Chapter 14 Snape’s Grudge

No one in Gryffindor Tower slept that night. They knew that the castle was being searched again, and the whole House stayed awake in the common room, waiting to hear whether Black had been caught. Professor McGonagall came back at dawn, to tell them that he had again escaped. Throughout the day, everywhere they went they saw signs of tighter security; Professor Flitwick could be seen teaching the front doors to recognize a large picture of Sirius Black; Filch was suddenly bustling up and down the corridors, boarding up everything from tiny cracks in the walls to mouse holes. Sir Cadogan had been fired. His portrait had been taken back to its lonely landing on the seventh floor, and the Fat Lady was back. She had been expertly restored, but was still extremely nervous, and had agreed to return to her job only on condition that she was given extra protection. A bunch of surly security trolls had been hired to guard her. They paced the corridor in a menacing group, talking in grunts and comparing the size of their clubs. Harry couldn't help noticing that the statue of the one-eyed witch on the third floor remained unguarded and unblocked. It seemed that Fred and George had been right in thinking that they — and now Harry, Ron, and Hermione — were the only ones who knew about the hidden passageway within it. â€Å"D'you reckon we should tell someone?† Harry asked Ron. â€Å"We know he's not coming in through Honeyduke's,† said Ron dismissively. â€Å"We'd've heard if the shop had been broken into.† Harry was glad Ron took this view. If the one-eyed witch was boarded up too, he would never be able to go into Hogsmeade again. Ron had become an instant celebrity. For the first time in his life, people were paying more attention to him than to Harry, and it was clear that Ron was rather enjoying the experience. Though still severely shaken by the night's events, he was happy to tell anyone who asked what had happened, with a wealth of detail. â€Å"†¦ I was asleep, and I heard this ripping noise, and I thought it was in my dream, you know? But then there was this draft†¦I woke up and one side of the hangings on my bed had been pulled down†¦I rolled over†¦and I saw him standing over me†¦like a skeleton, with loads of filthy hair†¦holding this great long knife, must've been twelve inches†¦and he looked at me, and I looked at him, and then I yelled, and he scampered. â€Å"Why, though?† Ron added to Harry as the group of second year girls who had been listening to his chilling tale departed. â€Å"Why did he run?† Harry had been wondering the same thing. Why had Black, having got the wrong bed, not silenced Ron and proceeded to Harry? Black had proved twelve years ago that he didn't mind murdering innocent people, and this time he had been facing five unarmed boys, four of whom were asleep. â€Å"He must've known he'd have a job getting back out of the castle once you'd yelled and woken people up,† said Harry thoughtfully. â€Å"He'd've had to kill the whole house to get back through the portrait hole†¦then he would've met the teachers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Neville was in total disgrace. Professor McGonagall was so furious with him she had banned him from all future Hogsmeade visits, given him a detention, and forbidden anyone to give him the password into the tower. Poor Neville was forced to wait. outside the common room every night for somebody to let him in, while the security trolls leered unpleasantly at him. None of these punishments, however, came close to matching the one his grandmother had in store for him. Two days after Black's break-in, she sent Neville the very worst thing a Hogwarts student could receive over breakfast — a Howler. The school owls swooped into the Great Hall carrying the mail as usual, and Neville choked as a huge barn owl landed in front of him, a scarlet envelope clutched in its beak. Harry and Ron, who were sitting opposite him, recognized the letter as a Howler at once — Ron had got one from his mother the year before. â€Å"Run for it, Neville,† Ron advised. Neville didn't need telling twice. He seized the envelope, and holding it before him like a bomb, sprinted out of the hall, while the Slytherin table exploded with laughter at the sight of him. They heard the Howler go off in the entrance hall — Neville's grandmother's voice, magically magnified to a hundred times its usual volume, shrieking about how he had brought shame on the whole family. Harry was too busy feeling sorry for Neville to notice immediately that he had a letter too. Hedwig got his attention by nipping him sharply on the wrist. â€Å"Ouch! Oh — thanks, Hedwig.† Harry tore open the envelope while Hedwig helped herself to some of Neville's cornflakes. The note inside said: Dear Harry and Ron, How about having tea with me this afternoon 'round six? I'll come collect you from the castle. WAIT FOR ME IN THE ENTRANCE HALL; YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED OUT ON YOUR OWN. Cheers, Hagrid â€Å"He probably wants to hear all about Black!† said Ron. So at six o'clock that afternoon, Harry and Ron left Gryffindor Tower, passed the security trolls at a run, and headed down to the entrance hall. Hagrid was already waiting for them. â€Å"All right, Hagrid!† said Ron. â€Å"S'pose you want to hear about Saturday night, do you?† â€Å"I've already heard all abou' it,† said Hagrid, opening the front doors and leading them outside. â€Å"Oh,† said Ron, looking slightly put out. The first thing they saw on entering Hagrid's cabin was Buckbeak, who was stretched out on top of Hagrid's patchwork quilt, his enormous wings folded tight to his body, enjoying a large plate of dead ferrets. Averting his eyes from this unpleasant sight, Harry saw a gigantic, hairy brown suit and a very horrible yellow-and-orange tie hanging from the top of Hagrid's wardrobe door. â€Å"What are they for, Hagrid?† said Harry. â€Å"Buckbeak's case against the Committee fer the Disposal o' Dangerous Creatures,† said Hagrid. â€Å"This Friday. Him an' me'll be goin' down ter London together. I've booked two beds on the Knight Bus†¦.† Harry felt a nasty pang of guilt. He had completely forgotten that Buckbeak's trial was so near, and judging by the uneasy look on Ron's face, he had too. They had also forgotten their promise about helping him prepare Buckbeak's defense; the arrival of the Firebolt had driven it clean out of their minds. Hagrid poured them tea and offered them a plate of Bath buns but they knew better than to accept; they had had too much experience with Hagrid's cooking. â€Å"I got somethin' ter discuss with you two,† said Hagrid, sitting himself between them and looking uncharacteristically serious. â€Å"What?† said Harry. â€Å"Hermione,† said Hagrid. â€Å"What about her?† said Ron. â€Å"She's in a righ' state, that's what. She's bin comin' down ter visit me a lot since Chris'mas. Bin feelin' lonely. Firs' yeh weren' talking to her because o' the Firebolt, now yer not talkin' to her because her cat –â€Å" â€Å"?C ate Scabbers!† Ron interjected angrily. â€Å"Because her cat acted like all cats do,† Hagrid continued doggedly. â€Å"She's cried a fair few times, yeh know. Goin' through a rough time at the moment. Bitten off more'n she can chew, if yeh ask me, all the work she's tryin' ter do. Still found time ter help me with Buckbeak's case, mind†¦She's found some really good stuff fer me†¦reckon he'll stand a good chance now†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Hagrid, we should've helped as well — sorry –† Harry began awkwardly. â€Å"I'm not blamin' yeh!† said Hagrid, waving Harry's apology aside. â€Å"Gawd knows yeh've had enough ter be getting' on with. I've seen yeh practicin' Quidditch ev'ry hour o' the day an' night — but I gotta tell yeh, I thought you two'd value yer friend more'n broomsticks or rats. Tha's all.† Harry and Ron exchanged uncomfortable looks. â€Å"Really upset, she was, when Black nearly stabbed yeh, Ron. She's got her heart in the right place, Hermione has, an' you two not talkin' to her –â€Å" â€Å"If she'd just get rid of that cat, I'd speak to her again!† Ron said angrily. â€Å"But she's still sticking up for it! It's a maniac, and she won't hear a word against it!† â€Å"Ah, well, people can be a bit stupid abou' their pets,† said Hagrid wisely. Behind him, Buckbeak spat a few ferret bones onto Hagrid's pillow. They spent the rest of their visit discussing Gryffindor's improved chances for the Quidditch Cup. At nine o'clock, Hagrid walked them back up to the castle. A large group of people was bunched around the bulletin board when they returned to the common room. â€Å"Hogsmeade, next weekend!† said Ron, craning over the heads to read the new notice. â€Å"What d'you reckon?† he added quietly to Harry as they went to sit down. â€Å"Well, Filch hasn't done anything about the passage into Honeydukes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry said, even more quietly. â€Å"Harry!† said a voice in his right ear. Harry started and looked around at Hermione, who was sitting at the table right behind them and clearing a space in the wall of books that had been hiding her. â€Å"Harry, if you go into Hogsmeade again†¦I'll tell Professor McGonagall about that map!† said Hermione. â€Å"Can you hear someone talking, Harry?† growled Ron, not looking at Hermione. â€Å"Ron, how can you let him go with you? After what Sirius Black nearly did to you! I mean it, I'll tell –â€Å" â€Å"So now you're trying to get Harry expelled!† said Ron furiously. â€Å"Haven't you done enough damage this year?† Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but with a soft hiss, Crookshanks leapt onto her lap. Hermione took one frightened look at the expression on Ron's face, gathered up Crookshanks, and hurried away toward the girls' dormitories. â€Å"So how about it?† Ron said to Harry as though there had been no interruption. â€Å"Come on, last time we went you didn't see anything. You haven't even been inside Zonko's yet!† Harry looked around to check that Hermione was well out of earshot. â€Å"Okay,† he said. â€Å"But I'm taking the Invisibility Cloak this time.† On Saturday morning, Harry packed his Invisibility Cloak in his bag, slipped the Marauder's Map into his pocket, and went down to breakfast with everyone else. Hermione kept shooting suspicious looks down the table at him, but he avoided her eye and was careful to let her see him walking back up the marble staircase in the entrance hall as everybody else proceeded to the front doors. â€Å"Bye!† Harry called to Ron. â€Å"See you when you get back!† Ron grinned and winked. Harry hurried up to the third floor, slipping the Marauder's Map out of his pocket as he went. Crouching behind the one-eyed witch, he smoothed it out. A tiny dot was moving in his direction. Harry squinted at it. The minuscule writing next to it read Neville Longbottom. Harry quickly pulled out his wand, muttered, â€Å"Dissendium!† and shoved his bag into the statue, but before he could climb in himself, Neville came around the corner. â€Å"Harry! I forgot you weren't going to Hogsmeade either!† â€Å"Hi, Neville,† said Harry, moving swiftly away from the statue and pushing the map back into his pocket. â€Å"What are you up to?† â€Å"Nothing,† shrugged Neville. â€Å"Want a game of Exploding Snap?† â€Å"Er — not now — I was going to go to the library and do that vampire essay for Lupin –â€Å" â€Å"I'll come with you!† said Neville brightly. â€Å"I haven't done it either!† â€Å"Er — hang on — yeah, I forgot, I finished it last night!† â€Å"Great, you can help me!† said Neville, his round face anxious. â€Å"I don't understand that thing about the garlic at all — do they have to eat it, or –â€Å" He broke off with a small gasp, looking over Harry's shoulder. It was Snape. Neville took a quick step behind Harry. â€Å"And what are you two doing here?† said Snape, coming to a halt and looking from one to the other. â€Å"An odd place to meet –â€Å" To Harry's immense disquiet, Snape's black eyes flicked to the doorways on either side of them, and then to the one-eyed witch. â€Å"We're not — meeting here,† said Harry. â€Å"We just — met here.† â€Å"Indeed?† said Snape. â€Å"You have a habit of turning up in unexpected places, Potter, and you are very rarely there for no good reason†¦I suggest the pair of you return to Gryffindor Tower, where you belong.† Harry and Neville set off without another word. As they turned the corner, Harry looked back. Snape was running one of his hands over the one-eyed witch's head, examining it closely. Harry managed to shake Neville off at the Fat Lady by telling him the password, then pretending he'd left his vampire essay in the library and doubling back. Once out of sight of the security trolls, he pulled out the map again and held it close to his nose. The third floor corridor seemed to be deserted. Harry scanned the map carefully and saw, with a leap of relief, that the tiny dot labeled Severus Snape was now back in its office. He sprinted back to the one-eyed witch, opened her hump, heaved himself inside, and slid down to meet his bag at the bottom of the stone chute. He wiped the Marauder's Map blank again, then set off at a run. Harry, completely hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, emerged into the sunlight outside Honeydukes and prodded Ron in the back. â€Å"It's me,† he muttered. â€Å"What kept you?† Ron hissed. â€Å"Snape was hanging around.† They set off up the High Street. â€Å"Where are you?† Ron kept muttering out of the corner of his mouth. â€Å"Are you still there? This feels weird†¦Ã¢â‚¬  They went to the post office; Ron pretended to be checking the price of an owl to Bill in Egypt so that Harry could have a good look around. The owls sat hooting softly down at him, at least three hundred of them; from Great Grays right down to tiny little Scops owls (â€Å"Local Deliveries Only†), which were so small they could have sat in the palm of Harry's hand. Then they visited Zonko's, which was so packed with students Harry had to exercise great care not to tread on anyone and cause a panic. There were jokes and tricks to fulfill even Fred's and George's wildest dreams; Harry gave Ron whispered orders and passed him some gold from under the cloak. They left Zonko's with their money bags considerably lighter than they had been on entering, but their pockets bulging with Dungbombs, Hiccup Sweets, Frog Spawn Soap, and a Nose-Biting Teacup apiece. The day was fine and breezy, and neither of them felt like staying indoors, so they walked past the Three Broomsticks and climbed a slope to visit the Shrieking Shack, the most haunted dwelling in Britain. It stood a little way above the rest of the village, and even in daylight was slightly creepy, with its boarded windows and dank overgrown garden. â€Å"Even the Hogwarts ghosts avoid it,† said Ron as they leaned on the fence, looking up at it. â€Å"I asked Nearly Headless Nick†¦he says he's heard a very rough crowd lives here. No one can get in. Fred and George tried, obviously, but all the entrances are sealed shut†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry, feeling hot from their climb, was just considering taking off the cloak for a few minutes when they heard voices nearby. Someone was climbing toward the house from the other side of the hill; moments later, Malfoy had appeared, followed closely by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy was speaking. â€Å"†¦should have an owl from Father any time now. He had to go to the hearing to tell them about my arm†¦about how I couldn't use it for three months†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Crabbe and Goyle sniggered. â€Å"I really wish I could hear that great hairy moron trying to defend himself†¦'There's no ‘arm in ‘im, ‘onest –‘†¦That Hippogriff's as good as dead –â€Å" Malfoy suddenly caught sight of Ron. His pale face split in a malevolent grin. â€Å"What are you doing, Weasley?† Malfoy looked up at the crumbling house behind Ron. â€Å"Suppose you'd love to live here, wouldn't you, Weasley? Dreaming about having your own bedroom? I heard your family all sleep in one room — is that true?† Harry seized the back of Ron's robes to stop him from leaping on Malfoy. â€Å"Leave him to me,† he hissed in Ron's ear. The opportunity was too perfect to miss. Harry crept silently around behind Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, bent down, and scooped a large handful of mud out of the path. â€Å"We were just discussing your friend Hagrid,† Malfoy said to Ron. â€Å"Just trying to imagine what he's saying to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. D'you think he'll cry when they cut off his Hippogriff's –â€Å" SPLAT! Malfoy's head jerked forward as the mud hit him; his silverblond hair was suddenly dripping in muck. â€Å"What the –?† Ron had to hold onto the fence to keep himself standing, he was laughing so hard. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle spun stupidly on the spot, staring wildly around, Malfoy trying to wipe his hair clean. â€Å"What was that? Who did that?† â€Å"Very haunted up here, isn't it?† said Ron, with the air of one commenting on the weather. Crabbe and Goyle were looking scared. Their bulging muscles were no use against ghosts. Malfoy was staring madly around at the deserted landscape. Harry sneaked along the path, where a particularly sloppy puddle yielded some foul-smelling, green sludge. SPLATTER! Crabbe and Goyle caught some this time. Goyle hopped furiously on the spot, trying to rub it out of his small, dull eyes. â€Å"It came from over there!† said Malfoy, wiping his face, and staring at a spot some six feet to the left of Harry. Crabbe blundered forward, his long arms outstretched like a zombie. Harry dodged around him, picked up a stick, and lobbed it at Crabbe's back. Harry doubled up with silent laughter as Crabbe did a kind of pirouette in midair, trying to see who had thrown it. As Ron was the only person Crabbe could see, it was Ron he started toward, but Harry stuck out his leg. Crabbe stumbled — and his huge, flat foot caught the hem of Harry's cloak. Harry felt a great tug, then the cloak slid off his face. For a split second, Malfoy stared at him. â€Å"AAARGH!† he yelled, pointing at Harry's head. Then he turned tail and ran, at breakneck speed, back down the hill, Crabbe and Goyle behind him. Harry tugged the cloak up again, but the damage was done. â€Å"Harry!† Ron said, stumbling forward and staring hopelessly at the point where Harry had disappeared, â€Å"you'd better run for it! If Malfoy tells anyone — you'd better get back to the castle, quick –â€Å" â€Å"See you later,† said Harry, and without another word, he tore back down the path toward Hogsmeade. Would Malfoy believe what he had seen? Would anyone believe Malfoy? Nobody knew about the Invisibility Cloak — nobody except Dumbledore. Harry's stomach turned over — Dumbledore would know exactly what had happened, if Malfoy said anything — Back into Honeydukes, back down the cellar steps, across the stone floor, through the trapdoor — Harry pulled off the cloak, tucked it under his arm, and ran, flat out, along the passage†¦Malfoy would get back first†¦ how long would it take him to find a teacher? Panting, a sharp pain in his side, Harry didn't slow down until he reached the stone slide. He would have to leave the cloak where it was, it was too much of a giveaway in case Malfoy had tipped off a teacher — he hid it in a shadowy corner, then started to climb, fast as he could, his sweaty hands slipping on the sides of the chute. He reached the inside of the witch's hump, tapped it with his wand, stuck his head through, and hoisted himself out; the hump closed, and just as Harry jumped out from behind the statue, he heard quick footsteps approaching. It was Snape. He approached Harry at a swift walk, his black robes swishing, then stopped in front of him. â€Å"So,† he said. There was a look of suppressed triumph about him. Harry tried to look innocent, all too aware of his sweaty face and his muddy hands, which he quickly hid in his pockets. â€Å"Come with me, Potter,† said Snape. Harry followed him downstairs, trying to wipe his hands clean on the inside of his robes without Snape noticing. They walked down the stairs to the dungeons and then into Snape's office. Harry had been in here only once before, and he had been in very serious trouble then too. Snape had acquired a few more slimy horrible things in jars since last time, all standing on shelves behind his desk, glinting in the firelight and adding to the threatening atmosphere. â€Å"Sit,† said Snape. Harry sat. Snape, however, remained, standing. â€Å"Mr. Malfoy has just been to see me with a strange story, Potter,† said Snape. Harry didn't say anything. â€Å"He tells me that he was up by the Shrieking Shack when he ran into Weasley — apparently alone.† Still, Harry didn't speak. â€Å"Mr. Malfoy states that he was standing talking to Weasley, when a large amount of mud hit him in the back of the head. How do you think that could have happened?† Harry tried to look mildly surprised. â€Å"I don't know, Professor.† Snape's eyes were boring into Harry's. It was exactly like trying to stare down a Hippogriff. Harry tried hard not to blink. â€Å"Mr. Malfoy then saw an extraordinary apparition. Can you imagine what it might have been, Potter?† â€Å"No,† said Harry, now trying to sound innocently curious. â€Å"It was your head, Potter. Floating in midair.† There was a long silence. â€Å"Maybe he'd better go to Madam Pomfrey,† said Harry. â€Å"If he's seeing things like –â€Å" â€Å"What would your head have been doing in Hogsmeade, Potter?† said Snape softly. â€Å"Your head is not allowed in Hogsmeade. No part of your body has permission to be in Hogsmeade.† â€Å"I know that,† said Harry, striving to keep his face free of guilt or fear. â€Å"It sounds like Malfoy's having hallucin –â€Å" â€Å"Malfoy is not having hallucinations,† snarled Snape, and he bent down, a hand on each arm of Harry's chair, so that their faces were a foot apart. â€Å"If your head was in Hogsmeade, so was the rest of you.† â€Å"I've been up in Gryffindor Tower,† said Harry. â€Å"Like you told –â€Å" â€Å"Can anyone confirm that?† Harry didn't say anything. Snape's thin mouth curled into a horrible smile. â€Å"So,† he said, straightening up again. â€Å"Everyone from the Minister of Magic downward has been trying to keep famous Harry Potter safe from Sirius Black. But famous Harry Potter is a law unto himself. Let the ordinary people worry about his safety! Famous Harry Potter goes where he wants to, with no thought for the consequences.† Harry stayed silent. Snape was trying to provoke him into telling the truth. He wasn't going to do it. Snape had no proof — yet. â€Å"How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter,† Snape said suddenly, his eyes glinting. â€Å"He too was exceedingly arrogant. A small amount of talent on the Quidditch field made him think he was a cut above the rest of us too. Strutting around the place with his friends and admirers†¦The resemblance between you is uncanny.† â€Å"My dad didn't strut,† said Harry, before he could stop himself. â€Å"And neither do I.† â€Å"Your father didn't set much store by rules either,† Snape went on, pressing his advantage, his thin face full of malice. â€Å"Rules were for lesser mortals, not Quidditch Cup-winners. His head was so swollen –â€Å" â€Å"SHUT UP!† Harry was suddenly on his feet. Rage such as he had not felt since his last night in Privet Drive was coursing through him. He didn't care that Snape's face had gone rigid, the black eyes flashing dangerously. â€Å"What did you say to me, Potter?† â€Å"I told you to shut up about my dad!† Harry yelled. â€Å"I know the truth, all right? He saved your life! Dumbledore told me! You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for my dad!† Snape's sallow skin had gone the color of sour milk. â€Å"And did the headmaster tell you the circumstances in which your father saved my life?† he whispered. â€Å"Or did he consider the details too unpleasant for precious Potter's delicate ears?† Harry bit his lip. He didn't know what had happened and didn't want to admit it — but Snape seemed to have guessed the truth. â€Å"I would hate for you to run away with a false idea of your father, Potter,† he said, a terrible grin twisting his face. â€Å"Have you been imagining some act of glorious heroism? Then let me correct you — your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke on me that would have resulted in my death if your father hadn't got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin as much as mine. Had their joke succeeded, he would have been expelled from Hogwarts.† Snape's uneven, yellowish teeth were bared. â€Å"Turn out your pockets, Potter!† he spat suddenly. Harry didn't move. There was a pounding in his ears. â€Å"Turn out your pockets, or we go straight to the headmaster! Pull them out, Potter!† Cold with dread, Harry slowly pulled out the bag of Zonko's tricks and the Marauder's Map. Snap picked up the Zonko's bag. â€Å"Ron gave them to me,† said Harry, praying he'd get a chance to tip Ron off before Snape saw him. â€Å"He brought them back from Hogsmeade last time –â€Å" â€Å"Indeed? And you've been carrying them around ever since? How very touching†¦and what is this?† Snape had picked up the map. Harry tried with all his might to keep his face impassive. â€Å"Spare bit of parchment,† he said with a shrug. Snape turned it over, his eyes on Harry. â€Å"Surely you don't need such a very old piece of parchment?† he said. â€Å"Why don't I just — throw this away?† His hand moved toward the fire. â€Å"No!† Harry said quickly. â€Å"So!† said Snape, his long nostrils quivering. â€Å"Is this another treasured gift from Mr. Weasley? Or is it — something else? A letter, perhaps, written in invisible ink? Or — instructions to get into Hogsmeade without passing the Dementors?† Harry blinked. Snape's eyes gleamed. â€Å"Let me see, let me see†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he muttered, taking out his wand and smoothing the map out on his desk. â€Å"Reveal your secret!† he said, touching the wand to the parchment. Nothing happened. Harry clenched his hands to stop them from shaking. â€Å"Show yourself!† Snape said, tapping the map sharply. It stayed blank. Harry was taking deep, calming breaths. â€Å"Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!† Snape said, hitting the map with his wand. As though an invisible hand were writing upon it, words appeared on the smooth surface of the map. â€Å"Mooney presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.† Snape froze. Harry stared, dumbstruck, at the message. But the map didn't stop there. More writing was appearing beneath the first. â€Å"Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Mooney and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git.† It would have been very funny if the situation hadn't been so serious. And there was more †¦ â€Å"Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor.† Harry closed his eyes in horror. When he'd opened them, the map had had its last word. â€Å"Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball.† Harry waited for the blow to fall. â€Å"So †¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Snape softly. â€Å"We'll see about this †¦Ã¢â‚¬  He strode across to his fire, seized a fistful of glittering powder from a jar on the fireplace, and threw it into the flames. â€Å"Lupin!† Snape called into the fire. â€Å"I want a word!† Utterly bewildered, Harry stared at the fire. A large shape had appeared in it, revolving very fast. Seconds later, Professor Lupin was clambering out of the fireplace, brushing ash off his shabby robes. â€Å"You called, Severus?† said Lupin mildly. â€Å"I certainly did,† said Snape, his face contorted with fury as he strode back to his desk. â€Å"I have just asked Potter to empty his pockets. He was carrying this.† Snape pointed at the parchment, on which the words of Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs were still shining. An odd, closed expression appeared on Lupin's face. â€Å"Well?† said Snape. Lupin continued to stare at the map. Harry had the impression that Lupin was doing some very quick thinking. â€Å"Well?† said Snape again. â€Å"This parchment is plainly full of Dark Magic. This is supposed to be your area of expertise, Lupin. Where do you imagine Potter got such a thing?† Lupin looked up and, by the merest half-glance in Harry's direction, warned him not to interrupt. â€Å"Full of Dark Magic?† he repeated mildly. â€Å"Do you really think so, Severus? It looks to me as though it is merely a piece of parchment that insults anybody who reads it. Childish, but surely not dangerous? I imagine Harry got it from a joke shop –â€Å" â€Å"Indeed?† said Snape. His jaw had gone rigid with anger. â€Å"You think a joke shop could supply him with such a thing? You don't think it more likely that he got it directly from the manufacturers?† Harry didn't understand what Snape was talking about. Nor, apparently, did Lupin. â€Å"You mean, by Mr. Wormtail or one of these people?† he said. â€Å"Harry, do you know any of these men?† â€Å"No,† said Harry quickly. â€Å"You see, Severus?† said Lupin, turning back to Snape. â€Å"It looks like a Zonko product to me –â€Å" Right on cue, Ron came bursting into the office. He was completely out of breath, and stopped just short of Snape's desk, clutching the stitch in his chest and trying to speak. â€Å"I — gave — Harry — that — stuff,† he choked. â€Å"Bought — it†¦in Zonko's†¦ ages — ago†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Well!† said Lupin, clapping his hands together and looking around cheerfully. â€Å"That seems to clear that up! Severus, I'll take this back, shall I?† He folded the map and tucked it inside his robes. â€Å"Harry, Ron, come with me, I need a word about my vampire essay — excuse us, Severus –â€Å" Harry didn't dare look at Snape as they left his office. He. Ron, and Lupin walked all the way back into the entrance hall before speaking. Then Harry turned to Lupin. â€Å"Professor, I –â€Å" â€Å"I don't want to hear explanations,† said Lupin shortly. He glanced around the empty entrance hall and lowered his voice. â€Å"I happen to know that this map was confiscated by Mr. Filch many years ago. Yes, I know it's a map,† he said as Harry and Ron looked amazed. â€Å"I don't want to know how it fell into your possession. I am, however, astounded that you didn't hand it in. Particularly after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around. And I can't let you have it back, Harry.† Harry had expected that, and was too keen for explanations to protest. â€Å"Why did Snape think I'd got it from the manufacturers?† â€Å"Because†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lupin hesitated, â€Å"because these mapmakers would have wanted to lure you out of school. They'd think it extremely entertaining.† â€Å"Do you know them?† said Harry, impressed. â€Å"We've met,† he said shortly. He was looking at Harry more seriously than ever before. â€Å"Don't expect me to cover up for you again, Harry. I cannot make you take Sirius Black seriously. But I would have thought that what you have heard when the Dementors draw near you would have had more of an effect on you. Your parents gave their lives to keep you alive, Harry. A poor way to repay them — gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks.† He walked away, leaving Harry feeling worse by far than he had at any point in Snape's office. Slowly, he and Ron mounted the marble staircase. As Harry passed the one-eyed witch, he remembered the Invisibility Cloak — it was still down there, but he didn't dare go and get it. â€Å"It's my fault,† said Ron abruptly. â€Å"I persuaded you to go. Lupin's right, it was stupid, we shouldn't've done it –â€Å" He broke off; they reached the corridor where the security trolls were pacing, and Hermione was walking toward them. One look at her face convinced Harry that she had heard what had happened. His heart plummeted — had she told Professor McGonagall? â€Å"Come to have a good gloat?† said Ron savagely as she stopped in front of them. â€Å"Or have you just been to tell on us?† â€Å"No,† said Hermione. She was holding a letter in her hands and her lip was trembling. â€Å"I just thought you ought to know†¦Hagrid lost his case. Buckbeak is going to be executed.†

Financial Accounts The Assignment Liam O’Brady

Financial Accounts The Assignment Liam O’Brady owns a business selling musical instruments. The following trial balance has been extracted from the books of account at 31 October 2012. DrCr Bank balance19281 Capital balance as at 1 November 201161489 Carriage inwards480 Carriage outwards2110 Discounts664811 Drawings28650 Fixtures and fittings – at cost62200 Fixtures and fitting – provision for depreciation27990 General expenses7436 Insurance1158 Purchases and sales129745206543 Rent and rates10926 Returns375619 Inventory at 1 November 201148560Accounts receivable and payable1128516407 Wages and salaries29551 333140333140 Additional information: W ages owing to employees at the period end amounted to ? 830. The accountants invoice for preparing the full accounts is expected to be ? 720 Liam plays drums as a hobby. During the year, he took various items from the business for his own use. The items had a cost price of ? 1760 The landlord charges a total of ? 8000 pe r annum and the local authority levies rates at ? 2400 per annum. Included in Accounts Receivable is an invoiced amount of ? 207.This has been outstanding for almost 12 months, and Liam accepts that it will not be paid. He also anticipates that 5% of the Accounts Receivable balance might not be paid. He thinks that provision should be made for this now. Liam has recently discovered a small number of invoices which he paid for with his personal credit. Card. They total ? 642 and are mostly for materials used to repair the shop counter. Depreciation is to be provided on fixtures and fittings at 20% per annum using the straight line basis. During the year, Liam purchased a light van for ? 4200.This is to be included in the business and depreciation provided at 25% per annum using the reducing balance basis. Stocks as at 31 October 2012 According to the stock records as at 7 November 2012, the stock, valued at cost, came to ? 55630. During November sales of ? 3225 were recorded, as were purchases of ? 2300. The following matters also need to be taken into consideration: Eight classical guitars costing ? 220 each need to be repaired before they can be sold. It is expected that each guitar will cost ? 35 to repair and that they can then be sold for ? 260 each. Two drum kits, costing ? 00, would normally sell for ? 1200. They have been â€Å"on sale† at ? 1175 each for several months. It is decided to drop the sale price even further to ? 975 each and to re-skin some of the drums at a total cost of ? 130. According to the stock records, there are 27 recorders, with a value of ? 4 each. The stock-take revealed that there were only 22 recorders. G hjkjhlhljhjn Liam O’BradyRequired tasks Task 1 Review the additional information items and prepare the journals that will be required. Each journal is to include a brief description indicating why it is required. Task 2Stock is to be valued in accordance with accepted accounting practice. State what the standard practice is. Prepare a memorandum note for Liam O’Brady explaining any adjustments you propose to make to the stated stock value (? 55630). State the final stock value that you propose to use. Show any workings. Task 3 Using the information given above prepare the Income Statement (Trading, profit and loss account) for the year ended 31 October 2012 and Statement of Financial Position (Balance sheet) as at 31 October 2012 Task 4 Liam O’Brady has used a manual accounting system for several years.After meeting with fellow businessmen at a local Chamber of Commerce workshop, he is now thinking about computerising the accounts and sales control aspects of his record systems. He is asking for your comments / advice about the matter. After carrying out suitable research, you are to prepare a formal report for Mr O’Brady which identifies possible advantages and disadvantages of computerising the accounts function. You are not required to identify, or be familiar with, any particular accounting software package that is in the marketplace. SUBMISSION DATE:Thursday 14 January 2013

Activity Based Management Essay

Activity based management (ABM) is an approach to management that aims to maximize the value adding activities to the customers while minimizing or eliminating non-value adding activities. The objective of ABM is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization in securing its markets. It draws on activity based-costing (ABC) as its major source of information and focuses on managing activities to (1) reduce costs, (2) create performance measures, (3) improve cash flow and quality and, (4) produce enhanced value products in order to improve customer value (Business Dictionary.com). This ABM system’s top priority is in eliminating or improving those activities to increase profitability by seeking out areas where a business is losing money such as the factors which cause activities to be performed or activity cost to change. Undeniably, in order to improve an organization’s work processes and activities to effectively and efficiently meet the rapidly changing environment in this globalisation world, management practices and methods have changed over the last decade and will continue to change in future. THE TRADITIONAL ABSORPTION COSTING is the first system implemented to keep track of the true cost of a product or service. It assigns indirect cost to cost object and uses unsophisticated methods to assign indirect costs. It allocates overheads to production and service departments and uses small number of 2nd stage cost drivers to allocate costs from cost centres or pools to productions or cost objects. This system will only be appropriate when the (i)direct costs were the dominant costs, (ii)indirect costs were relatively small, (iii)information costs are high, (iv)there is a lack of intense global competition and (v)a limited range of products is produced, it might be difficult for every organization to use it. For instance, this system might not be appropriate for companies with complex processes and manufacturing practices. The large increase of indirect and overhead expenses will make the traditional costing method less efficient. Therefore, in 1980s, ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING (ABC) was introduced to overcome these  problems. ABC is a system for managing the organization better. It is a one-off exercise that measures the activities’ cost and performance, resources and the objects which consume them so as to generate more accurate and meaningful information for decision-making. It uses sophisticated or modern methods to assign the indirect costs. This ABC system allocates overheads to each major activity but not to departments and allocates costs to products or cost objects. However, it limits the company to have advantage of the ABC technique. It cannot be used for official record keeping as the IRS and stockholders require the use of traditional methods to create necessary reports for taxes. In another words, companies need to use two different costing methods in order to get the benefit. The system is costly to build, complex to sustain and to modify. Therefore, the emphasis has shifted from ABC to ACTIVITY-BASED MANAGEMENT (ABM) which is also known as ACTIVITY-BASED COST MANAGEMENT (ABCM) later on. ABC is a subset of ABM as the application of ABC evolved from a manufacturing product costing orientation to a management philosophy of activity management applied in industries and organizations (Business Dictionary.com). ABM has grown largely out of the work of the Texas-based Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing-International (CAM-I) (Investopedia). The CAM-I has initiated the development of a comprehensive glossary on ABCM terms by clarifying the significant confusion regarding the semantic and acronym associated with the activity based information (Investopedia). This ABM system makes the cost and operating information useful to improve decision making. Through the ABM analysis process, the management will gain a thorough understanding of its business processes and cost behaviour and management team in the company. In addition, the results of an ABM analysis can help a company generate more accurate budgets and financial forecasts (Investopedia). It gives management insight into the cost structures for making and selling diverse products. In a simplified term, ABC is used to answer the question, â€Å"what do things cost?† and for ABM, a process view is taken to understand factors which cause the costs to occur. This system focuses on the ways to redirect and improve the use of resources, by using  ABC data, to enhance the value created for customers and other stakeholders (Investopedia). These two systems (ABC and ABM) have attracted high levels of interest from both academics and practitioners since its emergence in the late 1980’s. It is mainly due to the significant change in cost management systems they have brought. Due to the lack of pertinence and relevancy of traditional costing that leads to mutual subsidy between products and cost, ABC and ABM are used to enhance or replace the traditional cost calculation methods. For example, ABM approach reports by activities while traditional analysis is by departments; ABM reporting is by sub-activities but traditional is by expense categories and ABM reporting can reports information on activities that are cross departmental boundaries whereas traditional is not allowed(Drury C, 2008). Thus, ABM is concluded to have more meaningful information as it gives more visibility to the cost of undertaking the activities that make up the organization and may raise the issues that are not highlighted in traditional analysis. Most forward-thinking companies have implemented them, or are in the process of doing so as it can be applied to different types of companies, including manufacturers, service providers, non-profits, schools and government agencies (Business Dictionary.com). CONTENTS 1. Features of ABM system _A. STAGES OF IMPLEMENTATION_ In order to implement ABM system, the companies are required to carry out the three out of the four stages in ABC (Drury C, 2008). The steps are listed as below: (i) Identify major activities that result in costs being incurred, The activities are the aggregation of units of work or tasks such as machine  set-up cost, purchasing cost and warehousing cost that use up resources. In order to identify all the activities within the company, activity analysis has to be carried out. The activities chosen must be at a reasonable level of aggregation based on the cost verses benefit criteria. In addition, the activities have to be either influenced by the total cost of activity centre or the ability of a single cost driver to provide a satisfactory determinant of the cost of the activity. (ii) Assign cost centers to each activity, and The companies should not use the arbitrary allocations in assigning the significant proportion of costs to activities as it will reduce the reliability of cost. They have to identify and assign the direct costs to specific activity and assign the indirect costs on cause-and-effect cost drivers. By doing so, the cost incurred on each activity can be determined. (iii) Determine the cost driver for each major activity In this stage, the drivers are called as activity cost drivers. In selecting the cost driver, there are two factors which the companies need to consider. Firstly, the cost driver should provide a good explanation of costs of each activity cost pool. Additionally, the cost driver should be measurable easily, and the data should be easily obtained and be identifiable with products. (The cost driver can be production or service oriented). _B. TWO CATEGORIES OF ABM APPLICATION_ Based on the source adapted by Kaplan & Cooper (1998), this system accomplishes its objectives through two complemetary applications which are the operational ABM (â€Å"Doing things right†) and strategic ABM (â€Å"Doing the right things†). Operational ABM enhances efficiency of operation and asset utilization and lowers costs. Its focus are mainly on doing things right and performing activities more efficiently. Management techniques such as activity  management, business process reengineering, total quality management, and performance measurement are used in the ABM application. As for strategic ABM, it attempts to change the activities demands and boost proï ¬ tability by improving activity efficiency. It focuses on choosing proper activities for the operation, eliminating non-essential activities and selecting the most proï ¬ table customers. Strategic ABM applications use management techniques such as process design, customer proï ¬ tability analysis, and value chain analysis. 2. Comparison between Activity-based management system (ABM) and traditional system ABM focuses on activity performed by business and hence, it views business as a set of linked activity that ultimately adding value to customers. Its goal is to satisfy customer needs while making fewer demands on organizational resources. Hence, ABM could have information of activities such as why activities to be performed, how to perform the activities and how well they are performed. In contrast, traditional system focuses on types of cost from departments. It gives less information to manager for the needs in decision making. ABM is better than traditional system as ABM could provide wider information and information could go deeply and more detailed as needed by the management in decision making. Besides, the ABM system only seeks to use cause-and-effect cost driver which is different than the traditional system. It does not rely on arbitrary allocation bases. As we can see from table 1, the information provided by both systems is about customer order processing. However, these two systems take into account different information while preparing the customer order processing. ABM focuses on information that is relevant in the process of customer ordering while traditional analysis focuses on the types of cost incurred in the customer order processing. ABM ANALYSIS RM Preparing Quotations 100 Receiving Customer Order 280 Expediting 120 Total 500 TRADITIONAL ANALYSIS RM Salaries 110 Telephone bill 170 Depreciation of Asset 120 Total 500 Table 1 In addition, ABM is different from traditional system in terms of the report approach. ABM report is determined by activities while traditional system is determined by departments. It can include crossing departmental boundaries. For instance, material purchasing process might involve not only one department but it includes inventory control department, purchasing department and account payable department. The manager will be able to know how the amount spent (e.g: RM 2000) to be used in purchasing material under ABM system. It may show the relevant information such as inventory reviewing, sending purchase requisition and sending purchase order. The manager will be able to know how purchasing of material works on and what are the reasons of purchase delay as well as how to minimize the cost of purchase. It focuses on information based on activity. As for traditional system, manager can get the information on material purchase which costs for RM2000 only. However, this RM2000 does not comply with the amount of goods order. By looking at one information itself, the reasons of non-compliance cannot be tracked as there is lack of information. Therefore, ABM system is better since it did not focus on information based on cost but it assigns  cost of activities to products according to product’s demand for activities and relies on cost centres and cost drivers that cause activity resource consumption. Other than that, it assigns activity costs to cost objects on basis of cost driver usage and measures resources consumed by cost objects more accurately. In addition, ABM system provides both information from value and non value added activities. As for traditional system, it provides information on value added activity only. Value added activity is an activity that supports primary objective of producing outputs. For instance, activity like colouring adds value to a book. Under value added activity, traditional report will show the amount spent in colouring since it adds usefulness to customers. Customers would likely to buy books with some colouring or some pictures rather than books with only words as it might help them in memorizing and understanding the information stated in the book better. However, if the profit does not increase like what the company expected, manager will be able to trace back the cost incurred by looking at amount spent in colouring – non-value added activity. Hence, non value added activity is important as it may affect the company’s profit. Non value added activity is an activity where an opportunity is available for cost reduction without decreasing product’s service potential to customer such as storing and moving raw materials. Under ABM system, manager will be able to draw attention on this issue and trace back the reasons such as waste in the production. Manager will be able to track the cost which has been wasted in the production by reducing material movement and improving production flow without reducing the value added to customer. In other words, customer can have same quality of products-same kind of books while management could reduce the cost of production. 3. Benefits and Limitations of ABM system One of the benefits of the system is to help the management in decision making. It provides better decision making as the information provided by the ABM system is more useful and reliable. The management can make informed decision about product mix, lines of business, process, product design,  services, capital investment and pricing. For instance, manager will able to make decision on how much capital to invest in new product and what kind of new product to be launched based on information that manager obtains in ABM system. Furthermore, ABM is a system for continuous improvements. The system is not just an accounting tool but it also provides many tools that can enhance organizational performance management. In other words, ABM system provides other information as well (the product mix, customer services, line of business and capital investment) that would be able to help an organization in its future development and improvement. For instance, an organization knows how to serve customer better by looking into information provided in customer services activity. ABM also provides a better understanding of cost driver. It is a factor that affects the costs associated with an activity. Managers apply activity- based management system to the operational activity in order to determine the cost to perform an activity and the cost associated with not performing the activity. Through this activity cost drivers, it seeks to provide an extensive view on the actual costs of an activity. For instances, we can see in the Mason & Cox. In Mason & Cox, they feel that it is expensive to implement the activity-based costing system because it is more complex and expensive to maintain. Nevertheless, ABM seems to be more helpful to them in term of improving the company profitability. For example, saving had been achieved by targeting non-value-added activities. Their real cost driver had been identified so that manager may know what to eliminate. The drop in the price of the high-volume lines had met with customer approval. Furthermore, ABM enables company to monitor and improve quality and delivery customer value by tracking cost driver. The new approach provided timely information about factors that were important to customers and factors that employees could control. There was no doubt that ABM had helped Mason & Cox to improve both profitability and customer value. Besides that, in Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF) needs more sophisticated cost information to make better decision in order to compete in the nature of the health care insurance industry and the need to manage the cost of operation like ways to  allocate administrative cost to the products and services. Hence, BCBSF decided to implement ABM system. ABM helps manager to examine the analysis of value added cost and non-value added costs. A value added cost is the cost of an activity that cannot be eliminated without affecting a product’s value to the customer. Some value added costs are always necessary, as long as the activities that drive such cost are performed efficiently and effectively. For instances, we can truly understand this concept in the Carpenter Company. The senior vice president of sales and marketing said that pillow fall into two distinct segments, the â€Å"commodity† part of the business and value-added line. For the â€Å"commodity† part of the business- consists of polyester-filled pillows which are a normal pillow. Besides that, the â€Å"value-added line†, which features technology-driven fibers and fabrics designed to enhance sleep. As we can see, Carpenter Company had produced variety function of pillow like muscle stress and pain relieve pillow as well as pillow which reduce unnatural awakenings. Today, consumers are better educated about the benefits of various sleep surfaces and they recognize that the role of pillow can play in quality sleep. Although the price for a pillow which features technology-driven fibers and fabrics designed will be expensive but it can help consumer to have a quality sleep. Thus, consumers will not mind to pay more to improve a quality sleep. As a result, we can see that the â€Å"value-added line† may help company to gain profit. In contrast, a non-value added cost is the cost of an activity that cannot be eliminated without diminishing the value. Non-value added cost activities are assumed to be unnecessary as a result it always be minimized like storing and handling inventories; transportation of raw material or partly finished products. If this non-value added costs happened, company may reduce or eliminate it by careful redesign of the operational process. As we can see how Taipei Fubon Bank deals with those non-value added costs in this mature and complex market. Taipei Fubon Bank needs to accurately determine profit and loss data by customer and customer group so that it could help bank to reduce operating costs and increase profit while maintaining it quality of service. Hence, the bank had developed a customer profitability  management (CPM) system that provide thorough information regarding cardholder spending pattern and profitability to build highly targeted marketing and retention program. This system did helped bank to reduce cost by updating timely management report, thus speeding marketing strategy adjustment decision. However, they wanted more information regarding a detailed analysis such as the profitability by card type at the individual customer level. As a result, they entered into the new CPM system by performing an in-depth analysis at the transaction level. The new CPM system contributes to division-wide productivity through the delivery of as-needed reporting to the user custom portal. The reporting may include customer spending habits, customer ranking by demographic criteria or the profitability of co-branded card by service channel. After using this system, Taipei Fubon Bank has significantly improving division profitability and now they can make more faster and accurate decision. In Dow Chemical Company (DCC) which produces chemicals and plastics implement ABM to identify the activities they perform, eliminate non-value-added activities, determine cost drivers, set activity price to charge users and benchmark these price to ensure that they are competitive. While ABM has brought benefits to DCC but also brought many challenges to them. For instances, DCC feels that it is difficult to capture cost driver information without creating additional work. As the activity analysis became more and more detailed, DCC had to justify the complexities in obtaining and processing activity information. Ultimately the company decided that should not break activities down to task level, otherwise the resultant activities were too small and numerous. By comparing with the traditional system, ABM system is more costly. Implementation of ABM system requires many resources such as human resources and time consuming. Different activities require different resources. Data that concerns on major activities must be measured, collected and entered into system. As we can see that Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) feels that ABM system is a timely and costly system. By using ABM system, they need to implement a thorough mapping of all processes, drill down and filtering of all â€Å"relevant† activities, the identification of cost  driver and others are enormous challenges. Thus, this may cause the company to take up much time and resources because this company consists of over 1100 staffs. Furthermore, everyone may have different point of view and searching for different data therefore they need times to eliminate and collect the right data into the right activities. Incorrect data collection and allocation may result to setbacks during the implementation stages and may jeopardize the whole project. Misinterpretation might also happen in ABM system. This is because most of the information is interrelated and ambiguous. For instance, cost assigned to material, products and customer may be relevant and cause the manager to overlook some information. This causes misinterpretation happen and link to the wrong decision making. Wrong decision making may cause some issues happen in the operation such as production delay, over-production and wrong shipping. Reports by using ABM system are suitable for internal users only and cannot report to external users. This is because ABM system has limitations since it does not conform to generally accepted accounting principles (G.A.A.P). Stakeholder might not be able to understand the reports on ABM system and therefore, ABM system is only restricted for internal use. CONCLUSION Previously, company usually apply traditional accounting system to manage the company’s operational activity but this system does not provide more detailed information that needed in this competitive environment. Therefore, managers require better information by developing activity-based management. This approach allow everyone in the organization understand where costs are being incurred, why are they being incurred and how these activities contribute to a higher value added to customers. Moreover, ABC explores to identify activities that can be eliminated or improved. In additional to that, communications will improve and changes are easier to make if company conducts the activity-based approach. In addition to the above purpose, we feel that ABM system may be useful for a company. This is because it not only focuses on the product of a company but also the services and customers of a company. Besides that, it also help company to find out the cause of a problem, action plan for future development as well as evaluation of managers’ or departments’ present performance. In addition to that, it also helps company utilize true cost data which generated through ABC for further improvement in business profitability in the long run. ABM in best practice firm lies at the heart of the decision-support process. Integrating ABM within the total information and management control system of the organization can lead to quantum improvements. Therefore, an organization needs to understand and address the common pitfalls and barriers to success at every stage of implementation. Besides, the ABM system should include and draw on the insights of the people who use it no matter during planning, activity analysis or other so that the implementation will success when the people use the system. Organization should tailor to the unique strategy, structure, capabilities, and needs of the firm so that the implementation will be succeeded. This is because ABM will not look the same in every organization although it is a universally useful concept. Finally, we have an in-depth understanding of ABM during the process of working out this assignment and we found out that activity-based approach has more advantages than disadvantages. We have learned many things like time management and how to get along with our group members. Although we spent much time for discussing the lessons and recommendations, we didn’t have any argument during our discussion and everything went on smoothly. BIBLIOGRAPHY _Advantages, Disadvantages and Limitations of Accounting Based Costing (ABC) System_. (n.d.). Accounting For Management. Retrieved March 9, 2013, from http://accounting4management.com/limitations_of_activity_based_costing.htm Business Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2013, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/activity-based-management- ABM.html Cardos,I.R., & Pete,S. (2011). _Activity-based Costing (ABC) and activity-based management (ABM) implementation – Is this the solution for organizations to gain profitability?._ Retrieved March 9,2013, from http://www.revecon.ro/articles/2011-1/2011-1-9.pdf CIMA. (2001). Techinical Briefing. _Activity-based management – An overview_. Retrieved March 10, 2013, from http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/ImportedDocuments/ ABM_techrpt_0401.pdf Drury, C. (2004). _Management and Cost Accounting_, 6th Edition. International Thomson Business Press, London. Drury, C. (2008). _Management and Cost Accounting_, 7th Edition. International Thomson Business Press, London. Eden, Y. & Ronen, B. ( 2002). _Activity based costing and activity based management: The same thing in a different guise?_. Retrieved March 9, 2013 from http://boazronen.org/PDF/Activity%20Based%20Costing%20and %20Activity%20Based%20Managment.pdf Gary, J. (2013). Power of Pillow. The Business Journal for the Sleep Products Industry. Retrieved February 23, 2013, from http://bedtimesmagazine.com/2013/01/power-of-pillows/ Implementing Activity-BasedManagement: Avoiding the Pitfalls. (1998) Instituite of Management Accounts. Retrieved March 9, 2013, from http://www.imanet.org/PDFs/Public/Research/SMA/Implementing %20Activity%20Based%20mngt_Avoiding.pdf Investopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2013, from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/abm.asp#axzz2Jng4KVP6 Leo, S. (2010). Taipei Fubon Bank Uses Activity-Based Management to Build Customer Profitability. Retrieved from http://www.b-eye- network.com/view/12857 Managing costs and time for customer value. (n.d). Retrieved from http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0074711903/ 50509/sample_ch15.pdf May & Margaret. ( Jan 1995). Activity-based management accounting. Management Accounting, 73(1),40. Retrieved from Business Source Complete, Pro Quest. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com. Sarkis, Joseph, Meade, Laura, Presley & Adrien. (2006). An activity based management methodology for evaluating business processes for environmental sustainability. Business Process Management Journal, 12(6),751. Retrieved March 8, 2013, from Business Sources Complete, Pro Quest, http://search.proquest.com SAS. (n.d.). Activity-based management. Driving profitable growth through activity- based management. Retrieved March 10, 2012, from http://www.sas.com/solutions/abm/#section=2 Sharman, P.A. (1993). Activity-based management: A growing practice. CMA Magazine, 67(2), 17-22. Retrieved from Business Source Complete, Pro Quest. Retrieved February 30, from http://search.proquest.com

Best Practices for Network Security is the Topic Essay

Best Practices for Network Security is the Topic - Essay Example In the absence of security policy, the availability of network for individuals and organizations can be compromised. It is important for users of networks to develop a sound security strategy, which involves paying close attention to the reality of internet speed, changes in technology and other realities of the technology world. Users need to know how and what to ensure network security (Convery, 2004). Individuals and organizations ought to take security management, planning, the design of procedures, and policy development in order to protect themselves from compromised security. Due to rapid technological advancements, network security is faced with new challenges frequently and this can significantly compromise the privacy and security of users. Therefore, it is important for organizations and individuals to meet the challenges of network and computer security by adopting best practices (Pauzet, 2011). In order to have an understanding of network security, this paper will discus s the best practices for network security. The first best practice for network security is the creation of usage policy statements. It is important for organizations and other users to create usage policy statements outlining the roles and responsibilities of users with respect to security. The starting point should by the establishment of a general policy that covers all data and network systems within the company (Juels and Oprea, 2013). Such a policy should outline the general user community with the security policy understanding, its aims, and guidelines to improve their security practices, as well as the definitions of their responsibilities to security. Along with the creation of usage policy statements, a company should create a partner acceptable use statement providing partners with an understanding of the information that they have, the conduct of the company’s employees, and the expected disposition of the information available to them. It is important for the comp any to describe explicitly any particular acts that have been noted as security attacks and the punitive actions that will be meted in an event of detection of security attack (Pearce, Zeadally, and Hunt, 2013). The final aspect in this regard is the establishment of an administrator acceptable use statement in explaining the rules and procedures for privilege review, policy enforcement, and user account administration. In an event that a company has particular policies regarding the handling of data or user passwords, it should present those policies clearly (Dey et al, 2012). The second best practice for network security is delivering corporate security training and awareness. Since it is the responsibility of all employees to ensure network security is achieved, it is important that they should be educated about the acceptable and responsible usage of networks and other corporate resources. There is need to train them on network security including aspects of password policies. Th ey should be invited to training sessions on network security after a certain duration of time (Liska, 2003). During these sessions, employees should receive training about the do and don’ts of various network and computer usage that may compromise network security. For example, they can be taught about what they should do or not do in instant messaging.  

High School Student's Perception of Accounting Essay

High School Student's Perception of Accounting - Essay Example Most students prefer accounting as a major before graduating from high school or soon after entering college. In the Giladi survey, students are inquired to rate the importance of the following factors in their decision to major in accounting: The survey results show the most important factors are earnings prospective and prospects for a job. The least significant factors are suggestions of counselors and family/friends. High schoolers choose accounting as a major for the reason that students believe it will lead to a professional chance with noteworthy earnings potential. Accounting majors want to work for companies that offer viable remuneration and development opportunities. Pritchard (2004, pp154-155) conduct a student survey determining the role that perception of the accounting profession plays in the high schoolers' choice to major in accounting. The pessimistic perceptions that most pressurize business students to not major in accounting are: Recruiters in the accounting profession should boost their efforts to get more high school students interested in accounting careers. They should launch mentoring and ad campaigns in an effort to offset the dot.com world's lucrative lure in the minds of high school students. ... They should launch mentoring and ad campaigns in an effort to offset the dot.com world's lucrative lure in the minds of high school students. They also have to encounter the clichd perception of accountants as nerdy number crunches. The accounting professionals should get back in the schools and let students know what the profession is all about. Accounting, the industry should inform high schoolers, is all about decision-making and advising clients and developing personal and professional relationships with top companies. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants began a program more than a year ago to mail educational materials about the profession to more than 4,100 high schools in USA. The tutorial plans expressions for students to incorporate accounting techniques into a variety of subjects, from chemistry to history. In one of the most admired lesson plans, students study to read and examine real companies' annual reports and find out if they are good investments. Another provides students with a hypothetical accounting problem and asks them to solve it. That problem-solving aspect is key to selling the profession to students of high schools. Today the whole emphasis is on making decisions. The role of the accountant has changed, as one has to understand business first and accounting second and know how to leverage information to make decisions. But unfortunately it is not the way high schoolers are trained. Accounting firms should also use business-education programs to get more face time with high schoolers. They should stick with prospects of accounting profession throughout their entree into college, as relationship

Compare between two websites Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Compare between two websites - Essay Example These websites provide various services and software products for business management. Halogensoftware’s products are more focused towards talent management part of the business, whereas, Successfactors’ solutions are related to execution of business. Halogensoftware provides following major product package: performance appraisal, goal management, competency management, career development and planning, integrated talent profile, employee on boarding, activity tracker, easy HRIS integration, job description builder and real0time reporting etc. On the other hand, product and service package of successfactors include, business alignment, people performance and integrated business-execution software solutions. Both organizations provide more or less similar range of software products. Halogen provides money back guarantee for its services where as successfactors display Deloitte’s rating for its products. Analysis indicated that the successfactors has better described and marketed their products. For example, both firms offer a product 360-degree feedback; however, successfactors has given a brief comparison of 360 degree and a regular manager feedback to show how 360-degree feedback is better and why should it is adapted. Then, a visual presentation, including snap shots of the software product is available for the buyer. The product consists of three broad sections of information: employee information, employee feedback, and overall rating. A section of â€Å"legal scan† is also provided to serve legal purpos es. On the other hand, Halogen has provided a brief overview about the features, results, and affordability of its 360-degree rater. For another product, Succession planning, halogen has emphasized its cost effectiveness and affordability. The â€Å"talent pool model† is the base for this product. Its implementation is in three phases: First, the firm understands its workforce potential. Second, it develops internal

Concept of Happiness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Concept of Happiness - Essay Example The moral philosophies of J.S. Mill and Kant are structurally so different in as much as Mill puts a primary importance, and strictly, on empiricism, or natural experience as basis for morality, whereas Kant's basis for morality (the morality of metaphysics) stems from a priori knowledge or what he calls pure reason - laws which are evident in every rational being. Utilitarianism putting happiness as the supreme guide for spelling out what is good and right is quite clear on putting forward a means while Kant's insistence on intuitive derivation of what is moral, is quite unshakeable on what the end must be - which must be unconditional on any value or preference, happiness including. Utility is synonymous to pleasure or happiness for a Utilitarian moralist like J.S. Mill. He recognizes that all desirable things differs from one individual to another, and are desirable either for their own sake or as a means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain. However, J.S.