Financial Accounting: Standardization and Harmonization - Essay Example

TOPIC: Financial Accounting has become increasingly standardised and harmonized across organizations in different industries, while Management Accounting continues to be highly variable. INTRODUCTION: Financial statements are used by different types of users whereas the managers uses different types of financial data for their decision making activities. It is of utmost importance that financial accounting data be increasingly standardized and harmonized across organizations in different industries. It is equally important that manage accounting that are generated MUST vary from one industry or company to another. Also, it is a MUST that accounting data that is used by managers vary from one business type to another or one business location to another. The following paragraphs will explain in detail why there MUST be a compulsory implementation of harmonized accounting standards in financial accounting (Leuz, Pfaff, and Hopwood 3). BODY: To what extent do these two approaches reflect the different purpose and role of Financial and Management Accounting? 3 pages Both approaches reflect the different purpose and role of financial and management accounting to the extent that is required for quality decision making activities. The users of financial statements will need the latest copy of the balance sheet to determine the total amount of assets that the company owns. The assets are the resources of the company. The assets include both the current as well as the non -current assets. Current assets include cash, receivables from customers and subsidiaries, inventory end, office supplies, office equipment, land, buildings, factory equipment and other assets. Likewise, the users of the financial statements are interested to get a copy of the latest balance sheet in order to know the total liabilities or payables of the company. The liabilities include both the current liabilities and long term liabilities. In addition, the users of the financial statements need the balance sheet in order to determine the total stockholders equity section. Further, the users of the financial statements need the latest copy with the possibility of obtaining the prior year or years financial statements to determine how much the company has generated in terms of sales and cost of sales. This data is found in the income statement. the income statement shows the total amount of gross profit, administrative and marketing expenses. Likewise, the users of the financial statements will need the statement of cash flows to determine where the cash inflows and cash outflows had gone to during the accounting period. Usually, the accounting period covers a twelve month period. Further, the following discussion of the Enron scandal will give a deeper reflection of the different different purpose and role of financial accounting to the extent that is required for quality decision making activities. Window dressing is described as presenting a more beautiful picture of the company than what is the real picture should be. This situation is best described as a store displaying on its windows the best selling products of the company in order to entice the store passers -by to enter the store and buy the displayed products. usually, the window -displayed products are the low -priced ones. Upon entering, the customers will be see the other displayed products that were not displayed in the store window. This is what happened to Enron. Enrons balance sheet presented its assets to be more than what they actually are (Hake, 1). This enticed the wall street prospective and current investors of Enron to invest more of their hard -earned money on this fraudulent company. The window dressing occurred because Enron recorded sales in its books even though there were no actual sales that had taken place. The recording of sales transaction would require a debit to cash or receivables account titles. A sales transaction would give us a credit to revenues or sales. Thus, the assets were inflated from the debits to an asset account for sales that did not actually happen. This is in complete violation of United States generally accepted accounting principles that asset like cash and receivables should be recorded only if an exchange transaction has taken place. Evidently, Enrons assets were window -dressed (Fusaro & Miller, 21). Further, Enrons liabilities were also window - dressed. Enron violated generally accepted accounting principles established in the United States. Enrons window -dressing occurred in this category when the company presented its liabilities in the balance sheet at a lower amount than what the actual liabilities figures should be. The company recorded many of its liabilities as the liabilities of its off -shore businesses outside the United States. This non - recording of its real payable amounts gave a false impression that its obligations to outside parties were lower than what the actual figures should be. As a result, this presented a better picture of the company than what the actual accounting figures should be. Clearly, Enrons liabilities were also window – dressed (Fox, 59). Also, its stockholders equity was also window -dressed. Window dressing occurred because the company had presented a higher stockholders equity than that real figures should be. This is in complete violation of United States generally accepted accounting principles that journal entries should be based on original source documents. source documents include official receipts given to customers for paying cash in in sales transactions. Likewise, official receipts are given for cash payments actually paid to the suppliers of Enron. A Sales invoice or statement of account received by the customers proves that an actual sales on account had taken place. The stockholders equity is arrived at by the formula: Total Assets less Total Liabilities. An overstatement of the assets would result to an overstatement of stockholders equity. In like manner, an understatement or presenting the assets at a lesser amount than the actual figures would result to an understatement of stockholders equity. Naturally, an understatement of the liabilities would result to an overstatement of stockholders equity. An overstatement of liabilities would give us an understatement of stockholders equity. Unquestionably, its stockholders equity was also window -dressed (Geisst, 214). Finally, its income statement was window dressed. The company had recorded sales transactions which never took place. consequently, this fraudulent transaction would translate to higher sales. higher sales would give a higher net income. a higher net income would give us a higher net assets. a higher sales would generate a higher stockholders equity. In addition, the company did not record some of its losses. It window -dressed by presenting these Enron losses as losses of its off -shore companies. as a result, the unrecorded losses resulted to a net income that is higher than what the real net income should be. Convincingly, its income statement was window dressed (Chandra, Ettredge & Stone, 1). How Did It Go Wrong? Based on the prior paragraphs, the connivance between some of the officers and employees of Enron and its external auditor, Arthur Andersen, was the cause of the companys downfall. The senior management officers and accounting officers of Enron had prepared the fraud -laden financial statement in complete violation generally accepted accounting principles that is the minimum requirement of business and other types of organizations established and doing business in the United States(Gill,1). Then, these officers connived with the external auditors. It is standard accounting procedure that external auditors must be hired to give an opinion on the fairness of the presentation of financial statements. The stockholders and interested parties of Enron will give more credence to a financial statement that had been externally audited. The Enron officers diabolically succeeded in persuading the external auditors to give an audit opinion that the financial statements which included the balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows were fairly presented. As a consequence of this scandal, Arthur Andersen was literally dragged out of the big five auditing firms in the United States. Arthur Andersen finally folded up or closed shop because of this big scandal. This incident shows that the life of the external auditor as well as the companies presenting the financial statements, like Enron, is built on trust. Undoubtedly, the connivance between some of the officers and employees of Enron and its external auditors was the cause of the companys downfall (Madrick,1). Could It Have Been Prevented? Internal control and other measures will prevent another Enron scandal. It could be prevented by hiring external auditors of impeccable character. The public knows that it is inherent on the business organization to present a better picture of itself to the different parties enumerated above. The users of the financial statements will then rely to the external auditors to give fairness or credence to the financial statements. The external auditors will then advise management on how to set up the internal control environment. Internal control environment decreases to a large extent or even prevents the occurrence of fraud in an organization. One such internal control environment is the establishment of an audit committee under the leadership of the one or more members of the board of directors. Definitely, internal control and other measures will prevent another Enron scandal (Barefoot, 1). Further, the auditor can set up an internal control environment to eliminate future frauds. Internal control entails that there is separation of three major duties of recording of business transactions (accounting), approving (of sales discounts, write off of doubtful accounts, etc.) and handling of assets (cashier receives cash). However, the most difficult fraud that the auditors can detect or prevent is when management colludes or connives with its employees to present fraudulent financial statements (Kinney, 83). Management can completely override any internal control environment suggested and /or implemented by the external auditors. Lastly, external auditors should be changed regularly to prevent the closeness or collusion between the client and the auditors. A peer review by auditors in the same auditing firm can act as a check a balance to decrease or even eliminate the occurrence that happened in the historic Enron business scandal. The Sabarney Oxley Act imposes the compulsory auditing of external auditors to prevent accounting scandals like Enron (Ettredge, Li & Sun, 2006). Surely, the auditor can set up an internal control environment to eliminate future frauds (Rittenberg, Martens & Landes, 1). What Was the Final Outcome? The final outcome was that both Enron and its external auditing firm finally closed shop . All the officers of Enron in the accounting and top management positions were charged in court. Arthur Andersen, as discussed above, dropped out of the auditing scene after this debacle. For, they had lost the trust and confidence of the general also known as the users of the financial statements to give a TRULY fair opinion on the financial statements of any other company after their fall from the Enron scandal. Naturally, the final outcome was that both Enron and its external auditing firm finally closed shop (Thomas, 1). In terms of management accounting, different managers did different types of financial data. financial data must be one of the basis for managers to make quality decisions. A manager of a restaurant would need the income statement indicating the sales coming from banquets, birthday parties, marriage parties, baptismal parties, official and business meetings. The manager of hotel would like to know the financial data on how many persons stayed in its rooms, ate in its restaurants, how many room boys and barmaids have been hired. The manager of the car manufacturing company would need the financial data in terms of direct materials, direct labor and factory overhead. This same manager would be interested in determining the projected sales, work in process beginning, cost of goods manufactured and finished goods end for deciding how many units to manufacture. The grocery store manager wants to know the financial data in terms of goods available or on display in the store shelves. The sales manager of a car sales company is determined to get financial data in terms of number of cars sold, the prices of each car sold, the discounts given to each customer and the repairs made on cars that were covered by the car companys one year warranty plan (Penman 1). Evidently, different managers need different types of financial data. To what extent do these two approaches help or hinder an organization’s current or future shareholders?” 3 pages Both approaches help an organizations current or future shareholders to the extent that is required for quality decision making activities. The shareholders would be more interested in putting their hard -earned cash in a business that uses harmonized financial accounting standards or variable management accounting principles, whichever is better. The shareholders are interested to know if the managers are implementing the most appropriate management accounting system in the manufacturing sector (Glassman 16). Basically, management accounting concentrates on monitoring and analyzing the effect of management decision. On the other hand, financial accounting focuses on the preparation of financial statement that serve a short term external goal. Some managers do include the financial statements as another guide to complement the other managerment style financial reporting. (Fry, Steele, Saladin, 503) In the same manner, managers must adapt their management accounting knowledge needs to functional and economic change. This means that managers must also use financial accounting data if the need arises in order to make management decisions. Many managers will get hold of the financial statements to determine if the company will be able to make a profit it if employ generally accepted accounting principles in the preparation a balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows. Currently, the changes in the function of the management accountant and in the economic environment, specifically the shift from the economic activity from the manufacturing system to the international system of accounting education continues to raise issues pertaining to the breadth and diversity of knowledge badly needed by managers for the betterment of the decision making activities. The new managers must now combine both the financial accounting data and the internal management accounting system and forget the prior way of using only internal accounting data for their decision making activities (Cooper, 287). The harmonization of international accounting standards is needed in order to improve communication between the different users and preparers of the financial statements. Two major accounting bodies responsible for the harmonization of accounting principles and standards are the International Accounting Standards Board or IASB and the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Fundamentals of accounting states that accounting is the language of business. As such, it must have its own technical vocabulary. The vocabulary of word that include the assets, liabilities, capital, revenues, operating expenses, administrative expenses, inventory end, goods available for sale, cash flow from operations, cash flow from investing and cash flow from financing are only some of the technical terms used in financial accounting data. The harmonization of international accounting standards would facilitate easier understanding by a German stockholder in a Wall Street listed company. In turn, the New York investor could easily understand the income statement of a Japanese company because only one accounting standard is used. Gone are the days when the Japanese would produce balance sheets, income statements and statements of cash flows based on Japanese generally accepted accounting principles. Likewise, gone are the days when the Delaware company would prepare financial statements that would not implement the International Accounting standards that were studied and approved by the London -based International Accounting Standards Board (Hague et al, 1). And, accounting historians had been recognizing the international scope of the accounting language. However, they had been focusing too much on regional or country -wide areas. these historians had also been too busy studying the diffusion of accounting ideas, techniques and institutions from one country to another. Now, these same historians as well as those that will follow in their footsteps should redirect their study to the development of accounting from a comparison of international accounting standards. Likewise, these historians must study the benefits of using international accounting standards and practices. (Napier, C., Carnegie, 689). For, our economy has been transformed in the twentieth first century to a BORDERLESS economy. The unfolding of this new world economy can no longer be stalled or stopped. The advent of the internet has shown that business transactions between a seller in New York and a buyer in the United Kingdom can be completed with just the click of the computer mouse. The border -less economy is characterized as “It is important to distinguish globalization from liberalization. By the latter, we mean the freeing up of internal prices and wages, and the dismantling of excessive and burdensome regulation, while by the former we mean the international aspects of economic liberalization, in particular, the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people.”(Dean, and Dehejia, 1). thus the internet has increased the speed and the volume of the transfer of goods from one corner of the globe to another very far away nook in the world. Further management accounting can be described as “theoretical point of view is often combined with the one proposed by strategy, which stresses the importance of firms deliberate choices in the evolution of inter-firm relationships and structures. In particular, according to this perspective networks are the product of managerial choices—aimed at obtaining the best organizational arrangements to compete in their chosen markets —which allow firms to specialize in those activities of the value chain that are essential to their competitive advantage” (Bhimani 16). This shows that management must adapt using the internal accounting data to make better decisions. In terms of education, “Managerial accounting concepts and terminology are introduced in Chapter 20. This introduction is followed by seven chapters on job costing, process costing, cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis, budgeting, responsibility accounting, standard costing, and capital budgeting. Potential adopters will want to note that the weighted-average method is used in the process costing chapter while only the high-low method is illustrated for cost behavior analysis of mixed costs in the CVP chapter”(Surdick, 1). This means that managers must first focus on acquiring sufficient knowledge of managerial accounting analytical tools. The above tools are very useful in deciding whether to continue operating the manufacturing plant or not. Also, the above managerial accounting formulas are needed by the managers to decide whether to set up a branch in uncharted territory in another country. This other country branch could be in Canada, Italy, China, Hongkong, Indonesia, Saudi and the like. Job order costing is used for such businesses as car manufacturing plants. The process costing method would best be used in the production of tooth picks, matches, small nails and similar items. The budgeting portion mentioned here is a very important management strategy in both the financial accounting -based companies and the cost accounting -based companies. One example of an accounting based company is the merchandising or grocery business. One example of a cost accounting based company is the paint manufacturing company. The new management accounting standards take into account that “There is mounting evidence that the deployment of digital technologies by organizations not only affects the economics of operational and managerial processes but also mobilizes extensive social and organizational effects”(Bhimani, 1). This clearly shows that the current business environment is blessed with a fast -paced economy precipitated by the arrival of the digital technology. the advent of this new economic scene has widened the playing field in terms of generating sales and spending money to maintain a branch in another country or region. In terms of financial accounting, “Conventional wisdom suggests non-GAAP reporting is inadvisable because the major credit rating agencies (Moodys, Standard & Poors, and Fitch) and the investors who buy municipal bonds need GAAP-compliant financial data to compare one governments financial condition against anothers. Non-GAAP reporting interferes with this comparison and forces investors to find that information elsewhere”(Marlowe, 1). the above quote clearly states that companies that do not implement generally accepted accounting principles will the exception and not the rule in society. For, many investors would prefer to invest in a company that presents its balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows in generally accepted accounting principles format. Accounting would no longer be the language of business if one company employs its own internal accounting principles when prepares financial statements that will be used by several interested parties. These parties include, the customers, the suppliers, the creditors, the government regulating agencies, board of directors, the managers and the like. In terms of managerial accounting principles, “Planning managers rarely have the authority or responsibility to make ultimate planning decisions—selecting goals and strategy. Rather, it is their responsibility to facilitate the decision making of senior line managers by providing internal consulting services and numerous administrative resources so that the best possible decisions can be made” (Roney 165). this quote shows that the planning manager has a very important and timely role in helping other managers decide whether to expand its client reach to new horizons in a far away country like China, Mexico and the like. Consider the following examples of financial accounting “insights”: (a) investors always prefer more information to less; (b) more disclosure by firms is useful since it increases the amount of information in capital markets; (c) regulators must force firms to disclose information, otherwise they would conceal bad news; (d) if firms can “lie” in their disclosures without threat of being caught, they will do so, therefore markets must be protected from reacting to such information; (e) earnings management is a bad thing, and regulators should reduce accounting choices; (f) management evaluation should be based solely on controllable financial results; (g) effective auditing deters management from making erroneous financial reports” (Wagenhofer 5). This only shows that harmonization of accounting principles and standards is not a choice but a compulsory plan in order to entice the prospective and current investors to investor more money in the business. Finally, harmonization of financial accounting principles has been triggered because “On average, modern humans have nine times more income per capita than their ancestors had in AD 1500, and four times as much as people obtained in 1900. Despite gross inequalities in the distribution of this income growth and considerable poverty in many countries economic development must count as an achievement. However, the achievement has come at a price. The social price, in the form of people enslaved, exploited or killed, has been enormous. So has been the environmental price” (Barrow 21). This only shows that management accounting must now use financial accounting data that are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in order to swim smoothly in the river of lifes complexities. Otherwise, a person would surely drown if the or she does not keep up in terms of spending money, investments, increase in per capita income. CONCLUSION: To reiterate, financial accounting has become increasingly standardized and harmonized across organizations in different industries, while management accounting continues to be highly variable. the financial statements need to be harmonized so that the different users of the financial statements can easily understand what the preparers of the financial statements wants to communicate to them. The users of the financial statements include the customers, suppliers, creditors, government regulating institutions, employees, labor unions and the like. On the other hand, the managers of different business types will use different management accounting tools for gathering financial data and making decisions. Further, these management decisions include expanding to a new location, closing a branch, buying from outsiders or manufacturing their own. The shareholders would be more interested in putting their hard -earned cash in a business that uses harmonized financial accounting standards or variable management accounting principles, whichever is better. Conclusively, financial accounting has become increasingly standardized and harmonized across organizations in different industries, while management accounting continues to be highly variable. Works Cited Barefoot, Jo Ann S. "What Can You Learn from Enron? How to Know If You Are Creating a Climate of Rule-Breaking." ABA Banking Journal 94.8 (2002): 49+. Barrow, C. J. Environmental Management and Development. London: Routledge, 2005. Bhimani, Alnoor, ed. Management Accounting in the Digital Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Questia. 31 Mar. 2008 Chandra, Uday, Michael L. Ettredge, and Mary S. Stone. "Enron-Era Disclosure of Off-Balance-Sheet Entities." Accounting Horizons 20.3 (2006): 231+. Dean, James W, and Vivek H Dehejia. "Would a Borderless North America Kill Canadian Culture?." American Review of Canadian Studies 36.2 (2006): 313+. Ettredge, Michael L., Chan Li, and Lili Sun. "The Impact of SOX Section 404 Internal Control Quality Assessment on Audit Delay in the SOX Era." Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory 25.2 (2006): 1+. Fox, Loren. Enron: The Rise and Fall. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2003. Questia. 31 Mar. 2008 . Fusaro, Peter C., and Ross M. Miller. What Went Wrong at Enron: Everyones Guide to the Largest Bankruptcy in U.S. History. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2002. Geisst, Charles R. Wall Street: A History : from Its Beginnings to the Fall of Enron. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Gill, Lawrence M. "IFRS: Coming to America What CPAs Need to Know about the New Global GAAP." Journal of Accountancy 203.6 (2007): 70+. Glassman, James. "Show Stockholders the Money." The American Enterprise Apr.-May 2003: 16. Hake, Eric R. "Financial Illusion: Accounting for Profits in an Enron World." Journal of Economic Issues 39.3 (2005): 595+. Kinney, William R. Jr. "Research Opportunities in Internal Control Quality and Quality Assurance." Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory (2000): 83. Wagenhofer, Alfred. "Chapter 1.1 Accounting and Economics: What We Learn from Analytical Models in Financial Accounting and Reporting." The Economics and Politics of Accounting: International Perspectives on Research Trends, Policy, and Practice. Ed. Christian Leuz, Dieter Pfaff, and Anthony Hopwood. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 5-31. Leuz, Christian, Dieter Pfaff, and Anthony Hopwood, eds. The Economics and Politics of Accounting: International Perspectives on Research Trends, Policy, and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Madrick, Jeff. "Report of Investigation by the Special Investigative Committee of the Board of Directors of Enron Corp." Challenge 45.3 (2002): 117+. Marlowe, Justin. "Costs of Compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Standards." Public Management Aug. 2007: 17+. Questia. 31 Mar. 2008 . Penman, Stephen H. "The Quality of Financial Statements: Perspectives from the Recent Stock Market Bubble." Accounting Horizons (2003): 77+. Rittenberg, Larry E., Frank Martens, and Charles E. Landes. "Internal Control Guidance: Not Just a Small Matter." Journal of Accountancy 203.3 (2007): 46+. Questia. 31 Mar. 2008 . Roney, C. W. Strategic Management Methodology: Generally Accepted Principles for Practitioners. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004. Surdick, John J. "Accounting Principles." Issues in Accounting Education 20.2 (2005): 218+. Thomas, C. William. "The Rise and Fall of Enron; When a Company Looks Too Good to Be True, It Usually Is." Journal of Accountancy 193.4 (2002): 41+. Fry, T., Steele, D., Saladin, B, The Use of Management Accounting Systems in Manufacturing, Int. J. Prod. Res., 1998, vol. 36, no., 2, pp. 503- 525. Cooper, P., Adapting Management Accounting Knowledge Needs to Functional and Economic Change, Accounting Education: an international journal, vol. 15, No. 3, p. 287-300, September 2006. Hague et al., New Developments in the Framework for Financial Reporting: The Role of National Standard Setters and the Canadian Contribution to Research on Measurement on Initial Recognition and a Framework for Disclosure of Financial Information, Journal of International Financial Management and Accounting, Vol 17, No. 3, 2006 Napier, C., Carnegie, G., Exploring Comparative International Accounting History, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 15, No. 5, 2002, p. 689 -718. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Order#: 213054 Total Price: $75   Messages:   0 total  Topic:  Financial Accounting has become increasingly standardised and harmonized across organizations in different industries, while Management Accounting continues to be highly variable Instructions: Assignment Title: “Financial Accounting has become increasingly standardised and harmonized across organizations in different industries, while Management Accounting continues to be highly variable”. For example, Organizations within the same industry can choose whether they implement a range of Management Accounting Techniques. * * * * * Please NOTE: A) Answering the question: • The topic is about the issue of harmonisation of FA V variability of MA; It was not the differences between MA V FA, or about the use of MA V FA in different organisations, or about the role of accountants, or about how FA V MA benefits shareholders, or about how FA became harmonised. • There were TWO QUESTIONS, (many students answered just one) One – on the issue of harmonisation V variability Two – on the implications for shareholders • Some students choose to challenge the question, by discussing the extent to which FA is actually harmonised. This could have been appropriate if the essay title had concluded with the word “discuss the above statement”, but were 2 questions that needed to be answered. If you use several pages challenging the statement given in the essay title, then this left you less space to answer the question that were actually set. • A number student forgot that shareholders do not actually see MA information … • IMPORTANT – in the full essay, you will need to draw conclusions from your work. Make sure that these are an accurate and complete summary of what you have written. A weak conclusion will reduce the overall quality and mark awarded. B) CONTENT: Required to answer, not directly, the stated question, A good work will: • Analyse the statement within the context of recent accounting research, say the last ten years. • Consider other (if any) perspectives • Reach a valid conclusion • Make wide use of contemporary research and reference it properly • Take a mainly analytical approach to the material [i.e. a largely descriptive piece of work will not receive good marks] • The work is at risk of failing for the following reasons; o The question not properly answered in full o Over reliance on textbooks o Use of websites o Insufficient use of good quality journals (approximately 15-25) o Poorly thought out arguments, badly presented and or structured  Make sure that your articles have some elements/themes in common. If you use one article on MA in China and another article on FA in Germany, it is difficult to produce a meaningful piece of work.  Integration of articles (rather than a separate summary of each) must be done very well on the whole. This could be harder to maintain in a long essay, but is very important in producing a readable and well-structured piece of work.  Beware of using too many quotes – the essay than becomes no more than a cut-and-paste of different quotations, making it difficult to read and generally lacking coherence. It is very tempting to include quotes, particularly when they are well-written and express perfectly the point that you want to make. However, they don’t really demonstrate very much, other than your ability to type! Also an increased risk that long quotes are likely to include irrelevant information. If you aiming for a high mark, then you should use no more than just a few very well-chosen quotes in the whole essay, where they clearly add something in addition to your paraphrased work. C) Referencing Evidence of source material cited: • Good quality Journals (approximately 15-25), which could be encountered in: o Database 1 – Science Direct [Electronic Databases and Journals] o Database 2 – Business Source Premier • For each journal article or similar reference accessed through an electronic data base: the full internet address and date(s) accessed. • For books, monographs, and journal articles read in hard copy; the name of the library from which the material was obtained. • For books or other information purchased or obtained by the student; full details of when acquired. Select the publications that are considered appropriate and relevant to the question. Appropriate means that they: • Are from an academic journal or other reputable source. E.g. business periodical, institutional document. • Are fairly recent, say in the last 10 or so years. SPECIAL ATTENTION FOR: Some students included large sections that did not contain any references (but were clearly their own work). You must attribute your sources. There is absolutely no downside to including an appropriate reference alongside your work!!! Omitting references raise concerns about the quality of the sources that you have used. Instructions files attached:     1. Assignment 15 pages.doc     2. 206397_6484000[1].pdf     3. 206397_22172536[1].pdf     4. 206397_22343884[1].pdf     5. 206397_25999192[1].pdf     6. 206397__pdf_0590150503[1].pdf     7. 689192_References Management Assignment.doc Created:  2008-03-18 00:57  Deadline:   2008-03-31 23:00 Time Left:  26 hours Style:  MLA  Language Style:   English (U.S.)  Grade:   n/a  Pages:  15  Sources:   25  Read More