Emerging Issues of Tourism Industry in Netherlands

Emerging Issues of Tourism Industry in Netherlands Emerging Issues of Tourism Industry in Netherlands A. INTRODUCTION Tourism in Netherlands: Tourism is an integral part of Netherlands. Tourism has contributed a lot to the economy of Netherlands. North Holland and South Holland are the famous provinces in Netherlands for Tourism. NTBC which is the â€Å"Netherlands Bureau for tourism and conventions† has taken some initiative to increase the marketing and the promotional strategies to maximize the tourism. Despite the fact that Netherland provides good landscape the adventure tourism has not developed well in Netherland. It is hence a very important thing to clearly know about one’s own policies so Netherland has to focus more on their strengths and their important points to develop their position in the tourism industry. Cultural tourism is not there and it should be developed because cultural heritage is very important in Tourism which can lead to the tourism in Dutch industry but it can only be possible due to the help of the organization which handles the heritage. Other big issue of the tourism industry in Netherland is the use of marijuana which is the drug tourism. It has indeed brought loss in Netherland Tourism industry. Many coffee shop owners offered weed to the foreign tourist and they even fought and said that due to the ban on the weed offering they had a loss in their business (Cecilia, 2013). The Aims and Objective of this research Evaluate manages full event plan. Analyze complexities in event management. Making SWOT analysis in terms of environmental development. Analyze the service quality for event management. Analyze risk management for events. Implement SERVQUAL Model for quality of service in events. Critically Evaluation of Tourism Industry in Netherlands According to the World Economic Forums annual Traveling Tourist Competitiveness Report which was introduced in the Global Tourist Forum (GTF) in Amsterdam; Netherlands and a few additional nations ended up regarded as the best situation which intended for establishing the tourism and also traveling industries. Tourist often performs an important part in the economy of Netherlands and it performs exactly the same part within Europe. Although, it is arranged by the economic problem in Netherlands, due to the global economic recession. Tourists come to Netherlands to its natural beauty, nevertheless using the continuing strike in several areas of Netherlands; that leads to this progress of vacation in Netherlands nowadays (Remington, 2013). Our report has measured the different factors that make it beautiful to make that tourism more beautiful along with the tourism industry of Netherlands, according to Jennifer Blanke, director and Economist with the World Economic Forums Centre for Global Functionality along with Competition (Remington, 2013). The best ranks countries Switzerland, Italy, Belgium along with Austria indicate the importance associated with regulatory frameworks along with support organization, coordinated using world-class tourism along with carrying different facilities, as well as a concentrate on rising natural and human resources for growing a place that may be beautiful to make this tourism along with travel sector. Domestic tourism has been carried on struggle through 2013 while Dutch people continued to be remained concerning their particular financial short-run outlook. This specific negative mind-set intended that consumer would just werent really wanting to guide domestic tours as many recommen ded for you to guide reduced, less prices trips plus some made a decision to not to book any tour (Dwyer, Mellor, Mistilis Mules, 2000). This kind of research with the cross-country with the drivers regarding competition inside travel and leisure as well as traveling offers helpful relative fine detail to create organization decision and to fit way of measuring to be able to governing bodies having to improve his or her travel and leisure as well as traveling environments. The particular search rankings are entirely in connection with the Take a trip Tourist Competition Listing (TTCI) during which practically all around 139 places insured. While in 2013, accommodations in the Holland showed the primary actual signs of significant recovery (Remington, 2013). Through the first couple of quarters of 2013, accommodations nonetheless experienced bad expansion while both household in addition to inward bound tourists ended up tentatively to be able to e-book standard hotel rooms in addition to always been serious typically inside particular specials. In addition, the particular bad buyer sentiment between household vacatio ners recommended in which accommodations continuing to be able to struggle in the first 6 months of the year. Even so, in the second half 2013 there have been constructive signs while the volume of hotel bookings has increased, while it thought this was mainly because of better need between inward bound tourists rather than the domestic tourists (Dwyer, Mellor, Mistilis Mules, 2000). Critically Evaluation of Cultural Tourism in Netherlands When people are free from its routine work, study, Spectating and sleeping individual are to make choice about what an individual like to do in their free time. The tourism services are the only services which are being offering all over the world (Moore, Cushman, Simmons, 1995). Netherlands has been considering the most important tourism region across the world. With the reference of UNWTO in 2006 has stated that around 55 percent of tourists across the world has visited the Netherlands which makes the figures around 475 million. Which means Netherlands has the strongest arms over the urban tourism as because Netherlands has been considered the most beautiful and attractive destination for tourism. Currently, Netherlands has been the biggest tourism spot for tourist in summers. Therefore, coastal and mountains are the segmented and most vulnerable for the change in the environment as Mediterranean has been the most attractive and beautiful or popular region for tourism. According to the stats and it has been shows that the Netherlands has been the most popular spot for visitors and tourists which attracts around more than 120 million visitors each year which are the world’s largest international flow for tourists around the world. Which also resulted in big business growth, every year the economy has been inflate due to the hue growth in tourism industry which inject around 100 billion Euro’s in their economy with this tourism. Although a lot of research possess pointed out that one ethnicities are visible using firms, there are just couple of research completed about eco-tourism parts along with little has been completed to be able to evaluate exactly how these kinds of ethnicities possess affected the particular efficiency of such tourism industries (Schein, 1990). Conceptualizing organizational culture as the ideals along with methods used in a corporation along with contemplating tourist achievement since intangible efficiency we conducted the survey of tourist location staff situated in the tourist spot According to (Simmons, 1995) urban tourism has been one of the world largest industries which are growing significantly. An arrival of international tourism worldwide has been grown to 35%. According to one research Europe (Netherlands) has been the bigger funds generator outbound international tourism. According to one research conducted recently, according to researcher in richer countries working hours is steadily decreasing and amount of leisure timings increasing and this trend would remain continue and many people would looking forward to leisure activities. According to WTO report it has been stated that due to this activities there has been a great chance that impacted world economy in recent years and implications of tourism is been taking place (Moore, Cushman, Simmons, 1995). The purpose of Leisure and tourism industries is to provide their applicants a pleasant experience. Customer’s expectations are getting higher in what they want from leisure and tourism service provided companies (Moore, Cushman, Simmons, 1995). Making decision about how to build up leisure and tourism facilities which needs to consider not only effective and successful ways of completing needs and wants of an individual’s but also but impact of new development may have on the local and community and environment (John Tribe, 2011). Societal Tourism Travel and leisure has contributed an excellent total this financial and also interpersonal well-being of the country. Urban Travel/Tourism and leisure incorporates a specific relevance within Travel and leisure which reports a widely recognized and also thriving because contemporary days. Because urban centers are widening and also rapid urbanization has been going on with regard to recent many years, for that reason, its increased traveler actions. This specific is among the elements which bring about on the extension associated with elegant tourism in the world. By and large, Downtown Travel and leisure has been examined on the financial standpoint and also earnings in the Traveler marketplace has been this center point of those unfortunate. However, this researchers and also professionals in the field have commenced observing this on the other viewpoints also. Problem in Urban Cultural Tourism The challenge regarding areas as well as heritage has always been to offer a special, particular, as well as participatory tourist knowledge that may provide with it work as well as economic improvement regarding investment decision inside numerous endeavors. The challenge will be additionally difficult by the call to sustain the type with the group and its particular national sources, offer you a genuine knowledge, and respect the particular cultural as well as national standard of living with the host group even while guaranteeing the particular durability as well as authenticity with the tourist product. The actual supervision has been associated with the history which has been usually seen as a complex method which in turn had to match several storage and also professional demands. The actual advantages has been associated with travel concerns within just history learning resource management and has produced the procedure more stressful, which has a brand-new group, occasionally, inconsistent forces. Although historical sites and also residential areas search for and also pleasant visitors, in addition, they have to endure lots of the adverse impacts associated with travel task. This issue associated with Push provides a watch into the exercise and also difficulties associated with cultural tourism in Netherlands. Most of these difficulties reflect, now and again, what is taking place in the rest on the globe. Dutch resources for history learning managers and also residential areas nonetheless possess lots to find out about travel and also how the biggest industry on this planet may benefit the actual supervision method. Health and Safety Issue The particular customer need to be familiar with standard health and safety law which addresses the protection associated with buyers and also personnel in pleasurable and also tourist establishments. The particular customer will likely need to focus on precisely how employees and also site visitors are usually covered by means of all of the using Acts/Regulations (or while amended), Activity Centre’s (Young Persons’ Safety) Act, 1995 Children Act, 2004 Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974 Fire Precautions Act, 1971 Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations, 2002. The actual choice for candidate to have an understanding of, and be able to implement familiarity with, safe practices in several doing the job circumstances, like, for example, any preparing food setting. The actual choice will have to recognize possible dangers and also how they may be was able securely within these kind of doing the job circumstances. Conclusion and Recommendation Conclusion As it has been mentioned in above review that tourism can affect country’s economy and with the help of this we can generate more funds which plays bigger role in the economy According to the survey which was conducted by WTO and according to it, following are the few stats which showing facts of different countries earnings. According to reports Europe is the most generator of funds from outbound international tourism, stats are as follows, America generated 22% of expenditure, followed by Asia Pacific 21%, and in the end Africa and Middle East 3%. How people choose leisure time activities according to what expectations and needs and wants does service providers companies taking that fact into their notice as satisfying customers is the essential part of making business in right path. How consumer select their required destination and, on the basis of what preferences. Every customer has its own preferences and service provider companies take good care of this by offering them good and nice packages which would fulfill its customer needs and wants. As it is mentioned earlier that services of leisure and tourism companies cannot go through without their customers. Successful companies offering services of leisure and tourism must assure that their customers are satisfied with their services offering. Service provider companies must need to satisfy their customers in order to increase their good will. Recommendation The irresistible human being want to travel, explore, along with gain completely new experiences will certainly underpin reliable worldwide expansion throughout travel along with vacation, despite completely new carbon along with aviation fees. Globalization will carry on and push business owners for you to giving up household lifestyle for travel, despite expansion connected with teleworking along with digital teams. Small business vacation will mature on a yearly basis in the future 20-30 years, power by means of expansion within growing market segments, though vacation inside the EU along with the US will fairly static. Dutch federation interior as well as worldwide traveling by plane will likely mature easily. Parts of Europe will symbolize over 47% on the worldwide economic climate within Acquiring Electric power Parity by means of 2015. Reference Arcodia, C., Reid, S. (2005, January). Event management associations and the provision of services. InJournal of Convention Event Tourism(Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 5-25). Taylor Francis Group. Eckerstein, A. (2003). Evaluation of Event Marketing.rapport nr.: Masters Thesis, (2002). Kose, H., Argan, M. T., Argan, M. (2011). Special event management and event marketing: A case study of TKBL all-star 2011 in Turkey.Journal of Management and Marketing Research,8, 1-9 O’Neil, M. A., Getz, D., Carlsen, J. (1999). Evaluation of service quality at events: The 1998 Coca-cola Master Surfin g Event at Margaret River, Western Autralia.Managing Service Quality,9(3), 155-166.

Persepolis Essay

Persepolis was a very insightful movie about the lives of Iranian people at a very important time in the country’s history. Two topics that stuck out to me the most were the effects of the war on the everyday lives of the citizens of Iran and secondly the not-so-patriarchal lifestyle of people at the household level. Once the revolution to bring down the Shah began, which was followed by the Iran-Iraq war, the lives of Iranians were never the same again. Before these events, Iran appeared to be what we can easily call ‘a modern society’. Women were treated equally, men and women openly socialized together without any restrictions and westernization was apparent with the dressing styles of women, parties and the children indulging in pop culture. All of this drastically changed after the elections and once the war began. Under the new repressive government, religious extremists in power imposed several laws that undermined the freedom of all citizens of Iran. Everybody was told how to dress whereby women were required to veil in public, parties and consumption of alcohol became illegal, children were taught in school that the new government was very good, young boys were influenced into joining the army and fighting in the war. In addition to all these social impacts there were economic downturns as well. The stores are shown to have empty shelves, the country’s infrastructure destroyed, healthcare deteriorated, the excessive restrictions on almost everything pushed for the need for black-markets and illegal operations. Even with all the restrictions from the people in power and the policing of everybody, there were still a large number of people who were very modern, even men. One example would be Marjane’s father telling her and Reza to be more careful about meeting in public. Another example would be when Marjane’s uncle Anoush is released from prison and visits them, everybody ate dinner at the same table, both men and women. One of the topics that relate to our class readings is war and bereavement. The war that lasted so long did not occur without expensing lives of millions of innocent people. During the war period, countless lives were lost and most of these were men. Men fought in wars and died and the women were left to deal with the loss. When a missile lands in Marjane’s neighborhood, the fear of losing her family takes over her and she is still a little girl at the time. The same incident cost the lives of her friends in the neighborhood. Of all the characters in the movie, to me, Marjane’s grandmother was the most compelling character. She was a wise old woman who was inspirational, understanding and very realistic. She was a symbol of independence and a great role model for Marjane. Most importantly, she practiced what she preached. She placed a great emphasis on protecting the innocent as this was an issue close to her since her husband and family members had been victims. When Marjane tells her that in order to save herself from the police, she lied and got an innocent man in trouble, Grandmother reacts in a way that I didn’t expect. She believed in being true to your own self and certainly did not tolerate any unfaithfulness, even from her beloved Marjane. The character that had the most impact on Marjane would have to be her uncle Anoush. He came into Marjane’s life when she was still very young and definitely made an enormous impression on her. As if his life story wasn’t enough, uncle Anoush’s death left an even bigger impact on Marjane’s life. She wouldn’t tolerate people talking about war and death lightly after his death. Several times in her life when she was feeling confused, the words of her uncle Anoush helped her get through.

Bdo Benchmarking Assignment Essay

When considered in general terms Turnbull described it as: â€Å"All influences affecting the institution processes, including those for appointing the controllers and/or regulators involved in organising the production and sale of good and services†¦.. it includes all types of firms whether or not they are incorporated under civil law. † (Turnbull, 2002:181) Factoring in all other definitions, in its simplest terms it can be defined as the â€Å"exercise of power over corporate entities† (Clarke, 2004). It is not the same as the management and the running of the company, it is concerned with how the Board of Directors, who are the governing body of a company, supervise management, because it is they who are responsible for holding the management of a company accountable and ensuring the company is being ran in a way which is favourable towards the shareholders and other stakeholders. It is the Directors’ responsibility to develop strategy and policies for the ompany and to determine the direction the management should take the business in and the Directors have overall responsibility for the performance of the company (Tricker, 2012). While the phrase ‘corporate governance’ wasn’t coined until the 1960’s and not commonly used until the 1980’s, it has really been in a gradual process of evolution since the 16th century and joint venture trading. One of the major developments in world economies which brought the need for corporate governance to the fore was the introduction of limited liability companies in the 19th century. What this meant was when companies were incorporated they became a separate legal entity, separate from their shareholders and with similar legal rights to buy, sell and transfer shares and assets, to employ people and to sue and be sued in the name of the company. This meant the liability for any company debts lay with the shareholders and not the management or the company. Add to this the fact that because of the introduction of the stock market, shares could be easily bought and sold, meaning the shareholders could be vast in numbers and have a large geographical spread. Due to the fact that all corporate entitites need to governed, the implications of this were that the management (executive control) and the shareholders (owners) were often separated (Tricker, 2012). Situations such as these, are where corporate governance is deemed to be most necessary because there is a root assumption, that members of management who do not own the company are likely to be more reckless with someone else’s money, i. e. the company’s, than they would be with their own money (Having Their Cake, 2013). This is known as the agency dilemma, which will be expanded upon later. Electing a Board of Directors who have the interest of the shareholders at the forefront of their mind, allows members to indirectly oversee the actions undertaken by the management, in order to ensure that as agents of the shareholders, the management is performing in line with the best interests of the corporation (Lashgari, 2004). 1. 2. Selection of a Case Company However, as Turnbull pointed out in ‘Corporate Governance: Its scope, concerns and theories’ (2002), having a restriction of only publicly traded corporations in studies of corporate governance, limits the validity of any onclusions drawn about the most efficient arrangements for corporate institutions with regards to good governance practices and the effect they have on a company’s performance. As Jensen said in 1993: â€Å"Privately held entities could provide the most form of enterprise. † (Jensen, 1993, cited in Turnbull, 2002). It was with this in mind that I chose BDO LLP UK (BDO), which is an incorporated partnership company in the UK, which is owned and ran by its members/partners. It is a company which offers financial accounting, audit, tax and business consultancy services (BDO LLP UK website, 2013). . 3. About the UK Financial Accounting and Audit Sector With the ever increasing focus on corporate governance for companies across the World, not just in the UK, audit firms such as BDO, KPMG and Deloitte are becoming more important because it is there job to ensure that companies are adhering to regulations laid out in the UK Corporate Governance Code (2010, revised in 2012). It should naturally follow that audit companies will have extremely good corporate governance practices put in place, however, this is not necessarily the case. Since 2000 there have been a number of high profile scandals within the International Corporate Financial Accounting industry, for example, Enron were found to be inflating revenues and hiding debts and there was also the Bernard Madoff â€Å"Ponzi Scheme†, where the real scandal was that the robbing of millions of pounds worth of people’s money, escaped the attention of auditors and regulators. ). Due to such scandals, many national regulators implemented new corporate governance requirements to improve standards (Mitchell Van der Zahn, 2009). In the UK new regulations with regards specifically to audit companies were also introduced, targeted directly at a certain group of companies. As of January 2010, 95% of the auditing work in the UK was being carried out by 8 firms, BDO being one of them. It was deemed that such companies had built upon their reputation to gain dominance in the UK market and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) felt it was in the Public’s interest for these companies to be transparent and in order to maintain public trust be exemplars of best corporate governance practice. This led to the introduction of the Audit Firm Governance Code (2010) by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), which drew from aspects of the 2010 UK Code and established principles such as the appointment of independent non-executives within the governance structure of their company. While such rules did not apply outside of the targeted companies, it was the hope of the ICAEW that it would provide a benchmark of good governance for other companies to follow (ICAEW website, 2013). With such a bold statement being made about the importance of corporate governance in this field of work, it seemed to me to be an obvious choice to choose one of the 8 companies on the ICAEW’s list for my case-study. 1. 4. About BDO LLP UK As detailed earlier BDO LLP UK is an incorporated partnership company in the UK, which is owned and ran by its members/partners and it provides financial accounting, audit, tax and business consultancy services. It is the 6th largest accountancy firm in the UK and is a member of the BDO International Network, which itself is the 5th largest accounting organisation in the World. In an attempt to break into the top 4 big firms in the UK, BDO LLP UK completed a merger with PKF, a rival firm, in April 2013 (Keynote, 2013). After researching BDO LLP UK, it became very clear that corporate governance was of the upmost importance to the company. Not only did it have specific areas on its website dedicated to corporate governance and corporate social responsibility but it also had a number of relevant publications regarding corporate governance. One article for example, ‘Making Internal Audit Relevant’, discussed the high quality of corporate governance in the UK found by studies carried out by the FRC, it went on to say that this was underpinned by the UK Corporate Governance Code and that it was vital in maintaining the attractiveness of the UK market, to encourage new investment (BDO LLP UK website, 2013). My research also found that BDO had carried out a joint study with the Quoted Companies Alliance, which considered the introduction of a mandatory corporate governance code for small and mid-capital audit companies in the UK. Just as a point of fact, this was a proposition that 92% of such companies agreed with. One of the major indications that BDO think corporate governance is vital to the success of a company is that they produce an annual transparency report, which has an appendix of a statement of compliance with the Audit Firm Governance Code (2010). They have also went to great lengths to create a summary report in 2012 for businesses which they audit, detailing any changes to corporate governance regulations and focusing on leadership and effectiveness, reporting, risk, audit, remuneration and investor relations (Corporate Governance for TMT Businesses, 2012). It seems to be an interesting idea to look at a company who places so much emphasis on good corporate governance, not only for itself but also the companies it works for, to see if they do comply completely with the codes and if they are in fact â€Å"exemplars† of good practice. . Theories of Corporate Governance There are various theories and philosophies with regards to corporate governance, all of which, as a collective, have laid a foundation for the development of different corporate governance systems around the world (Lashgari, 2004). This paper will look at a number of these theories and how they relate to BDO, in order to gain a better understanding of th e governance standards at BDO. 2. 1. Agency Theory In the 1930’s, Berle and Means published ‘The Modern Corporation and Private Property’, it provided the first debate about the agency dilemma and set a basis for agency theory. They suggested that where ownership is separated from management or is widely dispersed, it becomes difficult for owners to have an effective check on the autonomy of corporate managers. The agency dilemma was further refined in the 1970’s, when theories were brought to the fore suggesting agents (managers) are likely to be self-interested and will serve their own interest before those of the principle (owners). Such theories also suggested that in order to counter this problem companies have to incur agency costs, for example, to create incentives to align the interest of the agent with the company and the cost of monitoring the conduct of agents. Many other theorists have a problem with agency theory because it does not even attempt to explore the possibility managers are not self-interested and opportunistic. However, they cannot deny that it has een very influential in developing market-based governance mechanisms and board-based governance mechanisms. Due to BDO being an incorporated partnership and their shares not being publicly traded, we will only look at the board-based mechanisms (Having Their Cake, 2013). Agency theory has caused internal reform of boards, there has been an increase in executive share options schemes, meaning that managers are being offered equity in the company they will manage, in order to â€Å"align their interest† (Having Their Cake, 2013). Agency theory has also led to the introduction of independent non-executive directors onto Boards of Directors, in order to ensure the actions of the management are being sufficiently monitored by the board themselves and role of boards have been greatly elaborated, they are becoming more involved with the setting of objectives of companies and monitoring of any actions taken by management and stricter provisions have been put in place to ensure the separation of the roles of chairmen and chief executive (Cadbury Committee, 1999). When applying agency theory to BDO, it is easy to see that there is a situation of agency and principle, with the fact that there are 193 partners in the firm and only 5 partners who are part of the Leadership Team (LT- management) which is responsible for the overall management of the company and is chaired by the Managing Partner. It is also noticeable from their 2012 ‘Transparency Report’ that all members of the LT have been partners in the company for a number of years, with currently the shortest term being 12 years. This could be considered good governance by BDO because in an effort to avoid the agency dilemma, they ensure their management team is made up of partners, whose interest is already aligned with the interests of the business. The transparency report also states that BDO have a Partner Council (equivalent to a Board of Directors) which is independent from the LT and responsible for the overall governance, in particular the oversight and accountability of the LT. They are also responsible for choosing members of the LT and for electing independent non-executive directors, for which there are 2 at BDO. These independent non-executive directors sit on the LT and report to the partner council of any issues of compliance with governance, policies and procedures, for which they are responsible for providing information on to the LT. The Partner Council is chaired by the Senior Partner who performs a client facing role and is responsible for managing all decisions. He also attends LT meetings in a non-executive capacity to facilitate his oversight role of the governance of the company (Transparency Report, 2012). As we can see the management team is subject to a lot of oversight and monitoring by the Partner Council and the roles of the Senior Partner and Managing Partner are completely separate, this is all a way of ensuring the company has a high standard of governance and to also ensure the management is acting in the best interest of the all the owners. BDO goes to a big effort in organising their governance structure in order to avoid the problems arising from the agency dilemma. 2. 2. Resource Dependence Theory This theory originated from studies performed by Pfeffer and Salancik (1978), they suggest that board members and non-executive directors can provide a firm with a vital set of resources. Non-executive directors are appointed with the expectation that they will support the organisation with its problems and to be a source of expertise which executives can draw upon for skills and advice and they can also be a source of contacts and information which they have gained through their past experience (Having Their Cake, 2013). At different stages in the life-cycle of companies, they have very different needs from their non-executive directors. To young entrepreneurial companies, non-executive directors can be a cheap source of legal, financial or operation management skills, while publicly listed companies are in need of network connections such directors can provide, for example, sources of finance. They can also provide the benefit of attaching a good reputation to their company. Mature businesses, with which we are most concerned because BDO falls into that category, can use non-executive directors for their relevant market or managerial experience and from the consumer confidence which can be gained from that person’s good reputation being affiliated to their company (Having Their Cake, 2013). Applying this theory to the independent non-executive directors of BDO, we can clearly see from the Transparency Report (2012) that both have experience of past non-executive director roles and both bring their own experience in a relevant field, Lesley MacDonagh with a high level of experience of law and business management which she gained from being a Managing Partner at Law firm Lovells and Lord David Currie having experience of business management from eing a Dean of Cass Business School and a past Chairman of OFCOM and he also has sound knowledge of the legal system from being a member of the House of Lords. This places them perfectly for their positions of overseeing the governance of and business management of BDO. 2. 3. Stewardship Theory This theory, which originated from the works of Donaldson (1990), suggests that directors can have motives which are ‘pro-organizational’ and counters the assumption by agency theorists that management aims are based in self-in terest and are not aligned with those of the shareholders. Donaldson even goes as far as to suggest that negative investor assumptions of the management will have the opposite effect to what was intended and can actually weaken the leadership of a company by weakening the management’s authority when splitting the decision making power between the board and the management. Donaldson also put forward the theory that inside managers and directors have possibly spent their lives working for the company they govern and because of this not only have a strong understanding of how the company is ran, therefore are able to make superior decisions, but also they will have naturally built a strong affiliation and personal investment in the success of the company. He also points out that decisions made by a board of outsiders could be of a lower quality because they would not be in a position to fully understand the company because they would not have access to the same informal knowledge sources and would lack any information which could inform them of the contextual nature of any business situations. All this in turn could lead to low firm performance (Nicholson and Kiel, 2007). As was stated earlier, BDO has a LT which is made up of partners who have been working for the company in a particular field and have been a partner for a number of years. The field they are responsible for as part of the LT is relevant to the field they have been previously working in, for example the Head of Audit and Tax, Paul Eagland has been a Tax Partner for 17 years. This ensures that any decisions that are being made are informed with the necessary knowledge to make the correct decision for the company. Also, as has been stated previously working for the company has long has built a strong affiliation to the company and its success. With regards to the non-executive director element of the board, it is made up of both independent members who come from outside the company (such as mentioned previously) and Directors such as the Senior Partner who has been with the company for a number of years, this allows for any gaps in the knowledge of the directors to be covered because there is an overlap between the meetings of the LT and the Partner Council when the Senior Partner sits in on LT meetings as an affiliated non-executive director. This ensures that the company is practicing good governance and that the board cannot be misled by the management as to how the company is being ran and if the interests of the other Partners are being looked after (Transparency Report, 2012). 2. 4. Stakeholder Theory Freeman (1980’s) put forward a whole new idea in terms of corporate governance theories, he argued that it should not simply be just the shareholders’ or partners’ interests which should be considered when making business decisions, he suggested that companies should be ran with the interests of all stakeholders in mind. Other stakeholders include employees, who have invested their time and skills in the company and have an invested interest in the company’s success, in order for them to ensure job security. This, Freeman classes as a direct interest in the success of the company, other direct stakeholders include customers and suppliers. What Freeman classed as having an indirect interest in the performance of the company includes the community as a whole and the environment (Having Their Cake, 2013). There is a major problem with this theory, which is that it is hard to operationalize because it is difficult to decide the weight that should be given to different stakeholders but accepting this difficulty, some theorists have suggested that while ultimately they are accountable to the shareholders, they must take into account the interests of other stakeholders when making decisions. This demand for ‘stakeholder value’ is legitimised through a number of examples, take globalisation; the spread of business and corporations across the world has led to environmental damage, an increase in corporate corruption and excessive executive pay has been, for example with RBS, to come hand-in-hand with company downsizing which has a direct impact on employees. In the name of good corporate governance, the increase in the value of stakeholder interests has led to an increase in business ethic codes and heightened corporate practice visibility and corporate reports of social responsibility and environmental matters (Having Their Cake, 2013). According to BDO’s website and their Transparency Report (2012), the company takes the interests of various stakeholders into account when making decisions about how the business is run, in a number of different ways, through policies and procedures: * Ethical Requirements The company has a Professional Services Manual and an Audit Manual, which contain rules relating to ethical conduct of employees, management and Partners. It is easily accessible on the company intranet and is supplemented with training and is designed to comply with International and UK Ethics Standards. The Partners and staff sign annual declarations as to their compliance to the code and the company has an Ethics Partner who is tasked with providing guidance as to correct ethics and also with maintaining compliance. * Client Relationships BDO has 5 core values which all partners and staff are committed to, they are; honesty and integrity, taking personal responsibility, mutual support and strong and personal client relationships. To aid in these values and to help deliver a quality service to clients, the company has robust client and engagement procedures. They carry out risk assessments on every potential client, before signing a contract and this helps to ensure that not only is the company secure but also that they provide the client with the sufficient standard and amount of staff they are in need of. The HR department also has clear policies and procedures when it comes to recruitment in training, to ensure the company has a sufficient number of staff who are competent and meet the required ethical standards, all in the name of providing a quality service to clients. * Employee Relationships BDO have an inclusive culture when it comes to recruitment and training and development, it provides every staff member with the same opportunities to progress regardless of differences. They have strong policies and procedures regarding regular reviews, which are performed bi-annually. They also seek to adopt the most relevant recruitment selection tools, in order to ensure the fit and quality of those joining the company. They also provide employees with ‘learning maps’ and ‘career and performance wheels’, which helps with career development and ensures promotions only occur when the staff member is ready. This all aids in the success of the company. * Corporate Social Responsibility BDO actively support and develop the local community, they have an established network of over 20 champions in the UK, tasked with â€Å"stimulating local ideas and initiatives† to help developing the community. They have a Community Volunteering Policy, allowing employees to take 6 days a year to volunteer, and they are not restricted to volunteer at certain organisations. It can be whatever is important to them. BDO ensure the negative impact their business has on the environment is minimised and have an Environmental Policy which can be accessed at the follow address: http://www. bdo. uk. com/about-us/corporate-social-responsibility/environment. Considering this, it could be said that with regards to ‘stakeholder value’ BDO practices good corporate governance. . BDO Governance in Practice 3. 1. Transparency Report Due to the EU’s 8th Directive on transparency reporting being adopted, in April 2008 the Professional Oversight Board published the Statutory Auditors (Transparency) Instrument (2008), requiring auditors of companies with a public interest to publish annual transparency reports. It also detailed requirements that such reports must meet, including systems of q uality control, independence practices and procedures and information about the company, i. e. he structure and the management. The BDO Transparency Report (2012) is available at: http://static. bdo. uk. com/assets/documents/2012/09/Transparency_Report_for_the_52_weeks_ended_29_June_2012. pdf . Transparency reports are used to demonstrate the quality of audit processes and practices of a company and are also used to encourage a high level of confidence and trust from stakeholders and the business community. BDO also provided a statement of compliance with the Audit Firm Governance Code (2010), which can be seen in Appendix A. The transparency includes details of the Governance Structure of the UK Firm, including the management and implementation of independent non-executive directors, the values of the company, the Internal Quality Control System, the Risk Management Control System and details the policies and procedures regarding independence, whistleblowing, professional development and partner remuneration. 3. 2. Statement of Compliance with the Audit Firm Governance Code One of the most important aspects of the Transparency Report is the Statement of Compliance with the Audit Firm Governance Code. Some of the key aspects of which include compliance with: * the owner accountability principle- the Partnership Council reviews decisions made by the Leadership Team, the management * the management principle- strategic and operational leadership is provided by the LT * the professionalism principle- the whole firm is committed to quality work and professional judgement and values. The firm’s management and the Head of Risk and Quality reinforce the appropriate ‘tone at the top’, instilling professional and ethical values in the firm. BDO employees are expected to comply with an internal code of conduct * the Involvement of independent non-executives principle- BDO appointed Independent Non-Executives in July 2008, comply with the same independence requirements as our partners and employees and they have sufficient experience and expertise to command the respect of the partners * the Compliance Principle- BDO have policies and procedures to ensure they comply with professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements * the whistleblowing policy- all actions arising out of incidents of whistleblowing, are reported to the Head of Risk and Quality who will make an annual report the Internal Reporting Principle- LT, Partnership Council, Audit Committee and Risk Committee are supplied with information in a timely manner and in a form and of a quality which enables them to discharge their duties * the Financial Statements Principle- BDO publish annual audited financial statements in accordance with UK GAAP While BDO provide a very clear statement about how compliant they are with regards to the Audit Firm Governance Code, we must look at the FRC’s ‘BDO LLP- Audit Quality Inspection, 2013’ which considered the corporate governance compliance of BDO in order to get a true understanding of their standard of corporate governance compliance. 3. 3. FRC Annual Review of BDO The FRC found that in most areas there were appropriate policies and procedures in place for its size and client base and they found that all the statements that were made in the Transparency Report were consistent with their understanding of BDO’s policies and procedures of the firm. However, when the FRC reviewed the audits BDO carried out themselves on other companies, they found that a number of governance codes were not being adhered to: * Firstly, they were not always providing a high standard of quality auditing, failing to challenge explanations and inputs from managers, they did not always report the disclosure deficiencies which were identified to the Audit Committee and there was a lack of adequate communication with the Audit Committee with regards to inaccurate information, which led to safeguards that had been put in place not being properly assessed. Secondly, the FRC found that the audits were not always being reviewed thoroughly enough and audit quality issues and omissions in reports were not being identified. * Thirdly, BDO were found to not have complied fully with ethical standards in a number of different ways; * The business plan inferred that fees should be set lower if non-audit fees are likely to be earned, this goes against their own required ethical standards and their own * Performance evaluation criteria including the cross-selling of non-audit services * The list of entities which partners held shares and could generate a conflict of interests was not up to date. A more robust set of procedures was suggested to ensure that this list was kept up to date in future Lastly, the Internal Quality Review was not of a high enough standard, it did not provide a sufficient level of detail and clarity of explanations of significant findings. 4. Conclusion We can see that BDO go to great lengths to try and ensure that they are fully compliant with corporate governance codes and regulations, not only with their policies and procedures a nd the way the company is managed but also with governance structure of the company and the values and focus of the aims and objectives of the company. They also have a strong focus on transparency and ethics within in their business and this is linked to their value of providing great customer client relationships with professionalism, honesty and integrity. They also go to great lengths to aid the companies with which they work, in complying with corporate governance codes, again this is all in the name of developing excellent quality and trustworthy client relationships, in order to maintain and improve the success of their business. However, as we can see from the FRC review, there are gaps in their governance compliance, in particular with internal reporting and ethical standards, but it will have to be seen in the coming years of reviews if the increase in transparency and an even greater focus on corporate governance will lead to BDO closing such gaps. 5. Bibliography * BDO LLP UK, ‘Transparency Report’, 2012, Available Online at: http://static. do. uk. com/assets/documents/2012/09/Transparency_Report_for_the_52_weeks_ended_29_June_2012. pdf [Accessed 02 May 2013]. * BDO LLP UK Website, 2013, ‘About Us’, Available Online at: http://www. bdo. uk. com/about-us/corporate-social-responsibility/environment [Acc essed 02 May 2013]. * BDO LLP UK, 2012, ‘Corporate Governance for TMT Businesses’, Available Online at: http://static. bdo. uk. com/assets/documents/2012/03/Corporate_Governance_for_TMT_Businesses. pdf [Accessed 02 May 2013]. * Crump, R. , May 2012, ‘Mid-cap market calls for mandatory governance code’, Financial Director Website, Available Online at: http://www. financialdirector. co. k/financial-director/news/2180374/mid-cap-market-calls-mandatory-governance-code [Accessed 02 May 2013]. * Financial Reporting Council, 2013, ‘BDO LLP: Audit Quality Inspection’, FRC Website, Available Online at: http://www. frc. org. uk/Our-Work/Publications/Audit-Quality-Review/Public-Report-BDO-LLP. aspx [Accessed 02 May 2013]. * ICAEW, 2013, ‘The Audit Firm Governance Code’, ICAEW Website, Available Online at: http://www. icaew. com/en/technical/corporate-governance/audit-firm-governance-code [Accessed 02 May 2013]. * Keynote, 2013, ‘Account ancy Marketing Report’, Available Online at: https://www. keynote. co. uk/market-intelligence/view/product/10674/accountancy? edium=download [Accessed 02 May 2013]. * Dr Lashgari, M. , 2004, ‘Corporate Governance: Theory and Practice’, The Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, Available Online at: http://tharcisio. com. br/arquivos/textos/13200724. pdf [Accessed 02 May 2013]. * Mitchell Van der Zahn, J-L. W. , 2008, ‘Special Issue on: â€Å"Financial Reporting, Transparency and Corporate Governance: Issues in Volatile International Markets†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, Vol. 7, Nos 1/2, pp: 61-93, Available Online at: http://www. inderscience. com/info/ingeneral/cfp. php? id=962 [Accessed 02 May 2013]. * Roberts, J. ‘The Theories behind Corporate Governance’, Having Their Cake website, Available Online at: http://www. havingtheircake. com/content/1_Ideas%20that%20shape%20 the%20world/fact%20and%20opinion/The%20theories%20behind%20corporate%20governance. lnk [Accessed 02 May 2013]. * Turnbull, S. , 2002, ‘Corporate Governance: Its scope, concerns and theories’, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Volume 5, Issue 4, Available Online at: http://onlinelibrary. wiley. com/doi/10. 1111/1467-8683. 00061/pdf [Accessed 02 May 2013]. * Tricker, R. I. , 2012, ‘Corporate Governance: Principles, Policies and Practices’, Oxford University Press: London, (2012). *

Pre Operational And Initiative Vs. Guilt Stages - 884 Words

During my early and middle childhood years, I transitioned from Piaget’s sensorimotor and Erickson’s Autonomy vs shame and doubt stages from my toddlerhood into pre-operational and initiative vs guilt stages respectively. The preoperational stage is anywhere from 2-7 years of age and is characterized by â€Å"[children’s inability] to perform mental operations, that is, cognitive procedures that follow certain logical rules† (Arnett, 2012, p. 240).An example from my own development would be my misconception of the idea of conservation. When presented with cylinders of differing sizes, although they held the same amount of volumes, I would judge the apparent volumes based on the amount it looked like it held rather than the concept of the water visually being seen to have merely been poured from one to the other. So, I would think that wider containers contained less liquid than a narrower container having the exact same water since it appeared lower than t he narrowed container having water higher up. At the time, I thought this was an amazing â€Å"magic† trick and it amazed and confused me greatly. This behavior is normal and was adaptive for my age. Piaget discovered that the children he studied were incapable of such abstract thought at these early ages, and I like them, was incapable of such higher thought. Another way in which the preoperational stage of my own development could be seen was through my egocentrism and thinking I was the center of everything and just so â€Å"unique†.Show MoreRelatedCase Study of Developmental Theories Essays1318 Words   |  6 PagesPiaget’s theory states that there are four different stages in cognitive development. These stages are the Sensorimotor stage, Pre-operational stage, Concrete Operational stage and the Formal Operational stage. 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