Subsidiary Ledgers and Special Journals Essay Example for Free

Subsidiary Ledgers and Special Journals Essay A subsidiary ledger is a ledger that includes all of the details of a general ledger, and it holds accounts with similar attributes. The purpose is that is can contain things such as accounts receivable and accounts payable and it can show the sum total. The advantages of using subsidiary ledgers is that the sum of all the accounts is kept in the General Ledger and all of the details of the accounts are kept in the subsidiary ledger which is separate so you can keep them in different columns so to not get confused. A control account is an account that contains the total number of sales/purchases made. If you add up all of the individual accounts it should equal the control account, also known as a summary of the account. The purpose of a control account is that it doesn’t have to contain all of the details but it will have all of the financial information organized accurately. The accounts receivable and accounts payable ledgers are two general ledger accounts that act as control accounts for a subsidiary ledger. Cash receipts journal, cash payments journal, sales journal, and the purchase journal are the four different special journals of accounting. The advantages of all the journals are that transactions that occur on a daily basis can be put into a specific journal and one person can be in charge of that journal. All of the information can be tracked in one place which can make the work much easier as well. A cash payments journal can be used with any company that deals primarily with cash which is most companies. A cash receipts journal is sometimes used for the sales of a product to help track transactions. Purchase journals are used with companies that make a lot of purchases on one account while sales journals are for companies that perform purchases. The sales journal posts the sum on the general ledger at the end of the pay period/month.

A standard costing and variance analysis

A standard costing and variance analysis Study suggests that many companies use standard accounting to determine costs and for measuring performance. However, there has always been speculation on standard costing being the most effective measurement. The actual cost usually differs from the standard costs, which is based on calculations and assumptions. Standard accounting takes into account various factors like price, specifications, quantity and quality of the material. The estimations involved in analyzing and setting standard costs involve the efficiency of the management. If a difference between the actual cost and the standard cost is observed, an investigation is required since it suggests the inefficiency in the calculation of estimates. Relevance of Standard Costing and Variance Analysis The standard costs are calculated according to the following flowchart and the variance is monitored and recalculated at every interval to reduce cost variance. Definition of standard cost: a pre-determined cost calculated in relation to a prescribed set of working conditions, correlating technical specifications and scientific measurements of material and labor to the price and wage rates expected to apply during the period to which the standard cost is intended to relate, with the addition of an appropriate share of budgeted overhead (CIMA [ICMA] definition) The standard costs are to be set by the management after a set of calculations. These calculations can either be based on historical records or on engineering studies. Depending on the type of company and volatility in costs, a great deal of care is to be taken into setting standards. Standard costing is usually applied in conjunction with other costing methods (or variance analysis): Absorption and marginal costing Job and process costing Budgeting and budgetary control Advantages of Standard Costing The costing standards are helpful in establishment of prices, budgets and production schedules. The employees are motivated to maintain efficiency to reduce errors in achieving a target. Management by exception is allowed to be practiced by variances. Record keeping and stock evaluation are harmonized and simplified due to a standard set of costing used across the system. Responsibility is defined with the help of variance analysis. The technical analysis necessary to set standards will result in better methods, greater efficiency and in cutting costs. The standards provide essential control information which help in comparing the actual costs to the standards. Disadvantages of Standard Costing Firstly standard costing will not be very efficient for companies that use a lean system. In lean production, the volumes produced are lowered and the inventories re consumed only after the determining amounts of the quantity demanded. Secondly, there might be changes in the working practices, the prices and volumes of the raw materials, which reduce the standards and are misleading and inappropriate. Many costs are incurred in maintain and calculating the standard costing systems. Over assumptions of costs in an urge to make the standard costs favorable may lead to high cost variances. This may also lead to non-productive work like measuring and completing forms. Standard costing is overly focused on statistical data and thus there might be a conflicting boundary between the standard cost and estimated cost. For example the overheads may require running at full efficiency even though the excess production is not required. Standard costing maybe applicable in larger firms with high production lines and bigger resources, but for smaller firms, the basic thumb rule methods are more appropriate for use in control. Alternative methods Activity Based Costing In this method, the costs are recognized due to the cause and effect relationship between the activities and costs that drive the company costs. This method can theoretically be used in any industry due to its flexibility in determining costs at different levels. ABC, just like the other traditional costing systems, it often results in recognizing indirect costs on easily identifiable figures such as direct labor hours. It often results in inaccuracy in assigning the costs to its relevant activity. However, this method is used effectively in complex companies where certain costs are not easy to record and evaluate. It is used in companies which are not completely service based. Balanced score card The balanced score card is used as a performance measure and for strategic planning in major organizations. It was invented by Dr. Kaplan and David Norton that analyzed measurements in a combination of traditional and strategic method to give a more balanced view to the management. The balanced scored had four main perspectives: Learning and growth perspective The scorecard considers learning as one of the most important perspectives in the case of employees and at an organizational level. Funds can be adequately allotted by managers to ensure the training needs of a worker since the developing industry requires a continuous improvement in the skill level. Business process perspective In this perspective, metrics are used to allow the managers to understand the importance of their internal business and whether the products and services are capable of satisfying the customers needs. The metrics for a business process are best when designed by a highly experienced internal manager. Customer perspective The constant increase in the market trend from a customers perspective has increased companies to use metrics to define customer satisfaction levels. If the quality of the products and services reduce, the customer satisfaction would drop and thus he would switch to a more competitive company. Hence, frequent measures such as the scorecard and customer feedbacks have to be used to understand the customers requirements. Financial perspective A company needs to constantly calculate its financial data and create a capacity to fund the current projects. The accuracy involved in this data will help the managers create a planned and organized expenditure. Data such as the risk assessment and cost-benefit data has to be identified in this perspective. The standard costing requires accuracy in calculating this data since any errors could cause a large cost variance and affect direct labor and direct material cost. Target costing Target costing is a cost management tool for reducing the overall product cost in a production life cycle. This approach is most commonly used in Japanese companies along with Six Sigma, Kaizen and various other approaches. Unlike traditional methods, target costing takes a very proactive approach to pricing. It analyzes the costing information of the product and suggests the best possible price upfront. This saves the wastage in time and costs involved in re-engineering and design. In particular, target costing concentrates on phase wise reduction of costs in a product life cycle. The decisions involve a large team a multi-level team of staff from production, engineering, etc. to determine the acceptable market price. Just-in-time method The JIT method is one of the lean methods used in the new production systems. It is very efficient in supply chains and production units in determining the quantity of products to be produced depending on the customer requirements. However, JIT method also results in a few disadvantages such as purchasing inventory that is not required immediately. Due to the stock up of inventory, there are chances of the goods being damaged or lost. Also, the more assets a company is holding, the higher premium it has to pay. Thus having excessive assets is not an efficient option. Assets include both cash and inventory, but cash is more flexible and helps in precluding loans which means lesser liabilities for the organization. When the demand increases, the orders would have to be rushed and thus greater staffing working in overtime is required. This would lead to an increase in the direct labor costs and also would reduce employee satisfaction. The company would also have to manage the orders in a short period of time which create a lot of trouble for the middle level management. This change in costs further affects the standard costing of a company. Total Quality Management Total quality management involves the continuous improvement of products and services while also involving the managers and employees in a quality management approach. TQM is aimed at increasing the quality while reducing the wastage in production of goods. Some of the popular companies involved in the adaptation of TQM include Toyota motor company, Ford motor company, Phillips semiconductor and SGL carbon. TQM involves the continuous improvement of a process, and thus improving the future results of a process. It contains a combination of quality management tools which helps in increasing the quality at pace with the improving market standards. Kaizen methods Kaizen in Japanese stands for improvement in simple terms. When the word is split, kai means change and zen means good. The most important aspect of a kaizen method is to standardize your process. Most of the companies that follow the kaizen method use a PDCA life cycle. One of the leading motor companies using this method efficiently is Toyota motors. Toyota has extensively implemented the continuous improvement strategy in its lifecycle. The basic steps of the kaizen method involve the Plan-Do-Check-Act life cycle. As the title suggests, the first step of the process involves planning the costs and estimating the costs accurately. The next step involves measuring and implementing the costs and the effectiveness using various measuring techniques. The third phase involves checking whether the standards are optimal and efficient and if not act accordingly towards continuous improvement. After achieving the new results, these are set as the new standards and thus create accuracy. The cycle repeats itself continuously improving the process. Pricing decisions in service sectors Most healthcare organizations do not realize the benefits of standard costing in an organization and thus result in high cost variances. The application of standard costing systems used in such organizations can help in realizing the losses in unrecovered overhead on time and hence take corrective action. In todays world, customers in the service sector demand the prices to be lowered and a better cost information system. The most effective way to deal with this is to use standard costing and variance analysis. Full costs per unit should be measured in advance of providing a service. The variable costs can thus be easily estimated since the facilities in the service sector directly use the pricing process.

Civil War and The Souths Loss Essay -- American History, Historical C

Civil War and The South's Loss â€Å"In all history, no nation of mere agriculturists ever made successful war against a nation of mechanics†¦You are bound to fail.† Union officer William Tecumseh Sherman to a Southern friend. â€Å"Why did the North win the Civil War?† is only half of a question by itself, for the other half is â€Å"Why did the South lose the Civil War?† To this day historians have tried to put their finger on the exact reason for the South losing the war. Some historians blame the head of the confederacy Jefferson Davis; however others believe that it was the shear numbers of the Union (North). The advantages and disadvantages are abundant on either sides of the argument, but the most dominate arguments on why the South lost the war would be the fact that state’s rights prevented unification of the South, Jefferson Davis' poor leadership and his failure to work together with his generals, the South failed to gain the recognition of the European nations, North's superior resources made the outcome inevitable, and moral of the South towards the end of the war. First, the South couldn’t have won the civil war because state’s rights prevented unification of the South. The very issue that created the Confederacy helped to destroy it. In waging war, the South faced problems of politics and government that greatly complicated its problem of economic mobilization. No one would deny the troublesome effect of the conflict generated by differing ideas of how best to protect liberty and to organize southern society for the war effort. Southern people insisted upon retaining their democratic liberties in wartime, which proved fatal for the South. They had to struggle with a â€Å"confederacy formed by particularistic politicians [that] could hardly be expected to adopt promptly those centralists polices which victory demanded† (Donald, p. 26). Individual state governors fought bitterly with Jefferson Davis to prevent him from consolidating power to fight the war. They withheld troops and supplies while the Confederate Congress sp ent its time arguing over the rights of the states instead of prosecuting a war of national survival. Many internal conflicts within the South were acquiring and weakening the South’s unity. Internal conflicts caused confederate officials to choose between moving troops from the coasts and strengthening their armies, or leaving the... ...iled to gain the recognition of the European nations, North's superior resources made the outcome inevitable, and moral of the South towards the end of the war. The Civil War was a trying time for both the North and the South alike, but the question of its outcome was obvious from the start. The North was guaranteed a decisive victory over the ill-equipped South. Northerners, prepared to endure the deficit of war, were startled to find that they were experiencing an enormous industrial boom even after the first year of war. To the South, however, the war was a draining and debilitating leech, sucking the land dry of any appearance of economical formidability. The debate continues whether or not the South could have won the Civil war. It’s always going to be a bunch of â€Å"what ifs?† Works Cited Beringer, Richard. et al. Why the South Lost the Civil War. Athens: University of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Georgia Press, 1986. Boritt, Gabor S. Why the Confederacy Lost. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992 Donald, David. et al. Why the North Won the Civil War. London: Collier Macmillan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Publishers, 1960. Gallagher, Gary. The Confederate War. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997.

Perfection :: Personal Narrative Teaching Papers

Perfection I need to capture this moment. I need to paint a picture so that many years from now, when my adventures are long since over, when I have nothing but my memories to look back on a life spent as a student trying to understand the intricacies of different cultures, I can recall this brief moment in my life. When I am old and gray and am waiting for the light of my life to expire, I can read this and truly feel the same thing I am feeling right now. I need to hold on to this memory. I’m 23 years old and very much alone in a country that is not my own, where faces do not look like mine, where every place I go I am stared at because I am the oddity in the everyday pattern of life. I’m always conscious of myself, of my every step, knowing that whatever I do or don’t do, whatever I say or don’t say, someone is judging me, my character, and my country because of my actions. It’s not an easy way to live. But, there is one place in this culture where I feel like I am home, where I want to run when I just want to fit in with the rest, where people don’t stare or gawk at me because I am a white face in the middle of Korea. I run to the girl’s high school where I teach English. I enter the walls of Jung Ang Girls High School and I know that I am where I belong for the time being, that no matter what, I will not feel like the outcast of society. In Korea, this is the place that I can truly call home. Teaching at an all girl’s high school in the middle of Jeju Island, South Korea is one of the best things that has happened in my 23 years of existence. Everyday I watch my students’ progress, not only with their English ability, but also with their understanding of the world. Everyday I teach them about the wonders of the world, never focusing too much on all things American because we are just one country in the world. What they need to learn from me is not how we celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Perfection :: Personal Narrative Teaching Papers Perfection I need to capture this moment. I need to paint a picture so that many years from now, when my adventures are long since over, when I have nothing but my memories to look back on a life spent as a student trying to understand the intricacies of different cultures, I can recall this brief moment in my life. When I am old and gray and am waiting for the light of my life to expire, I can read this and truly feel the same thing I am feeling right now. I need to hold on to this memory. I’m 23 years old and very much alone in a country that is not my own, where faces do not look like mine, where every place I go I am stared at because I am the oddity in the everyday pattern of life. I’m always conscious of myself, of my every step, knowing that whatever I do or don’t do, whatever I say or don’t say, someone is judging me, my character, and my country because of my actions. It’s not an easy way to live. But, there is one place in this culture where I feel like I am home, where I want to run when I just want to fit in with the rest, where people don’t stare or gawk at me because I am a white face in the middle of Korea. I run to the girl’s high school where I teach English. I enter the walls of Jung Ang Girls High School and I know that I am where I belong for the time being, that no matter what, I will not feel like the outcast of society. In Korea, this is the place that I can truly call home. Teaching at an all girl’s high school in the middle of Jeju Island, South Korea is one of the best things that has happened in my 23 years of existence. Everyday I watch my students’ progress, not only with their English ability, but also with their understanding of the world. Everyday I teach them about the wonders of the world, never focusing too much on all things American because we are just one country in the world. What they need to learn from me is not how we celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas.

Essay --

Samantha Rangel Professor Soma de Bourbon FYS 156/Technology and Society 15 November 2013 Serial Killer Everyone has heard or read about serial killers at one point in their lifetime. Serial killers are known to be dangerous psychotic people who enjoy killing. They are not known for being loveable towards their victims, they are brutal and have no regrets to what they do. One serial killer in particular was very brutal and has had a lot of fame around the world. Whenever someone hears the name Jack The Ripper, they wince at the thought of knowing what he did. Now a days they even have shows portraying Jack The Ripper. He is a widely known serial killer for the killing of five women. The police never identified Jack The Ripper, so no one has any idea who Jack The Ripper is. Jack murdered five women, prostitutes, and he horribly mutilated them between August 31- November 9, 1888 in Whitechapel, England (East End London). The investigators of the case believed that Jack might have had surgical knowledge due to the fact that three of the five women had their internal organs removed. Throu ghout Jacks killings there were hundreds of letters sent to the police and many of those letters hinted that they were Jack The Ripper or they were suggestions for ways to catch the Ripper. The police always disregarded those letters because they thought it was a waste of time reading over silly letters until one day three letters stood out of the bunch. The police believed that Jack The Ripper wrote them himself because they had specific details on how the women were being killed and they even said things like, â€Å" Yours truly, Jack The Ripper, Don’t mind me giving the trade name.† (casebook.org/ripper_letters) The three letters were â€Å"Dear Boss† (Sept... ...Most serial killers do have OCD which is obsessive compulsive disorder which is when you have to have things go a specific way or else you think everything is going wrong, so organized serial killers will most likely have this disorder. Having multiple personality disorder is when you have two personalities; one is your normal self which serial killers most likely use to cover up the fact that they are killers. Depression, anxiety, and panic attacks are triggered by the kind of things the serial killer goes through, so for depression the serial killer could get it from having a non-loving family, Anxiety can come from the struggles that the serial killer faces. Panic attacks can come from having too much anxiety. Serial killers are dangerous and very sick people. Most of them don’t realize they are doing something wrong because they could be severely mentally sick.

A Case Study of the Glass Bangle Industry

The glass manufacturing industry in Ferozabad, Uttar Pradesh, produces bangles, utensils, bulbs, decorative articles etc. The glass industry has been classified as hazardous and the employment of child labour (children below age 14 years) in it is prohibited. However, available research and literature indicated that child labour was concentrated mainly in the production of glass bangles. At the time of the present study over 50,000 children were generally believed to be engaged in the hazardous glass bangle industry of Ferozabad.The process of manufacture of glass bangles is broken down into six separate stages and each stage is done by a separate specialized enterprise. At the first stage, the spring bangles are produced at a glass factory and it involves work at the furnace and handling, coloring, and shaping the molten glass into a spring form or rings. The subsequent processes like straightening, linking up the edges of the glass spirals, joining the edges, hardening them, cuttin g designs into them and coloring the bangles are done in separate stages by small informal sector enterprises using different tools like kerosene lamps, abrasive wheel, mud oven, and chemical colors for each of the processes.Unlike glass factories, these small informal sector enterprises are not registered and difficult to observe as they are often located inside households and in small alleys. Moreover, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 does not cover the informal sector.OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGYThe study aimed to document the extent of child labour, types of activities in which children are engaged, employment conditions , and the cost implications of eliminating child labour. Data collection involved an enterprise survey. As the production process for glass bangles involves a number of different and distinct stages, enterprises were chosen from individual stages of production to ensure a representative selection. In all 268 enterprises with 4100 workers a nd approximately 1000 child labourers were covered.Anticipating that the information furnished by the employers on child labour and the number of children employed may be misleading or grossly understated, field investigators were trained to distinguish children from adults through observation. As this was still difficult to do for children in the 12-16 age group, investigators were allowed to record their observation in either of the three categories ‘definitely adult’, ‘definitely child’, or ‘probably child’. The category of ‘probably child’ was used when an investigator could not decide if a worker was a child.KEY FINDINGSThe total number of child labourers employed in the glass bangle industry was estimated on the basis of the number of children employed in different stages of production. Of the approximately 60,000 workers in the glass bangle industry, 9,40011,000 are children constituting about 16 to 19 percent of the workfor ce in this industry. Employment of children was confined  mostly to unskilled jobs like carrying and sorting in the glass factories. Within the stages of production where several different activities are performed, children do the least skilled of these activities (see table). In other words, children do not have unique or irreplaceable skills and are therefore not necessary for the glass bangles industry.The daily productivity per worker is between 12 to 32 tora (312 or 13 double dozen) bangles per day for different production stages. Children are commonly said by employers to work slower and take longer hours to achieve the same output as their adult counterparts. Each enterprise is paid on a piece rate basis. The wage payment system has a very strict control of the output.Teams of workers must achieve a prescribed minimum level of output in order to be given the agreed daily payment, and it often takes more than eight hours to achieve this minimum acceptable output. Since child ren are said to work slower than adults, they generally need to work longer hours than Working conditions & Health hazards adults in order to achieve the same output and therefore As ‘carriers’: the same daily income. carrying molten glass from the furnace to the Working spaces are small and cramped. Burns and respiratory problems are common occupational health hazards (see box). Several young males and adults were observed without the thumb or forefinger. Tuberculosis is a very common health problem in Ferozabad.Payments to child labourers are estimated to account for only about 15 percent of the total labour cost and so about 4 to 7 percent of the cost of producing a glass bangle. shaper or loom maker, constant exposure to the heat, sound and pollution. Straightening: work in closed rooms, no cross ventilation and are continuously exposed to smoke emitted from dozens of kerosene lamps. Joining and cutting: long hours of sitting in one posture, risk of cramps; continuo us exposure to smoke from the  kerosene lamps.Colouring: high toxic effect of chemical-based colours, handled with bare hands; colours stick to the fingers and palms and are difficult to remove. The increase in the cost of production of one dozen bangles (as most consumers buy bangles by the Hardening: dozen) as a result of elimination of child labour was working around a small furnace and hot trays; calculated in three different ways based on three burns are common. different assumptions.If a sufficient  number of adult workers from the large labour reserve in India are available and willing to work at the present, market determined wage rate , there would be no cost effect, as adults would replace children at the same piece rate payment. Assumptions 2 and 3 presuppose that adult workers would need to be paid a higher wage (10 and 20 percent, respectively) in order to attract the additional adult workers required to replace the child workers. In that case, production costs go u p by only about 2-3 paise a dozen for plain bangles and 6-12 paise for coloured and detailed cut bangles.In percentage terms, this would mean only a 0, 2 and 4 percent increase in the cost of glass bangles in all three scenarios. Even at the retail level (which we assume has a 200 percent mark-up compared to wholesale), the cost of a dozen glass bangles would go up by only 10-20 paise for plain bangles and 12-27 paise for coloured and detailed cut bangles. There is no economic  justification to employ child labour in the glass bangle industry, as children do not occupy a necessary role in the glass bangle production, nor do they have the skills that could not replaced by adults, and elimination of child labour would increase the cost of production only marginally.RECOMMENDATIONSImprove production technology and work environment of the glass bangle industry. In the shortrun, the health of those children who continue to work would improve. In the long run, the demand for child labou r should decrease as the increased capital investments made would create a need for more skilled and responsible adult workers. The number of adult labourers interested in doing this work should increase along with improvement in working conditions and increased wages resulting from the need for greater skills and responsibility. Thus it will have a favourable impact on the goal of eliminating child labour.

Discussion/ Technology and Operations management

Customization is here to stay and has become part of us. An achievement begins with strategies that know what to modify instead of only dealing with difficulties in management. The Working together of both the operations and marketing departments improves results (Orlando, 2007). According to Booz & Company (2008) lack of coordination by the marketing department and project management in doing some particular activities sets prices too high. This in turn affects the performance of customization strategies. Relationship between project management and marketing managementThe o relationship between project management and marketing management is the objectives need to be the same. Marketing’s main objective is to meet the demand and supply of consumers without thinking of prices. The project manager is supposed to find a way to minimize these costs. (Booz & Company, 2008). They need to come to some level of agreement in terms of setting objectives so that they set specific objecti ves that reduces costs and keeps consumers satisfied. The other relationship between marketers and operations is cutting costs and satisfying consumers’ needs.There seems to be a conflict between project management and marketing department. Instead of cooperating with each other, they are at loggerheads. Marketing wants many varieties to choose from while operations want to make those changes at low costs. The other relationship between the two departments is that they are reimbursed differently. Marketing revolves around unit sales while project management main concern is about reducing manufacturing cost. Project managers and marketers do not have the same interests.This factor can strain there relationship between them. Project managers are technicians and doers. While marketers do not deal with specific issues (Booz & Company, 2008). Other relationship that they share between them is reduction of costs. When project managers, cut down costs and do not consult marketersâ⠂¬â„¢ then that becomes a problem. Relevance of project management in the work force Project management and marketing management are important to each other and there is need for harmonization for the two when working together.One department cannot do without the other, they are essential to each other (Booz & company,2008). The operations person assumes that, the sales people do not appreciate the cost factors while the sales people assume that the operations people do not appreciate that consumers are everything (Booz & company, 2008). There is need for a truce because in the event that they do not consult with each other it can bring to much variety of goods or cause costs to escalate (Booz & company, 2008).Another importance is the involvement of top leadership in encouraging dialogue between the two departments. In addition, there needs to be a meeting where both, project management and marketing department discuss about strategies to create teams that are cross -functional. Th e relevance of finding a common ground to discuss these issues is of great importance as it attributes to actions that solely base on costing analysis (Booz & Company, 2008). What is apparent is what choices are made and when to make them.The importance is to know the main objective of your organization’s purpose, as this will boost productions as well as marketing productivity. Appreciating both the real price and worth of the goods is important (Booze &Company, 2008). Organizations should centre there attention on customer understanding and set customizable elements into specific packages as an alternative of giving thousands of variations (Booze &Company, 2008). Incorporating strategic partners is essential in investigating costs productions (Orlando, 2007).Conclusion It is therefore apparent that project management helps in reducing cost productions, in the case of Egol, Booz &company, (2008) remembers a situation where he modified nearly all the machinery in trying to pl ease the consumers wants because they had specific requirements. If consumers are overwhelmed with goods to buy, they get so confused until they do not but at all. If here was an operational management they would have stopped the over indulgence. Reference Booz & Company. (2008).The challenge of customization: Bringing Operations and Marketing together the global commercial consulting firm. Retrieved on 22nd July 2009. Available at http://www.strategy-business.com/press/sbkw2/sbkwarticle/sbkw040616?tid=230&pg= Orlando, F. S. (2007). Centered collaboration2007, Retrieved on 22nd   July 2009. Available at http://www.gmaonline.org/events/2007/isld/presentations/overcomingc.pdf. Discussion/ Technology and Operations Management International Project management is very essential to control resource usage to ensure quality productions. International projects involve many people with different cultures and backgrounds. It is therefore necessary to have management system that harmonizes the cultural, social, political and economic differences amongst them. Project manager should be tactical and wise in decision making to ensure every project member is well catered for and maximum utilization of the resources is achieved to meet project objectives (Kwak, 2002). Development of an international project management plan in workplaceInternational project development environments are affected with many factors originating from within and outside the development environments by nature. International project development plan may be affected by cultural, social, political and economic factors and so the management plan should consider all these factors (Kwak, 2002). The international project management plan should consid er all possible physical factors in the countries involved for mitigation. In addition, the laws and regulations governing different countries should be considered to ensure political stability.With the political factors solved, there will be improved returns on investments due to reduction in risks resulting from uncertainties in the international project development environment. In any business, there has to be legal requirements to be met. An international project development management system has to meet all the legal requires in terms of government policies and regulations. These factors may affect prices, exchange rates in the markets, taxations and even financial management systems. This may lead to some people losing their jobs and others incurring losses in the business.As a business right, political factors should be well managed to ensure market stability for the market users (Kwak, 2002). Cultural factors such as style or values should be considered when developing an in ternational project development management system. Since some countries are not aware of the some cultural resources in other countries, assistance should be provided to facilitate the international projects development process. Cultural value should be put into consideration when designing the management system. When planning for an international project management system, technological factors should be put in to consideration.This is because technological designs and level of use vary from country to country (Kwak, 2002). This may lead to varied participation levels in a project and so a project manager should consider the variation to successfully manage a project. Employing project management techniques to skillfully and ethically lead complex international projects in organizations Project management is a technique through which projects can be evaluated to encourage soft skills application in contrast with the hard skills to achieve the project goals.Soft skills are mostly ba sed on the technical resources required to carryout a project such as stakeholders’ contributions, collaboration or teamwork, organizational behaviors and management strategies (Marques, 2005). According to Harold (2005), for a successful project management in an organization, skillful and ethical techniques for a success in a complex or large organization are as follows. First, there has to be process integrations in the organizations. Integration of processes involves forming teamwork or collaborations in a project to ensure every member’s requirements are catered for in the product design.In addition, teamwork ensures success because of improved participation amongst members. Second, incorporation of cultural values at the design stages of a management system. Incorporation of the cultural values in multicultural organization will ensure equitable presentation of all members rights and therefore not to lower their dignity or abuse their rights (Harold, 2005). Third, information and support managements, which includes monitoring and assessing the communication systems to capture everyone’s views in terms of comments or suggestions.Forth, trainings should be provided to all members of an organization particularly in technology use to enable them to embrace technology use. In many occasions, management well trained employees in an organization are highly empowered and they participate fully in all areas within the organization to improve productivity. Fifth, behavioral excellence that involves instilling ethical values to the employees. Employees have to know their rights and how to protect them in the organization.Management system should provide fro a way in which petitions in the working environment can be solved fairly to create unity and harmony amongst workers (Harold, 2005). Diversity & cross-cultural perspectives, Team building skills, Decision making in the workplace In a multicultural environment, there has to be change managemen t, which enables new members in the organization to be induced well and successful fit in the new working environment. Decision-making based production methods should be put in to considerations to avoid resource wastages and satisfy all internal requirements in an organization.Lean manufacturing should be adopted to only produce when needed to minimize resource consumption in the organization (Joomla, 2009). In addition to lean manufacturing, project management should be carried out in all projects in an organization. This is to ensure quality performances to continuously improve in productions. Project management will also ensure cost effective use of resources particularly in a large and complex organization. In diverse and multicultural organizations, conflicts are likely to happen due to the cultural and environmental differences.Conflict management system should be availed to provide fair judgments to the organizational members. Teamwork or collaboration should be encouraged t o facilitate decision-making and enhance innovativeness (Joomla, 2009). Enhanced decision making and innovativeness will lead to quality production through making good plans for investments. Innovation may also lead to improvements in the supply chain levels. A well-managed supply chain model can be improved through innovation or technology use to eliminate non-value adding processes to production processes.Conclusion Project management is very fundamental in all projects whether in large or small organizations. International project management is just as necessary as the local ones (Marques, 2005). In multicultural organizations, the employees have to be trained on various social, cultural, political and economic factors to ensure uniformity during a joint project. Project managers are required to consider the cultural factors when designing a management structure for all the members to be accommodated and be free to fully participate in the organizational tasks. Reference: Harold, K. (2005). Advanced Project Management best Practices on Implementation, 2nd ed, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey Joomla. (2009). Certification, Innovation, Decision Making, Project Management, Team Building, Conflict Management: Certification Programs for Educational and Business Organizations Standards or Courses Custom Designed for your Organization. Joomla. Viewed on 13th June 2009, Available at http://endeavourprojects.com/Joomla Kwak, Y. H. (2002). Critical Success Factors in International Development Project Management. Viewed on 13th June 2009. Available at http://home.gwu.edu/~kwak/Kwak_CIB65_2002.pdf Marques, G. M. (2005). Discussion of the distinguishing features of Project Management in the 21st Century. Viewed on 13th June 2009. Available at http://www.caaei.org/anexos/65.doc