ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Relevant cost is a term used in management accounting to refer to those costs that are accompanied by the management’s decision. They aid the management in making decisions (Colin, 2009). These costs are used to eliminate the complications that may come with the decision making process. A cost will be referred to as a relevant cost if it affects a decision. In order for a cost to affect a decision, it must have a future incremental effect or otherwise especially on the cash flows (Jae & Joel, 2008). The incremental effect due to the decision that was made means that expenditure will be incurred by the organization or it can be avoided. However, it should be noted that any cost that will be incurred or avoided without the decision being made is not a relevant cost. An example of irrelevant costs is the sunk costs (Jay, 2004). Costs are considered to be sunk if they are already incurred and no future decision can be affected by them. Examples of sunk cost includes; depreciation, research cost and development expenditures (Agriculture and Consumer Protection, ND). The management requires relevant costing making decision as to whether they should keep a certain business unit or they should sell it, the management has to make a decision to buy or sell a certain item or product and as to accept a certain special order from a supplier or not to accept (Siegel & Shim, 2006). In order to understand the topic of relevant cost versus irrelevant costs, California Pizza Kitchen will be used as the case study. The California pizza kitchen was established in the year 1985 by Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax. They wanted to start a restaurant that would serve hearth baked pizzas with global flavors and tastes. This organization has witnessed its growth into a recognized leader in the production of authentic California-style cuisine. It also has a well-recognized brand name and has large following from loyal customers. California pizza kitchen now has 265 outlets spread in 25 states of the US and 10 outlets in the foreign countries. The California pizza kitchen runs a restaurant at Albuquerque, New Mexico. The restaurant serves Hawaiian Recipe Frozen Personal Pizza and it has witnessed this pizza turnover decline due to its unpopularity and therefore the management has to decide whether to keep or eliminate it. In order that the management makes the right decision it has to compute the contribution margin of this pizza using all relevant costs that have an effect on the decision that wil
Introduction Studying intercultural communication and relationship between culturally diverse groups in the work setting is important because it assists employees and employers in catering for experiences and characteristics of different people within an organization. Cultural diversity is made of various aspects of human existence for instance gender ethnic, age and racial differences. It also caters for those who have disability and different religious orientation. Most importantly, the focus upon diversity ought to be on individual working style, output, communication techniques, role level, level of performance and economic significance. This paper addresses the importance of cultural diversity, intercultural relationships and communication in the work setting. Reasons for Encouraging Diversity in the Workforce The main aim of encouraging diversity in the work place is to tap talent and unique qualities along these dimensions. Both the employer and employees must focus on the differences and similarities presented to the workplace. Cultural diversity is an influence over individual identity and perspective to promote performance. Diversity goes beyond legally specified dimensions to offer non-discriminatory opportunities and affirmative statutes within the work setting. When there are intercultural relationships, the workplace is free of non-discriminatory instances and the management are able to support the association through the organization culture. Cultural diversity within the firm is therefore an element that represents dignity and respect for all, in the aim of encouraging knowledge or experience gain and team strength. Advantages and Disadvantages of Cultural Diversity in the Workplace To begin with, cultural diversity boosts the company’s competitive situation in the market. Unlike the early days when marketers thought that a good or service was universally acceptable, cultural diversification enables people to understand that different cultures demand for different taste of the same product or service. Large chain stores like Wal-Mart or Woolworths are in a position to establish the best way of presenting their products, depending on location due to their involvement of intercultural relationship especially in their marketing departments (Booyens, 2008). Today we see a business scenario where small and medium sized companies are able to give big company a run for their money because they understand the concept of trading in a multi-cultural setting. The technological advancement of the twenty first century creates openings for engaging in technological aspects and resources such as the internet trading, which assists to overcome the physical
Organizational behavior is based on the principle of developing the necessary competencies and skills needed for effective growth contribution to an organization or company. Within an organization, there are several policies that are essential to success in an organization. The context below shall elaborate more on these competencies in relation to the Toyota Brand. The competencies include the diverse management observing ethics and different cultures, team management, as well as the groups managing the communication and sales department. Nature of groups and group behavior at Toyota In relation to the nature of groups and the organizational the behavior within the Toyota brand, the management of Toyota is divides its staff to several categories. One group deals with consumer behavior also known as the psychology of marketing. This group was formed with the aim of giving the company a better understanding of their customers. This group enables Toyota improve its marketing strategies by understanding such issues such as the psychology and how the consumers think, feel, reason and the factors that guide them when selecting between brands and products. Other customer psychological factors that they study include how the environment, culture and media affects a customer’s decision when buying a car, for example customers usually choose a car shop which is regularly advertised in the media and one that is usually popular with the surrounding people. The several groups usually survey the consumer motivation and decision strategies. Basically, the effectiveness of the organization structure of the groups within Toyota depends on how the company’s marketers are able to improve their marketing campaigns and marketing strategies so as to expand its consumer base and make the company’s products more attractive compared to competition. The other group formed in Toyota is the focus group. The focus group serves several purposes one being to find out the main issues that customers consider as most important. The members of the above groups are encouraged to be open-minded so they can effectively deal with the myriads of customer opinions and preferences. Based on their findings from surveys and questionnaires carried out on customers, the above mentioned groups act as moderators
‘Among School Children’ is a poem written by William Butler Yeats; it is among the highly rated poems globally. It has eight stanzas. The poem discusses various themes; the major theme being aging. Some of the other themes that are discussed in the poem are hoplessness and education. Throughout the poem, William Butler acknowledges the aging process but does not appreciate it. When he looks at some situations in life, he points out that all the joys in life would be unnecessary, if the fact that all persons would eventually die and decay is put into consideration. The thought of aging and eventually dying makes the little joys of life redundant. According to the poem, aging is unavoidable to all men but the process is appalling and it makes life meaningless (Yeats, “Selected Poetry” 76). The first stanza of the poem is set in a classroom where William, a member of the Senate, has gone to evaluate the new school curriculum (Yeats, “Autobiography” 45). He takes this chance when he is among the children, to evaluate his life. He clearly sees himself for who he is, “sixty-year-old smiling public man” (Yeats and Richard 54). He evaluates his life’s accomplishments and feels that at sixty, he has not done enough. He feels like life has passed him by. He reviews his own education and wonders whether the knowledge was helpful; he wonders whether what the children are being taught will be useful to the children in their later years. At this point, he realizes that the knowledge required to guide one through life is not obtained from school. The fact that school knowledge will not be useful in life and one will eventually grow old and face death, the aim of going to school looses meaning. William turns to Greek mythology to emphasize the eventual aging and loss of youth. In Greek mythology, Leda was raped by the god, Zeus. From this single incident, all the youthful glory that Leda held vanished. Leda seemed to increase in knowledge after her innocence was taken by Zeus; the same will happen to the children. As they grow older, they will realize the truths of life and learn various life lessons; they will become wiser but at the same time, older and closer to death. At one point, William gets saddened by the aging of the girl he loved when he was still a child. He describes her as very beautiful; likening her to Hellen of Troy, who is considered to be the most attractive woman on earth. He says Maude Gonne, his love, had swan like beauty when she was young, she was perfect. He however gets sad when he realizes that that beauty faded as Gonne aged. He compares her beautiful cheek to the wind. He uses the wind to portray just how life and beauty are short lived (Jones 78). He also realizes at this time that if Gonne has aged, so has he. Trying to recover from his thoughts, he smiles “…show there is a comfortable kind of old scare crow” (Yeats and Richard 54). This is just a cover up since he is not comfortable in his aging (Yeats, “Selected Poetry” 76). William Ye
The theme of abortion has been a critical and sensational topic in the U.S. and throughout the world, considering that despite its majority support, some are opposing it, relating it to murder. Allowing abortion in the U.S. would be one way of helping women make their choices correctly and increase the country’s socio-economic status, apart from having families which they can socially manage in an effective way. Over the recent past, the government has been championing zero abortion rates in the country, claiming that infants equally have the right to live. According to Sheldon, one out of four women in the U.S. undergoes abortion in her lifetime, and it is a stigma that makes them afraid to tell their stories (334). Therefore, although some believe that abortion is equal to murder, many are still for abortion because it allows women to have control over their bodies, achieve full potential, and avoid engaging in hazardous abortion methods. Firstly, many people are for abortion because it gives women the right to have control over their bodies, even although some believe abortion involves the death of innocent infants. Arguably, females who are of age should have the right to make different decisions regarding what they can do over their bodies. In this case, legalizing abortion gives women the obligation to do what they have to do with themselves since they are over the age of eighteen, hence can what they prefer to be right. According to Forman, women should do whatever sounds accurate with their bodies since if forced to give birth; the duty of maintaining the child remains on them (29). For instance, illegalization of abortion has made other women fear and decide to give birth. Moreover, there are instances whereby ladies have been raped and subsequently impregnated. Koch et al. resonate that as long as women are of the required age constitutionally, they should be permitted to make different life decisions (1). Therefore, because of showing freedom over their bodies, women should be allowed to abort even though some believe that it involves the killing innocent infants. Secondly, even though some believe that abortion leads to health complications, many are for the idea that abortion makes women realize their full potential. Women’s absolute latent lies in their ability to do everything within their limits and prioritize essential issues in life. Women should be given space to plan how they would like to lead their lives. Beck opines that legalizing abortion is equal to allowing ladies to do things c
Nathaniel Hawthorne Birthmark is the story about human madness at perfection and beauty and the consequences of the human interference in the laws of nature. The main character of the story is Georgiana who is very beautiful woman. The only deficiency in her beauty is the birthmark on her cheek. Although many people consider this birthmark to be an attractive mark, her husband Aylmer who is the scientist looks upon this birthmark as upon the thing which spoils his wife’s beauty. He dreams of its removal. Georgiana is very upset with her husband’s attitude to her and she begins to beg him to remove her birthmark using his scientific knowledge. Georgiana gives her life in favor of this birthmark. The removal of this imperfection is fatal for her. Georgiana’s birthmark is the symbol of human depravity and imperfection. Aylmer considers this birthmark to be “the fatal flaw of humanity which Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceably on all her productions” (Hawthorne, Birthmark ). All human attempts to argue with nature or try to resist it end in human failure. More than that, the author depicts the detrimental consequences of scientific interference in nature. Aylmer’s confidence to resist the imperfection of nature kills his wife. Such human flaws are the way used by nature of reminding us our depravity and mortality. Without this imperfection Georgiana would be a bird of paradise and the symbol of perfect beauty. The birthmark is a sort of connection between her perfect nature and mortal body. Her angelic spirit prevails without this birthmark and her place of living becomes the heaven. Ironically, Aylmer has a success removing Georgiana’s birthmark. Science wins the nature for a moment but this win has fatal consequences for human life. This win costs a human life. The desire of human beings to be perfect fails before the power of the nature. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Good Man Brown is an ironic and symbolic story about the boundaries between reality and dreams and the fall of man. This motif is traced in many literary works. William Shakespeare touches upon this theme in his A Midsummer Night’s Dream . Hawthorne depicts the theme of the weakness of public morality. Although Goodman Brown decides to go to the forest to meet with the devil he tries to hide this fact for the society. He wants to be faithful to his wife in the eyes of the public. The faith of people is weak and vulnerable when it is based on other people’s points of view. It even doesn’t whether the events in the forest are the dream o
The pursuit of quality in their products and services offers these institutions the opportunity to provide services comparable to those available in the private sector. There is nothing inherently ‘better’ about a privately owned and offered service than a public one. It is merely that the economic imperative for survival has traditionally been greater in the private sector. The management have the additional responsibility of considering the total effectiveness of the organization in terms of its use of all resources and the environmental implications of their actions. Total quality management (TQM) is defined as a strategic approach to quality which permeates the entire organization. TQM is a top-down management philosophy that focuses on the needs of the customer. It comprises a quality plan which offers a structured, disciplined approach to quality and incorporates a number of tools and tech­niques. The main characteristics of TQM include a customer orientation, monitoring, finding and eliminating quality problems, effective audit and quality review. Wadsworth et al (2002) see TQM as “coordinated activities [aimed] to direct and control”. Burrill and Ledolter (2004) emphasize the purposes of quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA). All too often, the QC and QA functions in organizations become self-serving activities, focusing on apportioning blame and identifying guilty parties rather than on improving the performance of the organization. Burrill and Ledolter (2004) state that many of organizational efforts are wasted in error-based activity – for example, rework, rectification, inspection, and so on – and with an even higher proportion in service-based organizatio
Aplite is an intrusive rock containing the quartz and feldspar mineral; aplite rocks have a grey, whitish, or pinkish color, and they are excellent (Welch, 2011). Additionally, aplite crystals are quite defective and solidify almost immediately, but they fit closely similar to the mosaic grains; however, the grains for aplite crystals are very small and can only be visible using a magnifying lens (Welch, 2011). While coal rocks are sedimentary rocks formed through biochemical reactions and are mostly related to shale, sandstone, and limestone (Welch, 2011), they differ from aplite in color since they are black, dark brown, or gray and also have a glassy texture that is unique (Welch, 2011). Commonly the coal rocks contain various minerals such as graphite, pyrite, and mineraloid. They have diverse uses since they act as sources of energy, source of carbon, and even act as lubricants (Welch, 2011). On the other hand, quartz and feldspar are both minerals on earth surfaces but differ in various ways; quartz, for instance, is mostly found in sedimentary and metamorphic rocks while feldspar is found in granite bodies; the Quartz minerals are said to be much harder than feldspar (Mosquera, 2008). Reference Mosquera, D (2008). A simple method to separate quartz and feldspar . Web.
Introduction The paper will summarise the history of e-learning. E-learning is the use of technology to develop and support teaching. It requires the use of the Internet and various multimedia. Many scholars have tried to explain the origin of the term e-learning, however, nobody is sure of it. For the last forty years, trainers and educators have used computers to improve learning and teaching. In 1984, George Orwell went to California to train people to become computer professionals. E-learning began to flourish in 1999 after a seminar held in London (Cross, 2004). Historically, e-Learning has embraced many varieties of applied sciences and practices. The use of the Internet is to enhance access to services and resources. Summary of the History of E-learning Before the invention of the Internet, students used to gain skills and knowledge through distance learning. For example, in the 1840s, Sir Isaac Pitman held the first distant course where he taught a shorthand system. Shorthand was the term used to describe the method meant to increase the speed of writing. It was popular among journalists, secretaries, and other people whose work involved writing. In 1954, a professor invented the machine that enabled schools to administer programmed instructions (Cross, 2004). The first e-learning machines started passing information to students. At that time, e-learning was not interactive yet. It is in the late 1970s when the situation changed. In Britain, Open University was the first institution to accept the advantages of the scheme. Schools began setting up online courses that brought education closer to people. The advancement of the system became helpful to students by saving the amount of money and time spent on getting an education. In addition, e-learning also promoted education on a larger scale. Through it, businesses trained their employees at a low cost. The system provided workers with opportunities to ameliorate their skills and achieve new accomplishments. E-learning system targeted students that could not attend lectures on a daily basis (Fallon, 2003). People at home were also able to access learning materials without difficulties owing to this innovation. The number of people who got their degrees through e-learning increased in the early 1990s. Using microphones and cameras ensured that there was a direct interaction between lecturers and students. If a student was unable to attend a lecture, a digital record was available for viewing. Since the year 1960, e-learning has evolved in many ways, affecting education, military, and business positively. The education sector uses e-learning while military and business refer to a variety of online practices. In the early 1990s, companies were training their employees using videotapes, which in most times were of poor quality (TGDL, 2009). However, the use of videotape was a good idea, but it was expensive to maintain. More to this, looking for the best machine t
Historical Overview Our company was founded by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings in 1997. The founders were very enthusiastic about modern technology and, besides, they had had experience in creating and successfully running websites. As a result, they came to the idea of setting up a website where people could easily rent or buy DVDs being at their homes. Thus, Hastings invested almost $3 million to start the business (“Culture at Netflix,” 2017). Our company officially started operating in April 1998. On the first day, our staff consisted of thirty employees, and we managed to offer almost nine hundred DVDs for rent. Our basic offer was $4 for the item and $2 for the shipping. Our website provided customers with movie reviews and advertisements for more DVDs’ rentals. Our advantage was that we had very few competitors, but the problem was that not many Americans had access to DVD players. Therefore, our company decided to make agreements with such companies as Apple, HP, and Toshiba to promote the production of DVD players. Our first major sale was in September 1998, when we offered ten thousand copies of the testimony of Bill Clinton in the Lewinsky affair. The reason for our success was that we set a price of only 2 cents for the item and 2 dollars for shipping (Matthew, 2014). In 1999, our company had to stop selling DVDs online because of the strong competition from the side of Amazon. Therefore, we placed more focus on the DVDs’ rentals, which was not very successful. That is why we decided to change our pricing strategy and allowed customers to rent four DVDs for a fee of $16 per month. In 2000, we raised the price to $20. In some time, our customer base increased exponentially and was nearly 300,000, and we were processing nearly 150,000 orders per week (Matthew, 2014). In 2002, we made agreements with such companies as Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures in order to release their films on our websites first. Additionally, we opened distribution centers in many other cities including New York, Houston, Atlanta, Boston, and Los Angeles. Thus, by the end of 2002, we became the leader in the market of DVD rentals and our total revenues rose up to $200 million (Matthew, 2014). Moreover, the number of our subscribers also increased and was nearly 700,000. In 2005, our company was shipping approximately 1 million DVDs per day by mail, and we had almost 40,000 movies in our base. In 2010, we made watching movies online available for our customers for a particular payment. As a result, in 2012, our site became one of the most visited websites in America (Matthew, 2014). In 2016, we expressed our det