Thursday, May 01, 2008
I remembered weeks ago, I mentioned about finding podcasts and audio products for Accounting. Right now, I had a good website that issue podcasts on various accounting topics every two weeks. The website address is http://www.stevebragg.com/Podcast_Sign_Up.html . The various topics he talked about include Controls for Payroll, Fixed Assets, Journal Entries and many more great accounting topics.
The author of this website, Steven Bragg, is one of the top-selling and most prolific accounting authors in the world, has been quoted in Business Week and CFO Magazine, and has spoken internationally on a variety of accounting management issues. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of a public company, and has been the CFO or controller of four companies. He holds an MBA from Babson College, a Master of Finance degree from Bentley College, a BA from the University of Maine, and has been a consulting manager with Ernst & Young and an auditor with Deloitte & Touche. He also holds the CPA, CMA, CIA, and CPIM certifications. Steve is the author of more than 30 business books, including the best sellers Accounting Best Practices, Accounting Control Best Practices, The New CFO Financial Leadership Manual, Controllership, Fast Close, Just-in-Time Accounting, and The Ultimate Accountant's Reference. He is also a co-author of the Wiley GAAP Guide, which is the standard accounting industry guide to the most recent GAAP issuances. With more than 17,000 copies sold each year, it is a perennial favorite among practicing accountants.
More on Accounting in Business.
More on Management Accounting.
More on Financial Accounting.
The author of this website, Steven Bragg, is one of the top-selling and most prolific accounting authors in the world, has been quoted in Business Week and CFO Magazine, and has spoken internationally on a variety of accounting management issues. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of a public company, and has been the CFO or controller of four companies. He holds an MBA from Babson College, a Master of Finance degree from Bentley College, a BA from the University of Maine, and has been a consulting manager with Ernst & Young and an auditor with Deloitte & Touche. He also holds the CPA, CMA, CIA, and CPIM certifications. Steve is the author of more than 30 business books, including the best sellers Accounting Best Practices, Accounting Control Best Practices, The New CFO Financial Leadership Manual, Controllership, Fast Close, Just-in-Time Accounting, and The Ultimate Accountant's Reference. He is also a co-author of the Wiley GAAP Guide, which is the standard accounting industry guide to the most recent GAAP issuances. With more than 17,000 copies sold each year, it is a perennial favorite among practicing accountants.
More on Accounting in Business.
More on Management Accounting.
More on Financial Accounting.
Labels: accountancy, accountant in business, accounting, accounting tools, business accounting, financial accountancy, financial accounting, management accountancy, managerial accounting
what we could have been, 6:33 PM.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
A truly successful accountant in the business world has certain characteristics. The accountant who has all the characteristics listed below is rare, but most truly successful accountants have many, if not most, of these characteristics.
In terms of Expertise:
Technical Aspects: Knows accounting principles, accounting standards as well as taxation related to the location.
Management Aspects: Knows the principles and techniques of business management and administration. Ability to provide tactical information to increase efficiency and productivity.
Language: Speaks well and writes well. Spells accurately and has good grammar. This is essentially needed for financial reports.
Personal Characteristics
Dress: Dresses for success, wearing conservative, formal clothing. Polished shoes.
Personal image: Well groomed, clean. Moderate length or short hair, clean fingernails.
Integrity: An accountant sells two things: time and integrity. Has high personal standards of honesty and lives by the organization's high standards. Personal life is consistent with working life's standards.
Confidence: Has self-confidence but is not overbearing. Relaxed.
Service orientation: Always looking to serve others and help solve their problems.
Office/workspace: Neat, organized, inviting. Comfortable.
Personal hygiene: No smell, no bad breath. Good posture. Moderate, pleasant voice. No loud or expansive gestures. Looks healthy and full of energy. Is not sleepy or bored on the job.
Attitude: Positive. Willing to work. Excited to solve problems.
Pleasant personality: Gets along with everyone, including difficult personalities.
Disciplined Resource Management
Money: Not extravagant with company funds or personal funds. Personal finances are in order to create trust.
Time: Uses time effectively and efficiently. This is absolutely essential. Accountants sell their time; expertise and knowledge help, but there must be time to use it. Those who are not good time managers will not be successful accountants.
Etiquette
Sends thank-you notes.
Introduces people.
Uses common courtesy at all times.
Punctual; does not make others wait. Shows time management.
Knows when to stand up in respect of others. Be assertive.
Able to manage meetings and end them gracefully on time.
Attends to details; merticulous.
I may not have all the attributes but I am working on it. In terms of expertise, I am not there yet and I would work hard towards it and this is the area I would on through my ACCA course and hopefully in a temporary job that I could do during my vacation or something.
Labels: accountancy, accountant in business, accounting, business accounting, career, grooming, management accountancy, managerial accounting
what we could have been, 11:50 PM.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Morale
Morale is a term primarily used from a military context, to denote the state of mind or spirit of group, particularly regarding discipline and confidence. It can also be related to satifasfaction, since low morale implies a state of dissatisfaction.
How do we look for signs of low morales? Here are some indications:
1. Low productivity maybe a sign of low morale but this may be due to other problems which hold a higher weightage.
2. High labour turnover may also be aign but do take into the account of the age structure of the workforce and other actors in natural wastage. Low turnover does not also neccsarily mean high morale; they may stay due to lack of other job opportunities in the job market.
There are many theories behind morale and two such theories are Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg's two-factor theory.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow's hierarchy of needs depicts a pyramid which shows physiological needs as the bottom role followed by safety followed by social followed by ego and then self actualisation. At any one moment, one need is dominant and remains dominant until satisfied. Once satisfied, it is no longer a motivator and will then be replaced by a higher order need not yet satisfied. Every individual needs are different and a manager needs to identify subordinate's needs and provide the means to satisfy this needs. Take for an example a prostitute especially one that comes from a very poor family: Her main hierarchy of needs according to Maslow's would be to satisfy her physiological needs, to get her own shelter, food and earn money. No woman would wanted to sell their body unless that woman is insane. In order for the woman to sell them is when they are desperate for moeny and could not obtain it in any other ways and therefore, they sell tehir body.
However, there are criticisms to this theory. It is not the complete answer to motivate employees and satisfaction of needs are not the only factor, others like group allegiance, attitudes towards managers may exert stronger motivation. Some people may have very low aspirations, hence no motivation and hierachy of needs may not be applicable to creative people like musicians and artists.
Herzberg's two factor theory
Ferderick Herzberg revealed two distinct sets of factors: those who created satisfaction known as motivator factors and those who create dissatisfaction known as hygiene or maintenance factors. Herzberg also highlighted two basic needs of individuals:
1. The need to avoid unpleasantness. Hygiene factors satisfy this need.
2. The need for personal growth and fulfillment. Motivator factors satisfy this need.
Althought Herberg's model is simple and accesible, it has been critised on a number of grounds.
1. Empirical verifictaion and measuremtn of the claim that motivator factors increase productivity have been hard to find.
2. The research findings are context specific.
3. The original study was based on an inadequately small sample size to draw conclusion.
Hope that you would find this article useful.
More on Accounting in Business.
More on Management Accounting.
Morale is a term primarily used from a military context, to denote the state of mind or spirit of group, particularly regarding discipline and confidence. It can also be related to satifasfaction, since low morale implies a state of dissatisfaction.
How do we look for signs of low morales? Here are some indications:
1. Low productivity maybe a sign of low morale but this may be due to other problems which hold a higher weightage.
2. High labour turnover may also be aign but do take into the account of the age structure of the workforce and other actors in natural wastage. Low turnover does not also neccsarily mean high morale; they may stay due to lack of other job opportunities in the job market.
There are many theories behind morale and two such theories are Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg's two-factor theory.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow's hierarchy of needs depicts a pyramid which shows physiological needs as the bottom role followed by safety followed by social followed by ego and then self actualisation. At any one moment, one need is dominant and remains dominant until satisfied. Once satisfied, it is no longer a motivator and will then be replaced by a higher order need not yet satisfied. Every individual needs are different and a manager needs to identify subordinate's needs and provide the means to satisfy this needs. Take for an example a prostitute especially one that comes from a very poor family: Her main hierarchy of needs according to Maslow's would be to satisfy her physiological needs, to get her own shelter, food and earn money. No woman would wanted to sell their body unless that woman is insane. In order for the woman to sell them is when they are desperate for moeny and could not obtain it in any other ways and therefore, they sell tehir body.
However, there are criticisms to this theory. It is not the complete answer to motivate employees and satisfaction of needs are not the only factor, others like group allegiance, attitudes towards managers may exert stronger motivation. Some people may have very low aspirations, hence no motivation and hierachy of needs may not be applicable to creative people like musicians and artists.
Herzberg's two factor theory
Ferderick Herzberg revealed two distinct sets of factors: those who created satisfaction known as motivator factors and those who create dissatisfaction known as hygiene or maintenance factors. Herzberg also highlighted two basic needs of individuals:
1. The need to avoid unpleasantness. Hygiene factors satisfy this need.
2. The need for personal growth and fulfillment. Motivator factors satisfy this need.
Althought Herberg's model is simple and accesible, it has been critised on a number of grounds.
1. Empirical verifictaion and measuremtn of the claim that motivator factors increase productivity have been hard to find.
2. The research findings are context specific.
3. The original study was based on an inadequately small sample size to draw conclusion.
Hope that you would find this article useful.
More on Accounting in Business.
More on Management Accounting.
Labels: accountancy, accountant in business, accounting, business accounting
what we could have been, 8:17 PM.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
It was an insightful day yesterday as I attended my F1 course on motivation and performance. In time to come, if I entered into the corporate world or assume any leadership role, this lesson could be the most useful lesson I ever attended. Therefore, I decided to share with you some of the things I learned during this lesson.
Many would ask: Why motivate people? Have we not pay them enough? A recent survey conducted and published on a local newspaper had suggested that Singaporeans are not motivated by pay to work. They seeked opportunities and personal development and assume more managerial roles. This is what motivates Singaporeans. Singaporeans are no longer contented with a fat pay check, they wanted more. How we give them? This is why this lesson is important to me.
A well trained, experienced but unmotivated individual is unlikely to be committed to his job, doing only the bare minimum. Likewise, a young and enthusiastic trainee may learn very fast and produce a return on the organisation's investment quickly initially but would lose steam or leave the organisation if he felt unmotivated. I also had an experience with my present organisation whereby everyone wanted to leave because they felt unmotivated. Everyone is only looking forward for their next pay check and they would just do the bare minimum leaving those who are motivated their left over work. Soon, the motivated ones became unmotivated and do just the bare minimum and this became a deadly cycle. Although, every now and then, the organisation would have fresh trainees and recruits, they would have a high labour turnover which is not healthily at all. Therefore, it is in the manager's best interests to have a good motivation throughout a company, from sales office to the production line. With motivation, your staff will definitely be more productive and committed, making fewer mistakes and convey a more positive and enthusiastic air to customers.
There are three keys areas for using motivation as a tool to get work done. They are:
1. Giving employees freedom to achieve an objective. (NOT MY PRESENT ORGANISATION) Let them learn and grow from their job experiences. Guide them in the right direction but do not interfere in the way they are doing or carry out the tasks. I love my previous superiors. They allowed me to do what I wanted to do like studying for my ACCA, sleeping if I am tired or anything as long as I completed the jobs they needed me to do. They also would like interfere with the way I do things but most importantly if I did a mistake, they would guide me instead of scolding or treating me like shit like my current organisation did.
2. Recognition and genuine appreciation for good work done. (DEFINITELY NOT MY PRESENT ORGANISATION) Many companies took for granted that employees getting a good job done is a right as they paid them to do so. What companies do not see is that employees took overtime, skip lunches or breaks just to do a report for their bosses. If the bosses do not appreciate that, the employee may think why should I skip lunch or breaks and do overtime and instead may just do the bare minimum which is happening to all companies, including mine. My previous superior would buy somethings like cookies or anything and he would just gave it to us, making us feel appreciated and definitely, we would not screwed up. I would do just the bare minimum in my current organisation because I do not feel appreciated. From day one, I got this feeling that we are crap and they wanted to kick us to a curb. Definitely not good for my heart so I started to ignore a lot of things and not to care so much, unlike my previous organisation which I loved to help.
3. Good interpersonal relations. (CONFIRM PLUS GUARANTEE WITH WARANTEE NOT MY PRESENT ORGANISATION) From day one, I did not had a good relationships which anyone in the current organisation. I started not to care and I hated each and everyone of them. I still do though although I was just good at conceding them.
This is why up till now, I still hate my organisation. Back to the topic....
Understanding Motivation
Motivation is ' a decision making process through which the individual chooses the desired outcomes and sets in motion the behaviour appropriate to aquire them. This is a definition by Huczynski and Buchenan. In pratice motivation are used in many different contexts. Here are some:
1. Desirable goals and outcomes. (money, power or friendship)
2. The mental process of choosing desired outcomes, deciding how to go to them and setting in motion the required behaviours. This is like internet marketing, you choose your niche areas and your techniques (Search Engine Optimazation, social networking) to increase traffic and you kept doing it.
3. The social process by which other people motivate us to behave in the ways they wish. Motivation in the sense usually applies to the attempts of organisations to get workers to put in more effort.
Motivation is about getting the extra level of commitment and performance from employees, over and above mere compliance with rules and procedures. If individuals are motivated, by one means or another, they might work more efficiently or produce a better quality of work.
More on Accounting in Business.
More on Management Accounting.
Many would ask: Why motivate people? Have we not pay them enough? A recent survey conducted and published on a local newspaper had suggested that Singaporeans are not motivated by pay to work. They seeked opportunities and personal development and assume more managerial roles. This is what motivates Singaporeans. Singaporeans are no longer contented with a fat pay check, they wanted more. How we give them? This is why this lesson is important to me.
A well trained, experienced but unmotivated individual is unlikely to be committed to his job, doing only the bare minimum. Likewise, a young and enthusiastic trainee may learn very fast and produce a return on the organisation's investment quickly initially but would lose steam or leave the organisation if he felt unmotivated. I also had an experience with my present organisation whereby everyone wanted to leave because they felt unmotivated. Everyone is only looking forward for their next pay check and they would just do the bare minimum leaving those who are motivated their left over work. Soon, the motivated ones became unmotivated and do just the bare minimum and this became a deadly cycle. Although, every now and then, the organisation would have fresh trainees and recruits, they would have a high labour turnover which is not healthily at all. Therefore, it is in the manager's best interests to have a good motivation throughout a company, from sales office to the production line. With motivation, your staff will definitely be more productive and committed, making fewer mistakes and convey a more positive and enthusiastic air to customers.
There are three keys areas for using motivation as a tool to get work done. They are:
1. Giving employees freedom to achieve an objective. (NOT MY PRESENT ORGANISATION) Let them learn and grow from their job experiences. Guide them in the right direction but do not interfere in the way they are doing or carry out the tasks. I love my previous superiors. They allowed me to do what I wanted to do like studying for my ACCA, sleeping if I am tired or anything as long as I completed the jobs they needed me to do. They also would like interfere with the way I do things but most importantly if I did a mistake, they would guide me instead of scolding or treating me like shit like my current organisation did.
2. Recognition and genuine appreciation for good work done. (DEFINITELY NOT MY PRESENT ORGANISATION) Many companies took for granted that employees getting a good job done is a right as they paid them to do so. What companies do not see is that employees took overtime, skip lunches or breaks just to do a report for their bosses. If the bosses do not appreciate that, the employee may think why should I skip lunch or breaks and do overtime and instead may just do the bare minimum which is happening to all companies, including mine. My previous superior would buy somethings like cookies or anything and he would just gave it to us, making us feel appreciated and definitely, we would not screwed up. I would do just the bare minimum in my current organisation because I do not feel appreciated. From day one, I got this feeling that we are crap and they wanted to kick us to a curb. Definitely not good for my heart so I started to ignore a lot of things and not to care so much, unlike my previous organisation which I loved to help.
3. Good interpersonal relations. (CONFIRM PLUS GUARANTEE WITH WARANTEE NOT MY PRESENT ORGANISATION) From day one, I did not had a good relationships which anyone in the current organisation. I started not to care and I hated each and everyone of them. I still do though although I was just good at conceding them.
This is why up till now, I still hate my organisation. Back to the topic....
Understanding Motivation
Motivation is ' a decision making process through which the individual chooses the desired outcomes and sets in motion the behaviour appropriate to aquire them. This is a definition by Huczynski and Buchenan. In pratice motivation are used in many different contexts. Here are some:
1. Desirable goals and outcomes. (money, power or friendship)
2. The mental process of choosing desired outcomes, deciding how to go to them and setting in motion the required behaviours. This is like internet marketing, you choose your niche areas and your techniques (Search Engine Optimazation, social networking) to increase traffic and you kept doing it.
3. The social process by which other people motivate us to behave in the ways they wish. Motivation in the sense usually applies to the attempts of organisations to get workers to put in more effort.
Motivation is about getting the extra level of commitment and performance from employees, over and above mere compliance with rules and procedures. If individuals are motivated, by one means or another, they might work more efficiently or produce a better quality of work.
More on Accounting in Business.
More on Management Accounting.
Labels: accountancy, accountant in business, accounting, business accounting, career, management accountancy, managerial accounting
what we could have been, 6:25 PM.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
I am tired, really tired. You can see that I am still up at 1am blogging. Anyway, here is my summary for today's lecture.1. Why a need for regulation?
- separation of ownership and management
- limited liability status
- economic power
2. Objectives for General Purpose Financial Statements (GPFS)
- financial position
- performance
- cash flow position
3. Components of financial statements
- Balance Sheet
- Income Statement
- Statement if changes in Equity
- Cashflow statements
- notes to account
4. Format for IAS1.
Revenue XX
Cost of Sales (XX)
Gross Profit XX
Other Income XX
Distribution Expense (XX)
Admin Expense (XX)
Finance Cost (XX)
Profit before tax XX
tax (XX)
Net Profit XX
5. Finance Cost are basically interest payables.
That's all for now!!!
Labels: accountancy, accountant in business, accounting, business accounting, financial accountancy, financial accounting
what we could have been, 1:25 AM.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
In my previous post, I did mentioned about the three main issues to team building: team identity, solidarity and commitment. Today, I shall blog on solidarity and commitment. Solidarity in laymen terms is called cohesion and loyalty. Without cohesion and loyalty, the team could not exercise synergy meaning working together to give a bigger output as compared to the total output should the people working separately. The lack of solidarity also means that people will not be as heavily involved and committed to their work. Therefore, it is essential that the team leader should seek revenues to build up team solidarity through the following steps:1. Expressing solidarity.
2. Encouraging interpersonal relationships although the purpose is to ensure work gets done.
3. Dealing with conflict through open discussions.
4. Controlling competition to prevent bianess.
5. Encouraging some competition.
Most often, getting people to be fully committed in their work is the most difficult process. It involves a range of leaders activity (setting clear objectives, allowing active participation, giving feedback, formal and informal communication , offering positive reinforcement and the championing the success of the team.) that are either very time consuming or difficult to implement. In the case of giving feedback could sometimes hurt someone so emotionally that even a grown up man could cry for hours before bucking up and move on. If the team leader do not communicate well with the team workers, it may lead to unwanted office politics, suspicions or even speculations of lay offs. Therefore, it is crucial of the team leader to step up and carry out the range of leaders activity. (setting clear objectives, allowing active participation, giving feedback, formal and informal communication , offering positive reinforcement and the championing the success of the team.)
However, being too cohesive can be a problem. This may run the risk of group think which result in making irresponsible decisions and conflict with other groups in the organisations. Group think is a dangerous problem because the group may be too complacent and deter constructive changes to their teams which is detrimental. A team should always constantly seek outside idea and feedback, welcome self-criticism and disagreement to improve themselves which can then benefit others. One of the classic example is Mas Selamat incident whereby the 'guards' are too complacent about his job and this result into many recalls, activations of ops team and many OTs to find Mas Selamat. Such actions are irresponsible and should be severely dealt with. Because of this, several man power, resources were wasted and still, Mas Selamat is still at large which is dangerous to Singapore's security.
There should also be quantitative and qualitative assessment on team effectiveness and introduction of rewards to the effective teams. This could be done through profit sharing, gainsharing schemes and employee share option.
I was really tired today. I drooled on my bus trip to the train station (saliva dripping on my pants). I also had many occassions of weakening knees during my train trips to night classes because I was really tired and dozed off while doing nothing. I still do not like my organisation and I still have the perspectives of the organisation from the very first impression.
Labels: accountancy, accountant in business, accounting, business accounting
what we could have been, 11:18 PM.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
TeamA team has joint objectives and accountability. It is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach which they hold mutually accountable.
Team working
They are used for organising work, controlling activities, generating ideas, decision making and pooling of knowledge. However, they may not be suitable for all jobs and people may not come together as a team to meet the objectives and purpose. They can also delay decision making and might be at the expense of other aspects of performance. They restrict creativity due to norms, group think and there might be personality clashes and political infighting which I think my current workplace is good at. To elaborate on personality clashes and political infighting, it means that people want to rebut or refute you just because of the fact that they do not like you. Take my example like in the previous post, I was targeted because they did not like me at all or because we just came down here not knowing a lot of things. I was also targeted for new jobs because of me being the most junior.
Group think- Irving Jams
A group can be so dynamic and strong to the point where they became blinkered to outside information and feedback and its decision making processes are dangerously distorted. My lecturer illustrated about a political party in Singapore (you know who) that is so dynamic and strong that they do not listen to the voice of the citizens. He quoted that a political party said to point whereby if you want to have a view on policy making, you should join the politics. This phenomenon is known as group think and it could be deadly dangerous. What if the whole political party is made out of elitist which was so strong and dynamic, the policies would cater to the elitist, leaving those poor, hungry to suffer and fend for themselves. Group think is dangerous as it would resist criticisms, contradiction and new information. It also pressure the member to toe the line, instill a sense of invulnerability and tendency to stereotype all outsiders as competitors and enemies.
Multi-disciplinary teams contain people from different departments but a multi-skilled team contain people with more than one skill. Multi-disciplinary teams increase worker's awareness of their overall objectives and targets, aid co-ordination and help to generate solutions to problems. Multi-skilled team on the other hand introduces flexibility to the skills available and in time when one person is down, the other person can take over. This is what my working organisation is trying to do, creating a multi-skilled team from different disciplinaries so that we can be maximised fully, learning every one's trade. By the time I learned finished their trade, I would have ORDed and said goodbye to them. What I learned from my previous course will be relearned and what I do not learn, I have to learn now. So by the time I orded, I would have learned and do like............. My point is this, if you want to form a multi-skilled team, you should have started a course that is multi-skilled, not pooling people from multi disciplinary teams. I think that my organisation failed to understand the difference between multi-disciplinary and multi-skilled and leads to lots and lots of unnecessary confusion.
Virtual Teams
Virtual teams and teams that are not physically there but they do information sharing through Information and Communications Technology.
Team Roles: R Meredith Belbin.
Belbin's theory insisted that a distinction needs to be made between a team (process) role(interaction) and a functional role(technical skills and knowledge). Both are as important. According to his theory, the steps in team building must be firstly, articulating the purpose followed by selecting team membership and lastly, deciding the 'style'. There are nine types of styles: plant, resource investigator (me), co-ordinator, shaper, monitor, evaluator (me), team worker (me), implementer, completer and specialist. However, they are not fixed and can occupy different roles. It should also be recognised that individuals will be naturally incline towards some roles than others, individuals adopt one or two team roles more consistently and might be more successful in certain roles.
Belbin's complementary roles
Team roles Vs Functional role.
Assessment:
Who is playing which role and analyse the frequency and type of individual members' contributions to group discussions and interactions.
Neil Rackham and Terry Morgan
Neil Rackham and Terry Morgan introduce types of contributions. Positive contributions include proposing, building, supporting, seeking information(my ex boss of superiors), giving information and disagreeing. Negative contributions include attacking, defending(my work place's seniors), blocking(my workplace) or difficulty stating, open behaviour and shutting out(my workplace). Essential positive contributions include bring in behavior (my workplace), testing understanding(my ex boss of superiors)(my workplace) and summarising. I remember a time during the NE week whereby we are given a show to watch and I contribute that about the culture. Maybe I did not state and explain properly and further but I felt I was being attacked by the other people because every single one of them in my team used that opportunity to said that that is not a good idea. At that point, I wanted to argue back but being rank conscious, I decided not to rebut and not to say anything anymore. I felt that my point was really invalid. I still remember myself saying promoting Singapore's culture and they were like I do not think you thought it through enough and they were like how can you promote a culture where by there is maid abuse and that regulars become insurance sellers and such a sad story. In the end, what I meant was not that kind of Singapore's culture but rather our dialect, our religion and so on. It was something that really shocked me and I understood the part of attacking and shutting out ideas.
Development of the team:
Step 1: Forming- guarding and suspicions
Step 2: Storming- Begin contributions
Step 3: Norming- ie. Punctuality
Step 4: Performing
Other Stages: Dorming and Mourning/adjourning (ME!!!!)
I do not really like the part about norming because for me, I would not compromise to situations and I had a story behind it. The norms and the vibes that my current working place give me had been negative so far. Sometimes, I do feel that I was being attacked by them because of the way they speak and sometimes, I feel that they treat me like shit and wanted to kick me around. They are like constantly shouting and yelling like lunatics. They just literally attacked a person without giving a thought whether the words they said hurt people's feelings. As much as it is easy to work with me, it is also very difficult to pull me out because if I did not feel like I belong here, I would not give a very positive attitude towards work. That's how I feel. I would be very crude, blunt and obnoxious.
Anyway back to the topic:
Team Building will have three main issues: team identity, team solidarity and shared objectives.
Team Identity will include name, badge and uniform, self image mythology and a separate space.
Team solidarity: Expressing loyalty, encouraging relationships, dealing with conflict, controlling competition and encouraging it.
Labels: accountancy, accountant in business, accounting, business accounting
what we could have been, 8:14 PM.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Today was pretty much on the same topic as last week but in comparison to last week's topic, this week's was much more focused. Basically, the lecturer continued with the role theory: role ambiguity, role incompatibility, role signs and role models. Role ambiguity and incompatibility were very similar in their elements; they were all talking about superior being good friends with their employees. They were different in their concept. Role ambiguity talked about employees do not know their limits and incompatibility talked about the restraints when the employer want to carry out punishments with their 'good friends'. The next part of the lecture talked about groups at work. The attributes of a group will comprise of three elements: a sense of identity, loyalty and acceptance and the purpose and leadership. He also covers the reasons and the trend with groups which include preference for small networks, the ned to belong, familiarity, common rank, attractiveness of an activity, resources offered to groups, power, formal directives and informal groups such as cliques. He went on to talk about huamn behavior being different in groups, offering synergy as being positive and negative. The next thing would be the individual contributions vs group contributions. After that, he went on with the key components of griup process which include stages of group development, role differentiation, communication and interaction, task and maintenance and decision making.Labels: accountancy, accountant in business, accounting, business accounting
what we could have been, 11:08 PM.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Today, the lecturer is a little fast and I was literally fed with information after information with no time to reflect or evaluate. Hence, for many sub topics, it was not focused. Never mind about that, here is the summary of the lecture.1.Definition of a limited liability company.
- shareholders enjoy a limited liability.
2. Types: Private or Public Limited.
3. Key factors of companies:
- separate legal entity
- separation of ownership & management
- limited liability
- formality
4. Companies Finance
Equity
- Ordinary Shares
- Preference Shares (non equity)
- Differed Shares
Debt
- Debenture (Bonds)
5. Issue Price
par value (nominal -> share capital) + share premium = issue price
6. market price of a share = price earning ratio * earnings per share
7. Financial Statements (internal and external uses)
8. Dividends in terms of cash and bonus (script issues)
9. Rights Shares: Shares sold to existing shareholders at a price cheaper than market price of a share.
10. Bonuses Shares: Shares given to existing shareholders by using reserves.
11. Reserves:
- revenue reserve (from profit)
- capital reserve (gain) (ie. share premium)
12. Types of Share Capital
- authorised: maximum capital a company can raise
- issued: portion of authorised that has been sold to investors.
- called in: amount already collected.
- paid in share capital: money already collected or paid by shareholders.
I am still not so sure about the IAS 2 so I probably have to revise on that.
Labels: accountancy, accountant in business, accounting, business accounting, financial accountancy, financial accounting
what we could have been, 6:57 PM.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
In today's lesson, I learned about:
Ashridge Management College Model
Tells/ Autocratic: manager makes all decision and employees must obey without questions
Sells/ Persuasive: manager still makes the decision, employees have to be motivated to accept them in order to carry out properly.
Consults: manager confers with subordinates and takes their views into account but had the final say.
Joins: Leader and followers make the decisions on the basis of consensus.
Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid
X axis: Job Concern
Y axis: People Concern
Limitations:
- Assumption that 9.9 is the most desirable but may not be applicable to some mangerial contexts.
- Oversimplification.
- Organisational context and culture, technology and other 'givens'.
- It may not be useable in pratice by managers.
- It does not consider all the variables that contribute to operation of effective leadership.
a. Manager's personality (inflexibility)
b. Demands of task, technology, organisation culture and manager's constrain
c. Consistency
Huczynski and Buchanan
Contingency Approach
Gillen (leadership) suggests using more than one style.
FE Fiedler found out that people become leaders partly because of their attributs and situation.
Psychologically Distant Managers (PDMs)
Psychologically Close Managers (PCMs)
John Adair Action-Centred Leadership
Planning, Evaluating, Briefing, Motivating, Setting an Example, Controlling and Organising.
Bennis differentiate between management and leadership. Manager administers and maintains while the leader innovates, focuses on people and inspires trust, holding a long term view.
Heifetz Dispersed Leadership distingushes between exercise of 'leadership' and exercise of 'authority'.
Ashridge Management College Model
Tells/ Autocratic: manager makes all decision and employees must obey without questions
Sells/ Persuasive: manager still makes the decision, employees have to be motivated to accept them in order to carry out properly.
Consults: manager confers with subordinates and takes their views into account but had the final say.
Joins: Leader and followers make the decisions on the basis of consensus.
Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid
X axis: Job Concern
Y axis: People Concern
Limitations:
- Assumption that 9.9 is the most desirable but may not be applicable to some mangerial contexts.
- Oversimplification.
- Organisational context and culture, technology and other 'givens'.
- It may not be useable in pratice by managers.
- It does not consider all the variables that contribute to operation of effective leadership.
a. Manager's personality (inflexibility)
b. Demands of task, technology, organisation culture and manager's constrain
c. Consistency
Huczynski and Buchanan
Contingency Approach
Gillen (leadership) suggests using more than one style.
FE Fiedler found out that people become leaders partly because of their attributs and situation.
Psychologically Distant Managers (PDMs)
Psychologically Close Managers (PCMs)
John Adair Action-Centred Leadership
Planning, Evaluating, Briefing, Motivating, Setting an Example, Controlling and Organising.
Bennis differentiate between management and leadership. Manager administers and maintains while the leader innovates, focuses on people and inspires trust, holding a long term view.
Heifetz Dispersed Leadership distingushes between exercise of 'leadership' and exercise of 'authority'.
Labels: accountancy, accountant in business, accounting, business accounting
what we could have been, 11:05 PM.
Monday, April 07, 2008
(a) Define environmental forces in terms of political, legal, economic, social and technological factors.
The environment is everything that surrounds an organisation, physically and socially. They can be examined in two ways- global/local and general/task (macro/micro). Macro environment covers all factors influencing the organisations indirectly. Micro includes areas that have a direct impact on the organisation.
The environment is a source of uncertainty and can be assessed in two axes: simplicity/complexity , stability/dynamism. Checklist: simple and stable- low uncertainty complex and stable- low to moderate uncertainty simple and unstable- moderate to high uncertainty complex and unstable- high uncertainty
(b) Explain how the political system and government policy affect the organisation.
Government policy influences the economic environment, the framework of laws, industry structure and certain operational issues. This is through capital expansion, demand, divestment and rationalisation, emerging industries, entry barriers and competition.
Political environment affects the firm through legal framework, taking a particular stance on an issue of direct relevance to the business and it overall conduct to the business.
Legal environments factors includes contract, agency, tort, criminal law, company law, employment law, health and safety, data protection, marketing and sales, environment laws, tax laws.
(c) Describe the sources of legal authority, including supra-national bodies, national and regional government.
European Union and World Trade Organisation.
(d) Employment Protection.
All forms of termination of employment must be treated with great care. Retirement- ban ageism in recruitment.
Resignation- exit interniew and period of notice.
Dismissal- entitlement of a written statement of reasons for dismissal.
Wrongful Dismissal - breaches the contract of employment.
Unfair Dismissal - legal impediment or other reason like employees married to a competitor is approved. Others like unfair selection for redundancy, membership and involvement in trade union, pregnancy, insisting on documented payslips and employment particulars, carrying out certain activities in connection with health and safety at work are automatically unfair dismissal.
Incompetence or misconduct.
Disciplinary procedures Redundancy- employer has ceased to carry on the business or the employee ceased to carry out work of a particular kind. However, compensation is legal entitlement.
Equal Opportunities.
(e) How the law promotes and protects health and safety in workplace.
An employer has legal obligations under UK and EU law.
Health and Safety at Work Act 1975.
An employee who is injured as a result of either the employer's failure to take reasonable care or a breach of statotory duty can sue.
Accidents resulting in death, major injury or more than three days off work for the victim must be notified to the Health and Safety Executive.
(f) Identify the principles of data protection and security.
1. Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and in particular shall not be process unless:
a. At least one of the conditions in 2 is met.
b. In case of sensitive personal data, at least one of the conditions in 3 is also met.
2. Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful pruposes, and shall not be futher processed in any manner incompatible with the purpose of those purposes.
3. Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.
4. Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.
5. Personal data processed for any purpose(s) shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose(s).
6. Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under this Act.
7. Appropriate teachnical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
8. Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level or protection for the rights and freedom of subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.
The environment is everything that surrounds an organisation, physically and socially. They can be examined in two ways- global/local and general/task (macro/micro). Macro environment covers all factors influencing the organisations indirectly. Micro includes areas that have a direct impact on the organisation.
The environment is a source of uncertainty and can be assessed in two axes: simplicity/complexity , stability/dynamism. Checklist: simple and stable- low uncertainty complex and stable- low to moderate uncertainty simple and unstable- moderate to high uncertainty complex and unstable- high uncertainty
(b) Explain how the political system and government policy affect the organisation.
Government policy influences the economic environment, the framework of laws, industry structure and certain operational issues. This is through capital expansion, demand, divestment and rationalisation, emerging industries, entry barriers and competition.
Political environment affects the firm through legal framework, taking a particular stance on an issue of direct relevance to the business and it overall conduct to the business.
Legal environments factors includes contract, agency, tort, criminal law, company law, employment law, health and safety, data protection, marketing and sales, environment laws, tax laws.
(c) Describe the sources of legal authority, including supra-national bodies, national and regional government.
European Union and World Trade Organisation.
(d) Employment Protection.
All forms of termination of employment must be treated with great care. Retirement- ban ageism in recruitment.
Resignation- exit interniew and period of notice.
Dismissal- entitlement of a written statement of reasons for dismissal.
Wrongful Dismissal - breaches the contract of employment.
Unfair Dismissal - legal impediment or other reason like employees married to a competitor is approved. Others like unfair selection for redundancy, membership and involvement in trade union, pregnancy, insisting on documented payslips and employment particulars, carrying out certain activities in connection with health and safety at work are automatically unfair dismissal.
Incompetence or misconduct.
Disciplinary procedures Redundancy- employer has ceased to carry on the business or the employee ceased to carry out work of a particular kind. However, compensation is legal entitlement.
Equal Opportunities.
(e) How the law promotes and protects health and safety in workplace.
An employer has legal obligations under UK and EU law.
Health and Safety at Work Act 1975.
An employee who is injured as a result of either the employer's failure to take reasonable care or a breach of statotory duty can sue.
Accidents resulting in death, major injury or more than three days off work for the victim must be notified to the Health and Safety Executive.
(f) Identify the principles of data protection and security.
1. Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and in particular shall not be process unless:
a. At least one of the conditions in 2 is met.
b. In case of sensitive personal data, at least one of the conditions in 3 is also met.
2. Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful pruposes, and shall not be futher processed in any manner incompatible with the purpose of those purposes.
3. Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.
4. Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.
5. Personal data processed for any purpose(s) shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose(s).
6. Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under this Act.
7. Appropriate teachnical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
8. Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level or protection for the rights and freedom of subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.
Labels: accountancy, accountant in business, accounting, business accounting
what we could have been, 9:46 PM.
