Attribution Theory Essay Example for Free

Attribution Theory Essay Attribution Theory Definition The process by which persons interpret and pinpoint causes for their own personal and other’s behaviour is the theory of attribution. 1 In this motivational theory, a person always finds a way to explain things, he make inferences on why things or events occur. After explaining the events a person then predicts future events through his inferences. He wants to understand the reasons or causes behind behaviour of people and why events happen. It was first proposed by Fritz Heider in 1958 and further developed by Harold Kelly and Bernard Weiner. Theories Internal vs. External Attributions Every person observe and analyze things differently thus having different ways of explaining things. The attribution theory proposes that when people observe and analyze things they try to find out whether it is caused internally or externally. 2 Attribution is a three-stage process: (1) Observation of an individual behaviour, (2) Determination whether the behaviour is intentional and (3) Attribution of the observed behaviour to internal or external factors. Those that are believed that can be personally controlled are called internal attributions while those believed to be caused by outside forces are external attributions. 2Â  Example of internal attributions are ability, personality, mood, efforts, attitudes or disposition while external attributions are task, other people and luck. 4 Following is an example of an application of this theory is when an employee failed to perform in a given task, a manager tries to explain why this thing happened. He may attribute this failure to poor efforts made by his subordinate (internal attribute) or he may consider that the given task maybe be too difficult for his employee (external attribute). Consistency, Distinctiveness and Consensus On the other hand, when making a determination between internal and external causes of behaviour, three factors must be considered: (1) consistency, (2) distinctiveness and (3) consensus. 1 Consistency is how frequent a person behaves similarly when faced with the same situations. Distinctiveness is how different a person behaves when faced with different types of situations. Consensus is when a group of people behaves similarly when faced with the same situation. 2 When a person behaves similarly when faced with same situations, we can say that the consistency is high; if he acts differently every time exposed with the same situation, consistency is low. 3 An example of consistency is the following is when an employee consistently has a low performance when he always assigned in a individual task rather when he is assigned in a group task. The observed behaviour of the employee wherein there is a high consistency can be attributed to an internal factor which is attitude. When a person behaves differently during different types of situations distinctiveness is high; if he behaves similarly during different situations, distinctiveness is low. 3 An example of distinctiveness is when an honor student gets high grades (same behaviour) in all of his subjects during three consecutive grading periods (different situations). The observed behaviour of the student wherein there is a low distinctiveness can be attributed to an internal factor which is ability or effort. When the observed behaviour of a group of people is the same in a given situation, consensus is high; if this group behaves differently given a similar situation, consensus is low. 3 An example of distinctiveness is when all students are late in a first period class (consensus is high), the attribution to this behaviour maybe due to an external factor which is traffic caused by a vehicular accident. Figure 1. Summary of the key elements in attribution theory. 2 Errors and Biases in Attribution The difference on how every person thinks, perceive and judge things may lead to some biases. One may consider the greater attributes of certain occurrences to external factors rather than internal factors or the other way around, well on the actual these considerations may not be correct all the time. Fundamental Attribution Error and Self-serving Bias Fundamental attribution error is when people have the tendency to consider the influence of external factors more than considering the influence of internal or personal factors. 2 An example of this is when we attribute the promotion of an officemate to perfect timing or luck rather than to his own efforts and perseverance. Self-serving bias is overestimating the influence of internal factors or personal traits rather than assigning external or situational factors to certain occurrences. When a person attributes his personal success to his own traits or internal and his misfortunes to bad luck or external factors, he is thus committing a self-serving bias. 1 Self-fulfilling Prophecy Perceiver’s expectations for a person will cause the perceiver to treat the person perceived differently and the person perceived will respond in a way that confirms the initial expectations. 1 Example of this is when a teacher thinks that his student will do well during his exam so he spends more time with this student and coaches him well, in return the student will get a high score in the exam. Summary Attribution theory is important to management because managers’ and employees’ actions and opinion can be influenced by how they perceive or see the reasons that cause human behaviour given a certain situation. 3 Different attributions of a manager to an employee’s attitude and performance can affect the standing of the employee in the organization. If a manager attributes the employee’s poor performance to lack of effort in performing the assigned task, he may fail the employee or give the employee a low rating during performance appraisals. On the other hand, if the manager attributes the poor performance to the high level of difficulty of the job, the manager may review and revise the job specifications to lessen the difficulty level of the job. Attribution also affects employee motivation. If an employee attributes the success to external factors, then they may lose motivation since anything that may occur is beyond their control. If an employee attributes success to internal factors like perseverance, then they are expected to have a high motivation for their job.

Persepolis: Changing Western Perceptions of Muslim Women Essay

Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis, makes important strides toward altering how Western audiences perceive Iranian women. Satrapi endeavors to display the intersection of the lives of some Westerners with her life as an Iranian, who spent some time in the West. Satrapi, dissatisfied with representations she saw of Iranian women in France, decided to challenge them. In her words, â€Å"From the time I came to France in 1994, I was always telling stories about life in Iran to my friends. We’d see pieces about Iran on television, but they didn’t represent my experience at all. I had to keep saying, ‘No, it’s not like that there.’ I’ve been justifying why it isn’t negative to be an Iranian for almost twenty years. How strange when it isn’t something I did or chose to be?† (Satrapi, â€Å"Why I Wrote Persepolis† 10). In acknowledging both Eastern and Western feminism, Satrapi’s novel humanizes the female Iranian perspective in a way that can easily digested by Western audiences. This novel acts as an autoethnographic text, a term coined by Mary Louise Pratt, in which Persepolis acts as â€Å"a text in which people undertake to describe themselves in ways that engage with representations others have made of them† (Pratt 35). This novel, which depicts her life so far, demonstrates a mastery of the spaces of representation. As one theorist has argued, â€Å"In discussing Persepolis in relation to the theme of women and space, we will draw upon a framework suggested by Pollock for reading the work of women artists†¦Pollock refers to three spatial registers: first, the locations represented by the work (and, in particular, the division between public and private space); second, the spatial order within the work itself (concerning, for example, angl... ... and changed Western perceptions in doing so. Works Cited Gà ¶karÄ ±ksel, Banu and Anna Secor. The Veil, Desire, and the Gaze: Turning the Inside Out. Signs, 40, 1 (Autumn 2014): 177-200. Miller, Ann. â€Å"Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis: Eluding the Frames.† Johns Hopkins University Press: L’Espirit Createur, Vol. 51, No. 1, Spring 2011: 38-52. Nnaemeka, Obioma. â€Å"Nego†Feminism: Theorizing, Practicing, and Pruning Africa’s Way.† Signs, Vol. 29, No. 2, Winter 2004, 357-385. Online. Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Perspolis. New York: Pantheon Books, 2004. Print Satrapi, Marjane. â€Å"Why I wrote Persepolis: a graphical novel memoir: writer Marjane Satrapi faced the challenges of life in post-revolutionary Iran. She used the graphic novel format to tell her unique story.† Marjane Satrapi. Writing!, Nov-Dec, 2003, Vol.. 26(3), p. 9(5) Cengage Learning Inc.

The Ups and Downs of the Cold War

Although no war between the superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union was ever declared, the leaders of the West and East faced off against each other in what is known as the Cold War. Even though there were attempts to discuss being peaceful together during the 46 years of â€Å"war†, these two nations fought overt and covert battles to increase their power across the globe. From the beginning to the end, the Cold War brought much fear and tension to the entire world.The Cold War is described as â€Å"the arms race between Germany and its neighbors as ‘a kind of â€Å"cold war† where there is no shooting but bleeding’† (Williamson). For my Cold War project, I made a chutes and ladders board game to represents the ups and downs of the war. I used 14 events: when the U. S. drops the atomic bomb, the Iron curtain, the Berlin Airlift, when China falls to communism, the Domino effect, when Russia drops their atomic bomb, hysteria, the launchi ng of Sputnik, Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Wall was built, the U. S. ets a man on the moon, the Berlin Wall falls, and the end of the Soviet Union, or the end of the Cold War. If the United States had a victory, the little person goes up the ladder, but if the Soviet Union won an event, the little person goes down the slide. There are eight slides, and six ladders, meaning that the Soviet Union overall had more wins, but the United States stole the victory in the end. The United States had a couple wins in the beginning, but the Soviet Union took control during the middle of the war, which means there are many slides in the middle of my project.But in the end, the United States takes it to the top, with a sparkly ladder to prove it. Immediately in the 50s and 60s, there were many short term effects of the Cold War. Communism was looked at as the â€Å"evil† government and the United States feared that it would spread from country to country. Because of t he increasing fear, many organizations and acts were started to put on end to the spread. One group, the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), began to investigate allegiances of communism in Hollywood. The committee believed that Communists were sneaking propaganda into films† (Danzer) and they accused people of working with communists, causing huge amounts of hysteria. In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed unknown communists in the state department, and eventually was calling everyone a communist. Not only were people afraid of being called a communist, but they also had to live in fear of having to eventually call someone they knew a communist.Panic was everywhere-having to always worry if a Russian atomic bomb was going to explode, not knowing if anyone was going to be called a communist, and always trying to compete with the Russians to try to be ahead in the race of war. Not only were there short term effects of the Cold War, but there were also long term effects as well. For example, the Berlin Wall, â€Å"a concrete wall topped with barbed wire that severed Berlin in two† (Danzer), stood as an ugly symbol of Communist oppression. Once it was torn down in 1989, it essentially ended all of the tensions that the hideous wall created.As well as the Berlin Wall, there were many problems with nuclear weapons. The Unites States and the Soviet Union were constantly racing to see who would use the atomic bomb first, and in 1945, the U. S. dropped the first bomb, starting the tensions of the Cold War that would last 46 years. The space race continued throughout the Cold War as the atomic bomb race did. In 1957, Russia sent Sputnik in space, making them the leader in the space race. However, in 1969, the United Stated sent the first man to the moon, which pushed them to be the leader.In the end, the super powers were both spending more than they could afford on the â€Å"bloodless war† (Williamson), which caused the Soviet Union to crumple, as the result to the end of the Cold War. Tensions, fear, and struggles filled the Cold War for 46 years. Even though there was no hand on hand contact, the events that shaped the war will never be forgotten. The Cold War had many ups and downs, but because of the perseverance and unity of the United States, they were about to steal the win of the long battle.

Gamuda Berhad And Wct Berhad Example For Free - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2825 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? Accounting Ratios are the ratios show the relationship between accounting data in a balance sheet, profit and loss account in a particular organization. The accounting ratios are used to measure the performance in an organization. There are five different categories for calculating five different aspects of the business performance, it is profitability of company, liquidity of company, asset management of company, debts management and capital gearing of company, and market value of investment to ordinary shareholders/common stockholders. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Gamuda Berhad And Wct Berhad Example For Free" essay for you Create order First, profitability of company is measuring gross profit markup, gross profit margin, operating profit margin on sales, profit margin on sales, basic earning power (BEP), return on total assets (ROA), and return on common equity (ROE). In calculating liquidity of company, there are using the current ratio and liquid ratio. Asset management of company are using inventory turnover, fixed assets turnover, total assets turnover, debtor ratio, debtor payment period, days sales outstanding (DSO). In debts management and capital gearing of company, debts ratio, capital gearing ratio, debts equity ratio, times interest earned, creditor ratio, and creditor payment period are apply. In market value of investment to ordinary shareholders / common stockholders measured about earning per share, price or earnings ratio, dividend cover, earnings yield, dividend yield, price or cash flow ratio, and also market price or book value ratio. There are three ways to compare the accounting ratio for the business performance measurement. First, inter-temporal comparison between two periods means that compare the accounting ratio with the past year financial statement. Second, inter-firms comparison between two companies is measure the accounting ratio between the two same industry companies. Third, comparison with industry averages. I choose the inter-firms comparison to measure the business performance in Gamuda Berhad and WCT Berhad. Gamuda Berhad is a leader in turnkey and B.O.T. civil engineering infrastructure and township development, with projects and investments in South East and Far East Asia, Indochina, South Asia and the Middle East. In infrastructure concession, they expertise covers highways and expressways, bridges, dams and hydropower, tunnels, hydraulic engineering and water treatment, railways and mass-rapid transit systems, marine works and ports, and building, which are delivered through general contracting, design and build, turnkey, as well as B uild-Operate-Transfer methods. WCT Berhad is a company that hands-on, experienced and capable workforce in engineering construction and property development and management. WCT Berhad also an ownership of one of the largest fleet of modern construction machineries in the Middle East and Malaysia. From the income statements and balance sheets in the financial statement can measure the accounting ratio for the both companies. The business performance can exactly measure from there. I found the information of the both companies from the link below. https://www.wct.com.my/CMS/Home/1/0.aspx, https://www.gamuda.com.my/. Financial Statement Analysis Below is an accounting ratio for two companies. 2.1 Profitability Ratio Ratio with Formula Calculation for Gamuda Berhad Calculation for WCT Berhad Gross Profit Markup Gross Profit Margin Operating Profit Margin on Sales Profit Margin on Sales Basic Earning Power Return on Total Assets Return on Common Equity 2.2 Liquidity Ratio Ratio with Formula Calculation for Gamuda Berhad Calculation for WCT Berhad Current Ratio Acid-test Ratio 2.3 Asset Management Ratio Ratio with Formula Calculation for Gamuda Berhad Calculation for WCT berhad Inventory Turnover Total Assets Turnover Debtor Ratio Day Sales Outstanding 2.4 Debts Management Ratio Ratio with Formula Calculation for Gamuda Berhad Calculation for WCT Berhad Debts Ratio Debts Equity Ratio Times Interest Earned or Interest Cover 2.5 Market Value of Investment to Stockholders Ratio Ratio with Formula Calculation for Gamuda Berhad Calculation for WCT Berhad Earnings Per Share Price Earnings Ratio Earnings Yield Market Price Per Book Value Ratio Comparison between Gamuda Berhad and WCT Berhad Below is the ratios comparison between two companies for business performance measurement. 3.1 Profitability Gross profit markup and gross profit margin: Gamuda having the higher gross profit markup and gross profit margin compare to WCT. That means Gamuda indicate the higher gross profit earned by the company from the sales made. This showing Gamuda Berhad is effective and efficient in controlling the purchase cost by making the purchase at a lower cost from the supplier. Besides, Gamuda also effective in controlling the production cost by using the material and labour to reduce the production cost. Operating profit margin on sales: In operating profit margin on sales, Gamuda applies the higher margin than WCT. This mean that Gamuda is the company best to look at the change in operating margin over to WCT. The higher margin is mean it is earning more per dollar of sales. Profit margin on sales: Gamuda shows the higher profit margin compare to WCT. Gamuda earned high profit from the sales and the firm is effective control on the expenditure and interest cost. Compare to WCT, the company indicates high operating expenses and high interest cost than Gamuda. WCT was earned lesser profit than Gamuda. Basic earning power (BEP)/ Return on common equity (ROE): WCT shows the higher profit in the BEP and ROE. This mean WCT company show the high profit in generated from the total assets used and the capital employed due to the effectiveness and efficiency of using the assets and capital in business activities. Return on total assets (ROA): In return on total assets different with the BEP and ROE. Gamuda shows the higher profit in ROA rather than WCT. Gamuda can effectiveness using the assets in the business activities to increase the production volume and sale volume at the lower cost to increase the profit earning than WCT. 3.2 Liquidity Current ratio and Acid test ratio: Both company having the higher ratio in the current ratio and acid test ratio. This means that both companies are having the large amount of current assets that can be used to finance their current liabilities. Their company financial is stable and able to finance its short term liabilities. However, Gamuda having the higher ratio than WCT which is mean that financial in Gamuda is more stable than WCT. 3.3 Asset Management Inventory turnover: In the measurement of inventory turnover that shows the WCT having the higher inventory turnover rates compare to Gamuda. This means that WCT having the fastest stock taken out for resale. The stock of WCT will not accumulate and the money will not tied up with the stocks. Total asset turnover: WCT shows the higher total asset turnover compare to Gamuda. WCT is more effectiveness and efficiency of using the assets in the business activities to increase the production volume and sales volume. Debtor ratio and Days sales outstanding (DSO): Gamuda having the higher debtor ratio and days sales outstanding compare to WCT. Gamuda has given the longer credit time to the debtor who owing money. The longer time to collect money from the debtors will cause financial in Gamuda facing the short term financial problems. 3.4 Debts Management and Capital Gearing Debts ratio: WCT having the higher debts ratio compare to Gamuda. WCT will having the heavy debts burden and the company will bearing the high interest cost. They will face the unstable financial pay back the debts and it could cause to sell the assets to pay back the debts. Times interest earned/Interest cover: WCT shows the high debts equity ratio compare to Gamuda. High debts equity ratio in WCT means that it is always accompanied with low time interest earned and it also bearing the high interest charges. However, Gamuda having the low debts equity ratio and this is means the company having a high time interest earned compare to WCT. The company is bearing the low interest charges. 3.5 Market Value of Investment to Ordinary Shareholders Earning per share: Earning per share is to measure the business growth of the company. WCT having the higher earnings per shares compare to Gamuda. This is represents WCT having the high rate of growth compare to Gamuda. This can attracts more common stockholders to invest in WCT. Price earnings ratio: Gamuda having the highest prices earning ratio compare to WCT. So, stockholders in Gamuda need to take more times and the longer period to recover backs their share investment. Therefore, WCT will more attractive to invest because the company will recover back the share investment faster than Gamuda. Earnings yield: WCT shows the highest percentage in earning yield compare to Gamuda. The WCT Berhad is having the high net income return and this is more attractive to the common stockholders. Market price per book value: Gamuda is indicating the highest share market price compare to WCT. Gamuda will not attractive to common stockholders because the share market price rises high above the real asset value. Conclusion By measurement in accounting ratio of financial statement, two of the companies are showing the different business performance. Gamuda Berhad and WCT Berhad are the two companies which are in the same industry. In profitability of company, Gamuda is earning the higher profit compare to the WCT. In liquidity of company, Gamuda also shows the stable financial compare to WCT. In asset management of company, WCT operates in the fast stock turnover than Gamuda. Other than that, WCT also can collect the money from the debtor faster than Gamuda. This will make WCT more liquid in their financial. In market value of investment to ordinary shareholders, WCT will attracts more shareholders to invest in their company because they can get the high net income return and having the shortest time to get the investment money compare to Gamuda. There are many problems to get the information because the base of the information is always out of date. The historical cost information may not be the m ost appropriate information because if the inflation effect happens, this may not be applies in. Beside that, the information in published accounts is summarized information, we cannot get the detail information and the analysis of accounting information not the root of the problems. On the other hand, there are many problems in the comparison inter-firm also. Different companies are having the different financial and business risk. The companies will also using the different accounting policies. There will having the impacts of the size of the business and its comparators on risk, and the impacts of different environments on results. 5.0 Financial Markets Financial markets is a market who is having surplus fund or capital that lending out to the organization or people who are lacking capital or fund in their business. There are many different types of financial markets. Every different financial market serves different types of customers and operating in different country. Financial markets are deal with stocks or shares, notes, mortgages, bonds and so on. Financial market also operates as the spot market or future market. Spot market deals in being bought for on the spot delivery within a few days, however, future market deals in being bought for on the future delivery at some future date such like a few months or a year in the future. There are various types markets in the financial markets. Money markets This is the short term financial market. Money market deals with the high liquid debt securities in which of the funds are borrowed for a short period of less than one year. Capital markets This is the long term finan cial market. Capital market is a financial market that deals with the stocks or shares, intermediate in which funds are loaned for a long period of one year or more than one year. Mortgage markets Mortgage market is a financial market that deals with loans on residential, commercial, industrial real estate and farmland. Consumer Credit Markets Consumer credit market is dealing with loans on autos and appliances, like education loan, vacations and so on. Primary markets This is the financial market in which corporations raise fund by issuing new securities or new shares. Secondary markets Secondary market is a financial market which is existing and already outstanding securities or other financial assets are traded among investors after they have been issued by the corporations. Initial public offering (IPO) markets This is for the new establisher who is first time offering securities or shares to the public. Private market Private market means tha t a financial transaction is worked out privately and directly between two parties without going to the public. 6.0 Transfer of Capital between Savers and Borrowers There are three types of ways to transfer the capital or funds between the savers and borrowers. 6.1 Direct transfer from savers to borrowers This method applies to a company issues and sells the stocks or bonds directly to the savers without go through any financial institution. So, the borrower will be the corporation who direct delivers the securities to the savers. The savers who are in turn the money to corporation. This is show the capital or fund directly transferred from savers to corporation. Indirect transfer from savers to borrowers through investment banking house This method indicates that the business corporation as a borrowers. The business corporations will issues the corporationà ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¬ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¢s securities or shares to the investment banking house. The investment banking house will resells the corporationà ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¬ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¢s shares to the savers or the money lender. The investment banking house will be the middle man and receive the fund from the money lender and give the money to the borrowers or the business corporation. 6.3 Indirect transfer from savers to borrowers through a financial intermediary This method takes place when a financial intermediary as a bank or a mutual fund obtains fund from savers by issuing its own securities or certificate of deposit to savers. After that, the financial intermediary uses the fund that collected from the savers to purchase and hold the securities of other corporations as an investment. The capital or fund that transfer from the savers to the financial intermediary when savers pay money to financial intermediary in exchanging for receiving certificate of deposit or securities issued by the financial intermediary. The financial intermediary will further transfer the fund to other corporation by paying money out of the fund to purchase securities of other corporation. Most of the savers will prefer to hold the securities and the deposit of the financial intermediary because they are more safe and liquid compare to the mortgages and loans. So, financial intermediary is efficiency of money and capital markets. 7.0 Investment Banking House Investment banking house is an organization that underwriting and distributes the new issue of corporationà ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¬ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¢s securities to assist corporation obtain fund for financing. 7.1 Financial Intermediary Financial intermediary is a financial firm that are transfer the capital or funds from the savers to the borrowers. Normally, they will analyze the potential of the borrowers when they receive the application from the borrowers. They are helping the individual savers to diversify their fund investment, processing and collecting loans and pooling risk. There are several types of the financial intermediaries. Commercial banks Commercial bank is a financial institution that provides the service that accepting deposits and giving the business loans to the corporation. Commercial bank is different compare to the investment bank. Investment bank is assist the business corporation to raise the capital or fund from the savers but the commercial bank is providing loan or lent out the money to the borrowers. Saving and loan associations A savings and loan association is a financial institution that accepting saving deposits and making mortgage loans to the borrowers. Saving and l oan association is similar to bank. They have served individual savers and residential and commercial mortgage borrowers where they collect funds from many small money savers and they lend out to the house buyers and the other types of borrowers. They create the liquidity in the capital market. Mutual savings fund Mutual savings fund is almost similar with the savings and loan associations. They also accept savings from the individuals and then lend out the money for the long term basis to the home loaner and the consumers. Credit unions Credit union normally will apply in a smaller operation. That is designed for the special group or membership of the people in a particular company or association. Credit unions are make loans for the individuals like auto purchase, house improvement and house mortgage. Pension funds Pension fund is a retirement plans that provide by the corporation or government agencies. The pension fund is been invested for the long term growth, provides the pension for the employees when they reach the age of the retirement or the end of the working years. Life insurance companies Life insurances company is sell insurance products to their existing customers. They collect the payment of insurance in the annual premiums and then they invest these funds in the stocks, shares, bonds, real estate and mortgage. But they also provide the insurance cover to the consumer when the payment periods. Mutual funds Mutual fund is a financial intermediary that collects funds from the savers and then uses it to buy the stock, long term bonds and short term debt instruments issued by businesses or government units.