Recent orders
Part A Strategic Decision-making
Strategic Accounting
Name
Institution
Part A: Strategic Decision-making
Strategic decision making is one of the most important skills that may help to improve an organization’s competitiveness. Unlike the simple process of decision making, which simply involves selecting the best option out of several alternatives, strategic decision making is applied in organizations to come up with speedy and quality solutions to more complex problems (Davis and Davis, 2011, p. 47). The current section presents a literature review of the application of strategic decision-making in strategic management accounting. The origin of strategic decision-making in the strategic management is examined. Lastly, the section examines the impact of the technique in creating and sustaining an organization’s competitive advantage.
Literature Review
The concept of strategic decision-making can be traced back from the traditional model of decision-making developed by March, Simon and Guetzkow (1958 as cited in Hoque, 2005, p. 42). Although the model does not explicitly show the elements of management participation, it describes the human being as having a limited ability to exhaust all the possible options in the process of decision making within an organization. The model presents the reality as being complex, and at the same time, human cognition as limited. Consequently, it is even difficult for a human being to make optimal decisions or to find optimal solutions to problems occurring in an organization; rather, an individual makes the most satisfying choice. In his contribution to the model, Simon (1979 as cited in Hoque, 2005, p. 42) noted that it is difficult for managers in an organization to make rational decisions; rather, the make use of shortcuts and rule of thumb to come up with a solution that will at least solve the current problem.
Cohen, March and Olsen (1989 as cited in Hoque, 2005, p. 43) came up with another model that focused on organizational management practices called “the garbage can” model. The model states that every organization has a “garbage can” that contains a set of solutions developed to solve predetermined problems. Organizational managers achieve effectiveness in the process of strategic decision-making after gaining experience in problem-solving over time. Eventually, the strategic decisions that are made are a product of the “garbage can” contestation and fermentation process.
Mintzberg and Westley (2001 as cited in Hoque, 2005, p. 45) argued that the rational model can be developed further by adding two conditions: “seeing” and “doing.” According to Mintzberg and Westley (2001 as cited in Hoque, 2005, p. 45), seeing involves evaluating various ideas for solutions to problems. Seeing enables managers to predict the problems that may be encountered in the future and to design solutions in advance to counter them. On the other hand, “doing” involves active experimentation through application of strategic decision-making techniques to solve problems. According to Mintzberg and Westley (2001, as cited in Hoque, 2005, p. 45), managers learn from experience and supplement that knowledge gained with that which is derive from “seeing” to come up with effective solutions to problems that may arise in the future. On top of that, Mintzberg and Westley (2001 as cited in Hoque, 2005, p. 45) argue that managers should come up with a thinking approach that involves the utilization of available data to construct more robust solutions to the complex, emerging problems. The last major model is the Decision-Making Model, which guides managers to involve other internal stakeholders in decision-making processes in order to ensure that the eventual processes are successful.
In the recent years, organizations are increasingly operating in constantly changing internal and external environments. In some cases, the changes are unpredictable and may have huge effects on the performance of an organization (Davis and Davis, 2011, p. 46). In some cases, the changes may involve uncertainties that may have unfavorable effects on an organization. In order to counter the unfavorable effects, organizations must come up with strategies to enhance the quality and speed of the reaction to both the predictable and unpredictable changes (Davis and Davis (2011, p. 46). Large and medium-size organizations are using strategic decision-making technique in order to achieve quality and speed in the reaction to changes in the internal and external environments of an organization.
Impact on a Firm’s Competitive Advantage
The strategic decision-making is one of the techniques that help to create and to sustain completive advantage of an organization, against the competitors. As mentioned earlier, business organizations are increasingly operating in volatile markets. In some cases, effective responses to the uncertainties may require the use of accounting information, such as prices, revenues and income. For instance, an organization selling differentiated products and operating at a loss as a result an increase in the cost of manufacturing one of the products may need to use all accounting information related to all products in order to make adjustments to offset the loss (Cadez & Guilding, 2008, p. 6).
Management responses to changes may also lead to the modification of accounting information. A good example is a situation where an organization responds to an increase in supply in the market through reducing the prices of particular products. When uncertainty occurs as a result of sudden changes in market conditions, the time needed to make appropriate decisions may be limited. The accountants, who handle the accounting information and understand it better, may be in a better position to give further directions on the responses that should be taken. Incorporating the ideas of the accountants enables the senior managers to make the most appropriate choice, among a set of options (Cadez and Guilding, 2008, p. 6). In addition, incorporating the ideas of the accountants makes them feel that they are valued and that they are part of the overall decision-making process. Consequently, the technique motivates them to work harder in order to steer organizations meet the set short- and long-term goals, which leads to improved organizational performance (Cadez and Guilding, 2008, p. 6).
Further, strategic decision-making technique involves the move from strict focus on operational issues a more integrated approach that facilitates effective interaction between all organizational stakeholders. Precisely, effective implementation of the technique requires effective integration of financials, senior staff, junior staff, processes and customers. In order to achieve competitive edge in the current uncertain and competitive markets, organizations must adopt approaches that enhance customer value in all departments. A customer-focused strategy requires effective communication within an organization in all directions (Cadez and Guilding, 2008, p. 6). Precisely, there must be effective communication about the general and specific goals of an organization between staff at all levels within an organization. The strategy improves information flow within an organization. In this sense, technique enhances the ability of an organization to respond to both predictable and unpredictable changes. As well, the technique opens an avenue for accountants to liaise and to form interdepartmental teams. Interdepartmental teams help to improve job efficiency the process of carrying out tasks and to enhance quality in decision-making processes, which translates in improved organizational performance (Cadez and Guilding, 2008, p. 6). In summary, the strategic decision-making process is a technique that enhances organizational performance, which is a key factor in creating and sustaining competitive advantage in any given market.
References
Cadez, S. and Guilding, C. (2008). “An exploratory investigation of an integrated contingency
model of strategic management accounting,” Accounting, Organizations and Society,Vol 33, p. pp. 836-863.
Davis, C. E. & Davis, E. (2011). Managerial Accounting. John Wiley & Sons, London
Hoque, Z. (2005). Handbook of Cost and Management Accounting. Spiramus Press Ltd, New
York
Parole Conditions
Parole Conditions Name
Institution
Year
One of the most criticized crime prevention system under criminal justice is the parole. Over the years, the effectiveness of parole in improving the crime-deterrent approaches has been evaluated and found to have some flaws. For instance, some law experts argue that parole only works based on the individual criminal and the associated crime profiling laws. This statement implies that the application of parole comes with some conditions that many criminals commit to obey at the expense of behavior reform that puts them in danger of repeating the same offenses. The other major criticism laid on parole is that it comes with many conditions that makes it ineffective and hard to apply based on respective state laws. These conditions also hinder the perceived crime deterrent aspect that was intended on the criminal and thus the likelihood of the offender repeating the same crime and ending up in prison repetitively. Most criminals already have a perception that they are being targeted by the law enforcers and thus they maintain low profile while on parole. Once the parole period is over, the get back to life of crime thus creating an unending cycle of crime and imprisonment.
Parole as a crime deterrent concept has its own drawback that demands urgent review to ensure that the criminal justice system is more robust and effective (Rhine, Petersilia & Reitz, 2017). The conditions that come with parole have been termed as one of the reasons the system fails and thus a need for a review. Some of the conditions that comes with parole include; one must be of good behavior, the individual must not commit an offence, and the person has to adapt to a normal lawful community life. The application of parole under these conditions thus makes the system hard for many people (Pogrebin et al., 2015). Still, the value of parole and its effectiveness has been questioned in regard to how it can be applied and still produce good results. The conditions under parole have been termed as hard to meet and this has put many potential criminals under watch thus creating a biased system (Opsal, 2015). One of the keys to creating a fundamental system that is crime analysis and deterrent friendly, there must be room for the basic law to apply.
The conditions that come with parole have appeared hard to meet for most of the individuals thus making it hard to obey the law. Those under parole also feel victimized and targeted and thus forcing them to act out of line (Rhine, Petersilia & Reitz, 2017). The parole period thus only serves to suppress normal behavior where the potential criminals choose to lay low than expose their true colors. This is very dangerous as it does not guarantee that the individual will maintain the same behavior once the parole period is over (Pogrebin et al., 2015). Moreover, the parole system is designed to enforce behavior correction that does not guarantee that the individual under the process will maintain the same conduct. In fact, this has been termed as the biggest failures of parole as it only works for the moment where the likelihood of the criminal returning to the same crimes is high (Opsal, 2015). For this reason, the conditions that come with parole only works for a moment and even makes the system unable to apply and effectively create behavior change among potential criminals.
An individua under parole is required to report to a community corrections officer regularly and comply with any directions given by the officer. The conditions put the criminal under too much pressure that often makes them live a secluded life thus denying normal behavior development (Opsal, 2015). This has been termed as the reason as to why most of the people who complete parole goes back to the same crimes as they feel alienated and targeted by the community. The other major condition is that individual must report regularly where they live, what they are doing, and who they interact with at all time (Pogrebin et al., 2015). These conditions add to the pressure that denies the person time and space to develop good behavior and correction. The privacy of the individual under parole is even violated as they must at all time allow the corrections officer to visit where they live any time even unannounced. These conditions go contrary to the normal behavior correction that should be upheld when dealing with a potential criminal. The conditions under parole only make it hard for convicted criminals to integrate with the community that is meant to offer them the platform to redevelop the right behaviors (Rhine, Petersilia & Reitz, 2017).
Conclusion
The parole as a behavior correctios system under criminal justice has its drawbacks when it comes to crime deterrence. There are many conditions that make parole hard to apply or work in the direction it is meant in enhancing behavior change among criminals. Many people argue that parole only induces a life of section and victimization that makes many criminals feel pressured to change their behavior. behavior change under parole is enforced to extreme levels that makes the criminals bounce back to the life of crime once the parole period is over. There is a need to review the operationalization of parole and look for ways on how the system can be restructured with less conditions to make it effective in criminal justice.
References
Opsal, T. (2015). “It’s Their World, so You’ve Just Got to Get Through” Women’s Experiences of Parole Governance. Feminist Criminology, 10(2), 188-207.
Pogrebin, M. R., Stretesky, P. B., Walker, A., & Opsal, T. (2015). Rejection, humiliation, and parole: A study of parolees’ perspectives. Symbolic Interaction, 38(3), 413-430.
Rhine, E. E., Petersilia, J., & Reitz, K. R. (2017). The future of parole release. Crime and Justice, 46(1), 279-338.
Parent-Child Relationship
(Name)
(Instructors’ name)
(Course)
(Date)
Parent-Child Relationship
Children and their parents should have relationships, which are positive. This means that a lot of effort and work should be employed, in order to ensure that the relationship is successful as well as strong. The job of being a parent is extremely tough, and this means that it should be maintained. Communication is essential in this relationship as it promotes openness and closeness. In some child –parent relationships, there is a problem of distance, which affects the relationship negatively. Also, varying opinions is another reason why child –parent relationships are affected (Madden, 2011).
This paper seeks to give an analysis of the relationship between son’s and fathers in two different readings. Also, it seeks to ensure that the source of conflict in these relationships is known.
Analysis of relationships between sons and their fathers
John Chever is the author of ‘Reunion’ and it is about a son and father who met after a long time. Charlie has the urge to meet his father and arranges for them to meet. The reunion took place in New York after Charlie is in transit, so that he can get a train to take him to his destination. Before they meet, Charlie is anxious as his father is a stranger. This shows that despite being apart from each other they long to reunite. According to Charlie, his natural instincts were ignited upon seeing his father “I felt that he was my father, my flesh and blood (Madden, 2011)”. This means that Charlie loved his father and was proud that he has such a father. Upon seeing his father, he was extremely happy to the point whereby, he cherished the moment they spent together. Charlie even wished that a photo of them would have been taken as it was an extremely joyous occasion.
The meeting between the two is not memorable as they kept on moving to different locations. The lunch they were meant to have never occurred. The admiration, which Charlie had for his father seems to fade away. It seems that he will not want to remember the reunion as he was not pleased by the events that took place. Later on, Charlie comments that since the meeting, he has never seen his father. Parents are meant to be good examples to their children, but in this reunion, it was not possible. Charlie’s father’s behavior was not one, which can be emulated. Upon reading about this reunion, one feels like Charlie became disappointed with his father, who did not connect well with him. The conflict in this reunion is that the two have grown apart, thus in order to be at ease with each other, would need more time together (Madden, 2011).
Chinua Achebe is the author of ‘Marriage is a private affair’. It is about the relationship between a father and son, who are disagreeing about marriage issues. The setting is in Nigeria and the son’s name is Nnaemeka. The conflict is that Nnaemeka has chosen the girl he wants to marry, while his father has done the same for him. According to the Nigerian society, it is a taboo to marry people from different communities. This is the reason why there is conflict between Nnaemeka and his father. Before the conflict began, they had a respectable relationship. According to Nnaemeka’s fiancée, “your father is proud of you (Madden, 2011)” .The relationship is different than that of Charlie and the father. In both readings, the sons placed a lot of admiration for their fathers. According to them, a father is a role model as well as a good example.
Nnaemeka did not want to disappoint his father and at the same time wanted to please him. According to Nnaemeka’s father, the wife he had chosen for his son was ideal. The son valued his father and thus had to consult with him on important matters such as marriage. After the father realized that his son will not marry the wife chosen for him, their relationship is affected greatly, the father distances himself to the point whereby, they do not talk. Upon Nnaemeka’s wedding, he sends a photo only for his father to send it back. Making matters worse, his father ensures that Nnaemeka’s picture is mutilated. Despite all the things that the father has done, Nnaemeka still believes that his father will be more accommodating to the marriage (Madden, 2011). He says that “he is essentially good-natured and will one day look more kindly on our marriage (Madden, 2011)”. The latter came to being as after some time, Nnaemeka’s father changed his attitude after receiving a letter. He was overwhelmed by the fact that he could die without ever seeing his grandchildren. This shows that he loved his son and nothing would separate them, even distance. This relationship between son and father is better as compared to Charlie’s. The latter have no chance of having a relationship as everyone is engrossed in their own matters.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the relationship between children and parents should be positive. The relationship of Nnaemeka and his father has shown that parents will always have a soft spot for their children. Charlie’s relationship with his dad is not a good one, as it seems that they have grown apart due to distance. Thus, more should be done to ensure that children and their parents have admirable relationships.
Work Cited
Madden, Frank .The Exploring Literature: Writing and Thinking about Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. 5th Ed. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2011. Print.