Saturday, October 5, 2019
Judaism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Judaism - Essay Example This research paper dwells on the main aspects of Judaism religion and the author discusses the variety of theories existing. In this discussion, many facets of Judaism will be examined, primarily in the three temporal subdivisions labeled the Tribal/Pre-Monarchy Period, the Divided Monarchy and the Hasmonean/Maccabean and the Roman Era. In the middle of all these three time periods where the religion at times has been quite split, they give the impression as being the real representative for the basic presence of it in the first place. As a case in point for the commonality among the periods of Judaism, we should see that the area of focus here is the place associated with the religion, which quite frankly is Jerusalem itself. This topic will be covered in detail first, and then the multiple Judaism arguments will be presented. In this way, it is possible to keep a common focus in mind when reading about all the other situations in which the religion has found itself. Adding further to the discussion, we find out that indeed the city of Jerusalem is where the place of worship of the Jews once used to be. It was in the year 586 BC when the temple was destroyed, no Jew would have refused Jerusalem as being the world center of the religion of Judaism. It was from that moment onwards that the Jewish people started to have their own journey and migrated around the world but made it a point to remember the very fact that it was Jerusalem where it all began. The Judaism religion has some significant holidays.
Friday, October 4, 2019
Politics and the Media, News Coverage Analysis Assignment Research Paper
Politics and the Media, News Coverage Analysis Assignment - Research Paper Example The significant aspect of immigration is fundamentally described as the transfer of individuals or people from one particular country to other in order to make permanent settlements. In this similar context, several political figures and intellectuals of the United States referred to the country as the nation of immigrants. This is owing to the reason that in excess of 23 million immigrants particularly from the European nations had become enduring residents of the US between the years 1880 and 1920 (Jimenez, â€Å"Introduction†). It has been apparently observed that the immigration policies of the US have become a widespread political debate for last few decades. It is in this context that the present President of the US i.e. Barack Obama has been recognized to take speedy action towards providing the opportunity for legal residency relating to the significant concern of the US immigration policy. Moreover, it has also been viewed that ratings or polls have been conducted for the approval or the disapproval of the new immigration policy that is especially designed for the illegal immigrants in the US. In this similar context, the ratings or the polls have eventually acquired the attention of the Americans and raised the political image of President Obama (The New York Times Company, â€Å"Obama Urges Speed on Immigration Plan, but Exposes Conflicts†). The New York Times is regarded as one of the renowned American based daily newspapers, which was founded in the year 1851 in New York City. It has been viewed that the newspaper published one similar kind of article relating to the US immigration policies entitled â€Å"Immigration and Emigration†in recent days that was of quite narrative type (The New York Times Company, â€Å"Immigration and Emigration†). Conversely, The Washington Post is the other American based daily newspaper that was established in the year 1877 in Washington D.C. The newspaper has been identified to publish several articles linked with the US immigration policies in recent days that are of quite narrative type (The Washington Post Company, â€Å"Company Profile†). Thesis Statement This paper intends to critique the news coverage concerning Obama’s initiatives towards making immigration comeback and speedily working upon the US immigration plan. 1. How Does The News Story Conform T o Prevailing Standards Of Newsworthiness? What Criteria Are Present In The Story? How Do These Criteria Appear To Be Driving This Story? The news story that was published by the newspaper The New York Times, conforms to prevailing standards of newsworthiness by depicting Obama’s one of the significant initiatives towards facilitating a large number of unlawful immigrants residing in the US on a clear pathway to nationality or residency. There
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Dutton Donald G. Rethinking Domestic Violence Essay Example for Free
Dutton Donald G. Rethinking Domestic Violence Essay Dutton, Donald G. Rethinking Domestic Violence Introduction            This book was written by Dutton about domestic violence. It gave us the history about assault on spouses. Dutton talks of two major social phenomena that emerged in North American and the Western countries in Europe. Rights of women were acknowledged by everyone after long and tedious struggle of women to get recognized. It goes further to state the measures and incidences of violence including theories concerning women assault.            This book is very important for it teaches about recognizing one another especially those who have the violent personalities. It is good for the society for it educates one to accept others rights and difference between marriage duties and rights. This book shows us that we can eliminate all odds in our society and try make each and every person feel that he or she belongs to the society fully without any intimidation and discrimination.            Dutton’s ideas can be used to help those who have the abusive personality by encouraging them to attend psychiatrist’s teachings. It can be used to educate spouses in marriage so that they will evade future marriage problems. Also, in the current globalized world, the ideas in this book can help us socialize and live together in peace and harmony especially in a domestic set up. This book can help people who are married in other cultures to harmonize or leave those cultures and then live with the acceptance and respect of each other’s rights.            Weiss, Elaine. Surviving Domestic Violence: Voices of Women Who Broke Free. Volcano: Volcano Press, 2004. Print.            In this book, Surviving Domestic Violence, Elaine wrote about several stories of women who had been subjected to domestic violence. She got these stories by interviewing and later writing them down. It talks of what each one of them went through and how they later managed to escape it. It gives reasons as to why such incidences were happening. After getting out, the women took a very long time to recover the psychological and wounds they got due to thisviolence but some were yet to fully recover for the ordeal they had gone through had impacted negatively on their lives. Those who managed to deal with stress after coming out said that they felt stronger than ever.            The different stories taught in this book are the true causes and effects of domestic related violence. They bring about what one goes through and how one feels while undergoing the violence. Also, it helps to understand what to do when such incidences happen. It also shows its effects and how they change one’s life therefore targeting those who abuse their partners. This book is a very ideal example as it shows us that those who have already freed themselves from the marital abuses can educate others like the youth and couples about domestic violence so that they refrain from it            The stories are very encouraging for they give the people motivation to solve their problems and also how one can escape this. They can be used by those specialists in parental guidance and counselling to help them shape their marriage when such incidences are reported to them and even before couples get married. The ideas in this book can enable those undergoing abuses to get out and look for a better marriage partner. One only needs to accept that he or she is undergoing domestic violence and therefore if it cannot be solved, one can boldly walk away and start life afresh. Marriage is not slavery but it’s a path towards achieving your goals in life as one needs a partner who is willing to assist where possible so that they make all their dreams in life to happen.            Abused Men: The Hidden Side of Domestic Violence Cook, Philip W. Abused Men: The Hidden Side of Domestic Violence. Westport: Praeger, 2009. Print.            Phillip exposes how men goes through domestic violence silently. He talks of how real it is that men are going through domestic violence without the society suspecting. He brings several stories of men who have been undergoing through such violence from their wives for a long time. Then he goes further to give tips that can help one to find freedom from any form of abuse. Then he addresses resistance and acceptance for those who are abusing their spouses and how they come to realize that each and every person deserves to be respected. He also talks of new great approaches that can be used to reduce domestic violence. He then gives survey statistics of domestic violence in Canada. It also talks about how the relationship changes between the offenders to their victims.            The story is helpful in realizing what some men go through. It gives statistics of domestic violence that people are not ready to talk about. The society is helped to recognize men who are undergoing domestic abuses from their spouses. It is helpful because statistics help people to know how long they have been living with their friends undergoing abuses without even realizing it. It talks of acceptance which can help those who are yet to accept their spouse the way he or she is. It is helpful for it shows how much men can be subjected to torture with use of dangerous tools such as knives, machetes and any other type of a life-threatening tool or machine so that one can force their partner to follow one’s commands.            Philip’s ideas can be used to know the men who are undergoing abuses experienced from their wives and enable us to help them come out of the problem. Also, it encourages courage especially those who are not courageous enough to come out and tell their ordeal to the society. This book can help men to free themselves away from any form of abuse and intimidation from their partners. This book is very important as it can be used to tell the extent in which men undergo violence in real life situations. Men can also use this book to help them evade any other form of domestic violence against them and therefore reducing the number of men who die as a result of domestic violence.            Howard, Louise, Louise Howard, Gene Feder, and Roxane Agnew-Davies. Domestic Violence and Mental Health. London: RCPsych Publications, 2013. Print.            This book has been written collectively by different authors who specialize in domestic violence ideas. It talks about prevalence and physical health impacts of domestic violence. It talks about types of abuses in marriage such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse and coercive control and also it questions them and gives clues on how they are brought about and their solution. It also talks of effects of the person’s psychology which is deeply affected even in the future that may not get them out of his mind. It stresses on survival strategies to evade such abuses and also how one can control one’s mind to avoid damaging his or her psychology. This book also gives the kinds of interventions and responses people can take after or when you suspect any form of violence. Advices from professionals on domestic violence are also written down.            This book has directives on what causes mental problems after abuse. It also gives us ways on how to control ourselves and maintain a state of calmness so as not disturb our stressed mind. It educates us on different forms of domestic violence. It is an important text for it has pieces of advice on domestic violence from professionals’ point of view.            The story in this book can help us to evade mental problems due to domestic abuses and can be used by psychiatrists to know what causes a certain mental disorder and they can use the ideas here to enable their clients who are undergoing this problem to get out of it. It can also be used to educate couples so that when they are not in good terms to try to their best solve the problem before it gets out of hand. The advices written in this book can also be used in the same way to advice people especially those undergoing domestic violence depending on the root cause and the kind of violence.            Kubany, Edward S, Mari A. McCaig, and Janet R. Laconsay. Healing the Trauma of Domestic Violence: A Workbook for Women. Oakland: New Harbinger            This book is directed to those who have been freed from domestic violence and especially women. Due to violent domestic situations, one may develop post-traumatic stress disorders which are not easy to get out of one’s mind and can negatively affect that person. It is aimed at giving programs known as cognitive trauma therapy which one undergoes to help him or her come back to normal. It gives the techniques one can use them to help himself or herself by identifying any form of trauma and distress one has that can enable one to deal with it to help control and change his or her life .            This book is targeting those who have been affected by domestic violence so that they come back to normal. It is an educational tool for the society to understand the devastating effects of wife battering. Therefore it makes us to even identify those who are going through post-traumatic stress. It contains technics and procedures one can follow so that they make him deal any results brought by domestic violence. It is also helpful as it helps chase out any fears one has due to what they went through during that horrifying period of domestic violence.            Psychiatrists can use this book to help traumatized people come back to normal. The ideas here can help us to even identify those going through stress in their marriage so that they are helped before it’s too late. This book can be used also by the parents who are not in good terms to read and understand what one may go through if such incidences happen. The techniques in this book about dealing with trauma after violence can be used by psychiatrists to help clients who underwent this so that they identify what they are in trauma of and this can help them to accordingly better their lives. It can also be used individually as one can remember well what went wrong in that marriage and help better their lives. References Cook, Philip W. Abused Men: The Hidden Side of Domestic Violence. Westport: Praeger, 2009. Print. Dutton, Donald G. Rethinking Domestic Violence. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2006. Print. Howard, Louise, Louise Howard, Gene Feder, and Roxane Agnew-Davies. Domestic Violence and Mental Health. London: RCPsych Publications, 2013. Print. Kubany, Edward S, Mari A. McCaig, and Janet R. Laconsay. Healing the Trauma of Domestic Violence: A Workbook for Women. Oakland: New Harbinger Weiss, Elaine. Surviving Domestic Violence: Voices of Women Who Broke Free. Volcano: Volcano Press, 2004. Print. Source document
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Clinical Decision making and the Nursing Process
Clinical Decision making and the Nursing Process Internal and external variables such as the nurses personal experience, knowledge, creative thinking ability, education, self concept, as meshed with the nurses working environment, and situational stressors all can work to enhance or inhibit effective clinical decision making for a nurse. (OReilly, 1993) Clinical decision-making is defined as the ability to sift and synthesize information, make decisions, and appropriately implement those decisions within a clinical setting. Practicing nurses must effectively identify and solve the problems of patient diagnosis and treatment by using such a model. One means of doing so, paradoxically, is to identify the barriers to decision making so they can be overcome by the use of more effective decision-making tools. The nursing process itself involves the need for quality decision-making at every sage of assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation of patient needs and demands. (Nursing process, 2006, Wikipedia) Thus, both p rocesses are interrelated; as to be a good nurse a nurse must be a good decision-maker. Describe Patricia Benners stages of clinical judgment According to the nursing theorist Patricia Benner (2004), the novice nurse has little experience, and must essentially proceed by rote to function as an effective nurse in the clinical setting, such as a first year nursing student who needs constant guidance from other hospital staff members. A recent graduate nurse or advanced beginner possesses some minimal clinical practice and can grasp attributes but not aspects of the clinical setting without constant assistance. In contrast, a competent nurse has a filtering device of experience to know what to ignore and what to assimilate in the clinical setting, based upon greater levels of experience than the advanced beginner nurse. A proficient nurse has made the leap beyond basic competence into a more holistic assessment of understanding of patient needs. Finally, the expert nurse no longer relies upon clearly articulated analytical rules of judgment regarding patient diagnosis and treatment at all, but can proceed to judgment on a mor e intuitive, but still rational level. The expert can deploy both creative thinking and rational thinking simultaneously and effectively in the clinical environment. Discuss the ways in which the nursing process contributes to effective clinical decision-making The nursing process of assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation are dependant upon both the nurses personal qualities as well as upon the setting of the assessment. (Quan, 2006) For example, during the assessment, increased knowledge on the part of the nurse practitioner leads to greater clinical accuracy in judgment. The more experienced nurse knows what to look for, based upon clinical knowledge and personal experience, and can use that observed and filtered knowledge in making a more competent diagnosis. A more competent diagnosis leads to a better-planned and implemented course of treatment, and a better assessment of how and if the treatment is working. (OReilly, 1993) But treatment is not merely a checklist. Intuition is also said to be the hallmark of expert judgment, where intuitively on a subconscious level accumulated knowledge kicks in in helping the nurse understand what, if anything, in the patients state of health may be wrong. Creative thinking when assessing the patients psychological and physical state, the ability to fuse emotion and reasoning in the mind of the seasoned nurse, can lead to a better mental selection of important data and a more effective diagnostic conclusion. (OReilly, 1993) Also, self-concept, the empowered use with confidence of ones knowledge that comes with experience and the practice of years can increase the speed and efficacy of the planning of the treatment and its implementation and evaluation. However, it is important to remember that even in expert nurses, stresses such as less then optimal staffing or undercutting confidence through interpersonal staff conflicts can increase anxiety, and can threaten the ability to make an effective diagnosis. A lack of sleep, an overwhelming patient load, or staff condescension, especially in less confident novice nurses can all inhibit the use of ones personal assessment tools and thus disrupt the process of effective nursing in the clinical environment. (OReilly, 1993) Provide examples of how planning for the provision of nursing care might differ at each stage of clinical judgment. Nursing processes are thus always in a dialogue between the nurses own personal competence (internal factors) and the external stressors of the environment. For example, take a highly contentious situation in the ER when a patient may come in, late at night, complaining of chest paints, agitated, and certain that he or she is suffering a heart attack. A novice nurse, in her process of assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation might merely register the patients emotional distress and immediately call for a doctor specializing in cardiac care, accepting the patients own assessment and diagnosis as if it were valid. The nurses lack of confidence and fear of the possible consequences of an untreated attack might drive her to seek immediate assistance to help in the planning and implementation of a plan to aid a heart attack victim. An advanced beginner nurse, less shaken by the emotion of patient, but proceeding by rote and by the knowledge given to her by professional mentors during her minimal previous clinical experience, might go down a checklist of evaluating the patients pain, such as where is the pain localized, when the pain began, then asking the patient to describe and rate the pain, and based upon such an assessment, diagnosis the cause and severity of the case before seeing assistance in planning and implementing a treatment plan either for a cardiac condition or for heartburn. A competent nurse might, by sight, be able to evaluate if the patients pain was nausea, as in heartburn, or if the clutching pain seemed to affect the patients breathing or numb the patients limbs as might be typical of an oncoming heart attack. A proficient nurse might be able to assess the immediate severity of the condition-even if the pain was heart-related, she or he might be able to offer a finer-tuned diagnosis and plan. For example, if the patents angina was life threatening and required immediate care, or if the pain could be taken care of through a nitroglycerin tablet, for example, and patient rest, before a doctor was called for to evaluate the patients physical health and provide advice regarding future heart care. Finally, an expert nurse might be able to assess, having seen many heart attacks and heart burn patients go through the ER, might know what was needed almost by sight. The expert nurse would likely be also better skilled in comforting the patient and thus lessening the trauma of the patients trip to the ER and the final diagnosis. However, it is important to remember at all junctures of this decision-making process, that a crowded or understaffed ER can interfere with such holistic judgment, although the more experienced a nurse is in high-pressure situations, the better able he or she will be to filter out such unnecessary environmental static such as an argument with a colleague, the lateness of the hour, or an uncooperative patient. Experience is not a panacea, but combined with an effective use of clinical decision making and the nursing process, experience combined with the simultaneous and effective deployment of rational and intuitive judgment is the best personal asset a nurse offer to a patient.
Lord of the Flies: Irony :: Free Essay Writer
Lord of the Flies: Irony William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, used irony to tell his story of a group of young British boys stranded on a deserted island. The readers can clearly spot the irony in the dialogue and Ralph, one of the main character, is also aware of the irony in his situation. The irony in the novel forces the readers to step aside and think about the hidden meanings the author is trying to express. The first example of irony occurred in chapter two. Jack says to the group of young, impressionable boys that "We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages."(Golding 32)However, in the following chapters Jack is the leader of the tribe and encourages the boys to forget civilization and act upon their primitive instincts. They ignore the laws that they all have agreed to follow while on the island and commit heinous crimes against humanity, such as torture against both humans and animals, and murder. They no longer act like English schoolboys who are the best at everything, but like savages. Relatively early on in the novel Ralph comes to terms with his situation. He realizes that much of one’s life is spent just keeping out of danger and staying alive. After understanding the complex, yet realistic, view of life he remembers his first impression of the island and how he thought they would have fun on the island, like living in one of his books. Now he realized what life on the island would really be like. There is irony in Piggy’ s name. The boys hunt, kill and eat pigs on the island. Not only do they kill the pigs, they enjoy it tremendously. Piggy’ s name suggests that he will be a victim of the beast. Not the beast the boys on the island fear, but the beast within each of them. The author is saying through Piggy that because they kill and eat the pigs they become the beast. Ralph prays to the adult world to send them something grownup, a sign or something. His prayer is answered by a dead parachuter, a casualty of war from the fighting going on in civilized society. The dead man is powerless to help the boys. He actually causes more problems. He is mistaken for the beast and causes more fear in the boys and drives them closer to becoming savages.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Waking up too early is unhealthy Essay -- Expository Essays
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! You’re familiar with that sound, it’s the sound of you’re alarm clock. It’s really hard for kids to wake up to the sound isn’t it? It’s not even good for them either! Yet, kids, whose appetites for sleep are the biggest, have to wake up as early as 6:00 a.m.! It’s crazy how they, the school boards, set the system up. And bus drivers, who also have to wake up quite early, might be having problems waking up. Even if they don’t, someone behind them might be and that puts the whole bus at risk! Anyways, the point is that the decision made for the school arrival time was wrong and it needs to be changed on a large scale. This means in EVERY high school. Starting school too early is not only a nuisance but it can also be very dangerous and it can have negative effects on a teen’s education. A Chicago chief of medicine states that sleep deprivation, found in many teens, can have negative affects on a teen’s mood, performance, attention, and behavior. Because teens start driving in high school, their safety in a car is also related to sleep deprivati...
Management Accounting Research
Management accounting research has thrived producing substantive findings relevant to industry, but its’ application in practice is questionable. The requirements for management accountants have changed over the years in terms of the roles, skills and knowledge base required. Thus, arguably, industries should look at greater continued participation into higher education. Management accounting research has gone beyond the traditional costing for large industries. Traditional management accounting roles have been reformed and/or faded away.Burns et al argued that the new reformed roles of management accountants necessitate new education and training. Considering the changes/emergence and popularity of new occupational management accounting roles including business analysts, strategic management accountants and management controllers, less prominence should be placed on traditional learning methods but more on ‘case studies, practical projects and group research assignments ’ (Scapens 1999). If such changes are to be implemented, large challenges lie ahead including cost constraints.Burns et al (2004) looked at management accounting research exploring the changes in terms of the expansion of topics, methods and problems making comparisons with the changes in management accounting practices. Burns et al (2004) also examined the skills and knowledge requirements by management accountants and how these aspects may also require a reform in education and management accounting curriculum. Burns and Yazdifar (2001) asked UK qualified management accountants to highlight the ten most perceived management accounting important tasks, tools and techniques of 1995-00 and 2000-05.They founded that both sets of results, management accountants placed emphasis on traditional management accounting roles such as performance evaluation, budget planning and management, management accounts interpretation and presentation, cost and financial control. It was founded th at management accountants perceived budgets as the most important task also highly ranking variance analysis in the late nineteenth century. Nevertheless, numerous new areas such as ABC, balanced scorecard were attributed as low significance.They also founded the expected importance of future tasks considerably changed with more emphasis being placed on newer tasks particularly in strategic planning and implementation, valued-added identification and implementation, new information system implementation, operational information interpretation. It was also founded that despite budgets and variance analysis being highly rated in the 21st century, more importance was placed on ABC, balanced scorecards. Thus, future years have more emphasis on ‘strategy-aligned analysis’ and less emphasis on ‘cost control and cutting’.Identifying the requirements of management accounting practitioners can enable researchers to place more emphasis on such requirements during inv estigations in order to maintain its currency with practitioners. Burns et al (2001) questioned the reasons for changes in management accounting modelling the tasks as well as roles of management accountants. Consequently, they asked UK qualified management accountants to highlight what they considered to be vitally important contributions to change in management accounting.They founded that information technological advances including accountancy software advances and organisational restructuring as well as the new styles of modern management to be a vital contribution in driving change in the tasks and roles of management accountants. However, Scapens et al (2003) founded that customer orientated initiatives and globalisation were the two fundamental drivers for change. Johnson and Kaplan (1987) argued the existence of a ‘relevance gap’ between management accounting research and practice.They based their argument on fact that companies had one information system and e xternal financial reporting statutory requirements would take preference over the information required by internal management accountants. Burns et al founded modern technological advances including database capabilities enabled the storage of vast amounts of information which can be analysed in various ways meeting the needs of a number of users. Thus, managers can easily access variances and performances.Modern technology has contributed to the change of management accounting roles. Fundamental advances in management operations and productions such as just-in-time have challenged previous methods such as Ford’s mass production. Manufacturing automation has resulted in increased the relation of fixed costs to variable (Bromwich and Bhimani, 1994). New forms of competitiveness such as customer service, differentiation and innovation of products, quality. Hence, more importance is placed on the monitoring of crucial non-financial variables.Scapens et al (1996) argued that mana gers not necessarily management accountants have the necessary technology, access of data and in numerous cases the necessary skills to be their own ‘pseudo’ accountants. Burns et al (2001) founded that globalisation, customer focus and new forms of competitiveness have affected the roles of management accountants. There has been increased global competition, market volatility and shorter product life cycles contributing to the reform of management accounting roles.There has also been an increased focus on overheads as they now contribute to a substantial proportion of business costs. Consequently, there is increased focus on investigating the value added by overhead processes. Nevertheless, the analysis of overheads is a weak section of traditional management accounting. Considering the emphasis placed on traditional methods, it is questionable whether modern management accounting research is gaining recognition by practitioners despite such research anticipating chang es in modern day.Burns et al (2001) argued to the contrary of Johnson and Kaplan stating that a relevance gap does not exist. They argued that management accounting research has highlighted issues concerning management accounting change. Practice frequently searches for a quick fix to problems failing to address fundamental issues. Practitioners and professional sponsors fail to appreciate modern important investigations and management accounting research often seeking solutions to problems using traditional methods.Arguably, the problem does not lie in management accounting research which has accommodated changes but the way in which it is taught and generally accepted. It’s a shame that new management accounting solutions are not thoroughly researched independently in the way new medicines are. Researchers have acknowledged the requirements of incorporating social science theories, other social and economic elements into accounting in order to expand practice effectively. T his was seen with the development of a ‘reward and control systems deriving from micro-economics, in particular agency theory, and social psychology’ (Merchant, 1998).However, professional textbooks do not mention such investigations and the way in which research communicated is questionable to the sustainability of the subject. It is argued that professional bodies place more emphasis on the examination and training of traditional management accounting methods. Thus, practitioners are denied access to vital knowledge relevant to their tasks. Arguably, if practitioners do not possess adequate grasp of knowledge based on modern research and theory, they are more likely to accept new methods with questionable validity only to find limitations following implementation.Burns et al founded a growth in international management accounting researchers in the last 30 years despite it being dominated by the West. Thus, management accounting research is now dealing with new issues such as culture and ethnicity (Harrison and McKinnon, 1999), diverse political system regulation and governance (Puxty et al 1987), dispersion of accounting knowledge internationally (Jones and Dugdale, 2002). Arguably, management accounting research is now broader and more flexible accommodating cultural variations. Management accounting research is now anticipating challenges encountered by practitioners.This includes areas such as ‘contingent system design, motivations and rewards, environmental scanning and strategy, and non financial aspects of control’ (Burns et al 2004, pg. 16). However, it is questionable the level of emphasis placed on new methods anticipating changes in the real world and still the majority of contributions come from traditional methods which have been thoroughly tried and tested. Thus, considering the changes occurring in management accounting research and practice, practitioners need to adopt a cumulative continuous learning approach to upd ate ones knowledge.Langfield-Smith (1997) founded that traditional methods in management accounting have become more automated as supposed to disappearing supporting the findings of Burns et al. They stated that increased and changed forms of competition, combined with technological advances, have resulted in flexibility and flatter organisations reforming the roles of management accountants. Despite Burns et al concluding that researchers are accommodating the changing roles and requirements of practitioners, their research findings can be criticised by the findings of Lawal (2002).Lawal (2002) founded that academics and practitioners have different opinions of the important topics ought to be taught. Lawal (2002) founded that academics highly valued budgets, organisational behaviours and IT in comparison to practitioners. Lawal (2002) also founded that academics placed less importance on skills required by practitioners such as time-management, negotiation and team-working. She al so founded little innovative and participative teaching methods for example videos, field studies and outside business speakers.Thus, Lawal (2002) argued a reform in teaching methods to incorporate case studies, real-life projects, group work and presentations and increased involvement by practitioners in teaching, in-depth research projects. This would arguably help management accounting research maintain its’ currency with practitioners. New managements accounting researches, proposals and methods are criticised by practitioners often highlighting various inadequacies and limitations. Thus, many new proposals are discarded questioning whether management accounting research is maintaining its currency with practitioners.When evaluating new systems, practitioners often fail to refer to academic research findings on the potential obstacles and/or effectiveness. It is questionable as to whether management accounting research has been successful considering its little practical impact. This is vastly to do with the training and education which has excluded modern researches. Arguably, there have been poor mechanisms and incentives for turning research findings into suitable techniques and policies as well as incorporating such findings into teaching programmes as the roles and skills of management accountant’s change.Observations have found that professional accounting courses including many bodies emphasise on facts and methods abandoning fundamental theory and new research. Consequently, practitioners are sceptical of research having unrealistic expectations attempting to find quick and easy explanations/solutions to difficult problems. Practitioners do not obtain sufficient research skills from professional training. Burns et al (2004) founded that academics and practicing management accountants have different career paths obstructing shared interaction as well as understanding.Academics progression is based on research accomplishments as suppose d to professional involvements. Thus, academics place less emphasis on practitioner focussed research considering the little benefit to them. The issues relating to management accounting research maintaining its currency with practitioners lie in the communication. A method needs to be adopted whereby the two are closely interrelated. The research by Burns et al (2004) has helped provide an insight into the changing roles and skills required of management accountants as well as the changes that have occurred in management accounting research.Such research by Burns et al is vital in understanding the reasons for changes in practitioner roles as well as requirements in order for management accounting research to maintain its currency with the practitioners. Arguably, research has kept up with times to accommodate changing requirements of management accountants. However, its application in practice is questionable and whether management accounting research is actually maintaining itâ⠂¬â„¢s currency with practitioners. Thus, methods should be adopted whereby research is accompanied with supporting evidence involving tried and tested methods.Suitable mechanisms and incentives for turning research findings into suitable techniques and policies should be developed and incorporated into teaching programmes. Management accountants are part of professional bodies that can incorporate new developments to the area in teaching. Professional bodies often release publications and this method should be used to communicate new management accounting research theories and findings that can be successful in practice. New management accounting research and theories are available on the internet but it is questionable whether such findings are actually used.Thus, practitioners should be encouraged to read upon new publications of management accounting research. Considering research is constantly developing with roles of management accountants changing, there should be increased p ublications by professional bodies for members in order for research to maintain its currency with practitioners. Management accounting research is crucial to the healthy development of management accounting and maintaining its’ currency with practitioners. Management Accounting Research Management accounting research has thrived producing substantive findings relevant to industry, but its’ application in practice is questionable. The requirements for management accountants have changed over the years in terms of the roles, skills and knowledge base required. Thus, arguably, industries should look at greater continued participation into higher education. Management accounting research has gone beyond the traditional costing for large industries. Traditional management accounting roles have been reformed and/or faded away.Burns et al argued that the new reformed roles of management accountants necessitate new education and training. Considering the changes/emergence and popularity of new occupational management accounting roles including business analysts, strategic management accountants and management controllers, less prominence should be placed on traditional learning methods but more on ‘case studies, practical projects and group research assignments ’ (Scapens 1999). If such changes are to be implemented, large challenges lie ahead including cost constraints.Burns et al (2004) looked at management accounting research exploring the changes in terms of the expansion of topics, methods and problems making comparisons with the changes in management accounting practices. Burns et al (2004) also examined the skills and knowledge requirements by management accountants and how these aspects may also require a reform in education and management accounting curriculum. Burns and Yazdifar (2001) asked UK qualified management accountants to highlight the ten most perceived management accounting important tasks, tools and techniques of 1995-00 and 2000-05.They founded that both sets of results, management accountants placed emphasis on traditional management accounting roles such as performance evaluation, budget planning and management, management accounts interpretation and presentation, cost and financial control. It was founded th at management accountants perceived budgets as the most important task also highly ranking variance analysis in the late nineteenth century. Nevertheless, numerous new areas such as ABC, balanced scorecard were attributed as low significance.They also founded the expected importance of future tasks considerably changed with more emphasis being placed on newer tasks particularly in strategic planning and implementation, valued-added identification and implementation, new information system implementation, operational information interpretation. It was also founded that despite budgets and variance analysis being highly rated in the 21st century, more importance was placed on ABC, balanced scorecards. Thus, future years have more emphasis on ‘strategy-aligned analysis’ and less emphasis on ‘cost control and cutting’.Identifying the requirements of management accounting practitioners can enable researchers to place more emphasis on such requirements during inv estigations in order to maintain its currency with practitioners. Burns et al (2001) questioned the reasons for changes in management accounting modelling the tasks as well as roles of management accountants. Consequently, they asked UK qualified management accountants to highlight what they considered to be vitally important contributions to change in management accounting.They founded that information technological advances including accountancy software advances and organisational restructuring as well as the new styles of modern management to be a vital contribution in driving change in the tasks and roles of management accountants. However, Scapens et al (2003) founded that customer orientated initiatives and globalisation were the two fundamental drivers for change. Johnson and Kaplan (1987) argued the existence of a ‘relevance gap’ between management accounting research and practice.They based their argument on fact that companies had one information system and e xternal financial reporting statutory requirements would take preference over the information required by internal management accountants. Burns et al founded modern technological advances including database capabilities enabled the storage of vast amounts of information which can be analysed in various ways meeting the needs of a number of users. Thus, managers can easily access variances and performances.Modern technology has contributed to the change of management accounting roles. Fundamental advances in management operations and productions such as just-in-time have challenged previous methods such as Ford’s mass production. Manufacturing automation has resulted in increased the relation of fixed costs to variable (Bromwich and Bhimani, 1994). New forms of competitiveness such as customer service, differentiation and innovation of products, quality. Hence, more importance is placed on the monitoring of crucial non-financial variables.Scapens et al (1996) argued that mana gers not necessarily management accountants have the necessary technology, access of data and in numerous cases the necessary skills to be their own ‘pseudo’ accountants. Burns et al (2001) founded that globalisation, customer focus and new forms of competitiveness have affected the roles of management accountants. There has been increased global competition, market volatility and shorter product life cycles contributing to the reform of management accounting roles.There has also been an increased focus on overheads as they now contribute to a substantial proportion of business costs. Consequently, there is increased focus on investigating the value added by overhead processes. Nevertheless, the analysis of overheads is a weak section of traditional management accounting. Considering the emphasis placed on traditional methods, it is questionable whether modern management accounting research is gaining recognition by practitioners despite such research anticipating chang es in modern day.Burns et al (2001) argued to the contrary of Johnson and Kaplan stating that a relevance gap does not exist. They argued that management accounting research has highlighted issues concerning management accounting change. Practice frequently searches for a quick fix to problems failing to address fundamental issues. Practitioners and professional sponsors fail to appreciate modern important investigations and management accounting research often seeking solutions to problems using traditional methods.Arguably, the problem does not lie in management accounting research which has accommodated changes but the way in which it is taught and generally accepted. It’s a shame that new management accounting solutions are not thoroughly researched independently in the way new medicines are. Researchers have acknowledged the requirements of incorporating social science theories, other social and economic elements into accounting in order to expand practice effectively. T his was seen with the development of a ‘reward and control systems deriving from micro-economics, in particular agency theory, and social psychology’ (Merchant, 1998).However, professional textbooks do not mention such investigations and the way in which research communicated is questionable to the sustainability of the subject. It is argued that professional bodies place more emphasis on the examination and training of traditional management accounting methods. Thus, practitioners are denied access to vital knowledge relevant to their tasks. Arguably, if practitioners do not possess adequate grasp of knowledge based on modern research and theory, they are more likely to accept new methods with questionable validity only to find limitations following implementation.Burns et al founded a growth in international management accounting researchers in the last 30 years despite it being dominated by the West. Thus, management accounting research is now dealing with new issues such as culture and ethnicity (Harrison and McKinnon, 1999), diverse political system regulation and governance (Puxty et al 1987), dispersion of accounting knowledge internationally (Jones and Dugdale, 2002). Arguably, management accounting research is now broader and more flexible accommodating cultural variations. Management accounting research is now anticipating challenges encountered by practitioners.This includes areas such as ‘contingent system design, motivations and rewards, environmental scanning and strategy, and non financial aspects of control’ (Burns et al 2004, pg. 16). However, it is questionable the level of emphasis placed on new methods anticipating changes in the real world and still the majority of contributions come from traditional methods which have been thoroughly tried and tested. Thus, considering the changes occurring in management accounting research and practice, practitioners need to adopt a cumulative continuous learning approach to upd ate ones knowledge.Langfield-Smith (1997) founded that traditional methods in management accounting have become more automated as supposed to disappearing supporting the findings of Burns et al. They stated that increased and changed forms of competition, combined with technological advances, have resulted in flexibility and flatter organisations reforming the roles of management accountants. Despite Burns et al concluding that researchers are accommodating the changing roles and requirements of practitioners, their research findings can be criticised by the findings of Lawal (2002).Lawal (2002) founded that academics and practitioners have different opinions of the important topics ought to be taught. Lawal (2002) founded that academics highly valued budgets, organisational behaviours and IT in comparison to practitioners. Lawal (2002) also founded that academics placed less importance on skills required by practitioners such as time-management, negotiation and team-working. She al so founded little innovative and participative teaching methods for example videos, field studies and outside business speakers.Thus, Lawal (2002) argued a reform in teaching methods to incorporate case studies, real-life projects, group work and presentations and increased involvement by practitioners in teaching, in-depth research projects. This would arguably help management accounting research maintain its’ currency with practitioners. New managements accounting researches, proposals and methods are criticised by practitioners often highlighting various inadequacies and limitations. Thus, many new proposals are discarded questioning whether management accounting research is maintaining its currency with practitioners.When evaluating new systems, practitioners often fail to refer to academic research findings on the potential obstacles and/or effectiveness. It is questionable as to whether management accounting research has been successful considering its little practical impact. This is vastly to do with the training and education which has excluded modern researches. Arguably, there have been poor mechanisms and incentives for turning research findings into suitable techniques and policies as well as incorporating such findings into teaching programmes as the roles and skills of management accountant’s change.Observations have found that professional accounting courses including many bodies emphasise on facts and methods abandoning fundamental theory and new research. Consequently, practitioners are sceptical of research having unrealistic expectations attempting to find quick and easy explanations/solutions to difficult problems. Practitioners do not obtain sufficient research skills from professional training. Burns et al (2004) founded that academics and practicing management accountants have different career paths obstructing shared interaction as well as understanding.Academics progression is based on research accomplishments as suppose d to professional involvements. Thus, academics place less emphasis on practitioner focussed research considering the little benefit to them. The issues relating to management accounting research maintaining its currency with practitioners lie in the communication. A method needs to be adopted whereby the two are closely interrelated. The research by Burns et al (2004) has helped provide an insight into the changing roles and skills required of management accountants as well as the changes that have occurred in management accounting research.Such research by Burns et al is vital in understanding the reasons for changes in practitioner roles as well as requirements in order for management accounting research to maintain its currency with the practitioners. Arguably, research has kept up with times to accommodate changing requirements of management accountants. However, its application in practice is questionable and whether management accounting research is actually maintaining itâ⠂¬â„¢s currency with practitioners. Thus, methods should be adopted whereby research is accompanied with supporting evidence involving tried and tested methods.Suitable mechanisms and incentives for turning research findings into suitable techniques and policies should be developed and incorporated into teaching programmes. Management accountants are part of professional bodies that can incorporate new developments to the area in teaching. Professional bodies often release publications and this method should be used to communicate new management accounting research theories and findings that can be successful in practice. New management accounting research and theories are available on the internet but it is questionable whether such findings are actually used.Thus, practitioners should be encouraged to read upon new publications of management accounting research. Considering research is constantly developing with roles of management accountants changing, there should be increased p ublications by professional bodies for members in order for research to maintain its currency with practitioners. Management accounting research is crucial to the healthy development of management accounting and maintaining its’ currency with practitioners.
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