Native American Lierature Essay Example for Free

Native American Lierature Essay Native American culture is an evolving topic for people who consider themselves Natives now but throughout the history of their ancestors they have been forced to define themselves over and over again. The culture that exists today is not the same one that existed but has changed due to the events going on in the world around them and the desire to fit in a constantly changing world. Most of what has survived time from the Native American legacy is the things that now define what Native Americans used to be to most of the culture today. These are the things that today are seen on television, people in odd little pieces of clothing riding bare back on horses making noises by patting their mouth with their hand. But this is not very representative of the culture as a whole. One of the main ways histories is passed down for any group of people to its descendants is through story and the Native American people did this in a more unique and powerful way them most cultures. Each of these stories in the collection of Native American authors have one thing in common (besides the fact that they are all Native American) and it is that they are all telling their story. No other culture only writes about what they know but they tell stories of epic heroes of long ago and they can be used to fill in the history of the people that write. Story telling for this culture is not just way to entertain themselves or each other but a way of sharing what they have learned and the history of their people. Most Native American stories are written with a purpose. The literary devices that are used within Native American Literature have come out of the tradition of vocal storytelling that later gets put from pen to paper. One literary device that was used is imagery for example in â€Å"The Little People† by Maria Campbell she goes on about the house to tell the reader about how their houses were different and similar at the same time. â€Å"There were open beams on the ceiling and under these ran four long poles the length of the house. The poles served as racks where furs where hung to dry in the winter†¦ roots hanging from the walls†. Campbell page 77). In another story â€Å"Return to White Earth† by John Rogers he goes into such detail about little things like how they made dishes, â€Å"†¦Mother would teach us how to make dishes out of birch bark†¦ it was urgent that we understood how to make our own dishes. These we fashioned as we needed them, for always did we carry birch bark with us. Sometimes we had soup, and this would call for deeper dishes. The dishes were always burned after each meal- no washing and nothing left around to attract bugs or flies. † (Rogers, page 53). These details seem randomly placed in the stories since sometimes things that one might feel like there should be detail to has little to no detail like when Campbell talks about her uncle’s death she talks about it like it was no big deal (Campbell page 79). But these stories are not just stories for the sake of entertainment but many of these stories are autobiographies that people wrote later in their lives. The details that they remember are not always the ones that one would classify as important but it is knowledge that the details that are written in the book are the ones that impacted the Native American’s live the most. People of any culture often seek an identity to label themselves with so that they can fit into society. The Native American culture has been changed quickly since the United States began and moved west taking over their territories. This causes many of the stories that take place to end a very different setting then it started. An identity can do many things for a person including giving their lives definition from legal, to social and personal purposes. The role of social identity plays its way with the Native American literature and storytelling like it does with any scenario. Any person who is looking to social belong within a group of people is going to change themselves to some degree in order to do so. When people within a group change their behavior it causes the group itself to slowly change its dynamic. Most of the character’s within this week’s readings are not only subject to the community they are in and the rules that their people live by but also the rules and communities of other people and villages that practice similar ways of living or are forced to occupy the same space. These stories are written for what feels like the ancestors of the people who wrote the story to begin with. Much like the oral tradition of story telling it seems like the writing was meant as a way to pass down the tribe’s histories to the next generation. Being that American English majors of the twenty first century we are probably not the target audience sometimes the language is hard to understand. The Native people lived in these lands longer then the American people have but over time the Americans have come into the lives of the Natives and forced them either leave to live by the rules of a different people. This change did not happen over night but it is why the stories in this book are so very different over time. The stories help pass down traction from the elders to their daughters, sons and grandchildren without have the type of rule books that many cultures follow. The Native American people have had hard times but have grown in with the culture that surrounds them and has adapted to living lives both true to themselves and socially expectable which are two things that often are not easy to coincide.

Devadasi System in India

Devadasi System in India Commonly known as dancing girls or temple girls is a system that has come in to existence for more than thousand years. When the great tamil kings belonging to the erstwhile Chola, Chera and Pandya Kings built huge temples for their gods, they felt that there is a need to maintain these temples in a proper way and thus need full time devotees to take care of the diety and the temple premises. One other angle given to constructing Huge temples are to protect the people from flood, cyclone or any other natural disaster. In other words, temples are meant to be shelter for the people of that area from natural disasters. Hence they appointed girls to maintain these temples. The main function of these girls are to sing and performing dances and taking care of the diety. They are considered to be the wives of the gods in the temple in which they are appointed. They are not allowed to marry any mortal man during their life time. These girls are held in High esteem as they are considered to b e close confident of the god. The dance which they perform is famously known as Barathanatyam the most famous dance form of South India. This practice of dedicating girls to deities are commonly known as Devadasi System and the girls thus dedicated are known as Devadasi which is a Sanskrit word or Thevaradiyar which is a Tamil word that literally means female slaves of the god. As mentioned above these Devadasi are expected to be experts in Music and Dance. As years passed their service shifted from gods to earthly gods and lords . They are forced to do service not only to the deities, but also to the landlords and rich devotees of the deities. In short, they started living the life of a prostitute with religious sanction and customary backing. Initially this system was prevalent only among the upper caste Hindus particularly of the Brahmin community . The British colonization of India brought major change in the religious and cultural fabric of India. The upper caste Brahmins occupied major positions in British rule and were able to recognize the dance performed by Devadasi as Bharatanatyam and were able to give a cultural supremacy for this form of dance, thus bringing out devadasiss to main stream of life. However, the Brahminical Hindu Religion which is known for its Caste imbalances and discrimination against the lower caste sowed the seeds of the system into economically, politically and socially disadvantaged lower caste Dalit Hindus. This system started spreading its tentacles to other parts of the country in different forms and names such as Bogams in Andhra Pradesh, Jogatis or Basavis in Karnataka, Thevaradiyar in Tamil Nadu, Muralis in Maharashtra, Maharis in Kerala. Dalits dedicated their girls to the Diety mainly because of two reasons one is because of the superstitious belief that it will bring glory to their family and their village, the other one is the economical reason that it is very difficult for the parents to marry of their daughter because of the prevalent dowry system and also if they dedicate the girl to the Diety, their family will be taken care of by the village rich man to whom the girl do the sexual favours in the name of the Diety. Over a period of time, this practice has represented a clear violation of Human Rights with these Dalit Devadasis were dedicated with a hidden object of performing sexual favours to initially upper caste Hindus and then they become a public property forcing them to enter prostitution. They are also not allowed to marry any man of their choice and often fell a prey into the hands of Broker agents representing brothels from Mumbai and other areas. Several movements India is a party to a number of Human Rights Instruments like that of International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights 1966, The International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966, The International Convention for the Elimination of All forms of racial Discrimination 1966 which advocates for among others, equal rights for women and prohibits racial discrimination in any count. Added to that provincial states in India has enacted legislation like The Bombay Devadasi Act 1934, The Devadasi(Prevention of Dedication) Madras Act 1947; The Karnataka Devadasi (Prohibition of Dedication) Act, 1982 to tackle this menace of Devadasi System. Irrespective of this, it is widely reported that this system prevails in some parts of India particularly among the Dalit community. This paper attempts to find out the root causes of the system and the reason why this system is still prevalent in India. Accordingly, this paper is divided into four parts, the ongoing is the first part that introduces the topic, Part II deals with the History and Origin of Devadasi System, Part III deals with the Social movements that fought against the Devadasi system, Part IV analyses Indias obligation to eradicate the system in line with the international obligation which it assumed through various treaties and finally part IV concludes with recommendations to eradicate the same. DEVADASI SYSTEM AND VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS: STATUS OF INDIAS LEGAL OBLIGATION Devadasis could face discrimination on three counts viz as a woman, as a Dalit and sometimes as a child. International community has time and again tried to address the issue by way of multilateral Conventions/Treaties making member states to eliminate these kind of discriminations. Accordingly a number of International Instruments are made at the international level to address these menace which includes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant for Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the International Convention for Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimintion against Women (CEDAW). One of the purposes of the United Nations is to achieve international co-operation in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of this purpose. Art 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Art 2 further bestows rights upon individuals without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Similarly Art of the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights 1966, prohibits discrimination of any kind including discrimination based on social origin . Art 2(1) of ICCPR mandates the state parties to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present covenant. Art 2(2) requires the state parties to adopt such legislative or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to the rights As mentioned above, India is a founding member of these Conventions. However India has not till date enacted any enabling legislation to implement the same in the domestic sphere. Without an implementing legislation Indian courts may not be able to enforce the provision of these treaties in the domestic realms. Needless to say, Treaties are considered to be the main source of international law. When it comes to human rights, treaties play an important role. Human rights treaties have contributed to the development of customary rules and general principles of international law. They create obligations not only among parties but also between parties and individuals. More important, these treaties have become a source of inspiration to many judges and lawyers in their interpretation of domestic legislation. Some international organizations grant their membership only to those states, which. ratify certain human rights treaties. The ratification of human rights treaties demonstrates the ratifying states adherence to civilised standards. As a result, a states credentials in international society depend in part a1 least on the acceptance of and compliance with its obligations under human rights treaties. Thus the ratification of Human Rights treaties by India may be seen as an act to outshow the world that it is a civilized nation thus avoiding isolation in international Human Rights diplomacy. But the non-enactment of a domestic enabling legislation alone cannot be considered as failure on the part of the member state to fulfill the international obligation which it assumed by way of treaty. A state may not go for the enactment of domestic legislation if it is satisfied with its existing legislative mechanism that the legislation in place are sufficient enough to tackle the menace. In this regard it is imperative to look and analyse the legislative mechanism in India aimed at the abolition of the system of Devadasi. Indian Constitutional and Legal Provisions relating to Womens Rights Indian Constitution contains several provisions relating to women and children. However equality and freedom has always been neglected in the name .of custom, honour, family welfare and social prestige. Equality that is guaranteed in the constitution of India is a dynamic one. While hoping for the ideal of equality, it does not recognise the realities of inequalities. Article 14 of the Constitution recognises equality before law for all citizens without any discrimination. Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Article 15 (3) says about protective discrimination to women and children and Article 21 says about the protection of life and liberty to all. The Constitution also ensures protection against traffic in human beings and forced labour. Art 42 says about provisions for just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief. The protection for women in the work place is given in factories Act 1948. It includes several welfare regulations and protective measures for women and children in working places, section 125 of criminal procedure code 1973 provides maintenance to women. Indian penal code Sections 509, 294 and 354 deals with Eve-teasing and sexual Harassment. The Indecent Representation Of women (protection) Act, 1986 for preventing the depiction of a woman in a manner which is derogating or denigrating to women, or which is likely to corrupt public morality through advertisement. Publications, writings, paintings, figures, or in any other manner. Indian Judiciary was also pro-active in guarding womens rights in general. In some of the leading cases such as In State of u.P. v. Boden Sundara Rao the Apex Court came down h eavily on the High Court of Andhra Pradesh for awarding grossly inadequate sentence in the following words: Crimes against women are c;m the rise. Imposition of grossly inadequate sentence and particularly against the mandate of the legislature not only is an injustice to .the victim of the crime in particular and the society as a whole in general, but also at times encourages a criminal. The courts must not only keep in view the rights of the criminal but also the rights of the victim of a crime and the society at large while considering importance of appropriate punishment. In Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan. The Vishaka, an Organization working for the welfare of the women, moved toSC when a social worker was gangraped in Rajasthan. While deciding the case the Supreme Court brought the international conventions in Indian Law. How they are trying to incorporate it is very well understood from the words. . Some Provisions in the CEDAW-Arts 11 and 24 as also general recommendations of CEDAW in this context-articles 11, 22, 23, 24 as ratified in the present context are of significant. According to the Supreme Court, Sexual harassment includes such unwelcome behaviour (whether directly or by implication) as: (i) physical contact or advances: (ii) a demand to request for sexual favours; (iii) sexllally co loured remarks; (iv) showing pornography; (v) any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual behaviour. Though the Indian system is quite effective in protecting the Womens rights, it served limited purpose in protecting women who are Devadasis particularly from the Dalit community. Needless to say there were several legislations which prohibited this system and provided rehabilitation for the same.

Patriarchy in Shyam Selvadurai’s Pigs Can’t Fly Essay -- Shyam Selvadu

Patriarchy in Shyam Selvadurai’s Pigs Can’t Fly Woman is not born: she is made. She becomes the symbol of this and that: mother of the earth, slut of the universe and in the making, her humanity is destroyed. ~Andrea Dworkin Patriarchy is a universal system in which women are dominated. Women, in continents as diverse as Iran and China, have been subjugated through social measures such as female circumcision and bound feet. Yet as Andrea Dworkin so neatly stated, subjugation often takes more devious forms, through the stereotyping of gender roles, attempts to â€Å"fix† women by stereotyping them as spineless â€Å"natural homemakers† or monstrous hideous figures and thereby justifying patriarchy as through stereotyping men as having more initiative and intelligence. This devious method of subjugating women is similarly reproduced in Shyam Selvandurai’s â€Å"Pigs Can’t Fly†. Although it is ostensibly about a boy’s childhood, I believe that it reinforces patriarchy through the skilful use of characterization, filters, narrators and setting. Before explicating my argument, I would like to clarify a few key terms I have borrowed mostly from Seymour Chatman in analyzing the story. The only exception, characterization, is E.M. Forster’s concept of round and flat characters where flat characters are predictable because they are dominated by a single trait unlike round characters with multiple, sometimes conflicting traits dominating their personality. Filter, here, is used to denote what is commonly known as a character’s point of view. Narrator-characters are characters that function as characters and narrators or otherwise known as first person narrators. It is fascinating to note that the narrator and filter through whom the story u... ...chal constructions of â€Å"correct† female and male behaviour by appealing to natural laws (â€Å"Because the sky is so high and pigs can’t fly†). Arjie’s unhappiness, however, shows implicit criticism of patriarchy as it cannot satisfy him. It is therefore evident that â€Å"Pigs Can’t Fly† is not a simple story about a child’s growing up process. Its adept use of various elements of discourse pushes it beyond a simple narrative into the realm of a mature narrative whose ambiguous meanings (over its support for patriarchy) mirrors a world of uncertainty with no absolutes governing. The story’s refusal to pigeonhole itself is for me, a source of beauty and complexity. Works Cited Selvadurai, Shyam. "Pigs Can't Fly." Funny Boy. New York: Vintage, 1995: 1-40. Chatman, Seymour. Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell UP, 1978. Patriarchy in Shyam Selvadurai’s Pigs Can’t Fly Essay -- Shyam Selvadu Patriarchy in Shyam Selvadurai’s Pigs Can’t Fly Woman is not born: she is made. She becomes the symbol of this and that: mother of the earth, slut of the universe and in the making, her humanity is destroyed. ~Andrea Dworkin Patriarchy is a universal system in which women are dominated. Women, in continents as diverse as Iran and China, have been subjugated through social measures such as female circumcision and bound feet. Yet as Andrea Dworkin so neatly stated, subjugation often takes more devious forms, through the stereotyping of gender roles, attempts to â€Å"fix† women by stereotyping them as spineless â€Å"natural homemakers† or monstrous hideous figures and thereby justifying patriarchy as through stereotyping men as having more initiative and intelligence. This devious method of subjugating women is similarly reproduced in Shyam Selvandurai’s â€Å"Pigs Can’t Fly†. Although it is ostensibly about a boy’s childhood, I believe that it reinforces patriarchy through the skilful use of characterization, filters, narrators and setting. Before explicating my argument, I would like to clarify a few key terms I have borrowed mostly from Seymour Chatman in analyzing the story. The only exception, characterization, is E.M. Forster’s concept of round and flat characters where flat characters are predictable because they are dominated by a single trait unlike round characters with multiple, sometimes conflicting traits dominating their personality. Filter, here, is used to denote what is commonly known as a character’s point of view. Narrator-characters are characters that function as characters and narrators or otherwise known as first person narrators. It is fascinating to note that the narrator and filter through whom the story u... ...chal constructions of â€Å"correct† female and male behaviour by appealing to natural laws (â€Å"Because the sky is so high and pigs can’t fly†). Arjie’s unhappiness, however, shows implicit criticism of patriarchy as it cannot satisfy him. It is therefore evident that â€Å"Pigs Can’t Fly† is not a simple story about a child’s growing up process. Its adept use of various elements of discourse pushes it beyond a simple narrative into the realm of a mature narrative whose ambiguous meanings (over its support for patriarchy) mirrors a world of uncertainty with no absolutes governing. The story’s refusal to pigeonhole itself is for me, a source of beauty and complexity. Works Cited Selvadurai, Shyam. "Pigs Can't Fly." Funny Boy. New York: Vintage, 1995: 1-40. Chatman, Seymour. Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell UP, 1978.

Essay --

Written around 1606, Macbeth is recognized as one of Shakespeare’s greatest works. Macbeth deals with the downfall of the title character Macbeth as he falls from a respected, decorated soldier to a despised, tyrannical monarch. This fall from grace is accompanied by the motif of darkness. Darkness serves to set the ominous and superstitious tone of the story, foreshadows events, and is used as a symbolic device. One of the uses of darkness is to establish the dark and mysterious tone. One example of darkness being used to establish tone is when Lennox notes of the â€Å"unruly night.† (Act 2, Scene 3) Lennox also points out that â€Å"the chimmneys were blown down†, meaning there were odd wind patterns, and that the â€Å"obscure bird†, meaning owl, often associated with darkness, was noisy all night. This quote shows the eerie events that happen at night and associates the darkeness of night with mysterious happenenings. Another use of darkness for tone is when Lady Macbeth mentions it when she decides that she would help Macbeth do the necessary dirty work to take the throne after reading his letter to her. While she calls upon the dark spirits to strip away her feminity she also says â€Å"†¦nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark To cry â€Å"Hold, hold!†Ã¢â‚¬  (Act 1, Scene 5) In this quote Lady Macbeth is also using darkness metaphorically as a way that she and her husband can keep their ambitions secret and how the darkness serves as a cover so that no one can see them commit the murder. The secrecy that the Macbeths desire helps add to the dark tone of the story. In both these quotes, darkness establishes the enigmatic and cryptic tone that dominates the play. In addition, darkness is used to ... ...l things since she decided to help Macbeth become king. It is a vain attempt to keep herself in a good light even though she has done many bad things. While it physically keeps her in a bright state, it cannot take the darkness out of her heart. This struggle adds to her insanity. In this scene darkness and light represent good and evil as they often do in many stories. Darkness is one of the more prominent motifs in Macbeth. It establishes the tone, foreshadows events in the story, and is used as a symbolic device. When its uses are put together darkness helps show us the theme. Macbeth is a tragedy, creully showing how fearless ambition can have disastrous effects. One cannot get so far without suffering some consequences. Sometimes all the work put in just isn’t worth the price you pay. And unfortunately for Macbeth it him cost everything.

Industrial Revolution :: essays research papers

The Industrial revolution began in the early 1800s. The industrial revolution could not have happened if the agricultural revolution had not preceded it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the Agricultural Revolution several inventions that reduced the need for man power were invented. Two of those inventions were the Jethro Tull seeding drill and the cotton gin. The seeding drill planted seeds in rows which made the crops easier to manage and harvest. The cotton gin was invented in 1793 by Eli Whitney, it took the seeds out of the cotton. The cotton gin made it so that the work that previously needed to be done by fifty men could now be done by one. An idea of the agricultural revolution was crop rotation. Crop rotation was switching the crops into different fields each year which allowed farmers to produce 25 % more crops and more food means more population up.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the agricultural revolution population went up and less people were needed to work on the farms. There were a lot of people that needed jobs but there were not a lot of jobs for people on farms so the people turned to the cities. The time when people went into the cities looking for jobs which caused the populations of the cities to at least double was called urbanization. During urbanization the city of Manchester in the United kingdom grew from 50,000 people to 500,00 people, this rapid increase of population took place during an extremely short period of time. The United Kingdom became the place where the industrial revolution was born. It happened here because the UK had land, labor, and wealth. Factories arose first in the UK and then all over Europe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since there were factories everywhere, there were plenty of jobs for the people. Even though the factories did provide jobs for the people they were not good jobs. People started working as young as the age of six. The average work day was 14-16 hours, and that’s a lot of working hours, especially for a young child.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Inside the factories the conditions were absolutely dreadful. The air was full of dust and other things that made it practically unbreathable, the machines were dangerous and often took a persons limbs or injured them in other ways. Because the work days were so long and the workers were practically on their feet the entire day people became deformed and had problems with their legs. Despite all the hard labor and dangers of the work place the workers were still paid next to nothing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eventually working conditions did improve. One of the things that helped improve conditions were unions. Unions were when all of the workers got together

Adoption of Ifrs

ADOPTION OF IFRS: IT`S BENEFITS AND IMPACTS ON FIRMS AND COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD The IASB was established in 2001 and since have assumed the responsibility of the standard setting from its predecessor body, the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) and began issuing International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). IFRS has recently been dominating the regulatory changes in accounting for listed companies around the world. Through the years, over 100 countries have adopted IFRS reporting, some of which include Australia, the European Union, India, Japan, South Africa, Russia and most recently Canada.In addition, the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are working towards the final element of a work plan to incorporate IFRS into the U. S. financial reporting jurisdiction. In November 2007, the SEC voted to allow foreign issuers that report in IFRS to file their financial statements with the SEC without reconciling to U. S. generally accepted accounting st andards (GAAP). Accounting standard setters anticipate that the use of IFRS will improve the comparability of financial statements, improve reporting transparency, and increase the quality of financial reporting which in turn will lead to greater investor confidence.From an economic perspective, some believe that it’s challenging to perceive that such expectations will be achieved as a result of converting to IFRS. However according to proponents of IFRS, publicly traded companies believe that applying these principles will allow for a single set of high quality accounting standards as this will contribute to better functioning of the capital markets (Quigley 2007).In the following paper I will discuss the reasons why firms around the globe have adopted IFRS in relation to the financial reporting and disclosure quality, comparability across firms and countries, and the costs and benefits associated with reporting improvements. Most countries are in favor of adopting IFRS, fro m the viewpoint that IFRS standards are more capital market oriented, which in turn provides higher quality information that will benefit constituencies of financial statement users as supposed to local GAAP (Daske and Gebhardt 2006).If this statement is true, one way to validate it is through recommendations by empirical studies that suggest firms engaging in IFRS implementations should see an increase in market liquidity followed by a decrease in the firm’s value of cost of capital. According to Leuz and Wysocki (2008), they have provided some evidence in relation to the effects of reporting quality on market liquidity. They indicate the issue regarding information asymmetry, where investors who possess less knowledge of a firm’s reporting structure or policies, are concerned about trading with the better informed investors.They indicate how these non-informed investors are to lower the price at which they are willing to buy, to protect themselves from losses incurre d from trading with better informed investors. Hence investors that possess less information about a stock are less likely to trade. These effects of adverse selection and information asymmetry reduce the liquidity of securities market. Therefore, IASB strongly encourages essential financial disclosure. This will alleviate the adverse selection problem and will result in increased market liquidity by leveling the playing field among all market participants.In addition, other studies have shown that improvements in financial reporting and disclosure can affect the cost of capital in a variety of ways. Some of which include, investors that require a higher return from less liquid securities and lower estimation risk as this makes it easier for the investor to estimate a firm’s future cash flow. This in turn, will improve risk sharing in the economy by making investors aware of certain securities or by making them more willing to hold them (Leuz and Verrecchia, 2004). Hence redu cing the cost of capital.As important as it can be for firms to disclose essential information to investors, other firms can also benefit from these disclosures for the purpose of decision making and will help reduce the agency problem existing between shareholders and management. For example, â€Å"disclosure on operating performance and governance arrangement provides useful benchmarks that help outside investors to evaluate other firms managerial efficiency or potential agency conflicts and, in doing so, lower the costs of monitoring† ( Leuz and Wysocki, 2008).In addition, the information environment has improved as firms switch over to IFRS, which has also contributed to the increase in higher quality financial reporting. According to Mary E. Barth (2006) firms that voluntarily adopted IFRS generally seek lower earning management, lower cost of capital, and more value relevant of earnings. All of which interpret evidence of higher accounting quality. Barth indicates that the accounting quality could be mproved by removing other accounting methods that are not reflective of a firm’s performance and which are used by managers to manage earnings. As part of his testing, he compared firm’s earnings management between those firms reporting under IFRS and firms reporting according to their local GAAP. As a result of his study, it was indicated that after firms had adopted IFRS, they had larger volatility swings in net income, increase ratio of variance in cash flows, higher correlation of accruals and cash flows, small positive net income, and increased occurrence of larger losses.Opponents argue that a single set of internationally accepted high quality financial reporting standards may not be appropriate for certain firms as they are exposed to different cultural, political and legal differences as this might continue to impose major obstacles in the progress towards the harmonization of standards. These differences however may not provide for any greater value relevance and reliability. For example a study conducted by Ball (2006) indicates that pension accounting may be subject to earnings management in countries that have less developed pension systems.Another empirical study indicates that managers can take advantage and use different assumptions to manipulate financial statements (Soderstorm and Jialin Sun, 2006). Proponents of IFRS argue that using common accounting standards across countries will make it more cost efficient for investors to identify earnings management. When accounting standards are uniformed and relevant disclosure is provided, investors are more likely to understand the different assumptions used by management to calculate such pension accounting, which will limit the chances of management to engage in earnings management.The second important factor as to why countries have chosen to adopt IFRS, is mainly because of its increase in accounting comparability across firms. The advantage of a gl obal movement towards IFRS reporting makes it easier for investors and stakeholders to compare different firms and the relevant information to help them assess the company objectives. Comparative reporting will enable users of financial statements in identifying which firms are more or less profitable.Firms that are exposed to high or low risk of return as a result, will reduce investors information asymmetries and lower estimation risk. Moreover, the improvement in comparability across firms allows for increase market liquidity and reduces firms cost of capital (Luez et al. 2008). Studies have suggested that prior to adopting IFRS, firm’s local GAAP standard which were tailored to the needs of analysts and investors would in theory reduce biased information and build investor confidence.A study conducted by Tan, Wang and Welter in 2009, indicated that once firms had adopted IFRS, their foreign analysts had increased significantly more for those who had the greatest level of GAAP differences. There have been a number of studies conducted to test whether IFRS adoption does in fact increase comparability. The outcome of these studies are mixed. Bielstein et al. (2007) concluded that IFRS adoption, results in greater foreign investment for countries that have strong reliability and comparability.Other empirical studies claim that cultural, political and business differences continue to impose significant obstacles in increasing the comparability of accounting information. Lang Maffet and Owens (2010) find that accounting comparability does not improve for IFRS adopters relative to a control group of non-adopters. The two conclude that there is little evidence that IFRS adoption increases comparability. Overall, from the research obtained, there is little empirical evidence proven on the effects of reporting comparability than reporting quality.The third important factor for countries adopting IFRS, are the costs and benefits associated in producing high qu ality accounting standards and the improvement in comparability across firms. As mentioned previously, the ultimate benefit a firm receives by adopting IFRS reporting is from the increase in market liquidity followed by a lower cost of capital. In order to achieve this high standard, there are costs that a firm is exposed to. Such incurred costs include transitional costs, ongoing costs of compliance to the firms, and enforcement costs relevant to government agencies (Standish, 2003).Standish summarizes his findings in relation to cost and benefits of firms moving to IFRS that will tend to see lower transaction costs when preparing financial reports. They will only be reporting against a single set of accounting standards instead of multiple sets. In addition, he makes note of a â€Å"positive network externality† that arises through the use of a single set of accounting standards by all constituencies. This will save market participants from requiring additional time and ene rgy of having to learn, apply and understand multiple sets of standards.Other benefits that result from the transition to IFRS will improve comparability between firm’s financial statement for investors and shareholders. Thereby, making investment decision’s easier. According to Leuz and Wysocki (2008), there are direct and indirect costs associated with improving reporting. The direct costs include preparation, validity and circulation of accounting reports. These costs can vary and increase significantly. In addition, firms will require assistance and hire consultants that have expertise in IFRS reporting.These specialists help train key personnel in the organizations so that they are able to produce financial statements that are in accordance to IFRS reporting. The costs tend to be more difficult for smaller companies to finance such activities for disclosures and reports, as their profitability margins are small. Disclosure costs have characteristics of indirect co sts. Whereby a firm can reduce its monopoly power by providing too much detail to the market, as sensitive profitability information is assimilated to its competitors.Other empirical studies have noted that with these costs and cost-benefit trade-offs that firms are undergoing, it may not be suitable for them to obtain high quality reporting. Rather, encourage firms to provide certain disclosures which the cost of disclosing such information does not exceed their benefit. Moreover, it is of importance that the standard setters recognize the net benefits obtained from the high quality reporting and comparability, as they differ across firm industries and countries (Leuz and Wysocki, 2008).It’s relatively evident why most companies would like to switch over to IFRS due to the number of benefits that are associated with the transition as described above. One would automatically presume that a single set of accounting standards that are used universally by most firms within diffe rent countries would deliver comparability, increase reporting transparency, allow for foreign investments, hence increasing market liquidity and low cost of capital. However, there is very little empirical evidence that claim these characteristics as being true after conversion.Having said that, Ball (2006) has noted that IASB has been successful in serving the public by developing comprehensive set of high quality standards that have convinced over 100 countries to adopt these principles for the purposes of financial reporting. There are some advantages of having a single set of accounting standards unified. As such, these standards contain characteristics of a â€Å"public good†, for example, the investor can use this information in an annual report without eliminating its usefulness to other investors. In other words, the marginal cost for another investor viewing these annual reports would be zero.A second advantage of unifying accounting standards and disclosure practic es is to reduce management from using their own judgement in financial reporting, by reducing the risk of altering the reports to mislead capital market participants. Moreover, these uniform standards provide protection for auditors against firms. These standards are to also be enforced by auditors, whereby the firm has very little opportunity to shirk, hence reducing information asymmetry and increasing investors and stakeholder’s confidence of the firm. Lastly, unifying these standards will increase the accounting comparability across firms.If each firm or country were to implement different local accounting standards, this can impose high costs for both the firm and its external users, such as investors as this will create negative externalities and will reduce domestic investments which can impact countries trade volume profitability, where the majority of countries main source of income is driven from. Opponents of IFRS adoption feel that a single set of accounting stand ards do not benefit all firms and countries. These differences in countries arise from cultural, economic, political and legal systems.For example, firms may have to respond to political pressures from the government due to balance sheet volatility, as a result of fair valuing. The IASB should review accounting standards as they are released to eliminate the possibility of political pressures on countries that are exposed to such tight regulation. One of the main reasons why countries and firms around the world adopt IFRS is due to the results achieved from reporting quality and disclosure practices. However, IFRS can occasionally produce ineffective reporting quality and disclosure.For instance, IFRS can lack in setting descriptive details in their guidelines that make it difficult for countries to follow. Some countries find their local GAAP easier to read and understand due to the level of detail and examples provided. These complexities in the rules creates havoc for firms that would like to report in IFRS, but find it challenging to exclusively follow these guidelines outlined by the IASB. As a result, this can lead to poor financial reporting quality. Other countries and firms conclude that fewer rules and guidelines will encourage management to produce effective accounting policies that will rompt them to make appropriate judgement calls. Information asymmetry and agency costs play a significant role in relation to the disclosure and financial reporting quality. The key motivating factor for any firm is, the more disclosure provided will create a positive signal to investors and hence, will reduce the information asymmetry and agency costs. Companies will see increases in investor confidence while earning high profitability levels. Moreover, firms adopting IFRS, chances are that they are subject to fewer opportunities to part take in earnings management or deceive investors.Studies have indicated that countries which have adopted IFRS do not all achieve the same degree of benefit. The study implies to those countries which have a weak structure in place for investor protection, will tend to see the most benefits from adopting of IFRS. In contrary, countries that have a strong structure in place for investor protection will see marginal benefits. The increase in benefits received by a country whether small or large will improve investor protection and provide for more comparable and comprehensive financial reporting.The cost and benefits of a firm converting to IFRS can be substantial depending on how one views it. The benefit driven through the implementation of IFRS will include lower cost of capital, increases firm value and creates a stable level of investors’ confidence. In addition, as discussed above, the benefits will also increase as a result of better financial reporting quality and cross country comparability for foreign investors, auditors and other constituencies. These benefits obtained through adoption of IFRS are not free. The cost of implementing such an accounting standard can cost firms millions.There are various types of costs that are incurred in the different processes a firm undergoes. The transition costs can be significant in relation to auditing fees. The cost of auditing work will increase, due to testing and validating accounting data as most of the assumptions used by firms are judgemental. Other costs involve training key personnel to apply applicable standards in practice. Companies tend to have shortages of staff that have ever been exposed to IFRS accounting, this is more apparent in Canada. As a result, these companies struggle as they need to learn and apply these new standards.Moreover, the cost related to the risk involved of manipulation of accounting standards, as these standards do not provide strict reporting rules for companies to follow, can impose a huge cost on the firm, if the auditor refuses to provide an unqualified opinion on the firm. Overall, the costs are generally higher during the first couple of phases through the transition. In the long run, costs tend to decline as employees are more aware of the standards and a basic foundation has been developed by IFRS consultants and auditors. At the present moment IFRS reporting is widely used by many countries across the globe.Based on the studies gathered above, countries and firms are optimistic about replacing their local GAAP to IFRS accounting standards. By moving towards a universal set of high quality accounting standards this will lead to improving the firm’s performance, by increasing shareholders wealth though investors’ confidence, lower cost of capital hence reducing information asymmetry. In addition, other benefits include comparability across all nations, this will help facilitate in better understanding by investors of accounting information released in public financials.Comparability will result in an increase of auditors understanding in the types of po licies and assumptions companies implement. This will help ensure that companies are not partaking in earnings management. Comparative accounting standards can be most beneficial to analysts. This will enable analysts to predict the firm’s future forecast of cash flows in comparison to the industry average. As mentioned above, the IFRS accounting standards are costly to implement. Studies have made reference to these transition costs as extremely pricy to develop, however, in the long run their costs tend to decline.This may in fact be true, however, for those companies that have incorporated IFRS standards, will continue to see new accounting pronouncements issued by the IASB, as they work to improve their guidelines. As a result, firms will continue to spend in areas of training and seeking professional advice on how these new standards will impact their firm. References 1. Bielstein , 2007. How the IFRS movement will affect financial reporting in the U. S. : Article: KPMG 2. Daske andGebhardt, 2006. Discussion of Daske and Gebhardt, Journal ofAccounting Finance and Business Studies. 3. Lang, Maffet and Owen, 2010. Earnings Movement and Accounting Comparability, the Journal of Accounting Research 4. Leuz and Verrecchia , 2004. Firms Capital Allocation Choices, Information Quality and the Cost of Capital 5. Luez and Wysocki, 2008. Economic Consequences of Financial Reporting and Disclosure Regulation, Journal of Accounting Research 6. Mary E. Barth, 2006. Accounting Quality : International Accounting Standards, The Journal of Accounting Research 7. Ray Ball, 2006.International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): Pros and Cons for Investors, Journal of Accounting Research 8. Soderstorm and Jialin Sun, 2007. IFRS Adoption and Accounting Quality: A review, The Journal of Accounting Research 9. Standsih, 2003. Evaluating National Capacity for Direct Participation in International Accounting Harmonization, Journal of Accounting Research 10. Tang, Wang and Welkor, 2011. Analyst Following and Forecast Accuracy After Mandated IFRS Adoption. Journal of Accounting Research. 11. William R. Scott, Fifth edition , 2009. Financial Accounting Theory

Airstar Case Study

Abstract: Airstar’s organizational design is outdated. Former president and actual president have been managing the company under the assumptions of a predicable environment. Airstar is having problems with communication and job-description along the company. Tasks have been assigned superficially and job responsibilities are not descriptive enough. The cross-functional communications among managers is not working effectively and employees have been working up their own job description. Because of that, goal accomplishment is fast becoming obsolete and decisions are being made on the basis of practicality. Also, the company is facing external threats from major competitor such as General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. The stagnation from top managers is causing chaos internally, because business environment is constantly changing and most managers have been in the company for more than twenty years. So, for maximum efficiency, Airstar needs to guide their employee with standards and written guidelines in order to succeed and move forward. Introduction: Airstar Inc. manufactures, repairs, and overhauls pistons and jet engines for smaller, often previously owned aircraft† (Daft, 2008, p. 84). It has a solid history and its strength comes from the fact that it is well known in the market and employee loyalty. However, the rapidly changing industry parallel with the change in the presidency is causing problematic factors for Airstar. A company that has been in the market for twenty years producing customer and employee loyalty now has threat with new arriving business competition and the ever-changing business environment. Unfortunately, Roy Morgan, the president, assumes that he could continue to run the company as it had been twenty years ago. In the past, decisions had been made on the basis of practicality. However, the current environment is in need of changes in duties and management practices. The lack of ample communication concerning duties and how to restructure them for better efficiency is causing internal chaos. So, communication appears to be the Aquiles problem of Airstar. Problems The first significant issue for Airstar is the threat of the changing environment. As Walmart founder Sam Walton said once that advantage competition is not just continue to develop but to stay ahead of competition and the learning curve of its environment (Walmart, Inc. , 2010). To continue to exist, the organization needs to not merely adjust to, but also to influence the changing environment, and in consequence, creating a company worth for its stakeholders. According to the case study, there is a major lack of leadership and coordination. The second significant issue for Airstar is that the current system is neither cooperative, nor strategic intent. Strategic intent means that â€Å"all the organization’s energies and resources are directed toward a focused, unifying, and compelling overall goal† (Daft, 2008, p. 60). It shows that the values established by the founder were never reviewed for the purpose of internal and external changes. The company vision and mission statement are worthless if there are not communicated throughout the various hierarchies of the company. Also, Airstar current system has shown overlap responsibilities between employees. Specific tasks should be assigned to employees that are better suited for these tasks. Another significant issue for Airstar is the instability of its external environment. This problem could provoke stressed employees and in consequence, a less effective performance (Rolfe, 2005). Managers should not only communicate effectively, but also listen to employees and be responsive of the way they experience different factors within the company. Such consideration will bring better management strategies not only in assigning the most appropriate duties, but also in managing the stress factor related to required structural adjusts. The last significant issue is the threat created by new competitors. Competitors, who are new to the market, will make every effort to follow solid business principles to attract value customers and gain market share. Airstar is no longer the sole service provider of its industry, and finds itself in an environment that is quickly changing. Here is where the mature organization comes to play. Airstar has been known for its safety, superior quality, and customer service. These are strengths that can be hard to conquest and could possibly allocate Airstar ahead of its competitors. Interventions Jim Robinson, vice president of manufacturing, pointed it out six principles that appear to focus on internal changes and could provide Airstar with a better position to handle external environmental changes and a stronger internal structure. First, formalization is lacking because of the long lifetime of the company without written rules and regulations. It is recommended that Airstar begins its internal renovation process by creating a list of recommended rules, regulations, and policies. Second, these initiatives are communicated in writing, so it can provide managers and employees with the opening to comment. Then, after being implemented in writings takes place, meetings could be held to discuss comments. Third, it is recommended that Airstar creates a mission statement, a number of goals for future that relate to it, and strategies to arrive at these goals. Then, after implementing the goals and tasks to achieve internal productivity, Mr. Morgan should assign appropriate personnel members to avoid the overlapping that has been occurred in the past. Furthermore, the external environment requires to be monitored on a frequent basis so that indispensable responses can be implemented in a timely manner. The monitoring procedure can also be allocated to specific personnel members, who should communicate with top managers via meetings. Fifth, the hierarchy of authority should be established and updated according to the variety of tasks and strategies within the company. As Robinson refers, Airstar’s internal structure should be kept to a minimum. It is a sound standard keeping the internal structure of the company as simple as possible in order to center on goals rather than on endeavoring to manage extensive personnel members and their many duties. Conclusion Airstar has proven to retain a quite considerable, although somewhat lesser, customer base. I believe the company has the potential to recover itself with internal structural changes, as recommended above. Mr. Morgan attitude is very optimistic towards implementing adjustments for the benefit of his company. His willingness to hire a consultant and put into operation suggestions shows that he is serious about fetching his company up to date with the external environment. However, it is important that Mr. Morgan and his entire management team do not make these decisions on an isolated foundation, but that employees should be incorporated in implementing some of the changes. References Daft, R. (2008), Organizational Theory and Design, 10th ed. Mason Ohio, South-Western Cengage Learning. Rolfe, Foreman and Tylee, 2005, Welfare or Farewell? Mental Health and Stress in the Work Place†, Issue 268. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete Walmart, Inc. (2010). Walmart Corporate. Retrieved November 16, 2011, from Walmart Annual Report: http://walmartstores. com/sites/annualreport/2010/