Run a Diesel on Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO)

So, you’re here because you’re curious about the process of running a diesel engine on waste vegetable oil gathered from a restaurant? Well, good for you. Our guess is that in addition to still having the first nickel you ever earned tucked between your mattress and box spring, you no longer want to contribute to all the nastiness that goes along with America’s dependence on fossil fuel. Give yourself a pat on the back. We’re conservationists. People who don’t want to use more of this world’s resources than necessary, and we place a priority on getting a little more mileage out of stuff that most people would toss aside. We’re also rugged individualists. People who don’t like to depend on others when they can depend on themselves. Run a Diesel on Waste Vegetable Oil: A Reality Check By now, you’ve probably read all of the waste veggie oil propaganda: diesel engines run fine on vegetable oil, just as they were originally designed to; restaurants are dying to get rid of this viable fuel alternative — to them it’s a waste product; burning veggie oil is better for the planet than burning fossil. As far as we’ew concerned, all of that is true. But going into this you also need to know that there are no free lunches and no free rides. Yes, you will save money, but you’ll be trading off valuable time out of your life. Compare burning waste vegetable oil in your car to another popular grassroots sustainable energy process: burning wood to heat your house. If you’ve ever cut, split and stacked enough firewood to last through a cold winter, you know what were talking about. It saves you money out of pocket, but it’s going to cost you some sweat and maybe even a minor flesh wound or two. Run a Diesel on Waste Vegetable Oil: Things to Keep in Mind First, if you make a deal with a restaurant to collect their oil, you need to do so in a prompt, professional manner. In my case, the restaurant had little storage space and was eager to get rid of their waste oil when they had a few containers filled up, lest they get cited for having it around in the event of a health department inspection. So when the manager of that fine establishment called, she expected me to get over and collect the oil, pronto. Next, you have to store the oil. I have two clean 55 gallon drums in which I store my filtered oil, but the five-gallon containers I get from the restaurant get stacked up in the corner of my garage until I get around to the next step. Which is... Filtering. There will be food particles suspended in the oil and, before you can burn it in your car, you need to get them out. This isn’t brain surgery, but it can be tedious if you’re doing it the old-fashioned way like I do it, pouring the oil through strainers by hand. There are more effective ways, but it will involve buying additional equipment, a pump, hose, spin on filters etc. Then there’s the waste. My oil is given to me in five-gallon plastic containers inserted in cardboard boxes. These are recyclable, but you’ll have to clean out the containers or risk drawing the ire of the folks at the local transfer station. Ditto for the cardboard. If it’s soaked in oil, they might reject it, which means you’ll be sending it to the landfill. In addition to the packaging waste, you will also invariably have some oil at the bottom of the containers that are so polluted with charred food that it’s virtually unusable. You’re going to need to get rid of this too, unless you plan on taking the time to clean it and burn it. Run a Diesel on Waste Vegetable Oil: Modifying the Vehicle You need to modify your vehicle to burn WVO. If you are planning to burn WVO in a car that is under warranty, first off, I think you’re out of your mind, and second, this will definitely void said warranty. The best kit on the market  is the Greasecar kit. It costs about $1,000, less installation. If you can’t do it yourself, then at $80 an hour, which is what most repair shops charge, you could be looking at more than $1,000 for installation. In fact, Greasecar charges between $1,000 - $1,400 for installation. If you’re driving 15,000 miles a year in a VW diesel that gets 40 mpg, it’s going to take you more than a year just to pay off the price of the kit and the installation. Run a Diesel on Waste Vegetable Oil: Maintenance It’s possible to filter all of the fryer junk out of the oil before you dump it in your car, but for some reason, I’m never able to. So you’re going to have to change the filters on your car more frequently than you ever had to while burning diesel. This isn’t a big deal, but it is one more step in the process that people who just pull up to the pump, fill up and then drive off, never have to deal with. And if you drive too far with a clogging filter, you could be left on the side of the road facing a $200 tow bill. (This happened to me). And there goes some of your savings. Run a Diesel on Waste Vegetable Oil: Final Thoughts Its important to understand that burning WVO isn’t as straightforward as some might lead you to believe. It is interesting and rewarding but will require some work on your part. But, hey, we’re conservationists and rugged individualists. We don’t give up after hearing a little straight talk, right?

Essay Causes of the Counter-Culture - 1245 Words

Causes of the Counter-Culture As the 1950’s rolled along and the 1960’s came into effect, the world was thrown into a topspin that would soon define every generation of youths. As the trends changed and the music got more complex a deeper metamorphosis was taking place inside every city and every person. To develop a counterculture in the 1960’s there had to be new ideas circulating that were counter-norm. These ideas were not developed right away for any one reason, though. Just like the times, the causes for this counter-culture were far more complex than anyone had seen before in the 20th century. Some could say it was because of a civil rights call or say it was because of the drugs, but I just don’t know†¦show more content†¦Innocent people had their lives ruined by stereotypes and false accusations because of this time. Vietnam was a war that was said to stop more communism, however the children of the United Stat es were so tired of hearing about Communism that they just wanted it all over. Civil rights of any individual was also expounded on in the 1960’s. All ethnicities wanted equal rights for everyone because of discrimination and segregation that took place in the north as well as the south. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 allowed the Federal Government the right to investigate Civil Rights Violations which did nothing except bring it out for an example of what was to come for freedom. Schools were separated to white and black public schools. The white schools had far better facilities and even more in ways of academics and expectations than the black schools. The blacks schools were typically run down with unequipped teachers who cared, but couldn’t do anything about it. Few challenged the schools because of the one set standard of law set in place about segregation through Plessy vs. Ferguson. This was the standard until Brown vs. Board of Education where they said that separate was not equal and could never be. This showed the people that many things could be accomplished if it was a just cause. On May 6, 1960 President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960. A year later onShow MoreRelatedWhat Led to the Collapse of Consensus?1489 Words   |  6 Pages US society was polarised: divided between different viewpoints: Youth culture; counter-culture, and multiculturism. The youth culture was created due to a baby boom in the 50’s and 60’s as this led to a large youth population. Most children stayed in school and university for longer. Most had more money because of the affluent society either from their parents of part-time jobs. As a result, they developed their own culture. Teenager became the term used to describe the years between childhoodRead MoreSunshine Fashions- Summary of Case Study1389 Words   |  6 PagesSunshine Fashion Case Study Questions Q 1. 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Backlash against Western culture provides ammunition to extremist Islamic groups globally, which is only exacerbated by the West’s disproportionate military responses to legitimate and perceived threats through drone strikes or other military operations. Anger towards domesticRead MoreThe Effects Of Oral Contraception On Women s Life1188 Words   |  5 Pagesare publically funded. These unintended pregnancies cost $328.7 million a year; of this the federal government pays $266.8 million and Arkansas pays $61.9 million (Guttmacher Institute, 2016c). Summary: Oral contraceptives are accessible over the counter or from a pharmacist in over 100 countries, but at this time only two states in the United States, California and Oregon, have a law that permits women to obtain birth control from either of these sources (Wahlin et al., 2014). However, since AugustRead MoreReligion And Aesthetics Of Buddhism1276 Words   |  6 PagesThe two best ways to cultivate business relationships and be successful with the Chinese is to approach them through these teachings. The first is to build long-term relationships and connections. The lasting connection is very important in Chinese culture. Secondly you need to pay attention to harmony. Harmony is the main goal of the Chinese people in their religions and the Chinese want to find harmony in business. †¢ Chinese art, like religion goes back many centuries. Early themes were developed

Tourism Planning for Regulations - Directives and Guidelines

Question: Discuss about theTourism Planning for Regulations, Directives and Guidelines. Answer: Introduction A blueprint that helps in providing focus and direction not only for a local tourism industry but also for the local businesses, community and the government may be referred to as a tourism plan. It may also be referred to as the mechanism that helps as a medium for the local communities to assist the accommodation of the various aspirations of a community. A tourism policy refers to the set of rules, regulations, directives, guidelines, and promotion or developmental strategies which provide the framework that is inclusive of all the individual and collective decisions that affect the development of tourism and the day-to-day activities within the particular destination (Robinson, Lck Smith, 2013). There are several governmental institutions and bodies that formulate the tourism plans and policies. Kaikoura is a small rural area situated on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand (Berger, 2017). The place is well-known for its eco-tourism aspects. The main attraction of the place is the abundance of the marine life that find residence in the deep Hikurangi Trench situated nearby. The following report deals with the ways in which effective tourism planning may affect the local community in New Zealand. The report discusses the positive impacts of the booming eco-tourism industry in the area. It also sheds light on the negative impacts of the same and attempts at finding solutions for the reduction of these issues. Discussion The socio-cultural impact refers to the changes in the daily experiences of the residents of an area and the changes of their ways of life, values, artistic and intellectual products. The socio-cultural impacts of tourism generally refer to the effects faced by the host community on being linked directly or indirectly with the tourists that visit the place. The host community is also affected by the interaction of the host community with the tourism industry of the concerned region (Sharpley, 2014). The host communities are often found to be the weaker party while interacting with the service providers or the guests. Impacts are found to be long lasting and prominent in cases when changes are brought about by the tourism industry in the value system of the host community thereby threatening the indigenous identity of the host community. The tourism industry has some positive outcomes as well. The industry fosters pride in the cultural traditions and serve as supporting drive towards the establishment of peace (Kim, Uysal, Sirgy, 2013). The tourism industry helps in creating employment windows in the local communities and thus helps avoiding relocation to the urban areas (Stylidis et al, 2014; Spenceley, Meyer, 2012). The Kaikoura Peninsula stretches out into the sea in located at the southern part of the town. This results in the abundance of the marine life that can be accessed from the place. These marine life exists in the deep Hikurangi Trench. The town was primarily a center for the whaling industry and owes its very existence to the residence of these whales, the Hikurangi Trench. The word Kaikoura actually means the meal of the crayfish. The cray fish industry plays a huge role in maintaining the economy of the country. In the modern times, the area has transformed into a popular eco-tourism destination. The main attractions of the spot are swimming alongside or near the dolphins and whale watching (Media.newzealand.com, 2017). The tourists visit this place in order to watch the sperm whales, an activity which is possibly the most developed and the best in the world at the peninsula. There is yet another attraction that the tourists visit the place for. There is a readily observed and larg e colony of the southern fur seals found at the eastern edge of the Kaikoura town. During low tides, the rocky base is revealed from beneath the waves of the ocean. This stretch can be easily explored on foot for a considerable stretch. The Kaikoura Peninsula is one of those places of the world that are reasonably accessible by the bird watchers as well. In this part of the country are found several sea birds such as the petrels, shearwaters and the albatrosses. The Huttons shearwater is also found nesting in the high mountains of Kaikoura (Whalewatch.co.nz, 2017). The place is well-known for a branch of the Southern Alps, the Seaward Kaikoura mountains. The mountain range are very close to the sea at this place thereby creating several walking tracks through and over the mountains. The most common of them is the Mt. Fyffe track. The track winds its way up to the Mt. Fyffe that provides a panoramic view of the peninsula of Kaikoura from atop. The mountain is named after the first family that had settled down in the district of Kaikoura. The cottage that the Fyffe family used as their residence is maintained till date by Heritage, New Zealand, a Crown entity that aims to protect the ancestral sites and heritage build ings of New Zealand. The house is famous for its structure. The supporting foundations of the house are constructed with whalebones. Resting on a peninsular of land between tall mountain ranges and the Pacific Ocean, Kaikoura is an amazing attraction spot for tourism. The deep sea trench that extends inside by 500 meters, attracts rich marine life, including whales and dolphins. A town like Kaikoura, has extensive chances of profit in areas like tourism. Tourism in mountainous ranges, swimming with dolphins and such whale-watching activities have helped this town get its economic side up and balanced after the economic decline observed in 1980s. There were quite a few reasons in favour of Kaikoura deciding for tourism for instance: The threat of a reduction in visitor involvement and therefore income. Concern for the local environment was another reason directing towards tourism. A local road accident resulted in spilling harmful chemical into the sea, thus threatening the biodiversity there (Spiller Bhowmick, 2014). Accumulation of waste was nearing the landfill limits. Tourism encourages interaction with people from various cultures. This helps in opening up prospective areas of trade and business opportunities. Such involvement is seen in the case of Kaikoura Tourism Strategy, the District Council worked in hand with the representatives of the local community and Lincoln University to guide the tourism direction there. This benefitted the local community as they shared employment in the related areas of such tourism. Councillors, tourism operators, Maori members as well as fishing industry representatives all converged together in their effort to direct tourism efficiently in Kaikoura (Unep.org, 2017). This strategy worked by channelling in a diverse market base and developing land based eco-tourism activities. Secondly, instead of directly working on the tourism front, improvement from the tourism sector can also be achieved by regulating the environmental factors and improving the overall habitat of the place. Hence, as is evident, another plus point of tourism is furnished as the improvement of the environment of the local community. Thus as a result, the local community is benefitted. Waste management had begun to become an issue for the people of Kaikoura as tourism was gradually increasing. Landfills were reaching its capacity and waste dumping was becoming an issue. In order to mitigate the situation Innovative Waste Kaikoura (IWK), a non-profit joint undertaking between the District council and a community trust came in to action. They proposed the idea of recycling bio solid waste instead of just collecting and dumping it (McDevitt, Langer Leckie, 2013). This led to a 30 percent diversion of waste from landfills. Gradually this scored up to 65 per cent when aided by a few more effective measures such as investing into composting units, expanding recycling pick-ups, opening second-hand shops and introducing Waste Management Protocols which reduced waste accumulation and in turn saved money (United Nations Environment Programme. Division of Technology, 2005). This in turn aided the economic conditions and contributed towards growth of life standards of the loc al community of Kaikoura. The activity of tree planting has been incorporated as the Trees for Travellers project, where the community ensures planting of some estimated two million trees to combat the CO2 levels (Kaikoura.co.nz, 2017). Thereafter tourists buy those tress, to track their progress via the internet. This project also undertakes a social aim of rehabilitating young law offenders with tree planting and propagation jobs. This shows that the local community is not only benefitted economically via the trade of trees with the tourists, but also socially, as the troubled youth of the town finds suitable employment in a prestigious work contributing to the wellness of the society. Overall energy consumption was reduced with the introduction of a small business energy project that was started with the support of District Council. This came into function as a result of managing tourism resources and thus minimizing energy usage to enhance economy of the state. This contributed towards the benefit of loca l community as well. Although resident sperm whales are the main attraction here, other such whales include the humpback, minke, blue, fin, sei, killer, beaked and pilot whales. The humpback travels via Kaikoura on its annual journal to Antarctic waters for food. Hence biodiversity preservation and proper land and coastal management are of primary importance to sustain tourism. Various projects have been undertaken to ensure proper strengthening of biodiversity which includes native ways of the Maori, as well as preventing overfishing, and proper management of waterways, wetlands and other habitats. Introduction of Conservation working holidays, identification of national as well as international importance of local biodiversity and assistance for protection of such sperm whales via measures like rate reliefs, construction of reserves and private contracts along with other aforementioned projects like Trees for Travellers; all of these contributed to the conservation of natural habitat and biodiversity t hus ensuring the flow and growth of tourism in the town. As a result of proper maintenance of the local flora and fauna the overall quality of the local ecosystem flourished thus enriching the local community. Kaikoura had to establish the fact that it was fulfilling the required standards with respect to various management processes including various topics like energy usage; greenhouse gas emissions, quality of air and water, biodiversity levels etc. At the 2013 census, most developed employment industries in the Kaikoura District were accommodation and food services, agriculture, forestry and fishing and retail trade (Stats.govt.nz, 2017). The wellbeing of the local community was also such a topic to be measured via close examination of the local residents. Kaikouras final certification as a Green Globe destination in 2004, gave it the necessary exposure as a tourist spot internationally thus boosting its overall economic as well as socio-cultural conditions. This also helped in creating awareness and commitment to sustainability management amongst the entire community and the entire world at large. Thus tourism, in a way, helped achieve the local community goodwill on the national as w ell as international front. Kaikoura has exhibited a sequential approach to make tourism sustainable by relying on commitment from both the local authority as well as the local community. At a national level the importance of such activities has been recognised thus uplifting the social strata of the Kaikoura people. Presently the government is providing proper support and funding work on sustainability with bands of individual tourism business ventures as well as local communities. The region is also being looked upon for drafting a charter with regional business corporations committing to its principles. Marine animals inclusive of the endemic species like the Hectors dolphin and the New Zealand sea lion as well as the endangered species like the bottlenose dolphin are found to be the main attraction of tourist operations. According to a study done to investigate the effects of commercial tourism and the water vehicles used for recreational purposes on the common dolphins in their natural habitat in the ocean, the behavior of the dolphins is found to be altered on a major level. The behavior of the dolphins during foraging was found to have undergone huge noticeable changes (Messiner et al, 2015; Lundquist, 2012). The dolphins were found spending less time in foraging during the interactions with the vessels. The creatures even took longer times to return once their foraging was disrupted by the recreational vessels. There is seen a potential disruption in the feeding aspects of the dolphins as well. The recreational vessels are mostly run on oil and chemicals. The leakage of such ma terial may prove harmful to the ecosystem of the Kaikoura peninsula. Thus these vessels used for recreation and commercial tourism should be kept in check so as to maintain the fauna of the peninsula. The commercialization of the activity of whale watching may hamper the mortality of the whales due to collisions between the mammal and the vessels (Parsons, 2012). Conclusion In conclusion to the above report it may be said that the tourism industry affects the socio-cultural conditions of a region in both positive and negative manners. Tourism affects the local culture and may even turn them into commodities thus resulting in reconstructed ethnicity. The sites and objects that may be considered sacred by the host community may not be respected in the same manner by the tourists who visit the place. The craftsmen are seen to be catering to the demands of the tourists for the souvenirs thereby contributing to cultural erosion. Hence, as is evident from the aforementioned facts with respect to Kaikoura, tourism in general provides a lot of benefits to the indigenous people and the local community at large. Economic development is seen, as well as improvement on the socio-cultural front can also be observed which, although is supported by the cumulative efforts of quite a few governing bodies, but is essentially the outcome of tourism interests. References Berger, H. V. (2017). Characterising landscape and sea level dynamics to predict shoreline responses over the next 100+ years in a high energy tectonic setting, Kaikoura, New Zealand. Kaikoura.co.nz. (2017).Environment - Kaikoura, New Zealand.Kaikoura, New Zealand. Retrieved 19 October 2017, from https://www.kaikoura.co.nz/environment/ Kim, K., Uysal, M., Sirgy, M. J. (2013). How does tourism in a community impact the quality of life of community residents?.Tourism Management,36, 527-540. Lundquist, D. J. (2012).Behaviour and movement patterns of dusky dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) off Kaikoura, New Zealand: Effects of tourism(Doctoral dissertation, University of Otago). McDevitt, J. E., Langer, E. R., Leckie, A. C. (2013). Community Engagement and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Kaik?uras Biosolid Reuse Options.Sustainability,5(1), 242-255. Media.newzealand.com. (2017).NZ eco-tourism: Whale Watch Kaikoura.TNZ Media. Retrieved 19 October 2017, from https://media.newzealand.com/en/story-ideas/nz-eco-tourism-whale-watch-kaikoura/ Meissner, A. M., Christiansen, F., Martinez, E., Pawley, M. D., Orams, M. B., Stockin, K. A. (2015). Behavioural effects of tourism on oceanic common dolphins, Delphinus sp., in New Zealand: The effects of markov analysis variations and current tour operator compliance with regulations.PloS one,10(1), e0116962. Parsons, E. C. M. (2012). The negative impacts of whale-watching.Journal of Marine Biology,2012. Robinson, P., Lck, M., Smith, S. (2013). Tourism policy and planning.Tourism, 391-416. Sharpley, R. (2014). Host perceptions of tourism: A review of the research.Tourism Management,42, 37-49. Spenceley, A., Meyer, D. (2012). Tourism and poverty reduction: Theory and practice in less economically developed countries.Journal of Sustainable Tourism,20(3), 297-317. Spiller, C., Bhowmick, S. (2014). Whale Watch KaikouraNew Zealand.Global Entrepreneurship: Case Studies of Entrepreneurial Firms Operating Around the World, 141. Stats.govt.nz. (2017).2013 Census QuickStats about work and unpaid activities.Stats.govt.nz. Retrieved 19 October 2017, from https://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-work-unpaid/work_and_labour_force_status.aspx Stylidis, D., Biran, A., Sit, J., Szivas, E. M. (2014). Residents' support for tourism development: The role of residents' place image and perceived tourism impacts.Tourism Management,45, 260-274. Unep.org. (2017).UN Environment Knowledge Repository.Unep.org. Retrieved 19 October 2017, from https://www.unep.org/publications/ United Nations Environment Programme. Division of Technology. (2005).Making tourism more sustainable: a guide for policy makers. World Tourism Organization Publications. Whalewatch.co.nz. (2017).Whale Watch Kaikoura - New Zealand Tourist Attraction.Whale Watch. Retrieved 19 October 2017, from https://www.whalewatch.co.nz/

Management Accounting Functioning of a Business Organisation

Question: Discuss about the term for management accounting plays an immense important role in the functioning of a business organisation. Answer: Introduction Management accounting holds an important place in the functioning of the management of a company. The management comprising of senior managerial personnel and the board of directors refer to the reports of management accountants in order to make important managerial decisions (Clinton and White 2012). Management accounting is the interpretation of financial statements drawn up by financial accountants of the company. This report is directed towards bringing out the importance of management accounting, its types and the manner in which analysis is done for helping the management. For the purpose of this report, Associated British Foods PLC (ABF) has been chosen and this report will be discussing matters related to the company. The issue that the report will address is to improve profitability by curtailing costs of the company. The Concept of Management Accounting and ABF The significance of the interpretations and analysis made by a management accountant cannot be overemphasized. In the present scenario, the business environment has become very competitive and companies are required to evaluate their performance at regular intervals. The primary aim of this is to keep a balance between the pre-determined objective of the organization and its current performance (Hemmer and Labro 2016). Management accounting helps an organisation to evaluate its status of its operational activities by comparing it with the previously budgeted figures. As far as the operating activities of ABF is concerned, there is a decrease in the operating profit of the company from 1080 million Euros to 947 million Euros. This difference and variation can be analysed and interpreted with the help of management accounting tools such as variance analysis. Therefore, it can be said that there is a difference between preparing financial statement and interpreting them. In essence, fol lowing are the differences between financial accounting and management accounting (Bennett, Schaltegger and Zvezdov 2013): The reports of the management accountant are for the use of managers and the board of directors of a company in order to have an idea about the performance of the company. Financial statements prepared by a financial accountant are for the use of various external stakeholders rather than for any internal use. Preparing financial statements is a legal obligation of companies under the Corporations Act 2006. Preparation of management accounting reports is for the reference of the internal management. Financial accounting is related to the performance of a company at the end of a financial year. It compares the financial situation of the present year with that of the previous year. Management accounting report is generally concerned with the performance of a department and forecasts future trends for the company (Ter Bogt and Scapens 2014). Financial statements are required to be submitted to the government in a fixed format and have to follow accounting standards, IFRS and GAAP. On the other hand, management accounting report is used internally and does not have to comply with any fixed standards. Financial reports and statements are prepared for a certain period of time namely quarterly, half-yearly or annually. Management accounting reports are made according to the requirements of the organisation. Classification of Cost Cost of an element is the amount of resources sacrificed by the buyer for acquiring the element. In the course of business, companies have to incur various types of costs depending on the requirements of the organisation. Classification of such costs is necessary to have a clear idea about the total resource sacrifice made by the company in order to carry on its business activities. The overall cost of production determines the extent of operating profit made by a company (Chak and Fung 2015). The following chart below illustrates the types of costs that a company has to incur. Costs based on Types Labour Costs: This is the amount expended by the company on labour used to manufacture a product or service. This is further classified as direct labour and indirect labour. Direct labour costs are costs that are directly involved in the manufacturing process of the product. Indirect labour is not directly attributed to the manufacturing process (Katsikas, Dixon and Woodhead 2014). Material Costs: A manufacturing company to procure materials that are required in the manufacturing of products incurs this cost. Material costs can be further classified as direct material and indirect material. Direct material are costs that can be directly attributed to cost of the product. Indirect material costs are costs that cannot be directly attributed to the final product (Johnson 2013). Overhead Costs: These are costs that a manufacturing concern has to incur other than material and labour costs. For example, an accountants salary, electricity expenses, cost of stationery, depreciation of fixed assets, etc. Costs based on Behaviour Variable Costs: Variable costs are costs that increase with an increase in the level of output. The effect is similar in the opposite case. This means there is an increase in the overall variable cost amount when there is an increase in the total manufactured level of products. For example, the cost of raw materials increase when there is an increase in the number of units produced by the manufacturing company (Lopez-Valeiras, Gomez-Conde and Naranjo 2015). Fixed Costs: These costs remain unchanged irrespective of the level of output of a company. Therefore, these costs are self-determining. For example, interest on loans availed remains constant whether the output level of the company is 100 or 0. Fixed costs per unit decreases when there is an increase in the level of output as the total fixed cost amount remains unchanged (Kastberg and Siverbo 2016). Mixed Costs: These are also known as semi-variable costs and constituted the characteristics of both fixed and variable costs. For the convenience of accounting, these costs are separated according to their extent of being fixed and variable. Costs based on Functions Administrative Costs: These are expenses incurred in the general administration of the whole business concern and the general management of the business. These are mostly indirect in nature and are also known as administrative overheads (Sands and Lee 2015). Selling Costs: Selling costs are costs that are related and incurred for selling the goods and services produced by a company. These are also known as selling overheads and are indirect in nature. Production Costs: These costs relate to the expenses incurred in the production process. It consists of material costs, labour costs and research and development costs. All these constitute the total cost of production of the manufacturing concern. Distribution Costs: These indirect costs are related to the distribution of the goods and services of the company. These costs are incurred while transferring the goods to their point of sales. Costa base on Relevance Relevant costs are costs that are relevant to the managerial decision making process. It has not other classification per se. These costs are accounted for and analyses based on the requirements of the management. Relevant cost can be any type of cost that the management of the company thinks to be crucial to their business activities (Li, Sawhney, Arendt and Ramasamy 2012). Variance Analysis Variance analysis is one of the most important tools of management accounting. It is based on the financial results available to the management accountant. The analysis is done by comparing the budgeted figures of a company and the actual financial results of that company at the end of the budget year. Variance analysis emphasizes on the importance of preparing a budget for the operations of the company and set standards for actual performance (Yap et al. 2013). Practically there are differences in the budgeted figures and the actual figures. Variance analysis critically examines these differences and arrives at a proper conclusion as to the reasons for those differences. In the present business environment, constant monitoring and evaluation has become utmost necessary and the management of a company is in a constant endeavour to expand its scope of operations and maximise profits. Periodical evaluations of business performance prepared the company to counter exigencies arising out of its business activities. In order to achieve this goal, management accounting and variance analysis plays a pivotal role. Classification of Variance Analysis As mentioned earlier, variance analysis has become an integral part of a business organisation. There are various types of variance analysis that a management accountant has to perform. This helps him/her to present a true picture of the company to its management. Each analysis is related to a separate business activity of the company. Following are the types of analysis that are performed (Boyns and Edwards 2013). Material Variance: It is the analysis of the difference in the budgeted figures of expenses on material and its actual figures. It encompasses all the costs that have been expended during the budget year for procuring materials required for manufacturing of goods and services. Labour Variance: It is the variance analysis of the total amount expended in labour that was required to manufacture goods and services by the company. It compares the budget amount fixed and the actual expenses that were incurred during the budget year (Nielsen, Mitchell and Nrreklit 2015). Sales Variance: This analysis takes into account the expected sales figure and the actual sales that were generated during the year. It tries to find out the reasons for the difference in the sales figures of the year (Siverbo 2014). Overhead Variance: As mentioned earlier, overheads are the expenses that are incurred by a company other than expenses on material and labour. This category includes all the other types of expenses that are required to be done by an organisation in order to undertake its business activities. Overhead variance analyses the difference between the budget set for these expenses and the actual amount expended under the head (Chen and Lin 2015). Limitations of Variance Analysis Variance analysis is depended on the budget made by the company for a particular year. The assumptions on which the budget is made are subject to various changes. This change affects the actual financial figures of the year. This is one of the major problems faced in doing variance analysis. However, variance analysis faces several other limitations. The first problem that a management accountant faces is the performance of the managerial personnel (Van der Stede 2015). Managers are entrusted with the responsibility of making and overseeing the budget process. The budget helps in establishing standards for the performance of the company. Therefore, it a very important job as the future performance of the company depends on it. If this responsibility is not performed in a proper manner, formulation of strategies and policies beneficial to the company cannot be developed and implemented. The second problem in variance analysis is drawing up of improper financial data. The financial acc ountants are responsible for drawing up budgets based on the results of the previous year. On many occasions, it has been found that forecasting has been done improperly (Taipaleenmki 2014). This affects goal settings to a great extent. Setting of targets is very crucial to the performance of a company and these targets are required to be established practically after analysing the capacity of the company in a proper manner. Thus, if the basis on which variance analysis is to be done is faulty, the results of the analysis will also be wrong. Operational Budgets and its Types Operational budgets are very important for the functioning of an organisation. This budget determines the manner in which valuable resources of an organisation will be utilized. This budget is prepared annually and is very crucial for the evaluation of the operational performance of the organisation (Cooper, Ezzamel and Qu 2012). It mainly includes three elements namely, revenue, expenses and profits. Revenue budget is concerned with evaluating the revenue generated from operational activities of the previous year and the expected revenue for the next year. Expense budget in a similar manner related to the figures of the previous year and the forecast for the next year with respect to the expenses required to be incurred by the organisation. Profit budget measures the operational profits made during the previous year and the expected profit for the next year (Arroyo 2012). Conclusion It can be inferred from the above discussions that management accounting plays an immense important role in the functioning of a business organisation. It deals with the interpretation and analysis of the financial statements prepared by financial accountants and provides guidance to the management of the company to make important managerial decisions. Variance analysis is a tool of management accounting that is used to spot the differences between the budgeted and actual figures of various financial data. Both financial management and management accounting are related but have a few differenced from an analysts point of view. Recommendations Following are the recommendations with respect to management accounting in manufacturing organisations: Accountants should make proper assumptions while preparing the budget based on historical data. Curtailing of expenses will increase operational efficiency and generate greater revenue if alternative sources of material is utilised. A proper market research should be conducted including a study on the competitors in order to get a view of their operational activities. Proper standards should be established for making a practical comparison while evaluating the financial results. References Arroyo, P., 2012. Management accounting change and sustainability: an institutional approach.Journal of Accounting Organizational Change,8(3), pp.286-309. Bennett, M.D., Schaltegger, S. and Zvezdov, D., 2013. Exploring corporate practices in management accounting for sustainability. ICAEW. Boyns, T. and Edwards, J.R., 2013. A history of management accounting: The British experience (Vol. 12). Routledge. Chak, S.C. and Fung, H., 2015. Exploring the effectiveness of blended learning in cost and management accounting: An empirical study. In New Media, Knowledge Practices and Multiliteracies (pp. 189-203). Springer Singapore. Chen, C.L. and Lin, P.Y., 2015. Real Earnings Management and Subsequent Accounting Performance: The Moderating Role of Corporate Governance. à ¦Ã…“Æ’Ã ¨Ã‚ ¨Ã‹â€ Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ©Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ «Ã¢â‚¬â€œ, (61), pp.1-36. Clinton, B.D. and White, L.R., 2012. Roles and practices in management accounting.Management Accounting,94(5), pp.37-43. Cooper, D.J., Ezzamel, M. and Qu, S., 2012. Popularizing a management accounting idea: The case of the balanced scorecard.University of Alberta School of Business Research Paper, (2013-03). Hemmer, T. and Labro, E., 2016. Productions and Operations Management Management Accounting. Johnson, H.T., 2013. A New Approach to Management Accounting History (RLE Accounting) (Vol. 41). Routledge. Kastberg, G. and Siverbo, S., 2016. The role of management accounting and control in making professional organizations horizontal. Accounting, Auditing Accountability Journal, 29(3). Katsikas, E., Dixon, R. and Woodhead, A., 2014. The development of a framework for understanding management accounting change from a hybrid institutional and managerial perspective. Li, X., Sawhney, R., Arendt, E.J. and Ramasamy, K., 2012. A comparative analysis of management accounting systems impact on lean implementation. International Journal of Technology Management, 57(1/2/3), pp.33-48. Lopez-Valeiras, E., Gomez-Conde, J. and Naranjo-Gil, D., 2015. Sustainable innovation, management accounting and control systems, and international performance. Sustainability, 7(3), pp.3479-3492. Nielsen, L.B., Mitchell, F. and Nrreklit, H., 2015, March. Management accounting and decision making: Two case studies of outsourcing. InAccounting Forum(Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 64-82). Elsevier. Sands, J. and Lee, K.H., 2015. Environmental and sustainability management accounting (EMA) for the development of sustainability management and accountability [Guest editorial]. Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting, 9(1), pp.1-4. Siverbo, S., 2014. The Implementation and Use of Benchmarking in Local Government: A Case Study of the Translation of a Management Accounting Innovation.Financial Accountability Management,30(2), pp.121-149. Taipaleenmki, J., 2014. Absence and variant modes of presence of management accounting in new product developmenttheoretical refinement and some empirical evidence. European Accounting Review, 23(2), pp.291-334. Ter Bogt, H.J. and Scapens, R.W., 2014. Institutions, rationality and agency in management accounting: Rethinking and extending the Burns and Scapens Framework. Available at SSRN 2464980. Van der Stede, W.A., 2015. Management accounting: Where from, where now, where to?. Journal of Management Accounting Research, 27(1), pp.171-176. Yap, K.H.A., Lee, T.H., Said, J. and Yap, S.T., 2013. Adoption, Benefits and Challenges of Strategic Management Accounting Practices: Evidence from emerging market. Asia Pacific Management Accounting Journal, 8(2).

A Wise Decision Essays - Brian Dugan, Jeanine Nicarico Murder Case

A Wise Decision A Wise Delay Governor Ryan's decision to suspend the death penalty is already starting to have a valuable impact on the rest of nation. Other states are starting to aid in Governor Ryan's quest to improve death penalty systems. Last week, a representative from the state of Wisconsin, requested that President Clinton put a hold on executions until the federal death penalty system can be reviewed. Clinton is an avid supporter of the death penalty and only promised to consider it. Since 1973, eighty-five people have been released from death row in the federal system because of mis-verdicts. Twenty-one federal inmates still remain on death row. Juan Raoul Garza is one of these death row inmates. Despite the governments past mistakes, he is scheduled to be executed this year. President Clinton should think long and hard before reopening the federal death chamber. Because the federal justice system dose not do its job correctly, many innocent people may have or will die on death row. According to the article, A Federal Execution Moratorium-misconduct, unbelievably erroneous evidence and false testimony by jailhouse informants can and has lead to mistaken verdicts. Rolando Cruz is an excellent example of a terrible mistake made by the federal government. He was convicted of the 1983 rape and murder of ten-year-old Jeanine Nicarico, and put on death row. His freedom was suspended to him even after Brian Dugan came forth to admit his sole involvment in the murder. Cruz remained on death row while prosecutors try to prove Dugan was lying! DNA testing proved that Cruz was not the source of semen samples taken from Nicarico's body; however, Dugan was a perfect match. Cruz remained on death row. November 4, 1995, 12 years after his original arrest, Cruz was released. Not only did Cruz loose twelve prime years of his life; He almost lost his whole life. Judge Ronald Mehling said he released Cruz because the initial murder investigation was ?sloppy, very sloppy?, and the government's case against Cruz was riddled with lies and mistakes. It is suggested in the article that a wise approach to this problem would be to appoint a commission to study the federal death penalty system. I am in agreement that Clinton must suspend the death penalty until the bugs in this system are totally irradiated. More states need to come forth to force Clinton to see that he needs to do more than think about suspending the death penalty. Taking innocent lives is wrong. no matter who or how powerful you are!

Free Essays on Shakespeare’s Parallels

Shakespeare’s Parallels Being an accomplished playwright, William Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven brilliant plays during his lifetime. Often in his plays there are events that coincide with each other as well as characters and themes. Even in two seemingly different plays – a comedy and a tragedy – these parallels are apparent. Twelfth Night and Othello each show prime examples of reoccurring motifs. When comparing this comedy and this tragedy, specific parallels can be drawn. Setting is a significant part in Shakespeare’s plays. The mood of the play and characters change with the different locations. In Twelfth Night, Olivia’s house and the Duke’s palace are the prominent settings. In this play, the head of the household sets the tone for that environment. A feeling of sorrow and mourning can be felt, upon entering the house of Olivia: â€Å"A virtuous maid, the daughter of a noble count That died some twelvemonth since, then leaving her In the protection of his son, her brother, Who shortly also died; for whose dear love, They say, she hath abjured the sight And company of men† (1.2.36-41). Her sorrow is felt throughout the household, contributing to the drunkenness of the other characters living there, Sir Andrew and Sir Toby. The Duke, Orsino, is also in a saddened state of mind; he is heart-broken over Olivia. His palace is also in a tone of unhappiness, however, Orsino and his attendants are trying to improve the situation. VIOLA. â€Å"Say I do speak with her, my lord, what then?† DUKE. â€Å"O, then unfold the passion of my love; Surprise her with discourse of my dear faith; It shall become thee well to act on my woes. She will attend it better in thy youth Than in a nuncio’s of more grave aspect† (1.4.23-28). Not only does Twelfth Night contain contrasting settings; Othello... Free Essays on Shakespeare’s Parallels Free Essays on Shakespeare’s Parallels Shakespeare’s Parallels Being an accomplished playwright, William Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven brilliant plays during his lifetime. Often in his plays there are events that coincide with each other as well as characters and themes. Even in two seemingly different plays – a comedy and a tragedy – these parallels are apparent. Twelfth Night and Othello each show prime examples of reoccurring motifs. When comparing this comedy and this tragedy, specific parallels can be drawn. Setting is a significant part in Shakespeare’s plays. The mood of the play and characters change with the different locations. In Twelfth Night, Olivia’s house and the Duke’s palace are the prominent settings. In this play, the head of the household sets the tone for that environment. A feeling of sorrow and mourning can be felt, upon entering the house of Olivia: â€Å"A virtuous maid, the daughter of a noble count That died some twelvemonth since, then leaving her In the protection of his son, her brother, Who shortly also died; for whose dear love, They say, she hath abjured the sight And company of men† (1.2.36-41). Her sorrow is felt throughout the household, contributing to the drunkenness of the other characters living there, Sir Andrew and Sir Toby. The Duke, Orsino, is also in a saddened state of mind; he is heart-broken over Olivia. His palace is also in a tone of unhappiness, however, Orsino and his attendants are trying to improve the situation. VIOLA. â€Å"Say I do speak with her, my lord, what then?† DUKE. â€Å"O, then unfold the passion of my love; Surprise her with discourse of my dear faith; It shall become thee well to act on my woes. She will attend it better in thy youth Than in a nuncio’s of more grave aspect† (1.4.23-28). Not only does Twelfth Night contain contrasting settings; Othello...

Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Research Proposal - Essay Example For a turn-around investment, it got a great opportunity through the ideal Cogitel set back. The company’s profitability soon increased, as the company stock was taken over by Zeghal and turn-investment team. Through this investment it obtained a qualifying certificate which ultimately helped them to gain profit. As a result, they transformed into a regional packaging leader from a family owned business through this opportunity. Cogitel implemented its growth through acquisition strategy TurnInvest and Swicorp both jointly acquired a major part of venture in a new holding company- Altea Packaging. With the help of Turninvest, Cogitel has come quite a far way. It has become a flexible packaging manufacturing company in North Africa from a merely family owned business. Cogitel also adopted a number of policies beneficial for reducing wastage as well as the energy consumption of the company. It has achieved many international safety and quality assurance certificates that will fu rther help the company to gain efficiency and satisfaction of customers. Inorder to create a culture of sustainability, TurnInvest worked with Cogitel the throughout the years. TurnInvest has also provided technical and financial support, which are essential components for implementing corrective actions. Inorder to penetrate new market, TurnInvest improvised new sophisticated approaches and it also formulated an environment management system and hired an external consultancing, which would help Cogitel in its development. Cogitel, to differentiate itself from competitors and to gain trust from its clients, leverages its superior environment and social performances. Introduction: The essence of this research proposal is sustainability of business, which is basically the goal of all business enterprises in the world. In every business, its respective sustainability takes a major role and often the research department of the organization focuses on finding out how sustainability can b e achieved. Since sustainability is a prime factor, many companies from the list of fortune 500 companies exited, however, others still are running in the list for their remarkable performances. Those who are out from this list have either become private companies or have altogether wound up their particular organization. The main reason I chose sustainability as my research topic is because evaluation reveals that many public companies fail to meet their sustainability goals, whereas many private companies grow rapidly over the years in this corporate world. There are some factors which help these private companies to emerge on top of the unsuccessful public companies. I find it more interesting to know how private companies like Comptoir General d’Impression et de Traitement des Emballages (Cogitel) have reached their sustainability goals in the long run . What strategies and methods they use in uplifting themselves from the unfavorable situations is something that would he lp a person to understand the reality behind the success of a company. I would like to study and investigate Cogitel to know their sustainable factor, cost reduction, financing technique, the challenges they are facing as well as the methods they use to overcome these challenges. Research Question: How can Cogitel attain sustainability in this competitive world? Research objectives: 1) Studying sustaining growth of the company. 2) Understanding how