Advantages of Non-Financial Performance Measurement Over Financial Performance Measurement

Advantages of Non-Financial Performance Measurement Over Financial Performance Measurement

Financial Performance Measurement

The motive of every business is to achieve the bottom line of maximum financial benefits. In order to comply with the same, companies have come up with financial performance measurement techniques. The very idea is to ensure that no matter what the resources do and the way they function, they would have to show profits in the profit and loss statements. It is carried out generally in three different steps. They have been mentioned as follows:

Firstly, it encompasses selecting the goals of the organization.

Secondly, and also as the most important part, it is to consolidate the measurement of information with respect to the performance.

Finally, the required changes made by the managers so as to serve as a remedy over the weak links in the financial charts of the company. So, one can say that the financial aspects of performance measurement is basically sales driven. There are certain milestones that companies set for employees. A deficiency in being able to fulfil even a certain process can be harmful for the position. So, this method of performance measurement is also known to show certain insecurity for the employees. Hence, it might not give the most authenticated results. Business Performance Management is by and large measured by the financial aspects of performance measurement. The specific techniques for the same have been mentioned as follows:

Approaches to Financial Performance Measurement

Economic Values Added

This method deals directly with the economic profit of the organization that goes directly into the balance sheets. This method in other words can be used to measure the Net Operating Profit after Taxes. There are also certain adjustments that are made in the calculation of Economic value added so that the companies can make it more synchronized with the profit entry in the profit and loss statements. This method is generally used by lower stature companies these days. The reason for the same is that at the moment, the companies can afford to look at the business functioning only from the financial perspective. There is much more to achieve.

Activity-Based Costing

The fundamental law of economics says that management would have to make the most from the least resources that are available to them. In regard to keeping with the statement, the companies generally identify the processes that are in the system and then classify them as separate activities. Followed by this, the companies assign separate costs to each of the activities. This can be done in the form of direct and indirect costs.

Reason for shift from Financial to Non-Financial aspect

In other words, we can say that this is also a form of performance measurement on the basis of finance aspects. One can assign costs to each of the activities, but then there are always, restrictions on the use of the activities that are highly expensive. Once, again, this method would not be applicable in the long-run. The reason for the same is that this method forms a hindrance to the long-term investments. One must understand that an investment for a particular activity can lead to improvements of certain others in the long run. This can be with respect to work force as well as the equipments that are required to perform the activities. So, as a remedy, one has to switch to better methods that are of non-financial significance. (Activity Based Costing (ABC), 2010)

Non-Financial Performance Measurement

These are amongst the most widely applicable performance measurement techniques in the current scenario of the corporate world. We have seen the deficiencies of the financial aspects. The following methods tend to improve them for the betterment of the organizations:

Approaches to Non- Financial performance measurement

Six-Sigma Approach

The best approach for performance measurement is the six sigma approach. In this method, the companies try to identify the deficiencies in each of the processes that are a part of the functioning of the organization. These are then corrected by certain quality analysis tools. The companies also have special people who are only responsible for the same. As the name suggests, this approach makes the companies 99.99966% error free. As it has its long term accountability as well, it can be used over the financial performance measurement techniques.

Theory of Constraints

This theory deals with continuously helping the organizations in achieving their goals. The concept is more applicable these days because it identifies the constraints that lie in the path of the business. It is carried in a five-step process. This has been mentioned as follows:

* Firstly, identification of the constraints is done.

* Then, the companies decide the ways of constraint exploitation.

* It makes the entire system aligned as per as the decision taken.

* Then, a negative strategy is used to increase the capacity of the organizations to handle more constraints.

* Then, the companies' see whether the constraints have been removed as a result of this. If it hasn't then they go back at identification part. (Constraint Management, 2010)

Advantages of Non-financial aspects and Disadvantages of Financial aspects

The biggest disadvantage of the financial aspect is that it does not consider the broad view of the business. The companies have to give maximum regard to the available monetary benefits. If this is not reached, the management would not recommend for a certain activity to take place as a part of its functioning. There have been many companies in the past which have lost to great extents because of such a disastrous situation. One can take IBM for example. The company could not sustain the fact that it was not making immediate profits. As a result, they sold their laptop manufacturing and saw the other company making huge benefits.

An advantage of the non-financial aspect is that it allows the time for training. We all know that training is one of those areas which consume a lot of money in the beginning. The immediate profits associated with the same might not be as much as compared to the amount of money put into doing it. But, the non-financial aspect gives respect to the long-term advantages associated with the training. This is generally not given any attention from the financial point of view which considers only the short run.

The non-financial aspects build a reputation for a company. It helps a company take up strategies like cost-differentiation. These strategies are extremely helpful in making a company the cost leader in the market. The financial perspective might never give any room for the same. Under the dynamic environment of today, it become a must for companies to look for strategies like this.

Conclusion

As most of the companies of today have further strengthened and even widened their visions, simply looking for the monetary profits as a part of the performance measurement criterion is not worth mush scope. As for example, technology has been advancing at a tremendous pace these days. This is because; organizations are putting in a huge amount of money in Research and development. If the companies follow the economic value added approach or the activity-based costing approach, they would not have the heart to invest to such large extents. In the short-term, they can have a good flow of cash with them, but as we have seen companies like Procter & Gamble advance to such great extents, success at the international level can only come through investment in technology.

So, the method of financial performance measurement is not viable in the current era. It is certainly better to use the non-financial aspects of performance measurement as we have seen. The reason for the same is that they aim for the development of the total quality of the products. In this era of completion where the product life cycles are dependent on the efficiency of the companies to be able to maintain their products in the market, companies need to focus more on customer satisfaction than anything else. This is possible to a larger extent in non-financial performance measurement.

How to Earn Money With Your Articles

How to Earn Money With Your Articles

A lot of people have a knack for transforming thoughts into words, but really only a few of them really know that they can convert this hobby or passion into a source of income. With today's demand of article writers, as long as you are good with keeping your thoughts and words together, you can certainly own an amount that you never dreamed off.

Although having them printed on newspapers and magazines is quite a charming and thrilling idea, the demand for writers are actually found on the pages of the internet. And with your ability and talent, you can earn money with your articles through these:

Content writing. Clients from all over the globe are eager to get their hands on the most talented writer that they can find no matter how much it would cost them because good articles can attract clients and increase their page rank. If you think you can take instructions up t the last detail then this job is for you.

Affiliate marketing. You are good with marketing products and services, at the same time your creative juices are overflowing from your mind. Then this is another way. Sell ​​products using your skill in writing and persuade buyers to buy and then you get your commission.

Advertisements. Write a good article that would knock the readers to their feet and post it on a website. Use Google Ads and place it on the page where your article is and every time a reader visits that page, you get a commission from Google. How does that sound?

There are a lot of ways on how you can earn money with the use of your articles. The ways are endless. All you need is to have the courage to explore and take on the risks that come your way.

Radiohead - Recreating the Sounds of "Paranoid Android"

Radiohead - Recreating the Sounds of "Paranoid Android"

If you're a rock fan, then you know Radiohead is. One thing that you may not know is how they got the unique sound that you hear on the track "Paranoid Android". I want to take a moment to help you understand how this unique sound was achieved so that you can recreate it at home, and hopefully get some good ideas about new things you can do with your amp and effects.

The song kicks off with an acoustic guitar playing rhythm. Shortly after we hear a light guitar part join in to create an interesting ambiance. The two guitarists of the band, Jon Greenwood and Ed O'Brien continue to play dueling guitar effects, drawing the listener in until finally reverting to an all out rock section starting around 2:42. This is the tone that I want to focus on. To get this sound, you're going to need a vintage or grunge style fuzzbox.

This same fuzzbox will be used to good effect all throughout the solo that starts around 3:10. The whole distorted section has a very "lo-fi" sound that's typical of the music made at that time. Shortly after the solo, there's a bridge where all distortion disappears, followed shortly by the return of the distorted sound, with an added pitch-shifting effect. To achieve this, you'll need a pitch shift pedal, which isn't hard to come by.

I want to return quickly to the beginning to touch on how they got the light electric sound that accompanied the acoustic guitar. To get the sound that they used, you're going to need a tremolo, some reverb and a compressor. On your amp, you want to get a nice fat sound, with a good bit of bass and middle, and reduced treble. I think about 3/4 bass, 2/3 mid and 1/3 treble is about the right mixture (the fractions are of the total amount of each bass middle and treble and not how they relate to each other). Turn your reverb knob about halfway up, keep the tremolo on the slow side, with a good bit of gain & as for the compressor, turn the attack and sustain up about 3/4 the way up and the level should go up about 1/2 way. This should be pretty easy to achieve, just use a little finesse and you should be there.

Using this guide, you should be able to achieve about 75% of the sounds they got in the studio with your home setup. The sounds that Radiohead gets out of their instruments during this period were based heavily on equipment that they were using in the studio at the time, so it's a little hard to pinpoint exactly the same thing. With a little playing around, however, you can get a very close approximation. Good luck & have fun!

Computer Forensics In Everyday Practice

Computer Forensics In Everyday Practice

Computer forensics is a branch of forensics sciences, and is increasingly becoming important in court cases as forms of cybercrime are on the increase. As a result of the work of these computer experts, evidence can now be brought to court cases to help solve some of the worst internet and technology based crimes. This is one of the most exciting and cutting edge careers in the computer field today.

Computer forensics experts work a little differently from other forensics experts, however. Forensic science itself is quite an old field of study, although many fields of forensics rely on cutting edge technology to help solve their crimes. What is different with computer forensics is often the nature of the data being studied. Instead of simply taking regular fingerprints, "digital fingerprints" are also examined, meaning the paths left by a criminal in the data files of a computer. Instead of taking blood or DNA samples, the history of computer access will also be examined. Computer forensics experts also tend to deal with murder crime scenes less and financial and business espionage crime scenes much more often.

However, there are important similarities between forensics work done on computers and other branches of the forensic sciences in that valuing the data collected carefully is of the most importance. During your training to become a computer forensics specialist, you will learn not only how to analyze and collect data, but also how to prepare the documentation that the courts will need in order to accept this data during a case. You will also learn how to use sophisticated software to help analyze and retrieve data in crime scenes.

If you decide to pursue training to become a forensic specialist, you will have numerous employment options both in the private and the public sector once you have completed your training and received certification. For public sector jobs, you may be working with the police, military or similar institutions. Private sector work may be either for a company or a contract firm.

If you do work for the police or a similar agency, much of your time may be spent analyzing closed computers from crime scenes. Many criminals are unaware that simply emptying your computer's trash bin does not erase data permanently from your computer and computer forensics specialists are often able to retrieve this data and use it to help convict criminals.

If you go to work for a private company, you may be in charge of such tasks as preventing the theft of sensitive data or doing forensics work after a breach has been discovered.

Both private and public sector jobs tend to pay well, and this is definitely a field of employment that expects significant growth in the future. If you are a person who loves working with computers, becoming a computer forensics specialist may be a great career choice for you.

Sync 3 Now Supports Apple CarPlay

Sync 3 Now Supports Apple CarPlay

Ford now supports SYNC 3 with software updates to support Apple CarPlay and Android Auto ™ for model-year 2016 and 2017 vehicles.

Customers can now update by downloading the software to a USB drive, visiting a dealership or with an over-the-air Wi-Fi connection. This is Ford's first software update via Wi-Fi. It offers a convenient and automated alternative to existing upgrade methods

Customers with model-year 2016 Ford vehicles can update to the new SYNC 3 version 2.2 to gain this support for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

"Our SYNC 3 software platform was designed to be easy to update so we can get our customers the latest and greatest features, functionally and security enhancements," said Don Butler, executive director, Ford Connected Vehicle and Services. "With over-the-air updates, we can deliver new features to customers in the background while they continue using their vehicles."

Android Auto

Compatible with Android ™ devices 5.0 and higher, Android Auto brings the Android experience into the vehicle safely and easily. It offers Google Maps, Google Play Music, phone, messaging and third-party apps designed on the car's built-in display and available via voice controls. With a simplified interface, large touch targets, Google voice search and easy-to-use voice controls, Android Auto is designed to minimize distraction while on the road.

Android, Android Auto, Google Maps and Google Play are trademarks of Google Inc.

Apple CarPlay

Apple CarPlay is compatible with iPhone 5 and later models running iOS 7.1 or higher. Apple CarPlay gives iPhone users an intuitive way to make phone calls, use voice-guided navigation, listen to music, and send and receive messages. The convenience allows the driver to stay focused on the road. Users can control Apple CarPlay through the in-vehicle display or via Siri voice control. Apple CarPlay support requires a USB hub upgrade available through Ford dealers.

SYNC 3 currently supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay on all model-year 2017 Ford cars including the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion and Mustang, SUVs including the Escape, Explorer and Expedition, F-Series trucks and Ford's electrified vehicles.

Receiving updates over Wi-Fi

Ford has had SYNC upgrades since 2009, but this is the first time the company is offering an update via Wi-Fi. In Wi-Fi-enabled vehicles with Automatic System Updates turned on within SYNC 3, the system will periodically connect to a customer's designated Wi-Fi network to check for updates. If an update is available, the system automatically downloads the update in the background over a period of time without any customer interaction. And SYNC 3 is designed to perform the update as long as Wi-Fi is connected prior to the vehicle turning off, therefore there is no need to keep the vehicle running for the update to take place.

Visit the owner.ford.com support site and register / login to find out more about these updates.

Forex Money Manager - Have You Considered This Option?

Forex Money Manager - Have You Considered This Option?

Forex Money Managers are online managed Forex accounts that offer to manage, trade the markets on behalf of clients in Forex. Forex fund managers are ready to provide their services to you. It goes without saying that this option gives investors a great number of advantages due to the fact that vast majority of managed Forex accounts make more cash when compared with ordinary retail investors.

For an average retail Forex trader who is just starting out in Forex trading, it forms a rather difficult activity to master Forex trading. Most novice Forex traders fail within a couple of months. It must be pointed out that most novice Forex traders lose money not only when trading currencies but also when dealing with managed Forex accounts which fail to be reputable. The problem is that finding a really reputable and high performing money manager is rather a challenging exercise but worth the efforts

Benefits of a Forex money manager
The significant benefits of choosing to invest through Forex fund managers is that investors do not need to come to the table with huge investments in order to access this particular managed Forex accounts. The general assumption is that a vast majority of managed Forex accounts require investors to invest at least one million dollars. While this is true, but in most cases managed Forex accounts require only a $ 5,000 approximately to get started. One of the key benefits of managed Forex accounts is that an investor retains the full control over their investment.

A Forex fund manager is one of the most sought after commodity, as more people look to the Forex markets to increase returns on their portfolios. So why hire a Forex money manager to look after your funds? in the first instance, it is the belief that they will make you money. So what would compel investors to choose a Forex money manager and how, in practice, can a Forex money manager help to assist an investor get superior returns? The fact that investors get the ability to access the complex and volatile world Forex trading with a small amount well managed in expert hangs with low deposits of $ 5,000 gets you in to most managed Forex accounts.

Forex money managers offer retail investors a lot of possibilities to invest in the Forex market, where before they just did not exist. Finding a reputable and high performing foreign exchange manager can sometimes be hard, but it well worth the search.

Why choose a Forex money manager
Having your investment looked after by a Forex money manager offers a variety of possibilities and advantages for the retail investor. Most Forex fund managers do make more money than an ordinary retail investor. Questions as to why so many people are now investing with a Forex money manager or why hire a Forex money manager to look after your funds are best answered below

• In the first instance, it is the belief that they will make you money
• On average most novice Forex traders tend to lose their investments with the first 3 months
• Investors either tend to switch back to investing in stocks, or can look to find a suitable Forex money manager to manage their money in the Forex market.

Finding a decent and high performing foreign currency manager can sometimes be hard, but it well worth the search.

So what is so great about these so called managed Forex accounts? Opting to make use of a managed Forex account gives investors the access to quality Forex fund managers who have the requisite experience. On the higher end of the scale, there are fund managers that require investors to put in atleast a minimum of a million dollars, but at the same time a major of managed Forex accounts seek retail investors to access the potential gains of the currency market with as little as $ 5,000.

So what are the advantages of investing in a managed Forex account, and how, in practice, can a Forex money manager help to assist an investor get superior returns? For starters, investors do not need to have a millionaire to access a managed Forex account. However, with the majority of managed Forex accounts, retail investors can access the potential high returns of the currency market with as little as $ 5000.

Forex money managers are paid a percentage of the profits they generate. For example, if you make $ 100 in the Forex market, the manager might keep $ 20 or $ 30 of it as a performance fee. Although the performance fees may seem a bit too high, remember that you might not have made any profit in the first place if not for trading with the help of a Forex money manager. And in the same note, if the Forex money manager does not make any money in your account, you typically do not have to pay for the service. This is basically a no win no gain kind of a business model and a choice that novice traders with disposable investments can look to in order to maximize their returns.

Computer Problems? No Problem!

Computer Problems? No Problem!

If you are a compute owner, you would know that everything does not continue run perfectly. There are times that you will have to fix your computer, because every system runs into some sort of technical difficulties. These technical difficulties can consist of hardware and software malfunctions. Some of these problems will give you more chairs that others, and some of them will be an easy fix. Regardless, you need to be aware of some of the more frequent things that happen with the computers so that you will be able to fix the problem in a shortest amount of time, because we all know that the time we have is precious.

Easiest way to solve a problem with the computer is by just trying to restart it. It is crazy how many little problems will be solved by just restarting the computer. After you restart your computer, make sure your operating system is up-to-date, and all your major software that you might be trying to use. Many of the problems occur when a person does not update the necessary files, with the update, and in return the computer does not run well, because the programs do not work well together when the files are too uncommon. This can be avoided by simply having the automatic Windows update on, or turning on the auto update option on any particular operating system that you own. This is how you fix the basic computer problems that might arise.

One of major problems that computer users run into is slow computer. Users need to be aware that when you are trying to use the internet, and the process is slow, then the computer is more than likely has nothing to do with that sort of problem. Instead, the network might have something to do with it, and so you need to consider your specific provider for assistance. Computer being slow is something that occurs after you have owned your computer for a while. The first thing you need to do so fix this problem is to check how many programs are running in the background. Too many people open a lot of stuff at the same time, so the processor is overwhelmed with the number of things it needs to do. You will need to close out all the programs that you do not want to run in the background. If you also noticed that your computer takes a while to start up, you might want to disable certain programs to start in the process of your computer starting up. The way you can shut down the current programs that are running, and disable any programs from starting up when the computer first turns on, is by following these steps.

# 1 Click start, and in the search box type "msnconfig"

# 2 Program will pop up and you will have to click on the Startup tab.

# 3 Select all the programs that has nothing to do with your operating system, and click disable all. The programs that you should be looking for are the things that you use on the daily basis, but you do not need them to be running, unless you want them to run.

If you did everything correctly, you should be able to feel the difference in the processing power of the computer after the computer restarts.

The second major problem that the computer users can run into, and I've already mentioned it in a way while I was talking about the first problem, is the slow internet connect. Internet allows us to connect to many different services that are offered online. If you have a bad internet connection, you might not be able to complete your daily tasks. Many different services are being moved online, so it is vital for you to have a stable internet connection.

The first thing you need to do is check with your provider at how fast your internet needs to be. After you have figured this out, you need to make sure for yourself. You can do so by going to one of the most popular websites that allows you to check your internet download and upload speeds. This website is called speedtest.net. Your internet speed always needs to be at least fifty percent of what the Internet provider says it needs to be. You should be getting your money worth, and if that's not happening, then you know the problem is not with your hardware, but with your provider. If after conducting the test on speedtest.net you think your internet speed is where it needs to be, then there are some programs that are hogging your internet, and you are not able to do other things that you want. You can check if there are any programs that are running, by doing what you did to check why the computer was running slow. You also need to make sure that all your network drivers are updated to the recent version of the software. There are not many things to do to fix the slow internet problem, but you can stay on top of this by upgrading the software and hardware.

These two are the most common problems that a computer user may run into, and to be honest, they are not that hard to fix. In the computer world, there might be other issues such as computer continuously restarting. Sometimes it gets annoying to have all the updates installing by themselves, but remember, it gives you an advantage of staying on top of the updating all the hardware for computer not acting slow. Sometimes computer will install so many new updates, so you might see your computer continuously restarting to install those updates. If you ever want to change this and stop this from happening, just turn off the automatic updates on the computer and you should be able to do just that.

In the end, many of the computer problems can be fixed by staying on top of things, and you'd be surprised if you get them at all if you do so. You will not always be able to know how to fix a problem, but there are others that have ran into a problem before, so if you just look for the information on the Internet, you should be able to find the necessary information to accomplish the task.