The Irony of Capital Punishment - 2224 Words

The Irony of Capital Punishment Capital punishment has been a part of our justice system since the beginning. For many years the controversy of the death penalty has created social issues that question the validity and fairness based on concerns of moral and human rights. Even though many other nations use this form of justice, the fact that the United States views itself as a leader of human rights brings question to whether we are practicing what we preach. Nevertheless, the majority of US citizens are in support of the death penalty but does that make it rational? In the following paragraphs I will discuss my opinions on capital punishment and talk about issues concerning the death penalty as a deterrent to crime, should it be†¦show more content†¦Imposition of proper penalty is the manner in which the courts respond to the societys cry for fairness against the criminals. Another case that supports capital punishment is the idea of â€Å"an eye for an eye† but to argue like that demonstrates a co mplete misunderstanding of what that Old Testament phrase actually means. In fact the Old Testament meaning of an eye for an eye is that only the guilty should be punished, and they should punished neither too lenient or too severely. It seems to me that the argument of â€Å"eye for an eye† I believe that it has more to do with vengeance than retribution or justice. The anticipatory suffering of the criminal, who may be kept on death row for many years, makes the punishment more severe than just depriving the criminal of life. Some believers in the death penalties see this issue as an undeniably efficient way to insure offender will not commit anymore crimes. On the other hand, many people dont think that this is sufficient justification for taking human life, and argue that there are other ways to ensure the offenders do not re-offend, such as imprisonment for life without possibility of parole. Although there have been cases of persons escaping from prison and killing again, these are extremely rare. But some people dont believe that life imprisonment without parole protects society adequately. The offender may no longer be a danger toShow MoreRelatedA Hanging By George Orwell799 Words   |  4 PagesHanging† by the visionary English writer, George Orwell, is a non- fiction prose. A Hanging is an account of Orwell’s experience of capital punishment. Orwell’s purpose of A Hanging is to evoke reader’s sympathy for the plight of the prisoner. This essay will discuss how Orwellâ⠂¬â„¢s account made the reader consider their views on the ongoing concern of capital punishment, through the use of effective language. The Autobiographical account is set in Burma during the 1920’s, when Orwell was stationedRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of Utopia By Thomas More1195 Words   |  5 Pagesas an author. In Utopia, more usually sustains a satirical tone, sometimes accompanied by irony, comedy, and ambiguity. These elements help to convey to the readers what More’s truly intended message is. More utilizes the device of tone in Utopia in order to showcase the fundamental differences between Utopian and European society during that time. A prominent tone used by More throughout the story is irony. More uses an ironic tone through various characters, allowing readers to further discernRead MoreThe Life of David Gale1418 Words   |  6 PagesThe Life of David Gale â€Å"Murder and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another, but similars that breed their kind† (George Bernard Shaw). There are civilizations and niches of hunters all over the world that believe if you drink the blood of the steer you kill you reach a level of enlightenment that only hunters and those willing to take a life are subject to. If this is true what happens psychologically to the hired hands of â€Å"correctional facilities† that either applyRead MoreA Case Where Human Morality Hangs In The Balance. George1457 Words   |  6 PagesA Case where Human Morality hangs in the balance George Orwell, one of the most perceptive writers of his age, portrays the inherent wrong of capital punishment in his short prose work, â€Å"A Hanging†. More specifically, Orwell’s story relates a dramatic experience of the writer while he was working in the Indian Imperial Police in 1920’s colonial Burma. That’s why John Rodden figures out how depressed he was there as he mentioned, â€Å"after he returned from what lie called ‘five wastedRead MoreThe Death Penalty Laws Date1505 Words   |  7 Pagesbeliefs of capital punishment with the constitution. Amnesty International states that,†..between 1984 and 2009, the death penalty has been abolished throughout several countries, mainly Europe, while gradually increasing with each passing year,† (â€Å"Capital Punishment Statistics† 13). Since the death penalty was established in these states so early in the 1900’s, it seems like realization came on to state officials about killing one for the justice of another. States also seem to suspend capital punishmentRead MoreThe History of Capital Punishment1239 Words   |  5 Pagestheir statements, and there was no DNA evidence or murder weapon found (Pilkington). How can a man’s life be taken in such an unfair and cruel way? The world should make capital punishment illegal, recognizing it as a moral and ethical mistake, a cruel and misguided injustice, and an impractical and wasteful act. Capital punishment has a complicated history, both worldwide and particularly in the United States. Due to the efforts of human rights groups and evolutions in society, the world has manyRead More Capital Punishment Essay: Just Do It1554 Words   |  7 PagesCapital Punishment: Just Do It Capital punishment is a justified form of punishment for murderers and is enforced by most states in the United States. The death penalty is a fitting punishment for murder because executions maximize the public safety through a form of incapacitation and deterrence. When a person kills another person, their common sense and mental reasoning is lost. As a result of this, the murderer is no longer capable of a mentally stable life not only to himself but alsoRead MoreAnalysis Of Thoughts On Capital Punishment Essay1124 Words   |  5 PagesAnalysis of â€Å"Thoughts on Capital Punishment† The poem I have chosen is â€Å"Thoughts on Capital Punishment† by Rod McKuen from page 928 to 929. At first glance, I had thought the poem was going to be about the death penalty in American and McKuen was taking a stand on either side of the issue. As I began reading, it became apparent this is a poem about justice for animals who were victims of the ruthlessness of humankind. It a lyric poem as the poetry is basically him declaring what should be doneRead MoreAct Upon Morality Not Iniquity894 Words   |  4 Pagesvariety of emotions: the most prominent being vast irritation alongside resentment. Astounded with some segments of the article, I took it upon myself to thoroughly analyze all segments of this article and I came to a very clear conclusion. capital punishment is a cruel, inhumane and degrading way to leave the Earth. Robert Harris was a 39 year old man who committed double murder and was sentenced to death because of said crime. Even though this is a horrific crime to commit, the government shouldRead MoreEssay about Exposing The Irony of McCarthyism674 Words   |  3 PagesRed Scare or McCarthyism began, fed and ended. The Crucible uses the Salem Witch Trials as an allegory to show this side of the Red Scare while Bob Dylan uses an obvious sarcasm to show his point of view. Both Bob Dylan and Arthur Miller expose the irony of the time period called McCarthyism. The Crucible was written to show people living during the Cold War how ridiculous their thoughts, actions and beliefs were. The sense of panic inspired by the accusations of one girl were very similar to that

Integrating Sustainability In Managing IT â€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Integrating Sustainability In Managing IT? Answer: Introduction The need for sustainable development is increasing with the passage of time. This is a very important concept that the society and organizations are incorporating in its various layers and fields. Most of the important projects integrate sustainable developments in its functionalities for the development and progress of the organization as well as the well being of the society. A project consists of several phases and each of them needs to be integrated with sustainability and decisions must be based on sustainability (Griggs et al. 2013). A business sector operates in a society and in order to get success they must take care of the society as well. The depletion of natural resources is a main concern for the society. While developing a project an organization considers all the aspects of technicality and appoints a manager who would particularly take care of the integration of sustainability in managing project. This essay focuses on the sustainability integration while managing projects. This essay gives the main focus on the IT project management and IT sector. This is the most booming sector in the present era. It consumes and utilizes several resources for the completion of its projects. This essay points out on the requirement of integrating sustainability in IT project management (Dincer and Rosen 2012). It points out the project management approaches. The relevance of sustainability lies in the fact that the utilization of resources is leading to their depletion and it is affecting the community and environment in a harmful way. It gives a brief overview about the critical success factors and the criteria for an IT project. The corporate social responsibility plays a major role in implementing and planning for a project. This essay suggests that a proper balance in the economic growth with the society and environmental protection must be maintained for the betterment of people. Brief Overview Sustainability focuses on fulfilling the requirements and needs of the people who are in the present generation. Their main aim is to utilize the resources in such manner so that the people of the future generation will not have to suffer or compromise (Eskerod and Huemann 2013). Well planned and optimal utilization of the resources will not lead to the depletion of natural resources. There are several other definitions of sustainability as well like it can be considered to be a minute change or major reorientation in the strategies that are adopted by the global businesses. The carbon percentage in the climate has decreased and it is also expected that the climate will change due to the over consumptions of resources by the IT industry. IT sector or businesses are said to be responsible for emitting around two per cent of carbon. IT projects can take several initiatives to integrate sustainability by the process of saving energy (SILvIuS and SChIPPER 2012). Computers can be functioned to shut down in an automatic manner, consolidation of data centre and energy efficient hardware deployment will be some of the effective steps that can be taken by IT projects to integrate sustainability. The hardware deployed in IT projects utilizes huge amount of energy. Another main point is that an IT project also needs huge storage space for the purpose of storing data and information. People get employed mostly in the IT sector. If the IT projects harm the society and do not take care of the natural resources then it will create a negative impact on the people of the future generation. Integration of economical factors, environmental factors and social factors will help in achieving sustainability in a project. Energy saving methods is the main way of integrating sustainability in IT projects. One most important way that can be used by an IT project in order to save the storage space is by deploying cloud infrastructure that will enable the company to store data in the cloud by saving storage space as well as cost. Another method to save storage space is to use small storage devices that can hold huge quantity of data (Lang et al. 2012). This is the concept of Green IT. The high energy consumption traditional monitors can be replaced by LCD monitors. LCD monitors consumes energy in small amounts. Laptops can be used to save energy. The electronic devices used in IT sector and projects are made of metals that are depleting. Recycling can be done while planning and executing an IT project. Success Criteria In order to get success in an IT project several success criteria needs to be fulfilled. Efficient implementation must be carried out (Zou et al. 2014). IT projects must not only focus on the technical aspect but also focus on the social and economical aspects. IT projects must be developed by taking into account the environment in which it operates. Proper strategies must be taken in order to develop good quality project that will not harm the society or environment. High quality of project must be maintained. Initially the developers did not pay much attention to the quality of the project. But soon it became a major success criterion for IT projects. The project team must understand the value of the deliverables of the project. Socio economic factors must be given special attention. The satisfaction level of the customers as well as stakeholders is taken into account while evaluating the success of the projects. The success criteria also depends on the impact of IT projects on the society as in the communities and environment (Ebbese and Hope 2013). The project must be developed in such a way so that the project will not consume much energy and natural resources. The environmental factors must be taken into account. If the project does not harm the environment then it is said to be a successful sustainable IT project. Resources must be utilized in such a manner so that the people of the future generation will not have to suffer. The focus should be on fulfilling the requirements of the present generation but at the same time keeping in mind the need of the future generation. There are also economic success criteria where the implications of the IT projects on the economic condition of the nation, stakeholders, local and global system. If the financial conditions of the economy improve due to an IT project then it is said to be successful. Critical Success Factors There are several critical success factors of IT projects. The impact of the project on the society, economy and environment plays a significant role in the success of a sustainable IT project (De Medeiros, Ribeiro and Cortimiglia 2014). Top management involvement and support plays a major role and it is the most critical factor of success. The top management must focus on the corporate social responsibility. Communication is a critical or vital factor for achieving success. The sustainable requirements of the project can be determined clearly if there is effective means of communication. Financial budget must be well planned and determined in advance. Proper budgeting will act as a critical success factor. Surveillance and monitoring must be carried out on a regular basis. Human factors are the internal factors that are highly responsible for the success of a sustainable project. Innovative thinking as well as strong policies is critical success factor. The IT project team must have a procedure for saving resources and integrating sustainability in the project. The impact on the society and environment determines how successful the project is. Resource utilization is the most important critical success factor because optimal utilization does not harm the society and environment. There will be low energy consumption. Hence a sustainable project in the IT industry will get success. Project Management Approach Integration of sustainability in managing and developing IT projects can be achieved through the approaches of project management. The level of commitment must be high. The procurement method obtained must be ethical. The IT projects must adhere to the laws and policies for keeping the environment and society safe (Heising 2012). Ethical principles must be followed by the IT project team. The major steps that can be taken in the project management approach are: Identifying possible impacts: This has to be done in the planning stage. When a project team is deciding to develop a project then in that case the team also needs to find out the negative impact that the project will have on the society, environment and economy. Preventive measures: The organization needs to find out several measures so that sustainability is achieved. IT projects can use LCDs and cloud platforms for reserving energy. Mitigation procedures: If the society or environment is somehow harmed then the organization needs to have a plan for mitigating the loss that has occurred in the society, economy and the environment. Proper methods of resource utilization must be implemented to overcome the problems of resource depletion. In order to integrate sustainability in the IT projects a proper balance needs to be maintained between the economic, environmental and social needs. Sustainability should focus on fulfilling the requirements of the people of the present generation as well as keeping in mind the needs of the people of future generation (Kerzner 2013). The future generation must not suffer due to lack of resources. The project management approach can be holistic where there is an integration of the ecological, social and economical aspects. In the long term orientation approach sustainability takes into account the future needs. Good governance can be under the institutional approach (Hirschman 2014). The risk reduction approach focuses on minimizing risks. Sustainability can be considered to be the most important component that needs to be integrated in IT project for its success. Conclusion It can be concluded from this essay that the integrating sustainability in managing IT projects are very important. It pointed out the project management approaches. It gave a brief overview about the critical success factors and the criteria for an IT project. This essay suggested that a proper balance in the economic growth with the society and environmental protection must be maintained for the betterment of people. The corporate social responsibility plays a major role in implementing and planning for a project. References Barbier, E. ed., 2012.Economics and ecology: new frontiers and sustainable development. Springer Science Business Media. De Medeiros, J.F., Ribeiro, J.L.D. and Cortimiglia, M.N., 2014. Success factors for environmentally sustainable product innovation: a systematic literature review.Journal of Cleaner Production,65, pp.76-86. Dincer, I. and Rosen, M.A., 2012.Exergy: energy, environment and sustainable development. Newnes. Ebbesen, J.B. and Hope, A., 2013. Re-imagining the iron triangle: embedding sustainability into project constraints.PM World Journal,2(III). Eskerod, P. and Huemann, M., 2013. Sustainable development and project stakeholder management: what standards say.International Journal of Managing Projects in Business,6(1), pp.36-50. Griggs, D., Stafford-Smith, M., Gaffney, O., Rockstrm, J., hman, M.C., Shyamsundar, P., Steffen, W., Glaser, G., Kanie, N. and Noble, I., 2013. Policy: Sustainable development goals for people and planet.Nature,495(7441), pp.305-307. Heising, W., 2012. The integration of ideation and project portfolio managementA key factor for sustainable success.International Journal of Project Management,30(5), pp.582-595. Hirschman, A.O., 2014.Development projects observed. Brookings Institution Press. Kerzner, H., 2013.Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Lang, D.J., Wiek, A., Bergmann, M., Stauffacher, M., Martens, P., Moll, P., Swilling, M. and Thomas, C.J., 2012. Transdisciplinary research in sustainability science: practice, principles, and challenges.Sustainability science,7(1), pp.25-43. SILvIuS, G.I.L.B.E.R.T. and SChIPPER, R.O.N., 2012.Sustainability in project management. Gower Publishing, Ltd.. Zou, W., Kumaraswamy, M., Chung, J. and Wong, J., 2014. Identifying the critical success factors for relationship management in PPP projects.International Journal of Project Management,32(2), pp.265-274.

Qualities of a Good Leader (Julius Caesar) Essay Example

Qualities of a Good Leader (Julius Caesar) Essay The qualities of a good leader require courage, strength, knowledge, good morals and power. A good leader should possess all these qualities mentioned. Without these qualities a leader may lack in certain areas which may cause them to be an unsuccessful leader. All good leaders should require good qualities within them in order to lead or gain respect from others. Good leaders should have strength and courage. If a leader is not strong or courageous, then he or she may not be fit for the role. Leaders need to have a strong courage in their hearts because anything at anytime could happen, but it takes a good leader to act on the situation with courage and strength without panic or fright. Also, every good leader should attain knowledge. Without knowledge, a leader may not be able to make the right decisions. Knowledge is a very important factor as it strongly contributes to great leadership. Having good morals is very important as well. If a leader does not have good morals, it can bring down a nation. Each leader should have good morals set in their minds in order to rule. Also, a good leader should have power. They should know that they are in charge and that they get to make the calls and decisions. These are some qualities of a good leader. Based on reading Act 1 of Julius Caesar, it indicates that Caesar does not have the qualities it takes to become a good leader. We will write a custom essay sample on Qualities of a Good Leader (Julius Caesar) specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Qualities of a Good Leader (Julius Caesar) specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Qualities of a Good Leader (Julius Caesar) specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer But from reading all of Act 1, I believe that the conspiracy is being justified. I believe that Caesar has some good qualities in order to be a ruler and that Rome did not just choose Caesar to reign if he did not have any good qualities of a leader. I believe that the conspiracy is being justified because they wanted Pompey to reign instead of Caesar, but they did not have it their way. That is why I believe that Caesar instills qualities of a good leader.

A Character Analysis of Kerima Polotan Tuvera’s The Virgin Essay Essays

A Character Analysis of Kerima Polotan Tuvera’s The Virgin Essay Essays A Character Analysis of Kerima Polotan Tuvera’s The Virgin Essay Paper A Character Analysis of Kerima Polotan Tuvera’s The Virgin Essay Paper Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s â€Å"The Virgin† is a short narrative that is centered on two characters viz. Miss Mijares and The Carpenter. The rubric â€Å"The Virgin† reflects the topic virginity which is an of import and precious value for Filipinos. A Filipina should be proud to hold maintained her virginity but in the instance of the thirty-four-year-old Miss Mijares. she is ashamed of it. In her 34 old ages of being. she had neer been committed in a relationship. When she was younger. there had been other things to make and she neer put love on top of her precedences. She had college to complete. a niece to set through school. and a female parent to take attention. Her responsibilities became hinderances for her to be in a relationship. Miss Mijares’ childhood experiences and responsibilities affected her personality. Miss Mijares is a thirty-four-year-old adult female who works at a occupation arrangement bureau. The first brush of the two characters is at the occupation interview. The manner Miss Mijares treat him is as aloof and cold merely like the manner she treated her other interviewees. She looks at herself as superior which explains the impolite linguistic communication she uses to pass on with them. Harmonizing to the text â€Å"When she was younger. there had been other things to do-college to complete. a niece to set through school. a female parent to care for. † Her childhood experiences affected the manner she is now. it greatly affected her personality. Harmonizing to the theory of Sigmund Freud viz. Psychoanalytic Theory of Freud. a person’s childhood experience and unconscious head contributes to his or her personality ( Cherry ) . The manner Miss Mijares maintain her distance from other people and the manner she talk to them function as a defence mechanism. Her unsociable manners coupled with Frank and disconnected manner of address is a camouflage for her solitariness. For nine old ages she dutifully looks out for the demands of her female parent. For nine old ages she doesn’t think about her ain felicity for she prioritizes her responsibility to take attention of her parent. Harmonizing to the text â€Å"But it had taken her parent many old ages to decease. Towards the terminal. it had become a ungrateful job. working her mother’s loose flesh. hr after hr. fighting to rouse the cold. sulky blood in her death organic structure. In the terminal. she had died-her toothless. thin-haired. flabby-fleshed mother-and Miss Mijares had pushed against the bed in heartache and besides gratitude. † We can deduce from the manner she dedicated her early old ages to take attention of her female parent that she valued her household more than herself. She was truly affected by the decease of her female parent whom she loved so much and it triggered the alteration in her personality. She exemplified her high quality as a adult female. â€Å"Miss Mijares did non look 34. She was little. about bony. but she had learned early how to dress herself to accomplish an semblance hips and bosom. She liked fagot and shirrings and small girlish pastel colourss. † Harmonizing to this text. Miss Mijares knows how to do her expression appealing to opposite gender. This is her manner to cover with her solitariness. For 34 old ages she has non even touched a adult male. The manner she behaves and trade with other people Acts of the Apostless as a defence mechanism. Harmonizing to the Behavioral Theory. personality is based on the interaction between the person and the environment which can be learned and unconditioned ( Cherry ) . Her bossy and indistinct mode of address coupled with the manner she dress Acts of the Apostless as a defence mechanism to conceal her depression. The â€Å"girlish pastel color† as stated in the narrative is besides a manner to conceal her true feelings. She is ashamed of herself for still being a virgin at the age of thirty-four. â€Å"And yet Miss Mijares did believe of love. † It is stated in the text that Miss Mijares had short lived phantasies. She is still trusting that love will come her manner someday. It all of a sudden happened when he met the carpenter. She is cold and distant at first but all of a sudden she is drawn to the adult male. It all started at the minute she saw the adult male keeping her paperweight. It is a wooden block with a bird poised to flight. The paperweight was damaged with one wing tilted unevenly so the carpenter decided to repair it. The bird symbolizes freedom ; it symbolizes the freedom of Miss Mijares. She lived in a system where virginity is something of import and should be taken attention of. The job is she is trapped in this system because at the age of 34 she is still a virgin who neer touched a adult male. This will alter because of the carpenter. She will be free like the bird in her paperweight fixed by the carpenter. She will be inadvertently attracted to the carpenter. She doesn’t like the manner he talk without permission but it won’t alteration her feelings toward the adult male. When she learned that the chief has merely given him three peso but he is make fulling in for a four-peso occupation. she confronted the chief right off. It non expected for her to be concerned because of her cold and distant manner of handling him. A alteration in her personality can be seen and it is because of the carpenter. Miss Mijares was emotionally attached to the carpenter. She was surprised and angry when she learned that the carpenter has a boy. She thought the he is individual and non committed. After larning that he was raising a kid by a adult female he is non married to. she notice everything else that is incorrect with him-his crooked smile and faulty forepart dentition. Her reaction proved that she is truly in love with the carpenter. She doesn’t even notice his smile and tooth because of her infatuation. Miss Mijares rode once more a jeepney that detoured once more to avoid traffic but this clip he is with the carpenter. It was raining and all of them were asked to acquire down the jeepney. She noticed that there are no other people in sight but the two of them. Her emotion has gone wild for her immature dreams have all of a sudden come to life. She turned to him with her frills moisture and wilted. Out of her free-will. Miss Mijares has grabbed the chance for love. Harmonizing to the Humanist Theory. a person’s free will and single experience contribute to personality development ( Cherry ) . Her feelings for him have changed her personality. She all of a sudden becomes more caring and concerned. Her personal emotion is the factor for the alteration in her personality. The Virgin trades with the life of Miss Mijares. A girl bounded by her responsibility. She lived in a society where virginity is something to take attention of but at the age of 34 she is ashamed that she is still a virgin. Miss Mijares’ childhood experiences and responsibilities affected her personality. The cold and distant personality coupled with a Frank and disconnected mode of address can be traced back in her early old ages. All of these serve as a defence mechanism to conceal her depression. She developed a certain superior outlook that can be seen in the manner she talks during interviews but all of these changed when the carpenter came into her life. The paperweight with a bird on it symbolizes freedom. Miss Mijares was now free from all her anxiousnesss because of the carpenter who brought order in her life merely like how he fixed the paperweight. Her loved for the carpenter brought the alteration in her life.

Challenges of Harmonization of Accounting System

Accounting Standards in other words can be stated as rules which govern the preparation of financial statements. They are the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Where by accounting practices are the actual used practices by accountants. They are influenced by Accounting Standards, which govern the preparation of financial reports. Harmonization of accounting standards† can be defined as the continuous process of ensuring that the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are formulated, aligned and updated to international best practices (GAAPs in other countries) with suitable modifications and fine tuning considering the domestic conditions. Harmonization is the process of increasing compatibility of accounting practices by setting bounds on their degree of variation. Harmonization can be defined as â€Å"the process of bringing international Accounting Standards into some sort of agreement so that the financial statements from different countries are prepared according to a common set of principles of measurement and disclosure† (Haskins et al. 1996:29). According to Wolk et al. described harmonization of Accounting Standards as â€Å"the co-ordination or similarity among the various sets of national Accounting Standards and methods and formats of financial reporting†. (Kleekamper et al. , 2002) Kleekamperet al. xplain, that the aim of the international harmonization process of Accounting Standards is to reduce or overcome differences world-wide, in order to reach a better international Comparability of financial statements. International accounting harmonization can be defined as â€Å"the process of bringing international Accounting Standards into some sort of agreement so that the financial statements from different countries ar e prepared according to a common set of principles of measurement and disclosure† (Haskins et al. 1996:29). This harmonization is needed due to the globalization of businesses and services and increase in cross-border investments and borrowings and academicians, regulators and governments have been constantly striving to harmonize the local/domestic Accounting Standards(AS), also referred to as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), with the International Accounting Standards (IAS) issued by the UK based International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) (formerly the International Accounting Standards Committee-IASC). The IASB has been trying to harmonize international accounting principles since 1973. Further, the IASB and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have been jointly working on harmonization since July 1995, and in May 2000 the IOSCO finished its review of the IAS and recommended usage of certain IAS, supplemented with reconciliation, disclosure and interpretations. Some benefits of harmonization of accounting practices is as follows * It ensures reliable and high quality financial reporting and disclosures. In certain cases, it can prove to be crucial to the economic and financial development of a country * It enables a systematic review and evaluation of the performance of a multinational company having subsidiaries and associates in various countries wherein each country has its own set of GAAP * It makes the comparison of the performance of a company against its domestic and international peers easier and more meaningful * It is a precursor for accessing international capital markets which can, in turn, reduce the capital cost and consequently, improve the performance of a company * Multinational companies, the multinational companies benefit from closer harmonization for the following reasons a) Access to international finance is easier, the international financial markets understand the financial information presented to them more easily. If the information is provided on a consistent basis between companies irrespective of their country of origin. b) Improved management control, in a business operating in several countries management control is improved. Internal financial information is more easily prepared on consistent basis if externally required financial information is required on a uniform basis. c) Consolidation of financial statement is easier ) A reduction of auditing cost due to harmonized accounting practices and standards. e) A transfer of accounting staff across national borders would be easier f) It would be easier to comply with reporting requirements of overseas stock exchanges. g) Appraisals of foreign entities for take over and mergers would be more straightforward. * International economic groupings, international groupings like EU (European Union) could work more effectively if there were international harmonization of accounting policies. Part of the function of international groupings is go make cross-border trade easier. Similar to accounting regulation would help this process. Government of developing countries would save time and money if they would adopt international standards and, if these were used internally, governments of developing countries could attempt to control the activities of foreign multinational companies in their own country. These companies could not hide behind foreign accounting practices which are difficult to understand. * Tax authorities, it will be easier to calculate the tax liability of investors, including multinationals who receive income from overseas sources. * Large accounting and auditing firms would benefit as accounting and auditing would be much easier if similar accounting practices existed throughout the world. Despite the importance of harmonizing accounting standards, there still challenges facing harmonization of accounting standards between the member countries using IFRS (international financial reporting standard) and also between United States using US GAAP. These challenges are brought about different tax laws, different culture, different legal requirement, nationalism and different needs of financial statements. Speaking of harmonization we should put in consideration of International accounting standard board (IASB) based in UK and Financial accounting standard board (FASB) based in US. The  International Accounting Standards Board  (IASB) is the independent,  accounting standard-setting body of the  IFRS Foundation. The IASB was founded on April 1, 2001 as the successor to the  International Accounting Standards Committee  (IASC). It is responsible for developing  International Financial Reporting Standards  (the new name for  International Accounting Standards  issued after 2001), and promoting the use and application of these standards. The  Financial Accounting Standards Board  (FASB) is a private,  not-for-profit organization  whose primary purpose is to develop generally accepted accounting principles  (GAAP) within the  United States  in the public’s interest. The  Securities and Exchange Commission  (SEC) designated the FASB as the organization responsible for setting accounting standards for public companies in the U. S. It was created in 1973, replacing the  Committee on Accounting Procedure  (CAP) and the  Accounting Principles Board  (APB) of the  American Institute of Certified Public Accountants  (AICPA). The FASB’s mission is â€Å"to establish and improve standards of financial accounting and reporting for the guidance and education of the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of financial information. † To achieve this, FASB has five goals. * Improve the usefulness of financial reporting by focusing on the primary characteristics of relevance and reliability, and on the qualities of comparability and consistency. * Keep standards current to reflect changes in methods of doing business and in the economy. Consider promptly any significant areas of deficiency in financial reporting that might be improved through standard setting. * Promote  international convergence of accounting standards  concurrent with improving the quality of financial reporting. * Im prove common understanding of the nature and purposes of information in financial reports. The two boards have been making efforts to harmonize the accounting principles, as of September 2011, there was a push to harmonize, or integrate, the accounting standards of the United States, which operates under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), with International Accounting Standards (IAS). The rationale is that it would level the playing field for global businesses by providing regulators, auditors and decision-makers (investors) uniform information based on the same accounting methodologies. Supporters believe that this would improve accountability, reduce international transactional and exchange rate risks and improve information transfer to enhance economic policy decision-making. The difference between IAS and US GAAP is that the former is more principle based and the later is rule based. The following are Challenges to harmonization of accounting systems. Licensing and Enforcement, Individual accountants, CPAs and tax lawyers worldwide would need to comply with and obtain licensing through an internationally accepted rules-making body. If he international body lacks enforcement authority, there is no prosecutorial authority for breaking international laws. However, if the international body does have prosecutorial authority over a U. S. citizen, there would arise jurisdictional and constitutional issues regarding the rights of an international body’s rights to prosecute an American under international law. Finally, issues arise from the perspective of U. S. -only based businesses regarding forced compliance IASB standards are principles-based. Thus the countries that have rules-based standards are expected to experience considerable difficulty in harmonization of their standards with IFRS. There are challenges that IASB and nations adopting IFRS need to address in the coming days. One big challenge for countries adopting IFRS is the shortage of manpower and more particularly, IFRS-trained manpower. For case in point, with just six months to go before China’s listed companies adopt IFRS, demand for accountants is rising and could run into millions in the coming years, if the new standards are rolled out for all of the country’s companies and not just the listed ones. Accountants say that the challenge for China, as it scrambles to meet the accounting shift deadline, will lie in getting its over-1,100 listed companies to establish the appropriate financial reporting systems and in training enough qualified accountants by January. The risk is that some of these companies may fail to make the transition on time. Estimates reveal that China has a shortfall of 300,000 qualified accountants and is likely to require a further three million over the coming years to keep pace with its current rate of economic growth Difference purpose of financial reporting, in some countries the purpose is solely for tax assessment, while others it is for investor decision making, Different legal systems, these prevent the development of certain accounting practices and restrict options available. The Accounting world can be divided into â€Å"those countries which have a ‘legalistic’ orientation toward accounting and those with a ‘non legalistic’ orientation† (Nobes et al. , 1997:8). The non-legalistic approach can be found in countries, which use common law. In Common law countries, Accounting does not depend upon law. Accountants (professional organizations) arrange accounting rules. Hence, it is the private sector, which determines Accounting and not the law (Choi et al. , 200 2). The task of the legal system is to give an answer to a specific case rather than to formulate general rules for the future (Choi et al. 2002). The legalistic approach can be found in countries, which use the so called code (or codified) law. In contrary to the common law, the codified law system needs to develop rules in detail for the Accounting and financial reporting (Nobes, 1994). This means that â€Å"Accounting rules are incorporated into national law and tend to be highly prescriptive and procedural† (Choi et al. , 2002:43). In these countries the role of law is to describe behavior, which isconsidered to be acceptable in the society (Choi et al. , 2002). Different user groups, countries have different ideas about who the relevant user groups and their respective importance. In USA investor and credit groups are given prominence, while in Europe employees enjoy a higher profile. Provider of finance, there three main sources for external capital are shareholders, banks and government (Hill, 1999). It varies from country to country, which of these three provides most of the financial capital to companies. In countries like Germany and Italy banks provide companies with capital. In countries like England and the United States shareholders provide companies with capital. The government is the provider of capital in countries like France and Sweden. (Hill,1999) This diversity of capital providers means that Accounting Practices differ in order to satisfy needs of capital providers. In the case of shareholder ownership, (e. g. in the U. K. and the U. S. ), information disclosure will be more important than in countries, where capital is raised from banks or governments. This is explained by the fact that in the latter countries information will be transmitted more directly. (Radebaugh and Gray, 1997) It is impossible for a company to inform each shareholder with its specific information needs, because they are a big and unorganized group. Therefore financial statements in the US and UK are â€Å"oriented toward providing individual investors with the information they need to make decisions about purchasing or selling corporate stocks and bonds† (Hill, 1999:593). Tax laws, the key question here is to ask, how much taxation regulations determine Accounting measurements. In countries like the U. S. , U. K. and Netherlands there is no interplay between tax and Accounting law. When Accounting Standards are developed, the only focus is how to conduce the information function. Questions about taxation are not considered in those countries (Achleitner, 2000). In contrary, in nations as France and Germany, tax and Accounting Systems are ruled equal (Nobes and Parker, 2000). There is the principle of decisiveness in continental European countries. This means that the profit of the balance sheet is at the same time the foundation to snap income taxes (Achleitner, 2000). In Tanzania income tax act is in dis agreement with some accounting procedures like computation of depreciation, Bad debts and therefore disagree on how accountant compute organization profit and therefore in Tanzania should prepare to set of financial statement one for tax purposes and the other for other users of accounting information. Cultural differences result in objectives for accounting systems differing from country to country for example Islamic laws does not recognize the use of interest rate. The lack of strong accountancy bodies, many countries do not have strong independent accountancy or business bodies which would press for better standards and greater harmonization. Unique circumstances, some countries may be experiencing unusual circumstances which affect all aspects of everyday life an d impinge on the ability of companies to produce proper reports, for example hyperinflation, civil war, currency restriction. Nationalism is demonstrated in an unwillingness to accept another country’s standard. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the U. S. is responsible for setting accounting standards based primarily on â€Å"Federal securities laws and state CPA licensing laws. † All countries have specific securities laws, tax laws and banking and financial regulations that dictate accounting principles. Furthermore, in the United States, there are individual state laws that govern business, banking and insurance activities. Adopting international accounting standards would not only conflict with U. S. tatute law, but also constitutional law associated with â€Å"states’ rights. † Stable Platform, Beginning in 2005 , all 7,000 EU publicly traded companies are required to apply IFRS in the preparation of their consolidated financial statements. This represents yet another challenge as preparers of financial statements from Latvia to Portugal and from Poland to Sweden grapple with unfamiliar requirements. In preparation for this sweeping change, the IASB completed its â€Å"stable platform† of standards in March 2004. New and revised standards included five new IFRSs and 17 amended IASs, resulting from the IASB’s Improvements Project and Phase I of its Business Combinations Project. Some of the more significant revisions to IFRS that resulted from these projects include: * The LIFO method for costing inventories is no longer allowed; *   The concepts of â€Å"fundamental error† and â€Å"extraordinary items† are eliminated; *   Trading securities are now included in a larger defined category of financial instruments â€Å"at fair value through profit or loss† and entities may designate any financial asset or liability into this category (commonly referred to as â€Å"the fair value option†); *   Fair value hedge accounting may now be used more readily for a portfolio hedge of interest rate risk; *   Guidelines for share-based payments have been added;   The pooling-of-interests method for business combinations is no longer allowed; *   Goodwill is no longer amortized, and negative goodwill is not recorded in a business combination World wide acceptance, National accounting standards are highly politicized and there is ofte n a natural tendency to place the interests of the national economy ahead of those of the global economy. Private sector businesses and professional accounting bodies also have a vested interest in accounting practices and financial reporting. Pressure from these groups to change or reject certain standards can carry a lot of weight with political decision makers. Adopting international financial standards is met with additional challenges in developing countries. They often lack the resources and infrastructure to adapt national legal and legislative frameworks in which to house the standards, making proper implementation difficult. Training and Retraining, When a country decides to harmonize with the international standards, its companies, accountants and auditors need to be retrained in the new standards and reporting procedures for financial statements. College and university programs in this field also have to undergo significant changes in order to educate new people entering the profession. Before any of this can happen, trainers and professors will require training so they can instruct professionals and students. This will require the development of new learning materials and curricula, new examinations for professional licensing and new accounting software and reporting systems. To further complicate matters, the adoption of harmonized standards has to be phased in, so for a number of years, two different systems are in operation. Such a omplex transition requires a lot of safety mechanisms to ensure it achieves uniform results. To sum up with, Harmonization of financial statement is very crucial for acc ounting profession and also for the global business growth especially for multinational companies which will now find easily in preparation of parent and subsidiary financial statement since have to be prepared according to IFRS. IFRS IS very important to developing countries like Tanzania such as increasing confidence of investors, reduce cost of doing business, facilitate smooth operation of international groupings like EAC and the countries accountant become competitive worldwide. REFERENCES WORD LENGTH: 3517 words Arbnor, I. Bjerke, B. (1997): Methodology for Creating Business Knowledge, Sage Publications, Thousands Oaks, 2nd edition. Ghauri, P. ; Gronhaug, K. (2002): Research Methods in Business Studies, Prentice Hall, London. Choi, F. ; Frost C. ; Gary, K. (2002): International Accounting, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 4th edition. Choi, F. ; Mueller, G. (1992): International Accounting, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2nd edition. Epstein, B. ; Mirza, A. (2001): IAS, Interpretation a nd Application, John Wiley ; Sons, New York. Ghauri P. ; Gronhaug, K. ; Kristianslund, I. (1995): Research Methods in Business Studies: A practical guide, Prentice Hall, Bodmin. Gummesson, E. 2000): Qualitative Methods in Management Research, Sage Publications, Inc, Thousand Oaks, 2nd edition. Helgesson, T. (1996): Culture in International Business: an Introduction, Academia Adacta, Lund. Hill, C. (1999): Competing in the Global Marketplace; Irwin McGraw Hill, Boston, 3rd edition. Hofstede, G. (1991): Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. Howard, K. ; Sharp, J. (1983): The Management of a Student Research Project, Gower Publishing Company Ltd. , Aldershot. Johansson, L. (2000): Introduktion till Vetenskapsteorin, AIT Falun AB, Stockholm. Kam, V. (1990): Accounting Theory, John Willey and Sons, New York, 2nd edition. 70 Kleekamper, H. ; Kuhlewind, M. ; Alvarez, M. 2002): Grundlagen, Ziele, Organisation, Entwicklung und Bedeutung des IAS B, in: Rechnungslegung nach International Accounting Standards (IAS), editedy by Baetge, D. ; Kleekamper, H. ; Wollmert, P. ; Kirsch H. (2002), Schafer-Poeschel, Stuttgart, 2nd edition. Naciri, A. ; Hoarau C. (2001): A comparative analysis of american and french financial Reporting philosophies: the case for international Accounting Standards, in: Advances in International Accounting, edited by Sale, J; Salter, S; Sharp, D. (2001), Elsevier Sience Ltd, Oxford. Nobes, C. ; Parker, R. (2000): Comparative International Accounting, Financial Times – Prentice Hall, Hartlow. Nobes, C. 1999): Towards a General Model of the Reasons for International Differences in Financial Reporting, in: International Accounting and Comparative Financial Reporting, edited by Nobes, C. (1998), Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham. Nobes, C; Mueller, G; Gernon, H; Meek, G. (1997): Accounting an International Perspective, Richard D. Irwin, Inc; Chicago, 4th edition. Nobes, C. (1994): Accounting Harmonisation in Europe: Process, progress and prospects, FT Business Information Ltd, London. North, D. (1990): Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Miles, M. ; Huberman, A. (1994): Qualitative Data Analysis – An expanded source book, Sage Publications, Inc, Thousands Oaks, 2nd edition. Mueller, G. 1997): Harmonization Efforts in the European Union, in: International Accounting and Finance Handbook, edited by Choi, F. (1997), Wiley and Sons, New York, 7th edition. Mueller, G. ; Gernon, H. ; Meek, G. (1991): Accounting – an International Perspective; Richard D. Irwin, Inc; Homewood, 2nd edition. Radebaugh, L. ; Daniels, J. (2001): International Business, Environment and Operations, Prentice Hall, London, 9th edition. Radebaugh L. ; Gray S. (1997): International Accounting and multinational enterprises, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 4th edition. Remenyi, D. ; Williams, B. ;Money A. ; Swartz E. (1998): Doing Research in Business and Management: An Introduction to Process and Method, SAGE Publications, London. 71 Riahi-Belkaoui, A. 2000): Accounting Theory, Thomson Learning – Business Press, Padstow, Cornwall, 4th edition. Roberts, C. ; Weetman, P. ; Gordon P. (1998): International Financial Accounting – a comparative approach, Financial Times Pitman Publishing, London. Samuels, J. ; Piper, A. (1985): International Accounting: A survery, Croom Helm, London. Wolk, H. ; Tearney, M. ; Dodd, J. (2001): A Conceptual and intestinal Approach: Accounting Theory, South-Western College Publishing, 5th edition. Wollmert, P. ; Achleitner A. (2002): Konzeption der IAS: Rechnungslegung, in: Rechnungslegung nach International Accounting Standards (IAS), edited by Baetge, D. ; Kleekamper, H. ; Wollmert, P. ; Kirsch, H. (2002):, Schafer-Poeschel, , Stuttgart, 2nd edition. Challenges of Harmonization of Accounting System Accounting Standards in other words can be stated as rules which govern the preparation of financial statements. They are the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Where by accounting practices are the actual used practices by accountants. They are influenced by Accounting Standards, which govern the preparation of financial reports. Harmonization of accounting standards† can be defined as the continuous process of ensuring that the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are formulated, aligned and updated to international best practices (GAAPs in other countries) with suitable modifications and fine tuning considering the domestic conditions. Harmonization is the process of increasing compatibility of accounting practices by setting bounds on their degree of variation. Harmonization can be defined as â€Å"the process of bringing international Accounting Standards into some sort of agreement so that the financial statements from different countries are prepared according to a common set of principles of measurement and disclosure† (Haskins et al. 1996:29). According to Wolk et al. described harmonization of Accounting Standards as â€Å"the co-ordination or similarity among the various sets of national Accounting Standards and methods and formats of financial reporting†. (Kleekamper et al. , 2002) Kleekamperet al. xplain, that the aim of the international harmonization process of Accounting Standards is to reduce or overcome differences world-wide, in order to reach a better international Comparability of financial statements. International accounting harmonization can be defined as â€Å"the process of bringing international Accounting Standards into some sort of agreement so that the financial statements from different countries ar e prepared according to a common set of principles of measurement and disclosure† (Haskins et al. 1996:29). This harmonization is needed due to the globalization of businesses and services and increase in cross-border investments and borrowings and academicians, regulators and governments have been constantly striving to harmonize the local/domestic Accounting Standards(AS), also referred to as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), with the International Accounting Standards (IAS) issued by the UK based International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) (formerly the International Accounting Standards Committee-IASC). The IASB has been trying to harmonize international accounting principles since 1973. Further, the IASB and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have been jointly working on harmonization since July 1995, and in May 2000 the IOSCO finished its review of the IAS and recommended usage of certain IAS, supplemented with reconciliation, disclosure and interpretations. Some benefits of harmonization of accounting practices is as follows * It ensures reliable and high quality financial reporting and disclosures. In certain cases, it can prove to be crucial to the economic and financial development of a country * It enables a systematic review and evaluation of the performance of a multinational company having subsidiaries and associates in various countries wherein each country has its own set of GAAP * It makes the comparison of the performance of a company against its domestic and international peers easier and more meaningful * It is a precursor for accessing international capital markets which can, in turn, reduce the capital cost and consequently, improve the performance of a company * Multinational companies, the multinational companies benefit from closer harmonization for the following reasons a) Access to international finance is easier, the international financial markets understand the financial information presented to them more easily. If the information is provided on a consistent basis between companies irrespective of their country of origin. b) Improved management control, in a business operating in several countries management control is improved. Internal financial information is more easily prepared on consistent basis if externally required financial information is required on a uniform basis. c) Consolidation of financial statement is easier ) A reduction of auditing cost due to harmonized accounting practices and standards. e) A transfer of accounting staff across national borders would be easier f) It would be easier to comply with reporting requirements of overseas stock exchanges. g) Appraisals of foreign entities for take over and mergers would be more straightforward. * International economic groupings, international groupings like EU (European Union) could work more effectively if there were international harmonization of accounting policies. Part of the function of international groupings is go make cross-border trade easier. Similar to accounting regulation would help this process. Government of developing countries would save time and money if they would adopt international standards and, if these were used internally, governments of developing countries could attempt to control the activities of foreign multinational companies in their own country. These companies could not hide behind foreign accounting practices which are difficult to understand. * Tax authorities, it will be easier to calculate the tax liability of investors, including multinationals who receive income from overseas sources. * Large accounting and auditing firms would benefit as accounting and auditing would be much easier if similar accounting practices existed throughout the world. Despite the importance of harmonizing accounting standards, there still challenges facing harmonization of accounting standards between the member countries using IFRS (international financial reporting standard) and also between United States using US GAAP. These challenges are brought about different tax laws, different culture, different legal requirement, nationalism and different needs of financial statements. Speaking of harmonization we should put in consideration of International accounting standard board (IASB) based in UK and Financial accounting standard board (FASB) based in US. The  International Accounting Standards Board  (IASB) is the independent,  accounting standard-setting body of the  IFRS Foundation. The IASB was founded on April 1, 2001 as the successor to the  International Accounting Standards Committee  (IASC). It is responsible for developing  International Financial Reporting Standards  (the new name for  International Accounting Standards  issued after 2001), and promoting the use and application of these standards. The  Financial Accounting Standards Board  (FASB) is a private,  not-for-profit organization  whose primary purpose is to develop generally accepted accounting principles  (GAAP) within the  United States  in the public’s interest. The  Securities and Exchange Commission  (SEC) designated the FASB as the organization responsible for setting accounting standards for public companies in the U. S. It was created in 1973, replacing the  Committee on Accounting Procedure  (CAP) and the  Accounting Principles Board  (APB) of the  American Institute of Certified Public Accountants  (AICPA). The FASB’s mission is â€Å"to establish and improve standards of financial accounting and reporting for the guidance and education of the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of financial information. † To achieve this, FASB has five goals. * Improve the usefulness of financial reporting by focusing on the primary characteristics of relevance and reliability, and on the qualities of comparability and consistency. * Keep standards current to reflect changes in methods of doing business and in the economy. Consider promptly any significant areas of deficiency in financial reporting that might be improved through standard setting. * Promote  international convergence of accounting standards  concurrent with improving the quality of financial reporting. * Im prove common understanding of the nature and purposes of information in financial reports. The two boards have been making efforts to harmonize the accounting principles, as of September 2011, there was a push to harmonize, or integrate, the accounting standards of the United States, which operates under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), with International Accounting Standards (IAS). The rationale is that it would level the playing field for global businesses by providing regulators, auditors and decision-makers (investors) uniform information based on the same accounting methodologies. Supporters believe that this would improve accountability, reduce international transactional and exchange rate risks and improve information transfer to enhance economic policy decision-making. The difference between IAS and US GAAP is that the former is more principle based and the later is rule based. The following are Challenges to harmonization of accounting systems. Licensing and Enforcement, Individual accountants, CPAs and tax lawyers worldwide would need to comply with and obtain licensing through an internationally accepted rules-making body. If he international body lacks enforcement authority, there is no prosecutorial authority for breaking international laws. However, if the international body does have prosecutorial authority over a U. S. citizen, there would arise jurisdictional and constitutional issues regarding the rights of an international body’s rights to prosecute an American under international law. Finally, issues arise from the perspective of U. S. -only based businesses regarding forced compliance IASB standards are principles-based. Thus the countries that have rules-based standards are expected to experience considerable difficulty in harmonization of their standards with IFRS. There are challenges that IASB and nations adopting IFRS need to address in the coming days. One big challenge for countries adopting IFRS is the shortage of manpower and more particularly, IFRS-trained manpower. For case in point, with just six months to go before China’s listed companies adopt IFRS, demand for accountants is rising and could run into millions in the coming years, if the new standards are rolled out for all of the country’s companies and not just the listed ones. Accountants say that the challenge for China, as it scrambles to meet the accounting shift deadline, will lie in getting its over-1,100 listed companies to establish the appropriate financial reporting systems and in training enough qualified accountants by January. The risk is that some of these companies may fail to make the transition on time. Estimates reveal that China has a shortfall of 300,000 qualified accountants and is likely to require a further three million over the coming years to keep pace with its current rate of economic growth Difference purpose of financial reporting, in some countries the purpose is solely for tax assessment, while others it is for investor decision making, Different legal systems, these prevent the development of certain accounting practices and restrict options available. The Accounting world can be divided into â€Å"those countries which have a ‘legalistic’ orientation toward accounting and those with a ‘non legalistic’ orientation† (Nobes et al. , 1997:8). The non-legalistic approach can be found in countries, which use common law. In Common law countries, Accounting does not depend upon law. Accountants (professional organizations) arrange accounting rules. Hence, it is the private sector, which determines Accounting and not the law (Choi et al. , 200 2). The task of the legal system is to give an answer to a specific case rather than to formulate general rules for the future (Choi et al. 2002). The legalistic approach can be found in countries, which use the so called code (or codified) law. In contrary to the common law, the codified law system needs to develop rules in detail for the Accounting and financial reporting (Nobes, 1994). This means that â€Å"Accounting rules are incorporated into national law and tend to be highly prescriptive and procedural† (Choi et al. , 2002:43). In these countries the role of law is to describe behavior, which isconsidered to be acceptable in the society (Choi et al. , 2002). Different user groups, countries have different ideas about who the relevant user groups and their respective importance. In USA investor and credit groups are given prominence, while in Europe employees enjoy a higher profile. Provider of finance, there three main sources for external capital are shareholders, banks and government (Hill, 1999). It varies from country to country, which of these three provides most of the financial capital to companies. In countries like Germany and Italy banks provide companies with capital. In countries like England and the United States shareholders provide companies with capital. The government is the provider of capital in countries like France and Sweden. (Hill,1999) This diversity of capital providers means that Accounting Practices differ in order to satisfy needs of capital providers. In the case of shareholder ownership, (e. g. in the U. K. and the U. S. ), information disclosure will be more important than in countries, where capital is raised from banks or governments. This is explained by the fact that in the latter countries information will be transmitted more directly. (Radebaugh and Gray, 1997) It is impossible for a company to inform each shareholder with its specific information needs, because they are a big and unorganized group. Therefore financial statements in the US and UK are â€Å"oriented toward providing individual investors with the information they need to make decisions about purchasing or selling corporate stocks and bonds† (Hill, 1999:593). Tax laws, the key question here is to ask, how much taxation regulations determine Accounting measurements. In countries like the U. S. , U. K. and Netherlands there is no interplay between tax and Accounting law. When Accounting Standards are developed, the only focus is how to conduce the information function. Questions about taxation are not considered in those countries (Achleitner, 2000). In contrary, in nations as France and Germany, tax and Accounting Systems are ruled equal (Nobes and Parker, 2000). There is the principle of decisiveness in continental European countries. This means that the profit of the balance sheet is at the same time the foundation to snap income taxes (Achleitner, 2000). In Tanzania income tax act is in dis agreement with some accounting procedures like computation of depreciation, Bad debts and therefore disagree on how accountant compute organization profit and therefore in Tanzania should prepare to set of financial statement one for tax purposes and the other for other users of accounting information. Cultural differences result in objectives for accounting systems differing from country to country for example Islamic laws does not recognize the use of interest rate. The lack of strong accountancy bodies, many countries do not have strong independent accountancy or business bodies which would press for better standards and greater harmonization. Unique circumstances, some countries may be experiencing unusual circumstances which affect all aspects of everyday life an d impinge on the ability of companies to produce proper reports, for example hyperinflation, civil war, currency restriction. Nationalism is demonstrated in an unwillingness to accept another country’s standard. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the U. S. is responsible for setting accounting standards based primarily on â€Å"Federal securities laws and state CPA licensing laws. † All countries have specific securities laws, tax laws and banking and financial regulations that dictate accounting principles. Furthermore, in the United States, there are individual state laws that govern business, banking and insurance activities. Adopting international accounting standards would not only conflict with U. S. tatute law, but also constitutional law associated with â€Å"states’ rights. † Stable Platform, Beginning in 2005 , all 7,000 EU publicly traded companies are required to apply IFRS in the preparation of their consolidated financial statements. This represents yet another challenge as preparers of financial statements from Latvia to Portugal and from Poland to Sweden grapple with unfamiliar requirements. In preparation for this sweeping change, the IASB completed its â€Å"stable platform† of standards in March 2004. New and revised standards included five new IFRSs and 17 amended IASs, resulting from the IASB’s Improvements Project and Phase I of its Business Combinations Project. Some of the more significant revisions to IFRS that resulted from these projects include: * The LIFO method for costing inventories is no longer allowed; *   The concepts of â€Å"fundamental error† and â€Å"extraordinary items† are eliminated; *   Trading securities are now included in a larger defined category of financial instruments â€Å"at fair value through profit or loss† and entities may designate any financial asset or liability into this category (commonly referred to as â€Å"the fair value option†); *   Fair value hedge accounting may now be used more readily for a portfolio hedge of interest rate risk; *   Guidelines for share-based payments have been added;   The pooling-of-interests method for business combinations is no longer allowed; *   Goodwill is no longer amortized, and negative goodwill is not recorded in a business combination World wide acceptance, National accounting standards are highly politicized and there is ofte n a natural tendency to place the interests of the national economy ahead of those of the global economy. Private sector businesses and professional accounting bodies also have a vested interest in accounting practices and financial reporting. Pressure from these groups to change or reject certain standards can carry a lot of weight with political decision makers. Adopting international financial standards is met with additional challenges in developing countries. They often lack the resources and infrastructure to adapt national legal and legislative frameworks in which to house the standards, making proper implementation difficult. Training and Retraining, When a country decides to harmonize with the international standards, its companies, accountants and auditors need to be retrained in the new standards and reporting procedures for financial statements. College and university programs in this field also have to undergo significant changes in order to educate new people entering the profession. Before any of this can happen, trainers and professors will require training so they can instruct professionals and students. This will require the development of new learning materials and curricula, new examinations for professional licensing and new accounting software and reporting systems. To further complicate matters, the adoption of harmonized standards has to be phased in, so for a number of years, two different systems are in operation. Such a omplex transition requires a lot of safety mechanisms to ensure it achieves uniform results. To sum up with, Harmonization of financial statement is very crucial for acc ounting profession and also for the global business growth especially for multinational companies which will now find easily in preparation of parent and subsidiary financial statement since have to be prepared according to IFRS. IFRS IS very important to developing countries like Tanzania such as increasing confidence of investors, reduce cost of doing business, facilitate smooth operation of international groupings like EAC and the countries accountant become competitive worldwide. REFERENCES WORD LENGTH: 3517 words Arbnor, I. Bjerke, B. (1997): Methodology for Creating Business Knowledge, Sage Publications, Thousands Oaks, 2nd edition. Ghauri, P. ; Gronhaug, K. (2002): Research Methods in Business Studies, Prentice Hall, London. Choi, F. ; Frost C. ; Gary, K. (2002): International Accounting, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 4th edition. Choi, F. ; Mueller, G. (1992): International Accounting, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2nd edition. Epstein, B. ; Mirza, A. (2001): IAS, Interpretation a nd Application, John Wiley ; Sons, New York. Ghauri P. ; Gronhaug, K. ; Kristianslund, I. (1995): Research Methods in Business Studies: A practical guide, Prentice Hall, Bodmin. Gummesson, E. 2000): Qualitative Methods in Management Research, Sage Publications, Inc, Thousand Oaks, 2nd edition. Helgesson, T. (1996): Culture in International Business: an Introduction, Academia Adacta, Lund. Hill, C. (1999): Competing in the Global Marketplace; Irwin McGraw Hill, Boston, 3rd edition. Hofstede, G. (1991): Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. Howard, K. ; Sharp, J. (1983): The Management of a Student Research Project, Gower Publishing Company Ltd. , Aldershot. Johansson, L. (2000): Introduktion till Vetenskapsteorin, AIT Falun AB, Stockholm. Kam, V. (1990): Accounting Theory, John Willey and Sons, New York, 2nd edition. 70 Kleekamper, H. ; Kuhlewind, M. ; Alvarez, M. 2002): Grundlagen, Ziele, Organisation, Entwicklung und Bedeutung des IAS B, in: Rechnungslegung nach International Accounting Standards (IAS), editedy by Baetge, D. ; Kleekamper, H. ; Wollmert, P. ; Kirsch H. (2002), Schafer-Poeschel, Stuttgart, 2nd edition. Naciri, A. ; Hoarau C. (2001): A comparative analysis of american and french financial Reporting philosophies: the case for international Accounting Standards, in: Advances in International Accounting, edited by Sale, J; Salter, S; Sharp, D. (2001), Elsevier Sience Ltd, Oxford. Nobes, C. ; Parker, R. (2000): Comparative International Accounting, Financial Times – Prentice Hall, Hartlow. Nobes, C. 1999): Towards a General Model of the Reasons for International Differences in Financial Reporting, in: International Accounting and Comparative Financial Reporting, edited by Nobes, C. (1998), Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham. Nobes, C; Mueller, G; Gernon, H; Meek, G. (1997): Accounting an International Perspective, Richard D. Irwin, Inc; Chicago, 4th edition. Nobes, C. (1994): Accounting Harmonisation in Europe: Process, progress and prospects, FT Business Information Ltd, London. North, D. (1990): Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Miles, M. ; Huberman, A. (1994): Qualitative Data Analysis – An expanded source book, Sage Publications, Inc, Thousands Oaks, 2nd edition. Mueller, G. 1997): Harmonization Efforts in the European Union, in: International Accounting and Finance Handbook, edited by Choi, F. (1997), Wiley and Sons, New York, 7th edition. Mueller, G. ; Gernon, H. ; Meek, G. (1991): Accounting – an International Perspective; Richard D. Irwin, Inc; Homewood, 2nd edition. Radebaugh, L. ; Daniels, J. (2001): International Business, Environment and Operations, Prentice Hall, London, 9th edition. Radebaugh L. ; Gray S. (1997): International Accounting and multinational enterprises, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 4th edition. Remenyi, D. ; Williams, B. ;Money A. ; Swartz E. 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Comparison of Economy Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Comparison of Economy Organizations - Essay Example While credit unions are regulated by cooperatives regulations, insurance companies are regulated by incorporated entities regulations. By seeking financial assistance from a credit union, individual entities become owners of the financial institution which is not the case with insurance companies which are not owned through seeking insurance cover or any other financial assistance. Interest rates at credit unions are very attractive since they aim at initiating development among members. On the other hand, insurance companies charge high interests since they are profit oriented. Both institutions are established to offer financial security in a certain way to their clients. In a similar end result, both the credit unions and insurance companies offer a clear savings channel that is not as clear in many other financial institutions. The operation of both of these financial institutions seems to be providing a secure means to invest since the risks involved are considerably shielded from several risk types. In contrast, on one hand, credit unions ought to spur development among the members through the offering of cheap financial services. On the other hand, financial services offered by insurance companies are geared towards maximization of profits through the delivery of a range of policies and other financial services. Management is vested in the hands of a board of directors in all of the above mentioned financial institutions, with the sole responsibility of protecting the shareholders. In distinguishing open-end mutual funds from the rest, it is clear that the fund operates on a self-liquidating manner, in that it is always willing and able to purchase and sell investors’ shares any day of operation. On the contrary, closed-end mutual funds are not bound by the provision of liquidity, a factor attributed to having caused a serious performance slump at the helm of Crush of 1929 (Haslem 2009, p19).

Wieland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wieland - Essay Example rine Pleyel and because they were very rich the family settles into a very expensive estate where Clara stays on her own house which was on the ground floor (Brockden 27). Unfortunately, Wieland dreams that God is commanding him to murder his wife and children. In addition, in his thoughts, he starts to argue within himself that he also needs to murder his sister as a form of sacrifice, just the way Abraham in the bible did (Brockden 38). In the bible, Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his son, but then when he was just about doing it, a sheep appeared. Wieland can be seen as an extremist who will do anything to show God that he has faith in Him. Clara is helped by neighbors who were alerted by a lot of noise from the house and then his brother is taken to prison (Brockden 45). Carwin who was a stranger admits that he is a spritualist and is responsible for the strange voices the family has been hearing. He explains that he was attracted to Clara and therefore because of jealousy he wanted to turn Playel against her (Brackden 70). In the contrast, Carwin distances himself with the voice Wieland has been hearing which was commanding him to murder his family (Brackden 90). After several days, Wieland escaped from prison to finish his mission but because of Carwin love for Clara he helps her by speaking to Wieland as God (Brackden 97). This time he told Theodre that he had been deceived. When he heard the voice he then realized that he had sinned and that he was not worthy before God, therefore he takes his own life (Brackden 110). The parallel between Wieland and a seduction novel is very critical to its meaning in that Wieland can be seen as a cautionary tale on the dangers of religious extremists. The way the Wieland men were behaving just shows how infuriated they are because a normal person should not behave like that. The father and the sons are also seen not to be mentally stable (Brackden 31). One of the core values of every family is love, therefore if a