The Impact Of Computers Essays - E-commerce,

The Impact Of Computers THE IMPACT OF COMPUTERS Computer technology not only has solved problems but also has created some, including a certain amount of culture shock as individuals attempt to deal with the new technology. A major role of computer science has been to alleviate such problems, mainly by making computer systems cheaper, faster, more reliable, easier to use. Computers are forever present in the workplace. Word processors-computer software packages that simplify the creational and modification of documents-have largely replaced the typewriter. Electronic mail has made it easy to send messages worldwide via computer communication networks. Office automation has become the term for linking workstations, printers, database system, and other tools by means of a local-area network. An eventual goal of office automation has been termed the ?paperless office.? Although such changes ultimately make office work much more efficient, they have not been without cost in terms of purchasing and frequently upgrading the necessary hardware and software and of training workers to use the new technology. Computer integrated manufacturing is a relatively new technology arising from the application of many computer science sub disciplines to support the manufacturing enterprise. The technology of CIM emphasizes that all aspects of manufacturing should be not only computerized as much as possible but also linked together via a computer communication network into an integrated whole. In short, CIM has the potential to enable manufacturers to build cheaper, higher-quality products and thus improve their competitiveness. Making a telephone call no longer should conjure up visions of operators connecting cables by hand or even of electrical signals causing relays to click into place and effect connections during dialing. The telephone system now is just a multilevel computer network with software switches in the network nodes to route calls get through much more quickly and reliably than they did in the past. A disadvantage is the potential for dramatic and widespread failures; for as has happened. The downside of this technology is the potential for security problems. Intruders can see packets traveling on a network and can perhaps interpret them to obtain confidential information. Computer technology has had a significant impact on retail stores. All but the smallest shops have replaced the old-fashioned cash register with a terminal linked to a computer system. The terminal may require that the clerk type in the code for the item; but more and more frequently the checkout counter include a bar-code scanner, a device that directly reads into the computer the UPC printed on each package. Cash-register receipts can then include brief descriptions of the items purchased, and the purchase information is also relayed back to the computer to cause and immediate adjustment in the inventory data. The inventory system can easily alert the manager when the supply of some item drops below a specified threshold. In the case of retail chains linked by networks, the order for a new supply of an item may be automatically generated and sent electronically to the supply warehouse. In a less extensively automated arrangement, the manager can send in the order electronically by a dial-up link to the supplier's computer. These developments have made shopping much more convenient. The checkout process is faster; checkout lines shorter; and the desired item are more likely to be in stock. Computer technology has been incorporated into automobiles. Computers are involved (CAD systems) not only the design of cars but also in the manufacturing and testing process, perhaps making use of CIM technology. Today's automobiles themselves include numerous computer chips that analyze sensor data and alert the driver to actual and potential malfunctions. Although increased reliability has been achieved by implementing such computerization, a drawback is that only automotive repair shops with a large investment in high-tech interfaces and diagnostic tools for these computerized systems can handle any but the simplest repairs

Week 3 Research Example

Week 3 Research Example Week 3 Research – Essay Example Week 3 Research As the business environment increasingly becomes competitive, business owners go to great lengths to enhance and sustain their wellbeing. The main aim of their activities and operations is to enhance performance that can enable them to maintain a competitive environment in the seemingly harsh business environment. This increased competition has diverse impacts on both the businesses owners and the consumers. Perhaps the most important of these are the ethical concerns that stem from the increased competition. In light of the case study, it is certain that Intel’s actions are compounded by a host of ethical concerns. The inherent greed and execution of market dominance has greatly hurt the consumer community. From the case study, Intel dominates Central processing Units (CPU) and Graphics Processing Units (GPU) market share. Thus it enjoys sufficient profits to sustain its operations as well as general wellbeing. From a business point of view, it would be healthy if the business took practical measures to safeguard this desirable corporate status. However, its operations are compounded by ethical lapses that have far reaching impacts on its competitors as well as clients. From the case study, it overcharges its clients on products that the clients would have otherwise paid lower prices. Although the company gets enormous profits in the short term, the lasting impacts have negative implications on its performance. Gradually, clients and other stakeholders lose trust in this company. At this point, Di Norcia (1994) asserts that trust is fundamental for ensuring a company’s future growth as well as investment. Intel’s step to alter its CPUs in case programs from other companies were introduced in them is also unethical and driven by selfish interests. In particular, its main aim is to undermine the performance of its competitors such as Dell. The consumers however suffer the most because they have to pay more for similar products. Alternatively, consumers get enslaved to its products and lack the ability to explore the effectiveness of the products from its competitors. Seemingly, Intel’s operations and business strategies contravene the provisions of the principle of fair play as well as the laws that protect competition merits. These principles provide that an individual’s or organization’s behavior is ethical if it puts into consideration the effects of its activities and operations to the wellbeing of others. Put differently, this principle obliges organizations to ensure that their operations are within the legal and moral domains that govern business activities. Thus relative operations need not have adverse effects on others; rather they should promote their growth and sustainability. As aforementioned, Intel’s activities deny its competitors a chance to benefit from the society. To a great extent, they also limit the options of the consumer base and prevent them from exploring the resources that other companies offer optimally. Undoubtedly, the implications are pervasive and affect the suppliers of relative products too. For this reason, it is imperatively important for the company to review its operations and align its strategies to the ethical principles that govern competition and business growth. This would go a long way in ensuring that profits reaped are sustainable and rewarding. Reference Di Norcia, V. (1994). Ethics, technology development and innovation. Business Ethics Quarterly, 4 (3): 235-252.

Cheating Essay

Cheating Essay There are many problems in the world everywhere we go. Businesses, school, homes. There is a big problem in schools, especially high school. Cheating Essay is a big problem for teachers and a headache to have to watch out for. Teens have figures that it is okay to cheat because everyone does it. Dishonesty has become a big factor in today society, and this effects everyone in some way. Cheating effects everyone in some way. Cheating occurs everyday, in every school. Cheating occurs even in the nicest schools, including private schools. This usually occurs when someone does not study for a test or just does not feel like thinking. Also, one might do it because he knows he can get away with it. There is a wide range of cheating that can go on in schools. It can be a simple as copying one word, to copying the whole test. Whatever the extent of the cheating, that does not make it right. In todays society, teens just assume that cheating is an exceptable way of getting through test. They dont care even though they know the consequences. Cheating effects me because when I study, someone else may do better than me because they cheated. This may ruin the curve for the class. And that is not fair because I could have gotten a better score. With that, sometimes I feel taken advantage of when someone kind of glances over at my paper. I dont always cover it up, but sometimes I do. Cheating can also make a person loose respect for you. They may figure that they can always cheat off of you. This will become a routine, and they will always do it. This effects my motivation to learn because I figure that studying is not worth it anymore. I figure that since everyone is cheating, I mind as well not study as hard. This can be frustrating because it ruins the learning environment in the classroom. Cheating widely effects others also. Excepting cheating only sends a negative massage to everyone. We are saying that teachers dont care, and you can get away with it. It shows how low out society has stooped to just get a grade. No matter what the motivation to cheat, the bottom line is that it is wrong. But today, so many do it, teachers have to watch even more carefully, and trust is broken forever. Trust is broken between everyone. In conclusion, we have faced the problem of cheating. We know it is there. But now the question is: What shall we do about it? That is hard because there are so many dishonest people who do not care in this world. For now, all we can do it tighten down on cheaters. And just dont let them cheat. If everyone would guard themselves against cheaters, they might give up. Of course that means we cant cheat off of others. We need to build back up our trust of people, because without trust our world will crumble. .

INTRODUCTION TO FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT-unit 3, question # 2 Essay

INTRODUCTION TO FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT-unit 3, question # 2 - Essay Example This is achieved by randomly selecting observations from all the distributions that influence the outcome of the project and this goes on until a representative record of the probable outcome of the project is obtained. An illustration for this is a chemical producer who wants to extend its processing plant. The first step will be to determine the probability distributions for all factors that will influence the returns of the project such as investment required, fixed costs, operation costs, selling price, market size among others. After this, the computer randomly picks out one observation from this list according to the chances of its actual occurrence in the future. The observations are then combined and a Net Present Value (NPV) or Internal Rate of Return (IRR) figure is calculated. This is repeated severally until a clear portrait of the expected outcome is obtained (Keown et al, 1998). Unlike the risk-adjusted discount rate method which gives one value for the risk-adjusted NPV, simulation gives the investment’s IRR or NPV probability distribution. According to Keown et al (1998), this method provides the range of possible outcomes for the project under the best, worst and most likely cases. It should also be noted that the inputs to a simulation comprises of all the key factors affecting the profitability of a project. In addition to this, the output obtained provides the probability of various outcomes occurring. This output is a probability distribution of the internal rates of return or the net present values for the project. From the above explanation, it is reasonable to state that the value of this method is quality decision making. Decision makers will use the whole range of possible outcomes of the project to determine the level of risk of the project and use this information to make the most appropriate decisions. Simulation is also very important for the

Java Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Java - Coursework Example The extends keyword indicates that the class is a child of class JFrame and represents an inheritance relationship. Implements keyword is essential while using an interface for it indicates that all the methods used in the interface must be declared with the signature declared in the interface declaration in this case ActionListener. The ActionListener implements event handling. We therefore go ahead and declare all the components of the form. Note that the programmer must be able to pre-visualize the desired form before putting down the code for creating it. Also it is worth noting that for neatness all the controls are placed within panels named Jpanel. Public static void main (String [] args) is the start point of every Java application of which every application must have one and only one method named main without which the application will not execute. The void keyword indicates that the application will not return any information. class ordermenu extends JFrame implements ActionListener declares a class that inherits from JFrame and implements ActionListener which detects user action such as clicking typing, pressing enter or any such action that the programmer my desire to capture. As in the other two classes we declare the controls we intend to place in the form such as JButton, JRadioButton, JTextField, JCheckBox, JComboBox and the JTextArea followed by variable declaration. public static void main(String[] args){ method constructs the required frame (form). The frame.pack()function causes the window to be resized to fit the preferred size by automatically adjusting its height and width. It is in this function that we now place all the controls that we had declared earlier in the desired position. As previously stated we place the controls within panels for better organization. Also note that since a panel is a container we can have panel within another panel. While adding controls into a panel, we use the add() function. Ideally every

Convergence-towards-ifrs-in-malaysia-issues-challenges-and-opportunities Essay Example for Free

Convergence-towards-ifrs-in-malaysia-issues-challenges-and-opportunities Essay In the year 2008 the then Malaysian Accounting Standard Board’s (MASB) chairman, Dato Zainal Abidin Putih, announced that Malaysia will be converging with International Accounting Standard Board (IASB)’s International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS). From that point onwards many initiatives were lined up by MASB and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) in order to educate, train and inform all the relevant stakeholders in tandem with fast approaching deadline to converge, which is for the earliest year-end financial reporting date, 31 December 2012. On 19 November 2011, MASB issued the third accounting framework to be applied in Malaysia and this new accounting framework that is IFRS-compliant is dubbed as Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards framework (MFRS). The issuance of MRFS is vital to show and prove the Malaysian commitment and also it becomes a solid guideline for all entities that are administered by Securities Commission of Malaysia and the convergence begin on or after 1 January 2012. Historically, Malaysian accounting standards have always closely followed the former International Accounting Standards (IAS) and the current IFRS. This is due to the colonisation effect on Malaysia, where Malaysia was a British colony up to the year 1957 and many of the accounting standards applied in the United Kingdom has always made its way to be adopted by the Malaysian standard setters authorities and regulators. As Mohammad Faiz Azmi stated in forums that the Malaysian story of convergence has been a ‘slow and steady’ approach and this phased-in approach even though slower is expected to put Malaysian entities in a better position as the problems and challenges faced by Malaysian companies are far much reduced compared to other countries that adopted the ‘big bang’ approach, for example the South Koreans, where the accounting standard setters and regulators in South Korea agreed on full adoption of IFRS (Nazatul Izma, 2009; Suh, 2011) ACCOUNTING FRAMEWORKS IN MALAYSIA Currently Malaysian entities are subject to three sets of accounting frameworks, the first accounting framework is the old Financial Reporting Standards framework (FRS), next is the Private Entity Reporting Standards framework (PERS) and finally the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards framework (MFRS). All these three frameworks are legally approved frameworks by MASB and can be applied by entities in Malaysia but subject to the type of entity. The three types of frameworks are outlined and discussed below. MFRS framework is to be applied by all entities other than private entities for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2012. Private entities are private companies which are incorporated under the Companies Act 1965, that are not itself required to prepare or lodge any financial statements under any law administered by the Securities Commission Malaysia or Bank Negara Malaysia. Private entities are also not subsidiaries or associates of or jointly controlled by an entity which is required to prepare or lodge any financial statements under any law administered by the securities Commission Malaysia or Bank Negara Malaysia. However ‘Transitioning Entities’ are excluded from applying MFRS and these ‘Transitioning Entities’ are entities that are in the scope of MFRS 141 for ‘Agriculture’ (equivalent to IAS 41) and IC Interpretation 15 for ‘Agreement for Construction of Real Estate’, (equivalent to International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) 15) including its parent, significant investor and venture. These ‘Transitioning Entities’ have an option to either apply the MFRS framework or the old FRS framework, but this leeway is only allowed for one year, as these ‘Transitioning Entities’ need to apply the MFRS framework by  Page 43 International Journal of Business, Economics and Law, Vol. 1 ISSN 2289-1552 2012 annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013 at the latest (Nazatul Izma, 2009; KPMG, 2011; Accountants Today 2012; Ganespathy, 2012; Jebaratnam, 2012). PERS framework is to be applied only by private entities but these private entities have an option to apply MFRS framework for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2012. If the private entities choose to apply MFRS framework and these entities are in the scope of MFRS 141 for ‘Agriculture’ (equivalent to IAS 41) and IC Interpretation 15 for ‘Agreement for Construction of Real Estate’, (equivalent to IFRIC 15), therefore known as ‘Transitioning Entities’, they have the choice to either apply MFRS framework or FRS framework, but these freedom is applicable up to 31 December 2012, as these entities need to revert to MFRS framework for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013 (Accountants Today, 2012; Jebaratnam, 2012). FRS framework which is the Malaysian version of IAS, which has been the main accounting standards framework for nonprivate entities before the introduction of MFRS framework can be applied only by ‘Transitioning Entities’, but as stated earlier, such entities need to revert to MFRS framework for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013 (Accountants Today, 2012; Jebaratnam, 2012) ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN FULL ADOPTION OF IFRS IN MALAYSIA MFRS 1 covers issues pertaining to ‘First-Time Adoption of Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards’ and the transition date stated in MFRS 1 is the beginning of the earliest period for which an entity presents a full comparative information under MFRSs in its first MFRS based statements. Following the requirement of MFRS 1, MFRS 101 on ‘Presentation of Financial Statements’ requires reporting entities to present three ‘Statements of Financial Position’ and two ‘Statement of Comprehensive Income’, ‘Statements of Changes in Equity’ and ‘Statement of Cash Flows’ each. MFRS also dictates that entities need to present statement of financial position as at the beginning of the comparative financial year, therefore reporting entities requires their financial statements to be prepared based on the requirement of MFRS from the financial year beginning on and after 1 January 2010, or otherwise be very cautious to make retrospective restatements and/or reclassify items in all the financial statements and notes to accounts and the transition date would be on or after 1 January 2011. The expectation is that the entities are able to present MFRS compliant financial statements come the year-end financial reporting on 31 December 2012, which may become an issue, if these entities are not MFRS ‘ready’ (Accountants Today, 2012). Another challenge for full adoption of IFRS in Malaysia is that under MFRS 1, whenever the cost of complying with MFRS exceeds the benefits to the users of financial statements and also if retrospective application would mean that judgement by management of a known transaction is required, IASB would grant exemptions and therefore this would create unlevel playing field amongst non-private entities in Malaysia that are supposed to apply MFRS framework as the criterion for full-adoption. To ensure that the reporting entities in Malaysia are MFRS compliant, these entities should perform a comprehensive, thorough and detailed examination of the readiness of their entity in becoming MFRS compliance to avoid any investigation by the authority due to non-compliance after the grace period for full adoption is over. If Malaysia ends up trimming its MFRS as a convergence framework that can be adapted to fit the local conditions and not a one size fits all set of standards, because a full adoption forces countries to surrender their sovereignty, then Malaysia will have serious issues and will face difficulties to be endorsed as a country that compliances to full IFRS adoption (Nazatul Izma, 2009). But as it is evident, MFRS 141 and IC 15 for ‘Transitioning Entities’ is an exception given to such entities to comply to full IFRS adoption by reverting to MFRS framework for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013. Even though the IAS 41 assumption that fair value can be measured for biological assets was an issue, but this sort of issues should be communicated clearly to the practitioners and this is where the education and training of the practitioners is key for a successful full adoption of IFRS. For example MFRS 141 (IAS 41) disagreement with IASB need to be entirely made clear to the Malaysian practitioners, as IASB currently have agreed to recognise palm oil tree as a non current asset and not as an inventory (Nazatul Izma, 2009). One of the most common perceived advantages of convergence to IFRS is the possibility of increased foreign direct investment (FDI) (Gardiner, 2000; Christiansen, 2002), but as of 2010, report on the most attractive FDI destinations, the world’s highest FDI receivers are China, United States of America and India, of which none have converged to IFRS. Therefore, the notion that IFRS convergence will attract FDI is not valid, and this so called advantage cannot be applied to entice countries to adopt IFRS for financial reporting of their entities. IFRSs for SME is another reason to ponder on the real plausibility of full adoption of IFRS. If MASB chooses to adopt IFRS for SMEs to replace PERS, than we will have another version of ‘diluted’ IFRS as a framework within the Malaysia accounting scenario. Dr Paul Pacter, the board member and chairman of the SME implementation group, mentioned that some topics in the IFRS were omitted from the IFRS for SMEs, due to its irrelevance and also due to the fact that the ‘diluted’ version will be a simpler option for the SMEs to apply (Nazatul Izma, 2010). The IFRS for SMEs were simplified on the recognition and measurement and the disclosures were also reduced. Brian Blood, the Chief Executive of Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) mentioned that the IFRS for SMEs were developed to assist SMEs to prepare and present high quality and timely financial statements and information. Other benefits of SMEs applying the IFRS for SMEs are that the financial reporting is done in a consistent manner and not too expensive to prepare (Nazatul Izma, 2010). Having said all that, the fact is that there is a different set of IFRS for SMEs, therefore, it does not allow for full adoption, but maybe just a mere convergence. James Sylph, the executive director, Professional Standards and External Relations of International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in a forum in 2012, strongly advocated that national accounting standard setters’ authorities and regulators should move away from the mere concept of convergence to a more profound notion of full-adoption. Page 44 International Journal of Business, Economics and Law, Vol. 1 ISSN 2289-1552 2012 Mohammad Faiz Azmi, MASB chairman, indicated that Malaysia will not require the IFRS for SMEs to avoid an ‘underconverged’ version used by SMEs due to the lack of human resources to implement new IFRS based regulations; therefore MASB is still uncertain about how exactly they should deal with the issue related to SME and IFRS (Nazatul Izma, 2010) MASB together with MIA will have to look into the issue of the readiness of the Malaysian education system to deliver enough trained accountants that are IFRS savvy, as a full IFRS adoption can be burdensome and the human capital need to be created to fulfill this need. Mohammad Faiz Azmi mentioned that MASB is working with enforcers to amend the Financial Reporting Act (1997) to allow making amendments to accounting standards in Malaysia if there are any substantial issues that MASB disagrees with IASB (Nazatul Izma, 2009). This again will give some space for MASB for not to adopt the full adoption of IFRS as there will be some possible avenue to make changes in the IFRS provided by IASB. Companies Act 1965 and Financial reporting Act 1997 are the two most important acts pertaining financial statements reporting in Malaysia. The directors are supposed to be responsible for the preparation and presentation of a true and fair set of financial statements of reporting entities and these directors should be aware and be sure that their entities are IFRS ready.

The Pilgrims and the Pilgrim Mystique :: American History Research Papers

The Pilgrims and the Pilgrim Mystique - A Blend of Myth, Fiction, and History [1] At the conclusion of the film Plymouth Adventure, the Pilgrims, physically and mentally, have withstood the rigors of persecution in their homeland, of the long and difficult voyage, and of their first year in the wild, desolate New World. Ultimately, this paradigm becomes the emblem of the founding of our nation and the beginning of a whole panorama of different versions each time the story is retold--some of them factual and some of them mythical. The purpose of this essay is to: 1) survey the scope of the Pilgrim mystique; 2) sort myth from fact in the story; 3) pinpoint the sources of the information we have about these settlers; 4) establish why this group was chosen rather than any of a myriad of settlers who came to the New World, both before and after the Pilgrims; and 5) finally, and most importantly, determine whether the facts about the Pilgrims have been misrepresented, distorted, or simply omitted in the film based on Gebler's book, The Plymouth Adventure: A Ch ronicle Novel of the Voyage of the Mayflower, and the two most reliable accounts we have of the Pilgrims' story, William Bradford's Of Plimoth Plantation and Mourt's Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Scope of the Pilgrim Mystique [2] If one were to ask the man on the street to recite the story of the Pilgrims, it would go something like this: These religious people wanted to worship as they pleased, so they left England and came to America; the voyage was hard and many of them died, but with the help of Squanto they were able to raise crops the next Spring and Summer. They had a bountiful harvest, and in the Fall they invited the Indians to join them in a thanksgiving feast where they served roasted wild turkey. Their strong religious faith and trust in God's providence were the main reasons they prospered in the New World. Quite likely these two facts would not be mentioned: the Pilgrims were a separate group from the Puritans, and the Plymouth Colony failed to obtain a charter and ultimately became a part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692. Also absent from the recital would be the fact that Plymouth, the poor but proud capital of the Pilgrim Colony, sank to the status of a not-very-important cou nty seat, its interests shrinking to a radius of a few miles and the scale of its affairs lessening accordingly (Willison 408).