Wampum belt of the Native Americans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Wampum belt of the Native Americans - Essay Example However, even if the objective of efficient and high quality health care is universal for these countries, all have developed different schemes in medical care services (Arah, et al., 2003). Table 1 compares the system of health care in these four countries in terms of the funding, framework, guidelines and assessment performance. This data will be very important in the comparisons to be dealt with in the succeeding pages. In Canada, the adapted system which started in the late 1950’s, has transformed from a public and territorial hospital insurance structure to a comprehensive, compulsory system as we know today (Lemieux, 1989). This system ensures that taxes benefit taxpayers through a universal medical program and that no one is denied of medical care. Since the medical control is run by the government and funded by the taxpayers, it is but necessary that more safeguards be put in place as claims of a rusting system develops (Arnett, 1996; Cihak, 2004; Hsieh, 2007). A Right to Health Care. Goodman discusses that Canadians lose the right to health care in a universal system basically because the number of patients increase tremendously in this kind of scheme. As a result, there are very few people that get treatment and services are delayed because of waitlists and queues. He also further indicated that based on the Frasier Institute, ten times more patients in Canada are waitlisted compared to that in New Zealand. Apparently, the population in Canada is around nine times more than New Zealand’s populace, in addition to several other factors which should have been considered such as number of hospitals and the nature of health care needed and the quality of services received. Leonard Peikoff (2006) expresses the American viewpoint of this myth. In his speech entitled â€Å"Health Care is Not a Right†, he articulates that the right of one man should never impose responsibility to another

Regulating the Employment Relation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Regulating the Employment Relation - Case Study Example According to Working Time Regulation 1998, there is also the question of the total number of hours to be worked. If normal hours are35-40 and all the on-call hours were counted as working hours, the total would be 55-60, so there would need to be an exercise of the opt-out on the part of each employee. However, according to SIMAP, when the worker is in call work tasks will count as working hours. The Working Time Regulations state that working time is "any period during which a worker is working, at his or her employer's disposal and carrying out his or her activity or duties". However to opt-out Joshua few thinks need to consider such as according to statute law in the UK "an employee has the right not to be unfairly dismissed by his employer". But in this case the term of the contract itself unfair. According to Polkey v AE Dayton Services Ltd1, Polkey approach to procedure has however been superseded by the Employment Act 2002. The Act will introduce a new s.98A concerned with statutory dismissal. Before addressing the issue of fairness it will help to put the reasons for dismissal in context. Here there is a dual test; firstly did the employers' decision to dismiss fall with a "band of reasonable responses". Now the test is objective to determine fairness. It is essential to first consider the reason for dismissal before moving on to the concept of fairness. Different considerations apply to these different reasons. If an employer fails to make his reasons clear he will lose his case in the Employment Tribunal as he is unlikely to be able to show that it was potentially fair. Under s98 (1) (b) and s98 (2) Employment Rights Act 1996 the employer must prove that an employee was dismissed for a potentially fair reason. Here there is a dual test; firstly did the employers decision to dismiss fall with a 'band of reasonable responses Post Office v Foly; HSBC Bank v Madden2. Joshua will be given the right to unpaid paternity leave after one year 'subject to the requirements of the business, in the case of British Home Stores v Burchell3, it was held that if an employer held a belief of guilt of an employee, this must be based on reasonable grounds and subject to the employer having carried out as reasonable and practicable investigation into the matter as was possible in the circumstances. Again perhaps amore subjective test would be difficult to find. In Whitbread v Thomas, 4 it was held that the reasonableness of the employers conduct in the dismissal process required compliance with both a pre-dismissal procedure and the appeals process. In Hollister v NFU 5 which viewed procedural matters as merely one of a number of background factors, in the judicial stance towards procedural fairness by adopting what became known as the 'no difference rule. ' In W Devis & Sons v Atkins6 had sought to avoid with regard the reasonableness of the employers conduct and its effect upon the compensation payable. He added that "the British Labour Pump principle appears to have become established in practice without it being appreciated that it represented a fundamental departure from both basic principle and the earlier decisionsit is wrong in principle and undesirable in its practical effect", and that the only test of fairness of a dismissal is the reasonablenes

Teacher Accountability For Quality Education In Mauritius

Teacher Accountability For Quality Education In Mauritius There are various papers and reports on teacher accountability worldwide. Our paper focuses on teacher accountability in the Mauritian context. In this study, we argue that even though these studies are stepping stones to conduct pedagogical survey, however they are not sufficient for qualitative research since a recent review from National Institute of Child Health and Human Development claims, rigorous experimental and qualitative research that defines and characterizes effective teaching methodologies that demonstrate improved student performance is limited. This model has been developed from teachers perspective and analyzes their role in the success and failure of students. The conditions identified are based on a literature review on school and teacher accountability. Questionnaire data were collected from a representative teacher sample (N = 206) in 6 State Secondary Schools in in the four educational zones of Mauritius. Keywords: accountability, Qualitative INTRODUCTION The need for teacher accountability is to evaluate a teacher, like evaluating any other professional, one needs to determine what that professional needs to know and be able to do , and then how that professional demonstrates this knowledge through performance (John Schacter). Reports from education policy specialists help us see how we come to have failing schools, low-performing students, and little accountability (Unicef report, 2000) and how we can devise the affordable, reasonable, and workable accountability systems and incentives we need to raise student learning. Therefore, following Earl LeMahieu (cited in Earl, 2005:7) we understand that, Accounting is gathering, organising and reporting information that describes performance. Accountability is the conversation about what the information means and how it fits with everything else that we know, and about how to use it to make positive changes. In fact various literatures stress upon how accountability has become a cornerstone of schools reforms. Gurr (2006:2) notes that, in recent time there has been intense interest in most parts of the world to create systems for monitoring school performance. De Grauwe and Naidoo (2004:20) refer to the worldwide trend towards school evaluation. The Mauritian School is presently experiencing a need to assure academic success and development for all students and the focus is on providing opportunities for students achievement and removes barriers to students access (Strategy Plan 2008- 2020). In this light the focus is on finding ways to reach more students and on the implementation of strategies for successful teaching and learning. At a time of rapid technological advances, there is a need to increase standards-based education through a foundation of accountability to account for academic achievement (Strategy Plan 2008-2020). Global Perspective Recent reform initiatives have laid increasing emphasis on teacher accountability. The aim of President Clintons Goals 2000: Educate America Act of 1994 was to shift the focus from inputs to results and this reform initiative led to a national development of standard-based educational reform (Herrera Murray, 2006). According to McLaughlin and Shepard (1995), standards-based education can be defined as setting standards of performance in academic subject areas as a means of improving the substance of school curricula and increasing the motivation and effort of students, teachers, and school systems and thereby improving student achievement. In addition to setting high standards, the reform aimed at making educators feel accountable for what students learned and their performance on standardised tests (McLaughlin Shepard, 1995). The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law (2002) mandates that USA states adopt comprehensive accountability systems for identifying and improving underperforming schools. The major focus of NCLB is to provide all children with a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain high quality education. The moves towards a more balanced and sustainable approach to school accountability processes in England followed the release of the Governments Green Paper in 2003 called Every Child Matters. Under the accountability and integration proposal outlined in this paper, the creation of an inspection framework for childrens services was to be actioned with the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) taking the lead in bringing together joint inspection teams. School and teacher accountability relates to an ongoing pursuit of quality improvement and at the same time providing public assurance. De Grauwe and Naidoo (2004:39) conclude that the challenge is not to choose between accountability and quality improvement, but to find the right balance between these aims, between internal and external evaluation, between the criteria set by central authorities and those set by the school staff itself, between the demands of the public and the needs of the professional community. Opinion is divided on the impact of school evaluation and accountability processes on the performance of schools. Many authors question the inherent value of the components of some systems. Elmore (cited in Gurr, 2006:3) disputes the long-term worth of external accountability environments and suggests that for real and sustained school improvement, teachers and principals need to take more responsibility for the outcomes they influence. Hattie (2005:12-13) argues that we must develop an accountability system that is located from the student level upwards, directly involving and influencing the teacher and principal level, as such a system is more likely to have major effects on the quality of teaching and learning. Leithwood (2005) proposes the adoption of a reciprocal, professional approach. Together with the assessment of student progress, he emphasizes upon the importance of developing and appraising teachers performance against professional standards. The Reports on School Accountability Framework Review, National and International Perspectives and Approaches help to have an insight in the accountability processes in other countries: In Scotland a system of proportional response has been established linked to the findings of school inspections. In some USA and Australian states various regional and district based services are called upon to support schools in response to reviews and the analysis of test results. Finland, South Korea and Singapore have a strong focus on teacher training and continued professional development for serving teachers and principals. In Finland the initial selection process for students applying for the teacher education program is very rigorous. All teachers graduate with a Masters degree (5 years). South Korea has recently introduced an evaluation system for teachers and principals, while in Singapore teachers and principals are appraised using the Enhanced Performance Management System. Every school is to have a School Staff Developer to ensure that training and professional development programs encompass teacher needs while maintaining a focus on school goals. Experienced teachers in Ontario, Canada are formally evaluated every three years. Inexperienced teachers are mentored, closely monitored and evaluated. An unsatisfactory rating for any teacher can result in a recommendation for termination. In contrast with general trends De Grauwe (2004:78) notes that in Finland, a country that consistently performs at the highest level in international tests, the national inspection system was discontinued in 1991. Decision-makers felt that the benefits from external inspection and advice services were minimal and that, in view of the high level of training and professionalism of teachers and the strong parental interest in the schooling of their children, quality control could be entirely trusted to them. Accountability as an Auditing Tool An accountable educational system can be set up and managed through strategic planning processes, which shape and guide the system, where it is going and how it is going to get there (Kaufman et al, 2002). In the work world, management and employees are held accountable. Those that do well gain merits and are promoted. The marketplace creates incentives for their efficient performance, holds them closely accountable, and rewards success. Likewise, the accountability principle extends to most sectors of Mauritian life more significantly the private sector. Unfortunately, the Mauritian school system lacks the marketplace accountability, which is seen only at the level of large-scale examination systems associated with higher achievement, Cambridge School Certificate and Higher School Certificate. Educators resistance to testing and accountability is not surprising and is rather to be expected. Neither doctors nor bricklayers would choose to be accountable for their effort, it would be much easier for them to say that alls well as they request higher compensation (Evers et al.) Government-generated movement for accountability is generally welcomed by the public, vigilantly accepted by the school personnel responsible for implementing them and skeptically viewed by the teachers who are to be appraised (Odhiambo, 2003). Accountability is a contentious and divisive issue regardless of the context within which it operates. It is not unusual for teachers to openly, or covertly, resist involvement in appraisal schemes for numerous reasons, ranging from a fear of negative information becoming public to a complete lack of trust in the appraiser (Dimmock Walker, 2005). According to the report prepared by Michael Heim for Hawaiis School Leadership Academy on Accountability in Education: A Primer for School Leaders, the author based on different literature review comes up with the Conceptual model for accountability. Heim writes that, The evaluative nature of accountability, i.e., using authority justifiably and credibly, is an essential characteristic. The evaluative dimension is what distinguishes accountability from reporting. Furthermore he asks a simple question, Who is responsible for what to whom? The Who is Responsible? and To Whom? components contain numerous accountability providers and recipients: policymakers, the government, education officials, school staff, parents, students, the general public, and special interest groups. It can be noticed that there is an internal-external dimension to accountability. That is, accountability relationships arise internally within the same organization, and also externally that is with recipients outside the organization The following diagram tries to integrate various accountability frameworks found in the literature with the definition of accountability used herein. The diagram contains the necessary components required of a conceptual model for accountability. Conceptual Accountability Model C:UsersAdminDesktopAccountability in Education A Primer for School Leaders_filesAccountability.png Source: M. Heim, Hawaiis School Leadership Academy on Accountability in Education: A Primer for School Leaders Teachers are responsible for accomplishing tasks such as aligning curriculum, classroom instruction, and student assessment practices. Teachers are also responsible for truly involving others so that the co-production of learning can be successful. Attention must be given throughout these efforts to thoughtfully cultivate a relationship with students. Accountability between students and teachers, teachers and parents, and students and parents, can only exist on a mutually agreed relationships and responsibilities among them. Student learning is not a one way traffic or unidirectional, it encloses many factors, some of which are within the authority of school and its staff to control, and others which are not. Whatever the educational circumstances and limiting factors contributing to educational goals, teachers must make a difference in the lives of children and youth. Teachers accountability for student outcomes, then, must highlight the ways and extent to which they have contributed to making a difference. Testing students performance is useful, but information that shows growth or improvement over time is essential (Heim, ). 1.3 Reform Initiatives on Accountability and Quality in the Mauritian Educational System International commitments such as Education for All, Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategies, and the Millennium Development Goals increasingly influence strategy decisions and planning in the Mauritius education sector. Over the past decades, through the different policy papers and reports, the Government has aimed at creating an education system responsive to the emerging needs of society. Besides, the new Programme-Based Budgeting (PBB) system demands achievement in return for investment, and it requires a system of performance measurements at all levels of the education system. According to the Strategy Plan 2008-2020, the vision of the Government is to ensure Quality Education for all. Teacher performance, student assessment and the structure of the system are specifically designed to improve the quality of education and ensuring excellence for all. Quality in the education system requires accountability on the part of teachers for both the learning environments they provide and the learning outcomes they enable their students to achieve (Strategy Plan, 2008). In 1991, the Master Plan pointed out that there were insufficient accountability and poor communication within the educational system as duties and responsibilities were not clearly defined. There was no School Management Division. The Master plan therefore proposed an improved and more effective system of management by re-establishing policy and operational management of responsibilities at all levels to achieve accountability (Parsuramen, 1991). One of the recommendations of the White Paper (1997) was that Heads of Schools should manage their schools within clear policy guidelines and accountability parameters (Pillay, 1997). Moreover, the Action Plan (1998) insisted on accountability and transparency at each level and the setting up of a Quality Assurance Division in order to achieve increased quality and cost effectiveness in the education system. At the turn of the new millennium, Obeegadoo in his reform plan Ending the Rat Race (2000) highlighted that for colleges to be centres of excellence, it is necessary to have a close monitoring of standards with clear lines of accountability. The Strategy Plan 2008-2020 also indicated that performance indicators should be set up so as to increase the accountability of school personnel to produce results. Existing Framework The Mauritian System has developed accountability frameworks which consist the components of school planning, school self-assessment, school reporting and school review (internal or external). Self-assessment and reporting are usually annually based, planning is often both longer term (3-5 years, strategic) and annual (operational) with review cycles. With the purpose of ensuring the accountability of teachers within the educational system, the following indicators are in place: Guidelines such as, the National Curriculum Framework, define the task and responsibilities of teachers. The Personnel Management Manual of the Ministry ensures uniformity and stability of employee action through specified rules and regulations. Quality Assurance Teams assess teaching and learning. Heads of Schools monitor the work of teachers through regular class visits. A Performance Management System (PMS) is in place. After being on a pilot basis in 2009, the system will be fully operational in 2011. Establishment of clear reporting guidelines and schedules. Performance Analysis Report provide statistical data on student achievement results and progression Percentage pass rate at SC and HSC level. 1.5 Barriers/ Limitations that exist 2 levels: one general, second specific (related to our topic) According to David Blake (Quality Assurance in Teacher Leadership Education, A case study) the emerging framework for quality assessment in teacher evaluation is clearly problematic because many problems such as definition, workload, funding, bureaucracy and values are involved. Furthermore, sanctions and rewards are elements of the accountability processes and as mentioned above, teachers as the appraisee are scared of the appraiser. Furthermore to hold the appraisee accountable there needs to be valid and reliable assessment mechanisms. Teacher accountability, as per various studies, is very broad Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study is to find out whether state secondary school teachers feel accountable for their students performance. This study examines the roles and responsibilities of state secondary teachers and it aims at transforming teachers into accountable, responsible competent collaborators, demonstrating best practices. This article reviews the research on teachers accountability for quality education and proposes that by implementing firm teacher performance based accountability systems (The Milken Family Foundation, 2000), can improve teaching practices and ultimately students success. METHODOLOGY Survey Method The survey method is a research method to gather data about people, their opinion and behaviours (Wikipedia, 2010). The survey method was selected as it is an efficient way of collecting information from a large number of respondents. Survey is flexible as it produces a wider range of information compared to other methods, like direct observation, experimentation (Wikipedia, 2010). Several questions can be asked about the given topic, thus conferring considerable flexibility to the analysis, and standardised questions make measurement more accurate. Statistical tests can be used to determine validity, reliability and statistical significance (Wikipedia, 2010). There are two types of surveys, namely questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires are usually paper-and-pen instruments which the respondent completes whilst interviews are completed by the interviewer based on the say of the respondent (Trochim, 2006). For the purpose of our study, we found that the Questionnaire method would be best for our situation. Questionnaire Design Data was collected through the use of questionnaires. Our survey used the quantitative measure, i.e. forced-choice questions were used. Cross-sectional survey was used, as information was gathered on a population of State Secondary College teachers, as of October 2010. Once we had selected Questionnaire as our survey method, we had to construct the survey itself by tackling a few issues, including the different types of questions, decisions about question content and purpose, decisions about question wording, decisions about response format, and, question placement and sequence in our questionnaire. Our survey consisted of close-ended questions, where the response options were exhaustive and mutually exclusive. Two types of response scales were used, namely, dichotomous, and four-point Likert. Five main sections have been duly taken into consideration while designing the questionnaire namely Respondent Profile, Planning and Preparation, Classroom Environment, Instruction, Professional Responsibilities and Support and Demand. These are essential components regarding collection of data in connection with teacher accountability for quality education. Participants A representative sample of State Secondary School teachers was selected from a population of 3439 teachers so as to collect questionnaire data. The study was explained to the teachers and they were asked to fill in a questionnaire. The questionnaire data was collected from a sample of 206 teachers from 6 State Secondary Schools from the four Educational Zones in Mauritius. 3 of the schools are termed as State Colleges and are high-performing schools with an average pass rate of 80%, whilst the other 3 schools are low-performing schools with an average pass rate of 75%. The sample was 59% female and 41% male; the age ranged between 23 and 60 years with an average age of 30-40 years. The participants belonged to 14 different departments. Limitation of the study Though there are advantages to the questionnaire method, we would, however, like to point out that there are a number of weaknesses to the method. For instance, the quality of responses cannot be judged and respondents honesty cannot be proven. Human biases for e.g. ego of the respondents are there. High response rates were not achieved; out of the 300 questionnaires distributed, only 206 were retrieved. The period during which the survey was carried out was not appropriate due to the fact that many teachers were involved in Cambridge examinations at that given time. Moreover, some respondents did not attempt a few questions whilst others, although having the best of intentions, could not find the time to respond to the questionnaire. Others misplaced the instrument or forgot to return it. It was also noted that though secrecy was assured, some respondents were unwilling to provide certain information as they felt this would somehow intrude on their confidentiality, for e.g. some omitted to specify whether they were the Head of Department or not. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Purpose of study The purpose of the study is to find out whether state secondary school teachers feel accountable for their students performance. This study examines the roles and responsibilities of state secondary teachers and it aims at transforming teachers into accountable, responsible competent collaborators, demonstrating best practices. Respondent Profile Male (%) Female (%) Age group 30-40 41-50 >50 10.6 58.8 12.9 17.6 30.0 55.0 10.0 5.0 Teaching experience 5-15 yrs 16-25 yrs >25 yrs 13.4 54.9 13.4 18.3 25.2 59.7 9.2 5.9 Educational zone 1 2 3 4 12.9 58.8 15.3 12.9 22.3 41.3 9.9 26.4 Posting Gaetan Raynal SC Shrimati Indira Gandhi SSS Quartier Militaire SSS Sookdeo Bissoondoyal SC Sir Leckraz Teeluck SSS Sharma Jugdambi SSS 13.1 21.4 3.6 14.3 34.5 13.1 26.4 11.6 15.7 9.9 14.0 22.3 Type of posting Permanent Supply Medco 88.2 7.1 4.7 89.2 6.7 4.2 Department English French Mathematics Science Social Studies Computer Economics Accounts Home Economics Art and Design Design and Technology Physical Education Oriental Languages/ Hinduism Music and Dance 5.1 8.9 20.3 17.7 3.8 1.3 7.6 10.1 0 2.5 6.3 5.1 8.9 2.5 16.5 13.0 7.8 9.6 1.7 1.7 5.2 3.5 4.3 5.2 0 1.7 25.2 4.3 Head of Department Yes No 23.5 76.5 19.2 80.8 Working periods 16-20 21-25 >25 2.4 3.6 22.6 71.4 4.1 5.8 25.6 64.5 Qualifications Diploma Degree Masters 4.8 69.0 26.2 5.0 65.3 29.8 Professional training Yes No 64.6 35.4 49.6 50.4 Teacher Accountability/Effectivess Performance Management System One of the governments principal stated reasons for introducing performance management into schools was that it claimed doing so would help improve the professional development of teachers (DfEE, 2000, p.3). The PMS (Performance Management System) in Mauritius allows the educator to be assessed based on a variety of competencies, of which he/she has to choose at least ten. This new tool of performance appraisal of teachers is still at its initial stage in Mauritian schools. The results obtained are provided below. Table 1: Educators self-rating based on competencies enlisted in PMS Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Always 83 40.3 41.3 41.3 Often 82 39.8 40.8 82.1 Rarely 25 12.1 12.4 94.5 Never 11 5.3 5.5 100.0 Total 201 97.6 100.0 Missing System 5 2.4 Total 206 100.0 The study carried out by Brown, A (2005) showed that performance management can, under certain circumstances, help to improve the quality of primary education in England. with new challenges in the field of education, teachers also basically need to be assessed by such appraisal systems so as to maintain accountability. However, the study by Monyatsi, P. et al (2006) in the context of teacher perceptions of the effectiveness of teacher appraisal in Botswana concluded that though some teachers consider teacher appraisal as an axe ready to chop teachers which is contrary for the appraisal process to serve the purposes of accountability, yet, through the appraisal process as practiced in Botswana secondary schools, teachers can gain increased knowledge and skills, which ultimately enhance their performance in their daily duties in the schools Our study supports this fact as out of 205 respondents in this section, 146 educators organise and manage their classrooms effectively whereas on 2 of hem rarely do so. To bring about a rise in performance through efficiency and effectivenss, there are two major aspects which need to be taken into account. One, professional development of the teacher and second, accountability. The Strategy Plan 2008-2020 caters for this aspect by focusing onlifelong learning of the educator. With the growing challenges in education, teachers roles are changing rapidly. Globalisation and meeting international educational standards demand the teacher to be more professional in his/her teaching tasks. Teachers are expected to be equipped with updated trainings in pedagogy, teaching skills and professional development. Many countries are coming with teacher appraisal management systems so as to make the teacher of today become accountable at various levels. (ON DEMAND SUPPORT ?) The study conducted on teacher accountability demonstrated that the expectations of educators as far as support in the form of trainings, opportunities to work with experienced teachers or even participation in decision making are much below and somewhere, there is a co-relation between support and the accountability of educators towards their multiple tasks they perform. Though, many educators (107 often give remedial work, 94 often encourage group learning and 94 collect feedback on students performance whereas on 1 educator never does so in all the cases) are accountable towards their modes of instruction and are satisfied with their teaching practices, yet,some seem to be less accountable as far as performance of students on an overall basis is considered (18.9%). Many have held the rector responsible for the overall rate of failures or passes while detaching themselves from the schools performance. Normore (2004) mentions that being accountable means, among other things, being o bligated or subject to giving an account. In saying that someone is accountable we could imply that he/she is obligated to give a report, description, explanation, justifying analysis, or some form of exposition of reasons, causes, grounds, or motives for what we have observed Table 2: Educators feel rector is accountable for acedemic success/failure of students Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Always 49 23.8 24.7 24.7 Often 51 24.8 25.8 50.5 Rarely 64 31.1 32.3 82.8 Never 34 16.5 17.2 100.0 Total 198 96.1 100.0 Missing System 8 3.9 Total 206 100.0 It implies that, based on our survey, educators in Mauritius are normally very much satisfied with performance at their departmental level rather than at the institutional level. Many (144 educators) assert that they are satisfied with their classroom teaching only. As for the Planning and Preparation aspect, most educators do prepare their Lesson Plans and their Scheme of Work on a regular basis (135 out of 206 always do so). Out of 203, only 1 educator never preprares the Scheme of Work. Out of 203, 13 rarely align their objectives with the National Curriculum Framework. Hanley, C. (2009) documents a number of the ways in which accountability pressure has changed school instructional policies and practices in Floridas low-performing schools, and relate these instructional policy and practice changes to increased student performance. Many educators also felt that demonstrating a general feeling of warmth, care and respect towards their students make them accountable and thus, contribute to their professional development (140 always do so whereas only 3 never do so). Feeling responsible towards the classroom setting and oraginsing and managing classrooms effectively has an impact on the performance of students and therefore bring quality teaching, they believed. This is why, a considerable number of educators take care of these aspects with existing infrastructure at their particular schools. However, some educators (40 rarely and 4 never do so) do not feel responsible/accountable for preparing their students for competition and collaboration in a global economy. This confirms that the vision of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, as stated in the Strategy Plan 2008-2010, has not totally reached the understanding of educators. Another reason might be that though the vision is noble yet appropriate infra structure and training are hardly to be provided to schools for implementation. 3.4 Teacher Experience a

Various law :: essays research papers

Charta Magna: agreement between king John and his barons laying down mutual rights and obligations as well as the position of the lower nobility and the church. (1215) Habeas Corpus: is an important remedy against unlawful commitment. (1679) Bill of rights: protects statements in either house of parliament granting parliament itself the power to fine or imprison those who abuse this privilege. It also prohibited the king to levy taxes or keep an army without permission of parliament. (1689) Act of settlement: Secured the succession of the throne after the death of William III who was king of England but who didn’t have any children. It gave the throne to Princess Sofia of Hannover and her heirs, being Protestants.(1700) Charles-Luis de Montesquieu : â€Å"De l’espiritu des lois† (1748) Jean-Jaques Rouseau is the author of: â€Å"discours sur l' origine el les fondaments de l' inegalite parmi les homes†(1754) â€Å"contrat social ou principes du droit† (1762) Independence of USA (1776) French Revolution (1784) Types of laws Statute laws: An act of the legislature of a state or country, declaring, commanding, or prohibiting something; a positive law; the written will of the legislature expressed with all the requisite forms of legislation; -- used in distinction from common law. Statute is commonly applied to the acts of a legislative body consisting of representatives. In monarchies, legislature laws of the sovereign are called edicts, decrees, ordinances, rescripts, etc. In works on international law and in the Roman law, the term is used as embracing all laws imposed by competent authority. Statutes in this sense are divided into statutes real, statutes personal, and statutes mixed; statutes real applying to immovables; statutes personal to movables; and statutes mixed to both classes of property. Statute book: a record of laws or legislative acts. Federal Laws: Rules that are applied on a federal level International Laws: A set of rules generally regarded and accepted as binding in relations between states and nations. Also called law of nations. These are the rules regulating the mutual intercourse of nations. International law is mainly the product of the conditions from time to time of international intercourse, being drawn from diplomatic discussion, textbooks, proof of usage, and from recitals in treaties. It is called public when treating of the relations of sovereign powers, and private when of the relations of persons of different nationalities. International law is now, by the better opinion, part of the common law of the land. By-laws: A local or subordinate law; a private law or regulation made by a corporation for its own government.

Earning Management

Does the Commercial Banking Industry of UAE Practice Earnings Management Dr. Mohammed Obeidat Introduction It is the right of external users of accounting information to be provided with more adequate information to protect their interests. Many questionable issues concerning the term of earnings management are still available. Auditors, accountants, financial analysts, and other concerned parties may hold the responsibility of detecting external users from the practices of earnings management. Many questionable issues are still available regarding the term of earnings management.Some people may have no enough idea about what practices are classified under earnings management, and what practices can not be classified under this term. Users of accounting information are different but few of them have the ability to detect the practices of earnings management. Because there are different methods of practicing earnings management, detecting the practices of earnings management is one of the difficult issues. The common practice of earnings management by firms and the negative effects of these practices on external users of financial accounting information justify the investigation of this issue.Many users may lose some of their wealth as a result of practicing this phenomenon. Many financial crises appear in our world from time to time, and some reasons of these crises are related to incorrect announced financial information. The problem of the current study will be simpler, if it is presented through the following question: How investors can detect the practices of earnings management, in order to have the ability to protect themselves from the negative effects of these practices?The answer to this question may seem more difficult, so the current study present an example from the Commercial Banking Industry of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Studying the phenomena of practicing earnings management is important, because this will highlight why managers may practic e this phenomenon. Many incentives may be available to managers and promote them to practice earnings management. These incentives will be highlighted later on in the current study, but when investors are knowledgeable with some of these incentives, they can consider and analyze the financial information of their entities more.Moreover, when users are aware with the methods that are followed by managers to practice earnings management, they will be more eligible to detect these practices. The current study will explore the most available methods of practicing earnings management. The importance of the current study is increased, because it highlights how investors can determine whether there is a practice of earnings management or not. The objectives this study is looking to achieve are as follows: 1. To highlight the incentives standing behind the practice of earnings management by managers. 2.To inform users about the methods available to firms' management to manage the earnings. 3. To determine the qualitative and quantitative available procedures that can be used to detect the practices of earnings management. 4. To determine whether the Commercial Banking Industry of UAE practices or does not practice the phenomenon of earnings management. 5. In a case of earnings management is detected, this study aims to detect whether these practices were upward or downward practices. Our study makes a unique contribution to the literature by using data from the announced financial statement of Commercial Banking Industry of UAE.This study differs from the prior studies in its location, methods, objectives, and nature of data used in the analysis. Because the current study involves the commercial banks of ABU Dhabi, and because all of these commercial banks are listed in Abu Dhabi Stock Market, this study is unique in its location. Just few studies outside Abu Dhabi followed quantitative method to investigate whether there are practices of earnings management or not, t he current study is also different from other prior researches.This study depends on cross sectional data because a time series data will misstate the data, so it is unique in its inputs of data. This paper is organized as follows: The first section defines earnings management, and describes the incentives of its practices by commercial banks, in addition to that, it explores the methods of practice and how these practices can be defected. The second section explores the most related prior researches. The third section presents the hypotheses of the current research. The fourth section describes the followed methodology in the current study.The fifth section presents the results, while the fifth explores the findings. Literature Review and Prior Researches Many people believe that the term of earnings management is understandable in its simple form, but most of those unable to determine whether a selected practice is an earnings management or not. Understanding what earnings managem ent constitutes and why it takes place is important for all users of accounting information. This study highlights the different aspects of earnings management, so it identifies clearly this term, and presents the incentives standing behind its practice.Moreover, the current study determines the methods of earnings management used by firms, and explores how these practices can be detected. Earnings management is defined as the â€Å"intentional misstatement of earnings leading to bottom line numbers that would have been different in the absence of any manipulation (Mohanram, 2003). Based on this definition, the practice of earnings management is an intentional behavior, and if this practice occurs unintentionally, it can not be classified under the practices of earnings management.Moreover, this definition states that the practice of earnings management phenomenon leads to users' misstatement. In other words, practitioners of earnings management have different purposes and they cha nge some accounting numbers to affect users in order to achieve these objectives. Healy and Wahlen (1999) state that earnings management â€Å"occurs when managers use judgment in financial reporting and in structuring transactions to alter financial reports to either mislead some stakeholders about the underlying economic performance of the company or to influence contractual outcomes that depend on reporting accounting numbers†.This definition states that this practice is also intentional and purposeful. This definition mentions that contractual issues are incentives for managers to manage earnings. But we have to remember Some concerned people believe that earnings management mean upward manipulation. Actually, earnings management may be exercised either upward or downward. In most cases, the target of earnings determines to a large degree, whether the management of the firm practices earnings management upward or downward.Some people also believe that the all the practice of earnings management are illegal, and no legal practice exists. Actually, there are different practices of earnings management do not violate the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). For example, speeding the size of sales during the last month or the fourth quarter is in agreement with the GAAP. Moreover, activating sales during the last month of the accounting period through granting discounts to customers is also in agreement with the GAAP, and is not a violation to the accounting standards.There are different incentives to managements of firms to practice the phenomenon of earnings management. Most of these incentives are related to benchmarks of earnings. Sometimes, the previous period's performance may be the benchmark to the firm. In other cases, the benchmark to the firm may be the expectations of financial analysts. The promised compensations to the firm's management may be the most important incentive of the practice of earnings management. Benchmarks are ne cessary for the determination whether the management deserves or does not deserve the promised compensation.Sometimes, the desire of the firm's management to increase the stock market price may also be one among the incentives to earnings management, especially, when the management is looking for more compensation. The normal positive relation between earnings and stock market price means that as the amount of announced earnings increases, the common stock market price is also increases. Therefore, when a desire exists to the firm's management to affect the common stock market price, the management will manage its earnings. Reducing the amount of income tax may also be one among the incentives of practicing earnings management.In many countries, business entities are subject to high income tax rates, where different categories of expenses are deducted from the income. When these entities are looking toward reducing the amounts of taxes, they practice the phenomenon of earnings manag ement. The practice of earnings management in this case may be through increasing the amounts of tax deductions, or through the decreasing the amounts of earnings. Sometimes, firm's management may manage earnings to simplify the issue of receiving credits from banks and other financial issues.In addition, firms may also manage earnings to reduce the cost of this credit, because when earnings are reasonable, the firm can receive credit smoothly without such obstacles, and at lower costs, but when the firm's earnings are unreasonable, this firm will face many obstacles to receive credit, and it may receive credit at higher costs. These are some of incentives or reasons of the practice of earnings management, but other incentives may be available to some firms, depending on the financial conditions of the firm's management itself.Managements of firms can follow different methods to manage earnings. Changing the assumptions for accounting standards is one of the most common used methods in managing earnings. It is already known that the GAAP are highly flexible, so managements can employ the high degree of flexibility available in these standards. Examples of this flexibility are the inventory flow methods which managements can use one among these, and the available options to depreciate some of the firm's assets, in addition to these; firms can review the assumed lives of these depreciable assets.As a result a variety of options are available to management whenever a desire to manage earnings exists. Managements can manage earnings through the determination to the bad debts provisions. For example, whenever there is a need to announce earnings higher than its actual value, management can determine these bad debts at amounts lower than their actual, while it can announce lower amounts of bad debts whenever there is a need to reduce the announced income. Managing transaction is one among the available options to management when there is a desire to manage earnings. For instance, management can grant high discounts during the last few days of the accounting period to recognize more revenue through sales under the accrual basis. One option is available to managements of firms is to activate sales or services during the last days of accounting period through the adoption to more sales on credit, and through longer period of payment are given to customers. Two approaches are available to detect the phenomenon of earnings management. The first is qualitative, while the second is quantitative approach.Using the two approaches together when this possible leads to more certain conclusions whether a firm or a group of firms manage earnings. Several steps have to be followed when there a need exists to detect earnings management through the qualitative methods. These steps are presented below: (Mohanram, 2003). 1. Identifying the key accounting policies of the firm or industry. Regarding the industry of the current research, the issues of credit risk an d interest rate risk are of crucial importance to banks. 2. Assessing the firm's accounting flexibility.The level of accounting flexibility may be high to some firms or industries, whereas, it may be low to other firms and industries. 3. Evaluating the firm's accounting strategy, and determining how this strategy differs from other competitors. 4. Assessing the firm's quality of disclosure. 5. Identifying the potential red flags. The following is an example of red flags: |Unexplained accounting changes, especially when performance is bad. | |Unexplained profit boosting transactions, such as sale of assets. | |Unusual increase in accounts receivable in relation to sales increase. |Increasing gap between net income and cash flow from operations. | |Increasing gap between net income for reporting and tax purposes. | |Unexpected large asset write-offs or write downs. | |Large fourth quarter adjustment. | |Qualified audit opinion or change in auditors. | |Large related party transactions . | 6. The final step is to undo accounting distortions by reversing out the impacts of dubious accounting wherever possible. Earnings management can be also detected analytically, based on the firm's accruals, which can be defined as the difference between net income and cash flow operations.In occasion, firms with high level of accruals are likely to have inflated earnings. Firms practice the phenomenon of earnings management can be determined through segregating discretionary accruals from non-discretionary accruals. In this case, Jones (1991) model can be used to segregate discretionary from non-discretionary accruals. In the current study we use this model to determine whether, or not, the Commercial Banking Industry practices the phenomenon of earnings management. This model is presented below:Where total accruals can be computed by finding the difference between income before extraordinary items and cash from operations in year t. Revenuest is revenues in year t, while revenu est-1 is the revenues at the end of year t-1. Total assetst-1 is total assets of year t-1. Gross PPEt is gross property, plant, and equipment at the end of year t, and B1, B2, and B3 are industry and year specific parameters to be estimated. The residual value in Jones's Model is the discretionary accruals for a firm in a given year, while the fitted value gives an estimate of the non-discretionary component of earnings.Researchers in the accounting literature have often focused on earnings management. Many researchers studied the issue of earnings management; most of these are focused in the Western or Far East Countries. A study titled † earnings Management: Do Large Investors Care? † and carried out by Senteza, Njoroge, and Gill (2005), deserves to be mentioned in the current study. This study mentions that institutional investment activity and behavior is an area that has become more interesting in recent times and so much work has been done so far.The contribution o f this study in the area of earnings management can be summarized in its documentation to the effect of earnings management activity on institutional investor ownership, especially through distinguishing the ownership changes in response to the direction of earnings management efforts. This study finds that institutional investors increase ownership in firms that manage earnings upwards and decrease ownership in firms that manage earnings downward before end-of-year reporting.Moreover, this study finds that the increases observed during an observed upwards earnings-managing activity are followed by decreases in ownership in these firms in the subsequent quarter, which may suggest resource allocation between large and small investors. In his comments at the practice of earnings management phenomenon, Simon (2005) argues that managing earnings is a wrong practice, in his paper titled â€Å"Earnings Management as A Professional Responsibility Problem†.The author of this paper st ates that managers of public companies often want an increase in current reported earnings per share; though they sometimes prefer a current decrease in the earnings they would otherwise report when it will allow them to show a smoothly increasing pattern of earnings in the future. He adds, on his comments on Schwarcz's paper, that â€Å"the ‘limits of lawyering' are the constraints of law, but having said that, the question remains-what do we mean by law? If we take a narrow, predictive conception of law, the limits will be less restrictive than if we take a broader, purposive view. . He also states that the more ambitious conception is most compatible with the idea of lawyering as a dignified calling. Caramanis and Lennox (2007), carried out a study titled â€Å"Audit Effort and Earnings Management† in their trial to determine the effect of audit hours on the practice of earnings management by the Greece Firms. To measure earnings management, the authors use the Jone s (1991) model based on the balance sheet approach rather than the cash flow statement approach because most Greek companies do not provide cash flow statements.There are three main findings of this study. First, companies are more likely to report income-increasing abnormal accruals than income-decreasing abnormal accruals, when audit hours are lower. Second, the magnitude of income-increasing abnormal accruals is negatively related to audit hours. Third, companies are more likely to manage earnings upwards to just meet or beat the zero earnings benchmark, when auditors work fewer hours. Moreover, this study finds weak or insignificant associations between audit hours and the magnitude of negative abnormal accruals.A study titles â€Å"Detecting Earnings Management† for the purpse of evaluating alternative accrual-based models for detecting earnings management is carried out by Dechow and Sweeney (1995). This paper evaluates the ability of alternative models to detect earnin gs management. Concerning this issue, the paper finds that all the models considered appear to produce reasonably well specified tests for a random sample of event-years. When the models are applied to samples of firm-years experiencing extreme financial performance, all models lead to misspecified tests.The second finding of this paper is that the models all generate tests of low power for earnings management of economically plausible magnitudes. Moreover, this paper reveals that all models reject the null hypothesis of no earnings management at rates exceeding the specified test-levels when applied to sample of firms with extreme financial reporting. The most important finding of this paper is that a modified version of the model developed by Jones (1001) has the most power in detecting earnings management.Kerstein and Rai (2007), carried out a study titled â€Å"Working Capital Accruals and Earnings Management†. The purpose of this study is to reexamine market reactions to large and small working capital accruals. This study involves three hypotheses. First, negative or positive large working capital accruals have no impact on the earnings response coefficient of firms reporting positive small earnings surprises. Second, Positive or negative large working capital accruals have no impact on earnings response coefficients of firms reporting small earnings declines.Third Positive or negative large working capital accruals have no impact on earnings response coefficients of firms reporting large earnings increases or declines. The authors focus on nonlinear relations between returns and large working capital accruals and use raw returns computed as the compounded monthly returns from nine months prior to the fiscal year-end to three months after the fiscal year-end as the dependent variable. They find that the market discounts unexpected earnings when there are small increases in earnings using negative large working capital accruals or negative large wo rking capital accruals.They also find little or no evidence that positive or negative large working capital accruals lead to lower earnings response coefficients in the remaining six situations. In his study titles â€Å"Earnings Management, Earnings Manipulation: Evidence from Taiwanese Corporations†, (2008), Chai-hui Chen differentiates between earnings management and earnings manipulation among the Taiwanese companies. In this study, Chai examines 7 hypotheses based on a sample of 90 public firms throughout 1999-2004.The main findings this study concludes that: (1) unlike the control group, earning manipulators face greater capital market and contract motivations to manage earnings; (2) earnings manipulators are more inclined to appoint fewer independent directors to their boards, to appoint fewer independent supervisors to their supervisory boards, and to posses considerably less managerial ownership; and (3) earnings manipulators are more likely than the control group to express aggressive attitudes and rationalizations to manage earnings changes before interests and taxes, or both.To examine the effect of firm's stock price sensitivity to earnings news, as measured by outstanding stock recommendation, on incentives to manage earnings, Abarbanel and Leahavy (2003) carried out a study titled â€Å"Can Stock Recommendations Predict Earnings Management and Analysts' Earnings Forecast Errors†. This study examines hypotheses concerning (1) the effect of introducing equity-market-based earnings targets on firms' earnings management, and (2) the effects of such earnings management actions on ensuring analysts' forecast errors.In this study, quarterly unexpected accruals are calculated using the modified Jones (1991) model. This study finds evidence that a firm's stock price sensitivity to earnings news, as measured by outstanding stock recommendation, affects its incentives to manage earnings and, in turn, affects analysts' ex post forecast errors. Moreover, this study finds a tendency for firms rated a Sell (Buy) to engage More (less) frequently in extreme, income-decreasing earnings management, indicating that they have relatively stronger (weaker) incentives to create accounting reserves.In contrast, this study finds that firms rated a Buy (Sell) are more (less)likely to engage in earnings management that leaves reported earnings equal to or slightly higher than analysts' forecasts. Zhang (2002) carried out his study titled, â€Å"Detecting Earnings Management – Evidence from Rounding-up in Reported EPS†, for the purpose of evaluating a comprehensive list of metrics propsed for detecting earnings management in a setting where managers manipulate earnings to round up reported earnings per share (EPS).This study provide the evidence that adds to the debate on the abilities of accrual-based models to detect earnings management of small magnitude. The study cast doubt on the abilities of accrual-based models to c atch minor offenses, which is likely to be the norm, rather than exception of various forms of earnings management. The metrics under evaluation of this study are deferred tax expense and discretionary accruals computed from DeAngelo Model, Healy Model, Jones Model, Modified Jones Model, Cross-sectional Jones Model, and Forward-looking Jones Model.This study finds that deferred tax expense is able to detect earnings management in the rounding-up setting while discretionary accruals models are not. Moreover, this study provides the evidence that firms manipulate bad debt expense for the purpose of rounding-up reported EPS. Chan, Jegadeesh, and Sougiannis (2004) carried out a study titled â€Å"The Accrual Effect on Future Earnings† in an attempt to clarify whether current accruals affect future earnings. The authors find a strong negative relationship between accruals and the aggregate future earnings.This study mentions that if firms manage accruals upward by $1 today while h olding current earnings constant, aggregate future earnings will decline, on average, by $ 0. 096 over the following three years and $0. 202 in the long run. This study also examines the accrual effects classified by firm characteristics to test the source of the negative relationship between accruals and future earnings. The study shows that high price-earnings stocks experience an enormous accrual impact on their future earnings, with 39% of current accruals reversing in the long run.Moreover, this study shows that firms with high market-to-book ratios also have large accrual reversals, so when this is grouped by accruals, the accrual effects are significantly stronger for high accrual firms than for low accrual firms. Among the additional important findings of this study is that Jones model significantly underperforms the CF-Jones model in explaining the cross-sectional accrual variability, with only 24% of mean adjusted –R2 for the Jones model compared to 57% for CF-Jones Model.This result shows the CF-Jones model superiority in identifying the manipulated earnings. The most recent study concerning the detection of earnings management relates to Miller (2009) and titled â€Å"The Development of the Miller Ratio (MR): A Tool to Detect for the Possibility of Earnings Management (EM)†. In this study, Miller uses new technique to detect earnings management called â€Å"Miller Ratio†, based on net working capital (NWC) and cash flow from operations (CFO). Miller also compares between the esults reached through his own model and the results revealed based on Modified Jones Model. In this study, the author states that the large body of literature on the topic of earnings management provides discussion of total accruals, discretionary total accruals, and current accruals. The findings of this study indicate that neither the Miller Ratio nor the Modified Jones Model predicted the possibility of earnings management at a statistical acceptable le vel of confidence on the body of data with acknowledged earnings management. .Caramanis, A. , and Lennox, C. , (2008), â€Å"Audit Effort and Earnings Management†, Journal of Accounting and Economics 45, PP. 116-138. 2. Jones, J. , (1991), â€Å"Earnings Management during import relief Investigations†, Journal of Accounting Research 29, pp. 193-228. 3. Dechow, M. , and Sweeney, P. , (1005), â€Å"Detecting Earnings Management†, The Accounting Review, Vol. 70, No. 2, PP 193-225. 4. Kerstein, J. , and Rai, A. (2007), â€Å"Working Capital Accruals and Earnings Management†, Investment Management and Financial Innovation, Vol. 4, Issue 2, PP. 33-47. 5. Chen, C. , (2008), â€Å"Earnings Management, Earnings Manipulation: Evidence from Taiwanese Corporations, Available on Line: 6. Abarbanell, J. , and Lehavy, R. , (2003), â€Å"Can Stock Recommendations Predict Earnings Management and Analysts' Earnings Forecast Errors? â€Å", Journal of Accounting Research , Vol. 41, No. 1, PP. 1-47. 7. Zhang, H. (2002), â€Å"Detecting Earnings Management – Evidence from Rounding-up in Reported EPS†, Available on Line. 8. Chan, K. , Jegadeesh, N. , and Sougiannis, T. , (2004), â€Å"The Accrual Effect on Future Earnings†, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 22, PP. 97-121. 9. Miller, J. E. , (2009), â€Å"The Development of the Miller Ratio (MR): A Tool to Detect fot the Possibility of Earnings Management (EM)†, Journal of Business ; Economics Research, Vol. 7, No. 1, PP. 79-90. Earning Management Does the Commercial Banking Industry of UAE Practice Earnings Management Dr. Mohammed Obeidat Introduction It is the right of external users of accounting information to be provided with more adequate information to protect their interests. Many questionable issues concerning the term of earnings management are still available. Auditors, accountants, financial analysts, and other concerned parties may hold the responsibility of detecting external users from the practices of earnings management. Many questionable issues are still available regarding the term of earnings management.Some people may have no enough idea about what practices are classified under earnings management, and what practices can not be classified under this term. Users of accounting information are different but few of them have the ability to detect the practices of earnings management. Because there are different methods of practicing earnings management, detecting the practices of earnings management is one of the difficult issues. The common practice of earnings management by firms and the negative effects of these practices on external users of financial accounting information justify the investigation of this issue.Many users may lose some of their wealth as a result of practicing this phenomenon. Many financial crises appear in our world from time to time, and some reasons of these crises are related to incorrect announced financial information. The problem of the current study will be simpler, if it is presented through the following question: How investors can detect the practices of earnings management, in order to have the ability to protect themselves from the negative effects of these practices?The answer to this question may seem more difficult, so the current study present an example from the Commercial Banking Industry of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Studying the phenomena of practicing earnings management is important, because this will highlight why managers may practic e this phenomenon. Many incentives may be available to managers and promote them to practice earnings management. These incentives will be highlighted later on in the current study, but when investors are knowledgeable with some of these incentives, they can consider and analyze the financial information of their entities more.Moreover, when users are aware with the methods that are followed by managers to practice earnings management, they will be more eligible to detect these practices. The current study will explore the most available methods of practicing earnings management. The importance of the current study is increased, because it highlights how investors can determine whether there is a practice of earnings management or not. The objectives this study is looking to achieve are as follows: 1. To highlight the incentives standing behind the practice of earnings management by managers. 2.To inform users about the methods available to firms' management to manage the earnings. 3. To determine the qualitative and quantitative available procedures that can be used to detect the practices of earnings management. 4. To determine whether the Commercial Banking Industry of UAE practices or does not practice the phenomenon of earnings management. 5. In a case of earnings management is detected, this study aims to detect whether these practices were upward or downward practices. Our study makes a unique contribution to the literature by using data from the announced financial statement of Commercial Banking Industry of UAE.This study differs from the prior studies in its location, methods, objectives, and nature of data used in the analysis. Because the current study involves the commercial banks of ABU Dhabi, and because all of these commercial banks are listed in Abu Dhabi Stock Market, this study is unique in its location. Just few studies outside Abu Dhabi followed quantitative method to investigate whether there are practices of earnings management or not, t he current study is also different from other prior researches.This study depends on cross sectional data because a time series data will misstate the data, so it is unique in its inputs of data. This paper is organized as follows: The first section defines earnings management, and describes the incentives of its practices by commercial banks, in addition to that, it explores the methods of practice and how these practices can be defected. The second section explores the most related prior researches. The third section presents the hypotheses of the current research. The fourth section describes the followed methodology in the current study.The fifth section presents the results, while the fifth explores the findings. Literature Review and Prior Researches Many people believe that the term of earnings management is understandable in its simple form, but most of those unable to determine whether a selected practice is an earnings management or not. Understanding what earnings managem ent constitutes and why it takes place is important for all users of accounting information. This study highlights the different aspects of earnings management, so it identifies clearly this term, and presents the incentives standing behind its practice.Moreover, the current study determines the methods of earnings management used by firms, and explores how these practices can be detected. Earnings management is defined as the â€Å"intentional misstatement of earnings leading to bottom line numbers that would have been different in the absence of any manipulation (Mohanram, 2003). Based on this definition, the practice of earnings management is an intentional behavior, and if this practice occurs unintentionally, it can not be classified under the practices of earnings management.Moreover, this definition states that the practice of earnings management phenomenon leads to users' misstatement. In other words, practitioners of earnings management have different purposes and they cha nge some accounting numbers to affect users in order to achieve these objectives. Healy and Wahlen (1999) state that earnings management â€Å"occurs when managers use judgment in financial reporting and in structuring transactions to alter financial reports to either mislead some stakeholders about the underlying economic performance of the company or to influence contractual outcomes that depend on reporting accounting numbers†.This definition states that this practice is also intentional and purposeful. This definition mentions that contractual issues are incentives for managers to manage earnings. But we have to remember Some concerned people believe that earnings management mean upward manipulation. Actually, earnings management may be exercised either upward or downward. In most cases, the target of earnings determines to a large degree, whether the management of the firm practices earnings management upward or downward.Some people also believe that the all the practice of earnings management are illegal, and no legal practice exists. Actually, there are different practices of earnings management do not violate the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). For example, speeding the size of sales during the last month or the fourth quarter is in agreement with the GAAP. Moreover, activating sales during the last month of the accounting period through granting discounts to customers is also in agreement with the GAAP, and is not a violation to the accounting standards.There are different incentives to managements of firms to practice the phenomenon of earnings management. Most of these incentives are related to benchmarks of earnings. Sometimes, the previous period's performance may be the benchmark to the firm. In other cases, the benchmark to the firm may be the expectations of financial analysts. The promised compensations to the firm's management may be the most important incentive of the practice of earnings management. Benchmarks are ne cessary for the determination whether the management deserves or does not deserve the promised compensation.Sometimes, the desire of the firm's management to increase the stock market price may also be one among the incentives to earnings management, especially, when the management is looking for more compensation. The normal positive relation between earnings and stock market price means that as the amount of announced earnings increases, the common stock market price is also increases. Therefore, when a desire exists to the firm's management to affect the common stock market price, the management will manage its earnings. Reducing the amount of income tax may also be one among the incentives of practicing earnings management.In many countries, business entities are subject to high income tax rates, where different categories of expenses are deducted from the income. When these entities are looking toward reducing the amounts of taxes, they practice the phenomenon of earnings manag ement. The practice of earnings management in this case may be through increasing the amounts of tax deductions, or through the decreasing the amounts of earnings. Sometimes, firm's management may manage earnings to simplify the issue of receiving credits from banks and other financial issues.In addition, firms may also manage earnings to reduce the cost of this credit, because when earnings are reasonable, the firm can receive credit smoothly without such obstacles, and at lower costs, but when the firm's earnings are unreasonable, this firm will face many obstacles to receive credit, and it may receive credit at higher costs. These are some of incentives or reasons of the practice of earnings management, but other incentives may be available to some firms, depending on the financial conditions of the firm's management itself.Managements of firms can follow different methods to manage earnings. Changing the assumptions for accounting standards is one of the most common used methods in managing earnings. It is already known that the GAAP are highly flexible, so managements can employ the high degree of flexibility available in these standards. Examples of this flexibility are the inventory flow methods which managements can use one among these, and the available options to depreciate some of the firm's assets, in addition to these; firms can review the assumed lives of these depreciable assets.As a result a variety of options are available to management whenever a desire to manage earnings exists. Managements can manage earnings through the determination to the bad debts provisions. For example, whenever there is a need to announce earnings higher than its actual value, management can determine these bad debts at amounts lower than their actual, while it can announce lower amounts of bad debts whenever there is a need to reduce the announced income. Managing transaction is one among the available options to management when there is a desire to manage earnings. For instance, management can grant high discounts during the last few days of the accounting period to recognize more revenue through sales under the accrual basis. One option is available to managements of firms is to activate sales or services during the last days of accounting period through the adoption to more sales on credit, and through longer period of payment are given to customers. Two approaches are available to detect the phenomenon of earnings management. The first is qualitative, while the second is quantitative approach.Using the two approaches together when this possible leads to more certain conclusions whether a firm or a group of firms manage earnings. Several steps have to be followed when there a need exists to detect earnings management through the qualitative methods. These steps are presented below: (Mohanram, 2003). 1. Identifying the key accounting policies of the firm or industry. Regarding the industry of the current research, the issues of credit risk an d interest rate risk are of crucial importance to banks. 2. Assessing the firm's accounting flexibility.The level of accounting flexibility may be high to some firms or industries, whereas, it may be low to other firms and industries. 3. Evaluating the firm's accounting strategy, and determining how this strategy differs from other competitors. 4. Assessing the firm's quality of disclosure. 5. Identifying the potential red flags. The following is an example of red flags: |Unexplained accounting changes, especially when performance is bad. | |Unexplained profit boosting transactions, such as sale of assets. | |Unusual increase in accounts receivable in relation to sales increase. |Increasing gap between net income and cash flow from operations. | |Increasing gap between net income for reporting and tax purposes. | |Unexpected large asset write-offs or write downs. | |Large fourth quarter adjustment. | |Qualified audit opinion or change in auditors. | |Large related party transactions . | 6. The final step is to undo accounting distortions by reversing out the impacts of dubious accounting wherever possible. Earnings management can be also detected analytically, based on the firm's accruals, which can be defined as the difference between net income and cash flow operations.In occasion, firms with high level of accruals are likely to have inflated earnings. Firms practice the phenomenon of earnings management can be determined through segregating discretionary accruals from non-discretionary accruals. In this case, Jones (1991) model can be used to segregate discretionary from non-discretionary accruals. In the current study we use this model to determine whether, or not, the Commercial Banking Industry practices the phenomenon of earnings management. This model is presented below:Where total accruals can be computed by finding the difference between income before extraordinary items and cash from operations in year t. Revenuest is revenues in year t, while revenu est-1 is the revenues at the end of year t-1. Total assetst-1 is total assets of year t-1. Gross PPEt is gross property, plant, and equipment at the end of year t, and B1, B2, and B3 are industry and year specific parameters to be estimated. The residual value in Jones's Model is the discretionary accruals for a firm in a given year, while the fitted value gives an estimate of the non-discretionary component of earnings.Researchers in the accounting literature have often focused on earnings management. Many researchers studied the issue of earnings management; most of these are focused in the Western or Far East Countries. A study titled † earnings Management: Do Large Investors Care? † and carried out by Senteza, Njoroge, and Gill (2005), deserves to be mentioned in the current study. This study mentions that institutional investment activity and behavior is an area that has become more interesting in recent times and so much work has been done so far.The contribution o f this study in the area of earnings management can be summarized in its documentation to the effect of earnings management activity on institutional investor ownership, especially through distinguishing the ownership changes in response to the direction of earnings management efforts. This study finds that institutional investors increase ownership in firms that manage earnings upwards and decrease ownership in firms that manage earnings downward before end-of-year reporting.Moreover, this study finds that the increases observed during an observed upwards earnings-managing activity are followed by decreases in ownership in these firms in the subsequent quarter, which may suggest resource allocation between large and small investors. In his comments at the practice of earnings management phenomenon, Simon (2005) argues that managing earnings is a wrong practice, in his paper titled â€Å"Earnings Management as A Professional Responsibility Problem†.The author of this paper st ates that managers of public companies often want an increase in current reported earnings per share; though they sometimes prefer a current decrease in the earnings they would otherwise report when it will allow them to show a smoothly increasing pattern of earnings in the future. He adds, on his comments on Schwarcz's paper, that â€Å"the ‘limits of lawyering' are the constraints of law, but having said that, the question remains-what do we mean by law? If we take a narrow, predictive conception of law, the limits will be less restrictive than if we take a broader, purposive view. . He also states that the more ambitious conception is most compatible with the idea of lawyering as a dignified calling. Caramanis and Lennox (2007), carried out a study titled â€Å"Audit Effort and Earnings Management† in their trial to determine the effect of audit hours on the practice of earnings management by the Greece Firms. To measure earnings management, the authors use the Jone s (1991) model based on the balance sheet approach rather than the cash flow statement approach because most Greek companies do not provide cash flow statements.There are three main findings of this study. First, companies are more likely to report income-increasing abnormal accruals than income-decreasing abnormal accruals, when audit hours are lower. Second, the magnitude of income-increasing abnormal accruals is negatively related to audit hours. Third, companies are more likely to manage earnings upwards to just meet or beat the zero earnings benchmark, when auditors work fewer hours. Moreover, this study finds weak or insignificant associations between audit hours and the magnitude of negative abnormal accruals.A study titles â€Å"Detecting Earnings Management† for the purpse of evaluating alternative accrual-based models for detecting earnings management is carried out by Dechow and Sweeney (1995). This paper evaluates the ability of alternative models to detect earnin gs management. Concerning this issue, the paper finds that all the models considered appear to produce reasonably well specified tests for a random sample of event-years. When the models are applied to samples of firm-years experiencing extreme financial performance, all models lead to misspecified tests.The second finding of this paper is that the models all generate tests of low power for earnings management of economically plausible magnitudes. Moreover, this paper reveals that all models reject the null hypothesis of no earnings management at rates exceeding the specified test-levels when applied to sample of firms with extreme financial reporting. The most important finding of this paper is that a modified version of the model developed by Jones (1001) has the most power in detecting earnings management.Kerstein and Rai (2007), carried out a study titled â€Å"Working Capital Accruals and Earnings Management†. The purpose of this study is to reexamine market reactions to large and small working capital accruals. This study involves three hypotheses. First, negative or positive large working capital accruals have no impact on the earnings response coefficient of firms reporting positive small earnings surprises. Second, Positive or negative large working capital accruals have no impact on earnings response coefficients of firms reporting small earnings declines.Third Positive or negative large working capital accruals have no impact on earnings response coefficients of firms reporting large earnings increases or declines. The authors focus on nonlinear relations between returns and large working capital accruals and use raw returns computed as the compounded monthly returns from nine months prior to the fiscal year-end to three months after the fiscal year-end as the dependent variable. They find that the market discounts unexpected earnings when there are small increases in earnings using negative large working capital accruals or negative large wo rking capital accruals.They also find little or no evidence that positive or negative large working capital accruals lead to lower earnings response coefficients in the remaining six situations. In his study titles â€Å"Earnings Management, Earnings Manipulation: Evidence from Taiwanese Corporations†, (2008), Chai-hui Chen differentiates between earnings management and earnings manipulation among the Taiwanese companies. In this study, Chai examines 7 hypotheses based on a sample of 90 public firms throughout 1999-2004.The main findings this study concludes that: (1) unlike the control group, earning manipulators face greater capital market and contract motivations to manage earnings; (2) earnings manipulators are more inclined to appoint fewer independent directors to their boards, to appoint fewer independent supervisors to their supervisory boards, and to posses considerably less managerial ownership; and (3) earnings manipulators are more likely than the control group to express aggressive attitudes and rationalizations to manage earnings changes before interests and taxes, or both.To examine the effect of firm's stock price sensitivity to earnings news, as measured by outstanding stock recommendation, on incentives to manage earnings, Abarbanel and Leahavy (2003) carried out a study titled â€Å"Can Stock Recommendations Predict Earnings Management and Analysts' Earnings Forecast Errors†. This study examines hypotheses concerning (1) the effect of introducing equity-market-based earnings targets on firms' earnings management, and (2) the effects of such earnings management actions on ensuring analysts' forecast errors.In this study, quarterly unexpected accruals are calculated using the modified Jones (1991) model. This study finds evidence that a firm's stock price sensitivity to earnings news, as measured by outstanding stock recommendation, affects its incentives to manage earnings and, in turn, affects analysts' ex post forecast errors. Moreover, this study finds a tendency for firms rated a Sell (Buy) to engage More (less) frequently in extreme, income-decreasing earnings management, indicating that they have relatively stronger (weaker) incentives to create accounting reserves.In contrast, this study finds that firms rated a Buy (Sell) are more (less)likely to engage in earnings management that leaves reported earnings equal to or slightly higher than analysts' forecasts. Zhang (2002) carried out his study titled, â€Å"Detecting Earnings Management – Evidence from Rounding-up in Reported EPS†, for the purpose of evaluating a comprehensive list of metrics propsed for detecting earnings management in a setting where managers manipulate earnings to round up reported earnings per share (EPS).This study provide the evidence that adds to the debate on the abilities of accrual-based models to detect earnings management of small magnitude. The study cast doubt on the abilities of accrual-based models to c atch minor offenses, which is likely to be the norm, rather than exception of various forms of earnings management. The metrics under evaluation of this study are deferred tax expense and discretionary accruals computed from DeAngelo Model, Healy Model, Jones Model, Modified Jones Model, Cross-sectional Jones Model, and Forward-looking Jones Model.This study finds that deferred tax expense is able to detect earnings management in the rounding-up setting while discretionary accruals models are not. Moreover, this study provides the evidence that firms manipulate bad debt expense for the purpose of rounding-up reported EPS. Chan, Jegadeesh, and Sougiannis (2004) carried out a study titled â€Å"The Accrual Effect on Future Earnings† in an attempt to clarify whether current accruals affect future earnings. The authors find a strong negative relationship between accruals and the aggregate future earnings.This study mentions that if firms manage accruals upward by $1 today while h olding current earnings constant, aggregate future earnings will decline, on average, by $ 0. 096 over the following three years and $0. 202 in the long run. This study also examines the accrual effects classified by firm characteristics to test the source of the negative relationship between accruals and future earnings. The study shows that high price-earnings stocks experience an enormous accrual impact on their future earnings, with 39% of current accruals reversing in the long run.Moreover, this study shows that firms with high market-to-book ratios also have large accrual reversals, so when this is grouped by accruals, the accrual effects are significantly stronger for high accrual firms than for low accrual firms. Among the additional important findings of this study is that Jones model significantly underperforms the CF-Jones model in explaining the cross-sectional accrual variability, with only 24% of mean adjusted –R2 for the Jones model compared to 57% for CF-Jones Model.This result shows the CF-Jones model superiority in identifying the manipulated earnings. The most recent study concerning the detection of earnings management relates to Miller (2009) and titled â€Å"The Development of the Miller Ratio (MR): A Tool to Detect for the Possibility of Earnings Management (EM)†. In this study, Miller uses new technique to detect earnings management called â€Å"Miller Ratio†, based on net working capital (NWC) and cash flow from operations (CFO). Miller also compares between the esults reached through his own model and the results revealed based on Modified Jones Model. In this study, the author states that the large body of literature on the topic of earnings management provides discussion of total accruals, discretionary total accruals, and current accruals. The findings of this study indicate that neither the Miller Ratio nor the Modified Jones Model predicted the possibility of earnings management at a statistical acceptable le vel of confidence on the body of data with acknowledged earnings management. .Caramanis, A. , and Lennox, C. , (2008), â€Å"Audit Effort and Earnings Management†, Journal of Accounting and Economics 45, PP. 116-138. 2. Jones, J. , (1991), â€Å"Earnings Management during import relief Investigations†, Journal of Accounting Research 29, pp. 193-228. 3. Dechow, M. , and Sweeney, P. , (1005), â€Å"Detecting Earnings Management†, The Accounting Review, Vol. 70, No. 2, PP 193-225. 4. Kerstein, J. , and Rai, A. (2007), â€Å"Working Capital Accruals and Earnings Management†, Investment Management and Financial Innovation, Vol. 4, Issue 2, PP. 33-47. 5. Chen, C. , (2008), â€Å"Earnings Management, Earnings Manipulation: Evidence from Taiwanese Corporations, Available on Line: 6. Abarbanell, J. , and Lehavy, R. , (2003), â€Å"Can Stock Recommendations Predict Earnings Management and Analysts' Earnings Forecast Errors? â€Å", Journal of Accounting Research , Vol. 41, No. 1, PP. 1-47. 7. Zhang, H. (2002), â€Å"Detecting Earnings Management – Evidence from Rounding-up in Reported EPS†, Available on Line. 8. Chan, K. , Jegadeesh, N. , and Sougiannis, T. , (2004), â€Å"The Accrual Effect on Future Earnings†, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 22, PP. 97-121. 9. Miller, J. E. , (2009), â€Å"The Development of the Miller Ratio (MR): A Tool to Detect fot the Possibility of Earnings Management (EM)†, Journal of Business ; Economics Research, Vol. 7, No. 1, PP. 79-90.

Healing Hospital

Healing hospital paradigm is centered on the removal of stress and other health risks for the patients and their families in the hospital environment. Healing hospital paradigm is important because treating a patient’s illness is not the only intrinsic component when they are admitted to the hospital. A good example for this is stress. Stress can be brought about due to many things when a patient is in the hospital, for example painful treatments, financial problems due to being admitted, loss of social life etc.Reducing these sort of stressors may ensure that the patient’s wellbeing is being maintained and the comprehensive care Minimization of these stressors ensures that the patient’s well-being is maintained while the comprehensive care part of the treatment makes certain that the patient’s recovery process is done without breaking confidentiality. The healing hospital paradigm can also be looked as healing the whole patient rather than just curing the ailment (Young & Koopsen, 2006).According to Dr. Milstein, paradigm doesn’t only focus on healing the physical body but â€Å"it aims to enhance the overall well being by addressing the patient’s and their families’ cognitive, emotional and spiritual concerns† (Milstein, 2005). This paper will describe healing hospital paradigm, its impact on the process of care giving and its components expanding on it relationship with spirituality. Components of Healing HospitalBased on the paradigm of healing hospital, Caring for a patient is not limited to only medical interventions and medication but it also includes how the healthcare provider engages the patients and their families to the process of treatment. This theory is based on the notion that both spiritual and emotional wellbeing applies to physical wellbeing. The healing hospital comprise of three major components. The first component is the culture of radical loving care. This may include the kind of ca re the patient receives and the type of conditions he/she is exposed to in the hospital.This component focuses on making the patient comfortable and preparing the patient psychologically for the treatment they would receive. Caregivers most have compassion to meet the spiritual and emotional needs of a patient and not only their physical needs. They most be able to demonstrate loving care and show the patients that they are willing to go the extra mile for them. Being compassionate and showing love can help reduce the stress for the patients and their families, healthcare provides bring hope. The next component is the healing physical environment.The physical environment in which a patient is being treated is also very crucial in the treatment process (Samueli, 2010). Hospitals should be free of stressful disturbances for the patient and their families. This kind of disturbances may include dull settings, noise and disorganization. A good healing physical environment must be well or ganized and constructed. Evidence has shown that rest is an important part of a patient’s healing process, but many hospitals are noisy with pagers beeping here and there and lots of people talking along the hallways.A good healing physical environment should address these kinds of challenges. Other things such as lighting and temperature must be well regulated to keep the patient as comfortable as possible. The final component of healing hospital is the integration of technology with work design. Technology is intertwined into the healthcare field to help the healthcare team help their patients recover in a good environment. Technology allows the staff members to work efficiently and to work in a manner that maximizes the comfort of the patients.In a good healing environment, patients get more sleep which helps with their healing. Staff members are giving technological equipments such as cordless phones, vibrating pagers and dynamaps for blood pressure, and they are educated to use them efficiently to promote healing in a noise-free environment. These technological advancements help to create stress-free environment for the patients and helps reduce medical errors. The healing hospitals also use technology to provide satisfaction, security, decreased cost and privacy for the patients and their families.These are crucial in the psychological needs of the patient. Challenges of Creating a Healing Environment There are various challenges involved in implementing a good healing hospital environment. First and foremost, the advancement of technology (e. g. more tubes and more wires) has complicated healthcare and is dominating in that healthcare providers are forgetting the original essentials of healing such as the compassion and the loving care. If the balance between technology and compassion can bee implemented, the results of patient satisfaction will increase.Another challenge with technology advancement also focuses on the profits rather the compassi onate care of the patient. The next challenge is that there are a lot of similarities between prisons and hospitals. Patients’ clothing’s are replaced by gowns, their names with barcodes and identification numbers, there is no longer any intimacy and they share their living space with strangers. Even restriction in visiting hours can make an individual feel like a prisoner. This is all due to that fact that healthcare providers are suppose to their tasks with robotic precision.According to Chapman, the hospital system is a â€Å"bureaucracy† and it is â€Å"an organization that acts as machines and are difficult to work with† (Chapman, 2010). Another challenge is that some healthcare providers or even family members and patients could be cynics. Cynicism is damaging to the care of patients. Healthcare providers should not be skeptic to the fact that love is a vital part of a patient’s recovery. Finally, leadership is an important aspect of healing hospital paradigm. The leaders in a healthcare setting have the responsibility to make sure love and compassion is at the top of the list in their plan to care for a patient.Biblical Passage that Supports the Concept of Healing Hospital In psalm 107 verses 17-22, the message version, David wrote â€Å"then you called out to God in you desperate condition; he got you out in the nick of time†. Here he describes how God heals the sick when they call on him. The sick in this passage have faith and are not cynics or skeptics which is and important part of healing. David explained the reality, living a bad life could get you sick and having faith that you would get better can heal you. It’s all about the positivity. David went on saying â€Å"So thank God for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves†.This goes on to show that God’s love brings healing. This passage supports the paradigm of healing hospital because it has to do with hea ling the overall person and God does that too. The healing hospital is gaining more popularity now because there are a lot of benefits to it. This care system helps to enhance the overall wellbeing of the patient and their relatives and not only their physical body. This paradigm focuses on compassionate care that helps patient with stress and coping mechanisms through spirituality. This will help the community at large and bring it solace and hope. ReferencesChapman, E. (2010). Radical loving care: building the healing hospital in America. Nashville, TN: Vaughn Printing. Milstein, J. (2005). A paradigm of integrative care: healing with curing throughout life, â€Å"being with† and â€Å"doing to†. Journal of Perinatology, 25, 563-568. doi: 10. 1038/sj. jp. 7211358 Samueli Institute (2010). Optimal Healing Environments. February 12, 2013. Retrieved from http://www. siib. org/news/280-SIIB/version/default/part/AttachmentData/data/OHE_final. pdf Young, C. , & Koopsen, C. (2006). Spirituality, health, and healing (1 ed. ). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.