Budgetary Process Essay Example for Free

Budgetary Process Essay â€Å"Identify and describe the key features that a budgetary process should achieve to achieve managerial goal congruent behaviour. However if budgets are over emphasised myopic behaviour may be observed where a manager (or groups of managers) takes action(s) that improve budgetary performance in the short term but may cause long term harm to the organisation† Discuss. A budget is a short term, often one year, business plan, usually expressed in financial terms (Atrill, Mclaney, 2011, p.314). There are three broad functions of budgeting, these are: quantification of plans, help in financial planning, and monitoring and controlling scarce resources through performance measurements. Throughout this essay I shall be discussing these three areas, breaking them down into seven more specific features of budgeting. Furthermore I shall discuss how myopic behaviour can cause long term harm to an organisation. Goal congruence means developing and maintaining the various activities within the enterprise in proper relationship to each other (Welsch, Hilton, gordan, 1988 p.50). From a managerial point of view this is better explained by making sure they are aware of the different goals set by multiply departments within the organisation; as well as making sure their own goals are in line with the organisations overall plans. There are seven key features that a budgetary process should achieve in order to achieve managerial goal congruent behaviour. The first key feature is authorization, this makes managers accountable for their actions/spending and helps prevent fraud in an organisation (Atrill, McLaney, 2011). For an organisation it is important to make the right choice between a centralised control of the budget, where the organisations overall aspirations are at the heart of any decision making, or to delegate the responsibility to subordinates who will have a better understanding of their local environment. Usually a mixture of centralised and delegated control is chosen, giving some responsibility to subordinates to maintain motivated (Berry, Broadbent, Otley, 2005 p.108). Goal congruence is best achieved by using authorization in the budgetary process to keep Managers / Subordinates clear on what is expected of them from a financial point of view. The next four functions come into effect when planning a budget. Forecasting is critical in preparing an organisation for what is to come in the future, â€Å"looking ahead must be better than moving forward with eyes closed† (Garrett, 2010). It involves calculating many variables in order to predict future economic conditions as well as how governments and competitors will behave. On top of this, the company needs to forecast how the relationship between price and demand will change. Planning links in closely with forecasting as both use secondary data to help organisations determine what to do next. Drury (2004) states that managers are encouraged to plan whilst preparing the budget so that they can consider what changes may occur and how they can respond. An organisation needs to plan out how they are going to treat upcoming circumstances, for example seasonal changes, trends in the market and the likely hood of the company incurring growth or decline. A combination of forecasting and planning enables managers to remain goal congruent as they are aware of what is expected from them and what is expected to happen to the market or organisation in the future. This allows them to have a better understanding of how they are going to achieve their goals and helps keep them focused and in line with the organisation. Berry, Broadbent, Otley, (2005) states the budgetary process provides, in different ways, a focus for forecasting and planning, whilst serving as a channel for communication and coordination. Communication is a critical part of the budgetary process as it is vitally important that each area of the organisation is given a budget that is relevant to the overall goals of the organisation as well as to their specific needs. It is extremely difficult to keep every area of the business content with the budgetary targets and goals set. Individual areas in a business will be competing with each other when relating to funding, resources etc. Goal congruence is achieved through communication by making sure communication is efficient between the different hierarchical levels and between each department. Most organisations form a budgetary committee which includes the senior management that are responsible for designing the strategy; they also receive the initial budgets from each functional man ager (Weetman, 2010, p.319). This will enable swift and clear transparent communication when negotiating the budget, resulting in the best possible budget for each area of the business, whilst achieving the organisations overall aspirations. The final feature of a budget that comes into effect during the planning stage is control / coordination. I have touched upon coordination in the budget process whilst talking about communication as there cannot be effective control/coordination without effective communication and vice versa. Control is critical in planning budgets, as it is important to make sure each area of the business is accountable for its actions, as well as being able to link the budget/targets for each area together to compensate for possible weaknesses in the organisation. Such weaknesses arise when one area of the organisation is relying on another area that cannot commit to what is needed (Weetman, 2010, p.325). Having coordinated budgets allows superiors in the organisation to realise where there are weaknesses early on and counteract the negative effect. An example of this would be out sourcing if the work load for one area of the business is more than it can handle. Budgetary control is often implement ed through cost centres or profit centres. Profit centres allow centralised responsible for revenue, expenses and profit. Whereas a cost centre enables responsibility for mainly costs (expenses) (Welsch, Hilton and gordan, 1988 p.597). These again support goal congruence as the business as a whole is able to see how each specific sections of the organisation is financially performing and whether or not they are helping to achieve the company’s aspirations. Motivation and evaluation are features of budgets that come into effect once the budgets are active. Motivation in budgeting can make or break how goal congruent managers are as motivation in budgeting is an extremely tricky procedure. It has been proven that budgetary targets can indeed improve staff motivation. However too soft a target will make it too easy for staff to achieve and therefore staff performance may fall, whereas setting targets that are deemed unachievable are also likely to decrease performance. Geert (1968) reached the conclusion that provided the budget does not exceed the highest target acceptable to an individual; the results will increase in line with increasing difficulty. A budget allows organisation to set targets and goals that are then compared with actual performance and evaluated. When using budgets (that have been used for motivational purposes) for evaluation, managers need to be careful not to look on small deviations to harshly. A motivational budget is harder to achieve as it is there to improve performance and efficiency in the organisation (Drury, 2004, p.595). Managers should remember that the budget is financially based and evaluating areas such as innovation, corporate social responsibility, staff moral and customer satisfaction are also important to the organisation when evaluating good performance. â€Å"In the context of dynamic demand analysis, habit formation is defined to be â€Å"myopic† when in each period the individual takes into account his consumption history but does not recognise the impact of his present consumption decisions on his future tastes,† (Pashardes 1986).Myopic behaviour is where individuals, organisations or managers focus solely on the short term. In an accounting context this can be extremely detrimental to an organisation’s long term goals, as managers are more focused on achieving their short term budgetary plans than looking at the company’s overall targets. A myopic mind can bring many problems to an organisation’s none financial goals. If managers are too focused on ach ieving there budgetary targets it can stifle the creativity and risk taking culture of the organisation (CIMA, ICAEW, 2004). This intern can have dramatic long term effects on an organisation’s creativity and entrepreneurial ability, as it is critical for them to move forward and develop as an organisation. A prime example of this can be seen with the demise of Woolworths, â€Å"history might have been different had woolworths not clung to its time-served ‘pic and mix’ business model† (Boje, Burnes and Hassard, 2012, p.332). In the retail industry it should be critical for managers to remain focused on keeping their store modern. It is proven that modernised stores can set higher prices, leading to larger profits, due to a higher net value added (Hemashree, 2008). Clearly Woolworth lack of enthusiasm towards modernising their stores and being too focused on cutting costs lead to a negative operating environment, hindering their chance of survival. A myopic approach to budgetary goals leads to a concentration on cost reduction and not value creation for managers. For any retailer like Woolworths, managers know that staff take up a huge amount of the companies costs. In the short term it becomes increasingly tempting for managers to enforce staff redundancies to help achieve those targets set by superiors (Berry, Broadbent, Otley, 2005). The actions of cost cutting by retail managers including Woolworths, for example reducing staff during seasonal change (e.g. after Christmas), would cause long term costs to the organisation. Instead of paying high costs due to seasonal staff redundancies and staff training, organisations could reduce staff hours during low points in trading then increase staff hours in line with increasing sales. As well as hindering the organisations ability to think of new ideas, the budgetary process can also have an effect on future development that is already in the pipeline. New projects are often put on hold by organisations which become more worried about meeting financial targets, than trying to expand the company and launch into new markets or create new products. IBM’s budgetary process became so long during the 1970’s that it took 18 months to complete their ‘annual’ planning cycle (Hope, Fraser, 2003, p.7). IBM’s management were affected by another budg etary related issue; becoming excessively inward focused to the point where they were unaware of competitor’s behaviour. Due to their high planning cost this lead them to be unable to, and lacking the agility and ability, to counteract (CIMA, ICAEW, 2004). Whilst competitors like Apple were becoming innovated and pushing through their new ideas involving personal computers, IBM were too busy focused on how they, as market leaders, were going to launch the next big thing. IBM misread the personal computer revolution and was unable to react to lower cost advanced computers created by competitors (Hope, Fraser, 2003). â€Å"Keeping an eye on the potential risks and changes in the operating environment is essential – as one delegate noted, budgeting may provide you with a map but if you drive with your eyes closed, you will crash anyway,† (CIMA, ICAEW, 2004). There are many methods or remedies that IBM and Woolworths could off used to prevent the budgetary problems associated with myopic behaviour. Beyond-budgeting is a modernised version of the traditional budgeting process that allows botto m up empowerment. This seems to be the best way for organisations to adjust to the fast changing world of the information age (Hope and Fraser, 2003). IBM were affected by being inward focused and unaware of competitors actions. If IBM had been aware of the new beyond-budgeting process they would have been setting their goals in relation to beating their competitors and not the budget (principle 7) (de Waal, 2005). This would of kept them market focused and enabled them to react faster to their competitors actions instead of misreading the market. Driver based planning and budgeting would of, again benefited IBM by helping to shorten their ‘annual’ budgetary process. Incorporating operational drivers would have meant IBM could reforecast on request and would have been agile enough to adapt to uncertain trading conditions (Barrett, 2005). This process as well as enforcing beyond-budgeting principles could off shortened the planning process involving three thousand people that IBM had in place. Woolworth main problem, like many organisations suffering from managerial myopic behaviour, was a lack of innovation. They became too focused with cost cutting practices, trying to achieving budgetary goals. â€Å"Everybody has a sandpit to play in. my sandpit financially is my control plan, If I stay within it, I’m free to play† (Marginson, Ogden, 2005). Keeping innovated and flexible is critical to achieve the organisations long term goals as well as meet short term budgetary targets. In conclusion, traditional budgets are seen as being incapable of meeting the demands of the competitive environment and are criticized for impeding efficient resource allocation and encouraging dysfunctional behaviour such as myopic decisions (deWaal, Hermskens-Janssen, Van de Ven, 2011). I have demonstated how individual beyond budgeting principles can add to traditional budgeting to support organisations, using examples of IBM and Woolworths to demonstrate. De Waal (2005) states that research shows the more beyond-budgeting principles an organisation implements, the better it performs. A combination of budgeting and beyond-budgeting principles allows managers to balance the inherent rigidity of their budgets with the more organic processes of innovation. (Marginson, Ogden, 2005). Using the key principles of beyond budgeting enables managers to focus on achieving long term goals, in line with the organisation’s overall objectives, as well as helping to speed up and modernise the traditional budgetary process. It is however important to remember that the features of a traditional budget are extremely important to most organisations. â€Å"Budgeting provides an overall framework of control without which it would be impossible to manage,† (CIMA, ICAEW, 2004). References Atrill, P., Mclaney, E., 2011. Accouting and Finance for non specialists. 7th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Barrett, R., 2005. Budgeting and Reforcasting, Financial Management. Berry, A. J., Broadbent, J., Otley, D., 2005. Management Control. 2nd ed. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Boje, D., Burnes, B., Hassard, J., 2012. The Routledge Companion to Organisational Change. Oxon: Routledge. CIMA., ICAEW., 2004. Better Budgeting. London: Silverdart Ltd. de Waal, A., 2005. Insights from Practice is your Organisation ready for Beyond-Budgeting?, Measuring Business Excellence. Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 9 (2) (November) pp. 56-67. de Waal, A., Hermkens-Janssen. M., Van de Ven, A., 2011. The Evolution Adoption Framework. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Drury, C., 2004. Management and Cost Accounting. 6th ed. London: Thomas Learning. Garrett, K., 2010. Budgeting. ACCA. Geert, H., Hofstede., 1968. The Game of Budget Control. London: Tavistock Publication. Hemashree, A., 2008. A Study on Working of Modern and Traditional Retail Outlets. Dharwad: University of agricultural sciences. Hope, J., Fraser, R., 2003. Beyond Budgeting. United States: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. Marginson, D., Ogden, S., 2005. Budgeting and Innovation, Financial Management. Pashardes, P., 1986. Myopic and Forward Looking Behaviour in a Dynamic Demand System, International Economic Review. Wiley, 27 (2) (June), pp.387-397. Weetman, P., 2010. Management Accounting .2nd ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Welsch, G. A., Hilton, R. W., & Gordan, P. N., 1988. Budgeting – Profit, Planning and Control. 5th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Budgetary Process. (2017, Feb 04).

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 26

Research Paper Example Their first entry is recorded to be around 793 CE during which they ambushed the Christian monastic community who were residing in the Lindisfarne Island. There well designed long ship helped them move around the coast invading and attacking inhabitants of the Europeans coasts, in harbors and other river settlements. However, the aim of the paper is to describe in details the ‘Vikings art’ during the period between 800 CE and 1100 CE. The Vikings artist focused majorly on the durability of the material they used hence most of their artwork are made of stone, wood, metal ,bone, ivory and textiles. In some cases, they use human skin to present their art inform of Tattoo’s. Wood: This is the material that dominates the Vikings art due to the well-known advantages of wood to the art industry like easy to carve, durability, cheap cost and availability. Evidence of the extensive use of wood is in the Oseberg ship burial carvings in the 9th century, and the Urnes stave church (Grancsay, 21). Stone: use of stone began late in Scandinavia and a few memories of its use are like in the Gotlandic stone pictures and the royal monuments at jelling in Denmark though most of its use came late in the middle of 10th century. The spread of use of stone in the Viking art is related to the spread of Christianity (Grancsay, 59). Metal: Various archaeological evidences showed the presence of various decorations especially of metallic ornaments. The use of metallic art was also reflected on the jewelry that was worn by both men and women. The respectable women were identifiable from the matching brooches that were used just below their shoulder. Therefore, the evidence of the metalwork decorations were in the regained artwork in various designated graves. This is because they believed in accompanying the dead with material possessions. Therefore, it was common to extract jewelry, tools, household goods and weapons from the Vikings graves. Other

Chinese film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Chinese film - Essay Example In the essay, I will be using the film, Comrades: Almost a Love Story (Chan, 1996), in order to illustrate how individuals’ lives or identities are transformed in certain ways in the film for being a fan of the popular star. Using the characters’ Li Xiao Ju and Li Qiao, I will examine how their lives have been transformed for being fans of a certain star in the movie. The film spans over several years that involve Li Xiao, who is a Mainlander moving to Hong Kong in order to get himself a job, and Li Qiao, also a Mainlander moves to Hong Kong and tries to be a successful entrepreneur through the selling of Teresa Teng’s cassette tapes and in search for a better live (Peter, 1996). She also does other odd jobs such as selling flowers and other employments. Li Xiao is assisted by his aunt in getting a job as a delivery man. Li Xiao has moved to Hong Kong in hopes of earning enough money that will enable him to go back home in order to marry his fiancà ©. While Li Xiao seems to be earnest and uncertain in regards to things Li Qiao, on the other hand, is smooth, quick and efficient when setting and following her dream and goals. Their difference in their personal traits is also evident in the type of wage earnings that each assumes when they arrive in Hong Kong. As we will come to find out in the film, theyre different in person trait will because of Li Qiao’s live transformation by the songs of Teresa Teng. Because of how Li Qiao emulates, and her passion for Teresa as she is associated with popular culture makes her be an ambitious and hardworking lady. It is clear that the life of Li Qiao has been transformed in some way for being a fan of a popular star. As an immigrant, she does not have any apparent kin who could help her get a job or an apartment. However, she is able to get herself a job as a counter clerk at

Business and Ethics. Which global dimensions of collective existence Essay

Business and Ethics. Which global dimensions of collective existence are more often cited in moral considerations of global busi - Essay Example All moral ethics should be considered while developing the structure of an organization. This is the key to success for firms and it will make them flourish in the international market. â€Å"Indeed there are several factors triggering international convergence of ethical standards and ethical perceptions. A variety of initiatives by MNC’s, non governmental organizations, governments and international organizations have promoted this tendency. These efforts, along with the critical role of information technology in disseminating news and practices around the world, have elevated the forces working towards universal forms† (Yadong Luo, 2007, P. 207). Although due to globalization world now faces many challenges including the migration and condition children. The current process of globalization has impacted on patterns ad processes of transnational labour migration and has more recently led to increase in labour migration. Migration has bought about many opportunities fo r different family members. it is common that older family members finds it difficult to adjust t a new culture living style but children finds experience such a situation differently. Some of them easily cope up with the situation easily but others may find it difficult to adapt to such a situation. The migration can have mixed experiences. A recent survey points out that children of the same area have different experience on migration. But a common fact is that when migration is occurred from normally under developed section to developed area with aim a livelihood, the experience is rough for most of the families especially for children. Such situation ca mainly leads to child labour, rough, long working conditions and under payment. â€Å"The brief survey of the current wave of globalization on children shows just how large are the transformational in so many critical parts of the ordinary life† (Kaufman & Rizzini, 2002, P.16). Line of Argumentation: With the present situa tion of labour and the condition of the migrant labour it is necessary to consider the life of the people who suffers from the worst side of all these. With globalization the purpose of migration is mainly employment and the migrant labour especially children are suffering from the change situation. So it is important consider the moral values behind these process in order to protect the people from all these. â€Å"Under contemporary globalization, international labour mobility has increased, while levels of exploitation and deregulation have accelerated. Lack of legal protection for migrant workers heightens their attractiveness as instruments of 'maintaining competitiveness' because they are obliged to work in situations where decent work conditions are not enforced. Irregular migrants are especially vulnerable because the threat of apprehension and deportation thwarts unionizing and exposure of dangerous working conditions† (Taran & Geronimi, 2003). For an organization to be successful in the global market, internal and external issues regarding the organization as well the migrant labour and their families is to be considered. â€Å"From the perspective of social responsibility, business ethics embodies standards, norms and expectations that reflect a concern of major stake holders including consumers, employees, share holders, suppliers, competitors and the community†

Is there Democratic Deficit in the EU?

Is there Democratic Deficit in the EU? It is argued by many commentators[1] that there exists a `democratic deficit` within the European Union although others argue[2] that there exists no such `democratic deficit`, there are also those who acknowledge the existence of a `democratic deficit` but that argue that it is not problematic[3]. This assignment will look at those arguments and consider whether or not in despite of numerous reforms the democratic credentials of the EC still remain a concern. This argument will be considered in light of the evolving nature and the role of parliament. It is important first to understand what is meant by the `democratic deficit`. It is difficult to find a common definition however, in basic terms this argument suggests that the European Parliament as the only directly elected body holds too minor a role in the legislative process. Supporters of the `democratic deficit` argument, argue that the European Parliament, as the only elected and democratic element of the European Community, should exert more power over the legislative process and that the current situation means that the legislative process is controlled by the non-elected Council. It is argued that one of the major problems that this `democratic deficit` creates is a possibility that â€Å"a small minority in a state could be over-represented in the intergovernmental process and thus be able to impose its preferences even in the face of an overwhelming European majority†[4] Conversely those that support the notion that the current situation does not create a `democratic deficit` point to the fact that public interest in elections to the European Parliament is low[5] and as Bermann points out â€Å"participation in elections for European Parliament in June 2004 dropped to a record low of 45.3 percent across the twenty-five member states.† The argument is therefore that even though the MEP’s are, in theory elected by the public, in reality they are not supported by the majority and if they were provided with greater power it would be of little relevance to persons within a member state. This supports the argument, which will be discussed later, that the solution is not to increase the power of the European Parliament but to increase the power of member states within the legislative process. In order to understand the evolution of the European Parliament it is important to consider briefly the legislative process and the growth of European Parliament’s role in that process. Originally a limited number of Treaty Articles[6] provided that the Council was required to consult the European Parliament as to its opinion before arriving at a decision on Community secondary law[7]. This position was confirmed by the case of Roquette Freres SA v Commission[8], although the Council was permitted to ignore and overrule any opinion expressed by the European Parliament[9]. The Maastricht reforms amended Art 251. The new regime creates a co-decision procedure whereby the European Parliament can reject a legislative proposal. Once the European Parliament has provided its views on a legislative proposal, the Council shall adopt a common position by a qualified majority. The European Parliament can, within three months, either approve or take no decision in which case the Council can adopt the measure. Alternatively the European Parliament can reject or amend the proposal by an absolute majority, if this situation occurs then the Council can approve those amendments by a qualified majority within a three month time limit. However if the Commission has issued a negative opinion on the amendments, the Council are only able to approve by unanimity. If the Council does then not agree this amended proposal it will be referred to a new Conciliation Committee to in an effort to accomplish a compromise within six weeks. If a joint text is approved, the Council and European Parliament can then accept the provision together within six weeks and the European Parliament may finally reject it within six weeks by an absolute majority. It is arguable that these reforms do not go far enough in addressing the `democratic deficit` and that they only provide a negative power of veto and in addition they will only apply to limited specific areas. Further changes were introduced by the Treaty of Amsterdam, which whilst go someway to decreasing the democratic deficit do not, it is argued, go far enough. The Treaty of Amsterdam increased the use of and streamlined the co-decision procedure. The Treaty also extended the areas in which the assent of the Parliament is to be required to incorporate the structural and cohesion funds. However, it is pointed out that these do not actually increase the level of participation of the European Parliament and its capacity to insist on a specific measure and thus do little to reduce the `democratic deficit` and make the Union more democratic[10]. Finally changes were implemented via the Nice Treaty, although these were very limited in scope and did little to improve the `democratic deficit`. Although they it did extend the Qualified Majority Voting into new areas and also increased the effect of the co-decision procedure which was extended to include more treaty articles. The changes proposed in the Constitution for Europe[11] are likely to set the foundation of the legislative procedures for many years to come and in this regard they are very important. There are essentially three main changes that are proposed by the constitution which seek to improve the `democratic deficit`. The first of these is that there should be more involvement of the European Parliament in the adoption of all EU legislation and this is to be achieved by greater use of the â€Å"Co-decision procedure†, which it is intended, will be the normal procedure for enactment of legislation. The second change that is proposed by the Constitution is that the member states’ parliament has a greater involvement. One of the main proposals is to enact a procedure whereby national parliaments can register formal objections to a European Commission proposal because it failed to respect the principle of subsidiarity[12]. The final proposal is that Council meetings must be public or televised where legislative procedures are being discussed or voted upon, whether or not these proposals will rectify the `democratic deficit` remains to be seen. It is too early to conclude whether or not this will solve the problem. There are two main suggestions for the improvement of democracy in Europe. The first argument, and the one which has been the subject of this assignment, is to increase the power of the European Parliament. The second suggestion involves increasing the power of national parliaments in the legislative process as the general public have little interest in who is elected into the European Parliament. Steiner and Woods consider this second argument but conclude that â€Å"at the level of individual pieces of legislation, national parliaments become involved in the process too late to have any real impact on the outcome, and the level of control exercised by the individual national parliaments may vary significantly between Member States[13]†. Despite the increased power given to the European Parliament following the various treaties that have been discussed above, and as Weiler points out, the European Parliament â€Å"is still characterised by a lesser degree of parliamentary representation and majority decision making in the European political process than its counterparts in national democracies[14]†. However Dehousse[15] argues that the argument that there is a democratic deficit is fundamentally flawed and that the EU encounters similar problems with democracy as are encountered in domestic systems and that some of the â€Å"loudest complaints over a European democratic deficit may be based on idealisations of democracy in the nation-state†. Those who do not support the concept of a `democratic deficit` argue that â€Å"the preoccupation with the concept of democratic deficit is limiting and does little to improve our understanding of the role of the European Parliament†[16]. Finally, Majone argu es that the EU is a â€Å"regulatory state-a state which despite its democratic deficit can be accountable†[17]. Having considered the arguments it seems clear that perhaps one of the primary reasons for the belief that there exists a `democratic deficit` is that powers that were once controlled by national parliaments have now been transferred to the EU where they are subject to a lower degree of parliamentary participation[18]. Therefore it is argued that the `democratic deficit` does exist, but only in so far as it does not match political ideologies and does not mirror the political system of other member states. It is arguable that deficit does not in fact exist and that the EU system is simply different to member states political systems. Even if it could be concluded that a `democratic deficit` did exist how to correct this deficit is problematic in itself. Some argue that a democratic model similar to that of the state should be developed whereas others argue that democracy can only be achieved through national democracies.[19] One certainty is that it is an argument that will not be se ttled in the near future and it is doubtful that the constitution will resolve the problem to the satisfaction of all member states. Bibliography Cases EP v Council (C-65/91) Parliament v Council (C-392/95) Roquette Freres SA v Commission (Case 20/88) [1989] ECR 1553 Treaties Maastricht Treaty 1997 Nice Treaty Treaty of Amsterdam 1997 Journal Articles Barnard C, Dashwood A, (2006) â€Å"The EU Constitution – Dealing with the Deficit†, 156 New Law Journal 173 Bermann G, Monet J Gelhorn W, (2005) â€Å"Executive Power in the New European Constitution†, International Journal of constitutional Law 3.2 (440) Maduro M, (2005) â€Å"The Importance of Being Called a Constitution: Constitutional Authority and the Authority of Constitutionalism†, International Journal of Constitutional Law 3.2 (332) Majone G, (1998) â€Å"Europes Democratic Deficit: The Question of Standards†4 European Law Journal 5 Weiler J, (2005) â€Å"On the Power of the Word: Europe’s Constitutional Iconography†, International Journal of Constitutional Law 3.2 (173) Books Craig P De Bà ºrca G, (2003)†EU Law, Text, Cases and Materials, Third Edition, Oxford University Press Fairhurst J , (2004) â€Å"Law of the European Union†, Fifth Edition, Pearson Longman Harlow C, (2002) â€Å"Accountability in The European Union†, Oxford University Press, Oxford Hartley T, (2003) â€Å"The Foundations of European Community Law†, Fifth Edition, Oxford University Press Horspool M Humphreys M, (2006) â€Å"European Union Law†, Oxford University Press Lenaerts K Van Nuffel P,(2005)†Constitutional Law of the European Union†, Second Edition, Sweet and Maxwell Steiner J Woods L, (2003) â€Å"Textbook on EC Law†, Eighth Edition, Oxford University Press Weatherill S, (2005) â€Å"Cases and Materials on EU Law†, Seventh Edition, Oxford University Press Weiler J Winds M (eds) (2003) â€Å"European Constitutionalism Beyond the State†, Cambridge University Press Websites http://european-convention.eu.int/ accessed on 21.10.2006 1 Footnotes [1] See for example the comments of Weiler J, (2005) â€Å"On the Power of the Word: Europe’s Constitutional Iconography†, International Journal of Constitutional Law 3.2 (173) [2] See for example the comments of Dehousse R in Weiler J Winds M (eds) (2003) â€Å"European Constitutionalism Beyond the State†, Cambridge University Press [3] See for example Majone G, (1998) â€Å"Europes Democratic Deficit: The Question of Standards†4 European Law Journal 5 [4] Weiler J, (2005) â€Å"On the Power of the Word: Europe’s Constitutional Iconography†, International Journal of Constitutional Law 3.2 (173) [5] Bermann G, Monet J Gelhorn W, (2005) â€Å"Executive Power in the New European Constitution†, International Journal of constitutional Law 3.2 (440) [6] 17 [7] old Arts 54 or 56 [8] (Case 20/88) [1989] ECR 1553 [9] Although consider EP v Council (C-65/91) and Parliament v Council (C-392/95) where the Court annulled Regulations which the Council had amended without further Consultation to the European Parliament. [10]Lenaerts K Van Nuffel P,(2005)†Constitutional Law of the European Union†, Second Edition, Sweet and Maxwell at page [11] http://european-convention.eu.int/ accessed on 21.10.2006 [12] For further discussion see Barnard C, Dashwood A , (2006) â€Å"The EU Constitution – Dealing with the Deficit†, 156 New Law Journal 173 [13] Steiner J Woods L, (2003) â€Å"Textbook on EC Law†, Eighth Edition, Oxford University Press at page 25 [14]Weiler J, (2005) â€Å"On the Power of the Word: Europe’s Constitutional Iconography†, International Journal of Constitutional Law 3.2 (173) [15]Dehousse R in Weiler J Winds M (eds) (2003) â€Å"European Constitutionalism Beyond the State†, Cambridge University Press – Chapter 6 Page 135 [16] Harlow C, (2002) â€Å"Accountability in The European Union†, Oxford University Press, Oxford See Chapter 1 generally [17] Majone G, (1998) â€Å"Europes Democratic Deficit: The Question of Standards†4 European Law Journal 5 [18] Maduro M, (2005) â€Å"The Importance of Being Called a Constitution: Constitutional Authority and the Authority of Constitutionalism†, International Journal of Constitutional Law 3.2 (332) [19] Maduro M, (2005) â€Å"The Importance of Being Called a Constitution: Constitutional Authority and the Authority of Constitutionalism†, International Journal of Constitutional Law 3.2 (332)

Essay on Shakespeares Sources for A Midsummer Nights Dream

Shakespeare's Sources for A Midsummer Night's Dream  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most-performed plays: a delightful comedy, but full of enough potential tragedy to avoid becoming saccharine. Much of that tragic possibility comes from Shakespeare's sources, as he directly acknowledges in Act V. The entertainments Philostrate proposes, all stories taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses, show the unhappy endings all too likely to spring from tales like that of the four lovers of Shakespeare's play, or the strife-torn fairy rulers. "The battle with the Centaurs, to be sung / By an Athenian eunuch with the harp" (V.i.44-5) is the first of Philostrate's suggestions, and the most blatant. Centaurs are almost an epitome of the dangerous fairy-world that underlies so much of Shakespeare's play: half-man, half-beast, they recall Bottom's similar, albeit more humorous, condition. Lust and jealousy cause the undoing of the marriage feast, for the Centaurs' theft of women provokes a battle. Thanks to the fairy intervention, all in Shakespeare's play are happy with their spouses: but how might the wedding have been marred if Demetrius and Lysander both still loved Hermia? "These are the forgeries of jealousy" (II.i.81) cries Titania to Oberon, and their contention, likewise a result of lust and jealousy and unbridled nature, luckily enters the play only peripherally. Theseus' law, and fairy medicine, overrules the lusty, animal side of love and prevents such violence from marring, indeed unmaking, the comedy. "The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals, / Tearing the Thracian singer [Orpheus] in their rage" (V.i.48-9) is an alternate selection, but one just as significant. "The mad Ciconian women" (p.259) cry "There is ... ... scene. The meta-drama overcomes the actual play, and what was tragic becomes "tragical mirth," what was a dire warning to heed society's laws or fear the consequences is a gross entertainment and slapstick. Theseus' laws have overcome the bloody, passionate side of love: the man himself appears to have ceased his earlier, youthful amours to settle down with a wife, Hippolyta, vigorous enough to match his own martial nature. Indeed, he discounts the entertainments as those which he has already heard or told -- they are old news to him, settled affairs, and he needs hear of them no more. The only reason "Pyramus and Thisbe" receives a hearing is its odd synopsis -- and equally odd presentation! Shakespeare shows the alternate endings his play could all too easily have taken, to make us relish all the more the happy solution he and the characters have found.   

Meaning of life †Mind Essay

The meaning of life is a question that is thrown around from person to person asking them what they think. Some people have an idea of what the meaning of life is and other has no clue. Some believe that you just live life and others believe while living life you discover the meaning. During this essay I will be talking about what other people think about this question. When I had a conversation with my father about what the meaning of life is all about he had the same response to the question that basically everyone else had came up with. The one difference that he said while we were chatting was that life is full of choices and decisions. I thought long and hard for a while about what he said thinking that there was more behind it then just what he had stated. What I came up with was that maybe he was implying that what we do during our term of living is what sets up the next thing that happens in life. So each choice that we make is important in that it’s not the meaning of life that’s so important but the concept of what we do during life is the meaning. Some might disagree and imp still thinking about what my father has said to, but its just another point of view and I have no problem looking at it from a different angle. Another big topic when it comes to the question of the meaning of life is music. Music is a great way to hear what other people and especially artist think about the meaning of life thought their songs. Sometimes it’s hard to hear but if you listen closely there is always a message somewhere that says something about the meaning of life. For example in the song â€Å"I don’t wanna be† By the artist Gavin Degraw he speaks out about what he thinks about the meaning of life threw what other people are and what he doesn’t want to become. â€Å"I’m surrounded by liars everywhere I turn Imposters everywhere I turn surround me I’m surrounded by identity crisis everywhere I turn Am I the only one who’s noticed? I can’t be the only one who’s learned I don’t want to be anything other than what I’ve been trying to be lately All I have to do is think of me and I’ve peace of mind I’m tired of looking ’round rooms wondering what I got to do Or who I’m supposed to be I don’t want to be anything other than me† (www. sing365. com) What these lyrics are basically saying is that he can see that everyone around him is acting like something that there not. Then he says that he doesn’t want to act like everyone else and not know who he is but he just wants to be he and live life the way he wants to. The next topic that is a good place to find out the meaning of life is the creative minds of artist and there art work. Art work is always a good place to find out the meaning of life because again the artist have a message in there work hidden and you have to find what there saying. The only difference from music is instead of saying the message they paint the message in a form of image weather it’s a paining or it’s a sculpture. There is many ways that you can discover meaning of life. In some ways its not what you find the meaning of life in its more about what you perceive of the meaning of life. When you look at something like a painting or a song what do you think it is trying to say? Does it paint a picture in your head and what does that picture look like? I find that the best way to see the meaning of life is threw movie. Movies are an image of the life that we live but it shows us the true meaning of life in a way that we can all understand. People are blind when it comes to what makes them in this world. In a movie the character is set up to live there life and threw events shows us what makes them unique. In one movie the Shaw shank redemption the main character Andy is convicted for a murder that he doesn’t commit and is forced to go to hail for life. In the movie you think that he has nothing to live for anymore but in a way they present what his meaning of life is and how it comes clear to the characters eyes. The character see’s that he needs certine things in life to live. Friends was one of the things that he discovered was important to live a happy and full life. Hope is another one; if you don’t have hope then you have nothing to look forward to so then what is the point of living. The main thought in the movie was get busy living or get busy dieing. What this is suppose to mean is if your not going to start living and doing all the things you want to complete in life you might as well start on dieing. The meaning of life is very complex and you can’t always pick up everything that it’s going to throw at you. That’s why movies, art and music in around so that other people who think about the topic more can show you there incite. If you listen and look at thoughts things you can learn things that will show you what the meaning of life is or at least what you can do to get started on living your life.