This amounted to missing receipts and invoices, misnumbered invoices, missing bank cheques or narrations to the cheques.In order to deal with this one had to work backwards from the bank statement to find missing figures and asking for rough estimates for jobs done. Incomplete Records aught in Financial Accounting II (Acc200) was a useful resource. For the purpose of separation of business costs into cost of sales and expenses Introduction to Cost Accounting (ACC201) was ve ry useful. Some business incurred expenses that had to be charged to their cost of sales, not costs of running the business, for example the cost of delivery, the cost of assembly, etc.One company was a delivery company and conducted trade by going to South Africa and taking goods for delivery into Namibia, the cost of the job did not only include fuel to travel to South Africa but it included the driver’s accommodation and food and the cost of toll gates. Dealing with these expenses was leant in Managaemnt accounting applications ACC303. Final accounts are drawn at the end of each month and they have to be drawn up according to the formats in the accounting standards.Knowledge of accounting standards and presentation formats was acquired in Auditing I (ACC301) and Financial Accounting II (ACC 300. ) Upon the calculation of taxes for individual employees, calculating the gross taxes, doing a bank reconciliation, comparison of figures, checking if all receipts had been entered Microsoft excel was used. BIS 205 dealt with the primary use of computers and plugging in formulae. General Education Courses dealt with the use of computers and communication.Businesses require a lot of communication and etiquette. Gec 121,introduction to Computers was useful for the purpose of using email, Introduction to Communication (GEC111 and 112) helped in articulation and Introduction to Rhetoric and Public Speaking (GEC 364) helped in building confidence and addressing people. For the sake of company registration, the difference between a company and a business grasped in Introduction to Company Law (LAW351) was a critical tool in knowing the difference, lest the two be wrongly interchanged.This difference was also critical whenever capturing expenses, keeping in mind that sole traders were not separated from the business and withdrawals made were charged as drawings. 4. 4 Beneficial things to have learnt It would have been very helpful to have gone through an introductor y lesson in tax so as to understand the format, the applicable tax figures had and to fill in a tax from with understanding. Most of the workings in tax were done out of memory, having been briefed on before but with no adequate understanding as to why they were done that way for example amounts exempt from tax and the calculations of allowable deductions.Cash flow Statements are part of the final accounts drawn up at the end of the month. This was also something learnt on the job but without full comprehension of what exactly to be done and what to be done. 4. 5 new skills acquired The reservation of a company name and creation of a shelf company is one of the stand out skills I acquired on the job. A lot of companies open new branches, since Botswana is a developing country and there is positive economic growth, many businesses and companies are being opened as a result and know how in reserving a name and registering a business has become a crucial tool that one may use as an age nt.In learning how to reserve company names and creating shelf companies, it was inevitable that I had to learn how to change directors of a company. Some companies do not immediately operate upon been granted approval or even fail to start, these companies can then be taken over by other persons. Forms for changes in directors of a company are retrieved from the Registrar of Companies’ website. The website hosts many forms that can just be downloaded and printed without necessarily collecting them from their offices. I learnt how to collect a tax return form. These forms are collects directly from NURS.A tax return form has to types, one being for VAT and the other being income tax. The person collecting the tax returns forms has to have knowledge of their Tax Identity Number. Other small skills acquired include:- †¢Calculation of PAYE. Pay as You Earn tax is calculated using the tax tables. Each income has a specific tax matched to it and those that go beyond the norma l amount have a specific extra amount to apply. †¢How to register a company for tax. The form is collected from NURS and it contains various areas to be filled out including the type of business, the name of the business.The bank needs to also certify that an account by that person exists. †¢How to fax and photocopy. This was part of daily office work. No knowledge of such skills had been possessed before. †¢How to use Quickbooks. This was the accounting software used by the company. Knowledge of Pastel Accounting and the use of Microsoft in Accounting were the only prior knowledge. Most companies use Quickbooks so this is a relevant skill upon job search at the completion of the degree. †¢How to use office stationery properly. There is some stationery designed for office use that we fail to use properly.Documents need to be filed neatly and in an orderly manner. That said, learnt how to align a paper before punching, refill staples and to use the various types o f files. ? 5. 0 Conclusions and recommendation 5. 1 Career goals versus industrial attachment The Industrial attachment surely did bring some perspective. The daily work in accounting is significantly different from the theory learnt in school. Day to day accounts is routine and very simple. Within a short period of time, one begins to know the routine of recording and creating financial statements at the end of the year.That said, I realise now that accounting needs to be supplemented with other courses, for example ACCA, CFA, CIMA, etc. These professional courses give one the ability to review policies placed by the business in their accounting. They also help one to become more marketable in the industry and prevent the boredom inherent in most office jobs with routine tasks. Looking at the clientele of the business, there is a dire need for accountants and for people to learn to be ‘accounts smart’. Most companies do not even have a clerk and most small businesses d o not have an accounts department as the owner does everything and the results nd up being very poor. I have also come to realise that the lack of consultancy and knowledge of cost versus revenue makes some businesses fail or not realise their full potential as much is taken from the business without replacement via drawings. That said, may career goals really have changed and I would not want to end up sitting in the office, day by day, drawing accounts for people, but instead to give advice on running a business and creating strategies that work. I would like to move into explaining accounts to business owners and creating strategies for the purpose of cost reduction and ensuring longevity in a business.Clients constantly complain about the return on their taxes, some do not even know what it means or how it is calculated and are always disgruntled when they see an accountant coming through. Clients therefore need tutorials in the accounting field so that they just do not accept a nything or begin to distrust their accountants. 5. 2 derivations from the attachment Two stand out lessons were derived from internship, the first being that university education alone does not fully equip one for the work environment; one needs a bit of experience.The second lesson being, there is a lot of ignorance concerning accounting in Namibia, to the point of business owners doing their own book-keeping. This comes from a lack of appreciation of the role of accounting in business. Concerning the equipping by the University, there is not enough room for doing accounting practically. There are too many courses from other faculties that students are encouraged to take up in their first year, which leaves little room for proper accounting courses in the degree.The result is that most accounting is taught in a rush manner without adequate understanding and the result is that students cram without grasping concepts fully. This became apparent on the calculation of a businessâ€℠¢ daily expenses. In the examples given us in school, the figures are already summed up and apparent, most of the work involves drawing final accounts, but in businesses, final accounts are drawn up only once a month. The recording of a business’ daily expenses is critical and needs to be given attention in the foundation courses of the degree.Concerning ignorance of accounting , most businesses have no accountant and do not keep the relevant information used in drawing up accounts. The use of interns is also a wide spread normality among those who wish to have some form of book-keeping in their business. However, interns are fresh from university and often make mistakes. This results in backlogs during work as some of the books have to be redone. 5. 3 most significant learning experience The most significant learning process was that on the importance of teamwork. Business processes are intertwined that each person relied the other person.Slacking was therefore intolerable a s it affected everyone else’s progress. That said, I learnt to rely on other people, and to become a person to be relied upon. I also learnt to value the contribution of other people and the vitality of making a significant contribution in a team. 5. 4 self-evaluation The key strengths I possessed for this job were adaptation and quick-learning. I understood whatever work was assigned to me in a very short space of time. There was a lot of tossing around involved in the job as I had no specific responsibilities, this meant I had to be versatile and ready for anything.The ability to think quickly and summon best judgement in a rash situation was very useful when running errands and things would not go according to plan or clients were late. This required changing things or rearranging with a client on my own without calling the office first. The ability to work without supervision and being self-motivated was an added advantage. Because of the lack of space, I shared the offic e with the other company branch of Dotaka Investments called Coverage Insurance. This meant I had no round the clock supervision in my work. I however managed to complete all my work before time or on time.Being reliable is another quality I possess that the executive director would allow me to run errands for her with her car while she would be in the office. She relied on me to represent her well wherever she sent me on her behalf. Dress was no problem for me as I made sure I was clad formally and presentable each day. Articulation and fluency in English was an added quality as well that enabled me to win over clients and explain to them adequately what we required of them. im formal. time keeping My time keeping in the morning was not the most efficient.Most of the time i was not punctual to work and i would arrive a little bit after time. I however compensated for this shortfall by personally working during lunch or working late. 5. 5 recomendations for improvement in the organi sation Great Advisory Services needs bigger office space. During this period of attachment, there were five employees sharing two rooms. This meant that the main office had three employees which is too large a number for a small space. The room became crowded to the point that clients would notice and either mention in a joking manner or just showed unpleasantness.The company vision has to be printed and stuck on the wall and be used in company stamps. I only knew the vision when I had. A company vision helps in boosting employee morale by showing them that whatever they are doing is contributing to the achievement of the vision. Grievances in the company need to be addressed. There were matters that were swept under the carpet even though they were important. There were times were there would be some tension in the office or gossip over another person over things that were not properly stipulated yet could be solved with a sit down meeting.There needs to be an investment towards th e training of employees. An accounts consultant was employed by the firm for enquiries’ sake. However, his availability was after hours which could go on till midnight this was not an efficient way of working. The problem can be overcome by putting one of the accountants through an ACCA program. Also the clerks’ work was not up to standard as most of it had to be redone. Employee training should also be in answering calls, using appropriate register as there was a tendency for employees to use an incorrect tone or a colloquial term in a formal set-up. Accounting Attachment Report 1. 0 INTRODUCTION 1. 1 The objectives of the Industrial attachment The purpose of industrial attachment is to bridge the gap between the theory and the practise of coursework learnt in the University of Botswana. It is meant to give students a clearer perspective of concepts learnt in the academic environment and in turn prepare them for the work environment upon completion of the degree programme. Internship is also aimed at give students a chance to apply the material learnt into a practical environment and get to know the work industry.In applying academic material, it is understood more and in familiarising with the work environment, a career option can be chosen. Part of the attachment was for students to create networks. networks are useful in securing jobs and getting information about the industry. 1. 2 Methodology The industrial attachment was conducted over the period between May 10th and July 27th 2012. This period amounted to a total of 10 weeks over the school holidays. It was after the third year of study in the degree. Each student, with the help of the internship coordinator had to find a company of their choice in the relevant field of study to work in.A place was to be secured through an application letter accompanied by a copy of a transcript, a letter of acknowledgement of student status from the University. A letter of acceptance would then be sent to the university by the company that agreed to attach a student and the area in which the student will work. Students were expected to work in various sectors of the company, but within their course of study while under attachment. The students were also to keep weekly log sheets which were to be signed by the supervisor with the work they had conducted. ? 2. 0 BACKGROUND OF THE ORGANISATION . 1 History of Great Advisory Services Dotaka Investments (Pty) Ltd was incorporated in Namibia in the year 2005. It has two businesses operating, an insurance brokerage called Coverage Insurance and an acco unting business called Great Advisory Services. The company has two directors namely Alex Mundey and Gracia Hunde. Mr Mundey is a non-executive director while Miss Hunde is an executive director. The insurance brokerage was the first business to be registered by the company in 2005 and has since grown to be one of the most renowned insurance broking firms in Namibia.The business headquarters are situated in the Windhoek International Finance Park while another branch operates in the Caesar International Office Park. This is because all insurance companies are found in the Caesar Office Park, making it convenient to get quotes upon request or to make an inquiry quicker. Having become a success and seeing the need for better accounting practise for the smaller businesses, the company diversified into the accounting field and registered a business named Great Advisory Services.The role of Great Advisory Services is to assist entrepreneurs to sustain their businesses by upholding proper and consistent accounting ethos. Great Advisory Services was registered in September 2011 and has been in operation since then. Not only does the business deal with accounting but it also in company secretarial and consultancy. It registers companies, sits as a director on the board and act as agents on submitting applications for permits. The staff includes Gracia Hunde, Elaine Chatonga and Palesa Mosa.Gracia Hunde is the executive director having gained all her knowledge from experience and is currently pursuing a degree in the University of South Africa. She mainly deals in company secretarial and business consultancy. Elaine Chatonga is the head accountant, having graduated with an Honourary degree in accounting and is pursuing chartered accountancy. She draws up the financial statements and calculates the tax returns due for all the clients and for the business as well. As head accountant, it is also her duty to supervise the work of the cler and make necessary changes.Palesa Mosa is the accounting clerk, having acquired an AAT qualification. As a clerk she does the day to day recording of accounts for the business and for the clients. She is also in charge of the petty cash book, answering calls, submitting tax returns and miscellaneous work. MISSION The mission of Geat Advisory Services is to provide accounting services to small, medium and large enterprises. In providing accounting services, the aim is to also influence the practise of proper accounting ethos and to improve the running and quality of business in the country.This is will be accomplished by building a relationship with the clients and explaining accounting procedures to them. By building relationships with clients and keeping a small number of clients, the company is able to focus on each client and not do a rush job. By targeting smaller businesses, the company is also able to probe into the finer details. Clientele These consist mainly of small businesses with very few employees as th ese are the main target of the business. Most of the clients are in the motoring industry and have just been contracted; hence there is not much history that has been built.The range of clients runs from auto mechanics to caterers, and interior designers. Clients are drawn in through word of mouth and through networking, as the company barely advertises itself. The biggest client of the firm is its own spear header- Coverage Insurance Brokers. Most of the clients are for accounting services as opposed to the other branches of the business. The business started with a small clientele base of 4, and has since increased to over 10 contracted clients in the accounting branch. 3. 0 MANAGEMENT, TRAINING AND EMPLOYEE INFORMATION 3. 2 Supervisor assistanceI was also debriefed on other office duties that I would be taught which would have nothing to do with schoolwork but were skills needed in the office for example, filing, photocopying, faxing, filling bank cheques and deposit slips and go ing to the bank. I was also told that I would not have any specific responsibilities but work would come up as and when needed which I would be given a briefing on how to do what at that moment. 3. 3 Qualities and skills possessed and developed The job called for speed, teamwork capabilities, versatility, fluency, flexibility and grasping concepts quickly.This I had no problem with, having gone through internship before and being a member of clubs that required teamwork. Being tossed around between jobs, and not knowing what to be doing when you get to work in the office ensured that I was always on my toes. As the job went by, I learnt to be quick but thorough, to ask questions; to be accountable- work was tossed form one person to the other. If I was capturing information, I had to be thorough so that the next person, in this case the accountant, would be able to use the information. If I gave her the wrong information, it would mess all the accounts up.I also had to learn to be r esponsible ? 3. 0 MANAGEMENT, TRAINING AND EMPLOYEE INFORMATION 3. 1 Job orientation A brief meeting was held on the first day of work in which an assessment of my course work and accounting knowledge was made. The information available on the transcript and curriculum vitae was used for the assessment. This same meeting was also used for the purpose of giving me a tour through the company, debriefing on company history and the services offered by the company. I also got the opportunity to familiarise with the business environment and the rest of the staff around.The next step was to test the skills I had I stated that I had. I was shown how to capture information form a receipt, change it, delete it and create a file for a company in the accounting software. After a series of examples, I was asked to do the same. I went through a series of tests in using the accounting system, which in this case was called Quick books. Having shown adequate knowledge, I was informed that I would as sist in that part of the job. The main job was capturing, but some more office jobs were to be done, which I was kindly briefed on.I was to be the extra hand in the office; hence I would be tossed around everywhere, having been given a short tutorial prior to execution of a task. There were no specific responsibilities that were given to me; most of the work to be done would be broken down before being done. Having been briefed on the jobs to be done, I was shown the office space that I would use. A few minutes later I was assigned to my primary role for the week- filing, organising documents prior to capturing, checking if transactions had been captured properly and at the correct amounts and banking.In between the small jobs, I was to familiarise myself with the software and practise before I could be given any work concerning that. 3. 2 Supervisor assistance My supervisor adequately explained all duties and responsibilities before I undertook them. The first question before doing anything was an enquiry as to whether I had done any such thing. If I answered in the negative, I was shown how to do it. I would then attempt the same job under her watch until I had perfected my work In cases were computer use was required, a different document altogether would be opened for the sake of demonstration.A supervisor was always ready to help if I did not understand anything. As this is a small company, help was easy to find as my slowing down would also affect the other operations. My supervisors were quick to explain and guide through new processes especially those that involved going to NURS, going to clients and going to Company registration. I would receive office calls whenever I spent more time than usual. During the first days in the office, I would also get momentary calls just to check on progress or if everything under control 3. 3 Qualities needed and qualities gainedVersatility and flexibility were needed to succeed in this position as I would be tossed i nto any work. This meant I would have to be a receptionist, or an accountant, or the driver so adaptation and was needed. There was much work to do in the office so I had to be quick to catch onto the job as I would often receive crash courses to do a new task. In a job where there were had no fixed duties, and work to do decided on each morning, it was critical to grasp the concept quickly. The job also called for an ability to work without supervision as there was a lot of work to be done between the three services offered by the company.There was a need to be organised and to ask questions to do with more clarification to get an understanding as soon as a task was given in order to curb backlog. The amount of work to be done was much so that made round the clock assistance rather impossible. Time keeping was also very critical. We all depended on each other as one person’s slow delivery affected everyone. There was a need to pay attention to detail when doing accounts so a s to come up with the correct financial statements and prevent reworking which would waste time.Ten client companies would expected their returns to be calculated every second month so each company had specific time slots for doing their books which had to be maximised in order to prevent a rush job being done or eating into another company’s time. Fluency in English and articulation was a needed quality because there were clients to talk to, going to the Registrar of Companies and calls to be answered when the clerk/receptionist was not around. Qualities gained during the process included the ability to think on my feet, tenacity, responsibility and team working.Concerning the ability to think on my feet, jobs done outside the office required decisions to be made quickly if things did not go according to plan this needed one to exercise discretion and take control without having to call the office first. Thinking on one’s feet required the ability to reason carefully and objectively. Over time, I developed tenacity. It became apparent that not only did the job call for work to be done, but to be completed on or before time. Working after hours became normality and not burdensome and neither was it something to complain over.The key was to understand the importance of completing a task before the next day, regardless of working hours. Honesty and responsibility came with the job. Whenever personal resources were used in incurring company expenses, they had to be accounted for. This called for keeping of receipts and disclosing the corrected amounts actually spent in order to qualify for a refund. These expenses also had to be incurred wholly towards the company and not be mixed with personal expenses. Every business can only achieve its goals through teamwork.Work was passed from one person to the other as processes were interlinked. The clerk and I did most of the primary work- capturing and organising files and it had to be understood by the ne xt user of the information. Having done my part for the day, I would not sit around as others worked but pitch in to also help in order for the task to be completed. ? 4. 0 SPECIFIC JOB INFORMATION 4. 1 Daily Responsibilities There were no specific daily responsibilities given as work arose as and when needed but there were things that became routine, for example filing, faxing and photocopying.The other jobs included capturing invoices and receipts into the accounting system, checking if receipts and invoices had been entered into the system, helping to separate receipts into different expenses and banking. Accounting Capturing accounting information from invoices was a daily task. Expenses had to be separated into cost of sales, company expenses and capital expenditures. That done, a list of all transactions entered would be printed and cross-checked with the corresponding receipts as an internal check on capturing all expenditure and at their correct amounts.Every month end, tax return forms were filled out and withholding tax charges calculated. For those companies which took the liberty to calculate their own taxes, their figures would be matched with those in the tax tables to ensure consistency. The difficult part of this was working with companies that pay employees through commission as they had a different way of calculating applicable charges. Bank reconciliation at the end of each month was a required duty.The task was to go through a monthly bank statement, reconcile the figures with those in the cheque book, adjust for unpresented cheques, account for stop orders and total the bank interest charges for the month. After that the money drawn out for personal use would be calculated for drawings. Filing The first thing upon receipt of files from a client was to sort them out in chronological order. This made it easier to account for the dates on transactions as the date would not be changed with each receipt, it also made it easier to find a missing receipt or to look fo r a query on the receipt if they were in order.The filing work included the tax returns that would come from NURS, documents from the clients in the form of bills, contracts and agreements made between the client and the firm. For withholding taxes, each company had a separate filing place for rental withholding taxes and employee withholding taxes. Printing, copying and faxing Accounting involves a lot of printing, faxing and photocopying. The responsibility assigned was to do exactly that. It was of utmost importance to make sure that the company had one file while the client also had another copy. BankingThis involved drawing up cheques for clients, having been given the due amounts, fill in cheque deposit slips whenever a client made a payment via cheque, signing and accounting for the cheque in the company books before going to the bank to deposit it. This also involved cashing some cheques and depositing them in the respective employee accounts at the en d of the month for salaries. 4. 2 Other responsibilities Messenger Jobs that were done outside the office included fetching files with client’s receipts and invoices for the month and returning them, submitting and collecting returns forms to NURS, getting clients to stamp taxes due forms.Being a messenger also involved following up on company or business name reservations with the Registrar of Companies. The other tasks at the Registrar of Companies were submission of forms for the change of directors and the transfer of ownership of a firm. All paperwork generated from this would be copied and sent to the concerned client Office jobs Part of the office odd jobs was answering the phone when the person responsible was not available. This would involve taking messages and answering for where the required person was, putting through phone calls and answering whatever questions a client had about the business.When clients arrived before their appointed time had to be attended an d entertained until their attendant returned. This was achieved by preparing refreshments and chatting up the client, sitting them comfortably and continuous reassurance that the required person would be with them. Ensuring office security involved locking up doors and cabinets, closing windows, switching off the air conditioners by the last person to leave the office. 4. 3 Knowledge from course work Three years of in the University of Botswana has come with grasping many skills and concepts.Some proved necessary, other premature and some skills use stood out more than others. Knowledge from Accounting Information Systems learnt in BIS309 was the most used and hence the most helpful. It offered a foundation to be able to use any accounting software. BIS309 also helped because it dealt with the daily running of business and how to enter daily transactions into the books of accounts, the separation of bills and invoices and how to create a debit or credit note. BIS309 also included ho w to account for a refund, how to add an account into the list of accounts.Most accounting now is done by software so the ability to use software and the knowledge of the way around the software was an added advantage Knowledge of basic accounting and bank reconciliations was taught in Financial Accounting I (ACC100) and it offered know how on entering costs into books of accounts and drawing up bank reconciliations and treating unpresented cheques. Some clients, being new, lacked adequate accounting information. This amounted to missing receipts and invoices, misnumbered invoices, missing bank cheques or narrations to the cheques.In order to deal with this one had to work backwards from the bank statement to find missing figures and asking for rough estimates for jobs done. Incomplete Records aught in Financial Accounting II (Acc200) was a useful resource. For the purpose of separation of business costs into cost of sales and expenses Introduction to Cost Accounting (ACC201) was ve ry useful. Some business incurred expenses that had to be charged to their cost of sales, not costs of running the business, for example the cost of delivery, the cost of assembly, etc.One company was a delivery company and conducted trade by going to South Africa and taking goods for delivery into Namibia, the cost of the job did not only include fuel to travel to South Africa but it included the driver’s accommodation and food and the cost of toll gates. Dealing with these expenses was leant in Managaemnt accounting applications ACC303. Final accounts are drawn at the end of each month and they have to be drawn up according to the formats in the accounting standards.Knowledge of accounting standards and presentation formats was acquired in Auditing I (ACC301) and Financial Accounting II (ACC 300. ) Upon the calculation of taxes for individual employees, calculating the gross taxes, doing a bank reconciliation, comparison of figures, checking if all receipts had been entered Microsoft excel was used. BIS 205 dealt with the primary use of computers and plugging in formulae. General Education Courses dealt with the use of computers and communication.Businesses require a lot of communication and etiquette. Gec 121,introduction to Computers was useful for the purpose of using email, Introduction to Communication (GEC111 and 112) helped in articulation and Introduction to Rhetoric and Public Speaking (GEC 364) helped in building confidence and addressing people. For the sake of company registration, the difference between a company and a business grasped in Introduction to Company Law (LAW351) was a critical tool in knowing the difference, lest the two be wrongly interchanged.This difference was also critical whenever capturing expenses, keeping in mind that sole traders were not separated from the business and withdrawals made were charged as drawings. 4. 4 Beneficial things to have learnt It would have been very helpful to have gone through an introductor y lesson in tax so as to understand the format, the applicable tax figures had and to fill in a tax from with understanding. Most of the workings in tax were done out of memory, having been briefed on before but with no adequate understanding as to why they were done that way for example amounts exempt from tax and the calculations of allowable deductions.Cash flow Statements are part of the final accounts drawn up at the end of the month. This was also something learnt on the job but without full comprehension of what exactly to be done and what to be done. 4. 5 new skills acquired The reservation of a company name and creation of a shelf company is one of the stand out skills I acquired on the job. A lot of companies open new branches, since Botswana is a developing country and there is positive economic growth, many businesses and companies are being opened as a result and know how in reserving a name and registering a business has become a crucial tool that one may use as an age nt.In learning how to reserve company names and creating shelf companies, it was inevitable that I had to learn how to change directors of a company. Some companies do not immediately operate upon been granted approval or even fail to start, these companies can then be taken over by other persons. Forms for changes in directors of a company are retrieved from the Registrar of Companies’ website. The website hosts many forms that can just be downloaded and printed without necessarily collecting them from their offices. I learnt how to collect a tax return form. These forms are collects directly from NURS.A tax return form has to types, one being for VAT and the other being income tax. The person collecting the tax returns forms has to have knowledge of their Tax Identity Number. Other small skills acquired include:- †¢Calculation of PAYE. Pay as You Earn tax is calculated using the tax tables. Each income has a specific tax matched to it and those that go beyond the norma l amount have a specific extra amount to apply. †¢How to register a company for tax. The form is collected from NURS and it contains various areas to be filled out including the type of business, the name of the business.The bank needs to also certify that an account by that person exists. †¢How to fax and photocopy. This was part of daily office work. No knowledge of such skills had been possessed before. †¢How to use Quickbooks. This was the accounting software used by the company. Knowledge of Pastel Accounting and the use of Microsoft in Accounting were the only prior knowledge. Most companies use Quickbooks so this is a relevant skill upon job search at the completion of the degree. †¢How to use office stationery properly. There is some stationery designed for office use that we fail to use properly.Documents need to be filed neatly and in an orderly manner. That said, learnt how to align a paper before punching, refill staples and to use the various types o f files. ? 5. 0 Conclusions and recommendation 5. 1 Career goals versus industrial attachment The Industrial attachment surely did bring some perspective. The daily work in accounting is significantly different from the theory learnt in school. Day to day accounts is routine and very simple. Within a short period of time, one begins to know the routine of recording and creating financial statements at the end of the year.That said, I realise now that accounting needs to be supplemented with other courses, for example ACCA, CFA, CIMA, etc. These professional courses give one the ability to review policies placed by the business in their accounting. They also help one to become more marketable in the industry and prevent the boredom inherent in most office jobs with routine tasks. Looking at the clientele of the business, there is a dire need for accountants and for people to learn to be ‘accounts smart’. Most companies do not even have a clerk and most small businesses d o not have an accounts department as the owner does everything and the results nd up being very poor. I have also come to realise that the lack of consultancy and knowledge of cost versus revenue makes some businesses fail or not realise their full potential as much is taken from the business without replacement via drawings. That said, may career goals really have changed and I would not want to end up sitting in the office, day by day, drawing accounts for people, but instead to give advice on running a business and creating strategies that work. I would like to move into explaining accounts to business owners and creating strategies for the purpose of cost reduction and ensuring longevity in a business.Clients constantly complain about the return on their taxes, some do not even know what it means or how it is calculated and are always disgruntled when they see an accountant coming through. Clients therefore need tutorials in the accounting field so that they just do not accept a nything or begin to distrust their accountants. 5. 2 derivations from the attachment Two stand out lessons were derived from internship, the first being that university education alone does not fully equip one for the work environment; one needs a bit of experience.The second lesson being, there is a lot of ignorance concerning accounting in Namibia, to the point of business owners doing their own book-keeping. This comes from a lack of appreciation of the role of accounting in business. Concerning the equipping by the University, there is not enough room for doing accounting practically. There are too many courses from other faculties that students are encouraged to take up in their first year, which leaves little room for proper accounting courses in the degree.The result is that most accounting is taught in a rush manner without adequate understanding and the result is that students cram without grasping concepts fully. This became apparent on the calculation of a businessâ€℠¢ daily expenses. In the examples given us in school, the figures are already summed up and apparent, most of the work involves drawing final accounts, but in businesses, final accounts are drawn up only once a month. The recording of a business’ daily expenses is critical and needs to be given attention in the foundation courses of the degree.Concerning ignorance of accounting , most businesses have no accountant and do not keep the relevant information used in drawing up accounts. The use of interns is also a wide spread normality among those who wish to have some form of book-keeping in their business. However, interns are fresh from university and often make mistakes. This results in backlogs during work as some of the books have to be redone. 5. 3 most significant learning experience The most significant learning process was that on the importance of teamwork. Business processes are intertwined that each person relied the other person.Slacking was therefore intolerable a s it affected everyone else’s progress. That said, I learnt to rely on other people, and to become a person to be relied upon. I also learnt to value the contribution of other people and the vitality of making a significant contribution in a team. 5. 4 self-evaluation The key strengths I possessed for this job were adaptation and quick-learning. I understood whatever work was assigned to me in a very short space of time. There was a lot of tossing around involved in the job as I had no specific responsibilities, this meant I had to be versatile and ready for anything.The ability to think quickly and summon best judgement in a rash situation was very useful when running errands and things would not go according to plan or clients were late. This required changing things or rearranging with a client on my own without calling the office first. The ability to work without supervision and being self-motivated was an added advantage. Because of the lack of space, I shared the offic e with the other company branch of Dotaka Investments called Coverage Insurance. This meant I had no round the clock supervision in my work. I however managed to complete all my work before time or on time.Being reliable is another quality I possess that the executive director would allow me to run errands for her with her car while she would be in the office. She relied on me to represent her well wherever she sent me on her behalf. Dress was no problem for me as I made sure I was clad formally and presentable each day. Articulation and fluency in English was an added quality as well that enabled me to win over clients and explain to them adequately what we required of them. im formal. time keeping My time keeping in the morning was not the most efficient.Most of the time i was not punctual to work and i would arrive a little bit after time. I however compensated for this shortfall by personally working during lunch or working late. 5. 5 recomendations for improvement in the organi sation Great Advisory Services needs bigger office space. During this period of attachment, there were five employees sharing two rooms. This meant that the main office had three employees which is too large a number for a small space. The room became crowded to the point that clients would notice and either mention in a joking manner or just showed unpleasantness.The company vision has to be printed and stuck on the wall and be used in company stamps. I only knew the vision when I had. A company vision helps in boosting employee morale by showing them that whatever they are doing is contributing to the achievement of the vision. Grievances in the company need to be addressed. There were matters that were swept under the carpet even though they were important. There were times were there would be some tension in the office or gossip over another person over things that were not properly stipulated yet could be solved with a sit down meeting.There needs to be an investment towards th e training of employees. An accounts consultant was employed by the firm for enquiries’ sake. However, his availability was after hours which could go on till midnight this was not an efficient way of working. The problem can be overcome by putting one of the accountants through an ACCA program. Also the clerks’ work was not up to standard as most of it had to be redone. Employee training should also be in answering calls, using appropriate register as there was a tendency for employees to use an incorrect tone or a colloquial term in a formal set-up.