Discuss the portrait of al-Hajjaj Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discuss the portrait of al-Hajjaj - Essay Example Although al-Hajjaj is commonly considered a villain notorious for his relentless brutality, the portrait we obtain from the primary texts is not that simple and transparent, instead, the texts create a complicated image of the province governor illustrated in various situations. Thereby, ambiguities in portrayal can be explained by certain bias in attitude of the texts’ authors towards the governor. Many scholars assert that the commander was an extremely brutal and cruel governor, who caused numerous deaths and imprisonments in the course of his life. This assumption finds its confirmation in the texts, where we see that the commander is believed to be liable for a â€Å"hundred and twenty thousand† executions (Schroeder, p. 229). Many other situations described in the text provide evidence of al-Hajjaj’s bad temper and brutality: after defeating Ibn Zubayr in Mecca, al-Hajjaj is told to have killed and gibbeted him in the street. In a similar way, while coming to Kufa, he immediately executed the old man, who sprang on the corpse of Othman. Furthermore, we see numerous mentions of Hajjaj’s nasty character in the narratives, for instance, that of Ubayd son of Abu Mukhariq, who calls the commander â€Å"a fearsome master† (Schroeder, p.220). However, despite nasty character and brutality, which became his most famous feature, the commander seems to p ossess reason and a pinch of mercy in his nature, as it can be traced in the sources. For instance, as Hajjaj is in need of wise advise concerning the inheritance, he eventually rules according to the fairest of options: he is told to have given â€Å"each heir an equal third† of the inheritance. This fragment was told by al-Sha’bi, whose figure is rather controversial in terms of his relation to the Umayyads. Sha’bi probably supported the rebellion in Kufa, then fled to Khurasan and later returned to the Umayyad court willing to serve in the administration. Here,

Intelligence Definition Essay Example for Free

Intelligence Definition Essay Evaluate Spearman’s contribution to our understanding of Intelligence. Plan: * Introduction – definition of intelligence, and say what I am going to be talking about * Paragraph one /two– outline Spearman’s theory * Paragraph three/four – evaluate how organisations use Spearman’s theory * Paragraph five – evaluate strengths and weaknesses compared to Gardners theory * Conclusion – relate back to the question Essay Intelligence can be defined as â€Å"the capability of individuals to process information to behave effectively within the environment they are in and learn from previous experiences. † (Arnold 2010). Spearman in the 1900s came up with the General Intelligence Theory. Within this essay I am going to evaluate Spearman’s theory of general intelligence by looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the theory. Firstly, looking at how Spearman’s theory can be applied to organisations, then comparing it with Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences. Spearman (1900’s) developed the theory of general intelligence. Spearman’s research followed that of Binet, who was commissioned by the school system in France to develop a way to differentiate those students who were uneducable, or severely mentally handicapped, from other students. Binet developed an intelligence test to do so. This test consisted of items (questions) that required complex processes of the mnd and examined the comprehensive individual. The success of Binet’s test led to a much greater question: what exactly are these tests measuring? The claim was that they were measuring intelligence. This led to debates about what intelligence was. In endeavouring to answer this question, Spearman observed that schoolchildren’s grades across seemingly unrelated subjects were positively correlated. He then administered different types of test to many people. A statistical analysis of the results showed that there was a positive correlation between the tests for any given individual. In other words, if an individual performed well on a test of verbal abilities, then that same person also performed well on another test of a different cognitive ability, such as numerical reasoning. Spearman named this positive correlation ‘g’, that is ‘general intelligence’. He argued that ‘g’ was identified by using a large battery (number) of tests, that is ‘g’ was not measured perfectly by any single test. His work led to others trying to create tests that would assess this general underlying ability. Spearman was the first researcher to use factor analysis (a statistical test that he developed to identify underlying commonalities, or ‘factors’). His theory is sometimes called the Two Factor Theory as he concluded that intelligence consisted of two factors. The first of these he called the ‘g’ factor, that is general intelligence that influenced all round performance. The second of these he called the ‘s’ factor, for specific abilities, which he used to account for differences between scores on different tasks, including test-specific factors such as the impact of light, temperature, the time of day that the test was given. Spearman’s major contribution lies in his ideas about general intelligence, particularly the idea that general intelligence influences all round performance. Spearman’s ideas about general intelligence continue to influence the development of cognitive testing today. And it is in the area of testing that organisations most benefit from Spearman’s work. Specifically, the idea that there is one general intelligence influences much of the testing in selection processes within organisations. For example, many organisations use cognitive testing (verbal and numerical critical reasoning) at early stages in their selection process to filter out those candidates that do not perform at the level required. Following Spearman’s theory more thoroughly could suggest that organisations might be justified in basing their selection activities entirely on a measure of general intelligence. However, this would lack credibility, or face validity, for the candidates, and for many managers. Indeed, some would argue strongly that there are more particular skills that they want candidates to demonstrate that are more directly relevant to the particular job. A major weakness of Spearman’s general intelligence theory is that it can be misunderstood, leading for example to the idea that if an individual is good at one aspect of work they must be good at another aspect. For example, a computer programmer may be very good at their job, however when they are asked to write a report they may feel way out of their comfort zone and will perform badly. However, Spearman is not arguing about ability to perform a task. Rather, he is arguing that ‘general intelligence’ explains a person’s ability across a range of cognitive tests. At this point, there is value in contrasting Gardner’s (1980’s) theory of Multiple Intelligences, which could give us a better understanding of intelligence. Gardner disagreed with Spearman’s general intelligence theory (Mullins, 2010). Instead, he thought that there are many types of intelligence and if an individual excels in one topic, it doesn’t mean they excel at everything. Theses intelligences included: Musical, Numeracy, Literacy, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal and Linguistic. Gardner found, therefore, that individuals can be intelligent in different areas. It might be argued that the value for an organisation would be a test that identified the particular kind of intelligence that each individual has. In conclusion Spearman’s theory of general intelligence has had a significant influence on how selection testing is designed and carried out within organisations. The desire to predict performance before hiring a new employee favours the idea that there is one general intelligence that can be assessed by a battery of cognitive tests. However, new theories such as Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences theory (1980’s) and Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence, challenge such a perspective.

Male Superiority within Domestic Life :: essays research papers

Male Superiority within Domestic Life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the book To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, there are many burdens upon relationships in the storyline. One such burden is that of male superiority; through the belief of male superiority relationships are stressed because males constantly need to prove that they are better then females. This stress causes problems within marriages and affects the domestic life of husbands and wives. The unspoken problem between the sexes causes tension and affects thoughts shown within internal monologues more then it directly affects events.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Men in this novel need sympathy from the women in order to prove their superiority because by getting sympathy from a woman the man is acting superior over the woman. Mr. Ramsey proves this fact when he works to receive Lily’s sympathy. This is shown when Lily thinks, â€Å"You shan’t touch your canvas, he seemed to say, bearing down on her, until you’ve given me what I want from you† (150); about Mr. Ramsey as he approaches her while she is painting. In this scene what Mr. Ramsey wants from Lily is sympathy and he acts as if he is in control over Lily and therefore can force her to give him sympathy. Eventually, Lily gives Mr. Ramsay the sympathy he wants which is shown when she thinks to herself, â€Å"Why, at this completely inappropriate moment, when he was stooping over her shoe, should she be so tormented with sympathy for him that, as she stooped too, the blood rushed to her face and thinking of her callousness (she had called h im a play-actor) she felt her eyes swell and tingle with tears?† (154) and thus feels sympathy for Mr. Ramsay even when she decidedly did not want to. Not only does Lily feel sympathy for Mr. Ramsay but she also feels bad about thinking negatively about him. Lily’s feeling of guilt shows Mr. Ramsay being superior to her that is in turn an example of male supremacy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the dinner table discussion, Mr. Tansley shows male supremacy when he thinks, â€Å"he was not going to talk the kind of rot these people wanted him to talk. He was not going to be condescended by these silly women† (85). Mr. Tansley’s thoughts in this quotation show that he is putting himself above women by staying independent of their conversation therefore showing that they have no power over him. Mr. Tansley continues to exhibit male supremacy when his need to assert himself arises.

A Comparison of the American and the Japanese Health Care Systems

Both the United States and Japan are part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, an organization composed of industrialized countries) and as such both countries are under the pressure to live up to a certain median when it comes to the quality of health care. Apart from the median created by OECD countries, the US and Japan are also equally pressured by such organizations as the World Health Organization (WHO) that sets up checklists for good health care systems. In a report last 2000 on the health care systems of 191 countries, WHO set some goals for a health care system.These goals are the following: good health, responsiveness, and fairness in financing (WHO in Bureau of Labor Education of the University of Maine 2001, 1). By â€Å"good health† WHO refers to the good health status of the entire population although out the human being’s life cycle. â€Å"Responsiveness,† on the other hand, refers to â€Å"the extent to which careg ivers are responsive to the client/patient expectations with regard to non-health areas such as being treated with dignity and respect† (Bureau of Labor and Education o the University of Maine 2001, 6).Fairness in financing generally refers to the progressiveness of the health care system wherein those who have less are also to spend less on medical care. These goals shall be utilized to evaluate and compare the Japanese and the American health care systems. But before an effective evaluation and comparison could be done, it will be important to individually describe the health care systems of these two countries. As such, this paper shall consist o the following parts: a description of the American health care system; a description of the Japanese health care system; an evaluation and the comparison of the two health care systems.The American Health Care System A. The Framework of the American Health Care System The American Health Care System could best be illustrated using figure 1. In figure 1, it could be noted that there are two insurance systems in America, public and private. Public insurance system refers to Medicare, Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), and the Veteran’s Administration (VA). Private insurance system, on the other hand, refers to either employer-sponsored insurance or private non-group insurance. We shall discuss each of these types.Medicare is a federal program that insures seniors aged 65 and above as well as some disabled individuals (Chua 2006, 2). This is a single-payer, government-administered program that covers hospital services, physician services, as well as prescription drug services (Chua 2006, 2). Medicare is financed three ways: federal income taxes, payroll tax (paid both by employers and employees), and individual enrollee premiums (Chua 2006, 2). There are individual enrollee premiums because even if Medicare provides the above-mentioned services, there are still import ant services that are not covered without the premium coverage.These premium services include nursing facilities; preventive care coverage; and coverage for dental, hearing, or vision care. This means that the elderly who are covered by Medicare would many times still need to avail of premium services and as such, they contribute a total of 22% of their income for the cost of health care (Chua 2006, 2). Medicaid is a state-administered health insurance program that provides coverage to low income citizens and disabled; specifically, this insurance â€Å"covers very poor pregnant women, children, disabled, and parents† (Chua 2006, 2).As for its administration, Medicaid is paid for by the state and the federal government. At the very least, the federal government pays $1 for every dollar that the state pays for (Chua 2006, 2). Unlike Medicare, Medicaid offers a more comprehensive health benefits. S-CHIP is like Medicaid as regards administration but it is specifically for child ren whose parents do not qualify for Medicaid due to their income but still do not make enough money to provide insurance for their children. VA is a state-sponsored health insurance service for the veterans of the military.This insurance provides comprehensive health benefits that make the veteran spend almost nothing for health care. Employer-sponsored insurance refers to private health insurance services the premium of which are largely paid for by employers. Under this system are the many organizations that offer health maintenance (HMOs). This is where corporations like Aetna and Kaiser Permanente fall. The coverage offered as well as the degree of co-sharing by the different HMOs differ also (Chua 2006, 3).Private non-group health insurance is the sort of insurance availed by those who are self-employed and those that could not avail of employer-sponsored insurance. This sort of insurance allows the insurance company to impose rules regarding pre-existing conditions. Usually, pre-existing conditions are not covered by the insurance. This sort of insurance is fully administered by the HMOs and the benefits vary widely as well. B. Characteristics and Problems of the American Health Care System The American Health Care System is mostly a combination and interaction of public and private entities.This is most exemplified by the two general types of health insurance services: the public and the private. This fact could be demonstrated by a 2003 statistics on Health Insurance Coverage of the nonelderly (in Chua 2006, 1). This statistics shows that 62% of nonelderly Americans receive private employer-sponsored insurance, while 5% purchase their insurance in the market (Chua 2006, 1). 18% of these nonelderly individuals are in public insurance like Medicaid or Medicare, while the remaining 15% are uninsured (Chua 2006, 1).Elderly Americans aged 65 years and above are mostly insured through Medicaid (Chua 2006, 1). Or, better yet, we might as well look at statist ics from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid represented as a pie graph in figure 2(American Hospital Association 2005, 6). In the 2003 statistics on the â€Å"Distribution of US Health Care Expenditures by Payer Source,† of the total $1. 7 trillion expenditures on health care, more than half are paid for by private entities. The lion’s share goes to private insurance. In this statistics, 35.8% are paid for by private insurance (American Hospital Association 2005, 6). Consumer’s out-of-pocket spending on health care account for 13. 7% of the 2003 health care expenditure, while other private expenditure account for 4. 8% of the expenditure. Medicare, a government health insurance system, pays for 17% of health care expenses, while Medicaid, another government health insurance system, shoulders 16% of the expenditure. The remaining 12. 7% of expenditure is paid for by other government systems like the S-CHIP and VA (Centers American Hospital Association 2005, 6; Chua 2006, 2).As such, we could see that the American Health Care System’s expenditure is more than 50% private. In spite of the big percentage in the budget that the federal government allots to health care, probably the biggest budget allotment in the OECD countries, a big percentage of health expenditures is handled by private entities. It is worth mentioning that America is spending on the average 15% of its GDP on health care when the average on OECD countries is only 8. 6% (Chua 2006, 5).This also means that America has the highest per capita spending on health care compared to other OECD Countries. It was documented that almost 10 years ago, the US was already the biggest per capita spender among its OECD colleagues. It spent $4,178 per capita while Switzerland, then second to the US on per capita spending, spent only $2794 per capita on health care. In spite of the big role of private entities and the high percentage in budget that health care system has, a big percen tage of non-elderly adults are uninsured (15% are uninsured as we saw above).This means that millions of adults in the working age have to spend their own money for health services. This also means that probably America is the only developed country that does not provide health services to all its citizens (Bureau of Labor Education in the University of Maine 2001, 3). Another problem is the fact that the United States has a high infant mortality rate compared to the other OECD counties. In fact, the United States ranked 26th in infant mortality rate among the industrialized countries (Bureau of Labor Education in the University of Maine 2001, 5).Neither did America rank well in disability-adjusted life expectancy ranking 24th among OECD countries (Bureau of Labor Education in the University of Maine 2001, 5). This means that a number of Americans expect to live parts of their lives in disability which probably is a consequence of not having access to health care (as a big percentag e of nonelderly are uninsured). Aside from these problems, American health care is also characterized by a deficit in resources as most emergency departments in hospitals report of being â€Å"at† or â€Å"over† capacity (American Hospital Association 2005, 25).In figure 3, we could see a bar graph showing how some hospitals (especially teaching hospitals) could be at 43% beyond capacity. Such a lack could be accounted for largely by the lack of critical care beds, and not necessarily by overcrowding, in these emergency departments (American Hospital Association 2005, 27). This would mean that a number of hospitals, both in their emergency departments and intensive care units, would need to spend time on diversion (American Hospital Association 2005, 26). These are all ironical problems in a country that is supposed to be most advanced in economy and technology.The Japanese Health Care System A. The Framework of the Japanese Health Care System The Japanese Health Care System, in contrast to the American system, offers coverage for all the citizens. This system offers services that are fairly comprehensive. Currently, the Japanese Health Care System provides â€Å"a basic package of benefits (including medical consultation, drugs, and other materials; medical treatment, surgery, and other services; home care treatment and nursing; and hospitalization and nursing at medical institutions) and they may offer additional benefits (e.g. , funeral benefits, maternity allowances) under the collective scheme† (Ward and Piccolo 2004). This system is best illustrated by figure 4. Health services are paid for in four ways: health insurance contributions, by patient co-payments, by taxes, and by out-of-pocket payments (Jeong and Hurst 2001, 10). Health services are given by providers which could be categorized according to the following: hospitals, doctors’ clinics, health centers, and pharmacies. Most hospitals are categorized as general hospita ls which mean that beds are allocated for long term care.These hospitals are closed to doctors who have clinics, these clinics being capable of minimum bed capacity of 12 (Jeong and Hurst 2001, 11) and may have the latest medical devices needed for diagnosis. Pharmacies may have their own doctors who may dispense their own prognoses and prescriptions. Nursing services are also considered as health providers. The insurance services, though provided by more or less 5,000 HMOs, are largely non-autonomous non-governmental bodies (Jeong and Hurst 2001, 13). These HMOs are basically in charge of operating the compulsory national health insurance system (Jeong and Hurst 2001, 13).These HMOs experience control by the national and local governments. In fact, even doctors’ fees as well as other health services fees are standardized. The Japanese Health Care System may be categorized into two big divisions: the Social Insurance System (SIS) and the National Health Insurance (NHI) (Ward and Piccolo 2004). People are assigned to a health insurance such that those who are working in a company or office are assigned in the SIS, while everyone else who cannot be classified as working in a company or office (including self-employed professionals) should fall under the NHI (Ward and Piccolo 2004).63% of the population is insured under the SIS. Under the SIS, employers pay 50 to 80% of the premium while employees, depending on their income, pay around 8. 5% of their income for health insurance premium. In this system, the insured and their dependents pay 20-30% of in-patient and out-patient costs, at the same time act as co-payers in prescription drugs (Ward and Piccolo 2004). The NIH system, on the other hand, covers the remaining 37% of the population. Premiums paid by the insured depend on incomes and assets. The insured as well as their dependents are required to be co-payers of 30% of the cost.In spite of the requirement for co-payment, Japan offers a co-payment cap: â€Å"The cap is at ? 63,600 (US$600) per month, with the average monthly disposable income being ? 561,000 (US$5,300)† (Ward and Piccolo 2004). In addition, those who are elderly may benefit from long-term insurance which covers 90% of long-term maintenance costs. B. Problems with the Japanese Health Care System The Japanese Health Care System boasts of having state-of-the-art equipment accessible to its citizens. In fact, Japan has the highest CT and MRI scanners per capita among all countries.Japan also has low infant mortality rate in spite of lower GDP spending (7. 6%) for health care, well within the OECD median (Ward and Piccolo 2004). Japan is also able to provide co-payment cap though like the United States, Japan’s health system is also highly paid for by private entities: â€Å"Japan spent ? 29. 8 trillion (US$280 billion) on healthcare, of which 53% was covered by insurance, 32. 3% by the government, and 14. 8% by patients' co-payments† (Ward and Pi ccolo 2004). Nevertheless, the Japanese Health Care System has its own share of problems.For one, unlike in most Western countries, specialization does not matter as much as in America. What matters is where a doctor is affiliated, thus making the distinction between a general practitioner and a specialist blurred. This makes having a â€Å"family doctor† difficult to have and standardization difficult to come by (Jeong and Hurst 2001, 13). Also, Japan has 2 to 3 times longer hospitalization time compared to other countries which means that Japan would need more beds to accommodate patients (National Coalition on Health Care, 3).Probably the biggest problem that the system is facing is the increasing number of elderly population which would obviously strain (National Coalition on Health Care, 3). There is also the problem of weak preventive care as well as low public awareness on â€Å"taboo† illnesses such as HIV and AIDS (Ward and Piccolo 2004). Comparison Between th e Two Health Care Systems In the introduction, we spoke of the WHO requirement for good health, responsiveness, and fairness in financing. Let us evaluate the two systems based on these WHO goals.The American system, aside from the problems posed above, obviously lacks in its ability to provide â€Å"good health† for the entire population. For one, the American health care system does not cover the entire American population. There is just no mandate for such. The Japanese system is obviously different. Japan has a national mandate for universal coverage. This means that the Japanese system is made in such a way that all Japanese would have to fall into one of the two insurance systems.The fact that all Japanese are insured at the same time Japanese spending on health care against GNP is well within the OECD median is something that Americans would have to learn from. The very concept of a co-payment cap is a very good thing that makes health care more responsive to the call for â€Å"good health for the entire population. † As regards responsiveness, the fact that millions of Americans are uninsured automatically makes them not capable of even evaluating client/patient relations for issues such as dignity, respect, etcetera.Nevertheless, the Japanese system also has room for improvement as the existence of â€Å"taboo† sicknesses would obviously compromise the treatment of patients with dignity and respect. Lastly, as regards the requirement for fairness in financing, the Japanese system is way better than the American system. To a certain extent, the American system would make it difficult for certain parts of the population to be insured as they are not too poor to qualify for Medicaid but they are also not employed nor financially endowed enough to pay for private insurance. This is totally not a problem in the Japanese system.

Accounting Education: an international journal Essay

ABSTRACT This study into the perceived importance of oral communication skills in accountancy included the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from a national survey of New Zealand accountants, followed by a series of semi-structured interviews. Survey and interview data reveal agreement with existing literature: New Zealand accountancy employers find all oral communication skills somewhat important and a number of specific skills extremely important, but employers also report seldom finding the required level of oral communication proficiency in new university graduates. The study produced an inventory of 27 individual oral communication skills that will be useful to similar investigations in different national contexts. Additionally, the findings of this study may be useful to curricular development both in the New Zealand and international contexts. See more: Satirical essay about drugs KEY WORDS: Oral communication, workplace communication, listening, presentation skills, telephone skills 1.Introduction Academics and practitioners do not always concur but, in the case of communication skills in accountancy graduates, these two sets of stakeholders are in firm agreement: both written and oral communication skills are extremely important in the accountancy work- place (Albin and Crockett, 1991; Albrecht and Sack, 2000; Borzi and Mills, 2001; Hock, 1994; Johnson and Johnson, 1995; LaFrancois, 1992; McDonald, 2007; Morgan, 1997). This agreement extends across international boundaries, as a number of studies around the globe have reported the high value placed on communication skills, for example in the UK (Morgan, 1997), USA (Smythe and Nikolai, 2002), and Australia (Tempone and Martin, 2003). In New Zealand, the site of the present study, academic studies into the importance of communication skills in accountancy and the challenges of teaching those skills (Gardner, Milne, Stringer and Whiting, 2005; McLaren, 1990) have multiple corollaries in the workforce. Accountancy job advertisements regularly request both oral and written communication skills; competency in oral communication is emphasised on the website of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA); and oral communication is an explicit component of the assessment structure of the PCE2 examination, which concludes the second (and final) stage of training towards becoming a Chartered Accountant in New Zealand. However, both formal studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that new accountancy graduates often do not possess communication skills sufficient to meet the demands of the workplace, particularly in the area of oral communication (Adler and Milne, 1994; Courtis and Zaid, 2002; Gray, 2010; McLaren, 1990; Zaid and Abraham, 1994). Students in New Zealand may graduate with a university degree in accountancy after three years of full-time study. (Accountancy may also be studied in less rigorous programs at polytechnics and institutes of technology.) The intensity of the university programs of study, which are accredited by NZICA, means students have a challenging workload of technical study and very limited opportunity to take elective or ‘liberal’ courses. Of course, limited class time and the resultant curricular pressures and inadequate skill mastery are not unique to the New Zealand accountancy classroom (Pittenger, Miller and Mott, 2004; Wardrope and Bayless, 1999). The globally-recognised problem of insufficient oral communication skill in accoun- tancy graduates leads to a series of questions that need practical answers: . How should university educators respond, strategically and pedagogically, to this reported lack of oral communication skills in new graduates?. What approaches and assessments within university courses will best meet the needs of students aspiring to successful accountancy careers? . To what extent is the development of such skills in students the responsibility of the university and what is the role of the workplace in developing oral communication skills? Before university educators can make any meaningful decisions concerning pedagogy or curricula, and appropriately teach the oral communication skills needed for a successful accountancy career, they need concrete information regarding exactly which specific skills are most valued and most needed in accountancy. Thus a research question was formu- lated: to ascertain the value of specific oral communication skills in new graduates, as perceived by New Zealand accountancy employers. It was hoped that answers to this research question would provide educators with specific information with which to consider their optimal pedagogical responses. The research question led to the construction and implementation of this longitudinal study. Initial research objectives were: . To determine how much importance New Zealand accountancy employers place  on oral communication skills in the new graduates they hire. . To determine what specific kinds of oral communication skills are required by New Zealand accountancy employers in new graduates. . To determine the degree to which accountancy employers are finding the required oral communication skills in newly-graduated accountancy students. The study included the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, from a national survey of New Zealand accountants, followed by a series of semi-structured Oral Communication Skills in New Accountancy Graduates 277 interviews. Initial findings from the first-phase survey have been reported elsewhere (Gray, 2010). Overall, survey and interview data revealed that accountancy employers find all oral communication skills somewhat important and a number of specific skills extremely important, but that the required level of overall oral communication skill was seldom found in new graduates. Accountancy employers agreed that the possession of strong oral communication skills improves a graduate’s chance of succeeding in the hiring process and also of progressing in his or her career. The study produced an inven- tory of 27 individual oral communication skills, of which listening skills were most highly valued by accountancy employers, and formal presentation skills were considered least valuable, although there was disagreement on this point. It is hoped the oral communi- cation skill inventory will be useful to similar investigations in different national contexts. Additionally, the findings of this study may be of use both in the New Zealand and inter- national context in the long-term planning of curricular development. 2.Literature Review Studies of communication in accountancy agree broadly on the importance of written and oral communication skills. Many formal and informal studies to this point have tended to use general terms such as ‘communication skills,’ or the even vaguer term ‘generic skills’;1 it is difficult to ascertain the precise meaning of such all-encompassing terms as they apply to chartered accountancy. For example, Zaid and Abraham (1994) studied the problems encountered by accountancy graduates early in their employment careers, and reported a primary area of difficulty to be in ‘communication with others.’ Baker and McGregor (2000) compared the importance perceived in communication skills by a number of accountancy stakeholder groups; this study, too, only uses the broad term ‘communication skills.’ De Lange, Jackling, and Gut (2006) surveyed Australian accoun- tancy graduates and found that students reported themselves to have a significant skill deficiency in the specific areas of ‘interpersonal skills’ and ‘oral expression’; these two broad categories, however, were no more closely examined or defined. Within the smaller number of studies that have examined a particular set of communi- cation skills in accountancy, most have focussed on written communication skill (Albrecht and Sack, 2000; Ashbaugh, Johnstone and Warfield, 2002; English, Bonanno, Ihnatko, Webb and Jon; Ng, Lloyd, Kober and Robinson, 1999; Webb, English and Bonanno, 1995). Very few studies have examined oral communication specifically, or identified individual oral communication skills. Morgan (1997) is an exception: in a study of accountancy professionals in England and Waleses, 1999; Hall, 1998 he identifies 13 individual skill areas within oral communication activities in accountancy. There is no agreement on a classificatory inventory of such skills. One study into oral communi- cation, by Maes, Weldy and Icenogle (1997), surveyed American business employers from a broad array of industries on graduates’ possession of another 13 distinct oral communication skills. Maes et al. (1997) and McLaren (1990) both specifically list ‘listening’ as a desirable communication skill and, more recently, Goby and Lewis (2000) have examined listening as a specific business communication skill. Other research has variously investigated a number of individual oral communication skills across a range of business industries, including conveying expertise through spoken communication and giving intelligible explanations (Smythe and Nikolai, 2002), delivering formal presenta- tions (Wardrope, 2002), and participating in a range of more informal presentations (Crosling and Ward, 2002). The first phase of this study drew together the foci and findings of previous studies in relation to the  production of a comprehensive list of oral communi- cation skills (Gray, 2010). 278F. E. Gray and N. Murray Ascertaining the particular requirements of accountancy employers in regard to specific communication skills should be of assistance to university educators planning the curricu- lar content and assessments of university courses, as academics and practitioners agree that written and oral communication skills are two major areas needing more attention in the university accountancy curriculum (Albrecht and Sack, 2000; Henderson, 2001; Simons and Higgins, 1993). However, the relationship between workplace demand and classroom instruction is not necessarily simple. While a considerable body of scholarship has recommended a variety of curricular improvements for university level accounting education (see, for example, Henderson, 2001; Sin, Jones, and Petocz, 2007; and Usoff and Feldmann, 1998), the literature reflects a significant concern in relation to the transferability of taught communication skills from the university classroom environment to the ‘real-world’ environmen t of the accountancy workplace (Beaufort, 1999; Cooper, 1997; D’Aloisio, 2006; Davies and Birbili, 2000; Kemp and Seagraves, 1995; Thomas, 1995). A number of academics and employers suggest that universities should not bear the entire responsibility for developing ‘workplace-ready’ communication skills in students. They argue that organisations employing new graduates—and graduates themselves— should share the responsibility for developing contextualised and discourse-specific com- munication competencies (Ford, 2009; Hayes and Kuseski, 2001; Muir and Davis, 2004; Triebel and Gurdjian, 2009). Such competencies, after all, are developed by means of a number of contributing factors, including age and maturity, as well as familiarity with and length of exposure to a specific discourse community. University training, however comprehensive, cannot encompass all these variables. Research into accountancy education has also recognised the particular problems faced by English second language (ESL) speakers striving to develop written and oral communi- cation competency as well as the technical proficiencies required in accountancy work- places (Andrews, 2006; McGowan and Potter, 2008; Webb et al., 1995). Several studies in New Zealand and internationally report on the difficulties that ESL accountancy gradu- ates  face in a competitive hiring environment (Birrell, 2007; Jacobs, 2003; James and Otsuka, 2009; Kim, 2004). With regard to the specific question of developing communication skills within univer- sity-level accountancy instruction, scholars have suggested an array of learning and assessment approaches (Adler and Milne, 1997; Milne, 1999; Milne and McConnell, 2001; Tempone and Martin, 2003). This study recognises that developers of curricula must balance data regarding workplace demand with institutional and accreditation- related demands and a number of other pedagogical considerations. Notwithstanding, educational responses to the challenges of developing oral communication skills in students may be usefully informed by empirical data identifying the particular skills most highly valued and most pressingly needed within accountancy, as perceived by employers themselves. This study provides such data. 3.Method The project was conducted in two stages over the course of approximately six months. In phase one, a questionnaire was mailed to all New Zealand chartered accountancy firms, and this was followed in phase two by a series of telephone interviews with accountancy professionals. Prior to data collection, ethics approval was sought from and granted by the Ethics Committee of the authors’ institution. Questionnaire and interview respondents were provided with a written description of the project, were assured of confidentiality, and granted permission before their responses were recorded. Oral Communication Skills in New Accountancy Graduates 279 3.1Questionnaire In the first stage, a questionnaire was sent to all New Zealand chartered accountancy firms, containing a series of questions concerning the quality of oral communication skills pos- sessed by new accountancy graduates, the specific oral communication skills which employers desire, and the role of oral communication skills in the hiring process (Gray, 2010). The majority of the questions were designed to be answered on a five-point  Likert scale, but the questionnaire also included several short-answer questions. The questionnaire instrument was developed through a series of iterations. The findings and design of previous New Zealand and international research studies that had identified specific communication skills were consulted (including Gray, Emerson and MacKay, 2006; Maes et al., 1997; McLaren, 1990; Morgan, 1997; Smythe and Nikolai 2002), and the individual oral communication skills collated. The catalogue of individual skills was further extended through conversations with university colleagues in the communi- cation and accountancy departments, and then the input of New Zealand accounting prac- titioners was solicited from a pilot study. The aim of these iterations was to create the fullest possible inventory of oral communication skills, and to reflect the unique aspects of the New Zealand accountancy context. A foundational study was McLaren’s 1990 investigation into communication skill in New Zealand accountancy. One important construct borrowed from McLaren was the distinction between listening attentiveness and listening responsiveness. Constructs were also adapted from studies conducted by Morgan (1997), Zaid and Abraham (1994), and De Lange et al. (2006). Smythe and Nikolai’s oral communication concerns model (1996, 2002) proved particularly useful in the construction of this questionnaire. This model identifies three categories of concern as a framework for grouping oral com- munication skills: self-concern, task-concern, and impact (or outcome) concern. Smythe and Nikolai postulate that a progression takes place from one category of concern to the next in line with a person’s career progression and his/her growth in experience and confidence in communicating orally in the workplace. Since the target population for this study was a constituency at a mature career stage within chartered accountancy firms, Smythe and Nikolai’s ‘progressive’ divisions were not retained (although a number of their questions were incorporated, particularly in the areas of task concern and impact concern). Instead, divisions between questions were created in relation to different audiences, building on the finding of a related study (Gray et al., 2006) that New Zealand employers report new graduates to significantly lack audience awareness in their communications. After a comprehensive list of specific oral communication skills was generated, the questionnaire draft was piloted on four accountancy professionals, and their feedback enabled  questions to be refined. A number of skills that were initially individually ident- ified were modified and condensed into a smaller number of broader and more inclusive skills: for example, ‘Building audience confidence in recommendations’ and ‘Projecting an image of sincerity and commitment’ (both ‘impact concerns’ from Smythe and Nikolai’s taxonomy) were combined into the one, more inclusive skill category, ‘Convey- ing a knowledgeable and confident demeanour.’ Additionally, feedback from the pilot study led to the second of the two specified listening skills being more fully explicated, thus: ‘Listening responsiveness: (that is, acting appropriately on messages received).’ Again building on feedback from the pilot regarding usability, the questionnaire as a whole was divided into three sections. Section A captured introductory information including the size of the organisation and the qualifications held by new graduates hired in the last three years. Section B listed the full, final inventory of 27 individual oral 280F. E. Gray and N. Murray communication skills, collected into the following audience-related divisions: I. Listening skills; II. Collegial communication skills; III. Client communication skills; IV. Communi- cation skills with management; and V. General Audience Analysis Skills. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of each skill, as well as the frequency with which this skill is found in new accountancy graduates. At the end of Section B respondents were invited to add to the questionnaire any other oral communication skills that they con- sidered important for new accountancy graduates. Section C, Final Questions, asked respondents whether oral communication training was available in or through their organ- isation, whether oral communication training should be included in university accoun- tancy education programmes, and finally to estimate the hours per working week a new accountancy graduate would be engaged in communicating orally. At the close of the questionnaire, respondents were given the option to volunteer for a follow-up interview. 3.1.2 Respondents.The questionnaire was sent to all chartered accountancy firms listed on the New Zealand online business directory, and was addressed to the Practice Manager as the individual most likely to have  in-depth knowledge of the process of hiring new graduates. New Zealand’s professional accountancy body, the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) reports that 40.7% of its members work in the private sector, while the second largest percentage, 27.5%, are employed in Chartered Accountancy practices (2008 annual report). Working on the assumption that CA prac- tices hire a percentage of new graduates proportionate to their sizeable percentage of NZICA members, CA practices were chosen as the focal population for this study as they represent (in contrast to the private sector) a readily identifiable and readily contact- able group of employers.2 While the New Zealand online business directory listed 1,111 chartered accountancy firms as of 1April 2008 , a number of listed organisations had ceased operations or were uncontactable, and the questionnaire was eventually mailed to 760 firms. Of 760 mailings, 146 questionnaires were returned, producing a response rate of 19.2%. While this response rate was higher than the 15% usable response rate reported by McLaren in her 1990 study of New Zealand accountancy professionals, it remains margin- ally lower than the typical response rate for postal-based questionnaires (20 – 40%, as given in Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias, 1996). Possible reasons for this relatively low response rate include the fact that time and funding did not permit follow-up mailings, and also the fact that the target population is frequently time-poor and frequently surveyed. While non-response bias is an unavoidable concern when the response rate is less than 100 per cent, a low response rate does not necessarily equate to a non-response bias (Gendall, 2000). A degree of representativeness was observable in the geographical spread of respondents, the positions held by respondents (see below), and the types of businesses responding, suggesting generalisation across a range of accountancy business types is viable. The questionnaire was mailed to separate groups of potential respondents in six post- ings, each approximately 10 days apart. The order in which responses were received generally mirrored the order in which postings were mailed: that is, the first group’s responses were received before the second group’s questionnaires began to be returned, and so on. As a record of receipt for each individual survey was not kept, early versus late response bias cannot be checked. As a single mail-out technique was used for each individual, it  may be argued that differences in respondent type are not as applicable as may be seen in a survey where some participants responded early, whereas others received several reminders and mail -outs before responding. Analyses were undertaken treating the six postings as separate groups to determine any potential differences by respondent type. All groups were similar in claiming that oral communication in general was either ‘essential’ or ‘very important’ in the accountancy profession. Furthermore, oral communication skill was ‘always’ important as a hiring factor for all mail-out groups. When comparing each group on importance and frequency of communication skills using a Kruskall-Wallis test, only one significant difference was found for frequency of listening skills seen in new graduates, x2  ¼ 11.60, P ,0.05. Post- hoc Mann-Whitney U tests subsequently revealed no significant differences in frequency of listening skills seen in new graduates between any of the six groups (using a Bonferroni correction). While the questionnaires were addressed to the Practice Managers of each organis- ation, respondents revealed a degree of variability. The majority of completed question- naires were anonymous, but the respondents who identified themselves ranged from partners in large firms, to senior employees in very small firms, to Human Resources directors. 3.2Interviews The second phase of the study involved employer interviews. Forty-five questionnaire respondents volunteered to be contacted for follow-up interviews, and 19 volunteers could subsequently be contacted by telephone for complete interviews. The interviewee sample size was considered adequate due to its purposive nature and the recent finding that, within such samples, data saturation (including metathemes and subthemes) occurs within the first 12 interviews (Guest, Bunce and Johnson, 2006). It was intended that the qualitative data from interviews would triangulate and extend conclusions arising from analysis of the quantitative data. The interview data incorporated into the study an ethnographic element, ‘thick description, a rich, detailed description of specifics’ (Neuman, 2003, p.  367), which helped produce more robust and credible conclusions. Telephone interviews were conducted between October and December 2008. Intervie- wees ranged from accountancy practice managers to sole practitioners, to partners in large firms. The semi-structured interviews ranged in length from 15 to 45 minutes and sought clarification of a number of issues arising from the questionnaire data, including the impli- cations of globalisation for oral communication in accountancy, the impact of new technologies and the importance of telephone skills, the centrality of listening skills, and the desirability of presentation skills for graduates new to the accountancy workplace. 3.3Data Analysis Once the data from the questionnaires was collated, statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. Mean and median scores were calculated with regard to the importance scores given to each individual oral communication skill, and to the frequency scores (how often each skill is observed in new graduate hires). Each mean was the product of the addition of all the individual importance or frequency scores for each communication skill, divided by the sample size. The standard deviation (SD) of each mean score, as well as the inter-quartile range for the median, was also calculated to indicate the relative spread of responses, with higher figures equating to wider ranges of scores. Owing to a number of missing responses, the denominator of responses to each question shows some variation. As the skill variables violated the assumption of normality (expected given the general level of agreement in employers’ perceptions), non-parametric tests were used. Where relevant, all assumptions of the named tests below were met. 282F. E. Gray and N. Murray As mentioned in 3.1, Section B of the questionnaire invited respondents to write in any further oral communication skills which they felt were important for new accountancy graduates to possess, distinct from the 27 skills listed. Comments identifying additional skills were received from 36 respondents; these comments were recorded and analysed for thematic consistency. Once the interviews were transcribed, themes were also  identified and analysed. Grounded theory was applied to analyse these themes, that is, inductive analysis in which data produce meanings, rather than meanings being applied from exterior theory (Strauss and Corbin, 2000). 4.Findings 4.1Research Objective 1: How Much Importance do New Zealand Accountancy Employers Place on Oral Communication Skills in the New Graduates they Hire? The questionnaire data presented a clear answer to the first research question. Oral communication skill in general was considered to be ‘essential’ in a new graduate by 49.6% (n  ¼ 133) of respondents; a further 41.4% reported it to be ‘very important’. On a rating scale from 1 to 5, where 1 was ‘not important’ and 5 was ‘essential’, the overall mean for oral communication skill in general was 4.39 (Md  ¼ 4.00). A Kruskal- Wallis test found no significant difference in the importance value assigned to oral communication skill depending on the size of the organisation, x2(4)  ¼ 5.48, p . 0.05. During the second phase of the study, interviewees strongly reiterated the perceived importance of oral communication skill: CL called oral communication ‘a career divider,’ meaning it was indispensable to success within accountancy, and EK labelled strong oral communication ‘a distinguishing factor’ setting goo d accountants apart from the mediocre. SWS stated: ‘Being able to communicate is a number one priority .. . [and] it’s going to get more and more important.’ Interview data also supported the signifi- cance of a theme that emerged from written-in comments in the questionnaire: the impor- tance of oral communication skills in accountancy is perceived to be increasing rapidly as a direct result of globalisation, and an increased speaking flexibility and cross-cultural adaptability are considered particularly important in this context. Reporting that they ‘always’ take oral communication skill into account in hiring decisions were 64.1% (n  ¼ 131) of questionnaire respondents (a total of 90.8% reported this to be a hiring factor either ‘always’ or ‘often’). RT stated that strong oral communi- cation skills often proved the decisive factor in a hiring decision: The person who presents well †¦ verbally, if you had to toss a coin between two of them, same grades and all that, the one who can communicate better, you’d give it to that person I think. [.. .] It has to be one of the most powerful strengths or powerful weaknesses that people have. No questionnaire respondents reported ‘never’ taking an applicant’s oral communi- cation skills into account in the hiring process, and several interviewees reported incorpor- ating specific checks of a candidate’s oral competency into their hiring process. For example, TB stated that he telephones all job applicants prior to an in-office interview, in order to gauge their skills in speaking on the telephone. 4.2Research Objective 2: What Specific Kinds of Oral Communication Skills are required by New Zealand Accountancy Employers? Figure 1. Perceived importance of communication skills by perceived frequency of new graduate ability  importance of the individual communication skills against the perceived frequency with which these skills are seen in new graduates. Figure 1 shows that the importance and fre- quency measures follow a similar pattern. This may reflect the influence of the workplace in focussing on developing certain communication competencies in new graduates, or hiring based on those competencies being present to a certain degree. However, there is still an obvious gap between the importance of each skill and the degree to which it is seen in new graduates. 4.2.1Listening skills.On a rating scale from 1 to 5, where 1 was ‘not  important’ and 5 was ‘essential,’ the two skills considered most important were those of listening attentive- ness and listening responsiveness, valued respectively at 4.81 (Md  ¼ 5.00)—82% of respondents ranked listening attentiveness as ‘essential’—and 4.80 (Md  ¼ 5.00)—a further 82% of respondents classifying listening responsiveness as ‘essential’. In sub- sequent interviews, KC described listening to another person as being a more important skill than that of articulating one’s own thoughts: Sometimes, speaking less is better than speaking more. Sometimes you have to have more listening ability. That listening ability will give you the timing of when to say things and when not to say things.. .. A number of interviewees linked listening skill to a related set of competencies concern- ing a speaker’s ability to create rapport and adjust to audiences’ needs. These interviewees spoke of the need for accountancy professionals to communicate with others (clients, colleagues, and managers) ‘in their own language.’ We learn to use sometimes slightly different language in order to be able to communicate to different people and that’s certainly part of our job when we’re in a service industry like 284F. E. Gray and N. Murray  accountancy. We need to talk to people in their language and us[e] words and conduct that they are comfortable with (BR; emphasis added). It’s important to understand your client so that †¦ you’re speaking almost in ‘like language’ so that you know who you are talking to [and] you know they are understanding (SWS; emphasis added). I think it’s a horses for courses [principle], you’ve got to know†¦ your clients or the people you’re dealing with. If you happen to know someone didn’t like a certain style or you could pick from their responses †¦ [then] you reply with like with like (DW; emphasis added). JC mentioned adjusting vocabulary and PW mentioned adjusting message  channel, in relation to the particular needs of the audience. MT emphasised the importance for accountancy graduates to gauge appropriateness of language: They’ve got to realise that when they’re dealing with clients, or senior members of organis- ations, that they’ve got to communicate it appropriately and not in a manner that they may always communicate with their friends or colleagues. Interviewees agreed that this kind of reflective adjustment to an audience’s preferred register is dependent on a speaker’s ability to listen and make appropriate communicative changes. 4.2.2 Vocabulary and slang. Several individual oral communication skills identified in the questionnaire concerned engaging in dialogue and using language and channels preferred by the communication partner. These included ‘explaining or making a topic intelligible’ to colleagues (x  ¼ 4.28, Md  ¼ 4.00, ranked ninth); ‘giving feedback’ to clients: (x  ¼ 4.17, Md  ¼ 4.00, ranked 13th); and ‘using appropriate vocabulary for the audience’, a general audience skill: (x  ¼ 4.21, Md  ¼ 4.00, ranked 10th). Follow-up inter- view questions seeking more information concerning the importance of explanatory and vocabulary skills elicited a number of specific concerns with the use of slang by new accountancy graduates. TO stated: ‘A lot of them have devolved into .. . use of a lot of colloquialisms that may not be acceptable to the older generation.’ According to NM, overly casual language destroys credibility. It’s hard enough for a young person to break in and to be heard, I guess in a business sense when you’re trying to sell to, I guess older people or experienced people. If you come out with schoolyard slang, you don’t stand a chance. Interviews emphasised the desirability in new graduates of a wide-ranging and flexible vocabulary (described by one interviewee as a mental ‘drop-down menu’ of words), oper- ating in tandem with the ability to access the  correct level of spoken formality. After listening attentiveness and listening responsiveness, questionnaire results ident- ified the next five most highly valued individual oral communication skills as being: ‘Con- veying professional attitude of respect and interest in clients’ (x  ¼ 4.68, Md  ¼ 5.00); ‘Asking for clarification or feedback from management’ (x  ¼ 4.57, Md  ¼ 5.00); ‘Speaking on the telephone/making conference calls with clients’ (x  ¼ 4.53, Md  ¼ 5.00); ‘Describ- ing situations accurately and precisely to superior(s)’ (x  ¼ 4.47, Md  ¼ 5.00); and ‘Convey- ing a knowledgeable and confident demeanour to clients’ (x  ¼ 4.45, Md  ¼ 5.00). Please see Table 1 for a complete record of the average and median importance values accorded to each oral communication skill, as well as the reported mean and median frequency with which each skill was found in new accountancy graduates (see also, Gray, 2010).

the life of charles dickens, a essays

the life of charles dickens, a essays As a member of one of the lower classes as a child Dickens had dreams of comfortable middle class life, and worked for this goal without forgetting where he came from. Dickens was the first mainstream writer to reach out to the semiliterate class. He did much to make sure his writings were available to the middle class. He published serial novels on monthly bases. One shilling (one twentieth of a pound) would buy you the next installment to your novel. In a time when novels were almost thirty times as much as one of these serial novels, it put reading within the reach of the middle class, thus highly popularizing Charles Dickens works. By the popularity of his work he was able to afford a humble middle class life, which was what he always desired. Charles Dickens, like most authors of fiction, included characters in his writings that reflect aspects of his own life. Dickens has certain staple characteristics that are included in the majority of his stories that are derived from Dic kens family, friends, and even himself. Charles Dickens was one of the literary geniuses of the 19th century. Charles Dickens did not begin his life as a humble middle class child. In fact it was quite the opposite. He was born in Portsmouth, England in 1812. He was the second child of John and Elizabeth Dickens. John Dickens was a clerk in the Navy pay office. In 1817 Charles got the first taste of the life he would so strongly desire later in his life. His family moved to Chatham, a small port town in England. Charles enjoyed all the comforts of a humble middle class life, fresh country air, decent schooling, and books to read on sunny afternoons. It was a short idyll, John Dickens money supply was lacking. He was recalled to London and forced to put his family of six in a small, smelly, bleak house in the ugly suburb of Camden town. Then in 1824 an event that shaped Charles Dickens views on the world occurred. His family increasingly in...

Get this new symbol and youll pay for it - Emphasis

Get this new symbol and youll pay for it Get this new symbol and youll pay for it If you have an aversion to emoticons and their ilk, you may want to look away now. Introducing an entirely new symbol to express heavy-handedly what your words apparently cant: ladies and gentlemen, the Sarcmark. As you might already have guessed, it can be handily popped at the end of a sentence to signify when youre being sarcastic. Actually, its probably meant to be an indicator of irony, but presumably the Iromark didnt have quite the same commercial appeal. Thats right: youll have to pay to use it. Its makers, Sarcasm Inc, will charge you a mere 1.20 for the privilege. So will we be downloading it? Of course. (Darn, now we need one. The irony!) Ok, sometimes the lack of tone in email can be a problem. But sarcasms a tricky one to pull off at the best of times, particularly in business dealings. Insert one of these and you run the risk of either offending your reader for using sarcasm at all, or by assuming theyre too dim-witted to recognise it if they see it.