The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few, and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.
The original observation was in connection with income and wealth. Pareto noticed that 80% of Italy’s wealth was owned by 20% of the population.He then carried out surveys on a variety of other countries and found to his surprise that a similar distribution applied.
It is no different on Rich or Poor list of Formula 1 drivers.
Rank
Driver
Earning millions £
Cum Sum £millions
80/20
1
Kimi Raikkonen
27.35
2
Lewis Hamilton
10.90
3
Fernando Alonso
9.10
4
Nico Rosberg
5.15
5
Felipe Massa
4.85
57.35
0.70
6
Jarno Trulli
3.95
7
Sebastian Vettel
3.65
8
Mark Webber
3.35
9
Jenson Button
3.05
10
Robert Kubica
2.75
11
Heikki Kovalainen
2.10
12
Nick Heidfeld
1.70
13
Timo Glock
1.20
14
Giancarlo Fisichella
0.90
15
Sébastien Buemi
0.90
16
Rubens Barrichello
0.60
17
Jaime Alguersuari
0.30
18
Vitantonio Liuzzi
0.00
19
Adrian Sutil
0.00
20
Romain Grosjean
0.00
21
Kazuki Nakajima
0.00
24.45
0.30
Total
81.80
Pareto’s legacy remains. His name will remain as one of the best thinkers of the time who made a simple observation which no one else saw it.
Do you want to be in minority as far as making money is concerned …. Don’t blame the Formula 1 driver for making so much money… Just look have look into the mirror !!!
When you are not able to make incoming or outgoing calls from your mobile phone, then do not bother calling the helpdesk or the call centre. They will come up with a standard solution
Apologies for the inconvenience caused. We have resolved the issue. Please turn your phone off and back on again, with the SIM inserted, and you should be up and running.
World's 10 best companies to work for. This list was published in Fortune magazine in Feb 2009 as Top Employers. I have picked up the first 5 to know why they are at the top.
Company: NetApp : Rank: 1
Why: The essence of what fuels the quality of the workplace at NetApp is the high trust culture. Leaders reach out to employees, sharing information, support and time in a variety of ways. This generosity of spirit is reciprocated many times over, creating within NetApp its own version of a fail-safe networked organisation.
Company: Edward Jones Rank: 2
Why: 'Employees receive a whopping 149 hours of training on average a year, more than three times the 100 best average of 45. But Edward Jones doesn't just train people for the job they're doing. The management's philosophy is that employees who are passionate about their jobs will make the company a better place, so managers encourage people to develop skills even when they know the new skills will lead to a different job.'
Company: Boston Consulting Group Rank: 3
Why: BCG prides itself on its employee focused culture. 'Training opportunities abound, even for senior partners. All employees are encouraged to continuously learn, accept responsibility and take on challenges. BCG is viewed as an apprenticeship and most training actually takes place within the project team. Associates who commit to returning to the company after receiving an MBA are fully reimbursed for tuition, given a promotion and a raise. Administrative staff may be reimbursed upto two job-related courses per semester.'
Company: Google Rank: 4
Why: The company slogan is 'Don't be evil.' Google is famed for going all out to keep their employees happy. Professional development opportunities include classes on individual and team presentation skills, content development, business writing, executive speaking, delivering feedback and management/leadership.
Company: Wegmans Food Market Rank: 5
Why: Wegmans believe that good people, working toward a common goal, can accomplish anything they set out to do. They also believe that they can achieve our goal only if they fulfill the needs of our own people.
I can assess from what companies look for in your to hire you or promote you. My Top 10 choice of words you should use during the interview and demonstrate in your job and career progression.
Passionate about their jobs
New skills
Learn
Accept responsibility
Take on challenges
Committed
Individual and team presentation skills
Can accomplish
Achieve our goal
Focused
I have also worked in a company that was in one of the top ratings. I never tried to explore the metrics and mechanism on how they arrive at a rating. If you rate your company anonymously, then you rate on Vault.com The information you provide will help hundreds of thousands of job seekers better evaluate their employment options and make better career decisions.
World's 10 best companies to work for. This list was published in Fortune magazine in Feb 2009 as Top Employers. I have picked up the first 5 to know why they are at the top.
Company: NetApp : Rank: 1
Why: The essence of what fuels the quality of the workplace at NetApp is the high trust culture. Leaders reach out to employees, sharing information, support and time in a variety of ways. This generosity of spirit is reciprocated many times over, creating within NetApp its own version of a fail-safe networked organisation.
Company: Edward Jones Rank: 2
Why: 'Employees receive a whopping 149 hours of training on average a year, more than three times the 100 best average of 45. But Edward Jones doesn't just train people for the job they're doing. The management's philosophy is that employees who are passionate about their jobs will make the company a better place, so managers encourage people to develop skills even when they know the new skills will lead to a different job.'
Company: Boston Consulting Group Rank: 3
Why: BCG prides itself on its employee focused culture. 'Training opportunities abound, even for senior partners. All employees are encouraged to continuously learn, accept responsibility and take on challenges. BCG is viewed as an apprenticeship and most training actually takes place within the project team. Associates who commit to returning to the company after receiving an MBA are fully reimbursed for tuition, given a promotion and a raise. Administrative staff may be reimbursed upto two job-related courses per semester.'
Company: Google Rank: 4
Why: The company slogan is 'Don't be evil.' Google is famed for going all out to keep their employees happy. Professional development opportunities include classes on individual and team presentation skills, content development, business writing, executive speaking, delivering feedback and management/leadership.
Company: Wegmans Food Market Rank: 5
Why: Wegmans believe that good people, working toward a common goal, can accomplish anything they set out to do. They also believe that they can achieve our goal only if they fulfill the needs of our own people.
I can assess from what companies look for in your to hire you or promote you. My Top 10 choice of words you should use during the interview and demonstrate in your job.
Passionate about their jobs
New skills
Learn
Accept responsibility
Take on challenges
Committed
Individual and team presentation skills
Can accomplish
Achieve our goal
Focused
I have also worked in a company that was in one of the top ratings. I never tried to explore the metrics and mechanism on how they arrive at a rating. If you rate your company anonymously, then you rate on Vault.com The information you provide will help hundreds of thousands of job seekers better evaluate their employment options and make better career decisions.
Unbundling: The process of taking over a large company with several different lines of business, and then, while retaining the core business, selling off the subsidiaries to help fund the takeover.
Product bundling is a marketing strategy that involves offering several products for sale as one combined product. This strategy is very common in the software business (for example: bundle a word processor, a spreadsheet, and a database into a single office suite), in the cable television industry (for example, basic cable in the United States generally offers many channels at one price), and in the fast food industry in which multiple items are combined into a complete meal. A bundle of products is sometimes referred to as a package deal or a compilation or an anthology.
Recent Example:
NITEL faces unbundling - Oct 22, 2009 If proposals to unbundle Nigeria Telecommunications (Nitel) yield results, at least five new telecommunications companies will come into being in this densely populated African country.
These plans follow suggestions by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) submitted to the National Council of Privatisation (NCP) for consideration.
The ball is now in NCP’s court, and the telecommunications industry believes that a green light would be crucial to enhancing employment creation, service delivery and competition.
If approved, Nitel would be split into five telecommunications companies, comprising Long Distance Licence, International Licence, Infrastructure (MTel) and DML Licence.
Unbundling may occur when a company purchases another for its most valuable divisions (its crown jewels) with little desire for the other aspects of the business.
Just to let you know, to book a domain cost only Rs 500 or $ 10 per annum. So why do want an email like name123@... or name456@... when you can have name.surname@... or name@... just like me.
Every group is potentially subject to takeover. There will be a price at which the shareholders may be induced to sell their shares. If the bid is received, then the directors may consider and recommend accepting the offer to the shareholders. A problem arises when a publicly quoted company receives an unwelcome bid with a clear objective of buying the group at a price below the value that the management put on it.
How to defend against hostile takeover - Strategies
Pac-Man defence
A defensive tactic used by a targeted firm in a hostile takeover situation. In a Pac-Man defence, the target firm turns around and tries to acquire the other company that has made the hostile takeover attempt. This term has been accredited to Bruce Wasserstein, chairman of Wasserstein & Co.
Poison Pill
The target company attempts to make its stock less attractive to the acquirer. There are two types of poison pills:
1. A "flip-in" allows existing shareholders (except the acquirer) to buy more shares at a discount.
2. The "flip-over" allows stockholders to buy the acquirer's shares at a discounted price after the merger.
Crown jewel defence
The crown jewel defence is a strategy in which the target company sells off its most attractive assets to a friendly third party or spin off the valuable assets in a separate entity. Consequently, the unfriendly bidder is less attracted to the company assets. Other effects include dilution of holdings of the acquirer, making the takeover uneconomical to third parties, and adverse influence of current share prices.
Scorched-earth defence
When a target firm implements this provision, it will make an effort to make it unattractive to the hostile bidder. For example, a company may agree to liquidate or destroy all valuable assets, also called "crown jewels", or schedule debt repayment to be due immediately following a hostile takeover. In some cases, a scorched-earth defence may develop into an extreme anti-takeover defence called a "poison pill".
Golden parachute
A golden parachute is an agreement between a company and an employee (usually upper executive) specifying that the employee will receive certain significant benefits if employment is terminated. Sometimes, certain conditions, typically a change in company ownership, must be met, but often the cause of termination is unspecified. These benefits may include severance pay, cash bonuses, stock options, or other benefits.
Fatman
The targeted company acquires a large and/or under performing company in order to decrease it attractiveness to the raider.
Other defences are also used against hostile takeover.
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Tata Motors’ Nano, billed as the world’s cheapest (new) car, with base models selling for about $2,000 (or 100,000 rupees) is expected to sell like hot cakes when the company starts taking orders for it on April 9.
The no-frills Nano has a two-cylinder engine mounted in the rear (like the classic Volkswagen Beetle), giving it a top speed of 65 miles (105 kilometers) per hour. The base model comes sans air conditioning and power windows, but those amenities are available in deluxe models.
Tata Nano is expected to be quite popular in India and other third world countries by replacing the scooters, 50cc bikes and other small vehicles. It would be a people's cars.
Share your ideas on how it would be popular in countries like USA, UK, Sweden, Germany, Australia or any other first world country ? Remember Honda 50cc bikes in America.
Some one suggested it can be used as a Golf Car ? Any more ideas like these...... Post your comments.
This is part 2 of the topic Professional Body and Professionalism by CMA B V Prabhakar. He discusses on how accounting bodies IMA-USA, ICWAI-INDIA & ICSI-INDIA apply the above principles.
Efforts of different professional bodies to promote professionalism.
Let us now see the case of three Professional Bodies, IMA-USA, ICWAI-INDIA & ICSI-INDIA, and compile how these Professional Accounting Bodies ensure, build and promote Professionalism among its members.
I. INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANTS , USA (www.imanet.org)
The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA®) is the world's leading organization dedicated to empowering management accounting and finance professionals to drive business performance.
With a network of about 60,000 professionals, IMA provides a dynamic forum for management accounting and financial professionals to develop and advance their careers through its Certified Management Accountant (CMA®) program, cutting-edge professional research and practice development, education, networking, and the advocacy of the highest ethical and professional practices.
Vision Statement
The world's leading association for management accounting and finance professionals.
Mission Statement
To provide a dynamic forum for management accounting and finance professionals to develop and advance their careers through certification, research and practice development, education, networking, and the advocacy of the highest ethical and professional practices.
A. Statement of Ethical Professional Practice as issued by IMA:
Members of IMA shall behave ethically. A commitment to ethical professional practice includes overarching principles that express our values, and standards that guide our conduct.
PRINCIPLES
IMA's overarching ethical principles include: Honesty, Fairness, Objectivity, and Responsibility.
Members shall act in accordance with these principles and shall encourage others within their organizations to adhere to them.
STANDARDS
A member's failure to comply with the following standards may result in disciplinary action.
I. COMPETENCE
Each member has a responsibility to:
Maintain an appropriate level of professional expertise by continually developing knowledge and skills.
Perform professional duties in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and technical standards.
Provide decision support information and recommendations that are accurate, clear, concise, and timely.
Recognize and communicate professional limitations or other constraints that would preclude responsible judgement or successful performance of an activity.
II. CONFIDENTIALITY
Each member has a responsibility to:
Keep information confidential except when disclosure is authorized or legally required.
Inform all relevant parties regarding appropriate use of confidential information. Monitor subordinates' activities to ensure compliance.
Refrain from using confidential information for unethical or illegal advantage.
III. INTEGRITY
Each member has a responsibility to:
Mitigate actual conflicts of interest, regularly communicate with business associates to avoid apparent conflicts of interest. Advise all parties of any potential conflicts.
Refrain from engaging in any conduct that would prejudice carrying out duties ethically.
Abstain from engaging in or supporting any activity that might discredit the profession.
IV. CREDIBILITY
Each member has a responsibility to:
Communicate information fairly and objectively.
Disclose all relevant information that could reasonably be expected to influence an intended user's understanding of the reports, analyses, or recommendations.
Disclose delays or deficiencies in information, timeliness, processing, or internal controls in conformance with organization policy and/or applicable law.
RESOLUTION OF ETHICAL CONFLICT
In applying the Standards of Ethical Professional Practice, members may encounter problems identifying unethical behaviour or resolving an ethical conflict.
When faced with ethical issues, members should follow their organization's established policies on the resolution of such conflict.
If these policies do not resolve the ethical conflict, then members should consider the following courses of action:
Discuss the issue with the immediate supervisor except when it appears that the supervisor is involved. In that case, present the issue to the next level. If a satisfactory resolution is not achieved, submit the issue to the next management level. If the immediate superior is the chief executive officer or equivalent, the acceptable reviewing authority may be a group such as the audit committee, executive committee, board of directors, board of trustees, or owners. Contact with levels above the immediate superior should be initiated only with the superior's knowledge, assuming he or she is not involved.
Clarify relevant ethical issues by initiating a confidential discussion with an IMA Ethics Counsellor or other impartial advisor to obtain a better understanding of possible courses of action.
Consult own attorney as to legal obligations and rights concerning the ethical conflict.
Mission of the Ethics Program
Encourage organizations and individuals to adopt, promote and execute business practices consistent with high ethical standards, by providing valuable insight into the complexities that result from social and technological change.
The following definition of ethics is provided as a foundation for IMA members.
"Ethics in its broader sense, deals with human conduct in relation to what is morally good and bad, right and wrong. It is the application of values to decision making. These values include honesty, fairness, responsibility, respect and compassion." - Rushworth Kidder, President, Institute for Global Ethics
As already explained above, IMA offers an ethics helpline service. Members of IMA as well as other financial professionals may contact this helpline for free, confidential guidance on ethical issues.
The purpose of the helpline is to provide guidance to those in the profession that find themselves in an ethical dilemma.
After a preliminary discussion of the problem to determine the kind of ethics matter being reported, an ethics counsellor will respond to the caller. Confidentiality is maintained at all times. The counsellor will not provide a specific resolution but will explain how the dilemma relates to the provisions of IMA's Statement of Ethical Professional Practice.
B. CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS
CMAs are required to maintain their proficiency in the fields of management accounting and financial management. This includes knowledge of new concepts and techniques as well as their application in the management accounting and financial management professions. The objective is to maintain the professional competence of the individual and to enhance one’s ability to perform job-related requirements. The continuing education requirement is 30 hours per year.
A broad range of subjects may be included in the programs for which hours of credit will be given
- all aspects of accounting, financial management, business applications of mathematics and statistics, computer science, economics, management, production, marketing, business law, and organizational behaviour.
All CMAs are required to complete a minimum 2 hours of continuing education on the subject of ethics as part of their 30-hour annual CPE requirement.
IMA’s Statement of Ethical Professional Practice as depicted above, is an excellent framework for determining the types of ethical topics that are acceptable. The focus of the ethics education should be principally in the area of management accounting and financial management.
Topics should include ethical considerations in the area of decision support, planning and control for accounting and finance professionals working inside organizations. Members are encouraged to address specific scenarios such as fraud in financial reporting, manipulation of budgets for personal gain, disclosure of confidential financial information and coverage of ethics within general business environment.
From the page: "Twitter, the social network set up by US bloggers in 2006, has exploded in popularity. While the popular press has picked up on how the site features tittle-tattle from celebrities, for entrepreneurs Twitter provides a fantastic opportunity for business promotion."
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From the page: "On the same day in November that it reported record revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2009, Aruba Networks announced it was laying off 9 percent of its more than 500 employees. In an earlier time the conjunction of good news and bad news would have been jarring, but not now. "We took a hard look at how our organization was structured, and even though we were coming off a very strong quarter, I think everyone could see 2009 was going to be tough sledding," says Steffan Tomlinson, CFO of the Sunnyvale, California-based wireless-networking firm. To make sure the remaining employees understood why the positions were eliminated, top executives held a companywide meeting that same day and explained that the layoffs were part of a broader cost-cutting effort designed to, in part, save jobs. "We really emphasized that we did not want to have to make a second round of cuts," says Tomlinson."
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From the page: "Are the labyrinthine structures of high street banks, and their exotic financial instruments, becoming too complicated for even the auditors to understand?
This was one of the questions posed by the influential Commons Treasury select committee which met last month.
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-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Johnny Carson - "I was so naive as a kid I used to sneak behind the barn and do nothing."
A couple of days ago, when I was at the roundabout, I saw a tractor entering on the right. Since it was on my right, it had the priority on the road. Then I entered the road and was behind it. The road was a A road - single carraige way. The tractor was driving at a speed of 20m per hour and I had no choice but to follow it. My vision was blocked by the tractor, I could not overtake since there was a oncoming traffic on the other road. All the traffic behind was driving at 20 miles per hour and the queue of cars was building up. We had to follow it for another 1 mile till the road become a dual carriage lane.
The question I would ask is, "Are we following trends in real life and accepting them ? " Or can we change them or look issues in a different perspective.
Accounting Body: Being a member of a particular accounting body, your institute would be advising you on latest happenings through various medium like seminars, internet and journal. As a professional, you should be asking yourself, "Is my accounting body re they doing enough for the membership fees I pay?" If not, start communicating with your accounting body on what you need from your accounting body as tools for your knowledge and how your accounting body should interact with business. A positive public image of the accounting body and "Can do" approach helps the members in the profession. You are not there to drive your career at 20 miles per hour. Do you ?
Business Models: Most of us read a lot of books to understand the business models. And acquire a ready made recipe directly from the brains of management gurus without any effort. Don't you feel we are restricting ourselves to think. Just find out any business that is different and analyse why it is successful E.g. I pondered when I picked up copy of Friday-Ad for free ads, how does it make money. And one of thing that caught my attention was the 070 telephone number on every ad. This looked to be a premium telephone number. So when the buyer calls the seller, he is being charged at a higher rate and Friday Ad must getting a cut. More the callers, more the revenue. !!! Did you notice on Amazon website, there are sponsored links of their competitors selling the same products amazon is selling ? How does it help Amazon ? ... Amazon does follow trend, it creates them.
Corporate Governance: Recently the word "Corporate Governance" have taken a beating. Satyam scam (and banks going bust all over the world.) The company decorated with all the honours for good governance and numerous awards both locally and internationally. Today everyone is questioning, "Is audited financial statements reliable to judge a company ?" Our training in accountancy taught us to look at the financial statements along with non financial indicators like the directors report and then judge how the company is doing. I am wondering, whether Porter Diamond, be a good tool to analyse corporate governance ? E.g. MS Office is a expensive product but it is widely used. In developing countries, where the legal protection is not strong, piracy is a problem. So whether small business can afford it ? If we apply Porter's diamond, our analysis for corporate governance would be under heading "Social" to arrive at any conclusion. A change in perspective would help to analyse the business. Analyse Satyam Computers using Porter's Daimond for Corporate Governance for last seven years and see whether you get right answers.
Tail Wagging the Dog: You buy a laptop and then you subscribe for a broadband. The competition is so intense in the market that the broadband companies are offering laptop for free, if you subscribe to their broadband for a 18 months contract. You must have noticed, a song is available £0.99 for download and the ring tone for a whopping £1.50.!!! So people who are selling ancilliary products are making more than money than people who sell the originals. They are ahead of the tractor.
Knowledge from books: We generally tend to believe that all the knowledge is gained from books. It is true to some extent but sharing views in the forum would refine what you gained so far. When my views are challenged with proper arguments, I tend to view them from a different perspective. So participating in forums, social networking, comments on articles / blogs or start your own website are ways to break the trend. As a management accountant you have more to gain by doing new things rather than reading books.
Following a tractors may not be a good idea. Either make the tractor run faster or drive past before it comes.
Please share your views by commenting on this article ? Also let me know whether you are following any tractor ? May be we can discuss how you can drive ahead of it.
-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Calvin Trillin - "Health food makes me sick."
Small accountancy firms and indivdual management accountants may have tight budgets and find it difficult to spend on software applications like Microsoft Office or individual email ids for their employees. However there are good alternatives available in the market which either free or cheap. You must read the End-user license agreements (EULA) before downloading the application to ascertain whether it is available free for individual and commercial purpose.
The top software free applications are
Open Office / Star Office: They are very good alternative to MS Office since they have all the applications similar to Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Star Office has the ability to convert the document into pdf. This is now a industry standard which could be your standard for sending soft copies to your clients. Star Office 8 is available for free with google pack. The latest release is Star Office 9 which is available for $ 34.95 as opposed to MS Office Small Business Edition $ 449.95.
Website / Personal Domain/ Email ids: You have to make yourselves known in the internet world. When someone asks you for your address, 4 line address will not impress them the most but one line www..... Google Apps Standard Edition is an affordable alternative. Google started with unlimited accounts initially and now they have restricted to upto 50 accounts. So you have to watch the space for the change in end user agreements. You should register your own domain, and then use google apps for email ids upto 50 for you and your employees and collaborative features like calendar, sites and chat. You may spend $10 p.a. for domain registeration. You can design your own simple website in few minutes. But if you need professional help, then you should negotiate with the web designers.
Free Antivirus: The most popular free antivirus software is AVG free http://free.avg.com. The free version provides an excellent protection to your PC and it is value for money. Free Norton anti virus is available on google pack. Sometimes you get McAfee free when you buy laptop or PC. My personal experience with McAfee is it slows down your computer and that could affect your work. My suggestion is to use AVG and avoid McAfee.
Internet Browsers: Almost all the browsers available in the market is free and most dominant is Internet Explorer. The question is which browser is open, collaborative. and makes your task easier The answer is Firefox which is a open source application. It has most number of add-ons for a browser.
Email Client: The email clients were primarily designed to download the emails on your computer and read mails offline. Google Apps offers 7 GB space for your emails. So I do not see the need for you to have an email client unless you are paying for your broadband on a hourly rate. Mozilla Thunderbird is a popular choice.
Social Networking: Linkedin and Xanga are free professional networking sites that are very popular which you should extensively. Facebook is for keeping in touch with your friends. Facebook Pages is a useful application to promote. You need to check guidelines from your accounting body for website whether Facebook pages is acceptable for use for your firm.
Accounting Softwares: You need to shop around to find good accounting software. It would be difficult to find any accounting software available free on the internet.
Cloud computing is Internet ("cloud") based development and use of computer technology ("computing"). It is a style of computing in which typically real-time scalable resources are provided "as a service" over the Internet to users who need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure ("in the cloud") that supports them.
It is a general concept that incorporates software as a service (SaaS), Web 2.0 and other recent, well-known technology trends, in which the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users. An often-quoted example is Google Apps, which provides common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on Google servers.
The cloud is a metaphor for the Internet, based on how it is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals.
A good example would be Google Apps. "Software-as-a-service for business email, information sharing and security"
With the advances in the technology, the relationship with the Service Provider changes. Earlier the business had to manage the procurement of software and its IT department and now it has to manage relationship with its software service providers or BPOs or KPOs. Companies have to get the best services to keep its business running smoothly since the business revolves round use of technology. Services will become expensive and so do Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
The vendors that provides the best and affordable ervices to the companies are the ones who will continue in the long run.
Please share your view by positng comments. Don't forget to tick "Email Follow on Comments" so that you are always in loop when this article is commented by others.
Regards,
Santosh Puthran
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-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Robert Benchley - "Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing."
In my last post, I have mentioned about techniques used by retailer "How to Acquire a Customer". I bought the Nikon S52c a couple of days back, registered my camera on the Nikon website and sent the £50 cash back voucher to Nikon.
The camera has wifi capability and it uses www.mypicturetown.com to send pictures by email to the friend. I tried to register on the above website but could not figure out where to get a 4 digit code. I searched on help but did not find a resolution, so I gave up. The offer is that the site provides a 2 GB free space and a 20 GB space with subscription. Since my initial efforts to register to website failed, I continue to use website like picasa or flickr. I am quite happy with the camera however I am looking forward to my £50 cash back to complete my positive shopping experience with Nikon.
SERQUAL Method
The SERVQUAL method from Valarie A. Zeithaml, A. Parasuraman, and Leonard L. Berry is a technique that can be used for performing a gap analysis of an organization's service quality performance against customer service quality needs.
The methodology was originally based around key dimensions:
Tangibles. Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials.
Reliability. Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.
Responsiveness. Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.
Competence. Possession of required skill and knowledge to perform service.
Courtesy. Politeness, respect, consideration and friendliness of contact personnel.
Credibility. Trustworthiness, believability, honesty of the service provider.
Feel secure. Freedom from danger, risk, or doubt.
Access. Approachable and easy of contact.
Communication. Listens to its customers and acknowledges their comments. Keeps customers informed. In a language which they can understand.
Understanding the customer. Making the effort to know customers and their needs.
As a customer, I have based my decision to buy a Nikon camera on factors like Credibility (reviews in magazines, user groups), communication (advertisements and comparison with top camera maker Canon), reliability (never heard that Nikon amera breaks down) and Competence (innovative and be a technology leader in photography).
The driving point of any sale is to bridge the gap what a customer wants and how the manufacturer will deliver it. The best thing about Microsoft Office and Apple iPod is the customer does know what his needs are, until he buys it and realises using these products.
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-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Fran Lebowitz - "My favorite animal is steak."
Share you thoughts by posting comments on the post.
The primary role of management accountant is to work with the business and also how business works. You should take efforts to understand the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) on your company and evaluate how your company acquires customers and retains them.
A couple of days back, I bought a Nikon S52c Digital camera from Jessops. The deal from Nikon is you get upto £ 50 Cash Back when you buy a digital picture frame with this camera. That's cool. So I registered on Nikon website with details and ticked the check-box which say "Offers from Nikon and its selected affiliates". With A £50 cash back strategy, Nikon has enticed me with offers that they would send me by emails and posts and then I would continue to do business with them. There would thousands of customers like me which Nikon has acquired with a £50 carrot. That's cheaper than TV commercials.
There are numerious methods of acquiring customers and continue to do business online.
Search Engine Marketing
Pay Per Click: A sponspored link will be displayed on the top left corner and a vertical link hand corner of the search engine results. Adverts are determined the phrases you search on the search engine and a click will take to the website. This concept was pioneered by Google (Adsense) where the advertiser pays on number clicks. The advertiser has to bid on the key words. So advertiser has to carefully budget his advertisement expenditure.
Search Engine Optimisation: This would require techniques to improve the position of company in the search engine results for key words. The visitor will more like to click on result when it is in Top 10. Increasing the number of in-bound link to the website will enhance the page rank in Google. There are SEO experts in the market place. However Google advises you to write the content of your website for the readers and not for search engines. Google says that they are smarter.
Online PR
Use online media and PR journalist to write about your Company website
Participate in the Community Forum like Nikon has www.Mypicturetown.com where Nikon enthusiast share photos with their friends or encourage a discussion portal related to line of business of the company.
Online Partnership
Affiliate Marketing: This is a commission based marketing arrangement with the affliates where the affiliates will showcase the product link on their website. You will notice news websites and blog selling amazon products. So every product sold by the affiliate, Amazon pays commission to them.
Co-Branding: This has been effectively followed by the credit card company like American Express to give a personal flavour to the credit card. You will see website like Financial Times having ads of premium products like cars or banks or financial institutions.
Aggregrators: These are price comparison website like Pricerunner.co.uk, confused.com where the prospect can analyse the deals provided by various service providers on various parameters like price, features, recommendations etc. A partnership with such website will help to acquire customer since the propective customer is making a decision by visiting to this market place.
Banners : This has been a tradition way of advertising by having a advertising banners on the reputed websites like Yahoo. The effectiveness of the advertising campaign depends on the number of visitors visiting the site.
Rich Media: The advertising has become more sophicated and the advertisement changes when a user hovers the cursor on the ad. This makes the ads more notifeable and the prospective is like to click on it when he clicks on it. The best example I can think of is ad of Visa Card.
Opt-in Email
When you visit any website, you will always notice a link to subscribe for updates. Subscribers will get updates on various offers available and they will be the first to know about it.
Co-branded Email: You will notice retailer sending emails advertising you on the offers for holiday on your loyalty card.
It is very important for your company to have a good online presence in the market place. The changes in the technology, change the way the merchandise is sold and how you budget for various resources in your business.
That is what CRM is about. You acquire the customer and retain them forever.
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-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking P. J. O'Rourke - "Cleanliness becomes more important when godliness is unlikely."
When your reputation is under attack, do not look for someone to blame,
do not weasel out by citing technicalities, and do not sidestep
responsibility. The to-do list forms this article. While you read it,
send for Amitabh Bachchan
Midway through an interview to
CNBC-TV18, ICICI Bank chief executive officer and managing director K V
Kamath looked at once livid and bemused. It was his first appearance on
news television since the big slump in the bank's stock — down 20 per
cent, termed the Friday Fall — on October 10. The interviewer had just
recited a list of the rumours floating around — one of them that the
bank's promoters and top executives were dumping ICICI Bank shares —
and requested Kamath to respond. "It was also heard that ICICI has
approached the government for a bailout and there is a possibility that
SBI (government-owned State Bank of India) may buy or amalgamate the
bank," the interviewer carried on. One by one, Kamath began to shoot
down the rumours and, according to image managers, imparted a lesson in
what not to do.
"Big mistake," pointed out a renowned public
relations expert who, understandably, doesn't want to be named. "Kamath
broke a public relations protocol during that programme, which says
that a company chief must not directly address rumours or accusations
during a crisis. That would be legitimising the rumours." This expert's
rationale is that rumours or accusations are used to force the hand of
the targeted company. If the company is seen to be responding to them
directly, that creates the impression that something is amiss.
ICICI
Bank refused to participate in this article, but it is not alone in
violating this so-called protocol. A few years ago, when the Centre for
Science and Environment (CSE) said that soft drinks sold in India
contained pesticide levels far above the Indian safety norms, the chief
executives of the two soft drink sultans — PepsiCo India and Coca-Cola
India — challenged the authenticity of the report.
-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Stephen Leacock - "I detest life-insurance agents: they always argue that I shall some day die, which is not so."
Just to let you know Management Accountant has been following NerdIndia on Twitter and become addictive to the updates. NerdIndian has been providing his social network updates on happening in Mumbai and I love to see pictures he takes from his Blackberry.
I realised that I check my facebook quite often and look for what others are doing. I have been looking for tools to incorporate in the Management Accountant Blog to connect people.
I like Firefox browser that allows flexibility of using add-ons and it is very user friendly. I installed an add-on Yoono to assist me. This has led me to create accounts in FriendFeed too. So when I start my work, I spend lot of time reading the updates.
The question that I ask myself, am I not wasting time in social networking ? The answer is readily available ... www.tweetwasters.com . I queried about my use of time on twitter.
talk2santosh has 177 total tweets and assuming they spent an average of 30 seconds per tweet they've spent 5,310 Seconds or 89 Minutes or 1.48 Hours or 0.06 Days using Twitter!
Tweetwasters rank: #9113 - Can I consider this a medal
and what about Nerdindia
Shishir Dhulla has 2,053 total tweets and assuming they spent an average of 30 seconds per tweet they've spent 61,590 Seconds or 1,027 Minutes or 17.11 Hours or 0.71 Days using Twitter!
You know, Twitter would fail if everyone used it like you. Only 17.11 hours? C'mon!
Tweetwasters rank: #3148. Does he qualify for Guiness Record.
The world has shrunk in size and so it typing. The shrink sequel .... Typewriter -> computer keyboard -> Laptop keyboard -> Mobile keyboard. Not to mention of iPhone with a touch typing feature. You spend more time typing on the phone rather than talking to friends. Let me correct ....You want to talk your followers.
From the page: "You want a phone that can do it all? Internet, music, photos, films, documents, texting, instant messaging, diary, contacts and ... err ... phone calls?
Then a smartphone is right for you. But as the market for high-end mobiles gets ever more crowded, which should you pick?
The global market leader, Symbian, makes the software that runs most of Nokia's smart phones (and a few others). "
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Most of us spend the most time at work, so letâ€s start there. If you have a to-do list thatâ€s a mile long â€" or worse yet, no to-do list at all â€" hereâ€s what you can do:
1. Do less. This is my favorite productivity tip, as long-time readers know â€" simplify your schedule by doing fewer things but focusing on the important things. This will greatly increase the impact of the time you do work, decreasing the time you need to work. What about the tasks you donâ€t do? See the tips below for more on dealing with them.
2. Delegate. If a task needs to be done but is not one of your most important tasks, and it can be done by someone else, delegate it. Sometimes you can get rid of half your to-do list by finding others who can do the task as well or even better than you can."
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
The institute of chartered accountants of India (ICAI), to fulfill the demand for trained accounting professionals and to support chartered accountants (CAs), is launching a new course for the second tier accountants or the accounting technicians.
The Accounting Technicians would not only fill the gaps at the operational level, but would also ensure that the value chain in the accounting process does not suffer.
With the launch of this course, students who have enrolled for the CA course, but for some reasons are not able to complete the course would have an option of becoming an Accounting Technician.
However at the same time, there is a scope for them to acquire CA qualification even after qualifying the Accounting Technician Course.
That's the positive side of the news.
Read further....
"People who have qualified intermediate exams and have completed three to five years of articleship, but couldn't become CAs would be eligible for this one year course."
"With the launch of this course, students who have enrolled for the CA course, but for some reasons are not able to complete the course would have an option of becoming an Accounting Technician.
However at the same time, there is a scope for them to acquire CA qualification even after qualifying the Accounting Technician Course."
This is to inform that as per amendment carried to the regulations vide notification dt 3rd December,2008 all such students who have passed either PE-II or Intermediate Exam and has completed the article training are eligible for grant of Accounting Technician Certificate on making an application . Accordingly all such eligible person are requested to make such application.
I believe it is an unethical way to convert the students who did not pass the flagship courses of ICAI to become a Accounting Technician. When anyone starts pursuing a professional qualification, he/she aspires to become a professional accountant. If he does not pass the exams, then this does not make him/her eligible to become a technician. A backward progression !!!
How CAT Technician progresses to become ACCA qualified Accountant in UK ?
"Whether you wish to start a career in finance, gain recognition for the wealth of skills and experience you have already achieved, or want accelerated progression to the ACCA Qualification and a more senior position in accountancy, ACCA's Certified Accounting Technician (CAT) qualification will help you towards your career of choice." Details here.
"Once you have completed all of the Certified Accounting Technician exams, you will automatically be transferred onto the ACCA Qualification and be awarded exemptions from the Part 1 papers 1.1–1.3 of the current syllabus (examined up until June 2007) or Papers F1–F3 on the new syllabus (examined from December 2007), unless you indicated on your registration form that you did not wish this transfer to be effected." Details here
No such exemptions is spelt out for those who pass as Accounting Technician and want to pursue further professional qualification like CA or ICWA in India. This clearly indicates that such courses are beneficial more to the Institutes rather than students.
"ICAI has its core competency in Financial Accounting. Their efforts are it is heard, more with the objective to ensure "Articled Students" for practicing CAs. they are finding it difficult to get them. That is the reason they also lowered their entry level......... And all said and done, it is in their own core competency area........ In ICAI we don't hear the financial gain as a major factor, for them it is more in the nature of supporting their Members in Practice."
Just look at the stipend an articled clerk gets for three years of articleship. A guess - 90% will never become a Chartered Accountant. ( I have never seen ICAI publish the exam passing rates on the website or their journal - a case of non disclosure. A hearsay the pass percentage is 2 %).
From the page: "Now that you have the list of targeted keyword phrases, the question is how you can optimize your blog for keywords that you have discovered. Blog page optimization is the process of making sure that your blog article functions in the most effective way possible in relation to search engines"
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "PwC was criticised by the UK accounting regulator for using loopholes to sell lucrative consulting services to its audit clients â€" a practice discouraged since the Enron scandal.
The Financial Reporting Council on Monday singled out the firm in the UK for its practice of allowing senior partners involved in making key audit judgments â€" but outside the audit department itself â€" to sell advisory services to audit clients.
EDITORâ€S CHOICE
Lombard: Awkward bedfellows in a downturn - Dec-08
Audit firms uneasy to be held to account - Dec-08
While that practice is not forbidden by auditor ethical standards, the FRC said it felt PwCâ€s policy went against the spirit of rules enacted to prevent a repeat of the 2001-02 Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals. "
...
-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking
Bob Hope - "I don't feel old. I don't feel anything till noon. That's when it's time for my nap."
From the page: "You want a phone that can do it all? Internet, music, photos, films, documents, texting, instant messaging, diary, contacts and ... err ... phone calls?
Then a smartphone is right for you. But as the market for high-end mobiles gets ever more crowded, which should you pick?
The global market leader, Symbian, makes the software that runs most of Nokia's smart phones (and a few others). "
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Most of us spend the most time at work, so letâ€s start there. If you have a to-do list thatâ€s a mile long â€" or worse yet, no to-do list at all â€" hereâ€s what you can do:
1. Do less. This is my favorite productivity tip, as long-time readers know â€" simplify your schedule by doing fewer things but focusing on the important things. This will greatly increase the impact of the time you do work, decreasing the time you need to work. What about the tasks you donâ€t do? See the tips below for more on dealing with them.
2. Delegate. If a task needs to be done but is not one of your most important tasks, and it can be done by someone else, delegate it. Sometimes you can get rid of half your to-do list by finding others who can do the task as well or even better than you can."
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
The institute of chartered accountants of India (ICAI), to fulfill the demand for trained accounting professionals and to support chartered accountants (CAs), is launching a new course for the second tier accountants or the accounting technicians.
The Accounting Technicians would not only fill the gaps at the operational level, but would also ensure that the value chain in the accounting process does not suffer.
With the launch of this course, students who have enrolled for the CA course, but for some reasons are not able to complete the course would have an option of becoming an Accounting Technician.
However at the same time, there is a scope for them to acquire CA qualification even after qualifying the Accounting Technician Course.
That's the positive side of the news.
Read further....
"People who have qualified intermediate exams and have completed three to five years of articleship, but couldn't become CAs would be eligible for this one year course."
"With the launch of this course, students who have enrolled for the CA course, but for some reasons are not able to complete the course would have an option of becoming an Accounting Technician.
However at the same time, there is a scope for them to acquire CA qualification even after qualifying the Accounting Technician Course."
This is to inform that as per amendment carried to the regulations vide notification dt 3rd December,2008 all such students who have passed either PE-II or Intermediate Exam and has completed the article training are eligible for grant of Accounting Technician Certificate on making an application . Accordingly all such eligible person are requested to make such application.
I believe it is an unethical way to convert the students who did not pass the flagship courses of ICAI to become a Accounting Technician. When anyone starts pursuing a professional qualification, he/she aspires to become a professional accountant. If he does not pass the exams, then this does not make him/her eligible to become a technician. A backward progression !!!
How CAT Technician progresses to become ACCA qualified Accountant in UK ?
"Whether you wish to start a career in finance, gain recognition for the wealth of skills and experience you have already achieved, or want accelerated progression to the ACCA Qualification and a more senior position in accountancy, ACCA's Certified Accounting Technician (CAT) qualification will help you towards your career of choice." Details here.
"Once you have completed all of the Certified Accounting Technician exams, you will automatically be transferred onto the ACCA Qualification and be awarded exemptions from the Part 1 papers 1.1–1.3 of the current syllabus (examined up until June 2007) or Papers F1–F3 on the new syllabus (examined from December 2007), unless you indicated on your registration form that you did not wish this transfer to be effected." Details here
No such exemptions is spelt out for those who pass as Accounting Technician and want to pursue further professional qualification like CA or ICWA in India. This clearly indicates that such courses are beneficial more to the Institutes rather than students.
"ICAI has its core competency in Financial Accounting. Their efforts are it is heard, more with the objective to ensure "Articled Students" for practicing CAs. they are finding it difficult to get them. That is the reason they also lowered their entry level......... And all said and done, it is in their own core competency area........ In ICAI we don't hear the financial gain as a major factor, for them it is more in the nature of supporting their Members in Practice."
Just look at the stipend an articled clerk gets for three years of articleship. A guess - 90% will never become a Chartered Accountant. ( I have never seen ICAI publish the exam passing rates on the website or their journal - a case of non disclosure. A hearsay the pass percentage is 2 %).
From the page: "Now that you have the list of targeted keyword phrases, the question is how you can optimize your blog for keywords that you have discovered. Blog page optimization is the process of making sure that your blog article functions in the most effective way possible in relation to search engines"
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "PwC was criticised by the UK accounting regulator for using loopholes to sell lucrative consulting services to its audit clients â€" a practice discouraged since the Enron scandal.
The Financial Reporting Council on Monday singled out the firm in the UK for its practice of allowing senior partners involved in making key audit judgments â€" but outside the audit department itself â€" to sell advisory services to audit clients.
EDITORâ€S CHOICE
Lombard: Awkward bedfellows in a downturn - Dec-08
Audit firms uneasy to be held to account - Dec-08
While that practice is not forbidden by auditor ethical standards, the FRC said it felt PwCâ€s policy went against the spirit of rules enacted to prevent a repeat of the 2001-02 Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals. "
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "Here it is: Googleâ€s strategy to take over the world. Or at least, this is Googleâ€s plan according to French consulting firm faberNovel, who summarize the Big Gâ€s plot - from YouTube, to the Facebook threat, to competing with Microsoft, to Googleâ€s iron grip on the online advertising market - and much more - in a mere 34 slides. "
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "Do you know whatâ€s going to happen to you tomorrow? The answer to this question is inevitably â€oeNo.†Even if you have the best plans and schedules, you canâ€t predict for sure whatâ€s going to happen.
So how do you deal with uncertainty? By accepting it."
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "The Nokia N97 is the new flagship model from the Finnish company. It comes with a 3.5-inch 640Ã--360 touchscreen display with tactile feedback, 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss glass lens, slide out QWERTY keypad, HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, A-GPS, 32GB internal memory and support for additional storage of up to 16GB via microSD. This marks the continuing evolution of Nokiaâ€s touchscreen phones and the first time an Nseries mobile phone featured a QWERTY keypad. While it does lack DVB-H technology thatâ€s found in the N96, Iâ€m sure most users wouldnâ€t mind that small sacrificial lamb for the N97â€s existing feature set."
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "Amidst all the talk about data portability and net identity, all that end users want to know is: how can I use this, and is it any good? Now both Google Friend Connect and Facebook Connect are open to everyone; weâ€ve looked into these two services to see what they offer and which one is easier to use.
So, whatâ€s the main difference here?
In the simplest of terms, both Google Friend Connect and Facebook Connect let you create applications on your website that allow your visitors to interact with the site and their friends by logging in with their Google, Facebook, or OpenID credentials.
The key difference between the two services is the fact that Facebook is one social network, while Google Friend Connect is open to any site, service or social network that uses OpenID for identification. For example, with Google Friend Connect your visitors can log in using their Gmail credentials, meaning that they donâ€t really have to be a part of any (strictly defined) social network at all. Facebook Connect, on the other hand, is useless to anyone whoâ€s not a Facebook user. "
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "Whilst this ruling should finally put an end to this debate I can report that the countless emails of bad practice by Chartered Accountants already supplied will be kept just in case.
This ruling should not be seen as some sort of Chartered Accountant â€oebashing†because that has never been our intention and never will. Our case has always been that there is good and bad in every organisation and that the ICAEW are not exempt from this and have no divine right to expect or demand otherwise.
The ICPA have always fought against any one body having sole rights to the title Accountant and we also point out that ICAEW members actually do have the sole right to the term Chartered Accountant which one would have thought was sufficient. If the leadership of the ICAEW had paid their small practice members the attention they deserve and merit rather than focusing on others then maybe just maybe this issue would never have arisen.
If the leadership is uncertain as to exactly what the membership actually need they could do worse than look at the benefits of membership of the ICPA for a start."
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "With an estimated fortune of $62 billion, Warren Buffett is the richest man in the entire world. In 1962, when he began buying stock in Berkshire Hathaway, a share cost $7.50. Today, Buffett, 78, is Berkshire's chairman and CEO, and one share of the company's class A stock worth close to $119,000. He credits his astonishing success to several key strategies, which he has shared with writer Alice Schroeder. She spend hundreds of hours interviewing the Sage of Omaha for the new authorized biography The Snowball. Here are some of Buffett's money-making secrets -- and how they could work for you."
-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Stephen Leacock - "I detest life-insurance agents: they always argue that I shall some day die, which is not so."
From the page: "Now that you have the list of targeted keyword phrases, the question is how you can optimize your blog for keywords that you have discovered. Blog page optimization is the process of making sure that your blog article functions in the most effective way possible in relation to search engines"
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "PwC was criticised by the UK accounting regulator for using loopholes to sell lucrative consulting services to its audit clients â€" a practice discouraged since the Enron scandal.
The Financial Reporting Council on Monday singled out the firm in the UK for its practice of allowing senior partners involved in making key audit judgments â€" but outside the audit department itself â€" to sell advisory services to audit clients.
EDITORâ€S CHOICE
Lombard: Awkward bedfellows in a downturn - Dec-08
Audit firms uneasy to be held to account - Dec-08
While that practice is not forbidden by auditor ethical standards, the FRC said it felt PwCâ€s policy went against the spirit of rules enacted to prevent a repeat of the 2001-02 Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals. "
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Franklin P. Jones - "All women should know how to take care of children. Most of them will have a husband some day."
From the page: "Here it is: Googleâ€s strategy to take over the world. Or at least, this is Googleâ€s plan according to French consulting firm faberNovel, who summarize the Big Gâ€s plot - from YouTube, to the Facebook threat, to competing with Microsoft, to Googleâ€s iron grip on the online advertising market - and much more - in a mere 34 slides. "
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Joe E. Lewis - "The way taxes are, you might as well marry for love."
From the page: "Do you know whatâ€s going to happen to you tomorrow? The answer to this question is inevitably â€oeNo.†Even if you have the best plans and schedules, you canâ€t predict for sure whatâ€s going to happen.
So how do you deal with uncertainty? By accepting it."
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "The Nokia N97 is the new flagship model from the Finnish company. It comes with a 3.5-inch 640Ã--360 touchscreen display with tactile feedback, 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss glass lens, slide out QWERTY keypad, HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, A-GPS, 32GB internal memory and support for additional storage of up to 16GB via microSD. This marks the continuing evolution of Nokiaâ€s touchscreen phones and the first time an Nseries mobile phone featured a QWERTY keypad. While it does lack DVB-H technology thatâ€s found in the N96, Iâ€m sure most users wouldnâ€t mind that small sacrificial lamb for the N97â€s existing feature set."
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "Amidst all the talk about data portability and net identity, all that end users want to know is: how can I use this, and is it any good? Now both Google Friend Connect and Facebook Connect are open to everyone; weâ€ve looked into these two services to see what they offer and which one is easier to use.
So, whatâ€s the main difference here?
In the simplest of terms, both Google Friend Connect and Facebook Connect let you create applications on your website that allow your visitors to interact with the site and their friends by logging in with their Google, Facebook, or OpenID credentials.
The key difference between the two services is the fact that Facebook is one social network, while Google Friend Connect is open to any site, service or social network that uses OpenID for identification. For example, with Google Friend Connect your visitors can log in using their Gmail credentials, meaning that they donâ€t really have to be a part of any (strictly defined) social network at all. Facebook Connect, on the other hand, is useless to anyone whoâ€s not a Facebook user. "
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "Whilst this ruling should finally put an end to this debate I can report that the countless emails of bad practice by Chartered Accountants already supplied will be kept just in case.
This ruling should not be seen as some sort of Chartered Accountant â€oebashing†because that has never been our intention and never will. Our case has always been that there is good and bad in every organisation and that the ICAEW are not exempt from this and have no divine right to expect or demand otherwise.
The ICPA have always fought against any one body having sole rights to the title Accountant and we also point out that ICAEW members actually do have the sole right to the term Chartered Accountant which one would have thought was sufficient. If the leadership of the ICAEW had paid their small practice members the attention they deserve and merit rather than focusing on others then maybe just maybe this issue would never have arisen.
If the leadership is uncertain as to exactly what the membership actually need they could do worse than look at the benefits of membership of the ICPA for a start."
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "With an estimated fortune of $62 billion, Warren Buffett is the richest man in the entire world. In 1962, when he began buying stock in Berkshire Hathaway, a share cost $7.50. Today, Buffett, 78, is Berkshire's chairman and CEO, and one share of the company's class A stock worth close to $119,000. He credits his astonishing success to several key strategies, which he has shared with writer Alice Schroeder. She spend hundreds of hours interviewing the Sage of Omaha for the new authorized biography The Snowball. Here are some of Buffett's money-making secrets -- and how they could work for you."
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "Every week, millions of people buy lottery tickets in the hope that this week, finally, it will be their turn to win big. But is being a lottery millionaire all itâ€s made out to be? Not according to this sorry bunch...
Who wants to be a millionaire? Most people, surely (except billionaires or course). But sadly, winning a truck-load of money on the lottery, any lottery, comes with a heap of baggage.
Day dreams of a millionaire lifestyle seem to have a habit of turning sour faster than a sub-prime mortgage â€" isolation, paranoia, drugs, crime, poverty and prison await those who fail to adjust, as this top ten of â€Lottery Losers†shows:"
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Joe E. Lewis - "The way taxes are, you might as well marry for love."
In the past 2 months Iâ€ve listened to over 40 pitches from French, Belgian, British, and Eastern European companies. About 1 in 15 presented their company in a way that would stick. This is because Europeans tend to build their case in a highly academic wayâ€"stating the conditions under which their offering makes sense and building their argument from there.
American audiences, on the other hand, are used to seeing â€oethe bottom line first†and they do things very fast by European standards. â€oeTheyâ€re like cowboys,†a Belgian CEO told me. â€oeFirst they shoot then they look.†This is a fundamental difference in how people present and perceive information. And it can mean the difference that gets you to that second meeting, someone writing about your startup, and even getting funding. "
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "The most important thing when starting a new blog is building the blog content. You always hear the phrase â€oeContent Is King†and it certainly is true when talking about blogging. Without unique and useful content your blog site will not be worth visiting. On the other hand, without great and keyword-rich content the search engines will not find, index nor rank your blog site very highly. So building unique and useful blog content is of major importance for your blog to start growing, get ranked in search engines and get loyal readership.
When your blog is new, it is very important to build new keyword rich, useful and unique content daily. My advice is to write one new blog post per day, at minimum, for first couple of weeks of your new blog. The more blog content and blog posts you have, the easier for search engines will be to find and crawl your blog site and the more interesting it will be for your visitors to bookmark your blog, subscribe to your RSS news feed and recommend your blog to their friends."
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
From the page: "Last year we featured over 100 web applications to organize every aspect of your life, from your belongings to your social calendar, and more. Since then, many have been significantly improved and lots of new apps have been released.
From basic to do lists to event planning, fitness, educational organizers, and more, here are 100 new applications to get you even more organized."
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-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Jim Bishop - "Golf is played by twenty million mature American men whose wives think they are out having f...
From the page: "Every now and again I get an email from a ProBlogger reader excitedly telling me that theyâ€re about quit their jobs to become full time bloggers. More often than not they are new bloggers who for one reason or another have it in their minds that blogging for money is a quick and easy thing to do.
This post is yet another attempt (Iâ€ve done this 2-3 times a year since 2004) to help bloggers thinking about blogging for money to get a realistic picture of what is possible.
I always struggle a little with responding to these emails. On the one hand I love the enthusiasm that new bloggers often have and donâ€t want to be responsible for squashing it and leaving them despondent."
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Firefox is gaining ground for good reason: itâ€s simple, reliable and secure. Its tabbed browsing led to a similar remodel in IE and it has a slew of add-ons that give it a leg up over the competition. Itâ€s slowly becoming the new standard with a steady audience, and that will be hard to beat anytime soon. And its open source platform leaves room for alternatives and experimental niche browsers like Flock.
Flock 2.0 is basically a Firefox with a lot of perks and pre-installed add-ons for those heavy into social networking. Think of it as a FriendFeed of the browser world, which brings all of your friends from 23 various networks together in a sidebar. It is also one of the first browsers to incorporate media feeds for photos and videos. Flock is all about sharing what you find on the web as you surf, and it allows you to accomplish this pretty easily by dragging and dropping them either into an email or onto a friend."
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-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking
Jim Bishop - "Golf is played by twenty million mature American men whose wives think they are out having f...
As the companies grow in the size, the number of stakeholders increase. Companies have to cater to the interests of its stakeholders such as local communities, vendors, employees, legislators so on and so forth.
Performance Prism is one of the development in management accounting put forth by Cranfield University. The theory is performance of an organisation depends on how effectively it meets the needs and requirements of all its stakeholders.
Approach: Starting with Stakeholders, not with Strategy. Five key questions for measurement design:
Stakeholder Satisfaction – who are the key stakeholders and what do they want and need?
Strategies – what strategies do we have to put in place to satisfy the wants and needs of these key stakeholders?
Processes – what critical processes do we require if we are to execute these strategies?
Capabilities – what capabilities do we need to operate and enhance these processes?
Stakeholder Contribution – what contributions do we require from our stakeholders if we are to maintain and develop these capabilities?
Once the answers to the above questions have been dealt, Performance Prism can use the results to identify performance measures which will enable the company to monitor the success of processes in place.
From the page: "Ottawa, November 28, 2008 â€" Canada will stay the course on immigration in 2009, welcoming between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents, Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, announced today.
â€oeWhile countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia are talking about taking fewer immigrants, our planned numbers for 2009 are on par with last year and are among the highest for this country over the past 15 years,†Minister Kenney said. â€oeThe numbers reflect a continued commitment to an immigration program that balances Canadaâ€s economic, humanitarian and family reunification goals.â€
The 2009 plan includes up to 156,600 immigrants in the economic category; 71,000 in the family category; and 37,400 in the humanitarian category.
Minister Kenney also announced another step in measures to improve the immigration programâ€s responsiveness to Canadaâ€s labour market. Retroactive to February 27, 2008, the date specified by the Federal Budget, the Action Plan for Faster Immigration includes issuing instructions to visa officers reviewing new federal skilled worker applications to process those from candidates who:"
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From the page: "There are fast computers, and then there are Linux fast computers. Every six months, the Top 500 organization announces "its ranked list of general purpose systems that are in common use for high end applications." In other words, supercomputers. And, as has been the case for years now, the fastest of the fast are Linux computers.
As Jay Lyman, an analyst at The 451 Group points out, Linux is only growing stronger in supercomputing. "When considered as the primary OS or part of a mixed-OS supersystem, Linux is now present in 469 of the supercomputer sites, 93.8% of the Top500 list. This represents about 10 more sites than in November 2007, when Linux had presence in 91.8% of the systems. In fact, Linux is the only operating system that managed gains in the November 2008 list. A year ago, Linux was the OS for 84.6% of the top supercomputers. In November 2008, the open source OS was used in 87.8% of the systems. Compare this to Unix, which dropped from 6% to 4.6%, mixed-OS use which dropped from 7.2% to 6.2% and other operating systems, including BSD, Mac OS X and Windows, which were all down this year from the November 2007 list." "
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From the page: "European lawmakers recently asked for International Financial Reporting Standards to be changed so that companies donâ€t have to reflect economic reality in their financial statements. Yes, you read correctly. To hell with the facts, please just give us something (anything) to smile about.
Accordingly, two things should be noted about IFRS, the new accounting rules coming to Canada. First, the people who set the rules bend quickly to the will of companies and politicians when the end results become unattractive. Second, the recent rule change in Europe was aimed at curbing the effects of fair-valuing assets, which is a major strike at the very heart of IFRS.
Turning to the details, the rule change allows companies to defer recognizing certain losses when assets are marked to market (which is to say, they are fair-valued based on available market data). Essentially, if the unrealized losses become too large, and the company does not want to take the hit to income, the assets can simply be reclassified (after the fact). Executives merely have to claim they will hold on to the assets and assume that the market for them will recover. "
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-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Bertrand Russell - "I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
From the page: "Britain's bribery laws are finally set for an overhaul withe Law Commission bringing in a set of proposals that would make Britain's enforcement standards more like the US.
Under the proposals, British companies could be liable for prosecution if they are involved in bribery activity overseas. It will be deemed to be as much an offence if it was perpetrated in Britain.
Another proposal is to bring in a separate offence of bribing a foreign official. Failure to prevent bribery is also an offence. The Law Commission explains: "Under our recommendations, traditional criminal liability should be extended only as far as the creation of an offence of negligently 'failing to prevent' bribery committed by a person performing services on behalf of the organisation in question. This is because we believe, especially where larger organisations operating nation-wide and world-wide are concerned, that it is such failures that are a key factor in the perpetuation of the practice of bribery. This is especially (but not solely) the case when bribery takes place in environments where there is, or is believed to be, a 'culture' of bribe-taking."
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From the page: "What if I told you that you could be totally lazy and irresponsible, and still accomplish just as much? What if you could slack off, loiter, and essentially do nothing and get more done than the average person. Itâ€s a bit of an art, but you can master this skill with some practice.
Some of these things may seem like a lot of work up front, but thatâ€s the price you have to pay to lounge around all day."
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From the page: "An image is an act of communication. Images play an important role in the presentation of ideas. Worth more than a thousand words, they encapsulate meaning by both simplifying and embodying conceptual theories.They make information more appealing, more persuasive. In the realm of art or activism, images reflect the underlying current of collective feeling by vocalizing both public consensus and private desires.
On the internet, you can see the same popular pictures in websites of every language. Russian, Chinese, French or English. Images transcend linguistic and cultural barriers faced by text. There is no need for machine or human translation. No need for mediation.
Like videos, images can spread very quickly online with little artificial push. Are they inherently more â€viral†than textual content? It is difficult to say with certainty if it indeed has a higher potential for popularity. But images have undeniable value in spreading ideas. Especially when they are elegantly integrated with the use of text to present information"
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From the page: "A senior fellow at the Canada West Foundation in Calgary feels that Canada's points based system is failing in one of its fundamental objectives by not necessarily selecting immigrants who would make the greatest contribution to the nation.
Robert Vineberg was quoted in an article in the Vancouver Sun as saying that 'The original points system, introduced in 1967, was linked closely to labour market demand and an immigrant's potential to meet that demand.'
He went on to say that 'the system worked not only because it was simple, but also because the number of people around the world applying at the time roughly equaled Canada's ability to process cases.' However, applications quickly began to outpace the system's ability to process them.
The points system and the pass mark were adjusted in an attempt to control volume, with too much emphasis placed on formal education and training. By 2008, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) found themselves with a backlog of more than 600,000 cases."
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From the page: "t is said that the state of your body, postures and hand gestures can tell a lot about your personality and communicate your thoughts. Employers abide to this as a hard rule while judging candidates for a job. Most employers have had made an opinion about a candidate in first 10-15 minutes or so. That is because only 15% of our communication is through words and the rest happens automatically through our eyebrow movement, hand gestures, our posture and what not. This silent form of wordless communication is known as body language.
What we communicate through body language at times happens without an enforced effort on out part. It just happens on itâ€s own. For instance you wonâ€t believe someone who just said, â€oeI am happy†with a long face and slagging shoulders - you would know its not the case. The other person wanted you to believe he was happy by saying so but you came to know the truth by what he communicated through his body language."
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-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking George Bernard Shaw - "Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children."
The ICAEW has Thursday 20 November signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in India (ICAI) which will establish closer working relations between the two bodies as well as new recognition arrangements for members.
CA. Ved Jain, President ICAI in his address remarked "This is a historic and a momentous occasion for the members of the ICAI and ICAEW. These are two largest accounting bodies with membership of over 150,000 & 130,000 respectively. The two Institutes have been following highest standards of professional education, training, technical & ethical standards. At this point of time, seeing the need of the hour, we have to make our profession recognized globally. The MoU entails coming together of two largest Accounting bodies working in tandem with each other to provide a synergy. This agreement would facilitate mobility of members across the borders and further strengthen the ties between India and United Kingdom (U.K.). Our mission is to make the next decade for accounting professionals. We look forward to working closely with each other and to collaborate further in the field of research & accounting."
Commenting on the signing of the MoU, Michael Izza, ICAEW chief executive said:
"India has emerged as a significant player in the global economy. As a result of this agreement, members of the ICAEW will be able to work as chartered accountants within India. We also look forward to welcoming ICAI members to the ICAEW. Removing barriers for our members across markets through agreements such as this is an important part of our international strategy."
Minimum Entry Requirements for ICAI member to join ICAEW
Members of the ICAI who have obtained membership by complying with its training and examinations requirements can become a member of the ICAEW. You must maintain ICAI membership to be eligible for ICAEW membership, and comply with our CPD obligations and Code of Ethics.
ICAI members must complete the ICAEW's Technical Integration Business Reporting and Technical Integration Business Change papers, Case Study and Structured Training in Ethics programme.
If you have two years of appropriate work experience, you will not need to take the Technical Integration papers. Click here for details.
Route for ICAEW member to become member of ICAI
On the other hand, members of ICAEW who are trained in public practice will become eligible for ICAI membership subject to passing ICAI's 4 no.s of examination papers for the special modules – Taxation; Law, Ethics & Communication; Information Technology & Strategic Management; and Auditing &Assurance. Click here for more details
Practice certificate
ICAEW practice certificate
Members of the ICAI who join the ICAEW will be eligible for an ICAEW practicing certificate on the same basis as ICAEW members.
General practice rights in India
Similarly, members of the ICAEW who join the ICAI will have general practice rights, excluding audit rights in India.
Professional Oversight Board
As part of the agreement, the ICAEW has also agreed to assist the ICAI in any representations made to the Professional Oversight Board to grant UK audit rights to ICAI members.
Which Qualification is Expensive ?
The entry requirement for an ICAI member to ICAEW, UK is very stringent and expensive as compared to other way round. See Applying for Credit for prior learning.
Your two years' post qualification experience must be certified by your current (and if appropriate, past) employer as meeting the learning outcomes of the ICAEW's Technical Integration Business Change and Technical Integration Business Reporting papers.
Learning outcomes
To assess this, please review the learning outcomes. If you are employed, you will need to ask your employer to review these documents before signing the declaration.
ICAI members who are sole practitioners may self-certify that their post-qualification experience meets the aims and learning outcomes of these papers.
Cost of credit for prior learning
If sitting the ICAEW Advanced Stage Technical Integration papers £ 840.00
If applying for credit for ICAEW Advanced Stage Technical Integration papers £1,150.00
ICAI norms for ICAEW members entry are very easy since ICAI accepts the standards of ICAEW membership. ICAEW member has to pass 4 papers in ICAI examination. See details. Surprising ICAI has mentioned that the applicants have to register with Northern Region of ICAI instead HQ (Is ICAI process dependent or Region dependent !!!). So ICAEW members can gain the membership of ICAI quickly and start practising in India.
Setting apart the entry requirements, I feel, signing of MOU is a good sign of progress by an Indian Accounting body. The standards of ICAI are bound to improve in course of time and also other Indian institutions will follow suit in pursing an alliance or MOU or MRA with overseas bodies.
The party that would be benefited the most would be the one that has a larger business interest. The top 4 accounting firms, 3 are from UK and they have a strong presence in India.
With the MOU between the two accounting bodies, the qualifications of ICAEW members has become easily portable and partners of UK based firms in India will be on the register of ICAI. I do not feel that there are currently Indian Accounting firms in the UK and it would take years to build the presence, given the fact that Big 4 are dominating the world.
I wish good luck to members of ICAI and ICAEW to gain membership of each other accounting bodies and make the most of it.
-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Groucho Marx - "Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot."
From the page: "It is a rare person who lives without fear of one kind or another. You may fear heights, or spiders, or new situations, or rejectionâ€"whatever your fears may be, you can either let those fears form boundaries beyond which you canâ€t move or grow, or you can face them head-on and allow them to become opportunities to move into new places in your life. The choice is truly yours.
Fear can be paralyzing, literally, for some people. As a camp counselor many years ago, I helped teach rappelling to high-school students, and there were some who were eager to step off the edge of the cliff and experience the thrill of zipping down on a rope. But there were some who were so afraid of heights (or more specifically, of falling), that no matter how much I tried to assure them that the rope would not break, and that they could completely control their rate of descent, they simply froze up and could not take that first step over the edge."
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From the page: "YouTube a few minutes ago announced that theyâ€re officially changing the size and aspect ratio of the standard video player on the site.
Weâ€re expanding the width of the page to 960 pixels to better reflect the quality of the videos you create and the screens that you use to watch them. This new, wider player is in a widescreen aspect ratio which we hope will provide you with a cleaner, more powerful viewing experience. And donâ€t worry, your 4:3 aspect ratio videos will play just fine in this new player."
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From the page: "If you tell your brain you will â€oegive it a try,†you are actually telling your brain to fail. I have a â€oeno try†rule in my house and with everyone I interact with. Either people will do it or they wonâ€t. Either they will be at the party or they wonâ€t. Iâ€m brutal when people attempt to lie to me by using the word try. Do they think I donâ€t know they are really telegraphing to the world they have no intention of doing it but they want me to give them brownie points for pretended effort? You will never hear the words â€oeIâ€ll try†come out of my mouth unless Iâ€m teaching this concept in a seminar.
If you â€oetry†and do something, your unconscious mind has permission not to succeed. If I truly canâ€t make a decision I will tell the truth. â€oeSorry John. Iâ€m not sure if I will be at your party or not. Iâ€ve got an outstanding commitment. If that falls through, I will be here. Otherwise, I will not. Thanks for the invite.â€
People respect honesty. So remove the word â€oetry†from your vocabulary."
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From the page: "The Companies Bill 2008, now pending with Parliament has initiated certain significant steps towards accountability, transparency and rationalisation of measures relating to audit and accounts. Some significant measures have been addressed by the Companies Bill 2008. Itâ€s heartening to see that some of these are broadly in line with similar international requirements.
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The Bill has notified a list of services as prohibited services that an auditor of a company can never provide. Further, the provision of prohibited services or deficiency in conducting the audit would expose an auditor to a hefty penalty and knowing or wilful contravention can additionally attract imprisonment for one year. Such a conviction would additionally require the auditor to refund all remuneration received by him to the company and become liable to make good the loss arising out of his incorrect / misleading report to any other affected person."
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From the page: "In the U.S., the Thanksgiving holiday is only days away, and people all over the world are dusting off their holiday decorations for another season of good tidings and cheer.
So in light of this annual tradition, we thought weâ€d make your last weeks of 2008 with Firefox more thematically complete. Take a look at these add-ons. Theyâ€ll help get you in a snow shoveling and home decorating mood. And all the better to enjoy your Harry Connick Jr. album collection, or whatever you playlist when lighting candles and hanging strings of tinsel.
Share your festive Firefox picks in the comments!"
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-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Samuel Goldwyn - "I'm willing to admit that I may not always be right, but I am never wrong."
From the page: "This expression is used when one buys a stock where the price is spiralling down. The expression implies that if you try to do that, you will get hurt.
I have seen this expression used indiscriminately. If the price of a stock is dropping, it does not mean that it is a falling knife scenario. There are a few conditions one must look for to avoid such a situation
- The core business is hurting and the company is losing money. However at the same time the business model is also broken and the company may not return to profitability in the future
- There is a crisis of confidence in the company. This in turn impacts the companyâ€s ability to raise capital. This is true in case of banks and other leveraged instutions.
- There is a likelyhood of fraud or other manipulation and as a result one does not know the underlying situation and cannot arrive at the business value
There have been a few such situations in the US (Global trust bank is one example I can remember in india), especially with financial firms. Banks and other leveraged companies operate on trust. A bank is technically insolvent and is able to operate based on the trust that the depositor will get his money back when he or she requires it. If the stock price or credibility starts dropping, it can become a self-fullfilling prophecy. If depositors panic, the bank can be driven to bankruptcy. Case in point: Lehman brothers, Indymac, Wachovia etc in the US."
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From the page: "A few months before XL Leisure Group, Britain's third-largest tour operator, filed for bankruptcy in September, leaving thousands of holidaymakers stranded, it issued a set of accounts, signed off by its auditors, that gave no hint it was about to go bust. Such experiences haunt auditors as they grapple with year-end accounts in the cruellest economic climate most have ever experienced. "Companies and their auditors have got to get used to the idea that nothing is as it used to be," comments Will Rainey, a partner at Ernst & Young, one of the big-four accounting firms.
The problem is that year-end accounts are prepared on the basis that a business is a "going concern", ie, that it will operate for the foreseeable future, or at least 12 months after the reporting period. That judgment is made by the board of directors, and auditors have to agree with it."
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From the page: "More than a third of small businesses did not seek external financial advice in the 12 months to October this year, despite the economic downturn, according to the Forum of Private Business (FPB).
Independant Financial Advisor
The FPB survey highlighted that 36% of small firms have not sought advice from banks and accountancy firms. 10% of those firms had not done so because they received poor advice in the past, while 14% cited a lack of faith in the adviserâ€s knowledge. FPB spokesman Phil McCabe said:
â€oeWhoever they go to for advice, whether thatâ€s a dedicated bank manager or an accountant, it is important to have a regular professional opinion on the best way to use their money,†.
â€oeThe risk is that businesses will fold if they donâ€t get regular advice on how to control cashflow and how to access finance, but this is particularly important at this difficult time,†he added."
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From the page: "Google introduced SearchWiki, a search results customization feature, to the public this week. Naturally, there are comparisons being made with Wikia Search, one of the original roll-your-own search machines.
So we ask: Which is best?
Googleâ€s broad implementation of editing options is of course going to grab more eyes, and thus more interest, than Wikia Search. But letâ€s do a quick shootout among technical competitors, shall we? A little mano-a-mano for fans and opponents alike to consider, eh?"
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From the page: "Rajendra Patil is conducting sessions on Activity Based Costing/Management concepts and a product demo tour. This session takes around two hours.
The highlight would be
* What is ABM?
* Benefits and Uses of ABM
* Terminology
* Building an ABC Model
* The Power of ABM
* Reporting ABC Information
* Implementing an ABM Initiative
* Requirements for Success
* Addressing pain areas specific to your industry."
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From the page: "Ever have one of those days when it seems thereâ€s not a minute to catch your breath, let alone meditate or relax? A day when you feel like the proverbial busy bee, with no time to admire the fragrant flowers youâ€re landing on?
Leo has given us some wise ways to relax, simplify, and take life more slowly, but you might still find it tricky to always put these suggestions to use. Or, perhaps for you, some days flow smoothly, but there are still some - or many - during which taking a break feels impossible.
On those days, instead of an evening, an hour, or even 15 minutes to relax, could you spare 6 seconds?
Yes, thatâ€s right… 6 seconds. "
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From the page: "The plunging price of oil, dropping to its lowest level in more than three years, is likely to reshape the world significantly. It's great for motorists and businesses, but there are some disturbing signs when you look at how it will affect business and other countries.
Big companies are now scaling back multi-billion projects, which means potential job losses and low growth. Here's a list.
Cheap oil might also have an impact on a geo-political scale. Iran's dependence on oil revenues is a worry, particularly amidst concerns that it might have a crude nuclear warhead in three to four years time. Iran's economic woes might push that regime over the edge. For a fuller analysis of the situation, read here.
The Guardian warns that the tumbling oil price
would push Russia into a new economic crisis and total collapse. "The oil slump, however, exacerbates Russia's already severe economic problems. Since May Russian markets have lost 70% of their value. Russia's central bank, meanwhile, has been spent $57.5bn in two months trying to prop up the country's ailing currency."
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From the page: "Thatâ€s right. Facebook says it now has 120 million members. By my reckoning, thatâ€s 2% of the worldâ€s 6 billion people.
If you think thatâ€s astonishing, consider that thereâ€s still plenty of low hanging fruit for Facebook to pluck. I know plenty of tech savvy people, many of them under 30, who have yet to sign up. Inevitably, these people will give in."
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-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking
Yogi Berra - "I never said most of the things I said."
From the page: "Facebook executives think they can use the economic downturn to gain ground on the competition. So they're going to great lengths to keep user growth on track in these rough times. The company is gearing up for more acquisitions, hiring rapidly, and rolling out new advertising programs. Rather than trim the site's development costs, Facebook has engineers cooking up versions in languages such as Xhosa, Tagalog, and French Canadian to go after niche audiences around the world. "We're in this game not just for five or 10 years," says Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer. "We're in it for 20 to 30 years." "
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-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking
Rodney Dangerfield - "I looked up my family tree and found out I was the sap."
-- http://www.managementaccountant.in - Tips in International Career, Accounting, Blogging and Social Networking Yogi Berra - "I never said most of the things I said."
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