Biography of Psychologist Lev Vygotsky

Biography of Psychologist Lev Vygotsky   More in Psychology History and Biographies Psychotherapy Basics Student Resources Theories Phobias Emotions Sleep and Dreaming In This Article Table of Contents Expand Early Life Career and Theories Contributions Vygotsky vs. Piaget Selected Publications Lev Vygotsky was a seminal Russian psychologist who is best known for his sociocultural theory. He believed that social interaction plays a critical role in childrens learning. Through such social interactions, children go through a continuous process of learning. Vygotsky noted, however, that culture profoundly influences this process. Imitation, guided learning, and collaborative learning all play a critical part in his theory. Vygotskys Early Life Lev Vygotsky was born  November 17,  1896, in Orsha, a city in the western region of the Russian Empire. He attended Moscow State University, where he graduated with a degree in law in 1917. He studied a range of topics while attending university, including sociology, linguistics, psychology, and philosophy. However, his formal work in psychology did not begin until 1924 when he attended the Institute of Psychology in Moscow. He completed a dissertation in 1925 on the psychology of art but was awarded his degree in absentia due to an acute tuberculosis relapse that left him incapacitated for a year. Following his illness, Vygotsky began researching topics such as language, attention, and memory with the help of students including Alexei Leontiev and Alexander Luria. Vygotskys Career and Theories Vygotsky was a prolific writer, publishing six books on psychology topics over a ten-year period. His interests were quite diverse but often centered on issues of child development and education. He also explored such subjects as the psychology of art and language development. The Zone of Proximal Development According to Vygotsky, the zone of proximal development is [The] distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.â€"Lev Vygotsky,  Mind in Society,  1978 Essentially, this zone is the gap between what a child knows and what he does not yet know. The process of acquiring that information requires skills that a child does not yet possess or cannot do independently, but can do with the help of a more knowledgeable other. Parents and teachers can foster learning by providing educational opportunities that lie within a childs zone of proximal development. Kids can also learn a great deal from peers, so teachers can foster this process by pairing less skilled children with more knowledgeable classmates. How Vygotsky Defined the Zone of Proximal Development The More Knowledgeable Other Vygotsky conceived the more knowledgeable other as a person who has greater knowledge and skills than the learner. In many cases, this individual is an adult such as a parent or teacher. Kids also learn a great deal from their interactions with their peers, and children often pay even greater attention to what their friends and classmates know and are doing than they do to the adults in their life. No matter who serves as the more knowledgeable other, the key is that they provide the needed social instruction with the zone of proximal development when the learner is so sensitive to guidance. Children can observe and imitate or even receive guided instruction to acquire new knowledge and skills. Sociocultural Theory Lev Vygotsky also suggested that human development results from a dynamic interaction between individuals and society. Through this interaction, children learn gradually and continuously from parents and teachers. This learning, however, can vary from one culture to the next. Its important to note that Vygotskys theory emphasizes the dynamic nature of this interaction. Society doesnt just impact people; people also affect their society. Contributions to Psychology Vygotskys life was cut tragically short on June 11, 1934, when he died of tuberculosis at the age of 37. He is considered a formative thinker in psychology, and much of his work is still being discovered and explored today. While he was a contemporary of Skinner, Pavlov, Freud, and Piaget, his work never attained their level of eminence during his lifetime. Part of this was because the Communist Party often criticized his work in Russia, and so his writings were largely inaccessible to the Western world. His premature death at age 37 also contributed to his obscurity. Despite this, his work has continued to grow in influence since his death, particularly in the fields of developmental and educational psychology. It wasnt until the 1970s that Vygotskys theories became known in the West as new concepts and ideas were introduced in the fields of educational and developmental psychology. Since then, Vygotskys works have been translated and have become very influential, particularly in the area of education. In a ranking of eminent psychologists, Vygotsky was identified as the 83rd most frequently cited psychologist during the 20th century. Vygotsky vs. Piaget Piaget and Vygotsky were contemporaries, yet Vygotsky’s ideas never became as well-known until long after his death. While their ideas shared some similarities, there were some significant differences, including: Vygotsky did not break down development into a series of predetermined stages as Piaget did.Vygotsky stressed the important role that culture plays, suggesting cultural differences can have a dramatic effect on development. Piaget’s theory suggests that development is largely universal.Piaget’s theory focuses a great deal of attention on peer interaction while Vygotsky’s theory stresses the importance of more knowledgeable adults and peers.Vygotsky’s theory heavily stressed the role that language plays in development, something that Piaget largely ignored. In His Own Words Learning is more than the acquisition of the ability to think; it is the acquisition of many specialised abilities for thinking about a variety of things.â€"Lev Vygotsky, Mind in Society, 1978 Selected Publications Vygotsky LS. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge: MA: Harvard University Press; 1978. Vygotsky LS. Thought and Language. Kozulin A, trans. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press; 1986. (Original work published in 1934) Vygotsky LS.  Thinking and Speech. Minick N, trans. New York: Plenum Press; 1987. If youre interested in reading some of Vygotskys works, many of his writings are available in full-text format at the Vygotsky Internet Archive.

Phrasal Verb Overview and Resources

Phrasal verbs are verbs that are made up of two or more words. For example: Turn onLook forward to turn on - He turned on the TV.look forward to - I look forward to meeting you. Why are Phrasal Verbs Important? If you are unfamiliar with phrasal verbs, this guide to what are phrasal verbs explains everything. Phrasal verbs are used in everyday English by native English speakers to express a wide range of ideas. Unfortunately, phrasal verbs are often ignored because students focus on only the verb. Its important to take notice of the attached prepositions to phrasal verbs when learning new vocabulary. Phrasal verbs can be literal or figurative in meaning. For example, the phrasal verb get into can mean enter - He got in the car - or figuratively accept - He got into Harvard. Phrase verbs are made up of a verb, plus one or more particles. make up - I made up the story.get over - She got over her illness.put in - I put in three hours on the project. In two-word phrasal verbs, the particle is a preposition. In three or more word phrasal verbs the last particle is generally a preposition. look forward to - She looks forward to going on vacation.get ready for - Im getting ready for a competition.get on with - Lets get on with this job. There are four types of phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs can be separable or inseparable and they can take an object or not. Phrasal Verb Reference Materials There are so many phrasal verbs. The Cambridge Phrasal Verb dictionary is 432 pages long! Luckily, not all of these phrasal verbs need to be committed to memory. Phrasal verbs with to get are some of the most common phrasal verbs. There are also certain common prepositions used to build phrasal verbs: Departures and arrivals with off and onIncreasing and decreasing with up and down Learning Phrasal Verbs in Context Phrasal verbs can also be learned in context by relating synonyms to the new phrasal verbs you learn. Here is a series of exercises that provides listening examples from which you match the phrasal verb to its definition or synonym. Build your phrasal verb vocabulary - 2 Phrasal Verb Quizzes Learning phrasal verbs also takes a lot of repetition. Quizzes provide some of the best practice. These quizzes provide feedback on phrasal verbs: Phrasal Verbs with BringPhrasal Verbs with LookPhrasal Verbs with PutPhrasal Verbs with TakePhrasal Verbs with TurnMixed Phrasal Verbs

Essay on Minority Report The Book vs the Movie - 1282 Words

It is a fool-proof system born to ensure absolute safety†¦but when it crumbles, would you go against everything it stands for just to save it? This is the platform that Philip K. Dick, author of the sci-fi short story The Minority Report (MR), has given us. Set in a futuristic New York City, we see Police Commissioner John A. Anderton as the founder of a promising new branch of policing: Precrime, a system that uses Precogs (mutated and retarded oracles) to predict all future crimes. However, the system appears to backfire when Anderton himself is accused to kill a man hes never even heard of. The movie adaptation by the same name also centers on a younger Chief Anderton, a respected employee of Precrime, predicted to murder a complete†¦show more content†¦Kaplan is the retired General of the Army of the Federated Westbloc Alliance (79), aiming to abolish Precrime and re-instate the Army. He is eventually killed when Anderton discovers the plan and fulfills his majority reports and shoots Kaplan, thus condemning himself but saving Precrime. The basis of Precrime’s operation, the three precogs named Jerry, Donna and Mike, are described as grotesque, inarticulate parodies of human beings, with swollen heads and withered bodies, retarded both physiologically and mentally. Their physical repulsiveness is demonstrated by Witwers reaction to seeing the precogs for the first time: For the first time Witwers face [loses] its breezy confidence. A sick, dismayed expression [creeps] into his eyes, a mixture of shame and moral shock. Its not—pleasant, he [murmurs]. I didnt realize they were so— He [gropes] in his mind for the right word, gesticulating. So—deformed.(73). Conversely, in the movie, Anderton can walk with Agatha through a crowded mall and streets without drawing much attention (precogs are even, in fact, deified by the police force and the public). 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Is Globalisation a positive phenomenon Free Essays

Abstract The presentation was on the increasingly important topic of globalisation, and the effects that this phenomenon has had on a global scale. To create a presentation on this topic we arranged several meetings to decide the various aspects of globalisation that would be included in our presentation. We discussed what we define as globalisation, and both the advantages and disadvantages of this process. We will write a custom essay sample on Is Globalisation a positive phenomenon? or any similar topic only for you Order Now We concluded that despite the undeniable issues that it has instigated, overall, the occurrence of globalisation is beneficial. On the whole, the group worked well together developing ideas and researching various aspects of the controversial issue of globalisation, and from this put together an informative presentation. Introduction Globalisation is defined by the Collins dictionary as â€Å"a process enabling financial and investment markets to operate internationally, largely as a result of deregulation and improved communications.† Globalisation as a topic of study is increasing, and is of huge importance to the whole group from a social science perspective. As such a complex topic, globalisation is defined in countless ways, as it is relevant within a multitude of areas; from trade to inequality. The presentation draws upon the fact that Globalisation is a very real process, and despite only being coined ‘Globalisation’ in the 1960’s, the interconnected relations of states have been developing as far back as the middle ages. Methodology Shortly after it was formed, the group met to decide a topic for the presentation. Globalisation raises a number of important issues, so in order to create a short presentation we reduced this broad topic to a discussion of whether or not globalisation is a beneficial process. Each member of the group was assigned a section of the presentation, which was divided into four parts; an introduction, the advantages of globalisation, the disadvantages, and a conclusion. In addition to researching a specific section, each member was asked to do general research across the scope of the topic in order to have an understanding of the presentation as a whole. The main source of research was the Internet, and the presentation includes factual information from articles as well as touching upon a number of theories proposed by academics. After the first meeting, each group member contributed a number of slides on their section and the presentation was composed. Whether to conclude that Globalisation was in fact a good or bad thing was debated within the group until the conclusion was reached that the majority of the research pointed to the former. The final meeting was a run through of the presentation to ensure it was within the allocated time limit. Discussion Globalisation has been allowed to progress through three main routes; policy change, the development of trans-national corporations, and advances in technology and communications. The expansion of this process has accelerated in recent decades, leading to an increase in both interest in the topic, and number of anti globalisation movements. Indeed, as Simon Jeffery argues, â€Å"what really put globalisation on the map is the anti globalisation movement.† Globalisation is often viewed as a beneficial process due to its influence in both the western and developing world. However, for many, globalisation comes at a high price. It is often described as a western phenomenon, which is beneficial only to the western world. This argument is based on evidence of the west exploiting developing countries through several means. Firstly, globalisation has allowed Trans national corporations (TNC’s) to develop manufacturing plants worldwide. These source growth and development in large areas, as well as transferring modern techniques and technology. They also provide jobs and further opportunities for many local people. However, often these workers are underpaid and working in bad conditions, which the TNC’s (outside of their own countries health and safety regulations) are not liable. Furthermore, the dependency of the developing country on the TNC puts the company is a position where it can exploit the workers, the local environment and the government (to offer an incentive for them to remain employing their people e.g low taxes.) This can also have serious affects on the home economy, as outsourcing leads of loss of jobs in the home country. Globalisation is also considered to have an adverse affect on culture, referred to as ‘Mcdonaldization’. This is essentially the promotion of brands to the extent that they can be recognized instantaneously. These brands are representing a particular culture, the â€Å"world culture† which is essentially the American (or western) culture. The global recognition of these brands is a common image of the extent to which the world has been globalised. This is seen negatively as it is argued that there is a loss of individuality, and other cultures are devalued, as each country aims for a western lifestyle. Finally, it is argued that globalisation has lead to higher levels of global inequality. For example, 80% of the global population earns only 20% of global income, due to many countries whose economies are not strong or advanced enough to benefit from globalisation. Globalisation is held responsible for these increased levels of inequality, as the western world appear to be getting wealthier at the expense of the less economically developed countries who cannot reap the benefits of global integration. However, those economies that can successfully take part enjoy many benefits, for example, World Bank data shows that 3 billion people living in the 24 developing countries that increased their integration into the world economy enjoyed an average 5% growth rate in income per capita, longer life expectancy and better schooling. Furthermore, a global economy increased competition, as each country in order to have a successful export market must be extremely efficient. This increases the quality of produce, as well as pushing down prices, making commodities more affordable. The import export market also increases the amount of choice for the consumer, for example at any given super market, the consumer has the choice of apples from New Zealand to Spain. Globalisation also encourages the development of non-governmental organizations, including humanitarian aid and developmental efforts. These provide increased awareness as well as aid and support for countries in need. Conclusion Overall, we came to the conclusion that Globalisation is in fact a positive phenomenon, and its benefits can be identified in both the western and developing world. Globalisation is the increased level of interconnectedness between countries, leading to improved levels of communication and cooperation. This is essential in tackling many global issues, such as disease, poverty and food distribution. The group worked well together and achieved a detailed analysis of the benefits and problems of globalisation. We learnt crucially how important it is to communicate as a group, and for each individual to put in the required research and effort. Initially, the group struggled to agree on a topic, yet when we had identified the common interest of globalisation the presentation came together quickly. Creating this presentation allowed us to develop a number of valuable skills, mainly time management, as each member of the group was given a number of deadlines to share their research, ideas and written work. Additionally, the group developed teamwork skills in order to produce a concise discussion and conclusion on globalisation. Reference http://www.worldbank.org/ Nadeem, S (2009) Macaulay’s (Cyber) Children: The Cultural Politics of Outsourcing in India, Cultural Sociology Hanks, Patrick (1979) Collins English Dictionary, London http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/oct/31/globalisation.simonjeffery http://www.globalization101.org/What_is_Globalization.html How to cite Is Globalisation a positive phenomenon?, Essay examples

Royal Ahold’s Case Write Up Essay Example

Royal Ahold’s Case Write Up Essay Executive Summary The case discusses the Royal Ahold’s the major events that led to the demise of a great European company. The case presents some of the key issues in the areas of leadership, strategy, audit and accounting fraud that resulted in their disaster. The case identifies the problems made by the management in selecting the improper growth strategy and incentive plan that encouraged unethical behaviour from the senior management. The events presented touch and highlight management and governance issues, which are so important in managing global companies. After analysis of the cases and financial statements, I have come with questions and concerns on the management and financial statements that could have caught this earlier on. Questions to be asked and process of approving budgets, corporate strategy, risk controls would have raised concerns on the management style. Some of the other recommended actions for board and its various committees would have discouraged the improper management practices. Some of these questions might have surfaced real issues and / or encouraged the right practice. I found various accounting standards, challenges of global audit process; in this case it was led by Deliotte. The CEO’s and leadership growth strategy was the reward and recognition was improper. The number of acquisitions made during the 90s and continuous pressure was put on all subsidiaries to grow the sales by 15% were bad decisions. This alone led to many other problems within the company. The CEO’s growth strategy and desire to quickly grow the company put immense pressure on all other companies and senior management to somehow meet the CEO’s expectation. We will write a custom essay sample on Royal Ahold’s Case Write Up specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Royal Ahold’s Case Write Up specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Royal Ahold’s Case Write Up specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It all resulted into fraudulent activities and ultimately disaster of great company. I recommend adopting changes to incentive plans, non-financial factors be part of success criteria. In measuring financial success, working capital ratio, inventory days, receivable and payable targets should be part of incentives. Above all, I recommend changes to the board committees and ensuring their work is independent was also important, i. e. audit committee, establishment of HR committee to raise issues and improve the overall organization culture. The case also highlights the issue of multiple accounting standards being practiced in very country. A standard corporate wide accounting standard in Royal Ahold must have been used. Both external and internal auditors must have report ed numbers in a consistent approach. I recommend that auditors had direct reporting to board and should have empowered and trained to look for documentation and management structures in their audit process. Had they dig deep on all areas of concerns of material significance they might have found side letters. I have also highlighted other recommendations including the controls in the accounting standards and in preparing financial papers. Incentive plans and corporate strategy be realistic to avoid unwanted behaviors. Tone of the top management including the board’s, assignment of responsibilities be clearly stated and periodically measured. Student id: 250712690 1 Management Accounting Exam Problem Identification: The case depicts another case of fail of governance and business ethics. This appears to be a fraud and not just accounting mistakes. By 2003, the time of the case, Enron, WorldCom and few others had already identified the need of business ethics and corporate governance. Royal Ahold series of events happened mainly due to greed and unethical behaviour but what really underlies is the objective setting, growth strategy and, rewards recognition criteria set by management. The case also presents issues of cost accounting, in terms of, when to apply the manufacturing rebates. Consolidation of subsidiaries and joint ventures also played a role in this fraud. It also shows bad governance, flaws in external audit, failure of internal audit functions and to some degree their competency. Leadership strategy: Royal Ahold’s CEO’s strategy of 15% growth year-over-year was very aggressive. The reward and recognition structure around the sales number was improper as it led management of all subsidiaries and other business units to increase the revenue and meet the targets. CEO kept communicating to board and shareholders the expectation around the sales strategy and likelihood of meeting these targets. Consequently, it created a culture whereby senior management were under pressure to meet the sales objective. The senior management and head of subsidiaries must have felt that missing the sales targets is not even an option. Accounting Fraud: The case presents few big issues of accounting. Firstly, the issue is of the incorrect accounting treatment of manufacturing rebates and promotional allowances. My opinion is that rebates cannot decrease the cost of goods unless there is a certainty of getting the rebates. If the rebates are uncertain they cannot decrease the cost of goods incorrectly. From the case, it appears that management ordered more quantity of goods then they could have sold. They booked the rebates at time of goods received and decrease the cost of goods prematurely. (Assumption: It is not very clear from the case, if these rebates were booked as income or adjusted against the cost of goods i. . decrease in cost of item. I have assumed that Royal Ahold accountants decreased the costs (prematurely as per above paragraph). If these were booked as income, then it is even a bigger fraud and not an accounting error) Second accounting fraud problem is the accountants preparation of Royal Ahold’s parent company financial statements. They consolidated the financial statements including some of the joint ventures when Royal didn’t even had control over them. Royal Ahold did not own more than 50% of these Joint Ventures and did not have the control of the decision making. They created fraudulent paper work to show they had control on these join venture companies. This is a pure fraud as they created agreements to satisfy auditors and try to hide the real facts. Audit: Both external auditors and internal auditors (and audit committee) failed to detect any of the accounting issues. It could have been missed as accounting standards in many countries is different. External auditors, even though they may all be of Deloite, of one country only audits that country statements, so they may not be familiar what might be happening in other parts of the company. However, the Royal Ahold parent company auditors are responsible to have an oversight of companywide audit and should be held responsible for over -looking these fraudulent transactions. Internal audit and board’s audit committee failed to detect any of the misrepresentation either. On top of that in Netherlands there were two boards (Governing Board and Supervisory Board) and both boards weren’t able to detect or raise red flag on any of these problems and misrepresentations. Management having two sets of paper work with JV (Joint Ventures) without coming under the investigation shows incompetency of audit functions. Governance / Audit Structure The way the governance and audit structure was laid out at Royal Ahold, there were five different committees and entities were responsible to review accounting and financial controls and practices that could have asked questions and raise concerns (red flags). They were: The governance board, supervisory board, the audit committee, internal audit department and the external auditors. Each should have independently reviewed management controls and financial statements and raise concerns and issues. Raising Red Flags In my opinion, the governance structure and audit committees and external auditors were sufficient enough to handle or uncover such fraudulent activities had they been critical, created the right controls, empowered the internal auditors and obviously asked the right questions while reviewing the financial statements and other management documentation. As part of board, I would have asked questions following questions, or have acted when seen abnormalities. This would have helped me in identifying issues, concerns and in raising red flags on the Royal Ahold 1999-2001 financial statements. Also some of them are related to mid 90’s management attitude and strategy. Strategy and Growth Approach: The target of meeting 15% year-over-year in sales, especially in US in 2000-01 when economy was in recession should have alarmed the board and internal auditors. They should have investigated how the sales targets are being achieved. It is not easy to meet 15% sales in US food industries under this economic climate. This may have led the management behaviour in meeting the targets. As board member, I would have asked CEO to explain the strategy of rewards and recognition, mainly on top line bonus as it is a wrong choice. (I have personally worked at Compaq during 1999-2000 and have seen the issue of top line bonus and commission on sales. This led to Compaq’s continued crises and eventually it was bought by HP in 2003). I would tried to influence the board and hence the CEO to consider a more comprehensive rewards strategy. From my experience bonus strategy plays a big role in company culture. The other important factor that develops the management attitude is what CEO likes to hear. It seems Royal Ahold’s CEO, Cees van der Hooven, wanted to hear from all his subsidiaries and Joint Ventures that sales targets are being met every quarter. I would have influence the management style and company culture to be protected by changing (or diluting) this approach. CEO’s attitude and leadership style was one of the leading cause of Royal Ahold demise. His aggressive acquisition approach would have resulted in integration issues within the company. As board member, I would have asked the management plans on integration and how culture of the organization would not be negatively impacted. I would have created the board HR committee to influence management not to allow the negative impacts on the organization culture, integration within the organization, rewards and recognition be such that it would not have allowed the culture to deteriorate. The cultural issues, integration issues and above all greed among the management team members was uncontrolled in Royal Ahold’s accounting scandal. The growing number of acquisitions was extremely risky initiative; the corporate strategy was carrying high risks at all operational levels including controls, integration that may have led to frauds. Also, this had potential to be a reputation risk as well. In my opinion, board should not have approved such an aggressive corporate growth strategy. Consolidated Statements Although Royal Ahold ownership is less than 50% in some Join venture companies, they showed controlling interests in some companies. To me an agreement paper presented by the management is not sufficient. I would have asked the significance of Royal Ahold’s control and ask management which areas of Joint Venture management we have been making decisions on. If we are making decisions, even though we don’t own more than 50%, what are the risks associated with these decisions. As a board member, I would have understood how Royal Ahold has influenced the Joint Venture management. I would have also asked audit committee to understand the management structure of Joint Ventures. Taking a step further, assuming that 20% share would have given Royal Ahold right to appoint a board member on Joint Venture’s Board, I would have understood from the Joint Venture board member (through Royal Ahold appointed director) how the joint ventures decision making process really works. By asking such questions and efforts in trying to understand from the board and management of Joint ventures how the organization is actually structured and working. If Royal Ahold does not have a controlling authority on the acquired company, the company financial statements cannot be consolidated. Royal’s accounting practice o f consolidation will first bump up the revenue numbers. This was purposely done to beef up the revenue figures. This may have resulted bigger bonus for the senior management. Also, the balance sheet would be more attractive to the shareholders (and potential shareholders). To explain this here is simple illustration: Parent Current Assets Assets Total Assets Current Liabilities Liabilit ies Total Liabilities Shareholders Equity Debt to Equity Ratio Subsidiary Consolidated 3 7 10 1 3 4 4 10 14 4 1 5 3 7 0. 5 1. 5 3. 5 8. 5 3 2. 5 5. 5 2. 3 0. 6 1. 5 As illustrated in the hypothetical example above example, by consolidat ion the debt looks more attractive then it would have looked otherwise in the parent company. The debt to equity shows debt-to-equity of ($1. 5:$1) when consolidated, and ($2. 3:$1) when not consolidated. Similarly, other financial ratios would have looked good with consolidation of financial statements. The consolidation resulted in better financial statements; hence Royal Ahold used this approach. In actual, this should not have used consolidated method. As per the accounting text, Parent when owns an investee company’s 20%-50% should use the equity method of accounting. The equity method would have mainly impacted the earnings on the Income statements. The net income, however, would result the same earnings without changing the revenue numbers. On the balance sheet side, the equity method would only show true â€Å"Assets† number, as per the investments made in the JV by Royal Ahold. The financial ratios (e. . debt to equity or quick ratio etc. ) will not be as appealing as it started to sound with consolidated statement. Risk Controls: As board member, I would have influenced the entire board not to approve the corporate strategy as a budget was too aggressive and unrealistic. As pointed out above, realistic targets are extremely important. If strategy is too aggres sive and corporate culture is to share good news with the CEO the unrealistic budgets targets may lead to malpractice and improper (fraudulent) activities. In my opinion it is supervisory board obligation to approve only realistic targets. The corporate strategy in the growth years of mid ‘90s was too aggressive. This has done part of the damage in the culture and mind-set of the senior management that 15% growth is not unrealistic and has created an attitude to meet these targets in any way possible. This encouraged the wrong doings and possible frauds that started to take place in 1999-2001. Although it is not very clear from the case, were there any wrong doing (or activities) in 199798, but in the hind-sight, it appears that some of the issues must have started or existed in that time as well. The board and senior management should actively work on identifying risks to the organization and work on strategies that mitigates the risks. A key here is to have a formal risk assessment process on an annual basis. The assessment is under supervision of the board and results are reviewed by the board. Inventory 2001 balance sheet shows 20% rise in inventory, I would have raises some concerns that might have uncovered the management improper decision to order such high quantity of stocks to get the manufacturing rebates. Accounts Receivable In 2001, accounts receivable increased by Euros 605M i. e. 21. 2%. I would have asked questions around the assumptions and likelihood receiving the Account Receivable. More importantly, who owes this receivable to Royal Ahold. This may have been due to the manufacturing rebates included in the accounts receivable. If so, it would have led to the whole issue of management aggressive behaviour on ordering stocks to get rebates. It might have opened up the entire incorrect accounting treatment of manufacturing allowances and rebates. General Reserve Royal Ahold is showing consistently on their balance sheet a general reserve item that is over 5 to 6 Billion euros (approx). This appears to be high, I would have asked on what assumptions these provisions are made. It might have uncovered some of the assumptions that are being made by management. This general reserve is in addition to the 1. 5B euros in other provisions. This is should have been a red flag. Other Recommended Preventive Measures Besides the concerns and red flags mentioned above, I would have raised based on what I would have seen. I would have also taken following measures to prevent this from happening. Incentive (Bonus) Structure: The bonus structure cannot solely be based on financial goals. The bonus structure has to base on non-financial goals as well. Within financial goals all aspects to kept in mind when designing the appropriate incentive program. The increase in working capital (inventory, receivables, payables etc. ) is kept at minimum or in line with the net income. The increase or decrease in working capital beyond the realistic proportion to earnings should be discouraged through the incentive program as well. Audit Committee Structure: The case presents the audit committee and internal audit department weaknesses and signs of some of their inefficient processes and competency issues. Besides reviewing the audit committee performance, monitoring and control issues were also been found. I would have influence the audit committee to have a metrics of internal audit department. This may have encouraged more objectivity of audit functions and may have aligned management controls to the overall governance issues. It is the responsibility of audit committee that internal and external auditors have an open communication. Besides audit of the current financial statements, and review of controls and structures, the auditors must identify areas of improvement in controls and work on action plan in improving the organization controls and monitoring process. HR Committee As mentioned above, I would have asked board to create HR committee that takes an active role in setting the controls in the organization. The committee should take an active role in reviewing the annual compensation and objective setting. Committee should have taken an independent review of key hiring decisions and management capability on integration and organization culture. Some key decisions in this area should only made by committee after consulting with the management, audit and board’s general direction. IT System: I would have asked internal audit committee to ensure all IT systems are audited to ensure proper controls are in place. Usually, in fraud IT systems controls could have loop holes or management may have the ability to bypass some of the checks and balances and/ or segregation of duties. Consistency in financial Statements Royal Ahold had companies in four different continents and in many countries. Financial statements presentation and laws across the globe are not consistent. US GAPP, Netherlands GAAP, IFSA and others are not standard across all countries where the Royal Aholds companies are in operation. While the fact makes a challenge for the board, it doesn’t give them an excuse of letting things slip. The board should have worked out with internal and external auditors in creating a minimum corporate standard across the group of companies. It is the flaw in governance and leadership to over-look this fundamental point.

Pronunciation Practice for Stress and Intonation

Pronunciation Practice for Stress and Intonation The first step in learning correct English pronunciation is to focus on individual sounds. These sounds are named phonemes. Every word is made up of a number of phonemes or sounds. A good way to isolate these individual sounds is to use minimal pair exercises. To take your pronunciation to the next level, focus on stress on intonation. The following resources will help you improve your pronunciation by learning the music of English. Practice with Pronunciation Using English is a stress-timed language and, as such, good pronunciation depends a lot on the ability to accent the correct words and successfully use intonation to make sure you are understood. Simply put, spoken English stress the principal elements in a sentence - content words - and quickly glides over the less important words - function words. Nouns, principal verbs, adjectives and adverbs are all content words. Pronouns, articles, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions are function words and are pronounced quickly moving towards the more important words. This quality of quickly gliding over less important words is also known as connected speech. For more information on the basics of the stress-timed nature of English, please refer to: Intonation and Stress: Key to UnderstandingThis feature takes a look at how intonation and stress influence the way English is spoken. How to Improve Your PronunciationThis how to focuses on improving your pronunciation through the recognition of the time-stressed character of English. I am continually surprised to see how much my students pronunciation improves when they focus reading sentences focusing on only pronouncing the stressed words well! This feature includes practical exercises to improve your pronunciation skills by improving the stress-timed character of your pronunciation when speaking in full sentences. Take a look at the following sentences and then click on the audio symbol to listen to the examples showing the difference between the sentences spoken: In a plain manner, focusing on the correct pronunciation of each word - much as some students do when trying to pronounce well. In the natural, manner with content words being stressed and function words receiving little stress. Example Sentences Alice was writing a letter when her friend came through the door and told her she was going to leave on holiday. I had studying for about an hour when the telephone rang. Fast automobiles make dangerous friends. If you can wait for a moment, the doctor will be with you shortly. Id like a steak, please. Pronunciation Exercises 1 Pronunciation Exercises 2 For Teachers Lesson Plans based on these Pronunciation Exercises for Teachers English: Stress - Timed Language IPre-intermediate to upper intermediate level lesson focusing on improving pronunciation by awareness raising and practice of stress-timing in spoken English. English: Stress - Timed Language IIAwareness raising followed by practical application exercises including: function or content word recognition exercise, sentence stress analysis for spoken practice. Comparison of unnaturally and naturally spoken English by looking at the tendency of some students to pronounce every word correctly. Listening and Oral repetition exercise developing student ears sensitivity to the rhythmic quality of English.

How to Locate TreeView Node By Text

How to Locate TreeView Node By Text While developing Delphi applications using the TreeView component, you may bump into a situation where you need to search for a tree node given by only the text of the node. In this article well present you with one quick and easy function to get TreeView node by text. A Delphi Example First, well build a simple Delphi form containing a TreeView, a Button, CheckBox and an Edit component- leave all the default component names. As you might imagine, the code will work something like:  if GetNodeByText given by Edit1.Text returns a node and MakeVisible (CheckBox1) is true then select node. The most important part is the GetNodeByText function. This function simply iterates through all the nodes inside the  ATree  TreeView starting from the first node (ATree.Items[0]). The iteration uses the  GetNext  method of the TTreeView class to look for the next node in the ATree (looks inside all nodes of all child nodes). If the Node with text (label) given by  AValue  is found (case insensitive) the function returns the node. The boolean variable  AVisible  is used to make the node visible (if hidden). function GetNodeByText(ATree : TTreeView; AValue:String; AVisible: Boolean): TTreeNode;var Node: TTreeNode;begin Result : nil; if ATree.Items.Count 0 then Exit; Node : ATree.Items[0]; while Node nil dobeginif UpperCase(Node.Text) UpperCase(AValue) thenbegin Result : Node; if AVisible then Result.MakeVisible; Break; end; Node : Node.GetNext; end;end; This is the code that runs the Find Node button OnClick event: procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);var tn : TTreeNode;begin tn:GetNodeByText(TreeView1,Edit1.Text,CheckBox1.Checked); if tn nil then ShowMessage(Not found!) elsebegin TreeView1.SetFocus; tn.Selected : True; end;end; Note: If the node is located the code selects the node, if not a message is displayed. Thats it. As simple as only Delphi can be. However, if you look twice, youll see something is missing: the code will find the FIRST node given by AText.