International Financial Reporting Standards Essay Example for Free

International Financial Reporting Standards Essay Organizations around the world are continuously recording data and reporting financial information to the used for many purposes by the respective users. A tremendous amount of financial transactions continuously stir in the organizations, some transactions occur each second or minute whereas some transactions are very unique and take place occasionally as a result of a specific event. That is why to bring things in conformity and consistency, it is important that organizations establish standards and procedures for recording their data. In doing so present results will be in a position to be compared with historical data and with entities in similar industry. Listed companies have to particularly follow standard formats and disclose their financial information in such a way that it is easily understood by the users of the financial statements. This is because consistency flows through not just one organization but the entire industry making outcomes easier to contrast. These objectives are being addressed by standard setting boards such as IAASB by setting International Accounting Standards (IAS) and International Financial Reporting standards (IFRS). Both IFRS and IAS are equal in terms of their value and standing. (Tatum Malcum) All transactions need to be recorded as suggested above. One of the aspects that are a part of recording is financial instruments; created by a legal document and having different monetary values. They can be classified as cash or derivative instruments. Cash type of financial instruments is widely used and can be most easily understood. Currency in itself is a cash instrument or a bank cheque is a good example which can be used to transfer money from one bank account to another. However derivative instruments include those tools such as futures; an instrument saying that the seller will sell the asset or buyer will buy it at a future date. Price of such transactions is determined at the time of entering into a future contract. There are other instruments as well such as options and swaps whereas sometimes stocks, bonds and currency forwards are also termed as financial instruments. (Tatum Malcum) Due to the wide range of financial instruments being used, IAS 39 was introduced by International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) in 2001 to regulate the process of recognition and measurement of such transactions. The organizations dealing with them were facing problems with respect to treatment as different approaches were being applied by entities. This led to inconsistency of disclosing and recording of appropriate amounts within the industry as they were no standard process for recording the financial instruments. This directed the results of entities within the same industry to be incomparable with one another. Many of transactions involving financial instruments remained unrecognized as no proper recognition and measurement processes were known to the accountants. Hence CFO and CEO were in a position to distort the actual results and lead shareholders astray. (Miolo Alessandro, Andersen Arthur) In response to that IAS 39 introduced a concept of fair value accounting. The standard increased the importance of the fair value accounting for the financial instruments and therefore required entities to record assets and liabilities on the face of the balance sheet and discloses the nature of derivatives in the financial statements. In case of hybrids, the structure had to be broken down into two components (Miolo Alessandro, Andersen Arthur). This is because hybrid instruments have a mixture of characteristics of both debt and equity thereby market price of the hybrid instrument is sensitive to both the interest rates and quoted price for the stock (Riskglossory. com). The two components of the hybrid contract are real contracts however derivative is separated from the contract to be measured at fair value. (Miolo Alessandro, Andersen Arthur) IAS 39 also introduced hedge accounting for all derivatives in order to minimize the volatile affects on the income statement. Further segregation in the standard came into place as the â€Å"intention† of hedging was used to establish which accounting rules will be applied. As a result a fair value hedge, net investment hedge in foreign currency and cash flow hedge accounting rules was launched. In fair value hedging the risks are connected to the fluctuation of fair value of an underlying asset or liability. Whereas cash flow hedges are those in which the exposure is connected to the future cash flows of assets or liabilities recognized or any future commitment or forecasted cash flow of the organization. Moreover, the net investment hedge in foreign currency is hedging the risks of an entity’s net asset which is not an associate, joint venture or a subsidiary. (Miolo Alessandro, Andersen Arthur) Implication of this IAS affected all the users of financial statements and also the people who were trying to comply with the standard. The development of this standard and its implementation had significant impact on the strategies in dealing with financial risks. As the financial instruments have volatile affects on the equity portfolio and income statements these affects were then being countered by engaging in hedging strategies and transparent accounting policies. (Miolo Alessandro, Andersen Arthur) IAS 39 also provides organizations with the recognition criteria on how to record hedging instruments when entering into a transaction. After that at each period end gain and loss is recognized on an ongoing basis. So it has a forward looking stance at initiation but a backward bearing when re-assessment of investment’s effectiveness is carried out. The organizations needed to asses which process of reassessment would be right for their investment portfolio. A proper system was therefore required to record and reassess not only cash flows and fair values but also take into account the premiums and discounts involved. Moreover, IAS required the disclosure of all the investments and subsequent gains or loss arising due to it. (Miolo Alessandro, Andersen Arthur) The first revision of the IAS 39 took place in 2004 which incorporated Macro hedging, involving interest rates risks hedge. This amendment was made due to the increase use of these instruments and such investments were not addressed by IAS 39. Macro hedge is an investment technique to reduce or minimize the risks associated with the whole portfolio of investments (Peter Williams). This investments technique was widely spread because of the ease of information available about the interest rate and currency fluctuations between different countries. The macro managers earned by hedging the risks in different market by buying long and short in different markets of the globe. That increasing trend required the correct measurement and recognition of such investment which could only be linked with financial instruments dealt in IAS 39. (Hubpages, Inc. ) Further amendment took place on the issue of initial recognition of financial asset or liabilities and the subsequent charging of gain or loss. Initially all of such instruments were allowed to be measured on fair value if measured reliably. In 2005 the option to value instruments at fair value had been restricted to only those investments which had significantly reduced due to accounting mismatch along with those financial instruments whose fair values were regularly managed evaluated for its correctness. In addition IAS 39 stated before October 2008 that once an instrument is classified on the basis of fair value i. e through profit and loss category, it cannot be reclassified. Amendment in 2008 allowed some of the instruments to be reclassified from fair value and available for sale category under certain conditions and a disclosure is required in case of such a reclassification. Moreover it was stated that all the derivatives need to be reassessed in case of any reclassification; an issue that was developed due to the global credit crunch, significantly affecting the financial market. (Delloitte Touche Tohmatsu) With all the problems and issues dealing with financial instruments IASB and FASB started working together on IFRS 9 to replace IAS 39. Its purpose is to reduce difficulty in accounting for financial instruments and hedging activities. This development took place in phases. Phase one tends to improve and simplify the measurement and classification of the financial instruments. Though this phase has been completed but the exposure draft has been under plan to be issued and the implementation is to be completed in the current year. (International Accounting standard board) This new standard has raising concerns in the world in corporate sectors on how this will be implemented and how it will affect their operations. Many are happy for the change to take place as the IAS 39 is thought to be a difficult standard to implement. The replacement is a result of the world’s economic crises after which all the investors and the regulators of financial institutions were demanding for an accounting system which showed the types of assets and liabilities held at a given time, the risks that they are exposed to and gain and losses expect to be realized. (IFRS 9 – Deconstructing IAS 39) In 2008 when Lehman Brothers share price collapsed, the investors in turn rushed to purchase the share prices in anticipation of prices bouncing back. However they couldn’t see the situation of the bank’s exposure in financial instruments related to subprime loans as less information was disclosed for their understanding. Hence it was later suggested that accounting needs to be clearer which became evident upon the fall of many banks. IFRS 9 strived to cater and answer all these major issues in hand while giving organizations an option to adopt this standard before it becomes mandatory in 2013. Only the first phase of the standard is completed and all the stakeholders are waiting to implement it upon finalization of IFRS 9 completion. IFRS 9 – Deconstructing IAS 39) IFRS 9 looks to tackle all the current problems and questions probed by various investors but it cannot give a guarantee to prevent any crises in future. It is important that accountants, regulator and the investors remain vigilant because no matter how much IFRS 9 helps to simplify the accounting of financial reporting, when this economy starts its recovery phase no one can stop the development of new financial instruments eluding the situation like before. European Union refused to adopt IFRS 9 last year posing some questions relating to fair value of investments coverage. On the other hand Japan signed it for an early adoption in March 2010 which is a significant step toward promoting transparency in policies and implementation (IFRS 9 – Deconstructing IAS 39). Hence it can be clearly seen that IASB and FASB have been working for the betterment of the society by incorporating the external changes in the market which can be reflected upon the replacement of IAS 39 with IFRS 9.

The wembley national stadium

The wembley national stadium   Introduction It was built to be the new ‘home of football; to be one of the largest and magnificent stadiums in the world and designed to be state-of-the-art with a seating capacity of 90,000. Designed by the World Stadium Team led by Mott MacDonald, the Wembley Stadium now stands as the most expensive stadium ever built, the longest single-span roof structure in the world (315m), second largest stadium in Europe and the tallest in the world (133m) with every seat under roof cover.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The concept was to build a state-of-the-art stadium, with none that can compare anywhere else in the world. The new stadium has a partly retractable roof which can be adjusted to allow sunlight to reach all parts of the pitch. During bad weather, the roof can be retracted in about 15 minutes to cover every seat (http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/wembley/).  £120 million from the Lottery Fund was invested into the stadium with an additional loan of  £426 million through West Deutsche Landesbank. A fixed price contract was reached between the client and contractors. This made provision for a building cost of  £352 million and total project costs of  £757 million (Public Accounts Committee, 2004). However, like most iconic construction projects of national interest, the Wembley project was not spared its own share of controversies, accusations, rumours, anxieties and fascination. The Football Association (FA) must have imagined a spectacular 2006 FA Cup grand finale, the biggest UK soccer championship at Wembley National Stadium. Unfortunately, this important event had to be moved all the way to Wales! What was wrong? Wembley Stadiums extraordinarily ambitious re-development was utterly behind schedule.The project later opened in March 2007, almost a year behind schedule and  £70million over budget and has since then kept some of the finest construction lawyers in constant employment. The Wembley Stadium concept was definitely ambitious and the product stands now impressively. Even more breathe taking is the 133m arch which when lit up at night shinning gloriously, and can even be seen across London. Wembley has indeed become Englands new icon of football. The client for the project was the Football Association (FA) working through its subsidiary the Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL). The main contractor was Multiplex Constructions with Mott MacDonald being the Lead Designers. The project used two project advisors; Tropus at the initial stages (1997-2001) and Capita Symonds (2001-2006). The initial steel contractor was Cleveland Bridge Problems During The Project A litany of problems can be identified that bedevilled the construction of the Wembley Stadium mainly adversarial contracts, unreasonable risk allocation, cash-flow problems, design changes, poor performance, poor site management and litigations. These are presented in details below: Delays and indecisiveness even before the project begun: Plans for a new stadium were beset with delays, management problems and increasing costs since December 1996. The designs were revealed   in 1999 and the stadium should have been completed in 2003 but the work itself started only in September 2002 due to many political and financial problems. The project was finally rescheduled to complete in May 2006 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2119413.stm).   Design Problems: Multiplex argued that ‘Mott MacDonald`s design for the Wembley steel work was not fit for purpose and that the initial designs were not correct, constructible, co-ordinated and consistent. It further stated that Mott MacDonalds deficient design, failure to warn and/or take action is shown in many thousands of individual acts or omissions (Technology and Construction Court (TCC), 2006).   Scope Creep: The initial scope was to accommodate athletics, rugby and football in the same stadium. This later became very controversial and resulted in the removal of athletics from the scheme in 1999, because of the technical and commercial challenges of accommodating the three sports within the same stadium. In December 2001, the scope was further changed with the removal of a hotel from the project, the expansion of hospitality suites and considerable changes to the north side of the stadium bowl. This took the Mott Consortium 7-8 months to redesign. These changes increased the cost of the project especially in steel works (TCC, 2006). Procurement Issues: In the conclusions of Public Accounts Committee (Eighth Report of Session 2003-04), it stated that â€Å"Best procurement practice has not been followed on what is a high profile project Organisations responsible for managing projects should be expected to set out a formal procurement process, which treats all bidders equally to avoid giving any one a potential advantage over the others.† It further criticised Wembley National Stadium Limited for failing to follow a detailed and overt formal procurement process and having dialogue with Multiplex prior to starting the procurement process. A report by former Wembley project manager Tropus, said ‘the appointment was made with undue speed. The James Report also concluded that there had ‘been serious flaws in the procurement policies.'(James Report, 2002) Poor Communication: Apart from the major changes in the scope of the works, Multiplexlamented not given access to vital design information which made them underprice the steelwork. Mott on the other hand thought â€Å"Multiplex was aware of the state of design, having managed the design process and having been intimately involved in the design work.†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (Wembley Stadium into Injury Time, 2002) Poor Planning and organisation: A lot of decisions seem to have been made hastily. No wonder several changes had to be made at later stages. When it became a prime objective to finish the project in time for the FA Cup finale in May 2006, efficiency and cost effectiveness became secondary issues. In my opinion, a lot of problems could have been avoided if Multiplex did not have to rush the job to meet unrealistic deadlines. Multiplex claims that it has sustained significant losses as a result of a multitude of breaches of contract and/or acts of negligence by the consultant, which had far-reaching effects for Wembley (TCC, 2006; Baloch, 2008). Disputes and disagreements: Cleveland Bridge (CB), the steel contractor terminated their   contract   in 2004 because they did not believe they would be paid for materials and that there were seemingly insurmountable difficulties between them and Multiplex. A sustained input from a steelwork subcontractor could have greatly influenced the timely completion of the project but eventually CB had to be replaced with all attending problems of a new project team member. Health and Safety problems: In March 2006, a temporary roof support fell by over half resulting in the evacuation of all construction workers and delay of work. Another accident occurred January 2004 resulting in the death of one construction worker and the injury of another when a platform collapsed without warning, trapping the men underneath (http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/wembley/) Poor Performance by Cleveland Bridge: Delays were caused by CB as not all the steel sent to China could be fabricated in time to comply with the programme. So the steel sent to China was often shipped back to England with   most not fabricated. Furthermore the steel sent to site was often missing crucial pieces (meaning it could not be erected) or else was untagged with the consequence that site staff could not identify the relevant pieces of steel (TCC, 2006). Poor Supervision by Sports England: The Government was less than happy with the level of supervision offered by Sport England. It stated that â€Å"Sport   Englands performance in monitoring the progress of the project has been lack, slovenly and supine.† This ultimately resulted in supply team missing the focal point of the project right from the beginning and before long, a lot was out of hand (Wembley Stadium into Injury Time, 2002). Poor Stakeholder management: In a statement by The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sports Committee, it blamed some of the problems encountered on the project on poor stakeholder management. It said, â€Å"the project had been undermined by the ‘fundamental failure to include all representatives at the outset in planning the redevelopment† (www.publications.parliament.uk). The resignation of Ken Bates in 2001 as chairman of WNSL gives a further hint. He cited a lack of support from the board and that he had been undermined by senior figures within both the government and the FA. He remarkably said, Even Jesus Christ only had one Pontius Pilate I had a whole team of them. (www.forbes.com). The Problems Encountered: The Role Of Project Management Project Management (PM) is the â€Å". . . application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to achieve project requirements.† (PMBoK, 2004). This same theme runs through other standards for PM including BS6079 and ISO 10006. Suffice it for now to say that PM is the managerial responsibility and actions involved in completing a project on time, in budget and to the specified quality standards, in accordance with the traditional performance criteria. The role of PM in the Wembley project will now be appraised under some of the key knowledge areas identified in the PMBoK. Project Scope Management This involves developing a scope statement that will define the boundaries of the project and verify the amount of work to be done. PM uses such tools as brainstorming, fast diagrams, Value Management workshops to define the project. This is because if you have the wrong definition, you may come up with the right solution—to the wrong problem!(Lewis, 2007). If scope definition is not holistically carried out, major changes such as those experienced on Wembley may occur later and cause delays, cost variations leading to claims and litigations. This, I believe, was the ‘akiles heel of this iconic project. Where change becomes inevitable, PM should manage them to protect the project from the effects of scope creep. Wembley failed in this area resulting in the considerable cost and time overruns. Lewis (2007) rightly said, â€Å"I have become convinced that projects seldom fail at the end. Rather, they fail at the definition stage.† Project Time Management PM adorns itself with yet another accolade of being able to effectively estimate time frame for projects realistically and defining work packages and milestone to achieve this target. It employs one of its popular tools of Critical Path Method and scheduling in this respect. Many softwares including Primavera and MS Project have also been developed to helped in the management of time. Kaming (1997), Elinwa (2001) and Aibini (2006) however reveal that the occurrence of time overruns is high and that overruns can occur of projects irrespective of its size. Wembley was no exception. Some of the disputes, changes, cash flow problems, design problems etc. that caused resulted in the project being delivered in 10 months late and the subsequent changing of the FA Cup finals to Wales could have been avoided through effective project time management. PM should have helped to come out with a realistic duration for the project. Project Cost Management This involves estimating the cost of all resources and such things as travel and other support details. After this is done, costs are budgeted and tracked to keep the project within that budget (Rad, 2002). This is very important in PM as the first question most clients ask is ‘how much will it cost? It is the duty of the PM to realistically determine what it will cost to achieve a particular scope. The tough question then arises. Was Wembleys initial cost of  £445million realistic? Why did cost rise astronomically to  £757million at completion? The project even had to be stalled ‘into injury time just to seek additional funding. Why couldnt PM prevent this? Much of the blame lies squarely on PMs failure to realistically estimate cost at conception. Project Communications Management â€Å"This is the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, storage, and disposition of project information.† (PMBoK, 2004). Multiplexclaims it was not given access to vital design information and that this led to increased steelwork costs. Mott MacDonald on the other hand dismisses this saying, â€Å"Multiplex was aware of the state of design, having managed the design process and having been intimately involved in the design work† (TCC, 2006). PM is supposed to create a smooth communication interface between all parties to forestall these misunderstandings. Project Procurement Management This helps in selecting the most appropriate contractors and suppliers, administers the contract as well as form the best working relationships between all parties to achieve project goals. The Public Accounts Committee (2003-04), stated that â€Å"Best procurement practice has not been followed on what is a high profile project† PM should have also salvaged the problem between Mott, Cleveland and Multiplex before it got out of hand, resulting in Cleveland walking away from the project with its attending problems. More also, it is known that competitive tendering and cost as a selection criteria has produced poor results in construction over the years and PM should have helped in designing the best procurement approach to prevent the problems (Egan, 1998). The contract used for the project was fixed cost method in which the client cleverly shirks risk to the contractor. This form of contract invariably results in creating an adversarial environment with where each party   involved focuses their attentions on the needs and risks of their businesses as opposed to those of the project (Morriss, P. and Hollis, A., 2005).This may well be another area that grossly affected the results on Wembley and effective PM should have prevented this. Stakeholder Management: Freeman and McVea (2001) describe this function as â€Å"looking out from the firm or project and identifying, and investing in all the relationships that will ensure long-term success.† At concept stage, this is used to collect views of all interested parties, especially those of end users who usually hold vital information that may be critical to the design, function and success of a project. If this was effectively done, it would have prevented the acrimony that grew between some of the contractors and would have saved the project from unnecessary delays and increased cost of replacing Cleveland Bridge. It would have helped to produce the best fitting design as well as sort out the fact that athletics, football and rugby in the same venue would present a lot of technical and functional difficulties at the design stage saving the project from about 8 months of redesign. Site Management: Chan (1997) showed that out of 8 group factors that caused delays in construction projects, poor site management and supervision was amongst the top five. The accusations and counter-accusations during the hearing at the Technology and Construction Court between Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge gives us yet another glimpse into an area of failure of PM on Wembley. The site was poorly managed as it was littered with random pieces of steel that had been delivered in the wrong order and a significant quantity of steel was sitting on trailers adjacent to the site or around the perimeter. This had the potential of disrupting flow of activities and even causing accidents (TCC, 2006). The Actions And Measures That Should Have Been Taken The influential Latham (1994) and Egan (1998) reports called for new approaches to construction- one in which client leadership is key and where there is greater collaborative working between firms within the construction supply chain. Egan summarised five key drivers of change namely committed leadership; a focus on the customer; integrated processes and teams; a quality driven agenda; and a commitment to people. Some of the necessary actions and measures that should have been taken is now presented below: Key Client Leadership: The new Terminal Five at Heathrow is a widely acclaimed example of current construction best practice. The approach was unique and tailored to the very needs of the project i.e. the client took a level of ownership of project thus creating a clear vision for how it wanted the project delivered and also staying close enough to the project from inception to completion (Brady, 2008). Latham (1994) recommended that â€Å"the client should be at the core of the construction process† because â€Å"clients [essentially] drive best practice.† Egan (1998). The Client in the Wembley Stadium project was the Football Association and thus should have: 1. stayed close enough to the project, monitoring it and to make sure things dont go out of hand; 2. ensured that major changes to the scope of works was frozen at a particular point on the project or avoided altogether. These changes often result in dispute, delays and extra expense; 3. made sure that adequate funding was secured for the project before it even begun and that the estimation of both time and cost were realistically carried out; 4. come out with clear, concise, realistic and unambiguous objectives at the conception of the project involving all necessary stakeholders so that major changes, such as those that were experienced, could be avoided; 5. shared in risk of development/construction rather than cleverly shoving it to contractors. The â€Å"Heathrow Method†: Terminal 5 was an audacious development project that involved more than 60 contractors and 16 major projects. British Airways Authority (BAA) adopted a unique approach to the project to make sure it is completed both on time and within budget. It used â€Å"an innovative form of cost-reimbursable contract the ‘T5 Agreement under which BAA holds all the risks associated with the project rather than transferring the risks to external suppliers and guarantees a level of proï ¬ t for suppliers.† (Brady, 2008). The Agreement included an incentive payment for contractors that achieved a certain level of performance. It decided to reimburse the costs of delivery and to reward exceptional performance and punish mediocre and poor performance only in terms of proï ¬ tability. This created some sort of win-win environment for all parties and motivated the contractors to focus their attention   on the needs of the project and collectively so lve problems rather than concentrate on their own business risks and interests. These are the fundamental reasons why T5 achieved the laudable success of staying within budget and cost at completion. Cleveland would not have walked out of the job if it was given firm assurance of re-imbursement of cost incurred. The contracts should have been designed with an approach that offered incentives to all, for improvement in cost, time or quality and not in an adversarial environment associated with fixed cost contracts. Integrating the Supply chain: Both Latham (1994) and Egan (1998) underscored the importance of using integrated teams to realise project goals. The T5 approach used by BAA combined two main principles: the client always bears the risk; and partners are worth more than suppliers. ‘It provides an appropriate environment for integrated team working [†¦] to enable suppliers to work effectively and focus on meeting the projects objectives not only in relation to the traditional time, budget, and quality measures but also in relation to safety and environmental targets (Brady, 2008). ‘By doing that you take away negativity, allow space for innovation and create any opportunity for people to perform at levels they havent been allowed to before (Mylius, 2005). Involvement of end users: End users often hold vital information as they are usually in a better position to comment on the detailed requirements for a building than senior management who may not even be the occupants of the building when it is completed. After all, the users have first hand experience of what makes a building successful or otherwise (Menches, 2008). By the use of such methods as   focus groups, value management workshops and major surveys, the issue of athletics, rugby and football in the same venue could have been resolved even before any detailed design and thus eliminating the extensive delays and cost implications it had on the project (Barrett, P., and Stanley, C., 1999). Use of a Project bank: In an attempt to integrate project teams in an atmosphere of trust, collaboration and openness, the National Audit Office (NAO) of the UK suggested the   use of a project bank account. To ensure better construction, it said, ‘suppliers [require] greater certainty that they will be paid on time to re-enforce the trust that should exist between all parties for collaborative working to operate effectively. This was endorsed by the Specialist Contractors who indicated that ‘payments for the project delivery team should be protected and secure, which would, in turn, significantly reduce disputes and, more importantly, will encourage closer working relationships between all parties. (Parliamentary Newsletter, Issue 3, Spring/Summer 2006). Best Project Management Practice: At the execution level, much of the problems that occurred on the project could have been avoided or its impact attenuated if best project management practice was adopted by all especially Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge. Problems of poor site management practice, poor or incorrect fabrication of steel, design change management and communication could have been arrested with proper planning, organisation and control. Careful Monitoring: Projects rarely stay on track in terms of time and cost. the more likely occurrence is that projects will be behind schedule yet over budget at any point in time. Good project management carefully and critically appraises all factors that a likely to push a project off schedule (Office of Government Commerce, 2005). Monitoring progress carefully and instigating timely corrective actions by both WNSL, Multiplex as well as the FA, would have helped identify the likely impact of any problems so that action can be taken to get the project back on track. Conclusion Experience is a great asset to professionals practicing in any discipline, whether that experience comes from success or failure and whoever fails to learn from his mistakes is doomed to repeat them. Some of the key lessons on Wembley Stadium is thus now summarised below:   Adequate time and effort needs to be invested in the strategic planning phase of every project to come out with clear, realistic, and unambiguous project objectives;   Project team must engage effectively with users and other external stakeholders especially at the concept stage of any scheme to save the project from major changes with its attending problems;   Construction procurement must move away from competitive tendering and cost as the selection criteria and develop procedures that use performance and team partnering and capability;   Contracts must be designed to provide incentive to all for cost and time improvement and also forge a ‘win-win environment between clients and supply chain members;   Enough resources have to be made available for the project based on realistic estimates;   Clients must assume central roles in projects for they essentially drive best practice;   Continual change in project requirements and scope can be very detrimental for the project;   Dysfunctional relationships and fragmentation can turn a perfect project scheme into a complete chaos and thus project teams must operate as a cohesive unit, with clear allocation of roles and responsibilities. Finally, it is evident, at least from the Wembley Stadium project that a poor knowledge and a lack awareness of the fundamental project management skills by the client can lead to failure as clients essentially drive best practice. An effective and successful outcome of project management on any project in most cases will only be achieved if both the client and the contractor or project management organisations are effective in the skills of project management. A poor client organisation, in terms of project management, may well drive a good project manager and his team into poor performance. Agreeably, it may not be a panacea due to many circumstances and occurrences that may well be out of its control. However, Project Management stands the chance of producing laudable results if the construction industry stopped treating it casually and unprofessionally but rigorously apply the great worth of knowledge and experience its gathered over the past years, through both its success and failure stories. References 1. Aibinu, A.A et al (2006), Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, volume 132, Issue 7, pp. 667-677 (July 2006) 2. Barrett, P., Stanley, C., (1999), Better Construction Briefing, Blackwell Science Ltd 3. Brady, Tim(2008)Learning to Deliver a Mega-project: The case of Heathrow Terminal 5. New Challenges to Managing Organisations in Project Business. St Petersberg State University,St Petersburg, Russia,pp.137-158. 4. Briefing Team, Published by Construction Excellence, 2004. 5. Carter, P., (2002) EnglishNationalStadiumReview, FinalReport, A report submitted to the HouseofCommons. 6. Chan, D.W.M., and Kumaraswamy, M.M, (1997) A comparative study of causes of time overruns in Hong Kong construction projects, International Journal of Project Management Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 55-63, 1997. 7. Design and Build Projects, www.designbuild-network.com/projects/wembley 8. Egan, J. (1998) Rethinking Construction, Construction Task Force Report for Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, HMSO, London. 9. Elinwa A.U.,et al (2001), Time-Overrun Factors in Nigerian Construction Industry, Journal of Construction Engineering Management, Vol 127, Issue 5, pp. 419-425 (Sept/Oct 2001) 10. Evan, M., (2005), Overdue and over budget, over and over again, The Economist. 11. GovernmentResponse totheSixthReportfromthe Culture,MediaandSportSelectCommittee Session2001-2002, Wembley National Stadium Into Injury time. 12. House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts, Eighth Report of Session 2003-04, The English national stadium project at Wembley 13. James Report, Cited in Wembley Stadium Into Injury Time(2002), Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 14. Kaming, P.F., et al (1997) Factors influencing construction time and cost overruns on high-rise projects in Indonesia, Construction Management and Economics, 15: 1, 83 — 94 15. Latham, M. (1994) Constructing the Team, Final Report of the Government/Industry Review of Procurement and Contractual Arrangements in the UK Construction Industry, HMSO, London. 16. Lewis J.P., (2007) Fundamentals of project management (3rd Edition), AMAKOM Books 17. Menches, C.L., et al (2008) Impact of preconstruction planning and project characteristics on performance in the US electrical construction industry, Construction Management and Economics, 26: 8, 855-869. 18. Morriss, P. and Hollis, A., (2005), Matching Contract Style to your business, Contract Conference Paper, Snowden Consulting Group. 19. Mylius, A. (2005) ‘A game of two halves Supply Management, 6 October 2005. 20. Office of Government Commerce, (2005), Common Causes of Construction Failure, Best Practice Guide. 21. Project Management Institute, (2004)A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK),(2004 Edition). 22. Rad, P.F., (2002), Project Estimation and Cost Management, Management Concept Inc. 23. The Heathrow Terminal 5 Project, www.airport-technology.com/projects/heathrow5 24. The Judgement, (2006) Technology and Construction Court, EWHC 1341TCC 25. The Wembley Blame Game, www.forbes.com 26. UK Government, Parliamentary Newsletter, Issue 3, Spring/Summer 2006.

Television and Media - TV Violence and Childrens Behavior Essay

Television Violence and Children's Behavior    Drive-by shootings and school massacres are just two of the many violent past-times of today’s youth. Is television a contributor to this insidious erosion of children's respect for life?   Much research that has been done in an attempt to answer this question. The majority of the findings are very similar in content, and the results are grim.   Television violence has been shown to cause four major changes in children's behavior:   "Increasing aggressiveness and anti-social behavior, increasing their fear of becoming victims, making them less sensitive to violence and to victims of violence, and increasing their appetite for more violence in entertainment and in real life."   (AAP Committee)   Television is causing a change in America's children, and it is not a change for the better. If watching television is increasing children's aggressive behavior, then is it also causing a higher crime rate?   Once again, the answer is a resounding yes.   "Longitudinal studies tracking viewing habits and behavior patterns of a single individual found that 8-year-old boys who viewed the most violent programs while growing up were the most likely to engage in aggressive and delinquent behavior by age 18 and serious criminal behavior by age 30." (Booth, Mullins, Scott, and Woolston)   Not only do our children exhibit an immediate reaction to violence in the media but also a long term effect of a higher propensity toward committing crimes.   Another population study stated that the homicide rate doubled within ten to fifteen years after the introduction of television into several different locations where television was introduced at different times.   (Facts About Media Violence)   We are all affect... ...can child reaches the age of 16, he or she will have witnessed 200,000 acts of violence on television, including 33,000 murders.   (Juvenile Crime and TV)   Apparently we accept what we see over and over again as normal behavior.   We are teaching our children that violence is acceptable by inviting it into our homes everyday.   They, in turn, are becoming more violent from the playgrounds all the way to the prisons. Works Cited Booth, Vicki, Mullins, Heather, Scott, Erika, and Woolston, Jonathon.   "Juvenile Crime and TV."   Online.   http://staff.gc.maricopa.edu/mdinchak/eng101/juvenile.htm "Facts About Media Violence."   Online.   http://www.ama-assn.org/ad-com/releases/1996/mvfacts.htm AAP Committee on Pediatrics. "Some Things You Should Know About Media Violence and Media Literacy."   Online.   http://www.aap.org/advocacy/ChildHealthMonth/media.htm

Democracy and Dictatorship in Lord of the Flies :: essays research papers

William Golding said â€Å"I learned during World War II just how brutal people can be to each other. Not just the Japanese but everyone†. In the book â€Å"the Lord of the Flies†, Golding tells us about World War II and the Holocaust by making Ralph represent democracy and Jack represent dictatorship. In the beginning of the story the airplane that is going to take the boys to a safe place gets shot down and landed in an island. Ralph represents democracy, when he and Piggy find the conch, Piggy suggested â€Å"We can use this to call the others. We have a meeting. They’ll come if they hear us† (16). Ralph is being democratic because he is giving them a choice if they want to go or not. He is also fair because he is going to have a meeting to decide what they are going to do. When they get together they decide that they need to have a chief. Roger says â€Å"Let’s have a vote† â€Å"Him with the conch† â€Å"Ralph, Ralph, Ralph† (22). They started to notice that Ralph would be a good leader. They see in him what a chief needs to have, and the conch in his hands means power and authority. They all start talking at the same time and discussing about who has to be chief, the choir boys think that Jack should be the chief but the rest want Ra lph to be the chief. â€Å"I got the conch† said piggy indignantly â€Å"you let me speak† (42). Piggy gets the conch because represents power so the rest of the boys had to let him talk and show respect, Piggy was really intelligent so that helped Ralph be a better leader because he would listen to Piggy and choose what was right. William Golding says that Jack represents dictatorship. He wanted to be the chief but the rest chose Ralph â€Å"I cut the pig’s throat† (69) he said. He was the one that hunt the pigs but he needed to paint his face so the pig couldn’t see him but he was also trying to hide from himself. He wanted to be better than the other and made them think he was tough. Jack was selfish and arrogant. He says â€Å"who cares what you think fatty†. He didn’t care about the other’s needs and concerns. He thought that all he did and believed was right and nobody could beat him.

Depression Essay -- essays research papers fc

People suffering from depression experience a lasting and continuously depressed mood that interferes with the ability to function, feel pleasure, and even maintain interest in life. The occasional feeling of being â€Å"blue† does not usually cause a downward spiral into depression. People suffering from major depressive episodes may feel so fatigued that they cannot go to work, school, or even do the simple things we take for granted. They may sleep day and night, have problems concentrating, and feel so deeply sad and guilty. This could lead to infinite thoughts of suicide. Thus showing that depression has an effect on a person’s mind and personal life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When depression ends, most people return to a â€Å"normal† emotional level. In some cases, however, people rebound to the opposite state, also known as, â€Å"mania.† The spectrum of manic symptoms can be quite severe, ranging from cyclothymia to severe delusional mania. Cyclothymia, which usually starts in the adolescent years or early adulthood, is also known as fluctuations of mood between mild elation and depression (Daly 1997). The most common form of manic depression is the bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is characterized by clinically marked mood swings between mania and depression (Daly 1997). These forms of manic depression are obtained in many ways. They can be passed on generation to generation within a family. It can also be obtained through the use of drugs as well as alcohol. Yet, one of the major causes for mania is neurological lesions or other states affecting the brain (Daly 1997).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When a person is diagnosed with manic depression, he or she will have certain outbreaks and episodes that range in severity and outcome. Clinical description and diagnosis of a manic depressant may begin abruptly, over the space of a few hours or days, or gradually over some weeks. The subjective experience of mania in its minor form usually includes heightened feelings of well being with increased alertness and drive, inflated self-esteem, and expansive sociability (Daly 1997). In addition to the increased sense, irritability may easily be evoked, and other mood states such as anxiety or sadness, brief but intensely expressed, may become apparent (Daly 1997). As mania deepens, over-activity and excessive talkativeness become more obvious. These are the signs of... ...tection or out of consideration for others (Gonzalez-Heydrich 1996).† As we grow older our minds expand. Depression can set in at an early point in your life or late into it. Traumatic episodes and even thoughts can play a role in the dilemma of depression. This disease can be controlled, yet think about those who cannot afford the treatment. Who do they turn to? They are going to live the rest of their lives in an altered state of depression forever. Works Cited Croghan, W. Thomas, Obenchain, L. Robert, and Crown E. William. July 1998. What does Treatment of Depression really Cost? Health Affairs. Daly, Ian. Mania. Lancet 1997:349 (9059): 1157-1160. Gonzalez-Heydrich, Joseph. The Depresses Child and Adolescent: Development and Clinical Perspectives. N Engl J Med; 334: 1410-1411. Hirschfeld, M.A. Robert, & Russell M., James. 1997. Current Concepts: Assessment and Treatment of Suicidal Patients. N Engl J Med; 337: 910-915. Partonen, Timo, & Lonnqvist, Jouko. 1998. Seasonal Affective Disorder. Lancet 1998; 352 (9137):1369-1374. Price, H. Lawerence, & Heninger, R. George. 1994. Drug Therapy: Lithium in the Treatment of Mood Disorders. N Engl J Med 1994; 331: 591-598.

Practise What You Preach

Practice what you preach Any person in the world is an individual and it goes without saying that all people differ. Consequently, all of them have different mentality, ideology, behavior, thoughts, attitude to the same things and phenomena. Usually since childhood we stand on one path and follow it during all our life. Here the influence of parents, grandparents, teachers can be seen, when we try to copy their adult habits.But it seems to be normal when a little child follows the ideas of a mother today, for example, and the other day he/she persuades everyone that a father says the truth, even though it contradicts a mother’s truth which was actual a day before. It can be understood that a child just explores the world and can’t decide whose ideas are worth following. Becoming a teenager, a young man or lady, we tend to make our own conclusions rather that listen to what adults say and think.And since that moment when we generate our own ideas and persuade other peopl e have the same beliefs, we are responsible for what we say. There is one proverb: â€Å"A word spoken is past recalling†. If you have said something once, don’t change your opinion in one hour or the next day, because in future people won’t know whether believe you or not, whether listen to or ignore you. Of course, it’s a usual thing when due to some experience, knowledge, evidence we can change our beliefs, it’s our personal thing.But when you begin to spread your ideas among other people, you should stand by them till the very end, otherwise keep silence. If your ideas were introduced aloud, if other people heard them once, then you are expected to practice what you preach. Here can be said in general about teachers, because they are those who teach a lot of children. The last without their own experience, remember everything said at the classes. Surely, they believe their teachers, because they are older and wiser.And if one day students see t hat a teacher doesn’t practice what he/she preaches, they won’t believe him/her anymore. Therefore the authority of a teacher won’t be stable. There is one more concrete example about Mr. Davidson from W. Somerset Maugham’s story â€Å"Rain†. Alfred Davidson, a self-righteous missionary, tried to make Miss Thompson a religious woman, to kill her lust and her desire to sell her body. But one day he succumbed to his lust and raped her, even though he was a missionary about 15 years and he was a married man.The next morning, he was found dead on the ocean shore  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ a  suicide. He couldn’t live anymore when he had done a thing which was against his religious teaching. Summing up my essay, I would like to emphasize that an advice â€Å"Practice what you preach† given in the title concerns not only people who have authority: teachers, politicians, priests, but any person in the world. If you want to be trusted, don’t speak at random waste words, because people will expect you to follow what you’ve said.

Sociology Unit G671

* Complicit masculinity – the ‘new man' that is willing to cook tea, pick up the children from school and put the washing on. * Subordinate masculinity – the ‘gay man' * Marginalised masculinity – the hegemonic man today. Associated with the working class, as this group of males can't get the typical jobs, mining etc due to loss of industry so they can't fulfil their ‘destiny' Firstly, the family socialises masculinity in a number of ways. A study by Ann Oakley argues that gender socialisation takes place in 4 ways: Manipulation – Parents encourage behaviour, which is seen as normal for the child's gender and discourage what is seen as deviant for example, boys are encouraged from an early age to take part in playing football and discouraged from taking part in ballet lessons. * Canalisation – this involves channelling the child's interests to toys and activities seen as normal for his or her sex. An example of this is boys playing with toy cars and ‘action men' Verbal appellation – the names that children are called which teaches gender appropriate behaviour for example, â€Å"big boys don't cry† and the tone of voice used. * Different activities – children are encouraged to involve themselves in different activities for example, boys playing together to make a camp. Although Ann Oakley did her research 30 years ago and is considered out of date, a more recent study by Joanna Smith (1997) reinforces Oakley's points. Feature Article –  Sociology TestA recent study also said that the family is stereotypically gendered to males, breadwinners and females, caring roles. (Charles 2002) This shows that boys can learn these roles from looking at their father's behaviour. Secondly media plays a role in influencing masculinity. There are a range of different Medias, we can actively choose what we watch on the television and what magazines we read, however, to a degree, it is all around us. The adverts that are on