Management Accounting Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Management Accounting - Case Study Example The PAHs can be associated with oil spills and they include chemicals and carcinogens that are extensively harmful for the health of human beings and marine beings. The increasing level of carcinogens and chemicals in the water may causes severe ill effects on the health of human beings and marine life often causing frequent deaths among them and may also cause these living beings to be born with severe health problems caused by the toxic levels in the water carried through their genes. Also, the effects of the oil drilling activities are long lasting and continue to create damage in the health and lives of the human beings and marine animals for years even after the oil drilling activity or the oil spills have stopped. The spill exposure often lead to severe health problems among the workers involved in the oil drilling activities as well as among the inhabitants in and around the area of oil drilling. Despite the huge negative impacts of oil drilling operations on the social and environmental areas, oil drilling continues to be an important industrial operation for maintaining energy security in different countries. Oil continues to be the greatest source of energy and the demand for oil is continuously rising across the world because it is a natural reserve for energy. As such oil drilling continues to be in a dominant position for boosting the global economic growth and ensuring that a continuous source of energy is maintained. British petroleum is one of the leading oil and gas companies in the globe. The company is reputed for its large scale operations and its sustainability practices in the oil and gas industry. However, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 caused severe financial and reputational damages for the company (British Petroleum Corporate Website, 2013, p.6). In this respect, the management of the company

Energy Drinks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Energy Drinks - Essay Example The intake of the energy drinks thus is seen to reduce the number of accidents that take place every year. More people are encouraged to use the drinks rather than taking drinks that are alcoholic. It is true to say that the intake of the energy drink has gone up in many parts of the world. The reason for this is that most people are welcoming the drinks intake more and more as compared to the intake of alcoholic beverages. We can, therefore, say that since the energy drinks are not alcoholic, they have become more and more popular in the reduction of accidents. The fact that the energy drinks are seen to be made of low-carb also gives them a major advantage in the market. This means that on the intake of the drink, the whole body is filed up and the brains function is boosted. The consumer, therefore, gains the ability to carry out tasks they couldn’t carry out in the normal states of their bodies. Non-carbohydrate diets are said to be ketogenic. The meaning of this is that t hy cause the body to go into a state of ketosis. When a human body is said to go into a ketosis state, it means that the body fats, as well as the dietary fats, are converted into ketone bodies thus fueling the whole of the body to ninety-five percent. The body becomes very active and the brain becomes very alert causing the person to become more active than they were before the intake of the drink. All the positive effects of the energy drinks result in more people going to the stores and purchasing the drinks.

Features of a cognitive behavioural approach to counselling

Features of a cognitive behavioural approach to counselling In order to answer this question effectively I will first discuss what cognitive behaviour therapy is and its key features. Then I will elaborate on a couple of other approaches to counselling and explain why it is different. Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) can help you to change how you think (Cognitive) and what you do (Behaviour). These changes can help you to feel better. Unlike some of the other talking treatments, it focuses on the here and now problems and difficulties. Instead of focussing on the causes of your distress or symptoms in the past, it looks for ways to improve your state of mind now. (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2010). The name cognitive behavioural is used in different ways to designate cognitive and behavioural therapy. It also refers to psychoanalysis based upon a combination of essential cognitive and behavioural research. Cognitive behavioural therapy is commonly used to counsel people with a wide range of disorders such as depression, phobias and anxiety. Cognitive behaviour therapy has become progressively popular in the past years, with professional and mental health consumers (BABCP, 2010). It is usually used for short-term periods of time and it focuses more on helping clients deal with very definite problems. Since cognitive behavioural therapy is basically a short term treatment alternative, it is more affordable that other therapeutic alternatives. During the course of counselling, individuals learn how to recognise and change negative or destructive thought patterns that have a negative influence on individual behaviour. The underlying perception behind cognitive behavioural approach to counselling is that our thoughts and feelings play an essential role in how we portray our behaviour. For example an individual who always has thoughts on plane crashes and air disasters may find themselves avoiding air travel. The fundamental objective of cognitive behavioural therapy is to counsel and teach patients who cannot control all aspects of life around them. The following are key features of a cognitive behavioural approach. Cognitive behavioural therapy is mainly based n the cognitive form of emotional response on our behaviours and thoughts, and not external surroundings such as events, people and situations. The key benefit of this fact is that it helps individuals to perform and feel good even if the circumstance does not change around them. The approach is considered to be one of the most rapid and quick forms of therapy for curing psychological disorders. The usual number of regular sessions that patients use across all types and approaches related to cognitive behaviour therapy is only 16 (Horn Ippen, 2006). Other types of therapy such as psychoanalysis can take a longer duration equivalent to one year. What makes the cognitive behavioural approach to be briefer and more time limited is because of its highly informative temperament and the fact that it formulates the use of coursework. The official ending of the therapy is determined by the decision of the client and therapist. Thus, cognitive behavioural therapy is not as much of an open-ended process unlike other approaches. Some other forms of therapies believe that the major motive why individuals progress in therapy is because of the affirmative relationship between the client and the therapist. Therapists, who believe in the cognitive behavioural approach, focus on furnishing their client with self psychotherapy skills and therefore the client learns to be more independent. With these self counselling skills, the clients will automatically change as they have learnt how to think differently. A vital aspect of thinking is based on facts. For example, in most cases, people upset themselves about things when, in fact the real situation is very different from what they actually think. If people knew the real fact then they would not waste as much time upsetting themselves. The inductive method was adopted in the cognitive behavioural approach in order to encourage people to clearly distinguish assumptions and myths from practicalities and reality of life. This greatly helps individuals to admit the reality and thrust aside imaginary negative thoughts. The cognitive behavioural approach is a joint effort between the client and the therapist. This is because the therapists task is to teach, listen and learn whilst the clients task is to be able to express their concerns, and show a determination to absorb what they learn from the therapist. The therapist makes attempts to know more about the thoughts and feelings of the client and also plays a fundamental role in helping their clients achieve the targeted goals in life. The client has to undertake homework in the form of implementing and putting into action the techniques and skills that they are taught during the therapy sessions. Without practising the skills and techniques, the clients will not be able to overcome their problem. As this approach is a directive and structured approach to counselling then a specific agenda is set out for each and every session. The techniques taught are aligned with the clients goals. Therapists do not tell their clients what their goals should be or what they should stand for. The approach is directive in a manner that it demonstrates to the clients how to behave and think in ways to achieve what they are fond of getting. There are many ways in which the cognitive behavioural approach differs from other forms of counselling. Sandburg, (2004) said that the cognitive behavioural approach primarily differs from other forms of counselling in terms of emphasis on understanding, identifying and changing the underlying attitude about one selves thinking and thoughts. In cognitive behaviour therapy the initial approaches emphasize on behavioural features of coping (e.g. leaving or avoiding the situation and interruption etc) instead of thinking ones way out of a situation. The person-centred therapy differs from the cognitive behavioural approach to counselling as this is an approach that focuses on putting much of the treatment responsibility on the client while the therapist takes a non-directive role. It is greatly associated with the objective of human potential movement, as it defines human nature to be inherently good. Person-centred therapy emphasizes that human behaviour is inspired by a drive to fulfil ones goals. Person-centred therapy focuses on a persons strength rather than their weakness. In this case the therapist tries to create a room between real self and ideal self. This created room helps the client discover a further understanding of who they are and also develop a greater self-worth esteem which results in increased capacity to experience and articulate feelings at the time they occur.

Thomas Jefferson: Pragmatics over Doctrine :: Cheathouse Essays

Thomas Jefferson: Pragmatics over Doctrine During the period 1800-1817, the Jeffersonians to a great extent compromised their political principles and essentially â€Å"out Federalized the Federalists†. While traditional Jeffersonian Republicanism advocated a strict interpretation of the Constitution and an emphasis on an agrarian economic system, the actual policies of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were markedly different from their theoretical principles. This obvious compromise of Jeffersonian principles is evident in the Federal government’s assumption of broad-based political powers and institution of capitalistic Hamiltonian economic reforms, both of which stemmed from Jefferson and Madison’s adoption of broad constructionist policies. Despite his many compromises however, Thomas Jefferson’s intent to dissolve the national debt was to a great extent unvarying. Jefferson and his Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin honestly feared a large federal deficit as a threat to Republicanism. To avoid this threat, the President sought to diminish the role of the federal government, and decreased the national budget. These budget cuts substantially diminished the size and resources of the American army and navy. When criticized, Jefferson defended these military cuts as being consistent with Republican policies in that a smaller U.S. Army would be seen as less of a threat to other nations and reduce the risk of provocation, resulting in the ultimate promotion of peace. Unfortunately, the President’s consistency with Republican principles in matters of political power was not nearly as strong as his resolve to reduce the national debt. Under Jefferson and Madison, the federal government assumed political powers that the Constitution did not allot for. While prior to his presidency, Jefferson, then a strict constructionist had argued that the government should not assume any power unless specifically provided for in the Constitution, the Louisiana Purchase where America purchased a vast tract of land for $15 million, compromised these lofty ideals. In terms of the military, Thomas Jefferson had come to power vowing to reduce military size and power. Contrary to those principles, the Barbary War, where for nearly three years the American military exercised a naval blockade of the North African coast wasted millions of dollars of the people’s money and unconstitutionally violated states rights and strict constructionist principles, in the ir place asserting an alien un-Republican nationalism. While the evidence found in Jefferson’s political and military dealings helps us understand how Madison and him â€Å"out Federalized the Federalists†, an examination of Jefferson’s economic policies truly proves that in the words on one historian he was the â€Å"American Sphinx†.

Centralised organisation Essay

â€Å"Outline the main ways in which a large centralised organisation might achieve a more flexible organised structure. Using examples, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing greater organisational flexibility† â€Å"The structures that organisations adopt are usually aligned to one of five generic organisational structures. These are the simple structure, the functional structure, the divisional structure, the holding company structure and the matrix structure. (Capon, C. (2009) the business environment. Chapter 4: Inside organisations. This essay will explain the various ways of how a large centralised organisation achieves a more flexible structure through de-centralisation. This essay will analyse the benefits and drawbacks of the matrix structure and the functional structure. A flexible structure allows staff to take part in decision making thus making them feel more valued and motivated, this favours the organisation because efficiency and communication is improved. Centralised structures are often referred to as bureaucracies and have a long chain of command and a narrow span of control. They are tall structures designed so that directors, owners and management can achieve maximum control. Decision making is isolated within the top part of the hierarchy with a very autocratic style of management (none/very little shared decision making with employees further down the hierarchy). Centralised structures allow benchmarks and certain procedures to monitor quality closely. A clear path can be seen by employees in terms of promotion which often aids in motivation, in turn improving the productivity of staff. However there are some downsides to a centralised or bureaucratic structure, such as the fact that it’s time-consuming for decisions to be made because the decision has to come from the top of the organisation (CEO’s/Directors) all the way to the bottom through many levels before the employees actually get told what they need to do; because of this it is difficult for companies with a tall structure to quickly react to changes in the market that they operate in. In tall organisations there is a tendency for ‘red tape’ or excessive regulation which also slows down many processes within a business. Another problem with tall organisations is that there is a divide between the top managers and regular employees, which means that the workers lower down in the hierarchy feel excluded and less valued. This In turn leads to workers becoming less motivated. Because of all these difficulties big organisations are constantly attempting to increase flexibility by changing their structure. Decentralisation provides higher subordinate satisfaction and a quicker response to problems and may give workers a sense of ownership and greater levels of motivation in their work† (Ray French, Charlotte Rayner, Gary Rees and Sally Rumbles – (2008) Organizational behaviour ). De-centralised structures are desirable because they allow flexibility within a business, it is essentially a democratic management style of running an organisation, and this means that there is more feedback and input from staff regarding decision making. With a shorter chain of command, due to the flat hierarchical structure, and increased motivation of staff production can increase. The functional structure is relatively restrictive of flexibility, it is fairly rigid and centralised. The managers of the departments are given the responsibility to manage day-to-day problems and take part in decision making only in the short term. Decision making and power in the long term rests very much within the board of directors, thus slowing down communication within the organisation. The functional structure is mainly used by small businesses; large organisations tend to move away from this structure in the search for more flexibility. The reason for this is because of product or service diversification and larger target markets. The functional structure tends to have poor career prospects, high pressure on senior managers , quality monitoring is very difficult and there are skills shortages in the sense that job roles are set so skills cannot be shared within the departments. The matrix structure integrates two structures together, often geographical and multi product structures. For example, a company may have a department for a product A in Europe and for Product A in Asia. One of the advantages of the Matrix structure is the convenience of experts simplifying the sharing of knowledge between the goods. Another advantage of the matrix structure is intra-team communication, this allows ease of communication between the different functional product groups within the same organisation, and similarly there is less pressure on managers, quality monitoring is easier and skills are interchanged within departments of the same function thus improving efficiency. In the early 90’s the majority of IBM and the business press were convinced decentralisation would aid the company in terms of â€Å"flexibility, speed and entrepreneurial motivation†. They believed splitting up IBM into smaller companies would speed up processes and promote and enhance efficiency, which can be true of decentralisation. Lou Gerstner was appointed CEO of IBM in 1993. He was convinced IBM should remain centralised and to â€Å"use its unique size and capabilities to help customers integrate the diverse components of their information technology (IT) systems†. In the end IBM was loosened up but not completely decentralised. This worked tremendously well with IBM’s stock price rising by almost a factor of ten. (Thomas W. Malone – Harvard Business School Archives (29/3/2004): Making the decision to decentralise. )From this we can conclude that de-centralisation improves organisational flexibility by speeding up the process of decision making, improving efficiency and communication and increasing job satisfaction for employees. Pursuing greater organisational flexibility could be complex in the sense that the organisation may become less efficient due to the change in structure and managerial span of control. Nonetheless changing from a tall centralised structure to a flat decentralised structure favours the organisation because there are fewer levels of hierarchy and a shorter chain of command which enables better communication. â€Å"Decentralisation, in theory, provides greater potential for motivating employees and, because decisions are taken nearer the place of work, the organisation can react faster and smarter†. Ian Brookes (2009): Organisational behaviour – individuals, groups and organisation 4th edition). However not all flat structures are decentralised; take for example the functional structure, despite being flat it is a rigid and centralised structure. The Matrix structure would enable a large organisation to achieve greater organisational flexibility because one of its main strengths is allowing ease of communication.

Francis Bacon and Brett Whiteley

Brett Whiteley and Francis Bacon Essay Question: Discuss the way Whiteley’s work; ‘Self Portrait in the Studio’ 1976, and Bacon’s ‘Figure in Movement, 1976’ show two very different approaches to practice. How have these artists used gesture, colour, and form differently in these works to explore totally different emotional and psychological territory? Francis Bacon and Brett Whiteley show two very different approaches to their practice. They use gesture, colour and form differently in these works to explore different emotional and psychological territory.The making of an artistic practice is based on the artist’s view of the things affecting and contributing to his society and perspective on the world. Differing styles in this depend on the artist and their intent in making their artwork which is evident in the two contrasting works of Whiteley’s ‘Self portrait in the studio’ 1976 and Bacon’s ‘Figure in m ovement, 1976’. They portray their views through a range of techniques. Artistic practice is the way in which an artist goes about their work. It refers to the conceptual and making processes of an artwork.An artist will find a suitable subject matter, develop skills and use visual codes and symbols to portray their ideas and concepts to hopefully trigger a certain audience response. An artist would want to be reflective of the society and world of that time to have the audience be able to connect with ideas and concepts they want to convey. How they make it and why they make it is a testimony to their different media, styles and techniques and also their use of the visual qualities and relationships as well as the influence of their global and personal world and other artists and their movements.Francis Bacon says that he is ‘deforming and reforming reality in his paintings’ this is evident in his work ‘Figure in movement, 1976’. Distorted features of the human form are typical with Bacons figurative style. Bacon stated that his aim was to ‘not make illustration of reality but to create images which are concentration of reality’. Subject matter is not something that Francis Bacon said he traditionally looks for but he was inspired by people like Muybridge and his photography of deformities and animal locomotion.In his studio he has collection of his works spread out on a table, ‘these things spread around the table are perhaps what more conventional artists would call subject matter’. He is also inspired by medical books of x-rays and diseases of the mouth which he interprets as beautiful and interesting. He finds dead carcasses of cattle in the butcher as one of the most vibrant colour palettes and interesting forms. In the background of the work there is a pig carcass which is evidence of his interpretation of beauty .He uses a mash of dark grey colours for the forms and a bright orange base with a black background ambiguously. In the work ‘Figure in movement, 1976’ Bacon based the conceptual idea from a book which had a line ‘The reek of human blood smiles out at me. ’ This provoked a strong sense of imagery which transformed in to his art and in particular this work of two distorted forms wrestling. He successfully depicts violence in to the work which has been fuelled from that line and the audience successfully receives it.Francis Bacon is seen as an artist who creates his work very unconventionally. He uses the unprimed side of a canvas as he became accustomed to it after losing all his money and using the other side of old paintings because he couldn’t afford new canvases. He does not do sketches before taking on a painting and feels whichever way his brush takes him is the way that he wants to go. He says that ‘I have an overall image that I want to do but it’s in the working that it develops’, and ‘I believe in a deeply ordered chaos of work. Bacon never attended an art school because he thinks ‘I would have been taught all those old techniques that I just don’t want to know, I wanted to find my own techniques. You can’t any longer make illustration because it’s done so much better by the camera and the cinema. ’ He has a habit of manically working paint into a canvas not only with a paint brush but with cloths and dishwashing instruments which adds to the frenzy of his work.Francis Bacon doesn’t put much emphasis on the meaning of his work but on the mood and feeling it creates, ’I do believe that today modern man wants a sensation really without the boredom of its conveyance, a cut down of conveyance as far as possible so you just give over to sensation’, though interestingly he says ‘I never feel anything when I do paintings there’s nothing to feel. ’ Many come away with the feeling of horror from a Bacon work b ut that’s not the intention ‘what horror could I make that could compete with what goes on every single day. Brett Whiteley’s painting ‘Self portrait in the studio’ won the Archibald prize in 1976. It was one of several Archibald prizes that he one in the ‘70’s. Whiteley was known for the topics of nudes, portraits, landscapes, still lifes of the female form, birds, and abstracts which all feature heavily in his self portrait of not only him but things that are dear to him and reflect his life and work as represented in the form of his studio. In this work Whiteley is trying to express that ‘yes, this is a mirror image of myself but I am not just Brett Whiteley, I am also Brett Whiteley who is part of this environment at this time. This painting is a testimony to what he loves and his working space in which he has created his career from and his artistic practice. He expresses this by including important elements of his life. Brett Whiteley strongly uses emotive qualities of colour. The whole painting is held together by the unifying prevailing quality of blue which is his signature colour. He is recognised for this colour because he is always referencing the water especially in this painting of his studio overlooking the harbour in Lavender Bay.This colour is also spread on to the walls and acts as a calming effect on the receiving audience. The colour is rich and bright to contrast with other points of focus in the room. The way he has developed the forms and shapes in the room are meant to convey the idea of man only being as big as any other point of reference. Whiteley reinforces this idea by making all focal points distorted and exaggerated. This is a celebration of his interest in female form and his figurative sculpture works.It is evident in ‘Self Portrait in the Studio’ that Whiteley has worked with slow, spontaneous gestures and worked back in to the canvas with scratches. The drawings of surroundings are minimal and simplistic and have been drawn with free loose lines to convey emotion. Whiteley says that ‘the best times when paintings are done when I’m not in charge of it all, if I keep my ego out of it there is kind of a pure flow of that recommendation and that solution of a kind of neat rightness that goes in as best and as accurately as one can.This approach contributes to the mood, feeling and meaning of the work and the sense of the way being an artist has impacted on his life. The small self portrait in comparison to his big studio also reflects how it dominates his life but is reflected as his most enjoyable escape. The painting also has a dream like feel showing his relationship with his art. Both of these two artists have very differently developed their practices.I think an interesting comparison between them is that Francis Bacon was always referencing death and in his documentary ‘The Art of Francis Bacon’ when talking abo ut how Egyptian art inspired him said ‘I guess they were always trying to defeat death by leaving images but it won’t really make a difference. We will all be dead. ’ And that one of Brett Whiteley’s famous quote is ‘Art is the thrilling spark that beats death, that’s all. ’ I think these two conflicting statements perfectly sum up the contrast they have in ideas and show how they explore emotional and psychological territory differently.