Personal Insight Retail Industry Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Personal Insight Retail Industry Answer: Introduction The industry that I have always found interesting and fascinating is the retail industry. The retail sector is booming and it contributes substantially to the Gross Domestic Product of a country. I would like to work in the retail sector in future because this sector of the industry provides ample of job opportunities worldwide. Like any other industry, the retail sector has undergone modernization and technological changes in the past decade. In order to work in the retail sector, I would like to upgrade my skills and knowledge to enhance my employment opportunity in the retail sector. The Industry Trends for the Retail Sector The jobs that are expected to change or disappear The current trend that is dominating the retail sector is automation and technological innovation like Artificial Intelligence (AI). The advent of robots is a powerful instance about disruptive technology that is going to hit the retail sector in the near future resulting in the disappearance of several jobs (Bogue and Bogue 2016). For instance, the job of a cashier in the retail industry can disappear in the near future because most of the supermarkets will be automated and shoppers will be able to scan items on their purchase list with their smart phones. However, the jobs that will be affected the most are low-skilled jobs in the warehouses or shop floors of the retail sector (Sands 2016).However, robotics and automation will also create new jobs that will require high-skilled individuals. The booming of e-commerce has also changed the nature of jobs in the retail sector. The online retail giants like Amazon have made the physical stores quite redundant (businessinsider.in 2017). Thus, jobs in physical stores of the retail industry are at risk. Why is this happening? The cause of these changes in the jobs of retail sector is the innovation in technology. The retail industry has witnessed a steady growth in the percentage of consumers who prefer to make purchases from online retail stores rather than physical stores. Online purchases saves time and money, the online retail stores ensure speedy delivery of goods to the homes of customers worldwide (Yeoman, Wheatley and McMahon-Beattie 2017). Also, automation and robotics enhance the accuracy and efficiency of jobs in the retail industry(Kumar 2016 ).Thus, the retail sectors have identified repetitive tasks which do not require human inputs but consume employee hours and have automated such business process to save time and cost(Yu et al. 2016) The changes that I forecast in the next 5 years i) The retail sector will witness the growth of Omni-channel stores which will combine good practices of brick-and-mortar stores and the digital e-commerce stores (businessinsider.in 2017) ii) Disruptive technology like automation and robotics will hit the retail industry replacing low-skilled jobs (Bogue and Bogue 2016). iii) Modern analytical tools like Artificial Intelligence will enhance the market intelligence factors in retail industry (Bogue and Bogue 2016). iv)The needs and preference of customers will change, so retail industry will embrace innovation in business process, product and service delivery (Wang, Wang and Liu 2016). v) However, demand for high-skilled jobs in retail industry will increase. The reason for choice of this job cluster I have chosen this job cluster because the retail sector will continue contributing substantially to the economy of developed and rapidly developing nations. Thus the demand for high-skilled and semi-skilled jobs in the retail industry will increase in near future. Also, the retail industry will experience modernization with automation and e-commerce growth(R.Y. and Huang 2016 )Thus, I can secure employment in the retail sector by improving my business knowledge, soft skills and technical skills. I personally prefer to study behavior of customers and the retail industry will provide me opportunity to be in close proximity with consumers. The skills or knowledge that is expected Personal soft skills Development of personal soft skills like teamwork, communication and time-management, self-confidence are important to secure employment in the retail sector. Teamwork- Teamwork plays a vital role in the retail sector. It is very important to be a good-team player to perform well in the retail sector. Team-work helps in mitigating individual weakness of team members and helps the retail business to accomplish objectives within deadline. My personality traits like high conscientiousness and emotional intelligence will make me a good team player (Woodcock 2017). Communication- I would like to develop both verbal and non-verbal communication skills to perform well in retail sector. The retail sector requires high level of interaction with customers and higherpeople management skills and thus the role of communication is indispensable in this industry (Ruesch 2017). Technical knowledge and skills Database management, Customer Service, Book Keeping, Social Media Campaign Analysis, andEvent Management are some of the technical skills required in retail sector. I would like to enhance knowledge about Artificial Intelligence, Business Analytics, and modern software like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Supply Chain Management Software (SCM) to perform well in the retail sector (Bowman et al. 2016). Review of my current discipline knowledge and capabilities Arenas where I am developing skills and knowledge- Results that show my abilities Review of my experience, habits and abilities I have been part of many volunteer and community activities, for instance, I have raised awareness about environmental sustainability among members of community of a reputed NGO in Australia, and I have also volunteered with a NGO to raise awareness about rehabilitation of youngsters who are addicted to drugs. In school I have taken leadership roles while organizing several events like annual function, farewell parties, group presentation and sports events. I have gained soft skills of team-work, communication and time-management from these activities. I am a fast-learner and I am quite inquisitive about the external environment. I am ready to embrace changes, flexibility and resilience is my strength that will help me to adapt to the uncertainty of the business environment of the retail sector. The role of leadership and human resource management is of paramount importance in the retail sector. My experience of leadership roles in school and volunteering experience in community have been strongly instrumental for me to learn skills of human resource management, team-work and leadership. Review of my academic performance to date I have performed well academically in school, high-school and college. The units that I enjoyed in school were Mathematics and Language lesions. I have always scored well in language examinations in school which clearly demonstrates my verbal and non-verbal communication skills. I have enjoyed business studies in college especially units of marketing and human resource management. The units related to retail management and consumer behavior were extremely enjoyable because of the methodology adopted by teachers in college. I particularly enjoyed working in teams for a group presentation or solving a case-study during my academic sessions. Key findings that demonstrate my strengths and areas for improvement Key findings of my Temperament, Learning styles and Resilience- Learning Styles- I have scored 83% in learning styles. I can access a wide range of information and apply the information in variety of ways. My medium score in Active Changer category shows that I prefer to learn while exploring new opportunities. I am energetic to pursue new interests and I can easily engage with people which help me to explore new ideas. I scored medium in reflective realist category suggesting I prefer to learn in an organized and scheduled manner. I scored medium in quietly creative and pragmatic scale suggesting that practical actions are a medium of learning for me. Resilience- I have scored in middle range in my ability to cope with changes, I have scored low in problem solving skills which suggests that I am anxious about solving problems. I have self-confidence in most situations, my mid-range score in working with others and networking skills clearly suggests that I will be good in networking and engaging with people because this skill is required in retail industry. Temperament- From ISTPs scores, it clearly reflects that I am reflective in nature as an introvert, I have preference for sensing and like to work with facts and figures, I have preference for thinking and I am a logical decision maker and stay calm in crisis, I have preference for perceiving suggesting that I am flexible and spontaneous. My test results show that I am susceptible to procrastination, sometimes I fail to recognize feelings of others and I sometimes fail to see big picture. I have also scored low on problem solving skills and would like to improve my analytical skills for high-skilled jobs in retail industry. I have scored high on introversion, though this will make me focused in high-skilled retail jobs, I will try to improve on my ability to empathize with others. GAP analysis and SWOT GAP Analysis Skills and knowledge that are required to be developed by me to meet industry standards- In the Gap Analysis, I have found that the retail industry will experience a demand of high-skilled workers. I would like to develop knowledge and skills about business analytics, robotics and automation and would develop my technical skills to meet the industry standards. I also plan to enhance my knowledge about modern software used in retail sector like Enterprise Resource Planning and Supply Chain Management software. I would like to improve Digital Marketing skills and enhance knowledge about consumer behavior to perform well in retail sector. TABLE OF SWOT Analysis Strengths(S) I am flexible, creative, pragmatic and self-confident. I like to explore new things and I have the ability to access and apply a wide range of information. My excellent soft-skills like team-work and communication are my strengths. I am a fast learner and I am very inquisitive about technology like robotics and automation. Weakness(W) I require improvement in problem-solving skills. My technical and analytical skills like market intelligence require improvement to match industry standards. Opportunities(O) Demand for high-skilled jobs in the retail sector is an opportunity for me. The growth of digital technology and e-commerce retail store with a positive growth of consumers disposable income and preference to buy retail products have enhanced job opportunities in retail sector. Threats(T) The robotics and automation will replace many jobs in retail sector. Conclusion It can be concluded from my report, that development of personal soft skills like communication and teamwork is essential to enhance my career opportunities in the retail sector. The retail sector has undergone technological changes like automation and that is why I would like to develop my technological skills to work in the retail industry. The SWOT analysis clearly depicts my internal Strength and Weakness and the opportunities and threats of the external retail industry. I would like to utilize my strengths to optimize the opportunities of my internal environment and improve on the arenas of weakness to minimize external threats. References Bogue, R. and Bogue, R., 2016. Growth in e-commerce boosts innovation in the warehouse robot market.Industrial Robot: An International Journal,43(6), pp.583-587. Bowman, J.S., West, J.P., Berman, M. and Van Wart, M., 2016.The professional edge: Competencies in public service. Routledge. businessinsider.in. 2017.Trends in Retail. [online] Available at: https://www.businessinsider.in/25-companies-that-are-revolutionizing-retail/articleshow/59597176.cms [Accessed 23 Nov. 2017]. Kumar, A., 2016. A conceptual model for automation of product dynamic pricing and sales promotion for a retail organization.Kybernetes,45(3), pp.490-507. Ruesch, J., 2017.Communication: The social matrix of psychiatry. Routledge. R.Y. and Huang, G.Q., 2016. E-commerce logistics in supply chain management: Practice perspective.Procedia CIRP,52, pp.179-185. Sands, W., 2016. Future of Retail 2016. Wang, W.T., Wang, Y.S. and Liu, E.R., 2016. The stickiness intention of group-buying websites: The integration of the commitmenttrust theory and e-commerce success model.Information Management,53(5), pp.625-642. Woodcock, M., 2017.Team development manual. Routledge. Yeoman, I., Wheatley, C. and McMahon-Beattie, U., 2017. Trends in retail pricing: A consumer perspective.Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management,16(2), pp.174-200. Yu, Y., Wang, X., Zhong, R.Y. and Huang, G.Q., 2016. E-commerce logistics in supply chain management: Practice perspective.Procedia CIRP,52, pp.179-185. Yu, Y., Wang, X., Zhong,

LSI Essays - Humor Styles, Humour, Personal Styles,

My LSI primary styles is Conventional. My LSI backup style is Affiliative. In this assignment I will go over how these styles apply to my life and how they also apply to my work. I will also go over my limiting styles, how personal styles impact my management style, origins of my personal styles, and a goal I hope my work in GM591 will address. My LSI Primary style is Conventional. The conventional style is a conforming style that represents adhering to rules and established procedures, maintaining a low profile, and "blending in" with our particular environment to avoid calling attention to ourselves. I work with contracts, contract language, and established procedures in my current and past jobs. My job requires that I follow the language in our contracts so that I am compliant with procedures and the law. My job does not have that much room for flexibility and creativity. I am also a low key person at work and outside of work. I do not crave attention and I do not try to be competitive with people. I agree with the results that my LSI Primary style is Conventional. I tend to want to fit in and not stand out. My backup style is Affiliative. This style represents a need for social interaction and interpersonal contact. Affiliative people seek out, establish, value, and maintain close associations with others. These individuals appreciate people and enjoy being in the company of others. In my current position I have to establish relationships with our customers and co-workers. They depend on me and I depend on them regarding deadlines, accountability and requests. I enjoy working with people and feel over time I have built strong bonds at work and in my personal life with people that I could trust and they could trust me. I was surprised by the high score in this category. I tend to not be that social and I do not go out of my way to meet new people. My limiting style is Perfectionistic. People that have this style work to make things the best they can be. My job is very detail orientated and there is room to make a lot of errors. I work with a person that I would consider a perfectionist. She is very talented and knowledgeable and I try to mimic the way she works. Her perfectionistic ways are sometime on overdrive and she expects everyone to be like her. She has gotten into arguments with others. Her message is good but tends to be delivered in a bossy stuck up manner. I would like to be more of a perfectionist, but do it in a way that would bring people together rather than making people feel intimidated dealing with me. My other limiting style is Power. Individuals who seek power are motivated by a need to gain prestige, status and influence: they achieve false, temporary feelings of self-worth by striving to be "in charge" at all times. I am an individual contributor at work. I do not have anyone reporting to me. I only have to manage my work and customer account relationships. I would like to have a position in the future where people report to me. I feel I need to be more competitive, out-going, and individualistic to be recognized, promoted, or be considered for a people management position. I agree with the survey results for this category. I do not like people that are overtly power hungry. I have worked for and with people like that, and these people were very unpopular in the workplace. I saw corruption and discrimination used by power hungry people in my work experience. When it comes to planning and organizing within my job function, I use the Conventional style. I have learned the procedures at my job. I have also done my job enough times to know what works and what does not work. I have learned from my co-workers the way I should do my job based on procedures, policies, and best practices. My job is pretty straightforward. I have deadlines that I need to meet. I know what is expected of me. There usually are no surprises. The Conventional style does not change often and

Economic Development Of Hawaii Essays - Hawaii, Unemployment

Economic Development Of Hawaii Essays - Hawaii, Unemployment Economic Development of Hawaii Hawaii, with an area of 28,313 sq. km (10,932 sq. mi.), is the 43rd largest state in the U.S.; 6.9% of the land is owned by the federal government. It consists mainly of the Hawaiian Islands, eight main islands and 124 islets, reefs, and shoals. The major islands in order of size are Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Nihau, and Kahoolawe. Population growth has increased by 80,000 persons over the past five years. Demographics show a large number of Hispanic origin: Asian Hispanics are the most populated with white Hispanic and Asian non-Hispanic following. Hawaii's economy has been long dominated by plantation agriculture and military spending. As agriculture has declined in importance, the economy has diversified to encompass a large tourist business and a growing manufacturing industry. Hawaii's economy has changed drastically since statehood. In 1958, defense, sugar, and pineapple were the primary economic activities, accounting for 40% of Gross State Product (GSP). In contrast, visitor-related expenditures stood at just over 4% of Hawaii's GSP prior to statehood. Today the positions are reversed; sugar and pineapple constitute about 1% of GSP, defense accounts for just under 11%, while visitor-related spending comes close to 24% of Hawaii's GSP. The movement toward a service- and trade-based economy becomes even more apparent when considering the distribution of Hawaii's jobs across sectors. The share of the economy's jobs accounted for by manufacturing and agriculture have declined steadily since 1959 and each currently makes up less than 4% of total jobs in the economy. At the same time, the shares of jobs in wholesale and retail trade and in services have risen, ezding at about 23% and 28%, respectively. Since 1991, Hawaii's economy has suffered from rising rates of unemployment. This ezds in marked contrast to the period 1980 to 1993, when the state enjoyed very low unemployment rates relative to the nation as a whole. But by 1994 the recession had raised Hawaii's unemployment rate to the national average (6.1%) for the first time in 15 years. In 1995, the state's unemployment rate improved slightly in the first eleven months of the year to 5.4 percent, a 0.6 percentage point decline from the first eleven months of 1994. Despite the lower unemployment rate, the total number of wage and salary jobs declined by 0.6 percent during the first eleven months of 1995. This was due in part to a fall in part-time jobs which are often held by persons who also have primary jobs elsewhere in the economy. The number of construction jobs declined by more than 7 percent in the same period. Other industriesnamely, manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, communications/utilities, and finance, insurance, and real estateexperienced declines in the number of jobs as well. Jobs in retail trade and services, however, increased 2.2 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively, reflecting an increase in visitor spending since 1994. Following a dismal first quarter due to the Kobe earthquake, there was steady growth in the tourism sector in 1995 with increases in the number of visitor arrivals and hotel room rates. The number of visitor arrivals to the State increased 3.2 percent during the first eleven months of 1995. The increase in the value of the Japanese yen vis-a-vis the U.S. dollar during this period contributed to a rise in eastbound visitors in the second and third quarter of 1995 by 11.8 percent and 15.4 percent, respectively. However, in the first eleven months of 1995, the number of westbound visitors remained flat. This year is the 11th year in a row that the U.S. has experienced reduced spending on national defense. The continued reduction is due to the decline in superpower tensions and the political disintegration of the Soviet and East European-block during this decade which have prompted the Congress and Administration to initiate significant cuts in the level of defense expenditures in recent years. However, because of the strategic location of Hawaii in the Pacific this changing military posture has not significantly affected Hawaii's $3.7 billion Federal defense sector. The construction industry continued its decline in the first eleven months of 1995. This loss was mainly due to decreasing demand exacerbated by higher interest rates during the first half of 1995, following a 12.4 percent drop in 1994. Another

The Most Influential Person in My Life Essay Example

The Most Influential Person in My Life Essay Example The Most Influential Person in My Life Essay The Most Influential Person in My Life Essay For each of us there is one person who has been made difference in our lives. A family member, a friend or a teacher can make the difference. Sometimes these changes become part of our lives and are not easy to forget. The person who has been influential in my life is my high school teacher. Ms. Polin a very helpful and generous person who did a big favor in my life. She helped me in my difficult time. She prepared me for my English Regents exam. She influenced my life in a positive way. One day after class was finished I spoke to Ms. Polin about getting low grades on my exam. I told her that I didn’t pass this Regents for the second time and I was unaware of the cause. I asked her if she could help me in her free time. Ms. Polin agreed to help me in her free time every Wednesday and Friday. She told me to buy Barron’s Regents preparation book. When I bought the book, she used to give me assignments and multiple-choice questions based on the reading. I used to do them as my homework and at our next meeting she used to check my work. She also had previous old Regents exams from which I used to do questions and essays based on the writing prompts. Ms. Polin taught me how each section of test worked and what were the grading criteria. She told me to memorize the key terms that would help me with my informative and persuasive essays. I used to practice essays at home until I felt that I was fully prepared. My parents and friends were also concerned that I was having problems passing my exam. I had moral and emotional support from both my parents and friends. Ms. Polin didn’t just help me; she encouraged me to think positively. I realized that I had taken this exam twice before and wasn’t able to pass it due to test anxiety. I always used to have negative feelings that I would not pass my exam and wouldn’t be graduating with my classmates. To prevent anxiety I learned to relax during my exam. During this time I was very depressed and thought nothing would work for me. Ms. Polin really influenced me by encouraging me to think confidently. She gave me strength to think that I could really do well if I worked hard. Nothing is impossible in life; if you work hard you can make it possible. When I was fully prepared I took the exam in January 2003. The test was fair and I did well on it. While taking the test I remembered my parent’s and Ms. Polin’s words. My parents told me not to be anxious during the exam; everything will be okay. Ms. Polin said Qurat â€Å"I hope for your best and I know you will do it†. My hard work and Ms. Polin’s help led me do it. Everyone was really happy, my parents, my friends and especially my teacher. I am still carrying those memories and words along with me when I am about to take a test. I know I need to believe in myself, trust my abilities and work hard. She has changed my way of thinking when it comes to challenges. For each of us there is one person who has made difference in our lives; my life was influenced by my teacher. Ms. Polin will always be remembered no matter what I become in future. From this experience I have learned that a teacher like Ms. Polin is always willing to help their students if they ask for it. This experience suggests helping others in their hard times. I have also learned to have confidence in myself and realize if I put my mind into something I can do anything.

Organisational Change Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Organisational Change Management - Essay Example Moreover, this paper will explore the available literature and theories that explain the issues in change and corporate sustainability. Basically, the issue of change management and sustainability is comprehensive and largely a contested concept. The review of academic research on organizational change and sustainability will provide an overview of the strategies and role of the management, as well as individuals in ensuring smooth transition. Notably, change as a process is very complex and depending on the way it is managed, it can produce either positive or negative results. Therefore, it is vital that adequate and relevant literature on change and sustainability is made available to managers. Organizational change and sustainability are global and touches on ecological sustainability, human capital development and management, corporate citizenship, as well as corporate social responsibility. Organisational sustainability is the long-term goal of organisational change and thus, it is highly crucial to determine the most viable change process. In covering literature on organisational change and sustainability, some important issues come up that includes among others human resource management, and strategic and environmental issues. Furthermore, organisational change can be explained as incremental and transformational at the same time. This paper has applied a diversified global perspective with general focus on areas such as organisational values exhibited by both managers and subordinates, organisational social and environmental relation, and finally theories that relate to change and organisational sustainability. Organisational Change and Sustainability Dunphy et al. (2007) studied the theme of change in corporations and how they could be managed as sustainable entities. The paper replicated the comprehensive knowledge in organisational change, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and corporate sustainability. The authors also studied the ways in which corporations can align economic culture with the welfare of the whole society. The paper indicated the power of communication based on the internet to open up societies and therefore facilitate the formation of a corporate community. Furthermore, Dunphy et al. (2007) established that it is through transformational or incremental change process that corporate sustainability is realized. The paper suggests that the size of an organisation has a profound effect on its change and sustainability. They made extensive use of case studies and critical vignettes in order to have a practical perspective of corporate sustainability as a result of change management. Basically, change is inevitable and thus the biggest challenge is how to manage the process in the future. Advanced and rapid technological growth coupled with a growing number of educated labor force and changing political environment contributed much in the increased organisational change needs. According to Guler and David (2008) , the theme of change has become an inseparable feature of the modern organisation. It is also evident that the global social-economic environment is ever changing, and thus organisations are forced to follow suit and keep pace, otherwise there is a greater risk of becoming obsolete in short period of time. However, although many organisations are joining the change ‘bandwagon’, only about 30 percent is attaining the targeted objectives

Artistic Freedom, Commercial Demands, and Ethical Responsibility Case Study

Artistic Freedom, Commercial Demands, and Ethical Responsibility - Case Study Example The media has its own justification of releasing such content. These justifications will be elaborated upon in this paper along with its impact on the moral, artistic and commercial landscape of the media. A discussion on censorship will also be covered within this paper. Justifying Questionable Content The media has been quite vociferous in justifying questionable content. They present their perspective of the story which does not completely alleviate the concerns of responsible citizens. One argument presented by the entertainers is that the impact of media is not as strong as is being propagated by anti-media parties. They argue that while there may be a relationship between violence and media, this relationship is not properly understood. It may be possible that people with a violent streak may be more inclined to watch violent movies (Smith, 2002). In such cases, it is not the media that is impacting the person but rather the person being attracted to media for what is provides to the individual. The individual may even live out his fantasy of violence by watching the movie and may not commit such acts in his real life. However, the media cannot make a strong case that its content does not impact the minds of the young consumers who have little knowledge of differentiating between right and wrong. The media does not take into account its moral duty (Ganguzza and Morgensten, 1992). Entertainers and their supporters also argue that questionable content could not be completely removed from media as this would subsequently harm the freedom of speech of the media. Preventing the media from freely expressing their content is a violation of their First Amendment Act (Magoon, 2010). The media is entitled to its own opinions even if they are objectionable to certain groups. For example, Eminem may be producing questionable content according to certain people but entertainers argue that he is merely expressing his opinions. The voice of Eminem represents the voice o f millions of black people and to silence this voice is to prevent the media from being truly free (Christians, et. al, 2012). Moral, Artistic and Commercial Relevance of the Argument If considered morally, the presence of questionable content is destroying the fabric of the society. It is doing this by promoting a culture that is filled with violence, hate and sexual overtones. While the society stresses on the importance of morality and ethic, the media is promoting a culture that is just the opposite. For example, it gives the lesson through a variety of films such as Kill Bill, that a common man may arise above the law and take revenge for the wrong inflicted upon him. If the media is allowed to go unchecked, the youth will have a completely different and distorted view of morality. When parents check mortality, it is sometimes quite the opposite of what children watch on the media. This will lead to doubt in the minds of the children and may even impact the authority of the par ents (Eden, Grizzard and Lewis, 2012) However, the artistic freedom of the media is sometimes comprised if they are not able to truly depict their opinions and views. If

Accrual Accounting in Public Sector Essay Example for Free

Accrual Accounting in Public Sector Essay In the present age, accounting seems to be an indispensable tool for modern business activities. However, not only for the profit orientated commercial business, it also plays an important role in the non-profit profit organizations, such as public sectors. Moreover, due to several deficiencies and drawbacks of government accounting and financial-management systems, such as unclear accountability, poorly maintained assets and hided losses and long-term liabilities, reforms in the public sector have been conducted over the last several decades across the word from New Zealand, Australia to England (Ball and et al, 1999). Accounting innovation by implementing accrual accounting in the public sector is one of the major part of the reforms and an important element of the wider concept of the so called New Public Management, and draws much of public concern and debate (Connolly and Hyndman, 2006). Under this background, this essay is going to discuss the implications arising from the process of implementing and actual using of accrual accounting in the public sector in several aspects, and try to put forward some possible solutions. See more:  Perseverance essay Generally, two main accounting methods are use to determine when and how to record income and expenses in the books, namely, cash accounting and accrual accounting. The major difference between these two is the timing of when the transactions are recorded in the account (Tudor and Mutiu, 2006). To be specific, under the cash accounting method, income and payment are not counted until cash is actually received or made; while under the accrual accounting basis, transactions are recorded as soon as they incurred, regardless whether the cash is received or made. Comparing to cash accounting, accruals accounting place more emphasis on how the capital assets used and recorded (Connolly and Hyndman, 2006). More reliable figures of performance based on revenues earned and resources consumed will be achieved through accruals accounting. Owning to this, it is believed that accruals accounting will contribute to better longer-term perspective of governmental policies, resource management and decision making (Ball and et al, 1999); and both internal and external transparency may be enhanced. Moreover, it is also considered that comparability between different government departments will be improved, even between the pre and post privatization (Wynne, 2004 and FEE, 2006). Although several potential advantages are suggested that will be brought by implementing accrual accounting in the public sector, it is still under debate that whether it is really appropriate to use accrual accounting system, which is initially devised for private sector, in the public sector (CESifo, 2007). In the private sector, commonly, accounting tends to be seen as a neutral technology to record past activities and provide financial and other necessary information to operate the business more efficiently and profitable. However, due to the difference in the nature and role of the public sector, this description seems not appropriate. For example, the primary purpose of public sector accounting is not serving to generate more profit but controlling people’s behavior to protect public money (Ellwood and Newberry, 2007), and the ultimate users are electorate instead of stakeholders (CESifo, 2007). Due to the fundamental mismatch of the objects, potential inadaptable problems may emerge during utilization (Carlin, 2005). As for the incurred cost of implementation and operation of an accrual accounting, in the North Ireland (NI) case study conducted by Connolly and Hyndman (2006), almost all the â€Å"overseers† and â€Å"Operational Accountants† believed that the views of cost neutral of the transition process, which came up by the UK HM Treasury, are not conform to the reality. Besides that, another case study based on UK and Republic of Ireland (RoI) , the result also revealed that all the interviewees questioned the value of the changes whether can justify the substantial cost (Connolly and Hyndman, 2010). Usually, the additional introducing cost will occur mainly in four aspects, identifying and valuing existing assets, developing accounting policies, establishing accounting systems (such as computer systems), hiring or providing training for both the preparers and users of financial information; and some of those cost will persist (Wynne, 2004). The amount of the cost is significant, for example, according to the New Zealand Audit Office, there is about NZ$160-180 million expenditure accrued by the financial-management reform during 1987 to 1992 (Ball and et al, 1999). Upon the previous experience and data, special resource should be added to the budget separately to ensure that the normal department services will not be impacted by the implementation of accrual accounting. The actual cost associated with process can also be reckoned more easily by doing this. Through comparing several case studies, the perceptions of usefulness of accruals information and the extent of the information used in reality tend to be very different in different cases. Both of the two researches conducted by Connolly and Hyndman (2006 and 2010), based on UK and RoI, showed that almost all the interviewees agreed that the accrual accounting information was limited used or even not used and helpless for decision making; and several â€Å"Operational Accountant† participants expressed the view that the very complicated process may be one of the leading factors. Nevertheless, the situations seem to be rather dissimilar in Australia and New Zealand, where more comprehensively accrual accounting have been adopted. Especially in New Zealand, a significant decrease, from about 52% of GDP to just above 10%, of net debt could be found after the reforms during 1992 to 2005 (Champoux, 2006). The differences of performance of implementation of accrual accounting may attribute to three main reasons, the extent of the whole reform involved, insufficient implementing time and relevant people lack of professional knowledge. One of the possible reasons for the success of New Zealand is that New Zealand was the first country which had completely implemented accrual accounting system at both national and agency level (Carlin, 2005). According to Lye and et al (2005), the reform process in New Zealand not only occurred in economic level, but also extended to a much broader aspects, such as simplifying the machinery of government and changing industrial relations. In contrast, the extent of reform in the other countries which were also implementing accrual based accounting system, like the UK and the USA, is in a rather surface degree. Furthermore, the politicians who were responsible for the reforms in those two countries were right- wing, and may always hold conservative attitude to the reforms (Lye and et al, 2005). However, a thorough reform could generate many benefits and potential advantages. Turning to the issue of implementing time, â€Å"Overseers† participants in the research of Connolly and Hyndman (2006) also typically emphasized that the ineffectiveness of utilization could be a result of being the early stages of the development, and some â€Å"Operational Accountant† also showed positive attitude to the future through time increasing. The process of implementing accrual accounting in the public sector takes far more than 1 or 2 years until the whole system working effectively and efficiently. According to previous experience, the process of fully implementing the new accounting system and necessary reforms will take about 8 to 10 years; and it may be take even longer in the UK case (Wynne, 2004). Upon this, it can be found that the process may take a relatively longer time than people used to expect before the benefit being realized. One other reason is that relevant staffs and managers are unqualified because of lack of professional accounting knowledge. It is commonly accepted that better insight information, such as more complete financial performance and position, which could reveal the features of operation of public sector may be provided by accrual accounting. However, those characteristics make the statements more difficult to understand, especially for people with inadequate accounting knowledge. Comparing to cash accounting, the information provided by cash accounting seems more easily to understand and more straightforward for the general public (CESifo, 2007 and FEE, 2006). Moreover, in Connolly and Hyndman’ s research (2006), both â€Å"Overseer† and â€Å"Operational Accountant† participants particularly complained that, mostly, their efforts, spending extra time to process the complex information, are useless, because the potential users are lack of relevant accounting skills. Several participates also believed that the majority of senior managers are not equipped with necessary accounting knowledge and do not have a strong desire to learn and adopt the new accounting system. Besides that, in another Connolly and Hyndman’s research (2010), according to reflection of politicians to the new accounting information, the interviewees believed that not only the senior managers, but also the politicians, who are essentially responsible for decision-making, had inadequate accounting knowledge and superficial level of understanding of accrual accounting system. However, if politicians do not have certain level of accounting knowledge, they will not be able to evaluate and act upon accrual statements (FEE, 2006). The following is a case in point. Wynne (2004, p10) states that â€Å"only 20% of ministries had a director of finance who was a professionally qualified accountant and not all these were members of the ministry’s management board† in the UK central government. In order to ensure implementation of accrual accounting more smoothly, several approaches could be taken to achieve that. Firstly, one of the most effective ways is providing more accessible accrual information for the public, for instance, summarizing the important information and presenting it without using specialized vocabulary. Secondly, it is vital to provide more training programmes, which teach practically useful accrual accounting knowledge, for both the staffs and managers. Finally, based on the New Zealand experience, it was found that a strong communication with politicians is an indispensable part in the implementation process. The politicians need to realize the potential value of which the accrual based accounting system can bring. Thus, practical strategies, such as illustrating the core concept and benefit of accrual accounting and providing key figures, which can show the features of accrual information, will be needed. (FEE, 2006) In conclusion, through analyzing and comparing several case studies of implementation of accrual accounting, it can be found that a significant number of countries had already started to implement accrual accounting and use accrual information in practice, and the number is still increasing. However, only minority of them realized the substantial benefits from the new accounting system. The reasons for this status can be vary, such as Insufficient implementing time and relevant people lack of professional knowledge mentioned above. Several possible solutions can be used to tackle those problems, but it can be more complicate in the real case; and some gaps still exist in understanding of the implications of use of accrual accounting in the public sector (Carlin, 2005). For this reason, further research based on each countries own circumstances is still needed. Moreover, it is also quite certain that for many countries there are still a number of barriers to be overcome before accrual accounting can be utilized to its full potential. List of references Ball, I. and et al. (1999). â€Å"Reforming Financial Management in the Public Sector: Lessons U.S. Officials Can Learn from New Zealand.† Policy Study No. 258. Reason Public Policy Institute. Carlin, T, M. (2005), â€Å"Debating the Impact of Accrual Accounting and Reporting in the Public Sector†, Financial Accountability Management, 21(3) Center for Economic Studies., the Ifo Institute. and the CESifo GmbH (CESifo). (2007). â€Å"Accrual Accounting in The Public Sector†, CESifo DICE Report, 5 (3), pp. 43-45 Connolly, C. and Hyndman, N. (2006), â€Å"The actual implementation of accruals accounting: Caveats from a case within the UK public sector†, Accounting, Auditing Accountability Journal, [e-journal] 19 (2), pp. 272 – 290. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09513570610656123 [Accessed 1 December 2012] Connolly, C. and Hyndman, N. (2010), â€Å"Accruals accounting in the public sector: A road not always taken†, Management Accountin g Research, 22 (1), pp. 36–45 Ellwood, S. and Newberry, S. (2007), â€Å"Public sector accrual accounting: institutionalising neo-liberal principles ? †. Accounting, Auditing Accountability Journal, [e-journal] 20(4), pp. 549 – 573. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09513570710762584 [Accessed 1 December 2012] Federation des Experts des Comtables Europeens (FEE). (2006), â€Å"Accrual Accounting for More Effective Public Policy†, paper of the FEE Public Sector Committee. Lye, J., Perera, H. and Rahman, A. (2005), â€Å"The evolution of accruals-based Crown (government) financial statements in New Zealand†, Accounting, Auditing Accountability Journal, [e-journal] 18(6), pp. 784-815. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09513570510627711 [Accessed 1 December 2012] Tiron-Todor, A. and Mutiu, A. (2005), â€Å"Cash versus Accrual Accounting in Public Sector†, Studia Universitatis Babes Bolyai Oeconomica 1990, available at SSRN: http//s srn.com/abstract=906813. [Accessed 1 December 2012] Wynne, A. (2004), â€Å"Is the Move to Accrual Based Accounting a Real Priority for Public Sector Accounting†, Public Fund Digest, [e-journal] 6(1) . Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1320219 [Accessed 1 December 2012]