Research Articles Base: Equity Finance

Organizational Decision Making Essay

Organizational Decision Making Essay   The advances in technology and the fast modernization of the world, in general, opened new and very promising avenues of business opportunities not just in an individual’s locale but also abroad. A lot of business-minded individuals from different countries with different nationalities and cultural orientation have and continuously defied the geographic boundaries that exist between continents. This is evident in the growing number of internationally-operating business firms all over the world run by entrepreneurs of varying race and culture. The information man has successfully rebelled against intercontinental borders and the challenge that confronts him the most, deals with how to fit and blend in the new cultural environment in which their businesses are situated. How are decisions made in an organization? Decision making is a cognitive process in which one selects a choice from among many. It is considered a psychological construct because even though it is not physically tangible, the results can be observed if a decision has been done. It is basically an activity which calls for a subsequent action to be done. Management involves the skillful planning and execution of business strategies.  It is concerned with creating important decisions that affect the long-term goals of an organization (1996). Normally, organizations focus on the external characteristic of the business environment. Top management usually focuses on their aggressive competitors and the constant change in supply and demand. However, the internal area in the organization should be taken into account since it is where they get the services or products for the consumers. Areas such as human resource planning, quality assurance and operations management are some of the essential fields an organization should be taken into account during the decision-making process. The process can be best understood in the diagram below with emphasis on the importance of communication and information within the organization.   Figure 1. Role of information in the decision process. (1998)   What are the organizational barriers and environmental barriers in an organization that impact the decision-making process? Financial resources. As the nature of financial management become more and more complex in this information and efficient communication era of international business, finance managers face a wide array of challenges, opportunities and options for him or her to enhance the investing and financing activities of the firm as well as the inherent risks and circumstances of the decisions that will be made. The challenge now for the financial manger is to explore the options and take advantage of the opportunities while taking caution in managing the risks. Communication and work relationships. In government, business, and other occupational arenas, professionals often need to communicate assertively and effectively outside the social boundaries of their own organization or organizational unit (such as outside their own department, division, or project group). Unfortunately, professionals might discover that engaging in cross-boundary communication can be a baffling and stressful experience that does not always result in a desirable outcome. Although many practitioners need to draw on an array of social and rhetorical strategies to succeed in cross-boundary communication and to avoid or overcome its associative risks, sacrifices, and problems, relatively little is known about how to interact and negotiate across organizational boundaries. Ethics. In a given culture at a given time, there is a broad agreement on major values. Several people agree on what is good and what is bad. Not all hold the same values, but those of the majority will affect the beliefs and behaviors of society (1987). Public awareness of ethics in general and unethical behavior in organizations has increased in recent years. Part of this increased emphasis on business ethics can be attributed to the continued tension between the business world and the public at large. Such tension over the past century has often resulted in calls, by the public at large, for increased deterrence and stricter regulation of the business world (1994). What actions might be taken to address organizational and environmental constraints on decision-making? Finance issues. The dramatic changes and advances in communications and information technology facilitated the way towards a sustained progress in the international business and finance environment. The low cost and the efficiency as well as the attractiveness of conducting and entering an international business venture were made available by these technological advances which characterize the global marketplace. Today, greater challenges are faced by financial managers as opportunities for growth as well as possibilities of risks increase in the current and more attractive business world. Defined goals and objectives of the company. Some commonly held organizational values are the importance of resources, return on investment, the welfare and well-being of employees, service to customers and clients, and loyalty to the organization. Although the goals and values of an organization may be implicit or explicit, to a growing extent they are being placed in writing. Many companies have adopted codes of ethics or include sections in their policy statements that relate explicitly to the ethical realm. They address such issues as leadership, integrity, equity, employee rights, employee development, and participation in policy formulation, nondiscrimination, quality of work life, and the like. Communication and good working relationships. Communication is the process on which the initiation and maintenance of an organizational change depends. Successful strategies are those that elicit cooperative interaction among people as individuals, work group members, and community stakeholders. Such strategies promote collaborative and united change efforts throughout all levels of the organization (1995). There should be weekly or monthly consultancy meeting between the management and the employees. Not that every single decision should be consulted to the employees but the suggestion is before making a big decision especially if the decision will have a radical change to the organization it must be consulted to the employees first. Establishing a distinctive ethical position in an organization would result in harmony within the organization, free from chaos and conflict and thus making the work and operation smooth and efficient. There will be no grudge between employees, employers, etc. Through ethics, everybody in the organization is in understanding, patient with one another, and creates a harmonious relationship. Leadership skills. If the staffs are required to be competent for their jobs, supervisors and managers should also be qualified and competent in their prospective positions (2003). Competency in business leadership, functional leadership, team leadership and personal leadership are all key elements of a successful business leader’s skill set. The requirement for well-developed competencies in team leadership and personal leadership, however, is particularly important in the international context. What techniques can be used for improving the decision making process? For coming up with more creative solutions?  There are many decision strategies that can be used in choosing which of the alternatives to execute. These strategies help the decision maker in terms of making the task of decision-making more organized, easier and faster as the needs of many decision makers such as doctors and businessmen demand.  (1987) have named quite a few examples of decision-making strategies. The optimizing strategy helps an individual determine the expected cost which is not necessarily the financial cost along with the benefit of the result associated with all solutions. The cost/benefit analysis would then produce the optimal solution. This technique is very time consuming and costly because it involves technology and other enhancements. Examples of this strategy are linear programming, decision analysis and other forecasting techniques. There is also a satisfying strategy wherein the decision-maker comes up with alternative solutions until he generates a solution which can satisfy a minimal set of criteria. This strategy doesn’t compare the alternative decisions because it executes the first reasonable action that comes to mind ( 2005). It is less time consuming and costly than the first strategy; however, this would often result to a less optimal decision. The next strategy is the heuristic strategy wherein the decision-maker chooses from a selection of alternatives. It is used to simplify complex problems through increasing the probability that a solution will be found within a reasonable amount of time. An individual may use a compensatory decision rule which will permit a high value on one dimension of the decision to compensate for the low value of another dimension.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Organizational Decision Making Essay

Organizational Decision Making Essay The advances in technology and the fast modernization of the world, in general, opened new and ve...

Tourism Destination

Tourism Destination   Tourism Destination refers to the place where tourists intend to spend their time away from home. This geographical unit visited by tourists may be self-contained center, a village or a town or a city, a region or an island or a country. Furthermore, a destination may be a single location, a set of multi-destinations as part of a tour, or even a moving destination such as a cruise (2000). The term “destination” refers to an area where tourism is a major activity that affects the economy by generating tourism revenues. Sustainable Tourism is a system of development that fosters the use, conservation and enhancement of the resources of a community. It favors those actions which promote ecological processes and the total quality of life, for this and future generations. This form of development is underpinned by the philosophy that the environment must be conserved if the industry is to be viable in the long term (2000). Sustainable Tourism is an industry which aims to make low impact on the local culture and environment and at the same time aiding in the generation of income, employment and local ecosystems conservation. It is a culturally and ecologically sensitive tourism.         Tourism Destination: Boracay, Philippines   One of the World’s Finest Beaches             Boracay is an island located at the northwestern tip of Panay, a large island in Western Visayas, Philippines. Boracay is a part of the town of Malay in Aklan Province. The tropical climate in the island makes Boracay an ideal tourism destination all year round. Boaracay is gifted with sugary-white and powder fine sand, considered one of the nature’s wonders that makes the island’ beach famous to the world. The best part of the island is the four-kilometer White Beach that is considered one of the finest beaches in the world. The surrounding water is shallow and the sand is finer and brighter than most beaches in the archipelago. The east coast is good for snorkeling. There are scores of little sandy bays scattered around the island; they make an attractive alternative to ever-popular White Beach. The island is also famous for its now very rare gleaming white puka shells, considered to be the best in the world. The Physical Setting             The islet of Boracay lies some 200 air miles south of Manila, accessible only by small aircraft to short runways at Tablas and Kalibo on adjoining islands and by scheduled jet service to Roxas City, some four hours’ drive away. The island is only 4.2 miles long by 1.7 miles at its widest point and attains a maximum elevation of 930 feet. An engineering study (1984) describes the island core as dominantly limestone. Erosion has produced sands of talc-like fineness which form White Sand Beach and the additional small, crescent-shaped cove beaches which lie between dramatically eroded headlands on other sides of the island. The climate is subtropical and warm year-round, but tourist use is somewhat seasonal due to prevailing winds. The numbers of foreign visitors peak during the Northern hemisphere’s winter, when White Sand Beach is sheltered by the island from the dry monsoon winds out of Asia. Boracay has a smaller summer patronage during the rainy season, June to September. Boracay has been occupied for generations by families who practiced subsistence farming and fishing, which traditionally supported an island population of some 3,000. The island’s interior is arable, although soils and drainage is both marginal, and crops were limited to small padi rice and fish farms (1992). The Advent of Tourism             In October 1978, consistent with a developing tourism policy, the island of Boracay was declared a Tourist Preserve by then president Ferdinand Marcos, and jurisdiction for its development was vested in the Philippines Tourism Authority (PTA). A cottage Owner’s Association was formed with PTA assistance in 1979 and established interim development standards, including a thirty meter setback from the sea for all tourist enterprises. Thus waving palm trees screened the houses and road and preserved the tropical ambiance. Modern tourism began in Boracay in the early 1980s, initiated quietly and unintentionally by overseas expatriates. Americans and Europeans employed in the Philippines who had heard of the island and its beauty were attracted there for short vacations. Word spread quickly to other expatriates living in the Philippines, and then to their conationals resident in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, and Seoul. Boracay was close enough for a quick and very inexpensive family vacation. The beach was pristine, the villagers friendly, and English was spoken. A family could bring some luxury groceries, Filipino beer is excellent, the soda waters are safe, and the thatched bungalow cottages provide adequate shelter. Annual repeat visitors began to multiply. Soon young footloose or vacationing Europeans began to trickle in, lured by descriptions of low cost living and the crystal clear water for snorkeling and windsurfing. A good thatched cottage could be rented for US per night; a satisfying meal was less than US; and beer was ten cents per bottle (1992). The Socio-cultural impacts of Tourism             The socio cultural impacts of tourism are multiple. The three-hundred-year history of Western influence in the Philippines supports a strong emphasis on education. Ninety-five percent of the children attend primary school; adult literacy is 88 percent. Even in Boracay, virtually every adult has traveled away from the island, has visited or worked in major cities, and is quite urban in outlook. This is not an island of illiterate, ignorant peasants. Nevertheless, the introduction of the tourist business into rural village has dramatically changed the traditional social structure. For the most part the tourist presence was viewed in positive terms. The guests spent money, stayed in their own milieu, and interacted with each other. Overall, Boracayans like and want tourism for social as well as economic reasons. The Challenge of Sustainable Tourism Development             Tourism is seen as a potential weapon in the Philippines’ economic arsenal. However both the tourist markets and Philippine tourism industry itself have become more aware of the negative environmental and social costs associated with tourism development. The country is beginning to recognize the need to adopt new development approaches in order to come up with tourist products that are both environmentally sensitive and economically viable. Sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future. It is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support systems ( 1997). The basic elements of sustainable development are ecological sustainability, economic sustainability and equity.  (2002), conducted an examination of the role of national government in facilitating or constraining the sustained growth of the national tourism industry through a comparative analysis of the tourism development to the national tourism industries of Thailand and the Philippines, it was evident in his research that both countries’ view economic sustainability aspect of tourism as a primary driver for tourism push. Regarding the environmental aspects of tourism development, the national government appears to recognize the importance of protecting and enhancing the tourism product, particularly the natural and cultural resources on which the industry is built. The Department of Tourism’s primary function is tourism policy making and promotion. The function of monitoring the impacts of tourism generally falls under the jurisdiction of a dedicated environmental office – Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The Philippine government remains the primary certifying body for ecotourism projects. More accurately, the Department of Tourism commonly reviews projects before endorsing them to the Board of Investments. The DENR provides another layer of certification through its system of Environmental Clearance Certificates (ECC) and Environmental Impact Assessments  (EIA) ( 2002). However there are no private-led self regulating projects and programs. Unlike those of other countries, the Philippine tourism industry’s private ecotourism sector does not appear to be strong enough, nor interested enough, to spearhead the certification process. The National Tourism Trade Associations appear to be limiting their scope of operations to marketing, destination identification and tourism awareness building. The Philippine government seems to be moving away from direct ownership model towards a facilitating or mentoring relationship with local communities. The Philippines made moves to strengthen the tourist products at the local level by devolving many tourism development functions to the local communities (2002). It will be necessary to build and sustain partnerships between the public and private sectors. Given the desire for national government focus on a few specific functions, it will be necessary for private industry, local governments and community groups to work in an integrated manner so that all concerns of sustainable tourism are properly addressed. Among the key areas that need such partnerships to prosper are the following: <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> The planning, development and planning of tourist destination involving sensitive natural and cultural resources</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> The identification and provision of readily-available sources of financing for tourism projects, particularly involving community-based projects</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Training and education of current and prospective tourism industry workers</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Sustainable tourism advocacy campaigns, on the national and local levels</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Establishment of continuous and credible system of evaluation, monitoring and accreditation of tourism organizations, services and destinations. </li> The Section 2 of Executive Order No. 377 declared Boracay as a Special Tourism Zone. The government’s main priority is to increase accessibility, and improve the existing tourism products being offered. There is a need for local communities and government units and entrepreneurs to take the lead in ensuring that destinations are developed in a sustainable manner. The local capability to sustain tourism activity in Boracay needs to be improved. The main question is the capability of the local government to finance the needed infrastructure for visitor convenience as well as for resource protection. The local community needs a work force of environmental workers who will ensure that tourist use of the resources is kept at a manageable level.                       Development of Sustainable Tourism in Boracay             The evolution of Boracay as a major tourist destination was a result of entrepreneurial Filipino spirit infused with European expertise and tastes in leisure. The Department of Tourism’s initial development regulations aided in fostering a unique ambiance, highlighted by native-style cottages, a healthy 25-meter building setback from the beach and a pedestrian-only beachfront promenade. Boracay is now a top international tourism destination with many of the original local families or those who bought land before the tourism became popular, still owning small resorts on the island. Boracay is considered by the Department of Tourism (DOT) as the pride of the country’s booming tourism industry. Economic Considerations             Since its early stages, the major factor that motivated tourism development in Boracay has been economic. Tourism development in Boracay is seen as a way of increasing profits, jobs, income and government revenue. Investment in the island has also been strong. Construction is omnipresent along the Long Beach corridor and three multi-million dollar mega-resorts, including a golf course, are being developed in the northern section of the island (1998). The excitement surrounding investment has likely been accelerated by the dramatic increase in tourists arrivals between 1995 and 1996 and by the government’s solemn promise of increase spending on much needed physical infrastructure. The Boracay Development Regulation is being facilitated by a powerful ad-hoc committee – Boracay Task Force. The committee is spearheaded by the Secretary of Tourism and composed of the highest levels of national, regional and local government, private sector interests and The Boracay Foundation. Boracay Lives!             Boracay Lives! is initiated by the Boracay Chamber of Commerce. It is comprise of 3 stages that aim to address the ecological sustainability of the island amidst rapid growth and development. The tourism industry in the island is growing in a breath-taking rate and yet, the garbage disposal system is still in disarray. Boracay Lives! is a project of the stakeholders of Boracay and is spearheaded by the Boracay Chamber, to deal and find solutions to the pressing garbage challenge with resources from the private sector, corporations, donors and volunteers for a concerted effort to ensure the development of a sustainable tourism and protection of ecological life in the island. The project has three components that are equally important in ensuring success: 1. Solid Waste Collection System             The first component of the project is Solid Waste Collection System. The collection system is viewed as the backbone of a working solid waste program. Boracay Chamber of Commerce and Industry initiated efforts to impose  the “no segregation, no collection” ordinance together with the support of various organizations such as the Local Government, the Department of natural Resources and Provincial Environment and Natural Resource office.     2. Boracay Eco-Educational Campaign and material Recovery Facility Project             The Canadian Government has awarded the Boracay Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2million Pesos in order to create an effective and sustainable material Recovery Center. The campaign seeks to educate the residents and tourism related establishments in the island. The project’s objectives are solid waste volume reduction, recycling volume growth, increase the awareness of visitors and tourists and encourage them to comply with the environmental rules of the island. 3. Friendly Garbage Disposal System             This system aims to eliminate landfills and traditional means of garbage disposal by converting waste to usable products. It also seeks to provide livelihood for the community.       Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Tourism Destination

Tourism Destination Tourism Destination refers to the place where tourists intend to spend their time away from home. This geograp...

LITERATURE REVIEW_Strategic Management

LITERATURE REVIEW     Definition and Brief History of Strategy   Strategy is elementarily defined as a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal (2003). The concept, however, is not originally made for business. Rather, the business industry borrowed it from the military to help organizations in bridging the gap between policy and tactics ( 2000).   Strategy is a word adopted from the Greek word strategia, which means “generalship”. It basically refers to the military act of deploying troops as well as how it affects policies (2000). Over the years, the concept of strategy has been exported to different industries, including business and politics. (1967) provided this early definition of strategy: “the art of distributing and applying military means to fulfill the ends of policy.”. A few years later,  (1979) provided the following characteristics of strategy in management application: strategy is that which top management does that is of great importance to the organization; strategy refers to basic directional decisions to purposes and missions; strategy consists of the important actions necessary to realize these directions; strategy answers the question: What should the organization be doing?; and strategy answers the question: What are the ends we seek and how should we achieve them?   From then on, the concept of strategic management in business application has evolved into two mainstreams of theoretical approaches – the “content”; and “process” view of strategy (2005). The first one focuses almost entirely on the internal analysis of the firm; while the second one concerned mainly with the “process” of managing change and, from an external perspective, on how companies compete ( 2005).   Strategic Management Practices               Earlier, we have defined the term ‘strategy’ and found that it was adopted from the military and is a design to achieve goals. Strategic management, on the other hand, is defined as the “art and science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objectives” (2003). It is the formal process, or set of processes, used to determine the strategies (actions) for the organization ( 2004). It focuses on many areas, including the integration of: management; marketing; finance/accounting; production/operations; research and development; and computer information systems (, 2003). Its main objective is to help the organization achieve success through the formulation of different strategies, their implementation, and evaluation (2003). It is also synonymous with the term “Strategic Planning” (2003).               Strategic management, even though there are several definitions provided, is still not adequately defined because of the process and concepts that involves within it.  (1979) argued that strategic management cannot be defined by brief sentences or paragraphs, because for him, it involves “plan, ploy, pattern, position and perspective”. One of the ways, however, to look at strategic management in a nutshell, is through the Strategic Management Framework Model (see figure 1) (2003).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Strategy                                         Strategy                   Strategy                                    Formulation                                Implementation          Evaluation      Figure 1: Comprehensive Strategic-Management Model (, 2003).                 (2003) explains that Strategic Management Model is dynamic and continuous. Furthermore, one major change in one or more of the process can affect the other processes as well.  (2003) explained that strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation should be performed on a continual basis. Corporate Strategy               The vision-mission statement of a firm is one of the factors that create its corporate image (, 2003). This, in turn, will allow the firm to establish its long-term objectives. There are many factors that build up the image of an organization. (2001) stated that corporations should have economic and legal responsibilities to the public at large.  (1996) enumerated seven economic responsibilities of firms, which are to: satisfy customers with goods and services of real value; earn a fair return on the funds entrusted to the corporation by its investors; create new wealth, which can accrue to non-profit institutions which own shares of publicly-held companies and help lift the poor out of poverty as their wages rise; create new jobs; defeat envy though generating upward mobility and giving people the sense that their economic conditions can improve; promote innovation; and diversify the economic interests of citizens so as to prevent the tyranny of the majority. Legal responsibilities, on the other hand, should be to follow the law or the rules that govern firms; while ethical responsibilities involve the use of practices that are acceptable by the society and the business world ( 1996).               Several studies have proven that not having a sound corporate image can be detrimental to the organization. A number of industry surveys suggest that consumers are willing to make an effort to support proactive corporate citizens. For instance,  study shows that 76 percent of consumers are prepared to switch to brands or stores that seem concerned about the community ( 1997). Similarly, a Walker Information national survey showed that 14 percent of US households actively seek do-gooders when making purchases, while similarly, 40 percent judge corporate citizenship as a tie-breaking activity (1997). Similarly,  (1997) demonstrate that negative corporate social responsibility associations can have a detrimental effect on overall product evaluation, whereas positive associations can enhance product.   External and Internal Audit                 According to  (2003), the purpose of an external audit is to develop a finite list of opportunities that could benefit a firm and threats that should be avoided. This may include the evaluation of the legal, economic, political, environmental, social and technological advantages and disadvantages of the firm and doing the needed adjustments (2003). On the other hand, the internal audit concerns with evaluating the internal performance of firm e.g. the performances of employees, the stability of its management system, infrastructure issues, etc (2003).               Competitive advantage has always been an issue in the external business environment. This was clearly addressed by Michael Porter in the early nineties, which led to several moels such as the Five Forces. His theory of competitive advantage is one of a number of theories that place geographical industrialization and innovation at the centre of the process of development and competition ( 1999). In this theory, Porter mentioned four attributes namely: factor conditions; demand conditions; related and supporting industries, and; firm strategy structure and rivalry (1996). Each attributes are discussed in a national context. Factor conditions basically refer to a nation’s position on factors of production (i.e. skilled labor or infrastructure), which are necessary to compete in a given industry. Demand condition is the nature of national or local demand for both service and tangible products. Related and supporting industries, on the other hand, pertains to the presence or absence in the nation of supplier industries and other related industries that are internationally competitive. Finally, firm strategy, structure and rivalry determines the conditions in the nation governing how companies are created, organized and  managed, as well as the nature of domestic rivalry ( 1996). The four attributes interact with one another. Modeled as the diamond, its systemic nature is indeed variable. Several factors transform the diamond into a system. This includes domestic rivalry and geographic industry concentration. Domestic rivalry promotes upgrading of the entire national diamond; while geographic concentration transforms the diamond into a system because it elevates and magnifies the interactions within the diamond (1990;   1999). This systemic nature then promotes clustering, which enables both vertical and horizontal linkages between industries (1986;  1999).               Porter’s theory provides an interesting framework on how the conditions of industries are shaped and influenced. However, many factors or competitive advantage determinants are missing in the theory. For instance,  (1996) mentioned that Porter did not give importance to the culture or politics, while  (1999) criticized that Porter failed to provide a comprehensive explanation on how clusters are developed. Another missing factor is the competitive advantage of alliance or strategic alliance. Porter’s theory offers an incomplete framework, but serves as a reminder that rivalry is not the only means for survival. Furthermore, it suggests that through rivalry partnerships or alliances can arise, leaving more space for competition.               Another specific example of a framework that can be used for external audit is the 4Cs developed by  (2004).  (2004) stated that the competition is now in the global scale, and hints that explaining competitive advantage in the national context may already be obsolete. To make up for the limitations of competitive advantage models of the past such as Porter’s theory,  (2004) integrated different theories and created the 4Cs. Here, views of pro-coordinated marketing proponents such as Levitt, Ohmae and Yip are integrated with competitive advantage theory of Porter. This new 4C model features integrated attributes such as: creation and innovation; competition; cooperation; and co-option.   In the internal audit of the firm, two specific examples of concerns are the issue of culture and the management of staff, specifically how the staff can be motivated. One of the ways to assess culture is to take heed of its value dimensions. As explained by (1980), there are four cultural value dimensions:   Ø  Large versus small power distance. Large power distance is the extent to which the members of a society accept that power in institutions and organisations is distributed unequally; while small power distance is the extent to which members of a society or organization accept that power is distributed fairly (1997). Ø  Strong versus weak uncertainty avoidance. Strong uncertainty avoidance means the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity, which leads them to support beliefs promising certainty and to maintain institutions protecting conformity; while weak uncertainty avoidance is the degree to which members tend to be relatively tolerant of uncertainty and ambiguity and require considerable autonomy and lower structure ( 1995). Ø  Individualism versus collectivism. Individualism is the preference for a loosely knit social framework in society; collectivism stands for a preference for a tightly knit social framework. Ø  Masculinity versus femininity. Masculinity is the preference for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material success; while femininity refers to a preference for relationships, modesty, caring for the weak and the quality of life. Cultural dimensions can help the firm assess the culture of their employees (Hofstede, 1980). This can help management strategies easier to implement and execute (1980). Motivation is also in an issue in the internal management of the firm. It is important because it manages and controls the turnover rate and productivity within the firm’s internal environment.  and define motivation as “the set of processes that arouse, direct and maintain human behavior toward attaining some goal” (1997). This definition contents three key essential aspects: arousal, direction and maintaining. Arousal is to do with the drive/energy behind people’s actions such as their interests to do the things or they do it just want making a good impression on others or to feel successful at what they do. Direction means the choices people make to meet the person’s goal. Maintaining behavior could keep people persisting at attempting to meet their goal hence to satisfy the need that stimulated behavior in the first place ( 1997).   Theories of motivation that organizations can use are divided into two categories: the content and process theories of motivation ( 1999). Content theories emphasize the factors that motivate individuals. Examples of content theories are Maslow’s theory, Alfelder’s theory, McClelland’s theory, and Herzberg’s theory (1999). On the other hand, the emphasis on process theories is on the actual process of motivation. Examples of process theories are Expectancy theories, equity theory, goal theory, and social learning theory. Strategies                  (2003) stated that there are a total of 11 types of strategies that a firm can use to gain advantage over competitors. These are: forward integration (gaining ownership or increased control over distributors or retailers); backward integration (seeking ownership or increased control of a firm’s supplier); horizontal integration (seeking ownership or increased control over competitors); market penetration (seeking increased market share through greater marketing efforts); market development (introducing present product’s or services in new geographic areas); product development (improving present products or services or developing new ones); concentric diversification (adding new but related products or services); horizontal diversification (adding new but related products or services for present customers); retrenchment (regrouping through cost and asset reduction to reverse declining sales and profit); divestiture (selling a division or part of the organization); and liquidation (selling all of the company’s assets, in parts, for their tangible worth).              (2003) stated that several means to achieve those strategies are through joint venture/partnership or merger/acquisition.         Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

LITERATURE REVIEW_Strategic Management

LITERATURE REVIEW Definition and Brief History of Strategy Strategy is elementarily defined as a long term plan of action desig...

LITERATURE REVIEW on Strategic Management

LITERATURE REVIEW     Definition and Brief History of Strategy   Strategy is elementarily defined as a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal (, 2003). The concept, however, is not originally made for business. Rather, the business industry borrowed it from the military to help organizations in bridging the gap between policy and tactics (, 2000).   Strategy is a word adapted from the Greek word “strategia”, which means “generalship”. It basically refers to the military act of deploying troops as well as how it affects policies (, 2000). Over the years, the concept of strategy has been exported to different industries, including business and politics.  (1967) provided this early definition of strategy: “the art of distributing and applying military means to fulfill the ends of policy.”. A few years later,  (1979) provided the following characteristics of strategy in management application: strategy is that which top management does that is of great importance to the organization; strategy refers to basic directional decisions to purposes and missions; strategy consists of the important actions necessary to realize these directions; strategy answers the question: What should the organization be doing?; and strategy answers the question: What are the ends we seek and how should we achieve them?   From then on, the concept of strategic management in business application has evolved into two mainstreams of theoretical approaches – the “content”; and “process” view of strategy (, 2005). The first one focuses almost entirely on the internal analysis of the firm; while the second one concerned mainly with the “process” of managing change and, from an external perspective, on how companies compete (, 2005).   Strategic Management Practices       Earlier, we have defined the term ‘strategy’ and found out that it was adapted from the military and design to achieve goals. Strategic management, on the other hand, is defined as the “art and science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objectives” (, 2003, ). It is the formal process, or set of processes, used to determine the strategies (actions) for the organization (, 2004). It focuses on many areas, including the integration of: management; marketing; finance/accounting; production/operations; research and development; and computer information systems (, 2003). Its main objective is to help the organization achieve success through the formulation of different strategies, their implementation, and evaluation (, 2003). It is also synonymous with the term “Strategic Planning” (, 2003).       Strategic management, even though there are several definitions provided, is still not adequately defined because of the process and concepts that involves within it.  (1979) argued that strategic management cannot be defined by brief sentences or paragraphs, because for him, it involves “plan, ploy, pattern, position and perspective”. One of the ways, however, to look at strategic management in a nutshell, is through the Strategic Management Framework Model (see figure 1) (, 2003). Perform internal Audit   Measure and evaluate performance   Implement strategies – marketing, finance, accounting, R&D, MIS issues   Implement strategies – management issues   Generate, evaluate and select strategies.   Establish Long-Term Objectives   Develop Mission and Vision Statements   Perform external Audit                                Strategy     Strategy  Strategy    Formulation     Implementation   Evaluation      Figure 1: Comprehensive Strategic-Management Model (, 2003).         (2003) explains that Strategic Management Model is dynamic and continuous. Furthermore, one major change in one or more of the process can affect the other processes as well.  (2003) explained that strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation should be performed on a continual basis. Corporate Strategy       The vision-mission statement of a firm is one of the factors that create its corporate image (, 2003). This, in turn, will allow the firm to establish its long-term objectives. There are many factors that build up the image of an organization.  (2001) stated that corporations should have economic and legal responsibilities to the public at large.  (1996) enumerated seven economic responsibilities of firms, which are to: satisfy customers with goods and services of real value; earn a fair return on the funds entrusted to the corporation by its investors; create new wealth which can accrue to non-profit institutions which own shares of publicly-held companies and help lift the poor out of poverty as their wages rise; create new jobs; defeat envy though generating upward mobility and giving people the sense that their economic conditions can improve; promote innovation; and diversify the economic interests of citizens so as to prevent the tyranny of the majority. Legal responsibilities, on the other hand, should be to follow the law or the rules that govern firms; while ethical responsibilities involve the use of practices that are acceptable by the society and the business world (, 1996).       Several studies have proven that without a sound corporate image there can be detrimental to the organization. A number of industry surveys suggest that consumers are willing to make an effort to support pro-active corporate citizens. For instance,  and ’s study shows that 76 percent of consumers are prepared to switch to brands or stores that seem concerned about the community (, 1997). Similarly, a  Information national survey showed that 14 percent of US households actively seek do-gooders when making purchases, while similarly, 40 percent judge corporate citizenship as a tie-breaking activity (, 1997). Similarly,  and  (1997) demonstrate that negative corporate social responsibility associations can have a detrimental effect on overall product evaluation, whereas positive associations can enhance product.   External and Internal Audit         According to  (2003), the purpose of an external audit is to develop a finite list of opportunities that could benefit a firm and helped to avoid threats. This may include the evaluation of the legal, economic, political, environmental, social and technological advantages and disadvantages of the firm and doing the needed adjustments (, 2003). On the other hand, the internal audit concerns with evaluating the internal performance of firm e.g. the performances of employees, the stability of its management system, infrastructure issues, etc (, 2003).       Competitive advantage has always been an issue in the external business environment. This was clearly addressed by  in the early nineties, which led to several models such as the Five Forces. His theory of competitive advantage is one of a number of theories that place geographical industrialization and innovation at the centre of the process of development and competition (,  and , 1999). In this theory, Porter mentioned four attributes namely: factor conditions; demand conditions; related and supporting industries, and firm strategy structure and rivalry (, 1996). Each attributes are discussed in a national context. Factor conditions basically refer to a nation’s position on factors of production (i.e. skilled labor or infrastructure), which are necessary to compete in a given industry. Demand condition is the nature of national or local demand for both service and tangible products. Related and supporting industries, on the other hand, pertains to the presence or absence in the nation of supplier industries and other related industries that are internationally competitive. Finally, firm strategy, structure and rivalry determines the conditions in the nation governing how companies are created, organized and  managed, as well as the nature of domestic rivalry (, 1996). The four attributes interact with one another. Modeled as the diamond, its systemic nature is indeed variable. Several factors transform the diamond into a system. This includes domestic rivalry and geographic industry concentration. Domestic rivalry promotes upgrading of the entire national diamond, while geographic concentration transforms the diamond into a system because it elevates and magnifies the interactions within the diamond (, 1990; ,  and , 1999). This systemic nature then promotes clustering, which enables both vertical and horizontal linkages between industries (, 1986; ,  and , 1999).       Porter’s theory provides an interesting framework on how the conditions of industries are shaped and influenced. However, many factors or competitive advantage determinants are missing in the theory. For instance,  (1996) mentioned that  did not give importance to the culture or politics, while ,  and  (1999) criticized that  failed to provide a comprehensive explanation on how clusters are developed. Another missing factor is the competitive advantage of alliance or strategic alliance. ’s theory offers an incomplete framework, but serves as a reminder that rivalry is not the only means for survival. Furthermore, it suggests that through rivalry partnerships or alliances can arise, leaving more space for competition.       Another specific example of a framework that can be used for external audit is the 4C’s developed by  (2004).  (2004) stated that the competition is now in the global scale, and hints that explaining competitive advantage in the national context may already be obsolete. To make up for the limitations of competitive advantage models of the past such as ’s theory,  (2004) integrated different theories and created the 4C’s. Here, views of pro-coordinated marketing proponents such as ,  and  are integrated with competitive advantage theory of . This new 4C model features integrated attributes such as: creation and innovation; competition; cooperation; and co-option.   In the internal audit of the firm, two specific examples of concerns are the issue of culture and the management on staff, specifically how the staff can be motivated. One of the ways to assess culture is to take heed of its value dimensions. As explained by  (1980), there are four cultural value dimensions:   Ø   Large versus small power distance. Large power distance is the extent to which the members of a society accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally; while small power distance is the extent to which members of a society or organization accept that power is distributed fairly (, 1997). Ø   Strong versus weak uncertainty avoidance. Strong uncertainty avoidance means the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity, which leads them to support beliefs promising certainty and to maintain institutions protecting conformity; while weak uncertainty avoidance is the degree to which members tend to be relatively tolerant of uncertainty and ambiguity and require considerable autonomy and lower structure (, 1995). Ø   Individualism versus collectivism. Individualism is the preference for a loosely knit social framework in society; collectivism stands for a preference for a tightly knit social framework. Ø   Masculinity versus femininity. Masculinity is the preference for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material success; while femininity refers to a preference for relationships, modesty, caring for the weak and the quality of life. Cultural dimensions can help the firm assess the culture of their employees (, 1980). This can help management strategies easier to implement and execute (, 1980). Motivation is also an issue in the internal management of the firm. It is important because it manages and controls the turnover rate and productivity within the firm’s internal environment. Greenberg and Baron define motivation as “the set of processes that arouse, direct and maintain human behavior toward attaining some goal” ( and , 1997). This definition contents three key essential aspects: arousal, direction and maintaining. Arousal has something to do with the drive/energy behind people’s actions such as their interests to do the things or they do it just want making a good impression on others or to feel successful at what they do. Direction means the choices people make to meet the person’s goal. Maintaining behavior could keep people persisting and attempting to meet their goal, hence, to satisfy the need that stimulated behavior in the first place ( and , 1997).   Theories of motivation that organizations can use are divided into two categories: the content and process theories of motivation (, 1999). Content theories emphasize the factors that motivate individuals. Examples of content theories are ’s theory, ’s theory, ’s theory, and ’s theory (, 1999). On the other hand, the emphasis on process theories is on the actual process of motivation. Examples of process theories are expectancy theories, equity theory, goal theory, and social learning theory. Strategies     (2003) stated that there are a total of 11 types of strategies that a firm can use to gain advantage over competitors. These are: forward integration (gaining ownership or increased control over distributors or retailers); backward integration (seeking ownership or increased control of a firm’s supplier); horizontal integration (seeking ownership or increased control over competitors); market penetration (seeking increased market share through greater marketing efforts); market development (introducing present product’s or services in new geographic areas); product development (improving present products or services or developing new ones); concentric diversification (adding new but related products or services); horizontal diversification (adding new but related products or services for present customers); retrenchment (regrouping through cost and asset reduction to reverse declining sales and profit); divestiture (selling a division or part of the organization); and liquidation (selling all of the company’s assets, in parts, for their tangible worth).      (2003) stated that several means to achieve those strategies are through joint venture/partnership or merger/acquisition.         REFERENCES     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

LITERATURE REVIEW on Strategic Management

LITERATURE REVIEW Definition and Brief History of Strategy Strategy is elementarily defined as a long term plan of action design...

DIFFERENT CAREERS IN ACCOUNTING

Different Careers in Accounting                   While it is true that with the fast paced and unprecedented development of the workplace, every organization must grow in correspondence with the changes taking place ( & , 1998;  & , 1995; , 1996). It could also be deemed that careers do change. With the dynamic stages of globalization and world convergence, every person is obliged to deal with the demands of living.             This paper specifically discusses the different careers in accounting. To fully understand the concept of accounting, a brief theoretical discussion is included. Further, to give emphasis to the careers in accounting, its importance as a whole process is also stipulated.   Accounting   Accounting can be defined as the process of recording, classification, analysis and interpretation of financial information which in turn is reported to the concerned stakeholders through the financial statements (, 1974). It requires a record for each and every transaction the business enters into. Accounting has five (5) basic categories. The categories are (1) Assets; (2) Liabilities; (3) Equity; (4) Revenue; and (5) Expense. Different stakeholders have the need for accounting information in order to make informed business decisions. These stakeholders include investors, creditors, governmental agencies and others. Because the main objective of accounting and financial information is the provision of reliable data and information for decision-making purposes, it is more commonly referred to as ‘a means to an end’, with the end pertaining to the decision that is supported by the presence of accurate and reliable accounting data and information. Information are used in making imperative decisions, served as basis for predicting and solving specific problems, and utilized in the daily operations in business management (, 1992, ). To be useful and helpful to various stakeholders, accounting and financial information must be relevant, reliable, comparable, and consistent. With the aforementioned concepts of accounting and its processes involved, it could give a fundamental idea on what are the careers possible for accounting degree holders.   Careers for Accountants   Accountants play a very significant role in the corporate world – it has been known that accounting is the language of business. However, accounting services industry has experienced major changes in the nature and scope of services provided in recent years. In an environment of increased competition and maturation of the traditional audit and tax business, accounting firms have become more diversified and more specialized (, 1997). Globalization and rapid fluctuation of the world markets are two main reasons why such changes took place ( and , 2003). There was no choice for CPAs too, but to be flexible to the changing needs in business accountancy. As  (1995) have cited in a statement by  (1995), “CPAs must revolutionize their thinking not only to endure the pace of this change, but to thrive on it.” CPAs are learning that their traditional services are inadequate to suit the needs of clients (, 1997), and as businesses become more complex and technology advances, accountants must work more creatively ( and , 1998). Thus, there is a need for continuous learning in the profession of business accountancy because it can help a CPA in adjusting to the current changing needs in the industry.             But still, regardless of what technological advancement is involve, the basic idea of accounting will never be changed. The processes involved are still the same and will remain to play its intended functions. People having a bachelor’s degree in accounting have many considerable opportunities in the job market. To name a few, the following are the most common.   Accountants               Traditionally, an accountant is a person involved in accounting practices. He/she classifies, analyzes, and interprets the financial records of an enterprise. It is important that he/she must be licensed. There are many regulating bodies – local and international in nature, which can grant license to practice the profession. Generally, the works of an accountant include:         Evaluation of records from the bookkeeper that contains the comprehensive result of the enterprise’s losses and gains, changes in value, economies, and leakages that will tell if the organization is failing or drawing back       Drawing up financial records in set and prescribing a system of accounts that will provide information needed by the firm’s stakeholders       Reviewing economic and legal aspects of the business taking into consideration the effect of every transaction made specially on the profit-and-loss statement       Supervising and determining the factors affecting the overall and true condition of the business environment       Showing actual records of cost over specified duration of time, services rendered, and production in cost accounting       Contributing to the decision-making process of the company in particular capital budgeting and line of business analysis However, the succeeding career opportunities for accounting degree holders are specialized segment of the general functions of the accountant. Among these are the following: v     Financial Officer v     Budget Manager v     Auditor v     Analyst v     Business Consultants   The financial structure of an organization serves as one of the most important and crucial area within the firm that needs effective management. There is a notion that a survival and profitability of the company lies within this structure. Financial structure also determines the accounting system that firms can have.  &  (1992) said that whatever accounting system a corporation adapts, it should be compatible with organizational structure and should be designed to supply needed information to all levels of decision making. Since finance is a major determinant of the accounting process, thus, there is a vital career opportunity of the accountant in this area. Given the specified qualification for the position, a financial officer and staff must possess the fundamental skills needed on this challenging job. The responsibilities of the financial officer and its staff are:       Preparing financial statements based on the records presented by the bookkeeper       Involving him/her self in significant decisions with regards to special areas and functions (e.g. mergers and acquisition, planning, and/or financial projections – short-term or long-term in nature)       Budgeting financial resources of the business in accordance to the objectives of the organization The essence of budgeting lies on the assumptions that the mere process of budgeting, (1) requires all levels of management to plan ahead, (2) provides definite objectives for evaluating performance at each level of responsibility, (3) creates an early warning system for potential problems; (4) facilities coordination of activities within the organization; (5) results in greater management awareness of entity’s overall operation and; (6) motivates personnel to meet planned objectives. These benefits are reasons enough to persuade managers to conduct a way to manage their budget. The process is sure to provide them foresight of the future of their business ventures. Furthermore, budgeting will also ensure the smooth flow of resources and wise use of the allocated budget.             Nonetheless, budgeting should be done following a multi-dimensional approach. Multi-dimensional budgeting must be complemented with computerized executive information systems (, 1992). In this way, managers can analyze information from several different angles and can address several of never-before-asked questions about the company’s present and future performance.             In addition, budgeting allows the managers to; (1) create a better way to direct and control resources; (2) create an explicit and clear relationship between budgets and the business strategies they fund; (3) permit comparisons of detailed expense information across organizations; (5) provide powerful framework for measuring customer value, internally and externally and; (6) help the company understand the costs of operating its organization (, 1992: ). These speak of the fact that results are worth the efforts of embarking on “looking beyond budgeting” Budgeting does not have to be a financial form of fortune-telling. The organization must use a conservative approach when coming up with its sales and expenses.  It is also important that the budget tells what the organization intend to do with the business. Constantly, evaluate actual numbers versus budgeted numbers to see how the organization is actually doing. Lastly, consider the budgeting process as a management tool to help keep the company profitable and keep it running as smoothly as possible. This is done by the budget manager and its staff. Auditing is also a crucial factor in the financial section of accounting. Effective management of finance means a balance of all the essential properties and assets of the organization. In auditing, the financial requirements of the firm must be supplemental to the firm’s continuous operations. It could be said that auditing goes hand in hand with budgeting and other finically-oriented transactions.             Accountants are known to have the special abilities to identify the most significant aspect of a business operation. May it be pioneering or already existing, accountants are reliable sources of vital business theory. This idea paves way to a career in consultancy. In general, the accounting functions are integrated in all these potential career offerings. The rationale for this can be easily stated with the understanding of the important sectors of accounting. For instance, the specialized area of budget and financial concerns are important in the company’s everyday operation. There is basically a need to understand financial issues and reports are needed to make sure that cash flow within the company is smooth and there is no problem whatsoever. However, structuring the financial system of the company also involves a crucial decision-making process. Companies can either choose if they want their financial structure to be bank-based, market-based, service-based or legal-based.     The Importance of Accounting             Accounting is the art of identifying, measuring, recording, interpreting and communicating the results of economic activities (, 2000). It is the language of business being utilized by investors, managers, and business decision makers. It is utilized by individual file tax returns and supply information when applying for credit and at the same time government use it to control their resources and measure their accomplishments. Everyone benefits from comprehending accounting’s nature, significance, and limitations. Its purpose is to provide decision makers with information useful in making economic decisions concerning the allocation and the use of scarce economic resources.             In another source, accounting as the word implies, is a reckoning of the financial results of an enterprise between those who control the employment of capital or assets and those who provide the capital or assets (, 1993). Accounting responds to the needs of business and follows developments in commercial activity. The earliest records of business transactions, the essence of accounting, are over 5,500 years old. These are Egyptian and Sumarian records on agricultural production and tax collection. Other ancient records include both sides of a trade or barter and the amount of inventory in storehouses (, 1993). The earliest extant records of depreciation, an expression of the idea of the wasting away of physical assets, go back to the days of the Greek and Roman record keepers. A wall, for example, would be depreciated over a period of eighty years, which one might construe as a measure of its useful life and the efficacy of ancient construction practices.             Accounting is important especially if you don’t know how the business is doing, if you don’t want to have professional looking financial statements for your bank, potential vendors or interested parties and if you want to process sales order, purchase orders, invoices, payroll and other business functions manually. The accounting profession has participated in the development of cities, trade and the concepts of wealth and numbers. They are the ones who participated in the development of money and banking, do the company book keeping, saved companies from bankruptcy and helped developed the confidence in capital markets necessary for western capitalism and are central to the information revolution that is transforming the global economy.             Moreover, in management accounting, this job involves the development and interpretation of accounting information specifically to aid management in setting goals, evaluating performance, deciding to introduce a new product line and in every aspect of running a business. This is also utilized in non-financial information like political considerations, environmental factors, public image and worker productivity. They are also responsible for the decision which involves financial considerations. In general, accounting is the result of choices-choices made at the individual level (as management decides how it wishes to represent its transactions, events, and states) and choices made at the social level (as standards-setting and regulatory bodies decide which methods to mandate across firms and time) (, 2003).  added that it is also used for both pre-decision and post-decision by managements so that businesses may be ran better, investors and analysts may value businesses, regulators and directors may oversee businesses, and trading partners and government to settle contracts and tax payments. Accordingly, accounting choice integrates concepts from different fields, such as information economics, measurement theory, information technology, economics, finance, individual, group and organizational behavior, industrial organization, ethical behavior and reputation, regulation, law (both civil and criminal), and political economy (, 2003). Although all these subjects are distinct from each other, all are important in understanding accounting today and also, they are important in order to make predictions about the future of accounting (, 2003). All in all, the accounting systems – serving as the financial structure of the company provides information for three broad objectives: internal routine- reporting to managers to provide information and influence behavior regarding cost management and the planning and controlling of operations; internal non-routine, or special, reporting to managers for strategic and tactical decisions on matters such as pricing products or services, choosing which products to emphasize or de-emphasize, investing in equipment, and formulating overall policies and long- range planning; and external reporting through financial statements to investors, government authorities, and other outside parties ( and , 1991).   Accounting and Career Management In accounting, there is a need to plan the development of career. A careful planning and scrutiny will eventually help the individual focused on the chosen area of service in relation to accountancy. Thus, career management is important. In an interview,  of Fortify Services believed that: “full-on career management requires professionalism, total commitment and large reserves of enthusiasm and energy every step of the way.” He added that career management is not an innate talent but a process to be learned. It is not a ‘frivolous luxury’ but a ‘necessity’ in the workforce. Career management is, at its most fundamental level, all about survival in these increasingly uncertain times. It is about carefully building and nurturing people’s skills and reputation (, 2004). Career development describes the structure and longitudinal nature of career behaviour, as well as the psychological, cultural, economic, and political influences that involve strategies that might transform in order to facilitate more positive and purposeful career behaviour than would likely occur randomly ( & , 1990). Furthermore, agility, strength, precise movement and the ability to deal with continuous change are key attributes in career development (, 2000). Chances in accounting careers are high. A person can actually utilize chance as an opportunity. There are five attitudes that are essential in recognizing, creating, and using chance as an opportunity (, 2000): 1. Curiosity – which will prompt you to explore new learning opportunities;   2. Persistence – which means you exert extra effort despite setbacks;   3. Flexibility – which enables you to change attitudes and circumstances;   4. Optimism – which will allow you to view new opportunities as possible and attainable; and   5. The willingness to take risks, which will enable you to act in the face of uncertainty.               To fully develop a career in accounting, there is a need for continuous learning in the profession of business accountancy because it can help a CPA in adjusting to the current changing needs in the industry. One of the ways to improve knowledge is by earning a master’s degree. Earning a master’s degree can help a person become updated in the latest trends in accountancy, and furthermore, improves the professional status. According to  (1994), instruction in accounting must be focused on corporate accounting. This is evident with the fast growth of corporations that operate in global setting. According to  (1997), at the master’s level, accounting graduates made progress compared to MBAs with technical undergraduate degrees. Because the aim of taking masteral studies is to refine skills, a CPA who has earned the degree will have the chance to perform better and to adapt to new types of CPA firms characterized by reduced administrative structures and a reduced number of hierarchical levels, supports learning for all its personnel through policies, practices, structure and values. Because learning is an imperative requirement, any form of study can help an accounting professional met his or her goals.  (2001) stated that accounting professionals who experience learning should have a more positive attitude towards their work and firm. Thus, it can be said that personal learning is significantly related to attitudinal outcomes among accounting professionals, and positively related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment.   Synthesis The skills of CPAs have great importance in many economic endeavors. All in all, any area in the business world that caters the information necessary for the whole business operations is a potential venue for an accounting career. Truly, finance, management, and all related aspects in accountancy are integrated altogether in order to materialize a successful business endeavor. Thus, accountancy serves its main purpose.   References   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

DIFFERENT CAREERS IN ACCOUNTING

Different Careers in Accounting While it is true that with the fast paced and unprecedented development of the workp...