The Discovery of Electronics

The first practical application of electricity was the telegraph, invented by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1837. The need for electrical engineers was not felt until some 40 years later, upon the invention of the telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell and of the incandescent lamp (1878) by Thomas A. Edison. These devices and Edison's first central generating plant in New York City (1882) created a large demand for men trained to work with electricity. The discovery of the â€Å"Edison effect,† a flow of current through the vacuum of one of his lamps, was the first observation of current in space. Hendrick Antoon Lorentz of The Netherlands predicted the electron theory of electrical charge in 1895, and in 1897 J. J. Thomson of England showed that the Edison effect current was indeed caused by negatively charged particles (electrons). This led to the work of Guglielmo Marconi of Italy, Lee De Forest of the United States, and many others, which laid the foundations of radio engineering. In 1930 the term electronics was introduced to embrace radio and the industrial applications of electron tubes. Since 1947, when the transistor was invented by John Bardeen, William H. Brattain, and William B. Shockley, electronics engineering has been dominated by the applications of such solid-state electronic devices as the transistor, the semiconductor diode, and the integrated circuit. the branch of engineering concerned with the practical applications of electricity in all its forms, including those of the field of electronics. Electronics engineering is that branch of electrical engineering concerned with the uses of the electromagnetic spectrum and with the application of such electronic devices as integrated circuits, transistors, and vacuum tubes. In engineering practice, the distinction between electrical engineering and electronics is based on the comparative strength of the electric currents used. In this sense, electrical engineering is the branch dealing with â€Å"heavy current†-that is, electric light and power systems and apparatuses-whereas electronics engineering deals with such â€Å"light current† applications as wire and radio communication, the stored-program electronic computer, radar, and automatic control systems. The distinction between the fields has become less sharp with technical progress. For example, in the high-voltage transmission of electric power, large arrays of electronic devices are used to convert transmission-line current at power levels in the tens of megawatts. Moreover, in the regulation and control of interconnected power systems, electronic computers are used to compute requirements much more rapidly and accurately than is possible by manual methods Electrical phenomena attracted the attention of European thinkers as early as the 17th century. Beginning as a mathematically oriented science, the field has remained primarily in that form; mathematical predication often precedes laboratory demonstration. The most noteworthy pioneers include Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert and Georg Simon Ohm of Germany, Hans Christian Orsted of Denmark, Andre-Marie Ampere of France, Alessandro Volta of Italy, Joseph Henry of the United States, and Michael Faraday of England. Electrical engineering may be said to have emerged as a discipline in 1864 when the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell summarized the basic laws of electricity in mathematical form and predicted that radiation of electromagnetic energy would occur in a form that later became known as radio waves. In 1887 the German physicist Heinrich Hertz experimentally demonstrated the existence of radio waves. The first practical application of electricity was the telegraph, invented by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1837. The need for electrical engineers was not felt until some 40 years later, upon the invention of the telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell and of the incandescent lamp (1878) by Thomas A. Edison. These devices and Edison's first central generating plant in New York City (1882) created a large demand for men trained to work with electricity. The discovery of the â€Å"Edison effect,† a flow of current through the vacuum of one of his lamps, was the first observation of current in space. Hendrick Antoon Lorentz of The Netherlands predicted the electron theory of electrical charge in 1895, and in 1897 J. J. Thomson of England showed that the Edison effect current was indeed caused by negatively charged particles (electrons). This led to the work of Guglielmo Marconi of Italy, Lee De Forest of the United States, and many others, which laid the foundations of radio engineering. In 1930 the term electronics was introduced to embrace radio and the industrial applications of electron tubes. Since 1947, when the transistor was invented by John Bardeen, William H. Brattain, and William B. Shockley, electronics engineering has been dominated by the applications of such solid-state electronic devices as the transistor, the semiconductor diode, and the integrated circuit. The functions performed by electrical and electronics engineers include (1) basic research in physics, other sciences, and applied mathematics in order to extend knowledge applicable to the field of electronics, (2) applied research based on the findings of basic research and directed at discovering new applications and principles of operation, (3) development of new materials, devices, assemblies, and systems suitable for existing or proposed product lines, (4) design of devices, equipment, and systems for manufacture, (5) field-testing of equipment and systems, (6) establishment of quality control standards to be observed in manufacture, (7) supervision of manufacture and production testing, (8) postproduction assessment of performance, maintenance, and repair, and (9) engineering management, or the direction of research, development, engineering, manufacture, and marketing and sales.

Global distribution

Online through Turning Marks: 30 marks Objectives This assessment item relates to the course learning outcomes 1 to 4 as stated in the unit outline. Students are to form their own groups and select their own group members. There will be a maximum of 5 members in a group. Guidelines: You must use at least 15 peer-reviewed publications to support your essay.In addition, you will need to read and refer to non-peer reviewed documents such as kooks, trade journals and articles to substantiate your discussion. Length: Maximum 4500 words Size 12, Font Times New Roman. Double-spaced. Margin 2. CACM all round. Use the Chicago referencing style. You should demonstrate a mature level of post-graduate writing. Transportation concepts and approaches learnt in this unit must be linked to this assignment.Students will be evaluated (as a group) in terms of their capacity to demonstrate understanding of the key issues in the relevant literature and applying it to the area f transportation and distrib ution management under supply chain competitive advantage and optimal performance'. Writing skills will be assessed. This Includes executive summary, Introduction, body, conclusion, high level of critical analysis and discussion of academic journal articles, supporting articles to the authors opinions and conclusions. Must demonstrate the width and depth of the arguments.A professional level of presentation is expected. All references must be and listed in the reference section. SE illustrations, diagrams, charts and table to enhance your report. Check the Assessment Marking Guide (end of this document). Make sure that you can tick off the items listed as you are writing or reviewing your manuscript. Many of these marks are easy to get. Examples: all references must be cited within the text, summary of main points, using the right referencing style. Check what you have done against the Assessment Marking Guide and make sure they match closely.Use your spell check functions. Proofrea d your document. Volume of global trade has increased multi-fold in the past decade. This has impacted on transportation infrastructure in many countries. The statement the essay needs to be addressed â€Å"Discuss how Transportation optimization has contributed to increased efficiencies in transportation and distribution†. Information may be drawn from trade, practitioner, and academic Journals to discuss this statement.

Wensha vs Yung Case Digest

G. R. No. 185122 August 16, 2010 WENSHA SPA CENTER, INC. and/or XU ZHI JIE, Petitioners, vs. LORETA T. YUNG, Respondent. A petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court filed by an employer who was charged before the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) for dismissing an employee upon the advice of a Feng Shui master. Facts: Wensha Spa Center, Inc. (Wensha) in Quezon City is in the business of sauna bath and massage services. Xu Zhi Jie a. k. a. Pobby Co (Xu) is its president,3 respondent Loreta T. Yung (Loreta) was its administrative manager at the time of her termination from employment.Loreta recounted that on August 10, 2004, she was asked to leave her office because Xu and a Feng Shui master were exploring the premises. Later that day, Xu asked Loreta to go on leave with pay for one month. She did so and returned on September 10, 2004. Upon her return, Xu and his wife asked her to resign from Wensha because, according to the Feng Shui master, her au ra did not match that of Xu. Loreta refused but was informed that she could no longer continue working at Wensha. That same afternoon, Loreta went to the NLRC and filed a case for illegal dismissal against Xu and Wensha.Labor Arbiter (LA) Francisco Robles dismissed Loreta’s complaint for lack of merit. He found it more probable that Loreta was dismissed from her employment due to Wensha’s loss of trust and confidence in her. NLRC affirmed in its Resolution,9 citing its observation that Wensha was still considering the proper action to take on the day Loreta left Wensha and filed her complaint. CA reversed the ruling of the NLRC on the ground that it gravely abused its discretion in appreciating the factual bases that led to Loreta’s dismissal. The CA noted that there were irregularities and inconsistencies in Wensha’s position.Issue: Whether or not petitioner Xu Zhi Jie is solidarily liable with Wensha. Ruling: Loreta’s security of tenure is guaran teed by the Constitution and the Labor Code. Under the security of tenure guarantee, a worker can only be terminated from his employment for cause and after due process. The records are bereft of evidence that Loreta was duly informed of the charges against her and that she was given the opportunity to respond to those charges prior to her dismissal. If there were indeed charges against Loreta that Wensha had to investigate, then it should have informed her of those charges and required her to explain her side.Wensha should also have kept records of the investigation conducted while Loreta was on leave. The law requires that two notices be given to an employee prior to a valid termination: the first notice is to inform the employee of the charges against her with a warning that she may be terminated from her employment and giving her reasonable opportunity within which to explain her side, and the second notice is the notice to the employee that upon due consideration of all the cir cumstances, she is being terminated from her employment. This is a requirement of due process and clearly, Loreta did not receive any of those required notices.Nevertheless, the Court finds merit in the argument of petitioner Xu that the CA erred in ruling that he is solidarily liable with Wensha. Elementary is the rule that a corporation is invested by law with a personality separate and distinct from those of the persons composing it and from that of any other legal entity to which it may be related. â€Å"Mere ownership by a single stockholder or by another corporation of all or nearly all of the capital stock of a corporation is not of itself sufficient ground for disregarding the separate corporate personality. In labor cases, corporate directors and officers may be held solidarily liable with the corporation for the termination of employment only if done with malice or in bad faith. Bad faith does not connote bad judgment or negligence; it imports a dishonest purpose or some moral obliquity and conscious doing of wrong; it means breach of a known duty through some motive or interest or ill will; it partakes of the nature of fraud. In the subject decision, the CA concluded that petitioner Xu and Wensha are jointly and severally liable to Loreta.We have read the decision in its entirety but simply failed to come across any finding of bad faith or malice on the part of Xu. There is, therefore, no justification for such a ruling. To sustain such a finding, there should be an evidence on record that an officer or director acted maliciously or in bad faith in terminating the services of an employee. Moreover, the finding or indication that the dismissal was effected with malice or bad faith should be stated in the decision itself.

The Human Genome Project promises a revolutionary insight to the Essay

The Human Genome Project promises a revolutionary insight to the genetic 'blueprint' of the human body. Consider the social, - Essay Example Ethical issues include balancing individual interests against the interests of others, and such considerations as potentially racist applications and unforeseen consequences of information which gene-related activities can produce. Some of the most critical issues such as privacy and the desire not to know are highlighted. Financial implications for society at large, private companies and for individuals are explored. Finally there is assessment of the extent to which the Frankenstein metaphor applies to this project. The paper concludes that the Human Genome Project is an extremely powerful resource which can be used for good or evil purposes, and that we have resolved some, but by no means all, of the major ethical issues that it brings. The Human Genome Project promises a revolutionary insight to the genetic â€Å"blueprint† of the human body. Consider the social, ethical, and economic implications of this project for society, and the potential for applications of this rese arch. Genetic engineering is a relatively new science, which rests on the pioneering work of Gregor Mendel on the garden pea, leading to the formulation of Mendel’s laws in 1866. (Thomas, 2003 pp. 1-3). ... They were motivated by scientific curiosity and, as in so many laboratories, the focus was on the pure science, theories and explanations of what was going on at the tiniest possible levels of genes and chromosomes within the human body. At this stage there was very little concern for the ethical and moral implications of these new discoveries. The field of genetics made further progress with the invention of effective gene sequencing techniques in the mid 1970’s. At first only tiny viruses and bacteria were studied, but with advances in computing and automation, more complex organisms could be studied. Throughout the 1980s techniques improved so considerably that attention turned to the human genome. The Huntingdon’s disease gene was mapped to chromosome 4 in 1983 (Collins and McKusick: 2001, p. 541) but this was only a first step towards accurately locating the disease to its specific position there. There was no systematic way of sequencing all of the genes, and the scale of the task, encompassing some 3 billion base pairs, defeated even the best technology of the time. More resources were needed to tackle such a huge task. In 1989 both private and publicly funded organisations began to map the whole human genome. An international consortium was set up in 1990 and named the Human Genome Project. At this stage, finally, some of the more serious implications of the project were realised, and a portion the funding amounting to between 3% and 5% was set aside for exploration of the moral and ethical issues attached to the research. (Collins and McKusick, 2001, p. 540) Over a period of 13 years, the Human Genome Project was carried out in various locations,

Understanding Consumer Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Understanding Consumer Behaviour - Essay Example Wayne and Deborah (2009) define the term consumer behavior as â€Å"Consumer behavior reflects the totality of consumer’s decisions with respect to acquisition, consumption, and disposition of goods, services, activities, experiences, people, and ideas by (human) decision-making units.† (Wayne & Deborah, 2009, p. 3) The main aim of literature review is to provide an inclusive description about different models and theories of consumer behavior in context of generating positive attitudes related to some particular products or brands. Models and theories are selected which have a core relationship between consumer behavior and marketing strategies. The other main area of literature review is to specifically review the effects of celebrities on some certain products. One way of analyzing the markets is to review and examine the projected goals through customer satisfaction, communication, and anticipation. It is quite normal that marketers conduct public surveys to judge t he consumer behavior and to find out their primary target market. By doing so, they understand the needs of their customers better than competitors and therefore implement their strategic marketing more effectively (Jobber, 2001 and Peter & Olson, 2008). Marketing researchers assert that attracting the new customers to a particular product is much cost effective and harder as compared to retain the existing customers, therefore organizations apply ‘Below The Line (BLT)’promotion model to keep the existing customers loyal with the organizations and to attract the potential customers through some comprehensive advertising campaign and marketing plan (Lanman, 2003). There are certain types of industries which primarily are... The intention of this paper is consumer behavior as the study of individuals, oragnizations, and their procedures with respect to the selection, security, and utilization of products, services, ideas or experiences to put a positive impression on the satisfaction and confidence level of consumer or society. Primarily there are four areas of application of consumer behavior. The first and foremost is marketing strategy and thats why consumer behavior is also termed as psychology of marketing. Obviously the main purpose behind any marketing strategy is to formulate and execute a better marketing campaign. For instance, the media schedule snake or fries advertisements in later afternoon because it considers that consumers are more food receptive during that period of day. It is natutal that each new product takes it time to gain popularity amongst consumers, therefore, the introductory companies need to be finacially strong to stay afloat untill their product achieves commercial dominan ce. Further, it is necessary to make the initial customers plaese because they will actually play the most important role in launching a succeessful campaign. The second applicarion is public policy i.e. to gather the data of ceneral trends of the target market and the atracts thge attiyudes of consumers towrds some specific brands or products. Marketers use several theories and models to attract the consumers and change their behavior by influencing positive attitudes towards different brands.

WSJ.com only Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

WSJ.com only - Essay Example Most companies intended to increase their capital expenditures in order to enhance their efficiency and to improve logistic needs, which are very essential to the growth of any company. Recession is one of the most challenging concepts in finance and economics. Scott presents a succinct explanation on how recession impacted US companies and the entire US economy. Reading and analysing financial articles especially with regards to figures are quite challenging. One thing I find difficult and challenging in this article is the use of figures and graphs. Most of the graphs and figures on the performance of the companies and the entire economy is complex. Scott also says that most US companies survived recession, created jobs and contributed to the economic growth but at the same time stating that US jobs reduced and levels of unemployment went high. The analysis is also not clear given that most companies, which collapsed were not included in the

Commercial Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Commercial Law - Essay Example According to the problem, Gill who had made hire-purchase contract with Bob’s Motors by exchanging her Ford Fiesta with Nissan Micra by overlooking her previously made contract with Universal Finance. Besides, the third problem in this case depicts the issue of serious engine fault in a second-hand Nissan 370Z sports car by Hussein after purchasing it from Bob’s Motors. Therefore, the study provides relevant advice to Hampshire Hire Ltd, Universal Finance Ltd and Joan along with Hussein on the basis of the case situation. The discussion of the study provides the claims that can be made by each party relating to the case and also ensures to demonstrate effective remedies that are available for the parties to claim their responsibilities. With reference to the problem associated with the case of Bob’s Motors Ltd., it has been ascertained that John, a key representative of the company (Bob’s Motors Ltd.) had entered into a valid contractual agreement with Hampshire Hire Ltd. for selling Nissan Note cars for  £13,000 each. According to the deal, Bob’s Motors is likely to deliver four new Nissan Note cars on 25th June 2014. In the similar context, Hampshire Hire has accepted the terms and conditions of the contract and agreed to carry the pre-ordered vehicles at his own risk. However, the transporter had undergone natural calamities that led all the pre-ordered Nissan Note cars by Hampshire Hire to explode. In this context, Bob’s Motors has denied to take the responsibility regarding the incident. Subsequently, it can be stated that the incident associated with the explosion of four Nissan Note cars during the delivery to Hampshire Hire occurred due to lightning. In relation to the concern associated with the case of Hampshire Hire, the occurrence of such unavoidable incident can be termed under the consideration of Force Majeure. According to Sale of Goods Act in English contract law, it

Business Etiquettes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Etiquettes - Research Paper Example In a situation where the name is too long or complicated, the person concerned should make the name shorter or change it to a format that is easily understood. A better way of dealing with such a situation is encrypting a person’s name on a business card in a way that is readable (Giang, 2013). During business meetings, the participants should avoid pointing each other using their index fingers. Pointing with an index finger is an indicator of aggression and is inappropriate in a business environment. When pointing, the palm should be open and the fingers should not be separated to avoid making the other party uncomfortable. Some business manners or codes of conduct should be taken into consideration. When dealing with people, consideration should be made on the person’s sex because addressing a gentleman is not the same as addressing a lady. Sometimes a person can be irritated by others in a business gathering but it is important for such people to maintain their composure and stay polite (Robinson, 2000). To make a good impression as a business person, care should be taken when walking inside business premises. Business people should walk with a sense of purpose and with some level of elegancy. Weird walking styles should be avoided. Walking with purpose means that a person should not walk aimlessly and carelessly around business premises (Chaney & Martin, 2007). Grooming is an important aspect of making an impression in the business world. The hair should be neat and well kept. When it is necessary to incorporate jewelry into the dressing code, the jewelry should match the prevalent occasion. Individuals should also dress according to the occasion keeping in mind that business meetings are distinct from social gatherings (Sabath, 1993). Business people should address each other using the relevant titles. The titles vary according to the region where business activities are being carried out. For example in the Middle East you will find

Brand management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Brand management - Essay Example At the present, the handheld market does not even have one of the main competitors, Microsoft, as anything more than a blip on the radar (Dalrymple, 2010). Prior to the release of the IPhone and IPod Touch, the market share had the DS beating out the Playstation Portable by several times the number of units sold (Wilson, 2007). More recently, the score has shifted thusly: The DS has 40 million units worldwide and the PSP 25 million (Wilson, 2007). The IPhone hasn't broken extensively out of the European and American markets, while the DS has the advantage of being found all over the globe (Stang et al, 2007; Wilcox, 2009). The iPhone has been basically marketed exclusively at the US, instead of emerging market like Russia and India, despite Apple's ballyhoo: â€Å"Emerging markets and Apple's flawed strategy in India and Russia top my reasons for questioning how high the platform will ascend before falling back to earth...The 70+ countries is something that looks good on paper, but in terms of volume it doesn't address the regional dynamics. One of the reasons why Nokia and Samsung are so good in developing markets is because they have mastered the art of effective manufacturing and distribution. They can make devices/services that suit the market† (Wilcox, 2009). Thus, though hard global data is difficult to find, it's clear that the global distribution is more like 2008 than 2010 above, with the IPhone being the third player. The takeaway story from the handheld market is this: Nintendo leads the most lucrative market by anywhere from close to a two-to-one to a three-to-one ratio against its competitors. Apple is moving up, but will likely not overtake the behemoth. Apple took 9% of its near market share from the PSP and 5% from the DS, meaning that the fight can be more meaningfully described as a battle for second place. Sony is also announcing a new second-generation PSP (Brown, 2011). The new Nintendo 3DS has many titles in the Japanese top ten, sh owing good penetration (Jenkins, 2011). This seems to suggest that Apple will have a brutal fight for second place, dealing with a new PSP challenger, while neither will be able to challenge Nintendo's entrenched advantage stemming from being the only handheld challenger to stay in the game from the Game Boy to the GBA to the SP to the DS. Also note that, in the handheld market, it is proper to include any other cell phone, which typically have games like Bejeweled or Tetris available for them, with the cell-phone gaming industry being an oft-ignored but serious source of gaming hours. In any respect, it is important when analyzing the success of the major three consoles to bear some lessons in mind: 1. Nintendo's success with the Wii is complimented as a â€Å"one-two punch† with the DS (Wilson, 2007). The DS has sold more than the three non-portable consoles combined. 2. Sony is being beaten by a large margin in the handheld market. Even if they were to do substantially bet ter near the end of this generation's life in their Playstation 3 offerings, such as with the announcement of the Move, they would still be behind in a major arena. 3. Microsoft is not even a competitor in the handheld m

Definitions of Tourism Essay Example for Free

Definitions of Tourism Essay Tourism is a booming industry and a driving force in positive economical, ecological, sustainable, social and cultural developments in several countries around the globe. Its complex nature requires sophisticated management in order to reach its full potential. Most people possess an intuitive and basic understanding of tourism, which focuses on an image of people travelling for recreational purposes, however, tourism, goes far beyond this simplistic view. According to Stear (2005), the area of studying tourism has an apparent lack of substance when it comes to defining the basic terms ‘tourism’ and ‘tourist’. Although the concept of tourism itself has been around for many centuries, the academic study of tourism in the tertiary educational sector is a recent development. There is no single definition of tourism to which everyone adheres. Many definitions have been used over the years, some of which are universal and can be applied to any situation, while others fulfil a specific purpose. This essay aims to define who exactly a ‘tourist’ is and what the term ‘tourism’ means through technical and heuristic definitions from articles written by Stear (2005), Dickman (1997), and McIntosh et al (1995). Throughout the essay definitions from organisations such as the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) will also be drawn upon. The ambiguity of two seemingly simple concepts in theory – who a tourist is and what tourism entails will be discussed through a range of academic articles, which will address and highlight the strengths, weaknesses and differences between them. The foci and boundaries of each definition will be determined in order to assess their effectiveness. Whilst each definition is unique in their own right, there are also many similarities, which can be noted. Weaver (2010) states that â€Å"the definition of ‘tourism’ is dependent on the definition of the ‘tourist’ and when defining whom exactly is a ‘tourist’, individuals must simultaneously meet certain spatial, temporal and purposive criteria†, which will be discussed below. First and foremost, Stear (2005) defines tourism as â€Å"†¦Tourism is travel and temporary stay, involving at least one night away from the region of a person’s usual home that is undertaken with the major expectation of satisfying leisure needs that are perceived as being more njoyably able to be satisfied by being at places outside of, and qualitatively different to, the home region † (Stear 2005, pg. 8). Stear also has a clear definition of a tourist, which he refers to as â€Å"†¦ A tourist is a person engaging in activities directly associated with present or future travel and temporary stay that involves at least one night away from the region of their usual home that is undertaken with the major expectation of satisfying leisure needs that are perceived as being more enjoyably able to be satisfied by places outside of, and qualitatively different to, the home region. (Stear 2005, pg. 11) A clear fault of Stear’s heuristic definitions of ‘tourism’ and ‘tourist’ is the limitation or restriction of the time period of â€Å"at least one night away†, in which Stear fails to take into account the temporal element of tourism. The notion of how long, if any time at all, that must be spent away from one’s usual home is an aspect, which is not uniform amongst definitions of tourism. Another weakness of Stear’s definitions is the l imitation of â€Å"the region of a person’s usual home†, which implies that physically moving away from your home would make you a tourist. According to the UNWTO (cited in Weaver, 2010), for an individual to qualify as a tourist â€Å"travel must occur beyond the individual’s ‘usual environment’†. The spatial boundary of tourism as discussed by Weaver (2010) is unclear in this instance as an individual who lives in Sydney but stays in Canberra during the week for work would then be considered a tourist under this definition. Whilst Stear’s (2005) definition states a minimum stay requirement to be considered a tourist, it does not state a maximum timeframe, unlike that of other definitions, which clearly state a maximum period of time before someone loses the title of ‘tourist’. The UNWTO (1995) provides a more technical definition and defines tourism as an individual â€Å"travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes. † This definition is broader in scope compared to Stear’s (2005), which specifies that an individual who travels is only a tourist when their travel is â€Å"undertaken with the major expectation of satisfying leisure needs. † The UNWTO definition (cited in Weaver, 2010) is complemented by Dickman’s (1997, pg. 7) who identifies a tourist as â€Å"†¦a visitor who travels to a place utside his/her usual environment for at least one night but no more than six months (domestic) or one year (international) and whose main purpose of visit is other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited† and tourism as â€Å"†¦a non-essential activity, or one that is predominantly rela ted to leisure activities† (Dickman, 1997 pg. 7). Compared to Stear’s (2005) definition of tourism, Dickman’s (1997) heuristic definition is very brief and extremely vague as spatial relevance and time period are both not addressed. Furthermore, Dickman’s (1997) definition is limited as it only refers to the activity side of tourism whereas Leiper (2004) discusses a basic tourism system involving the tourist, the generating region, the transit route, the destination and the movement in between. Despite this limitation, a major strength of Dickman’s (1997) definition is that it defines and takes into consideration the differences between domestic and international tourists. This comparison has also been addressed by Weaver (2010) who declares that a domestic tourist is one that travels within their own country of residence, whilst an international tourist travels outside their usual country of residence. The third and final authors McIntosh et al. (1995) describes tourism as â€Å"†¦the entire world industry of travel, hotels, transportations, and all other components, including promotion, that serves the needs and wants of travellers. Tourism today has been given new meaning and is primary a term of economics referring to the industry†. On the other hand, ‘tourist’ is defined as â€Å"†¦a person who travels from place to place for non work reasons by U. N. definition, a tourist is someone who stays for more than one night and less than a year. Business and convention travel is included. This thinking is dominated by balance-of-trade concepts. Military personnel, diplomats, immigrants and resident students are not tourists† (McIntosh et al. , 1995). The heuristic definition above of ‘tourism’ incorporates the industry as a whole, which is a major strength in comparison to the other definitions, hich only take into account the physical act of travelling. The tourism industry is not identifiable as a standard industry but is rather an amalgamation of parts of other conventional industries such as retail, hospitality, accommodation, entertainment and transport (Weaver, 2010). The incorporation of ‘tourism’ as an industry takes on a different approach to defining tourism and makes finding a clarified and universal meaning for ‘tourism’ and ‘tourist’ even more complicated. McIntosh et al. 1995) refer to the tourist in a very specific manner including different types of tourists such as business tourists, which is a strong point, as a tourist can’t be just defined in one aspect. According to Weaver (2010), â€Å"a basic tourist criterion concerns travel purpose which is dominated by three major categories – leisure and recreation, visiting friends and relative and business. † Compared to Stear (2005) and Dickman’s (1997) narrow definitions, McIntosh et al. (1995) have a much broader, flexible view on defining tourism and the tourist. In both definitions of ‘tourist’ Dickman (1997) and McIntosh et al. 1995) describe an individual moving out of their ‘usual environment’, which is considered a key element in the definition. Weaver (2010) supports this definition in his discussion of fulfilling the spatial component in order to be considered a tourist. Whilst this is considered a highly subjective concept, many tourism bodies specify minimum distance thresholds, which â€Å"serve the useful purpose of [differentiating] those who bring outside revenue into the local area from those who circulate revenue internallyâ €  (Weaver, 2010, pg. 22-23). When reviewing the definition by McIntosh et al. 1995), a key downfall is the reference to ‘resident students’ not being considered tourists, which can be questioned. An international student may wish to travel overseas first to experience the culture of the country they plan on studying in, however under this definition, even if they wish to take part in and visit tourist attractions which are recreational and leisure based they aren’t considered tourists. Most people do not intuitively associate study or formal education with tourism however it is considered a qualifying criterion by the UNWTO. In Australia alone, in 2007-08 international students accounted for around 7% of all inbound arrivals (Weaver, 2010, pg. 29). In conclusion, the complicated task of defining two simple terms ‘tourism’ and ‘tourist’ has been made somewhat clearer through the definitions provided by Stear (2005), Dickman (1997) and McIntosh et al. (1995). Whilst all three authors have different perspectives on how to define these terms, they also have a few aspects that seem to cross over. Considering all the definitions by the three authors Stear (2005), Dickman (1997) and McIntosh et al. 1995) it is hard to argue which definition is more just and accurate than the other as they all have their strengths and weaknesses. From the research conducted, Stear’s (2005) definition of a ‘tourist’ is the most flexible and relevant in the context of today’s society however; Dickman’s (1997) definition of ‘tourism’ is most accurate as it incorporates the entire tourism industry and not just the physical act of traveling. Ultimately, ‘tourist’ and ‘tourism’ are indefinable as we all have our own personal views and perspectives on which definitions fit the context of the situation.

Gibbs Reflective Cycle 1988 Nursing Essay

Gibbs Reflective Cycle 1988 Nursing Essay I am a Paramedic registered with the health professions council and this essay will look reflectively at an incident I attended during the course of my duties. The assignment will look at the moral, ethical and legal aspects of pre-hospital care with which I was challenged during this particular emergency. Confidentiality has been maintained at all times and names of individuals have been changed, I have also gained permission from the family of the patient and for the purposes of this essay I will call the patient Mr Taylor (HPC 2008) To analyse this critical incident I will use Gibbs reflective cycle. (1988). Description As a Rapid response Paramedic working for the Ambulance service I attend life threatening emergencies during my tours of duty, I work alone and am frequently dispatched to jobs as a solo resource that is without ambulance back up. The incident on which I wish to reflect occurred part way through a shift that had been up to then quiet. I received a call to attend a patient who had collapsed and was semi-conscious. On arriving I was met by a lady who was obviously distressed and she showed me to the patient who turned out to be the ladys husband, he was around 50 years old and was by this time unconscious with poor respiratory effort, I quickly requested a backup ambulance via radio and continued with my assessment of the patient and attempted to gain a history of his condition and what had happened that day. His wife told me that Mr Taylor had been well until 8 weeks before when he visited his doctor for abdominal pain and some rectal bleeding. The GP had sent him for tests at the loc al hospital within a couple of days he had been diagnosed with numerous tumours throughout his body, Bowel, liver & lung and was told it was terminal , he had been given between 3 and 6 months to live. Overall he had still been active and reasonably well until a couple of days before, when he started to deteriorate , that day she had been shopping and when she arrived home had found him in bed semi-conscious and with difficulty breathing. By this time I had gained some observations and placed oxygen on Mr Taylor. My back up ambulance arrived and I did a clinical handover to the paramedic on board it was at this point that Mrs Taylor called me to one side and told me that he wanted to pass away at home and not in hospital, he had expressed a wish not to be resuscitated, she explained that as she was alone with her son living in the south she felt she needed some help when she found him. I asked about a the Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) paperwork and she told me there wasnt any. I explained our position as Health Care Professionals and in the absence of the DNAR we had to act in his best interests. She again reiterated his wishes not to be taken to hospital or resuscitated. As my colleagues continued to assist the patient I contacted our on call Advanced Paramedic for advice , I was asked to verify there was no DNAR in situ with the patients palliative care team first, then if this was the case to contact the patients GP to see if he or she would attend as a matter of urgency. After confirming the absence of a DNAR I contacted the GP who was extremely understanding and attended within 15 minutes. Mr Taylor passed away within minutes of the GP attending. Feelings Situations that deal with someone losing their life are always hard to deal with and cause an array of emotions, in this case sadness, that this lady was losing her husband of 30 years and he was only 50, frustration and irritation of paperwork that should have been in place but was not. The Health professions council (HPC) list one of my duties as a registrant as , act within the limits of my knowledge, skills and experience and if necessary , refer the matter to another practioner (standards of conduct performance and ethics, p3 2006) on this occasion we did this and it is On occasions like this when there is a group of health care professionals I try to include everyone in the descsicon making process and it was agreed it would be wrong to ignore a persons wishes in these circumstances. His wishes had been explained to me by his wife, his palliative team and his general practioner. The Lasting memory for this lady and her family would be that her life partner died at home with his wife, exactly as he had wished. Evaluation As with any emergency situation our priority is safety and ensuring we are aware of any potential danger on scene, and performing dynamic risk assessments during the emergency. My responsibility for safety covers myself, colleague, patient, relatives and any further agencies requested to attend scene. The health and safety at work act (1974) states I should take reasonable care for my own health and safety and also that of others who could be affected by my acts or omissions. On this occasion everything was safe. Looking at the incident I feel there were lots of positives , these include fast and effective communication with the patients relative, and fast assessment of the scene, decision makimg was also quick and effective and minimised any further upset and stress to the patients wife. Conversations with our own AP and the Palliative care staff and GP all fell into place on this job and this is not the norm , we often encounter difficulties contacting various agencies within the NHS . Negatives included understanding of the DNAR side of our advanced decisions policy. Im sure most HPCs would agree that with so many modern policies and proceadures we cannot be expected to know everything , let alone little used sections of certain policies. Morally I was challenged too as my professional guidelines state that in the absence of a DNAR then you must commence resuscitation (JRCALC).2006). Analysis

Advantages Of Technology In International Trade :: Free Essay Writer

Technology plays a major role in international trade. Databases, overnight delivery and faxes have opened the world market to not only larger companies but small ones too. To add to this globalization, companies and even competitors are combining and forming alliances to cut cost and increase the profit margin. Chrysler, General Motors and Ford have formed an alliance in research and development to avoid duplication. These alliances are not only with domestic companies but they also go over national lines. Companies are pushing for integration of the world economy in hope for increased profits and governments are beginning to listen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since 1986 (GATT) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade have taken the incitive to move towards the liberalization of international trade. GATT members agreed to reduce tariff and non-tariff trade barriers. From 1986 to the present due to GATT's lead many markets have been open to the United States increasing exports and increasing efficiency through competition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most aggressive liberalization groups to follow GATT's lead is APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Community). APEC consist of 18 countries that account for 1/2 of the worlds output. The three largest economies Japan, China and the United States are members. APEC leaders are committed to achieving free and open trade for the region by 2010. APEC is moving towards this goal through many means including accelerating initial Japanese tariff cuts by 50%. China will also cut a number of tariffs by 30%. Indonesia and other APEC members are also reducing tariffs sharply. What sets APEX at the head of the pack leading liberalization is it wiliness to extend benefits of membership to everyone. APEX is willing to extend the benefits of cuts in tariff and non-tariff barriers to all countries willing to make comparable cuts. This is a major incentive for all countries because the Pacific Rim is the fastest growing market in the world and large profits are to be made there.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To put these cut in trade barriers in perspective lets look at the company Chrysler. Chrysler is introducing a right handed drive version of the neon subcompact to the Japanese consumer. Chrysler plans to sell 4,000 units at their 200 show rooms. They are hoping for even more success with the right handed versions of the Voyager and Wrangler which they plan to introduce next year. With Japanese subsidizes on exports which lead to a high price on Japanese domestic goods, Chrysler should be very competitive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Liberalism in trade, though progressive vary a lot with area. The European Union consisting of the countries of western Europe have established a free trade zone between themselves but those areas outside the union deal with

Sports, Athletes, and Weight Loss: Health Concerns Essay -- Health Nut

Weight Loss by Athletes and Health Concerns Waking up, sophomore Mike Fumagalli would peel off the garbage bags and layers of clothing he had worn to bed the night before hoping to "sweat away" some extra weight. Throughout the day, he would ask teachers to use their trashcans and would spit constantly. Sometimes, he would even cut his hair or sit in a sauna, all to lose a couple more pounds. Many people may wonder why someone would go to such extreme measures just to lose a few pounds. For Fumagalli, the answer was simply: "Everyone likes to win. That's why you cut weight." "Cutting weight" is a term that refers to a wrestler's attempt to lose a certain amount of weight in order to compete in a particular weight category in wrestling competitions. Some wrestlers choose to lose weight so they can find a spot on the team, said Keith Healy, varsity wrestling coach of the nationally ranked team at Smallville High School. Since only a certain number of slots are open per weight class, a wrestler may be beat out of a spot at one weight but perhaps can drop down to a lower weight where more openings are available. Junior Sean Randich said that cutting weight also could be important because as one moves down in weight classes it is easier to win. A common weight-loss method among the athletes is to wrap their body in garbage bags during exercise to maximize sweat loss, said Randich. He added that while the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) prohibits this method, it is still commonly practiced. JT wrestling coach "Mac" McLaughlin said that although he could not control what athletes did at home, at practice, garbage bags are not allowed. He added that most of his wrestlers, in fact, wear onl... ... children's bodies," said Haas. McLaughlin said that he tells parents, "If your kid looks like he's getting tired, souped out, stop." Healy also consults parents about their child's weight loss and said that before any wrestler on his team makes the decision to cut a large amount of weight, he first consults the parents. "Because of cutting weight, my mom doesn't like the whole sport," said Fumagalli. He said that while his mom was supportive in helping him cut weight by doing such things as making salads, she drew the line when he began to get sick. Fumagalli, who said he frequently cut weight in junior high, said he lost 12 pounds before this season but stopped when he started to get light-headed and dizzy. "There is a fine line between determination of sport and health," said Fumagalli. "Strength is more important than losing two pounds."

Othello - Compared To Twelfth Night :: essays research papers

"She loved me for the dangers I had pass'd, and I loved her that she did pity them" (Othello, I.iii 166-167). William Shakespeare’s tragedy "Othello," is pervaded by a dominant theme, one of love. Othello, the Moor of Venice falls madly in love with a woman named Desdemona. They marry and are very happy together. Othello and Desdemona face many trials during the course of their nine-month marriage. The most notable one occurs when Barbanzio, Desdemona’s father accuses Othello of getting his daughter with witchcraft. During a court hearing, Desdemona confesses her love for Othello and Barbanzio is forced to let her go. "I am hitherto your daughter: but here's my husband, and so much duty as my mother show'd to you, preferring you before her father, so much I challenge that I may profess due to the Moor my lord" (Othello, I.iii 184-188) As the course of events shift, Othello and Desdemona end up in Cyprus together. Iago, ensign to Othello, in his lust for power, tricks Othello into believing that Desdemona has had an affair. Othello is overcome by jealousy, the "green eyed monster." "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on†¦" (Othello, III.iii 169-171) In his rage, Othello charges Iago with the killing of Cassio, his lieutenant who supposedly slept with his wife. Othello then plans to kill Desdemona. Even during the course of the killing, Othello maintains his love for Desdemona (although this might seem a contradiction.) He refuses to defile her body in any way. "Yet I'll not shed her blood; nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, and smooth as monumental alabaster." (Othello, V.ii 3-5)He then proceeds to choke or smother her to death. The theme of love in Othello changed from puppy love, the lighter side of love, to jealousy, the darkest side of love. In stark contrast to the dark and tragic "Othello," is one of Shakespeare’s lightest and funniest comedies, "Twelfth Night." The theme of love is presented in a highly comical manner. Shakespeare, however, once again proves himself a master by interweaving serious elements into humorous situations. "Twelfth Night" consists of many love triangles, however many of the characters who are tangled up in the web of love are blind to see that their emotions and feelings toward other characters are untrue. They are being deceived by themselves and/or the others around them.

High School Practice for College Essay

High school life has been so much fun. I got very much involved with sports, particularly baseball, basketball and lacrosse. I played well and that made me somehow popular. I am a kind person and loyal to friends. I made many friends through the years and we spent many good times together, off-roading, going floating down Chattaoochee River or just hanging out. And when not in sports, I would spend time working at Brookfield country club on a driving range. I was so engrossed with so many enjoyable activities that I hardly noticed high school was almost ending. Eventually, my teachers reminded me that I had to start planning my life and determine what I really wanted to do after high school. The planning aspect was not that difficult because I had always known what I wanted after high school. Like many of us in our batch, I have always dreamed of having a college education. I felt like college education was what I had to do especially if I wanted to have a successful career. I wanted to take an associate degree in a university in Charleston that would prepare me to become a Wildlife and Game Warden. I would be so much thankful if I end up a warden for the state of Georgia. Though I knew what I wanted, I have not taken time to evaluate my capabilities and my readiness. Then I questioned myself whether I have what it takes to be in college. More questions kept popping in my head, like, am I prepared to be there or if ever I did get there, would I ever survive the challenges that laid ahead. I organized my mind and thought about my plus factors, those that would give me an advantage when I am there. Confidently, I could say, I would be able to blend with my friends and future classmates. This is because I have always been very sociable. Even if I have not had chances of leading groups or organizations, I have been a good follower and a good team player. Another factor that I realized would lead and get me through college is my passion for fishing. Fishing, they say, builds character and I firmly believe that. It is full of excitement, like life, the next trip, the next big one or the new reel. One cannot enjoy fishing when one does not have patience. My father taught me that. He and I had the same passion for fishing. This year, I caught a 2-pound bass and my father had it stuffed so we will remember our fishing memories. Someday I will be a professional fisherman or with luck, I may even have my own fishing show. That would complete me. Fishing has influenced a lot about me; my love for the country and the wildlife. The peace and serenity of nature gives me a sense of fulfillment. Something that perhaps complements with problems and difficulties with my family life. My parents were divorced when I was just three years old. My father lives in another state with his new wife and two other sons. I live with my mother, she also remarried and she has two step daughters. I did not have the luxury to remember having both parents together, even in special occasions. I had gifts, money and good times with friends, but holidays were always problems because I would not know with whom to spend it. I used to hide my tears many times when I see kids going shopping or dining with their parents. I felt, they were lucky. I know my mother and father were good people, and they would have stayed together if they could. They must have done it because it was the right thing to do. And I respect that. Childhood was tough for me, many times my dad missed my games; he did not even get to participate or coach my sports. We could not go fishing as much as I would have liked. I was always around people, but many of them, I did not know. I guess I was lonely and starving for a complete family. But I realized, no matter what, I had so much to be thankful for. All my families were all doing fine and in good health; I had chances of being with them, although separately, we did not have problems with finances and I was going to college. I am proud to have surpassed many of life’s trials even at an early age. The experience gave me strength and maturity to deal with the future. The blend of my personality, my skills, my love for nature and my experiences gave me my character. I know my character will lead me to success.

American history Essay

In the course of American history, the American people have been confronted with different threats to its politics, economy and way of life. At present, the continuing threat of international terrorism and the unceasing wave of Anti-Americanism are constantly putting the lives of simple Americans towards fear and uncertainty, notwithstanding all the different social issues they face each passing day, such as gay marriage, abortion, and stem-cell research, among many others. These threats had their own counterparts in previous years, and it is worthy to note that different side of the American political fence all had their own positions on various matters of serious concern then, and seemingly, those old issues remain as hotly debated up until this moment. The paper will examine the actual threats and pre-conceived threats by Americans through the different decades such as racism, immigration, government regulation, evolutionism, and many other issues and social questions that have made the United States the brimming democracy of ideas it continues to be until today. Evolution and the Origin of Man and the Earth In the twenties, a most important concern has been the continuing discourse on evolution vis-a-vis fundamental Christian preaching on the ancestry of human beings. In Reverend Dixon’s Sermon on the Evils of Darwinism and Evolution, he is clearly mistaken for lumping the theory of evolution per se, with the racist theory of social Darwinism of Herbert Spencer. He is clearly mistaken in doing so, because never had the theory of evolution posited that evolution is merely a matter of survival of the fittest, thus, the weak may necessarily be oppressed, thus, may be destroyed in the conduct of human evolution. (165) Such a position is clearly misinformed, because what the theory of evolution merely suggests is that humans, as per the evidence culled in the development and evolution of other species, may have descended, not from the biblical Adam, as many fundamental Christians believe, but from apes and monkeys. The trouble with Reverend Dixon, and all other purveyors of the biblical interpretation on the origin of man is that their answers to the scientific question on evolution was never based on a scientific reply itself, but merely on a reassertion of Bible verses that never could man have descended from apes, precisely because he descended from God himself. Then and now, the reason why creationism remains absolutely discredited among scientific circles is the basic fact that no scientific reply has ever been posited to the Darwinian challenge on the origin of man. The evolutionary scientists are no less Christian by continuously asserting their Darwinian position. Defense Attorney Darrow’s interrogation of Prosecutor Bryan during the Monkey Trial is helpful in better understanding the fundamentalist Christian views of the day, which permeates much in the evolution debate of today. Darrow’s line of questioning clearly seeks to debunk the literal biblical interpretation of fundamentalist Christians, which in this case might be Prosecutor Bryan. While Bryan asserts that the creation of the world occurred six-thousand years ago, Darrow insists that the Chinese civilization had been in existence thousands of years more than that, and rightly so, but Bryan remains unfazed with such statements, firmly believing, in mocking fashion, that the truth is on his side. (167) In the discourse of the origin of man, and the creation of the world, fundamental Christians have remained unfazed, in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence, especially on the age of the earth, that the truth as stated in the Bible is the only truth that needs to be believed by any God-fearing person. Such a position is dangerous, because it creates a faith that is blind and dogmatic, and obscures believers from the well-intentioned truth provided by science in determining previously unknown facts about humans and the natural world in which they exist. Unfortunately, this position remains the subject of intense debate until today, with creationism advocates appealing School Boards and lobbying Capitol Hill to cut funding for the instruction of evolution, and/or to provide equal educational exposure to creationism and its corollary theory, Intelligent Design. White Supremacy and Racism Another threat during the twenties was the rise of white supremacy in the face of a nascent anti-racism and black civil rights movement as represented in the literary works of Langston Hughes and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Klan treatise on Americanism is nothing but empty rhetoric on the need to assert white supremacy in all corners of America, through patriotism, Protestantism and the glorification of the white race. (171) The trouble with their position on Americanism is that much of their assertions are based on their normative conception of the world and its history, without due regard to other history narratives on the founding of America, the role of Protestantism in exposing the excesses of Roman Catholicism, and the absolute poverty of a discourse based on the mere historic successes and failures of races. It is clear, however, the Klan remains stuck on their unrepentant Southern position on the continuing subjugation and slavery of African-Americans to be treated like chattel, and the relegation of other colored races as mere secondary citizens to American whites, precisely because the conflicts and contradictions that occur in this world is race-based, instead of class-based. It is a successful racist position though, because rich whites American obfuscate the apparent class contradictions between peasants and landowners, regardless of race, in order to completely gain the trust of poor white Americans against the hapless African-American who remains to exist as chattel in the racist eyes of the white supremacist. On the other hand, the Klan’s position on Protestantism is without any causal connection to their white supremacist cause, except for the assertion that without Protestantism, there would have been no America. (171) Sadly, it is based on this simplistic formulation on Protestantism vis-a-vis Americanism that the Klan discriminates against whites who do not share their same belief system, in much the same manner that, precisely because other races are non-white, they deserve to be discriminated, ipso facto. Nonetheless, such simplistic and flawed logic is also the reason by which the Klan has only remained and self-degenerated in the poorer, uneducated sections of the American South, and never really expanded into the large coastal cities where racial prejudice is much less because of continuous racial intermingling and higher levels of educational attainment. It must be stated, however, that despite the apparent rise of white supremacy in the American South, the seeds of the black civil rights movement of the fifties and the sixties had been planted as early as the twenties, through the prose and poetry of Langston Hughes. In his poetry, One-Way Ticket, it laments about the situation in the American South, and the persona would rather be in the cosmopolitan cities where African-American are better respected and given their fair share of human dignity, in comparison to the lynching and ridicule of the South. (173) It is a good thing, nonetheless, that the struggle between white supremacy and black civil rights had been quite successful for the latter, not only from Brown v. Board of Education and desegregation, but until today, with the election of Barack Obama, African-American, and 44th President of the United States of America.

Cloud Computing Unit 2 Lab 1 Essay

If comparing the cloud solutions and services for businesses from Amazon, Google, and Rackspace. Amazon: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) is a web service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud. It is designed to make web-scale computing easier for developers. Amazon EC2 is simple web service interface allows you to obtain and configure capacity with minimal friction. It provides you with complete control of your computing resources and lets you run on Amazon’s proven computing environment. Amazon EC2 reduces the time required to obtain and boot new server instances to minutes, allowing you to quickly scale capacity, both up and down, as your computing requirements change. Amazon EC2 changes the economics of computing by allowing you to pay only for capacity that you actually use. Amazon EC2 provides developers the tools to build failure tough applications and isolate themselves from common failure scenarios that are common amongst other cloud providers. Amazon EC2 presents a true virtual computing environment, allowing you to use web service interfaces to launch instances with a variety of operating systems, load them with your custom application environment, manage your network’s access permissions, and run your image with the number of systems as you desire. The Amazon EC2 will provide some of the following features: Inexpensive – Amazon EC2 passes on to you the financial benefits of Amazon’s scale. You pay a very low rate for the compute capacity you actually consume. On-Demand Instances let you pay for compute capacity by the hour with no long-term commitments. Reserved Instances – Reserved Instances give you the option to make a low, one-time payment for each instance you want to reserve and in turn receive a significant discount on the hourly charge for that instance. Spot Instances – Spot Instances allow customers to bid on unused Amazon EC2 capacity and run those instances for as long as their bid exceeds the current Spot Price. The Spot Price changes periodically based on supply and demand, and customers whose bids meet or exceed it gain access to the available Spot Instances. Elastic – Amazon EC2 enables you to increase or decrease capacity within minutes, not hours or days. You can commission a variety of server instances simultaneously. Because this is all controlled with web service APIs, your applications can automatically scale itself up and down depending on its needs. Reliable – Amazon EC2 offers a highly reliable environment where replacement instances can be rapidly and predictably commissioned. The service runs within Amazon’s proven network infrastructure and datacenters. Secure – Amazon EC2 works in conjunction with Amazon VPC to provide security and robust networking functionality for your compute resources. Amazon Elastic Block Store – Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) offers persistent storage for Amazon EC2 instances. Amazon EBS volumes are network-attached, and persist independently from the life of an instance. Amazon EBS volumes are highly available, highly reliable volumes that can be leveraged as an Amazon EC2 instance’s boot partition or attached to a running Amazon EC2 instance as a standard block device. EBS-Optimized Instances – For a low, additional, hourly fee, customers select Amazon EC2 instances types as â€Å"EBS-Optimized† instances. EBS-Optimized instances enable Amazon EC2 instances to fully utilize the IOPS provisioned on an EBS volume. EBS-Optimized instances deliver dedicated throughput between Amazon EC2 and Amazon EBS, with options between 500 Mbps and 1000 Mbps depending on the instance type used. Multiple Locations – Amazon EC2 provides the ability to place instances in multiple locations. Amazon EC2 locations are composed of Regions and Availability Zones. Availability Zones are distinct locations that are engineered to be insulated from failures in other Availability Zones and provide inexpensive, low latency network connectivity to other Availability Zones in the same Region. Amazon Virtual Private Cloud – Amazon Virtual Private Cloud lets you provision a logically isolated section of the Amazon Web Services Cloud where you can launch AWS resources in a virtual network that you define. You have complete control over your virtual networking environment, including selection of your own IP address range, creation of subnets, and configuration of route tables and network gateways. Amazon CloudWatch – Amazon CloudWatch is a web service that provides monitoring for AWS cloud resources and applications, starting with Amazon EC2. It provides you with visibility into resource utilization, operational performance, and overall demand patterns—including metrics such as CPU utilization, disk reads and writes, and network traffic. Google Cloud Connect: a free cloud computing plug-in for Windows Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 that can automatically store and synchronize any Microsoft Word document, PowerPoint presentation, or Excel spreadsheet to Google Docs in Google Docs or Microsoft Office formats. The Google Doc copy is automatically updated each time the Microsoft Office document is saved. Microsoft Office documents can be edited offline and synchronized later when online. Google Cloud Sync maintains previous Microsoft Office document versions and allows multiple users to collaborate, working on the same document at the same time. Google Cloud Connect was discontinued on April 30, 2013; former users are advised to migrate to Google Drive. This solution is, however, only available to paying users of Google Drive. Backup: Microsoft Office documents could be manually or automatically backed up to Google Docs each time they are saved locally. Synchronize: Changes made to an Office document on one computer can sync when the file is opened on another computer. Microsoft Office documents synced to Google Docs can be made accessible to one person. Microsoft Office documents synced to Google Docs can be made accessible only to selected people. A shared document can be set to only be viewed by others or edited as well. Documents synced to Google Docs can effectively be published by making them accessible to anyone. Multiple users can work on the same document at the same time. When one person edits a document, others sharing the document receive an email letting them know. Use Google Cloud Print to print to local or remote network connected printers. Allows you to compare the previous version is maintained allowing users to compare to older versions. Roll back allows users can go back to a previous version of the document. Green computing allows documents to be shared without printing or sending large files. Only links need be sent. Mobilize: Google Sync allows synced documents to be viewed and edited with most internet connected mobile devices. Storage: 5GB of Google Drive storage is included for free. Rackspace: The Rackspace public cloud gives you the tools you need—just sign up for a cloud account to get started. Plus, you can combine the quick, flexible deployment options of the public cloud with the security of private cloud and the performance of dedicated servers in the hybrid cloud. Using Rackspace cloud you have access to Linux and Windows servers with persistent local hard drives and optional managed services. MySQL Cloud Databases with 22.9% faster performance than RDS. High-performance SSD Block Storage and Cloud Files storage with CDN for fast global delivery of content. Software-defined networks for network isolation, performing packet filtering, and supporting broadcast/multicast. The Rackspace cloud has different variations including hybrid and private clouds. The Private cloud is a scalable cloud environment providing the agility and efficiency of a public cloud built on infrastructure dedicated exclusively for your organization. It can be hosted in your own data center, in a partner data center, or at Rackspace. Private clouds are ideal when you need to accelerate innovation, have large compute and storage requirements, or have very strict control, security, and compliance needs. Running a private cloud requires time and expertise. When you work with Rackspace, you get the ability to host in our data center, your data center, or a colocation facility, access to experts at the company that launched OpenStack with NASA, as much or as little support as you need. Quickly and easily provision infrastructure so you can scale up and down to meet business needs. Advanced functionality, including dynamic provisioning and workload balancing managed by Rackspace, allow you to avoid costly and time-consuming IT projects and maintenance. The Hybrid (public) cloud is it combines public cloud, private cloud, and dedicated bare metal computing and makes them work as one to: Fit your application, instead of forcing your application to fit it. Boost performance, security, and reliability while reducing costs because you use the right tool for the right job. It delivers an OpenStack-based platform for the flexibility you demand. Rackspace offers a range of hybrid cloud solutions, from out-of-the-box to highly customized.

Asc 330-10

October 13, 2011 330 Inventory 10 Overall 330-10-00 Status Note: General Note The Status Section identifies changes to this Subtopic resulting from Accounting Standards Updates. The Section provides references to the affected Codification content and links to the related Accounting Standards Updates. Nonsubstantive changes for items such as editorial, link and similar corrections are included separately in Maintenance Updates. General 330-10-00-1 330- 10-00No updates have been made to this subtopic. 330-10-05 Overview and BackgroundNote: General Note The Overview and Background Section provides overview and background material for the guidance contained in the Subtopic. It does not provide the historical background or due process. It may contain certain material that users generally consider useful to understand the typical situations addressed by the standards. The Section does not summarize the accounting and reporting requirements. General 330-10-05330-10-05-1 The Inventory Topic addresses the accounting principles and reporting practices applicable to inventory. 30-10-05330-10-05-2 An inventory has financial significance because revenues may be obtained from its sale, or from the sale of the goods or services in the production of which it is used. Normally such revenues arise in a continuous repetitive process or cycle of operations in which goods are acquired, created, and sold, and further goods are acquired for additional sales. 330-10-05330-10-05-3 Thus, the inventory at any given date is the balance of costs applicable to goods on hand remaining after the matching of absorbed costs with concurrent revenues.This balance is appropriately carried to future periods provided it does not exceed an amount properly chargeable against the revenues expected to be obtained from ultimate disposition of the goods carried forward. In practice, this balance is determined by the process of pricing the articles included in the inventory. 330-10-10 Objectives Note: Gene ral Note The Objectives Section provides the high-level objectives that the Subtopic is intended to accomplish or attain. The Section does not summarize or discuss the main principles of accounting and reporting requirements.General 330-10-10330-10-10-1 A major objective of accounting for inventories is the proper determination of income through the process of matching appropriate costs against revenues. 330-10-15 Scope and Scope Exceptions Note: General Note The Scope and Scope Exceptions Section outlines the items (for example, the entities, transactions, instruments, or events) to which the guidance in the Subtopic does or does not apply. In some cases, the Section may contain definitional or other text to frame the scope. General > Overall GuidanceThe Scope Section of the Overall Subtopic establishes the pervasive scope for the Inventory Topic. 330-10-15330-10-15-1 > Entities The guidance in the Inventory Topic applies to all entities, with the following qualifications. Th e guidance in this Topic is not necessarily applicable to the following entities: 330-10-15330-10-15-2 330-10-15330-10-15-3 a. Not-for-profit entities (NFPs) b. Regulated utilities. 330-10-20 Glossary Note: General Note The Master Glossary contains all terms identified as glossary terms throughout the Codification.Clicking on any term in the Master Glossary will display where the term is used. The Master Glossary may contain identical terms with different definitions, some of which may not be appropriate for a particular Subtopic. For any particular Subtopic, users should only use the glossary terms included in the particular Subtopic Glossary Section (Section 20). Direct Effects of a Change in Accounting Principle Those recognized changes in assets or liabilities necessary to effect a change in accounting principle. An example of a irect effect is an adjustment to an inventory balance to effect a change in inventory valuation method. Related changes, such as an effect on deferred i ncome tax assets or liabilities or an impairment adjustment resulting from applying the lower-of-cost-or-market test to the adjusted inventory balance, also are examples of direct effects of a change in accounting principle. Inventory The aggregate of those items of tangible personal property that have any of the following characteristics: a. Held for sale in the ordinary course of business b.In process of production for such sale c. To be currently consumed in the production of goods or services to be available for sale. The term inventory embraces goods awaiting sale (the merchandise of a trading concern and the finished goods of a manufacturer), goods in the course of production (work in process), and goods to be consumed directly or indirectly in production (raw materials and supplies). This definition of inventories excludes long-term assets subject to depreciation accounting, or goods which, when put into use, will be so classified.The fact that a depreciable asset is retired from regular use and held for sale does not indicate that the item should be classified as part of the inventory. Raw materials and supplies purchased for production may be used or consumed for the construction of long-term assets or other purposes not related to production, but the fact that inventory items representing a small portion of the total may not be absorbed ultimately in the production process does not require separate classification.By trade practice, operating materials and supplies of certain types of entities such as oil producers are usually treated as inventory. Market As used in the phrase lower of cost or market, the term market means current replacement cost (by purchase or by reproduction, as the case may be) provided that it meets both of the following conditions: a. Market shall not exceed the net realizable value b. Market shall not be less than net realizable value reduced by an allowance for an approximately normal profit margin.Net Realizable Value Estima ted selling price in the ordinary course of business less reasonably predictable costs of completion and disposal. 330-10-30 Initial Measurement Note: General Note The Initial Measurement Section provides guidance on the criteria and amounts used to measure a particular item at the date of initial recognition. General > Cost Basis 330-10-30330-10-30-1 The primary basis of accounting for inventories is cost, which has been defined generally as the price paid or consideration given to acquire an asset.As applied to inventories, cost means in principle the sum of the applicable expenditures and charges directly or indirectly incurred in bringing an article to its existing condition and location. It is understood to mean acquisition and production cost, and its determination involves many considerations. 330-10-30330-10-30-2 Although principles for the determination of inventory costs may be easily stated, their application, particularly to such inventory items as work in process and finished goods, is difficult because of the variety of considerations in the allocation of costs and charges. 30-10-30330-10-30-3 For example, variable production overheads are allocated to each unit of production on the basis of the actual use of the production facilities. However, the allocation of fixed production overheads to the costs of conversion is based on the normal capacity of the production facilities. Normal capacity refers to a range of production levels. Normal capacity is the production expected to be achieved over a number of periods or seasons under normal circumstances, taking into account the loss of capacity resulting from planned maintenance.Some variation in production levels from period to period is expected and establishes the range of normal capacity. 330-10-30330-10-30-4 The range of normal capacity will vary based on business- and industry-specific factors. Judgment is required to determine when a production level is abnormally low (that is, outside the range of expected variation in production). 330-10-30330-10-30-5 Examples of factors that might be anticipated to cause an abnormally low production level include significantly reduced demand, labor and materials shortages, and unplanned facility or equipment downtime. 30-10-30330-10-30-6 The actual level of production may be used if it approximates normal capacity. In periods of abnormally high production, the amount of fixed overhead allocated to each unit of production shall be decreased so that inventories are not measured above cost. The amount of fixed overhead allocated to each unit of production shall not be increased as a consequence of abnormally low production or idle plant. 330-10-30330-10-30-7 Unallocated overheads shall be recognized as an expense in the period in which they are incurred.Other items such as abnormal freight, handling costs, and amounts of wasted materials (spoilage) require treatment as current period charges rather than as a portion of the inventory c ost. 330-10-30330-10-30-8 Also, under most circumstances, general and administrative expenses shall be included as period charges, except for the portion of such expenses that may be clearly related to production and thus constitute a part of inventory costs (product charges). Selling expenses constitute no part of inventory costs. The exclusion of all overheads from inventory costs does not constitute an accepted accounting procedure.The exercise of judgment in an individual situation involves a consideration of the adequacy of the procedures of the cost accounting system in use, the soundness of the principles thereof, and their consistent application. General and administrative expenses ordinarily shall be charged to expense as incurred but may be accounted for as contract costs under the completed-contract method of accounting or, in some circumstances, as indirect contract costs by government contractors. > Determination of Inventory Costs 30-10-30330-10-30-9 Cost for invent ory purposes may be determined under any one of several assumptions as to the flow of cost factors, such as first-in first-out (FIFO), average, and last-in first-out (LIFO). The major objective in selecting a method should be to choose the one which, under the circumstances, most clearly reflects periodic income. 330-10-30330-10-30-10 The cost to be matched against revenue from a sale may not be the identified cost of the specific item which is sold, especially in cases in which similar goods are purchased at different times and at different prices.While in some lines of business specific lots are clearly identified from the time of purchase through the time of sale and are costed on this basis, ordinarily the identity of goods is lost between the time of acquisition and the time of sale. 330-10-30330-10-30-11 Accordingly, if the materials purchased in various lots are identical and interchangeable, the use of identified cost of the various lots may not produce the most useful finan cial statements.This fact has resulted in the general acceptance of several assumptions with respect to the flow of cost factors such as FIFO, average, and LIFO to provide practical bases for the measurement of periodic income. 330-10-30330-10-30-12 Standard costs are acceptable if adjusted at reasonable intervals to reflect current conditions so that at the balance-sheet date standard costs reasonably approximate costs computed under one of the recognized bases.In such cases descriptive language shall be used which will express this relationship, as, for instance, â€Å"approximate costs determined on the first-in first-out basis,† or, if it is desired to mention standard costs, â€Å"at standard costs, approximating average costs. † 330-10-30330-10-30-13 In some situations a reversed mark-up procedure of inventory pricing, such as the retail inventory method, may be both practical and appropriate.The business operations in some cases may be such as to make it desirab le to apply one of the acceptable methods of determining cost to one portion of the inventory or components thereof and another of the acceptable methods to other portions of the inventory. 330-10-30330-10-30-14 Although selection of the method should be made on the basis of the individual circumstances, financial statements will be more useful if uniform methods of inventory pricing are adopted by all companies within a given industry. >Consistency Required 330-10-30330-10-30-15 While the basis of stating inventories does not affect the overall gain or loss on the ultimate disposition of inventory items, any inconsistency in the selection or employment of a basis may improperly affect the periodic amounts of income or loss. Because of the common use and importance of periodic statements, a procedure adopted for the treatment of inventory items shall be consistently applied in order that the results reported may be fairly allocated between years. >Purchases and Sales of Invent ory with the Same Counterparty 330-10-30330-10-30-16 For a discussion of the initial measurement of inventory purchased from an entity to which it also sells inventory in the same line of business, see paragraphs 845-10-55-10 through 55-26. > Costs Resulting from Share-Based Payment Transactions See paragraph 718-10-25-2 for a discussion of share-based payment capitalized as a part of inventory. 330-10-30330-10-30-17 > Costs of Computer Software to Be Sold, Leased, or Otherwise Marketed 30-10-30330-10-30-18 See Sections 985-20-25 and 985-20-35 and paragraphs 985-20-55-2 through 55-3 for a discussion of accounting for the costs of producing and acquiring computer software, including software that is marketed as part of a product or process. > Costs of Certain Construction-Type and Production-Type Contracts 330-10-30330-10-30-19 See Section 605-35-25 for a discussion of accounting for contract and precontract costs of certain construction-type and production-type contracts. 3 30-10-35 Subsequent MeasurementNote: General Note The Subsequent Measurement Section provides guidance on an entity’s subsequent measurement and subsequent recognition of an item. Situations that may result in subsequent changes to carrying amount include impairment, fair value adjustments, depreciation and amortization, and so forth. General > Adjustments to Lower of Cost or Market 330-10-35330-10-35-1 A departure from the cost basis of pricing the inventory is required when the utility of the goods is no longer as great as their cost.Where there is evidence that the utility of goods, in their disposal in the ordinary course of business, will be less than cost, whether due to physical deterioration, obsolescence, changes in price levels, or other causes, the difference shall be recognized as a loss of the current period. This is generally accomplished by stating such goods at a lower level commonly designated as market market. 330-10-35330-10-35-2 The cost basis of record ing inventory ordinarily achieves the objective of a proper matching of costs and revenues.However, under certain circumstances cost may not be the amount properly chargeable against the revenues of future periods. A departure from cost is required in these circumstances because cost is satisfactory only if the utility of the goods has not diminished since their acquisition; a loss of utility shall be reflected as a charge against the revenues of the period in which it occurs. Thus, in accounting for inventories, a loss shall be recognized whenever the utility of goods is impaired by damage, deterioration, obsolescence, changes in price levels, or other causes.The measurement of such losses shall be accomplished by applying the rule of pricing inventories at the lower of cost or market. This provides a practical means of measuring utility and thereby determining the amount of the loss to be recognized and accounted for in the current period. 330-10-35330-10-35-3 The rule of lower of cost or market is intended to provide a means of measuring the residual usefulness of an inventory expenditure.The term market is therefore to be interpreted as indicating utility on the inventory date and may be thought of in terms of the equivalent expenditure which would have to be made in the ordinary course at that date to procure corresponding utility. 330-10-35330-10-35-4 As a general guide, utility is indicated primarily by the current cost of replacement of the goods as they would be obtained by purchase or reproduction. In applying the rule, however, judgment must always be exercised and no loss shall be recognized unless the evidence indicates clearly that a loss has been sustained.There are therefore exceptions to such a standard. Replacement or reproduction prices would not be appropriate as a measure of utility when the estimated sales value, reduced by the costs of completion and disposal, is lower, in which case the realizable value so determined more appropriately measures utility. 330-10-35330-10-35-5 Furthermore, when the evidence indicates that cost will be recovered with an approximately normal profit upon sale in the ordinary course of business, no loss shall be recognized even though replacement or reproduction costs are lower.This might be true, for example, in the case of production under firm sales contracts at fixed prices, or when a reasonable volume of future orders is assured at stable selling prices. 330-10-35-6 If inventory has been the hedged item in a fair value hedge, the inventory’s cost basis used in the lower 330- 10-35of cost or market accounting shall reflect the effect of the adjustments of its carrying amount made pursuant to paragraph 815-25-35-1(b). 330-10-35330-10-35-7 Because of the many variations of circumstances encountered in inventory pricing, the definition of market is intended as a guide rather than a literal rule.It shall be applied realistically in light of the objectives expressed in this Subtopi c and with due regard to the form, content, and composition of the inventory. For example, the retail inventory method, if adequate markdowns are currently taken, accomplishes the objectives described herein. It is also recognized that, if a business is expected to lose money for a sustained period, the inventory shall not be written down to offset a loss inherent in the subsequent operations. 30-10-35330-10-35-8 Depending on the character and composition of the inventory, the rule of lower of cost or market may properly be applied either directly to each item or to the total of the inventory (or, in some cases, to the total of the components of each major category). The method shall be that which most clearly reflects periodic income. 330-10-35330-10-35-9 The purpose of reducing inventory to market is to reflect fairly the income of the period. The most common practice is to apply the lower of cost or market rule separately to each item of the inventory.However, if there is only on e end-product category the cost utility of the total stock—the inventory in its entirety—may have the greatest significance for accounting purposes. Accordingly, the reduction of individual items to market may not always lead to the most useful result if the utility of the total inventory to the business is not below its cost. This might be the case if selling prices are not affected by temporary or small fluctuations in current costs of purchase or manufacture. 30-10-35330-10-35-10 Similarly, where more than one major product or operational category exists, the application of the lower of cost or market rule to the total of the items included in such major categories may result in the most useful determination of income. When no loss of income is expected to take place as a result of a reduction of cost prices of certain goods because others forming components of the same general categories of finished products have a market equally in excess of cost, such components need not be adjusted to market to the extent that they are in balanced quantities.Thus, in such cases, the rule of lower of cost or market, may be applied directly to the totals of the entire inventory, rather than to the individual inventory items, if they enter into the same category of finished product and if they are in balanced quantities, provided the procedure is applied consistently from year to year. 330-10-35330-10-35-11 To the extent, however, that the stocks of particular materials or components are excessive in relation to others, the more widely recognized procedure of applying the lower of cost or market to the individual items constituting the excess shall be followed.This would also apply in cases in which the items enter into the production of unrelated products or products having a material variation in the rate of turnover. Unless an effective method of classifying categories is practicable, the rule shall be applied to each item in the inventory. 330-10-35330-10 -35-12 See paragraphs 330-10-30-9 through 30-14 for guidance on inventory pricing methods. > Loss Due to Sales Incentive 330-10-35330-10-35-13 The offer of a sales incentive that will result in a loss on the sale of a product may indicate an impairment of existing inventory under this Subtopic. gt; New Cost Basis 330-10-35-14 In the case of goods which have been written down below cost at the close of a fiscal year, such 330- 10-35reduced amount is to be considered the cost for subsequent accounting purposes. Paragraph 270-10-45-6 provides guidance for preparing interim financial statements. > Stating Inventories Above Cost 330-10-35330-10-35-15 Only in exceptional cases may inventories properly be stated above cost.For example, precious metals having a fixed monetary value with no substantial cost of marketing may be stated at such monetary value; any other exceptions must be justifiable by inability to determine appropriate approximate costs, immediate marketability at quote d market price, and the characteristic of unit interchangeability. 330-10-35330-10-35-16 It is generally recognized that income accrues only at the time of sale, and that gains may not be anticipated by reflecting assets at their current sales prices.However, exceptions for reflecting assets at selling prices are permissible for both of the following: a. Inventories of gold and silver, when there is an effective government-controlled market at a fixed monetary value b. Inventories representing agricultural, mineral, and other products, with all of the following criteria: 1. Units of which are interchangeable 2. Units of which have an immediate marketability at quoted prices 3. Units for which appropriate costs may be difficult to obtain.Where such inventories are stated at sales prices, they shall be reduced by expenditures to be incurred in disposal. > Purchase Commitments 330-10-35330-10-35-17 A net loss on firm purchase commitments for goods for inventory, measured in the same way as are inventory losses, shall be recognized in the accounts. The recognition in a current period of losses arising from the decline in the utility of cost expenditures is equally applicable to similar losses which are expected to arise from firm, uncancelable, and unhedged commitments for the future purchase of inventory items. 30-10-35330-10-35-18 The utility of such commitments is not impaired, and hence there is no loss, when the amounts to be realized from the disposition of the future inventory items are adequately protected by firm sales contracts or when there are other circumstances that reasonably assure continuing sales without price decline. > Accounting Changes 330-10-35330-10-35-19 Paragraph 250-10-55-1 explains that a change in composition of the elements of cost included in inventory is an accounting change and provides related guidance. 30-10-35330-10-35-20 The definition of direct effects of a change in accounting principle includes a change in inventory va luation methods as an accounting change. > Vendor Accounting for Consideration Given to a Customer or Reseller See Subtopic 605-50 for a discussion of consideration given by a vendor to a customer. 330-10-35330-10-35-21 > Customer or Reseller Accounting for Consideration Received from a Vendor 330-10-35330-10-35-22 See Section 605-50 for a discussion of accounting by a customer (including a reseller) for consideration received from a vendor. >Interim Financial Reporting See paragraph 270-10-45-6 for a discussion of practices used in determining costs of inventory on an 330-10-35330-10-35-23 interim basis. 330-10-45 Other Presentation Matters Note: General Note The Other Presentation Matters Section provides guidance on other presentation matters not addressed in the Recognition, Initial Measurement, Subsequent Measurement, and Derecognition Sections. Other presentation matters may include items such as current or long-term balance sheet classification, cash flow presentatio n, earnings per share matters, and so forth.The FASB Codification also contains Presentation Topics, which provide guidance for general presentation and display items. See those Topics for general guidance. General > Change in Composition is Accounting Change 330-10-45330-10-45-1 See paragraph 330-10-35-19 for guidance on dealing with the effects of an accounting change resulting from a change in elements of cost included in inventory inventory. > Costs of Certain Construction-Type and Production-Type Contracts 330-10-45330-10-45-2 See paragraphs 605-35-45-3 through 45-5 for guidance on presenting contract costs of certain construction-type and production-type contracts. 30-10-50 Disclosure Note: General Note The Disclosure Section provides guidance regarding the disclosure in the notes to financial statements. In some cases, disclosure may relate to disclosure on the face of the financial statements. General > Basis for Stating Inventories 330-10-50330-10-50-1 The basis of stating inventories shall be consistently applied and shall be disclosed in the financial statements; whenever a significant change is made therein, there shall be disclosure of the nature of the change and, if material, the effect on income. A change of such basis ay have an important effect upon the interpretation of the financial statements both before and after that change, and hence, in the event of a change, a full disclosure of its nature and of its effect, if material, upon income shall be made. > Losses from Application of Lower of Cost or Market 330-10-50330-10-50-2 When substantial and unusual losses result from the application of the rule of lower of cost or market it will frequently be desirable to disclose the amount of the loss in the income statement as a charge separately identified from the consumed inventory costs described as cost of goods sold. gt; Goods Stated Above Cost Where goods are stated above cost this fact shall be fully disclosed. 330-10-50330-10-5 0-3 > Stating Inventories at Sales Prices 330-10-50330-10-50-4 Where such inventories are stated at sales prices, the use of such basis shall be fully disclosed in the financial statements. > Losses on Firm Purchase Commitments 330-10-50330-10-50-5 The amounts of net losses on firm purchase commitments accrued under paragraph 330-10-35-17 shall be disclosed separately in the income statement. >Disclosure of Significant Estimates 330-10-50330-10-50-6 See Example 1 (paragraph 330-10-55-8) for an illustration of the disclosure of significant estimates applicable to inventories as required by Section 275-10-50. 330-10-55 Implementation Guidance and Illustrations Note: General Note The Implementation Guidance and Illustrations Section contains implementation guidance and illustrations that are an integral part of the Subtopic. The implementation guidance and illustrations do not address all possible variations.Users must consider carefully the actual facts and circumstances in r elation to the requirements of the Subtopic. General 330-10-55330-10-55-1 This Section, which is an integral part of the requirements of this Topic, provides general guidance to be used in accounting for inventory Certain assumptions have been made to simplify the computations and focus on the inventory. issue at hand in each illustration. > >> Implementation Guidance Market Decline in Interim Period 30-10-55330-10-55-2 If near-term price recovery is uncertain, a decline in the market price of inventory below cost during an interim period shall be accounted for as follows. Paragraph 270-10-45-6 requires that the inventory be written down to the lower of cost or market unless either of the following conditions is met: a. Substantial evidence exists that market prices will recover before the inventory is sold. b. In the case of last-in, first-out (LIFO) inventory, substantial evidence exists that inventory amounts will be restored by year-end. A write-down is generally requir ed nless the decline is due to seasonal price fluctuations. >> Costs Capitalized to Inventory for Tax Purposes 330-10-55330-10-55-3 The following provides guidance as to whether the types of costs that are required to be allocated to inventories for tax purposes under the Uniform Capitalization Rules for Inventory under the Tax Reform Act of 1986 would be capitalizable under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and, if so, whether the costing method required for tax purposes is a preferable method for purposes of justifying a change in accounting principle. 30-10-55330-10-55-4 The fact that a cost is capitalizable for tax purposes does not, in itself, indicate that it is preferable, or even appropriate, to capitalize that cost for financial reporting purposes. Certain of the additional costs that are required to be capitalized for tax purposes may also be capitalizable for financial reporting purposes, depending on factors such as the nature of the entity's operatio n and industry practice. That determination, however, can only be made after an analysis of the individual facts and circumstances. gt;;gt; ;gt;;gt;;gt; Capitalizing Pension and Other Postretirement Cost Into Inventory Interest Cost Component 330-10-55330-10-55-5 A fundamental aspect of Sections 715-30-35 and 715-60-35 is to combine or aggregate the various pension and other postretirement cost components, including service cost, interest cost, expected return on plan assets, and amortization of all of the following items recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income: a. Net transition asset or obligation b. Prior service cost or credit c.Net gain or loss. 330-10-55330-10-55-6 In the aggregate, net periodic pension and other postretirement cost is viewed as an element of employee compensation. Therefore, when it is appropriate to capitalize employee compensation in connection with the construction or production of an asset, the net periodic pension and other postretirement co st applicable to the pertinent employees for the period (including interest cost), not individual components of that amount, is the relevant amount. ;gt;;gt;;gt; Net Periodic Pension Income 30-10-55330-10-55-7 If an entity's cost allocation process capitalizes net periodic pension cost as part of the cost of inventory or other assets, net periodic pension income also shall be capitalized, thereby reducing the total employee compensation and other costs being capitalized. > >> Illustrations Example 1: Disclosure of Significant Estimates 330-10-55330-10-55-8 This Example illustrates the guidance in paragraph 330-10-50-6 regarding the disclosure of significant estimates related to inventory. Entity A manufactures high technology stereo equipment.In June 19X7, one of Entity A's competitors introduced a new model stereo system with the same features as Entity A's Model A. The competitor's version sells for significantly less than Entity A's suggested retail price for Model A. Th e introduction of this product resulted in a sharp decrease in the sales volume of Model A. As of December 31, 19X7, Entity A has accumulated significant inventory quantities beyond its normal short-term needs of its Model A system. Inventory for Model A ($6 million) represents approximately 20 percent of Entity A's inventory at that date.The remaining 80 percent of Entity A's inventory consists of products experiencing only normal competitive pressures. Entity A has established provisions for obsolescence for this latter group of products in the normal course of business. 330-10-55330-10-55-9 Management has developed a program to provide substantial dealer incentives on purchases of the Model A, which it expects will result in the sale of this inventory in the near term. Because of the existing high profit margin on its stereo systems, Entity A would continue to earn a marginal profit on sales of the Model A under the new program.It is also reasonably possible, however, that the pr ogram will not be wholly successful, and, accordingly, a material loss could ultimately result on the disposal of the inventory. 330-10-55330-10-55-10 The entity would disclose the following. As of December 31, 19X7, some portion of $6 million of inventory of one of the entity's products is in excess of Entity A's current requirements based on the recent level of sales. Management has developed a program to reduce this inventory to desired levels over the near term and believes no loss will be incurred on its disposition.No estimate can be made of a range of amounts of loss that are reasonably possible should the program not be successful. 330-10-55330-10-55-11 This situation meets the criteria for disclosure under paragraph 275-10-50-8 because circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, including the decreasing sales volume and excessive quantities of inventory of Model A, make it at least reasonably possible that management's plan to liquidate its excess in ventory without a loss will be less than fully successful and that such an outcome would have a near-term material effect on the entity's financial statements. 30-10-55330-10-55-12 In this Example, Entity A discloses the existence of potentially excess quantities of inventory at the date of the financial statements and indicates that the uncertainty is expected to be resolved in the near term. The disclosure is intended to provide users with insight into management's assessment of recoverability of the cost of inventories existing at the date of the financial statements.Although disclosure of the $6 million carrying amount of the inventory of Model A is not required because, based on the facts presented, $6 million does not constitute a reasonable estimate of loss on the disposal of the inventory or the maximum amount in an estimated range of loss, disclosure of this amount is not misleading and may provide useful information. 330-10-55330-10-55-13 Discussion of Entity A's provision for obsolescence for the remaining 80 percent of its inventory is not required because it is not considered reasonably possible that additional aterial losses on this inventory will occur. 330-10-75 XBRL Elements Note: General Note This section contains a list of XBRL elements that reference paragraphs in this Subtopic. For additional details regarding changes to the development version of the US GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy, refer to the FASB taxonomy review and comment system on the FASB web site (www. fasb. org). Adjustments for Change in Accounting Principle [Domain]Element Name: ChangeInAccountingPrincipleMember This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in this Subtopic: Direct Effects of a Change in Accounting Principle This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in other Subtopic(s): Accounting Change Change in Accounting Principle Indirect Effects of a Change in Accounting Principle 250 Accounting Changes and Error Corrections > 10 Overall > 50 Disclosure > General, 50-1(b)(1)-(2) 250 Accounting Changes and Error Corrections > 10 Overall > 50 Disclosure > General, 50-2Adjustments for New Accounting Pronouncement [Member] Element Name: NewAccountingPronouncementMember This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in this Subtopic: Direct Effects of a Change in Accounting Principle This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in other Subtopic(s): Accounting Change Change in Accounting Principle Indirect Effects of a Change in Accounting Principle Inventory AdjustmentsElement Name: InventoryAdjustments This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in this Subtopic: 330 Inventory > 10 Overall > 50 Disclosure > General, 50-1 This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in other Subtopic(s): 210 Balance Sheet > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-1(SX 210. 5-02. 6(b)) Inventory Finished Goods , Policy [Policy Text Block] Element Name: InventoryFinishedGoodsPolicy This XBRL element references the ollowing paragraph(s)/term(s) in this Subtopic: Inventory 250 Accounting Changes and Error Corrections > 10 Overall > 50 Disclosure > General, 50-2 250 Accounting Changes and Error Corrections > 10 Overall > 50 Disclosure > General, 50-3 270 Interim Reporting > 10 Overall > 45 Other Presentation > General, 45-12 270 Interim Reporting > 10 Overall > 45 Other Presentation > General, 45-13 270 Interim Reporting > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-1(SX 210. 0-01. (b)(6)) Selling, General and Administrative Expense Element Name: SellingGeneralAndAdministrativeExpense This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in this Subtopic: 330 Inventory > 10 Overall > 30 Initial Measurement > General, 30-8 This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in other Subtopic(s): 225 Income Statement > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-2(SX 210. 5-03. 4) 2011-01Type of Change [Domain] (Deprecated 2011-01-31)Element Name: TypeOfChangeDomain This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in this Subtopic: Direct Effects of a Change in Accounting Principle This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in other Subtopic(s): Accounting Change Change in Accounting Principle Indirect Effects of a Change in Accounting Principle Retrospective Application 250 Accounting Changes and Error Corrections > 10 Overall > 50 Disclosure > General, 50-1(a) 250 Accounting Changes and Error Corrections > 10 Overall > 50 Disclosure > General, 50-2 250 Accounting Changes and Error Corrections > 10 Overall > 50 Disclosure > General, 50-3 250 Accounting Changes and Error Corrections > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-5(SAB TOPIC 11. M) 330-10-S00 Status Note: General Note The Status Section identifies changes to this Subtopic resulting from Accounting Standards Updates.The Section provides references to the affected Codification content and links to the related Accounting Standards Updates. Nonsubstantive changes for items such as editorial, link and similar corrections are included separately in Maintenance Updates. General 330-10-S00330-10-S00-1 Paragraph 330-10-S35-2 The following table identifies the changes made to this Subtopic. Action Amended Accounting Standards Update Accounting Standards Update No. 2009-07 Date 09/15/2009 330-10-S35 Subsequent Measurement Note: General Note The Subsequent Measurement Section provides guidance on an entity’s subsequent measurement and subsequent recognition of an item.Situations that may result in subsequent changes to carrying amount include impairment, fair value adjustments, depreciation and amortization, and so forth. General > Restoration of Previously Written-Down Inventory Value 330-10-S35330-10-S35-1 See paragraph 330- 10-S99-2, SAB Topic 5. BB, for SEC Staff views on restoration of inventory value following a previous write-down to lower of cost or market. > Classification of Inventory Markdowns and Other Costs Associated with a Restructuring 330-10-S35330-10-S35-2 See paragraph 420-10-S99-3, SEC Observer Comment: Classification of Inventory Markdowns and Other Costs Associated with Restructuring, for SEC Staff views on income statement classification of inventory markdowns associated with a restructuring. 330-10-S45 Other Presentation MattersNote: General Note The Other Presentation Matters Section provides guidance on other presentation matters not addressed in the Recognition, Initial Measurement, Subsequent Measurement, and Derecognition Sections. Other presentation matters may include items such as current or long-term balance sheet classification, cash flow presentation, earnings per share matters, and so forth. The FASB Codification also contains Presentation Topics, which provide guida nce for general presentation and display items. See those Topics for general guidance. General > Separate Presentation of Classes of Inventory 330-10-S45-1 See paragraph 210-10-S99-1, Regulation S-X Rule 5-02. 6, for requirements for inventory presentation 330- 10-S45on the balance sheet. 30-10-S50 Disclosure Note: General Note The Disclosure Section provides guidance regarding the disclosure in the notes to financial statements. In some cases, disclosure may relate to disclosure on the face of the financial statements. General > Inventory Disclosure Requirements See paragraph 210-10-S99-1, Regulation S-X Rules 5-02. 6(b) through (d), for inventory disclosure 330-10-S50330-10-S50-1 requirements. > LIFO Liquidations 330-10-S50330-10-S50-2 See paragraph 330-10-S99-3, SAB Topic 11. F, for SEC Staff views on disclosure of income realized as a result of a last-in, first-out (LIFO) liquidation. 330-10-S55 Implementation Guidance and IllustrationsNote: General Note The Implementat ion Guidance and Illustrations Section contains implementation guidance and illustrations that are an integral part of the Subtopic. The implementation guidance and illustrations do not address all possible variations. Users must consider carefully the actual facts and circumstances in relation to the requirements of the Subtopic. General > LIFO Inventory Practices 330-10-S55330-10-S55-1 See paragraph 330-10-S99-1, SAB Topic 5. L, for SEC Staff views on appropriate last-in, first-out (LIFO) accounting practices. 330-10-S75 XBRL Elements Note: General Note This section contains a list of XBRL elements that reference paragraphs in this Subtopic.For additional details regarding changes to the development version of the US GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy, refer to the FASB taxonomy review and comment system on the FASB web site (www. fasb. org). Effect of LIFO Inventory Liquidation on Income Element Name: EffectOfLIFOInventoryLiquidationOnIncome This XBRL element references the fol lowing paragraph(s)/term(s) in this Subtopic: 330 Inventory > 10 Overall > S50 Disclosure > General, S50-2 330 Inventory > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-3 330 Inventory > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-3(SAB TOPIC 11. F) Inventory, Raw Materials, Net of ReservesElement Name: InventoryRawMaterialsNetOfReserves This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in this Subtopic: 330 Inventory > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-2(SAB TOPIC 5. BB) This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in other Subtopic(s): 210 Balance Sheet > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-1(SX 210. 5-02. 6(a)(4)) Inventory, Supplies, Net of Reserves Element Name: InventorySuppliesNetOfReserves This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in this Subtopic: 330 Inventory > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-2(SAB TOPIC 5. BB) This XBRL elemen t references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in other Subtopic(s): 210 Balance Sheet > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-1(SX 210. 5-02. 6(a)(5))Inventory, Work in Process and Raw Materials, Net of Reserves Element Name: InventoryWorkInProcessAndRawMaterialsNetOfReserves This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in this Subtopic: 330 Inventory > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-2(SAB TOPIC 5. BB) This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in other Subtopic(s): 210 Balance Sheet > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-1(SX 210. 5-02. 6(a)(3),(4)) Inventory, Work in Process, Net of Reserves Element Name: InventoryWorkInProcessNetOfReserves This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in this Subtopic: 330 Inventory > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-2(SAB TOPIC 5.BB) This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in other S ubtopic(s): 210 Balance Sheet > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-1(SX 210. 5-02. 6(a)(3)) Other Inventory, Net of Reserves Element Name: OtherInventoryNetOfReserves This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in this Subtopic: 330 Inventory > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-2(SAB TOPIC 5. BB) This XBRL element references the following paragraph(s)/term(s) in other Subtopic(s): 210 Balance Sheet > 10 Overall > S99 SEC Materials > General, S99-1(SX 210. 5-02. 6) 330-10-S99 SEC Materials Note: General Note As more fully described in the Notice to Constituents, the Codification includes selected SEC and SEC Staff content for reference by ublic companies. The Codification does not replace or affect how the SEC or SEC Staff issues or updates SEC content. SEC Staff content does not constitute Commission-approved rules or interpretations of the SEC. General > >> >>> SEC Staff Guidance Staff Accountin g Bulletins SAB Topic 5. L, LIFO Inventory Practices The following is the text of SAB Topic 5. L, LIFO Inventory Practices. 330-10-S99330-10-S99-1 Facts: On November 30, 1984, AcSEC and its Task Force on LIFO Inventory Problems (task force) issued a paper, â€Å"Identification and Discussion of Certain Financial Accounting and Reporting Issues Concerning LIFO Inventories. This paper identifies and discusses certain financial accounting and reporting issues related to the last-in, first-out (LIFO) inventory method for which authoritative accounting literature presently provides no definitive guidance. For some issues, the task force's advisory conclusions recommend changes in current practice to narrow the diversity which the task force believes exists. For other issues, the task force's advisory conclusions recommend that current practice should be continued for financial reporting purposes and that additional accounting guidance is unnecessary. Except as otherwise noted in the pap er, AcSEC generally supports the task force's advisory conclusions.As stated in the issues paper, â€Å"Issues papers of the AICPA's accounting standards division are developed primarily to identify financial accounting and reporting issues the division believes need to be addressed or clarified by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. † On February 6, 1985, the FASB decided not to add to its agenda a narrow project on the subject of LIFO inventory practices. Question 1: What is the SEC staff's position on the issues paper? Interpretive Response: In the absence of existing authoritative literature on LIFO accounting, the staff believes that registrants and their independent accountants should look to the paper for guidance in determining what constitutes acceptable LIFO accounting practice. FN11 In this connection, the staff considers the paper to be an accumulation of existing cceptable LIFO accounting practices which does not establish any new standards and does not div erge from GAAP. FN11 In ASR 293 (July 2, 1981) see Financial Reporting Codification 205, the Commission expressed its concerns about the inappropriate use of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) LIFO practices for financial statement preparation. Because the IRS amended its regulations concerning the LIFO conformity rule on January 13, 1981, allowing companies to apply LIFO differently for financial reporting purposes than for tax purposes, the Commission strongly encouraged registrants and their independent accountants to examine their financial reporting LIFO practices.In that release, the Commission acknowledged the â€Å"task force which has been established by AcSEC to accumulate information about [LIFO] application problems† and noted that â€Å"This type of effort, in addition to self-examination [of LIFO practices] by individual registrants, is appropriate†¦ † The staff also believes that the advisory conclusions recommended in the issues paper are generally con sistent with conclusions previously expressed by the Commission, such as: 1. Pooling-paragraph 4-6 of the paper discusses LIFO inventory pooling and concludes â€Å"establishing separate pools with the principal objective of facilitating inventory liquidations is unacceptable. In Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release 35, August 13, 1984, the Commission stated that it believes that the Company improperly realigned its LIFO pools in such a way as to maximize the likelihood and magnitude of LIFO liquidations and thus, overstated net income. 2. New Items-paragraph 4-27 of the paper discusses determination of the cost of new items and concludes â€Å"if the double extension or an index technique is used, the objective of LIFO is achieved by reconstructing the base year cost of new items added to existing pools. † In ASR 293, the Commission stated that when the effects of inflation on the cost of new products are measured by making a comparison with current cost as the base- year cost, rather than a reconstructed base-year cost, income is improperly increased.Question 2: If a registrant utilizes a LIFO practice other than one recommended by an advisory conclusion in the issues paper, must the registrant change its practice to one specified in the paper? Interpretive Response: Now that the issues paper is available, the staff believes that a registrant and its independent accountants should re-examine previously adopted LIFO practices and compare them to the recommendations in the paper. In the event that the registrant and its independent accountants conclude that the registrant's LIFO practices are preferable in the circumstances, they should be prepared to justify their position in the event that a question is raised by the staff.Question 3: If a registrant elects to change its LIFO practices to be consistent with the guidance in the issues paper and discloses such changes in accordance with APB Opinion 20 [Subtopic 250-10] will the registrant be requ ested by the staff to explain its past practices and its justification for those practices? Interpretive Response: The staff does not expect to routinely raise questions about changes in LIFO practices which are made to make a company's accounting consistent with the recommendations in the issues paper. >>> SAB Topic 5. BB, Inventory Valuation Allowance The following is the text of SAB Topic 5. BB, Inventory Valuation Allowance. 330-10-S99330-10-S99-2 Facts: ARB 43, Chapter 4, Statement 5 [paragraph 330-10-35-1], specifies that: â€Å"[a] departure from the cost basis of pricing the inventory is required when the utility of the goods is no longer as great as its cost.Where there is evidence that the utility of goods, in their disposal in the ordinary course of business, will be less than cost, whether due to physical obsolescence, changes in price levels, or other causes, the difference should be recognized as a loss of the current period. This is generally accomplished by stating such goods at a lower level commonly designated as market. † Footnote 2 to that same chapter indicates that â€Å"[i]n the case of goods which have been written down below cost at the close of a fiscal period, such reduced amount is to be considered the cost for subsequent accounting purposes. † Lastly, Opinion 20 provides â€Å"inventory obsolescence† as one of the items subject to estimation and changes in estimates under the guidance in paragraphs 10-11 and 31-33 of that Opinion. Question: Does the write-down of inventory to the lower of ost or market, as required by ARB 43 [Section 330-10-35], create a new cost basis for the inventory or may a subsequent change in facts and circumstances allow for restoration of inventory value, not to exceed original historical cost? Interpretive Response: Based on ARB 43, footnote 2, the staff believes that a write-down of inventory to the lower of cost or market at the close of a fiscal period creates a new cost b asis that subsequently cannot be marked up based on changes in underlying facts and circumstances. FN68 FN68 See also disclosure requirement for inventory balances in Rule 5-02(6) of Regulation S-X. >>> SAB Topic 11. F, LIFO LiquidationsThe following is the text of SAB Topic 11. F, LIFO Liquidations. 330-10-S99330-10-S99-3 Facts: Registrant on LIFO basis of accounting liquidates a substantial portion of its LIFO inventory and as a result includes a material amount of income in its income statement which would not have been recorded had the inventory liquidation not taken place. Question: Is disclosure required of the amount of income realized as a result of the inventory liquidation? Interpretive Response: Yes. Such disclosure would be required in order to make the financial statements not misleading. Disclosure may be made either in a footnote or parenthetically on the face of the income statement.