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Module Three Worksheet

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Tittle

Professor’s Name

Date

Question 1

The term plural executive denotes an executive branch whereby the functions have been distributed among a number of mostly elected officeholders instead of existing in a single individual, the Governor. Texas uses a plural executive which signifies the authority of the Governor are limited and shared between other government executives. There is no one government in Texas that is exclusively in charge of Texas Executive Branch. The Texas constitution of 1876 was made with an intention in mind to limit executive authority in the nation (Gathman, 2019). It was attained by creating the plural executive. Seven chosen officials share executive power to make sure no single person had a lot of executive supremacy. Those who make up the plural executive include the Governor, commissioner of the general land office, comptroller of public accounts, lieutenant governor, and attorney general.

Texas uses the plural executive to have common confidence and cooperation between the executive and the legislature. As specified in Article 4 of the Texas constitution, the plural executive influence Texas government since it guarantees that every affiliate of the plural executive has a self-governing base of power. It safeguards against the concentration of power. It diffuses the functions of the executive among many offices.      

Question 2

Upon comparing the similarities and differences in power between the Texas Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor, the Lieutenant governor can make appointments to committees and also assign bills to the committee of his choice. On the other hand, the speaker maintains order, appoints members of all standing committees, and appoints how many on the standing committee before the Rule of seniority takes over. The speaker is also responsible for appointing the conference committee. The Lieutenant Governor serves as the chairman of legislature budget and legislature council. He also serves as a vice-chairman of the legislative audit committee and legislature education board. The speaker functions as the legislative budget board’s vice-chairman and is an affiliate of the legislature redistricting board. 

The Constitution of Texas limits or restricts government power. This standard is recognized as limited government. Most of the limits protect the citizens of Texas civil rights. The Governor’s limitations comprise of appointed power (Morrow, 2020). Those who are appointed as governors serve six-year duration, and new governors are never able to fire appointees of the preceding government.

Question 3

There are four federal district courts, trial courts, a state court of appeals in Texas, a state supreme court, and both limited and general jurisdiction. They all serve different purposes. There are 94 district courts, one Supreme Court, 13 circuit courts, and all over the nation. Courts in the federal structure-function in a different way in several methods than national courts. 

In order to serve as a judge in theses courts, one must be a United States citizen and a resident of Texas. An individual should also be between the ages of 25 and 75 years and licensed to practice law in the States. An individual ought to be a practicing judge for at least four years. One should also be the resident of his/her respective judicial district for at least two years. These courts’ duties in that they are responsible for the effective administration of the judicial branch and they authorized to promulgate rules of administration not changeable with the regulations of the State as might be essential for the uniform and efficient administration of justice in the various courts. These courts play a role in administrative decision-making.

Question 4

The three types of states courts include appeal courts, general trial courts, and a state supreme court. Lower courts normally rule on minor cases, including civil cases involving small amounts of money and misdemeanor criminal cases and Judges do hearings in these courts devoid of a jury. District courts are the primary trial courts in Texas. The trial courts are the most numerous, including over 500 county courts, 450 state district courts, over 900 municipal courts, and over 800 Justice of the Peace courts.

In Texas, there are certain types of the court that the legislator can create. The legislative courts’ examples include the Court of Federal Claims, the United States Tax Court, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and federal district courts. The state courts hear all the cases not mainly selected for federal courts. The same way as the federal courts interpret federal laws. State courts interpret state laws. Every State gets to establish and interpret its laws.

Question 5

There are some aspects of the Texas Legislature that assist the legislature in providing services. In Texas, just like the Congress and a number of other states, the lawmaking procedure consists of four major stages: introduction, committee action, floor action, and enrollment. The Texas legislature comprises two different chambers, a 150 member House of Representatives and 31 house of the senate (Morrow, 2020). The state representatives and senators are chosen from single-member localities to work on two-year terms and four-years, respectively. The legislature of the State of Texas is their lawmaking body. Its main function is to pass laws, provide for the well-being, health, environment, education, and financial and overall well-being of Texas citizens. The effect of low pay, redistricting, ad person cost of running for office make the position undesirable and hinders it

Reference

Gathman, A. E. (2019). Divided Plural Executives: Examining the Where, the Why, and the Do They Even Matter (Doctoral dissertation).

Morrow, J. (2020). There Is Only One Texas Constitution.

Moral Distress

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc378180546” Introduction PAGEREF _Toc378180546 h 1

HYPERLINK l “_Toc378180547” Impacts of moral distress PAGEREF _Toc378180547 h 2

HYPERLINK l “_Toc378180548” Ways of improving the level of moral distress at the work place/Hospital PAGEREF _Toc378180548 h 2

HYPERLINK l “_Toc378180549” Conclusions PAGEREF _Toc378180549 h 3

IntroductionThe state in which people experience the psychological disequilibrium, or any discomforts that affects their physical health, anxiety and those results which are anguished by making decisions which are moral but which do not go hand in hand with the stated moral behaviors are said to be moral distress. It can also be defined as an experience of people to know what is acceptable, that is, the right things which people should do in order to pursue courses of actions which are right.

There are related factors at work places such as in hospitals which does not cause moral distresses to the nurses. For example in cases where nurses do not allow things like terminating ventilators to ill people or anyone, by doing so, the nurse would have lacked the moral distress by putting terminating ventilators to ill people. Moral distress can only result from any nurse who is not acting on her own moral belief, as well as, suffering from inaction (Smith.2008).

According to Moyet, the care of ill patients typically requires integrations of technical skills, which are, very high with psychological as well as spiritual support to patients also to the families. The care mostly presents the nurses with critical challenges of making a proper morals or ethics decisions. Many concerns have been spoken out in nursing literature as well as general media, which talks about, the shortages of nurses in the healthcare system (Moyet, 2008)..

Impacts of moral distressMoral distress has some significant consequences which includes stress, other significant consequences are a consequence in job dissatisfaction, burnout, as well as departure from places of work, although no information are available about moral distress that affects the nursing care quality. Moral distress has got some impact on people hence in order to avoid distress, there should be stress reducing techniques which when are used positively it can have positive effects but if the nurses has very poor coping skills it can reflect in stress reducing the techniques that they are using.

Moyet reports that there are pictures which are mixed in regarding the impacts of moral distress, about the moral distress particularly on the provision of care and findings suggesting that moral distress does not have negative impacts on care and other people suggesting that the moral distress can only result in nurses. Moyet on the other hand came into conclusions that moral agony leads to many nurses resigning from their work places (Moyet, 2008).

Ways of improving the level of moral distress at the work place/HospitalFor the last four decades, many evidences have shown that the work of nursing has been a stressful work to the nurses. Stresses affect nurses’ health, the well-being of people, and the job satisfaction, the negatively impacts in many organizations in terms of absenteeism, psychological, emotional stress, and turnover. Stress mostly results when nurses are exposed to unclear moral situations, also when nurses are prevented from carrying out some tasks which they were supposed to have done or carried out.

Moral distress in the working places such as hospitals can be improved by observing the source of distress in work related places, and ways in which observing the symptoms of the distress within the team members. Hence nurses who work in various hospitals should be aware that the moral distress is something which is present. Another way of improving the level of the moral distress at the work place is by affirming the distress and commitments to take care of it. On the other hand, one should try to validate their feelings, as well as, perceptions with other people in the organization.

Moral distress at the work place can be improved by identifying the sources of distress. The sources of distress can either be a personal distress or may come from the entire environment. Nurses should make sure that they determine all the severity of their distress, and to contemplate their readiness to act on them, this is where the nurses recognize that there are issues, but they still take the risks of changing the stated action, on the other hand, they should analyze the risks and benefits of the moral distress.

Lastly, the level of moral distress can be improved by getting prepared to act. This is by preparing personally as well as professionally by taking action. After a person is done with the action stated, the nurses should be ready of taking the action by implementing the strategies of initiating the changes that are desired.

ConclusionsIn summary, the nurses who are taking care of the ill people have got intense plus frequent experiences of the moral distress. The idea of providing the aggressive care to all patients is not expected to be advantaged from the critical care as it is the main source caused by the moral distress. The critical care nurses should identify a significant and a wide-ranging implication to moral distress which extends well, in retention and beyond the job satisfaction. Moral distress sometimes tends to be a serious issue in the workplace as well as deserving an urgent plus extended attention (Masters, 2012).

References

Masters, K. (2012). Nursing theories: a framework for professional practice. London: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Moyet, L. J. (2006). Nursing diagnosis: application to clinical practice (11th ed.). New Yolk: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Smith, M. J., & Liehr, P. R. (2008). Middle Range Theory for Nursing (2nd ed.). New York: Springer Pub. Co..

Capitalism and Socialism

Student’s Name

Institution

Capitalism and Socialism

Socialism is an economic and political model of social organization which dictates that the factors of production, exchange, and distribution are equally owned and regulated by the community. On the other side, capitalism is a political and economic structure where the private entities own the factors of production and control the nation’s trade for individual beneficiaries. These factors of production include capital goods, natural resources, labor, and entrepreneurship. With socialism, democracy prevails where the owner can be acquired either through the democratic election of a government or through public corporation where everyone inclusively owns the shares. The case is different with capitalism where labor is individually owned apart from slavery incidences where one’s labor is owned by someone else. Socialism and capitalism are discussed to a profound extent in consideration of their pros and cons as well as their benefits to the society.

To begin with is socialism where its advantages and disadvantages to the nation are precisely elaborated. First, let us look at the pros. With socialism, there is no labor exploitation as the workers themselves own the production means. The profit is distributed evenly to the workers according to their contribution, and the system also recognizes those people in the society that cannot work by providing them with their basic needs. Socialism is a valuable tool to eradicate poverty in the nation as there is no discrimination and people have equal rights to access education and health services (Lockley, 2017). Everyone has the freedom to work at what he or she is best at and enjoys. For instance, there can be higher compensation for the tedious jobs that people are not willing to do to make them worthwhile. Also, the preservation of natural resources is for the betterment of the whole society.

The disadvantages of socialism as a political and economic system of an organization are as follows. The most degrading demerit of this system is the dependency on the cooperative nature of people to work. This can work well in a community portraying competitiveness buy not a cooperative one as the competitive people will find ways of disturbing and conquering the society for individual gains. Socialism does not encourage innovativeness as it does not give rewards to the competitive and entrepreneurial individuals. Another criticism of socialism is that the delegated power or the government who have the authority to represent the civilians can abuse its mandate by claiming power for its benefits.

On the other side, let us look at the merits and demerits of capitalism as an economic and political system of governance. To start with the advantages, capitalism provides the best prices for the best products because consumers’ willingness to pay willingness to pay will be high on the things they most want. The law of demands plays an active role in determining commodity prices companies improve product qualities as an effective way of maximizing profit. Capitalism significantly boosts economic growth as there is an inherent recompense for innovation. Therefore, it encourages the invention of different products as well as more competent production techniques.

The demerits of the capitalism control system are as follows. It is not responsible for those people who do not have competitive skills which include the children, the physically disabled and the elderly. Therefore, the government has put in place policies that greatly value the family entity. Capitalism does not enhance equality. Thus, the marginalized will not have opportunities to access facilities such as medication and education. The valuable skills will only be of benefit to the individual owners but not the society (Therborn, 2016). The externalities such as climate change and pollution are not considered in capitalism where the adverse impacts are felt bt the public as a whole but not the individuals who exploit natural resources.

Regardless of the merits and demerits of socialism and capitalism discussed above, both ideologies have social benefits to the society. Socialism is a beneficial tool to a nation as it encourages equality in the community as a useful measure of eradicating poverty. Even though socialism has vast social benefits to the society than capitalism, capitalism plays a vital role in enhancing giving back and unity among the private owners and the community where their premises are allocated as a way of providing conducive production environment and market to some extent.

References

Lockley, P. (2017). Capitalism and Socialism. The Oxford Handbook of Nineteenth-Century Christian Thought, 264.

Therborn, G. (2016). What does the ruling class do when it rules?: state apparatuses and state power under feudalism, capitalism and socialism. Verso Books.

Student’s Name

Professor

Course

Date

Accounting for Slavery

Slavery was business that was profitable and admired by the enslavers. It was a business that was supported by the system for economic purposes and rules and regulation were laid down to ensure the business succeeded. For many people, this was against the rights of the people who were enslaved and forced to work in plantation farms with little or no return on their side. However, for other people, it was the slaves who developed the nation thus, it was a necessary business. There are a lot of documents and scholarly articles which have been fronted to explain how the slavery business was conducted in West Indies and the South in the United States. One thing that is evident is the records that the slave masters used to keep to track down the productivity of the slaves in their farms. In particular, the accounting records that the slave owners used to keep mirrors the modern accounting that corporate companies and organizations are keeping. One of the compelling records that enslavers used to keep is the double-entry books of accounting. This was precisely to allow them analyze and do comparison on the productivity of the slaves. In the modern accounting, organizations and individuals keep double-entry system to record their transactions and keep track of the money they receive and what they spend. However, the modern accounting is more scientific but that does not take away the contribution of the enslavers’ records in the modern accounting.

Accounting for Slavery is a book that delves into the slavery business and the organized structure that had been laid down to guarantee the success of the slavery business. Rosenthal discusses the structures of the slavery business which had three distinct tiers. The slave owners ranked top on the tier with overseers and attorneys who were project managers. The structures discussed by Rosenthal mirrors the modern corporations which has hierarchy of people working in different positions. The author begins her narration by highlighting the historical challenges that the slaves went through in the hands of their masters. Further, Rosenthal explains some of the events that affected plantation operation including the rebellion that was orchestrate by a group called maroon in Jamaica. Although plantation owners were enslaving people to work in their farms for profit, the author narrates that they also had their own share of challenges from rebellious groups. The author goes on to explain the tactics that the farm owners were using to maximize the output from the slaves. Slaves were required to work and ensure they produce as much as possible and those who could not give the best were punished. According to Rosenthal, slaves were branded and tortured as an incentive to force them to maximize their output. This was against the rights of the slaves and the author analyses some of the human rights abuses that were orchestrated by the enslavers. From the author’s narration, it is clear that slaves were being forced to labor against their will. The slaves who tried fighting for their rights were labeled, tortured and some were killed.

Further, the author narrates the collusion that the authorities had with the slave-owners. Every slave-owner was required to give their laborers codes that would identify them and where they were going as they carry out their activities. These codes were also necessary to ensure that the slave-owners maintained the accurate records on the productivity of every slave. Although enslavers had already developed the practices of coding their slaves, the local authorities authorized them to ensure all slaves had codes and this complimented their accounting activities. There is a clear parallelism on what was happening during the slavery and the modern accounting practices. The modern accounting practices requires accountants to code the books of accounts to ensure they track every activity in their businesses. Rosenthal further explains how enslavers furthered their interests in Britain by colluding with the British parliament to ensure that there were laws in place that would protect their interests. Through the laws that were passed by British Parliament, the slavers secured the interest of protecting the market for their sugar and other commodities. Still, these laws outlawed the dumping of products in the designated markets for the enslavers. They also lobbied the British parliament to pass laws that would prevent the abolition of slavery. From the author’s narration, it is evident that the British government assisted the slave-owners to continue suppressing the slaves and using them for their personal gains. The coding of slaves was also against the rights of the slaves and the British government supervised these activities without questioning the atrocities that were meted on the slaves. Although enslavers kept records of their slaves for their accounting purposes, Rosenthal argues that these records was also important to the local enforcement agencies who oversaw how slaves were performing in the plantation farms. The enslavers were required to administer punishment gradually and keep records on the same and this acted as a mitigating factor that regulated how slaves were punished by their masters.

Another important aspect that the author explains in her narration is the plantation accounting that slave-owners adhered to in their activities. There were complete ledgers which indicated the productivity level of every slave. There was also the record of sticks that the slaves were using to account for the livestock under their watch. It is critical to note that there were people who ran the campaigns for abolition of slavery and the accounting records that the slave-owners were keeping was vital in proving their case of abolition. According to Rosenthal, the records kept by the slave-owners detailed how the productivity was lost as a result of slavery. Further, these records also detailed how some slaves lost their lives due to the torture they went through in the hands of their masters.

The author further analyzes how slaves were valued like commodities in the market. Every slave was assessed based on their value and productivity. Rosenthal analyzes the rating system that was used by the slave master which indicates that they were valued and devalued depending on their productivity. The author uses accounting terms in her narrative like depreciation of slaves depending on their productivity. Slaves who were not productive because of their ill health or age were depreciated and the value reduced significantly. Equally, slaves who were not obeying their master were also depreciated. Looking at the narrator’s explanation on how humans were valued and traded, it is evident that the basic human rights was not obeyed. The final part of the Accounting for Slavery book discloses the effects of Civil War and Reconstruction on the slaves and their masters. Although the slave masters relinquished their lands, they had the best bargaining power compared to the slaves. Most of them were learned and they negotiated for better terms. The slaves did not have the negotiation skills and the agreement they signed was influenced by the powers of the people who were in authority. One of the things that makes the book interesting to read and get the history of slavery Rosenthal’s use of primary sources to gather the evidence presented.

In conclusion, Accounting for Slavery provides a lot of insight on the history of slavery and how the authorities colluded with the slave-owners to make fortunes out of the slave trade. The book also brings an interesting aspect of accounting that existed during slavery. Although most of their records were not aligned with the scientific requirements of accounting that is experienced in the modern accounting rules, there is a lot of similarities. During the slave trade, slave-owners were keeping double entry records which is currently practiced by accountants in organizations. Therefore, it is evident that most of the accounting rules that are practiced in contemporary world were borrowed from the slave trade and plantation farms. It is critical to note that the records that the slave-owners were keeping were vital in abolition of slavery. The abolitionist used these records to persuade the leadership of the British government to abolish slavery. These records had details of the atrocities that had been meted on the slaves and the abolitionist had sufficient grounds to persuade the government to abolish slavery. It is a great book with details from the primary sources and this proves its credibility.

Work Cited

Rosenthal, Caitlin. Accounting for slavery: Masters and management. Harvard University Press, 2019.

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Capitalism in ‘The Rocking-Horse Winner’

Money has come to control every aspect of our lives. People want to drive the latest cars, wear fashionable and expensive clothes, take their children to the best schools and live in the most exclusive neighbourhoods. The world around us emphasizes material wellbeing over any other aspect of life, such as core human values. As long as one is wealthy, they are respected and adored by many. This shallow concentration on material possessions had driven many to live a life they cannot afford, eventually ending in disaster. David Lawrence’s short story, ‘A Rocking Horse Winner,’ is a classic example of the detriments of concentrating on material possessions over the wellbeing of people. Hester, one of the main characters in the story, shows how capitalism and material motivations have destroyed our society, exemplified in the death of her son Paul.

Capitalism is an economic system that encourages private ownership of property, with profit as the primary motivation behind the production of goods and services. Most countries in the world use this economic system in contrast to socialism that focuses more on social programs to benefit the larger population. Under capitalism, every individual or group wants to earn more money, even at the expense of others. One of the disadvantages of capitalism is excessive materialism and consumerism. Competitive capitalist systems encourage people to focus on power, money and achievement rather than relationships and community values. The result of this is money becoming more important while people and relationships become less important. One problem with this is that the more money and possessions a person has, the more they desire. Although people imagine that when they can live a comfortable life, they will be satisfied, the truth is that they will crave more. This fact could not be more true, as shown in the short story ‘The Rocking-Horse Winner.’

The story is told from the third-person view by an omniscient narrator. Paul is the main character in the story, a young boy living with his mother, father, sisters and servants in their family home. Although the family appears to have a good life, we learn that most of it is pretentious as the family can hardly afford their lifestyle. Paul explains that their house always whispers, “There must be more money, there must be more money!” (Lawrence 2). This statement shows that the family always needed more money to satisfy their material needs. Paul once asked his mother why they didn’t own a car, and his mother replies that it’s because they are poor. Their poverty comes from the fact that Paul’s father is unlucky. From that point, Paul is determined to find the source of luck so that his family can stop being poor.

True to his intentions, Paul found his source of luck betting on horses competing in derbies. He learns more about horses from Basset, the gardener who helps him make bets and keeps the proceeds from him. Paul’s uncle named Oscar senses the boy’s keen interest in horses and asks him more about it. Oscar is astounded at Paul’s revelation and also takes advantage of Paul’s accurate predictions to make money for himself. Paul plans to give his mother a thousand pounds annually so their house would stop whispering (Biswas 11). Unfortunately, his mother was unsatisfied with five thousand pounds, and the house whispered more than ever. Eventually, determined to make more money, Paul rides his horse till he gets delirious and eventually dies, but not without making one final successful bet, earning his family eighty thousand pounds.

Hester, Paul’s mother, is to blame for Paul’s death. Paul died of an obsession with getting more money for his family to live a more comfortable life free of debt. The young boy was aware of his family’s dire situation with money, telling his uncle, “You know people send mother legal papers for money we owe, don’t you, uncle?” (Lawrence). He began gambling on horses to make money for his mother and free them from their debts. However, Paul’s efforts caused a lot of stress on him. He would spend hours on his rocking horse, where he would discover the winning horses. On the final night when he died, Paul overexerted himself on the horse as he knew his family needed even more money.

Hester is to blame for Paul’s death because her insatiable appetite for money and material goods drove Paul into desperation. The family had a social position to keep up, even though they could not afford it (Lawrence 1). The author of the story writes how the house seemed to whisper about the need for more money constantly. Hester was dissatisfied with her life and lack of money and tried her hand at different things but earned very little. Concerned for their family’s situation, Paul started gambling and made a significant amount of money, enough to keep them comfortable. He planned to anonymously give his mother a thousand pounds annually, but she demanded all of it at once. She used this money to purchase even more material possessions, and the money soon ran out. Paul realized that he had to get even more money to satisfy his mother. Hester’s obsession with money and material possessions forced Paul into an obsession with his gift of prediction, and it eventually killed him.

Although Hester is guilty of Paul’s death, she was motivated by capitalism and class structures. Hester felt the need for her family to maintain a specific position in society even though their incomes could not sustain their lifestyle. People in a particular social position are expected to live in specific neighbourhoods, drive certain cars, send their children to certain schools and associate with those from their social class. Hester and her husband’s desire to keep up appearances to belong to a social class drove them into debt and desperation. Even when Paul earned five thousand pounds, Hester spent all of it on material possessions, mainly because she wanted to be seen as wealthy and be accepted into a higher social class (Xiaoying 5). The class system is a byproduct of capitalism, where acceptance is based on wealth and material possessions. Capitalism focuses on material possession, shown by Hester’s obsession with money and disregard for her children’s wellbeing. Even at Paul’s deathbed, she was unmoved, demonstrated by the phrase “his mother sat beside him, feeling that her heart had also been turned into a stone” (Lawrence). Had Hester and her husband lived within their means, Paul would never have died.

In summary, money should never be the primary motive behind any actions as it leads to heartlessness and unethical behaviour. Paul died due to his struggle to get his mother more money, though she was never satisfied. The adults in the story all took advantage of a child to earn even more money. In the end, Paul suffered for their greed and lost his life. Sadly, the situation in the short story has become a norm in today’s world. Motivated by capitalistic ideologies, people work to get more and more money, even if they do so in unethical ways. The story is a lesson on the danger of idealizing money and material wealth over anything else. Hester and the other adults in the story should have protected Paul, but they took advantage of him for the money he earned them. Works Cited

Biswas, Uma. ““There Must Be More Money!” Employing the Gothic Economy in DH Lawrence’s The Rocking Horse Winner.” Our Vision: 11.

Lawrence, David Herbert. The rocking-horse winner. Dramatic Publishing, 1966.

Xiaoying, Wu. “The Causes of Paul’s Death in” The Rocking-horse Winner.” Journal of Anshun University (2012): 05.

Accounting Changes in Air Methods Corporation(Author’s name)

(Institutional Affiliation)

Discuss the primary reason for the restatement and the impact to the financial results for the company you selected.

Air Methods Corporation is the largest company dealing in the air transportation of medical supplies in the world. The company announced on 22 December 2011 that it had completed the restatement of its financial statements covering the year ended in December 2010 and for the first three quarters of year 2011. The corporation indicated that it had filed amended quarterly and annual reports for the applicable years with the exchange commission (SEC). The corporation specifically filed a 10-K/A form for the fiscal year that ended on 31 December 2010 in addition to a 10 Q/A form for the quarters that ended on 31 March, 30 June and 30 September 2011 (Air Methods Corporation, 2011).

The company, as previously disclosed, restated its financial statements after it received some guidance from the SEC concerning the appropriate GAAP interpretation of the ASC 840-10-25-14 that affected the presentation of the company’s aircraft leases. The implications of this financial restatement were within the ranges that the company had disclosed previously. As it follows, the company is now current with its filling requirements as stipulated by the SEC. The corporation expects to regain compliance with the appropriate and applicable NASDAQ listing regulations promptly with the filings restated (Air Methods Corporation, 2011).

Discuss management responsibility to the investors and stakeholders for the financial restatement.

Restating financial statements usually leads to a wide range of market responses, but in most cases, the market tends to have negative reactions towards such news. However, on the positive light, restatements of finances usually pin point which items were reported inappropriately in the original statement. This correction makes it possible for investors and other stakeholders and users of the financial statement to study the marginal essentiality of such items on the operations of the company and market cap (Cross, Robinson, Salhus & Zepralka, 2004).

Generally, restatements reflect negatively on the management and give stakeholders and shareholders the impression or idea that the management is incompetent or knowingly trying to defraud them. Previous studies have indicated that restatements are directly related to a decrease in the value of the company, a decline in the future earnings and an inflated cost of capital. The first most common immediate response to financial restatements is a considerable drop in the stock price of the concerned company and market capitalization. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the management to assure investors and shareholders that there is no foul play in the restatement of the financial statements. It is also the responsibility of the management to restore investor confidence in the company’s stock, and ensure that the value of the company’s stock is restored and improved (Cross, Robinson, Salhus & Zepralka, 2004).

Discuss what changes you would expect the company leadership to make related to internal controls, accounting principles, or other initiatives, as a result, of the need to restate the financial statements.

The self- regulatory structure prevails on the corporate governance concept. Directors and managers of a public company are responsible for making sure that the content and preparation of financial statements accurately and fully depict the financial condition of the company and the results of all its activities. However, the audit committee and the internal auditor of the public company play critical roles in oversight. The key role of the corporate board of directors is to direct and oversee the management of the corporation and uphold the interests of its investors and shareholders. The internal auditors offer another check on the control systems and operations of the company. Independent auditors usually provide additional protection in connection with all public corporations and numerous other entities (Hribar & Jenkins, 2004).

All public corporations are registered with SEC and are required to audit their financial statements using independent auditors. Although the management of a public company is responsible for the content and preparation of the financial statements of the company, the independent external auditor has a role of auditing the statements according to the GAAS. The purpose of an audit is to present reassurance that the financial statements of a company are shown fairly in all respects and in accordance to GAAP (Hribar & Jenkins, 2004).

Independent audits ensure public confidence that financial statement issuers are reliable and ensure an efficient market for securities of public companies. This sense of confidence and assurance only takes place if reasonable investors see auditors as expert and independent professionals who have no curiosity about the audited entities or other conflicting interests. Investors and other entities expect these professionals to bring about independence, integrity, professional competence and objectivity to the reporting process of the finance, and to prevent the issuance of financial statements that are misleading. There are number of ways the management can use to scrutinize the company’s financial statements to lead to restatements (Hribar & Jenkins, 2004).

One of these processes begins with leads to errors, which can be found through press reports, surveillance activities, or investor complains. Leads that are promising have a potential to become inquiry matters, which are then conducted to evaluate and determine whether an investigation is required. If the inquiry leads to evidence that merits an investigation, the enforcement staff is required to carry it out by reviewing trading data, records and books and other relevant information. The results from the investigation are what determines the next causes of action, whether a civil action or an administrative proceeding (Hribar & Jenkins, 2004).

Discuss the impact to the trustworthiness of the company’s leadership team based on the need to restate the financial statements

As already mentioned, restating of financial statements have numerous negative implications for the value of the stock of the concerned public company. Studies have shown that most of the restatement announcements lead to the loss of millions of dollars in the market capitalization segment, and the stock price, on average, of a company making an initial financial restatement fell by more than 18 percent from sixty trading days prior to through sixty trading days after the restatement. These studies have found that during a period of 6 months, the total loss of capitalization of markets of restating companies more than doubled to more than 240 billion dollars (Palmrose, Richardson & Scholz, 2004).

Not only so financial restatement announcements seem to have a negative impact on the stock prices of a company, but there also seems to be evidence suggesting that these announcements and the questions that arise about certain accounting practices of the company may have negative impacts on overall confidence of the investor. Investor confidence is not easy to quantify because it cannot be directly measured and because investors consider a wide variety of factors before making investment decisions. Nevertheless, numerous studies indicate that financial restatements will have a negative effect on the confidence of investors and the value of the company’s stock (Palmrose, Richardson & Scholz, 2004).

References

Air Methods Corporation. (2011). Air Methods completes restatement of financial statements. Yahoo Finance. Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Air-Methods-Completes-pz-1347935173.html

Cross, M.B., Robinson, E., Salhus, K. & Zepralka, J. (2004). Restatements of Financial Statements: Selected Legal and Accounting Issues. The Newsletter of the Committees on the Federal Regulation of Securities, 9 (1).

Hribar, P. & Jenkins, N. T. (2004). The Effect of Accounting Restatements on Earnings Revisions and the Estimated Cost of Capital. Review of Accounting Studies 9, 337-356.

Palmrose, Z., Richardson, V. J. & Scholz, S. (2004). Determinants of Market Reactions to Restatement Announcements. Journal of Accounting Economics 37, 59-89.

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Accounting theory.

A careful look into the development of the accounting practice over the course of recent time reveals its reactive nature to the various economic forces. Inflation is one of these forces, and as much as accountants have tried to ignore its effects on various aspects of accounting, it is now deemed impossible to do so without affecting the integrity of the practice. Up to the beginning of this century, asset valuation and income measurement took little interest in the impact of economic forces such as inflation. In 1939, Canning suggested the inclusion of the impacts of such phenomena in making asset valuation so that ‘truth in accounting’ could be achieved. His idea was that activities such as asset valuation and income measurement had to include the impact of inflation in order for true values to be established.

After World War 2 came to an end, many economic hardships affected the values of assets and establishment of income. When income ‘at leaving time’ and ‘time of beginning’ were compared, the change in their values was considered the income, but the effects of the surrounding economic conditions – such as inflation – had to be included in the accounting process to establish the true value of the person or organization. This problem became more protracted in business organizations where there were decision-making processes and long term strategy implementation. This is the reason inflation, or a fall in the value of assets, should be factored in asset valuation and income measurement. It is important in establishing the true value of assets and/or income.

According to historical cost accounting, the monetary unit of an asset is its unit of account. Unfortunately, since monetary value is subject to inflation, this exposes crucial accounting processes such as asset valuation and income measurement to errors meaning historical cost accounting is obsolete from an ‘accounting-and-inflation’ point of view.

Political-economic theories of accounting relate to the outer ring of factors that might have a somewhat distant, but direct influence on the accounting practice as well as its results. Political-economic refers to the mix of economic, political, and social influences that surround man and influence, directly or indirectly, his activities (Gray et. al 47). Since economic activity is not exclusive of these three influences, its investigation and analysis in form of accounting cannot feign ignorance to these important factors since they influence not only the investigative (or analytical) process, but all human life.

The product of accounting as a practice therefore take a lot more into consideration than the factors of an organization’s production cycle or accounting period. The resultant reports, though not explicitly, take into consideration the interplay between the organization they represent and its political-economic environment, which is what the political-economic theories try to explain. They are divided into two streams; classical and bourgeois. The first is based on Karl Marx’s analysis of the social class struggles and inequality. The later one relies on the ignorance towards social class in favor of a more pluralistic set up.

Capitalism is a political-economic system of rule in which the government releases the factors of production to whoever can use them to benefit themselves. As much the government plays a monitoring role, some discrepancies exist in the system of rule. A good example is an ever widening gap between the rich and poor. This closely relates to political economic theories of accounting since accounting also takes into consideration the same influences that capitalism does – the social, economic, and political factors of production.

The epistemology concept refers to the study of human methods of acquiring knowledge. In applying this to accounting theory, we strive to understand the erratic nature of accounting theory. We might use epistemology to try and create useful relationships between the quantitative and qualitative aspects of financial accounting, and the erratic behavior of budgetary control in management accounting. So, epistemology provides a good way of trying to understand the defined and conformal, in the background of erratic human behavior from an accounting perspective.

Three epistemologies that might be applied with regard to accounting theory are; scientific methodology, empirical study, and historical practice or evolutionary approach. The first is purely scientific in its approach with theories and scholars trying to justify the need to establish the actual and nominal values of assets for example. The second is purely concerned with the qualitative and quantitative aspects of accounting theory and its development. The last is a historical approach at trying to understand the evolution of accounting as a practice and its underlying principles and theories.

Both economic and accounting theories are related in many ways, the most common of which is in their areas of interest. The first theory explains the existence and distribution of commercial goods among consumers. The second theory explains the theories, methodologies, and frameworks utilized in the application and study of financial principles. It is evident from these definitions that the second theory underpins the first since financial principles guide the manufacture and acquisition of commercial goods. The consumption processes heavily relies upon economic income since this determines the ability to purchase commercial goods. Without an income, it is almost impossible to buy goods made and distributed for commercial purposes. In addition, economic assets are bought with the same income with the intention of benefiting the owner in the future. Accounting theory has ways of valuing these assets and incomes, but the process is useless without the chain of distribution that ensures they reach customer and consumers in the first place.

Moral and Non-Moral Standards

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Introduction

Every action taken by a person directly stirs a corresponding reaction, but of different nature. The build up of the reaction depends on the emotions which are also different in each personality, but can be controlled by some customs, moral codes and laws. Moral standards are these constrictions that force some stabilizing effects on the behavior of people and enhance coexisting survival of individuals or people within a community. They are like vehicles that carry loads of codes and rules that guide a society (Moser & Carson, 2011). Non moral standards on the other hand are not corrective in nature since they are not directed by morals or ethics of right and wrong. The distinction between the moral and the non moral standards may be very minimal. Nonetheless, this paper seeks to analyses the existing variations between the moral and non moral standard in view of intertwining them according to various societal ethics.

Discussion

Conformity to the societal expected codes of behaviors and conducts is to a large extent what determines a person’s values in terms of morals and principles of that society. The term morality may well be used in ethics as codes of value measurements, but is defined by the specific norms and standards by which the people live and are expected to coexist (Moyers, 2006). They can be in the form of the laid rules and regulations of an institution, expectation of some modes of behavior in some distinct group, or it can be the means of separating the good people out of the bad.

Time and situational variations evolved from a life where moral standards are derived from the family, friends and the various societal groups. It has come to a life where experience, learning and intellectual developments that would enable a person to automatically conform to the expected standards (Steins, 2007). While matters of considerate benefits or damages to the welfare of human existence are the matters of moral standards, the non moral standards are involved with the standards that are used to decide and judge the bad and the good, the legal right and the wrong in the society.

Moral values persuade a person to be obligated to some duty or responsibility even if they are in perfect conflict with their self interest or other non moral values. However, the non moral values have no restriction whatsoever as long as the person is deemed satisfied by what she or he has done at self interest level. It is not easy for an organization to authoritatively or smoothly try to change or form moral standards based on its own decision and adequately provide valid reasons that would support and justify that. This explains the fact that these standards implication supports and justifications, hence their being accepted as binding, right and of beneficial to the whole humanity (Timmons, 2013). Modern ethicists look at moral obligations and standards beyond the normal association with religion, but associate it with behaviors which are accordingly as per the society.

According to Gerb (2005), moral standards are attached or associated with some emotions and vocabulary which are deemed special in their components and meanings. It is true that every act, verbal or non verbal, have its consequences. The consequences of guilty conscience are shame and impartial involvements with activities of societal betterment. At the same time acts that are supposed to fulfill self interests no matter the cost to the welfare of others in the society are non moral acts and non moral standards are used to judge them. Shaw (2011) acknowledge also that not all the professional codes of conducts are of moral standards or obligations since they are basically placed for the benefit of the company or the organization and the moral principle of different people counteract in such places.

Conclusion

The purity of the morals may be mixed with non moral characteristics, but through moral observations and the will to follow its standards the broad perspective of good morality have proven critical to help all. One major factor is therefore thee experience, how we were brought up, the behaviors around us and our culture have various influences on moral and non moral principles.

References

Conference on Values, Rational Choice, and the Will, & Chan, D. K. (2008). Moral psychology today: Essays on values, rational choice, and the will. Berlin?: Springer.

DiMauro, L., & Grant, T. (2006). Ethics. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

Gert, B. (2005). Morality: Its nature and justification. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Moser, P. K., & Carson, T. L. (2011). Moral relativism: a reader. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Moyers, T. L. (2006). Wanderings: Exploring moral landscapes past and present. Lanham, Md. [u.a.: Univ. Press of America.

Shaw, W. H. (2011). Business ethics. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

Steins, R. (2007). Morality. New York: Rosen Pub. Group.

Timmons, M. (2013). Moral theory: An introduction. Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

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Moral Epistemology

Introduction

In most instances, humans are usually faced with a host of moral dilemmas in their day to day experiences and general life. Just like other disciplines, most of the activities that occur in the field of real estate tend to raise various moral concerns. These are wide and varied and range form policy formulation, implementation and enforcement to normal interactions, decision making and environmental issues. Certainly, professionals and learners are compelled to make various moral decisions in a bit to resolve the emergent issues amicably.

However, the process of decision making raises different questions with respect to their justification. Put differently, the decision making process is compounded by inconsistencies regarding how the respective persons classify the activities as being either right or wrong, good or bad, noble or base, virtuous or vicious and just or unjust. Of great reference however is the degree of how just such knowledge is and how this can be ascertained. Of course this differs significantly from how other social and or scientific concerns are perceived. It is against this background that this paper provides an analysis of knowledge and justification concerns in light of Hume and Kant.

In his review, Treatise, Hume indicates that the concept of morality is invaluable and it superseded all other aspects of humanity (Baier, 1991). From a historical point of view, determination of how to live and interact within the social sphere was influenced by the need to live a satisfactory life. Notably, this has intrinsic benefits and it implies that measures are undertaken to eliminate any possibilities of infringing upon the lives of others. With time, the basic assumptions that there was a distinct way of life that was considered to be moral and that God was the source of all morals was questioned over time. This according to Baier (1994) culminated in the rise of modern ethics. This did not impact significantly on the original thought that morality at this time was perceived to comprise acts that enhanced happiness and pleasure. It is at this point that the discipline was further analyzed by Hume and Kant.

Hume’s school of thought is based on the realization that reason can never be the sole cause of action. According to him, desire and or feelings are responsible for the different actions that humans engage in. In this consideration therefore, Norton (1993) indicates that Hume maintained that feelings influence human morality. This is to a certain extend true because feelings and the desires to attain certain statuses always influence humans to behave in particular manner. For instance, it is agreed that if the policies governing environmental planning were absent, developers that are desperate for wealth would seldom put in consideration the required standards. Bricke (1996) indicates that Hume’s morality is fundamentally virtue centered. Human traits or activity act as a basement upon which morality is determined. Hume thus explores a wide range of virtues in a bit to determine whether they are virtuous or not. From a personal point of view, this approach can be considered to be efficient because actions rather than thoughts impact on human relationships.

Unlike Hume, Kant considered morality in light of moral law. According to Guyer (2005), this law was applicable to all segments of the society and at any given time. It imposes to humans absolute duties. Humans in this regard are compelled to align their actions to universal expectations. Notably, the inability to align one’s activities to universal laws that are legally presented s rights and entitlements culminates in infringement upon an individual’s way of life. This is immoral especially considering the fact that fundamentally, morality is derived on the need to enhance happiness and pleasure. However, it is worth appreciating that all these factors needed to be integrated accordingly in order to strengthen this school of thought. From Kant’s point of view, human actions or ethics could be based entirely on reason. At this point, the concept of will can be considered to be the main difference between Kant’s and Hume’s viewpoints.

Kant considered the human will to have absolute autonomy. The fact that it can not be influenced or motivated by any external factor implies that resultant actions can be solely depended on reason (Moser & Vander Nat, 2003). In contrast, Hume considered desire and feelings to influence reason in different ways. In this regard, Hume argued that reason is fundamental in discovering the causes of pain as well as pleasure whose prospects also cause action. In other words, pleasure and pain according to Hume also motivate action (Baillie, 2000). Thus the aspect of morality in this regard is influenced by three main factors whose interplay determines the nature of actions that an individual engages in. This is a rational approach that appreciates the role of internal as well as external factors. From a practical point of view, it can be ascertained that human activities is a complex conception that tends to be influenced by various intricate and augmenting factors.

In his research, Bricke (1996) also cites that while Kant grounds his morality conception on priori principles, Hume’s approach to ethics is empirical and experimental in nature. It is presented as being different from other aspects such as religion and the influence of the higher power. Also, Kant lays particular emphasis on the importance of duty. Hume on the other hand considers this a secondary and not primary motive (Ameriks, 2006). Kant believed that morality enabled one to attain the desirable status of utmost goodness. This has intrinsic goodness that is characterized by a maximal and universal virtue and happiness. This is true in the sense that only virtuous activities can culminate to a highest degree of happiness. The feeling has inherent benefits that range from happiness to satisfaction. For example, upholding of justice and social values usually makes one to experience feelings of comfort and satisfaction. Exploitation and injustice on the other hand triggers feelings of guilt that compromise the level of happiness that the given individual experiences.

Conclusion

In sum, it can be ascertained that justification of ethical knowledge dates back to historical times. Initially, virtuous behavior was considered an essential ethical element. Through time, aspects of God being the source of morality, happiness and pleasure were held in high regard. Although the schools of thought that were put forward by Kant and Hume differ considerably, it is worth noting that they consider actions to be the sole determinants of morals. In addition, both philosophers consider reason to influence morality at different degrees. The only shortcoming that needs to be bridged by the philosophers pertains to the need to reconcile the inherent gaps with respect to integration of different factors whose interplay determines the ultimate nature of morality. Nonetheless, the mentioned reasons contribute significantly to justification of morality.

Matrix

Approaches to Epistemology Implications

Rationalism Personal acts need to be harmonic to universal laws

Some types of knowledge are factual, they can not be changed

We need to be held responsible for the consequences of our acts

Empiricism Our sensory system alerts us to behave in a certain manner; we need to be observant

Statistics and other forms of data can enable us to make predictions accordingly. These should then determine our course of action

Truth is also determined through criticism

Source: Norton (1993)

References

Ameriks, K. (2006). Kant and the Historical Turn: Philosophy as Critical Interpretation. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Baier, A. (1991). A Progress of the Sentiments: Reflection on Hume’s Treatise. Cambridge Mass: Harvard University Press.

Baier, A. (1994). Moral Prejudices. Cambridge: Mass University Press.

Baillie, J. (2000). Hume on Morality. London: New York.

Beck, L. (1978). Essays on Kant and Hume. London: Yale University Press.

Bricke, J. (1996). Mind and Morality. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Guyer, P. (2005). Knowledge, Reason and Taste. Kant’s Responses to Hume. Princeton: University Press.

Hare, J. (1996). The Moral Gap. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Moser, P. & Vander Nat, A. (2003). Human Knowledge: Classical and Contemporary Approaches. Oxford: University Press.

Norton, D. (1993). The Cambridge Companion to Hume. Cambridge: University Press.

Module Five Problem Set Questions T-Tests

Jason Wilkerson

SNHU

October 4, 2014

QUESTION 1

SPSS output:

Results write-up:

An independent samples t-test was run to determine whether the recall of colors is affected by vividness of visual imagery. The study established that there are 15 participants who had a vivid visual imagery and they had on average 12.53 number of colors recalled with a standard deviation of 4.596. There are 15 participants with less vivid visual imagery, and had, on average 8.13 number of colors recalled with a standard deviation of 4.015.

The significance of Levene’s test is 0.495 which is greater than our alpha, 0.01, and thus we assume the variables are equal with a t value of 2.792 with 28 degrees of freedom. The two tailed mean value associated with the test is 0.009 which is less than the alpha 0.01 and thus we can affirm the null hypothesis that suggests vividness of visual imagery does not enhance recall of colors. An equal variances t test failed to reveal a statistically reliable difference between the mean number of participants with vivid visual imagery and less vivid visual imagery.

Some of the limitations that deter me from concluding that the visual imagery causes improved color recall include: the significance of Levene’s test is higher than our alpha which prompts us to support the null hypothesis that suggests otherwise.

QUESTION 2

SPSS output:

Results write-up:

The mean of the traditional method is 76.88 with a standard deviation of 10.274 for 8 students. The average for 8 students who took the new method is 85.38 with a standard deviation of 11.550.

The 99% confidence interval for the population difference of the two teaching methods is 0.055. This means that there is no statistically significant difference between the two teaching methods since the significance 2-tailed is greater than 0.01. Hence the difference between the scores is not as a result of change in method.