Accounting Theory And History Accounting Essay

Accounting Theory And History Accounting Essay Accounting has evolved since it was first developed and has continued to evolve. The aim of this essay is to explore and discuss why accounting, both financial and management has changed over the last millennium. In order to achieve this aim an in-depth approach will be taken into the origins of accounting, its purpose and need. This will mean examining history papers which are evidence-based but are intertwined with value judgement. Many alternative theoretical and practical explanations are offered in literature for the development of accounting over time. These course literatures will be evaluated and there theories will subsequently be accepted or rejected. In order to explore the question and because the definitions provided by accounting bodies are themselves are subject to change, it is crucial to first define accounting and its purpose. The purpose of accounting is to provide information based on relevant data that aids users in making economic decisions. Financial accountin g is designed mainly to produce financial reports which provide information regarding the firm’s performance to external users such as Tax authorities, Investors, Customers and Creditors. Financial Accounting is highly regulated in order to ensure they have certain characteristics. These characteristics enhance the usefulness of the financial reports to users. These characteristics are relevance, comparability, timeliness, fairness and objectivity. Management accounting is used to prepare accounts and reports that provide accurate and up to date information that allows management to make decisions. Accounting developed as people needed a method of recording their assets and property. If property was recorded and accounted for, it would be easy to prove legal ownership. Accountancy has been around for thousands of years. Professor L. Plunkett of the College of Charleston calls accounting the â€Å"oldest profession† In this millennium there have been countless changes a nd developments in accounting. From more primitive methods of simple accounting for property and assets, in order to record for evidence of legal ownership to a complex regulated form. Management Accounting â€Å"British Entrepreneurs and Pre-Industrial Revolution Evidence of Cost Management† a paper by Richard K. Fleischman and Lee D. Parker examines the use and developments of cost accounting in 1760 to 1850. The four main areas looked at in cost management will be: cost control techniques, accounting for overhead, costing for routine and special decision making, and standard costing. These firms used cost data to control raw material input materials. The iron firms broke down costs using raw material controls, whilst taking into account the differential costs of mining and smelting. Textile firms were concerned about the profitable raw mixtures and the cost of raw materials input. Marshall textile firm employ the practise of using performance cards, which is an effective m ethod and is still used by firms today. Performance cards are used daily to monitor and control expenses.. These management accounting practises benefited the business greatly. It allowed marshal to be cost effective and efficient by minimising costs. Gregs was another textile firm which kept wage and expense books to calculate control costs. This helps to identify trends, weaknesses and areas for improvement. For example they experienced losses in 1829 and where able to identify and attribute these to heightened production costs and outdated machinery.

Organisational Change Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 10

Organisational Change Management - Essay Example At this stage the employees and the employers were inquired about the reason for absenteeism and then they were also informed about the type of change that should be undertaken by them. This assignment describes the five stages of â€Å"Appreciative Inquiry (AI) 5D framework† - definition, discovery, dream, design and destiny. It gives a holistic view of the difficulty faced and modifications needed (Cooperrider and Whitney, 2005). The framework was developed by David Cooperrider and his team mates in mid 1980’s. The five stages are described are as follows. Definition The first stage is â€Å"define† which focuses on the awareness of the developmental activities. During this stage the topic of inquiry becomes the organization’s main agenda for learning as well as innovation. The questions asked are affirmative in nature and it focuses on the topic valuable to the people who are involved and directed at topics and issues for the success of organization. Th is inquiry identifies â€Å"the area† where the organization needs to change. The changes can be strategic, structural, people and process change. In Silkeborg Council case, the main problem was absenteeism for which the elderly care department faced a lot of problems. ... Small-scale or incremental people changes include sending of management workers to team-building workshops and classes. These changes can be planned or unplanned, which may impact the employee’s attitude towards work, behaviours of the individual and their performances. The changes are made to help the employees and the employer to reduce absenteeism. It can either be planned or unplanned, which may impact the employee’s attitude towards work, behaviours of the individual and their performances. The area of change once identified should be worked upon to bring productivity in the Council. The factor which is preventing long-term change is the attitude, behaviour and performances of the employees towards their work and that’s why the number of absentees increased during that period. The possible reason for absenteeism can be personal problems health problems or job dissatisfaction. These are the possible areas where the management should work upon to bring in disc ipline and proper working of the organization without lost time. The changes implemented during that period could not remain for long time because of the fluctuating behaviour and attitude of the employees. The management could not mange properly which led to these disturbances in the council. Kurt Lewin’s Change Model can be applied to the Silkeborg Council case. The model elaborates the modifications of some forces keeping the whole system stable. He examined that a set of behaviour at any moment is the outcome of two groups of forces. These forces are attempting to maintain status quo and is forcing for change. When the two sets of forces are equal, the current behaviours are preserved in a state known as ‘quasi-stationary equilibrium’. For

An in-depth understanding of the organizational and the individual Essay

An in-depth understanding of the organizational and the individual performance of a company - Essay Example From an individual level, it has also been witnessed several times that an individual worker who was a ‘good performer’ previously has turned to be a ‘bad performer’ within a short-term period. However, there can be various reasons to cause ‘poor performance’ active in both the organizational and the personal level of the workers (Jackson & Et. Al., 2008). With this point of view, the paper shall intend to identify few factors in an organization which is solely based on the marketing of various kinds of products through telesales. Certainly, the sales force of the organization plays a vital role in signifying its overall performance. According to the job responsibilities of the sales force of the company, the individuals require to call the potential customers and influence them to buy the product. Thus, the workers should possess a high level of competencies in terms of learning skills, interactive skills, change-ability, and readiness. The com petencies of the workers or the task force shall in turn influence the competency of the organization. However, the actors of competencies shall be measured according to the determined instructional objectives, i.e. to identify the causes of poor performance, assess the potential of the workforce and enhance their competencies which in turn shall positively encourage the organizational competencies.