Anti-Intellectualism and Standardized Testing - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2607 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/06/24 Category Management Essay Level High school Tags: Standardized Testing Essay Did you like this example? A population in which does not think original thought is easiest to control. The government and thus, Americas education system is set up to subconsciously discourage the population from producing its own ideas. As a society that keeps higher-education in such high esteem, why dont our government leaders want the populous to contribute to the world of complex thinkers? Standardized testing is a mechanism by which the government measures our knowledge and determines how much money our public schools and educators receive, it is also the greatest contributor to anti-intellectualism in our educational system. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Anti-Intellectualism and Standardized Testing" essay for you Create order I will explore decades of research as well as my own past experiences to determine why standardized testing is still in existence even though years of research has found that it has little to no positive effect on students and faculty. Standardized testing contributes to anti-intellectualism by limiting student knowledge and free thinking in order to do well on a test that does not contribute to expanding their knowledge and learning. Richard Hofstadter was a professor at Columbia University, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and is one of the most revered American historians of the twentieth century. Hofstadter believed that anti-intellectualism was being promoted in higher-education and in the workplace. Deeply rooted in the government is a desire to keep people from thinking of their own ideas. Hofstadters ideas are completely logical; anyone who takes a deeper look into how the government and subsequently, the education system, is run can see that there are many mechanisms by which they do this. Coincidentally, only those who think like intellectuals are able to notice what is happening. When discussing anti-intellectualism, you must first understand what an intellectual is. Hofstadter gives no clear definition of what anti-intellectualism is, but Hofstadter writes what he believes an intellectual is Certainly the intellectual, if he is nothing else, is one who relishes the play of the mind for its own sake, for whom it is one of the major ends of life, (Hofstadter 259). In the above quotation, Hofstadter explains what he thinks is the most defining characteristic of what an i ntellectual is. An intellectual, Hofstadter says, even after accomplishing what most people would find totally satisfying, yearns for more. It does not necessarily have to be material, it can be knowledge or understanding. Being able to grasp Hofstadters idea of anti-intellectualism, is a stepping stone to understanding the negative effect of standardized testing on students learning. To understand why modern standardized testing is dysfunctional, we must first discuss the origins of standardized tests and their functions. The first standardized tests were taken in ancient China. The tests were used to measure the knowledge of a citizen to determine if they were smart enough to become a civil servant. Because ancient China was one of the only societies that a serf could move up the hierarchy, it was used to measure serf knowledge about Confucian philosophy and poetry (Fletcher). Since then they have been introduced all over the world. At first, examiners thought it best to give students essays as to follow the Socratic method of testing, but as the number of schools and the number of students inside those schools grew, it was no longer feasible to take and read in the time given. So standardized tests were introduced in the early 1800s as a way to test and grade large numbers of students in a brief period of time. Later during World War I, standardized tests were used to determine what a soldiers job would be or if they were qualified to ?‚ ¬be a soldier at all. All of these tests were graded b y hand and needed to be done slowly to avoid mistakes which defeated the purpose of standardized testing. In 1936, the first automatic scanner was invented. The IBM 805 used electrical currents to detects marks by special writing tools (just like how a No. 2 pencil is used today) (Fletcher). This method of using computers to grade is used today in the form of Pearsons Scantron bubble sheets. The two most common standardized test used today are the ACT and SAT. Both are used as college aptitude tests. The SAT was created in 1926 by The College Board and the ACT in 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist (who later went on to develop the first GED test). Both originated as tests of logic but later evolved into tests of accumulated knowledge (Fletcher). These two examples of standardized tests are only the beginning, or should I say the end? Both the ACT and SAT are taken the junior year of high school. Since President George W. Bushs No Child Left Behind education reform in 2001, the number of standardized tests taken by children kindergarten through twelfth grade has increased dramatically. Most students take at least one standardized test a year. No Child Left Behind was the law that was passed to update the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. It was created to combat the growing concern about how the American educational system was no longer competitive internationally (Klein). The main goal of the law was to improve the academic p erformance of students whose first language was not English, special education students and students who are considered poor or a minority. The law requires that each student in grades three through eight be tested on their reading and math skills. The institutions must then report the scores of the tests as well as the categories the students fit into (Ex. Non-English-speaking Hispanic immigrant male or French Caucasian immigrant female) and send them to the state. The state would then decide if the students are proficient in the subject (each state chooses what they think proficient is). None of the states achieved the goal of bringing all students up to the proficiency level in 2014. In 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act was signed. ESSAs goal is to roll back the interference of the federal government in how states run their schools. So far ESSA has not reduced the number of tests, it has only allowed states to determine what they perceive as proficient (Klein). The effect on students and faculty mentally from standardized testing is all negative. Never can I personally remember looking forward to a test. In fact, it was quite the contrary. Even now in college, I do not look forward to taking tests. If anything, I may disl ike them more. The weight applied to tests in the grade book is absurd. If a student does not do well on one test, there may not be any recovery. Even if that student completes all other assignments and receives a 100% on all of them, they will never be able to obtain an A. Once a student learns of their test score, they can potentially fall to pieces metaphorically. All they brought was stress and anxiety. According to the Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Social Issues standardized testing contributes to unhealthy levels of student stress, resulting sometimes in serious mental health problems and even suicide, (1161). Furthermore, the encyclopedia states there is also concern that emphasizing performance on standardized tests (and even grades) diminishes students motivation to learn. Rather than focusing on the value of learning, educational contexts that emphasize outcomes focus students on getting the grade or test score†emphasizing what is required to do well on the test rather than focusing on genuine learning. Lifelong learning and critical thinking are not key educational outcomes when the focus is on tests scores, (1162). Learning from a test is virtually unheard-of. Standardized tests promote the idea that facts and concepts must be memorized rather than truly learned and be able to be applied. This is a reason standardized testing promotes anti-intellectualism in sc hools. Students in grades K-12 do too many standardized tests, it takes away from learning more valuable information in the classroom If we do so many standardized tests, they must work, right? I guess they do for the reasons they are meant for. On average a student in an American public school will take one hundred thirteen standardized tests in grades K-12. That is over eight tests a year. Testing time for juniors in high school is by far the largest. While preparing for tests and taking them only takes up 1.6 percent of instructional time in third through eighth-grade classrooms, students in the eleventh grade spend 15 percent (or around 27 days) preparing and taking standardized tests. Also keep in mind these numbers do not include time spent preparing for or taking Advanced Placement, career and technical or college entrance exams (Hefling). Students who are considered to be a minority have a bias against them when taking standardized tests. The principal example of testing bias I can think of is using the English language in reading and writing tests. If a student is new to a country, they may not know the dialect or more commonly the native language. The student may be a genius but cannot express their true spectrum of knowledge due to the language barrier. In Richard Lomaxs The Journal of Negro Education, in his conclusion he states Minority students in classes are receiving less quality instruction in these content areas (math and science) and more instruction to prepare for mandated tests that fail to meet recommended standards and that are driving instructional practices, particularly among teachers of minority students. Increasing the amount of and the stak es associated with testing does not bring about improvements in the delivery of instruction, (Lomax 183) According to Lomax, Maxwell West, Harmon, Viator, and Madaus standardized testing reduces time to focus on other subjects, they encourage the dismissal of material that students are not tested on and increase the time needed to teach students how to take the test (Lomax 171). A problem I had with standardized testing is that the majority of the content on the I had not learned yet. A specific example I have from the math portion of the ACT. On the test, I had to use the properties of logarithms to find a variable x. I did not know how to do it. I had never seen an equation that used log form before. I recognized the abbreviation log from being on my calculator, but that was the extent of my knowledge. Even though I spent about 27 days preparing for this specific test I still was not taught or introduced to all the concepts that would be on the test. Not being aware of what would be on the test, despite focusing on it for 27 days is not acceptable. How do test makers think they can determine the extent of a students knowledge when they have not been taught the concepts yet? This is just another flaw in the educational system. Testing if a student has the knowledge expected of someone their grade level and not teaching them what they need to know needs to end. If they are going to test students, they need to make them fairer. Their research concluded that standardized testing has critical flaws in the area of catering to diverse student needs. Through their research, they also found that classes with a higher average number of minority students did not do as well as classes with less diversity (Lomax 171). A classroom with the least amount of diversity is obviously going to do bette r on a test that is custom tailored to their culture versus a classroom full of students that have never taken a standardized test. In Minnesota, data recently taken from the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) shows that scores have remained flat. The Education Department of Minnesota stated that the state may never boost the academic performance of students of color without first addressing the outside factors that hold children back in school, to this Charlie Weaver of the Star Tribune says this is a cop-out and that their statement suggests that schools are powerless to educate students who are economically disadvantaged or who face other challenges outside of school and that these students cannot be helped, (Weaver). The education system is using minority students and the possibility of their sub-par home life as an excuse for why the tests statewide have remained stagnant. Not allowing students to express the true extent of their knowledge because they are considered a minority is a tool standardized tests use to encourage anti-intellectualism. Capitalism has no place in education. While schools need to compete with each other to become the best that they can to attract students and become perceived as the best school compared to the other competing schools like a business, they cannot be run like businesses. A business main goal is to make a profit, a schools main goal should be educating students to their fullest potential. Pearson Education is a British owned education publishing and assessment service that provides the majority of the tests children in the United States take K-12. They have over 40% of the testing market, which is over triple any other companies shares (Oliver). John Oliver takes a serious situation with how Pearson dominates the textbook and test writing distribution business and jokes about it saying a hypothetical girl could take Pearson tests from kindergarten through at least eighth grade, but a test by the way that she studied for using Pearson curriculum and textbooks taught to her by teachers who were certified by their own Pearson test. If at some point she was tested for a learning disability, like ADHD, thats also a Pearson test, and if she eventually got sick of Pearson and dropped out, well, shed have to take the GED which is now, guess what, a Pearson test, (Oliver). He also jokes that the only test that they will not have a hand in is the HPV test she will take in college, but they will get on that as soon as they see the episode, (Oliver). This just illustrates how insane it is to have one company control this amount of the education our children receive. Pearson is not a good company either, their record is full of complaints including technical glitches with their online tests and textbooks and slow grading of online tests and assignments. Even the content of their tests has accumulated pages of scrutiny. A specific example would be a question that was on elementary school test in New York a few years ago about a talking pineapple. Six question were determined to be invalid because they did not any sense to the test-takers. If there are mistakes in our standardized tests, they cannot be trusted to determine our knowledge. Large companies do not belong in education because too many mistakes can be made in the test making-process. We cannot trust the education of American students if the purpose of those companies is to make a profit. Standardized testing is an anti-intellectual activity. Authoring essays and doing research projects as a replacement would be infinitely more beneficial. At least during those assessments, the students can express their knowledge through their own words and thinking instead of having a 25% chance of getting a question right on a multiple-choice test. During the course of writing an essay, research much be done; research that may open new doors for students that they would never have thought of or had the change to explore yet. A research project has even more potential than an essay. During a research project can introduce new evidence and ideas to the world, that is what being intellectual is about. The students can hypothesis and gather information in order to prove or disprove their hypothesis. It stimulates the brain and broadens the mind. Reading essays and determining a grade for a research assignment may take more time but it is time well spent if it benefits the students.

Demonstrative Communication Essay - 925 Words

Demonstrative Communication XXXXXX XXXXXXX BCOM/275 January 16, 2013 Provide examples showing how demonstrative communication can be effective and ineffective, positive and negative, for the sender and receiver. Demonstrative Communication is the process of people’s thoughts and messages of communicating by actively listening in verbal and nonverbal communication. Depending on how a message is communicated, â€Å"can be effective and ineffective, either positive or negative† (Juancho24, 2012). Communication is used everywhere for instance all over the world. There are many forms of communication by applying communication process model for example; â€Å"sender/receiver, encoding, decoding, message, channel, and feedback† (Cheesbro,†¦show more content†¦First example, husbands and wives communicate with each other by observing each other’s body language. This is a positive way of communication by effectively knowing each others thoughts. Second example, Children know as soon as their parents turn to look at them, th e meaning is to stop misbehaving and could mean they are in trouble. The second example used is both effective and ineffective. Third example, a smile or frown can interpret a person to be happy or angry. The person could also be interpreted as approachable or would rather be left alone. This is positively effective and negatively ineffective. Fourth example, an individual waving or a hand shake in America, can be interrupted as a friendly sign or a strong individual but can also be interrupted as insulting and rude in other countries. This example is both effective and ineffective with positive and negative communication. However, verbal communication consequently has similar negatively ineffective as positively effective. First example, the lack of listening leads to misconception and when listening carefully the outcome becomes essential to the receiver. Both examples are ineffective and effective. Second example, is the choice of vocabulary and taking into consideration who will be receiving the information. This is used by effectively positive. Third example, the lack ofShow MoreRelatedThe Effects of Demonstrative Communication792 Words   |  4 Pagesworld today. The one way that I really want to look at is the demonstrative communication. This is one type of communication that we all do and have done, but I do not think that people realize just how many aspects there are to demonstrative communication. Demonstrative communication is nonverbal and unwritten communications that involve such aspects of facial expressions, tone of voice and body language. 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These â€Å"gaps† in information areRead Mor eDemonstrative Communication Essay example725 Words   |  3 PagesRunning Head: Demonstrative Communication Demonstrative Communication Paper Fabiola Nevarez BCOM/275 Demonstrative Communication Paper We all have different ways of expressing how what we are thinking and feeling while communicating with others. We communicate verbally and non-verbally, written or visual. Demonstrative communication is defined as the process of sending and receiving messages and involves, exchanging thoughts, messages or information. One of the most common ways to communicateRead MoreDemonstrative Communication Essay example846 Words   |  4 PagesDemonstrative Communication Sharon Weissman BCOM/275 August 8, 2011 Shalonda Lee Demonstrative Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages. These messages exchange thoughts or information in a verbal or nonverbal, written or visual manner. Verbal communication consists of oral and written messages, where nonverbal communication consist of facial expressions, body posture, eye contact, and or hand gestures. â€Å"Non verbal communication entails communicating by sendingRead MoreBcom 275 Demonstrative Communication Essay740 Words   |  3 PagesDemonstrative Communication There are many levels and moving parts in communication. We rely on both verbal and non-verbal forms of communication in order to send, receive, translate and respond to each other (Cheesebro, O’Connor, Rios, 2010). The spoken or written word only comprises of about 7% of our communication with each other. The other 93% is made up of voice quality and non-verbal communication (Heathfield, 2011). Non-verbal communication or demonstrative communication comes in manyRead MoreBcom 275 Demonstrative Communication Paper733 Words   |  3 PagesDemonstrative Communication Paper BY: Erin Kelly BCOM 275 There are several things that can be said about nonverbal and unwritten communication. When you are talking to someone or someone is talking to you. You can tell a lot about how well the person is listening and understands what you are saying. You can also tell by their body language and facial expressions if they are interested in what you are saying. If you are talking to someone and they are not makingRead MoreOverview of Demonstrative Communication990 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction Demonstrative communication in basic terms includes both unwritten and nonverbal communication. This text concerns itself with demonstrative communication. In so doing, it will highlight such things as body language, voice tone, facial expressions, etc. Further, the paper will in addition to discussing the effectiveness of demonstrative communication also address how the same involves listening and responding. Communication: A Brief Overview Communication does not have an assignedRead MoreUnderstanding Demonstrative Communication1023 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿ Demonstrative communication Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages involving the relay of thoughts, information, or messages. Communication can be undertaken through writing, signals, speech, or behavior. Demonstrative communication entails nonverbal communication that can be done using body posture, gestures, eye contact, or facial expression ADDIN EN.CITE Cheesebro T.2010410(Cheesebro T., OConnor L., Rios F., 2010)4104106Cheesebro T., OConnor L., Rios F., Communicating

Advance Marketing FINAL Revision Free Essays

With the current high competition being witnessed in all industries, companies are increasingly being faced with new challenges to come up with new marketing strategies that can ensure that they retain or even increase their market share. To achieve this, companies can undertake market research which is a process that involves gathering of information, recording and analysing the data. This process involves gathering information concerning competitors and customers that exist in the market. We will write a custom essay sample on Advance Marketing FINAL Revision or any similar topic only for you Order Now Market research is very fundamental in monitoring the companies’ sales and product performance. It also helps organisations get vital information that helps in expansion to new markets. This helps in determining or forecasting the customers that will purchase the product. This includes the customer’s income levels, their location and age among others Industry overview /Company This paper will examine the Audi Auto Company in UK; Audi Auto Company is an old auto company established way back in 1932, in Germany. The company has an emblem with four rings which is a symbol of amalgamation of four past independent auto companies that amalgamated in1932 to give way to Audi. These companies were, Audi, Horch, DKW and Wanderer. Today Audi Auto Company is a manufacturer of lovely cars which are sophisticated, beatifically machines that exemplify technological perfection. There are plenty of Audi car models some includes, 265PSS3 Quattro, the TT Coupe 2.0 TFSI S Tronic, the A4 2.0 TDI S saloon and many other models which are available on the market. (Audi Auto Company, 2007) Today, Audi Auto Company is an international motor company which its presence in several countries all over the world. It has established branches in many countries including the UK. The company’s UK headquarters is in Yeomans drive, Blake lands, the company is a division of Volkswagen Group United Kingdom limited. Audi motto is â€Å"Vorsprung durch Technik† which means technology progress. The company success in the auto industry has been based on the company core values of creativeness, enthusiasm and commitment towards its goals. The company also is customer oriented and it strives to incorporate the desires of its customers in everything it does.   Audi Auto Company endeavours to lead the way through continuous innovation and setting new standards that define auto industry technology. (Audi Auto Company, 2007) Project statement This research report critically examines and analysis marketing and its influences in contemporary business and with particular regard to Audi Auto Company based in the United Kingdom. This will entail thorough analysis of the marketing policies and strategies that have been adopted by the company, analyses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that Audi Auto Company undergoes in line with the ever increasing ambiguity and uncertainty that may come up due to effects of globalization and ever changing business environment. This study will also critically evaluate the effectiveness of this organisation response to competition and the gaps that exist in the marketing strategies of the company. This management report will further outline recommendations for new entrant in to the industry and what he should undertake in order to succeed in this ever very competitive industry. Pricing matrix; Pricing of a product is one of the marketing mix aspects and it is very important as it defines the worth of a product. Audi Auto Company has adopted various pricing matrix to achieve its objective of improving the company sales. Methods of pricing Premium pricing Premium pricing is the use of a high price which indicates uniqueness of the car manufactured and its magnificence.   This approach is applied when marketing luxurious cars from the company. (Cinchona, 2005) Penetration pricing The company takes up penetrating pricing when introducing it cars to new markets or countries. In this pricing strategy, the price for the cars can be set to be lower than what it is in other countries so as to gain a market share. It includes a   low price strategy enables a penetration price which is necessary to allow more cars to sell at first but when it catches up, other pricing strategies are adopted. (Cinchona, 2005) Economy pricing The company also offers it cars on economy pricing. In this case, the cost of marketing and manufacturing are kept at a minimum hence becomes a no frills low price for a product such as the cars from this company. (Cinchona, 2005) Other pricing methods are; price skimming, psychological pricing, product line pricing, optional product price, captive product pricing etc. The terms of access of Audi auto company products in the UK market pricing depends on factors such as the current tax rates in UK and the overall demand rate. (Cinchona, 2005) Distribution channel network; Distribution means a network for reaching out to company’s customers. It is important for any company to create well distribution channels that will ensure that the customers are able to get the final product without a lot of hustle.   Audi Auto Company has an elaborate distribution channel of it vehicles that it manufactures in the UK. The company has dealership with various companies and dealers who market its products. The products are market all over the world; the company also have several manufacturing plants in other countries which manufacturers and markets the Audi cars in those countries. Audi Company also has Audi centres, authorized dealers and other group companies which are used as distribution channels. (Audi Auto Company, 2007) Sales network For any company to succeed in its marketing it must have a strong sales network which will ensure that the company’s products reach the targeted market. A good sales network allows the company to be more effective and reach it customers with easy and on time. It also allows the company to respond to its customers’ demands and need more effectively as Dr Martin Wintrkorn chairman of the Board of the management of Audi AG underlines in his speech in the 2004. The company has a strong sales network in Britain that which has ensured the company’s sales remains at the top. He further notes that due to this strong sales network, the company has managed to steady growth rate over 7% in UK. The sales network of the company includes company auto shop that are located in major town and places in the country, and mobile units that serve to deliver cars directly to the customer. Cycle life The company takes almost six months to be able to produce a new model on the market, the design department and the engineering departments are involved in creating new models. A new model is normal based on technology improvement in terms of safety, fuel efficiency. For example, in 1980 Audi manufactured a four wheel car named â€Å"Quattro† which was turbocharged coupe. It took them six months to advance it from the first generation of S4 to the new generation of S6. General this period mat also vary according to the technological improvement that the company will undertake. Advertising practices Advertising is an important marketing tool which is commonly used to market new and existing products. Advertisement process requires huge investments. There are various forms of advertisements; media such as television, radio and newspapers, posters and road shows. The company utilizes all the forms mentions above, to improve its sales. Advertisement is important as it creates awareness of the company’s products and well as keeping the customers informed. Advertisement is on form of market promotion that the company undertakes to promote its new model on the market. Promotion of new models can be carried out in different forms and the most common one is through product life cycle. (Michael, 1985) Audi has undertaken different promotional activities to ensure that its products are marketed to wide areas. The company has a sponsorship deal with Manchester United a foot club in UK as part of its promotion activities. Audi Company also is the official car dealer of the club, and some players like Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferninard and many more drive around in Audi cars. This highly markets the company’s cars. Apart from football the company also is involved in various other sports, giving its support to motor sports and polo game. The company has continued to concentrate on the markets in the UK, as the chairman of Audi Auto Company in UK, Dr. Martin Winterkon pointed out UK market is the biggest for Audi outside Germany and Audi will continue to strive to improve its sales as shown in the last six years. (Audi Auto Company, 2007) The diagram below explains the cycle which products can behave in the global market when it is introduced to the market. It starts from the introduction, growth, maturity and finally the decline when the consumers are fully aware of the products and services and there is no need for further promotions. How to cite Advance Marketing FINAL Revision, Essays

Review About Costing To Make Budgetary Control Effective

Question: Discuss about the Costing to Make Budgetary Control Effective? Answer: Ferguson Son Manufacturing Company is using Budgetary Control to control its costs and reduce inefficiencies. Under the current system, the different departments are given monthly budgets and the performance of the departments is compared with the budgets, and any variation is brought to the notice to the plant manager Mr. Robert Ferguson Jr. Moreover, the plant manager emphasises on making tight budgets so that costs can be reduced to the minimum level but this is posing problems to the machine department and the equipment maintenance departments. The supervisors of the departments feel that though they are working hard to meet the budgets, still their performance is far from satisfactory. This is happening due to the traditional costing system being used by the company currently. The costs are being assigned to the activities in the department by machine hours and labour hours in machine department and equipment maintenance department respectively. The factory overhead costs are b eing assigned to the units of products in each department by the number of machine hours being used by the activity multiplied by the overhead rate which is pre determined. The pre determined rate for machine shop would be calculated as total overhead cost divided by the total machine hours available. Currently, many special orders are being taken by the company and for each new order; the machine department needs to set up the machine and adjust it. This requires time and adds up the machine hours needed to produce the product, thus increasing the overhead costs for that product. In the process, the big orders which required lesser set up time are being ignored, and the overall costs for the machine department are increasing. Even though the big size orders will give higher profits but machine hours being wasted on small orders set up thus reducing the profitability and quality of machine department. Also the equipment maintenance department, to meet the budgets is running after th ose activities which require less of labour hours and not by the importance of the activity so that their overhead costs can be reduced. Hence, a machine breakdown in the machine department was not attended by the equipment maintenance department. Hence, the breakdown consumed more time than required and further increased costs for the machine department. Also, the overhead costs are not being assigned to the activities according to their usage of hours, for instance the equipment maintenance department has allocated the costs of supplies it has wasted to other work rather than on which the supplies were wasted. This is because the overhead rate is a common rate for all the activities in the department and hence, the some activities may be assigned higher costs and other low costs. As a result of the above problems, even though the machine department is working very hard, yet due to rush orders and inadequate help from supporting departments, it is not able to meet the budgets. As such, the employees who are working so hard and yet are not able to receive appreciation, their morale will go down, and they may even quit their jobs. Also, the efficiency and inefficiency of a department is not ascertained properly due to inefficient costs allocation. The budgets prepared for different departments should be interrelated and interdependent on each other. A master budget should be prepared and on that basis, the departmental budgets should be prepared. The department budgets should be reviewed in relation to other department budgets. Like due to the inefficiency of equipment maintaining department, the machine department could not solve its hydraulic pressure problem on time and as such had to delay its operations, so a control system which works in coordination with all related departments would give better results. System inefficiencies occur due to costs being allocated by labour and machine hours since big orders that require a lot of time to set up are being disrupted for small rush orders. Hence, the time taken to set again the big orders is adding to the costs of the order and affecting its profitability. To remove this inefficiency, the costs should be allocated to the products by the activities which add to the manufacturing costs and the products requiring more of the expensive activities should be charged more overhead costs than the ones requiring less of the expensive activities. On the face, the small rush orders look profitable but the loss incurred on big orders are more than the profits made by small orders. The company should focus more on products which give the maximum contribution to the company profits like the big orders in this case and according to such importance, the budgets should be allocated. In this case, higher budgets should be allocated for the big orders to the machine department, and all the departments should work in coordination to fulfil the bigger orders first and then the small orders. Like the equipment department gave more importance to the inspection of forklift trucks rather than solving the hydraulics pressure breakdown. This led to time loss for the machine department and hence they could not meet the budgets. Here, the equipment maintainenace department should have solved the machine problem first as the production was being hampered. The budgets should be designed in such a way that the important tasks are taken up first which contribute maximum to the companys profits. The budgetary system should also ensure that costs are assigned to the activities the activities to which it relates to and not any other activity. Activity Based Costing assigns overhead costs to the products in a more logical manner as compared to Traditional Costing. Under ABC, the costs are first assigned to the activities which are the real cause of the occurrence of the overhead. After that, it assigns the costs of those activities to the products or services according to their usage of the activity. Some of the common activities under a manufacturing sector include machine set ups, machine maintenance, quality check; special engineering, etc. the importance of ABC has increased due to an increase in the automation technology which has increased the manufacturing overhead costs. Moreover, some products are produced in large batches while the others in small batches, under such situation, ABC helps in logical allocation of resources. As a result of ABC costing, the management will be able to identify the activities which are resulting in higher costs like set up costs and identify products like small rush orders which are using the most of these activities. Such activities or products could be reviewed, and efforts should be taken to reduce the activity costs wherever possible. Rather than blaming the whole department for high costs, costly activities could be improved. Products which are using more of these expensive activities but contributing less to company revenues should be stopped producing, and those contributing more to the companys profits should be continued. Every company has short term and ling term goals to be achieved, and they make strategies to accomplish these goals. The strategies are executed by the employees of the firm and hence, it is necessary to clearly communicate these goals to the employees, and also the management should align the goals of the individual employees with the company goals. This can be done by employee engagement. While preparing budgets which will help in achieving company goals, the employees should also be referred so that they feel a sense of responsibility and set their goals accordingly. When all the employees are working towards the company goals together, the company is bound to successfully accomplish its goals. The sense of responsibility will increase the productivity of the employees as they feel motivated and increased profitability will lead to higher profits and lower costs for the organization, thus increasing the returns for shareholders. The different ways in which the budgets could be used to change employee behaviour and align goals in the organization include: Budgets to be prepared in consultation with the employees as they are the executors. Budgets clearly communicated to the employees Budgets should clearly state various tasks to be performed by the employees and the expected costs and profits from such tasks so that they know the value of each task and perform them accordingly. Return on Investment (ROI) is a measure of profitability which states whether the company is using its resources in an efficient manner to make profits. A company with higher ROI is better placed in the industry. ROI is calculated by dividing the net income by the average capital employed by the company. Activity Based Costing can be used to make strategic decisions and thus improve the profitability of the company. ABC helps in reviewing a process and thus provides scope for continuous improvement of the process which results in incremental cash flow. The processes or activities which are not yielding high benefits are removed or improved, as a result of which the cash which was tied up in the operations of those processes is freed and there is more of free cash flow. References Kaplan, R., Cooper, R. (1991), Profit Priorities from Activity- Based Costing, Harvard Business Review Cagwin, D., Bouwman, M., (2000), the Association between Activity Based Costing and Improvement in Financial Performance Turney, P.B., (1991), How Activity Based Costing Helps Reduce Costs, Journal of Cost Management, pg. No. 29-35 Swenson, D. 1995. The Benefits of Activity-Based Cost Management to the Manufacturing Industry. Journal of Management Accounting Research, pg. No.167-180. Roztocki, N., Schultz, S.M., (2003), Adoption and Implementation of Activity- Based Costing: A Web Based Survey, State University of New York at New Paltz School of business Joan, M., (2009), Traditional Versus Activity-Based Product Costing Methods: a field study in a Defense Electronics Manufacturing Company, Proceedings from ASBBS Annual Conference Sullivan, J., (2011), Increasing Employee Productivity: The Strategic Role that HR Essentially Ignores, accessed online on 7th Feb, 2016, available at https://www.eremedia.com/ere/increasing-employee-productivity-the-strategic-role-that-hr-essentially-ignores/ Newman, K.M, (2013), How to Align Employees with Your Companys Vision, accessed online on 7th Feb, 2016, available at, https://tech.co/how-to-align-employees-company-vision-2013-10 Mahal, I., Hossain, A., (2015), Activity Based Costing (ABC) An Effective Tool for Better Management, Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, Vol. 6, No.4