Accounting questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Accounting questions - Essay Example In Pakistan, the rules and regulations applying to published financial statements under Companies’ Ordinance 1984 include, release of quarterly financial statements by management after review of the same by an external audit firm (Ashraf & Ghani, 2005). Financial reporting in Pakistan takes formats in accordance with the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). Other statutory requirements under the SECP include usefulness of statements to users by being understandable, relevant, faithfully represented, prudent, complete, neutral, and within the proper period. The change I would suggest to these regulations would include recognition of materiality and aggregation in presenting similar class items separately in the financial statements. This principle acknowledges substance over form and is closely linked to faithful representation of financial reports. This change would ensure that the auditors recognize the presentation of prepaid cards as revenue in accordance with their substance, which reflects economic reality. I tend to agree with the numerous accusations leveled against the auditors by the company’s management. First, the auditors had suddenly changed their view on recognition of prepaid cards as revenue for the financial period based on sale and not usage. The auditors had given a clean report of their audit, and still went ahead to suggest a different revenue recognition policy. The issue with meeting time deadlines by the auditors also violated SECP regulations on timely presentation of financial reports (Ibrahim, 2006). Regulations governing the corporate sector stipulate that the auditors should be free of any conflict of interest to give an unbiased and very independent opinion (Ibrahim, 2006). The replacement of auditors under SECP directives mandates the commission to appoint new auditors, which is a way of enhancing

Yourself & your best qualities or leadership skills are Essay

Yourself & your best qualities or leadership skills are - Essay Example I realized that if I will work upon the ability of mine I could become a good leader. In this struggle to become an individual with good and strong leadership, I learned a lot. According to numerous others and me, the best qualities of mine are communication and emotional intelligence. Over the period with various experiences, I learnt that good communication is not just about presenting ideas in a better way but is also about good skills of listening and understanding other person point of view without any mental hindrance and pre-conceived blockage. Only an individual who is able to listen to others better will be able to make other listen to him because communication is a two-way street. Emotional intelligence helped me to understand the background, importance and value people assign to their beliefs and perception regarding any subject. This understanding helped me to communicate better by helping me to develop my communication content in a more correct manner so that it does not harm the initiative by being disregardful to the individual being communicated to. Besides these, the most important quality of a leader is his vision and strategy towards the goal and about its achievement procedure (What are Good Leadership Skills, 2007). It is necessary for a leader to have vision to see the long-term effects of the strategies in place and the future need for the organization. Only when a leader would be able to develop his strategies in regards of future benefits and goals he would be able to lead his team in a better way. This again is something, which I am learning with time and experience, and in this regard, experience is the best teacher. I firmly believe that realizing the importance of teamwork is an essential attribute of a good leader. This is because if a leader were not able to realize the importance and power of teamwork, then there would not be much difference in a leader and a dictator. A team of qualified

How Values Affect Decisions in Personal and Professional Life Essay Example for Free

How Values Affect Decisions in Personal and Professional Life Essay Abstract Many people have a set of core values, either personal, organizational, or cultural, that help guide his or her life, and that assist him or her in making decisions in their everyday existence. Most of my decisions are based on how they will affect my family, me, and my career. My family is the key factor in any decision I make. I have to consider what influence my choices will have on my family before I act on them. My success in my career choice of Information Systems is also an important value to me. I strive to improve my knowledge of information systems to the best of ability in order to further my career. This value has brought me to be results oriented, a hard worker, and a team player. Companies are now doing business with other companies in different countries. Organizations are now set up to where employees have to interact with different people to get the job done. If someone desires a long, prosperous career, they have to learn to work with diverse people of different cultures. Everyone has a set of core values that assist him or her in making decisions in their daily existence, and many people expect these values to lead them to live a wonderful life. Many people have a set of core values, either personal, organizational, or cultural, that help guide his or her life, and that assist him or her in making decisions in their everyday existence Values such as my family, friendships, and personal growth contribute to the choices that I make in my personal life. Values such as being results-oriented, a hard worker, a team player, and the desire to be successful guide me in making decisions in an organizational environment. I evaluate my core values before making any decisions that will influence them in anyway. According to author David Peters (2003): Personal ethics have been defined as principles of good behavior, a moral code of conduct, or a system to decide between competing options. But simply stated, personal ethics are nothing more than the rules impose on ourselves that govern our daily actions. (p. 30) For many people different factors and beliefs shape their values but, I believe that everyone shares one goal of living the best life possible not just physically but spiritually and mentally. Many of my decisions are based on how they will affect my family, me, and my career. My family is the key factor in any decision I make. I have to consider what influence my choices will have on my family before I follow through with them. For example, my returning to school keeps me from spending as much time as I would like with my loved ones. I thought about returning back to school long and hard and came to the conclusion that I need to return to school now before I have more children, my daughter gets to an age were I have to run her all over town for things that she wants to participate in, or any other life-changing event takes place. I came to the conclusion that I need to go now because it will only take between a year and half or two years to complete. By the time I am done with school, my daughter will be four and starting kindergarten, and that is a good time to also think about having another child. So I decided to go ahead and return to school and get my masters degree in information systems. If I know that a decision will drastically affect my family, I will go to them to get their input on the situation. My success in my career choice of Information Systems is also an important value to me. Roy Posner states, One of the interesting values in life is ones innate desire for continuous improvement. (Roy Posner 2006). I strive to improve my knowledge of information systems to the best of my ability in order to further my career. This value has brought me to be results oriented, a hard worker, and a team player. In the environment of information technology, everyone has to be team player because most of the positions require people to interact with each other. Whether the person is a systems analyst or a mail clerk, he or she will be part of a diverse group of people who have to work together effectively and efficiently to meet the goals of the organization as a whole. Culture is the key to peoples way of living, accepting changes and doing business is rapidly loosing geographical borders. (Kanungo, 2006, p. 23). Companies are now doing business with other companies in different countries. Organizations are now set up to where employees have to interact with different people to fulfill his or her job duties. If someone desires a long, prosperous career, they have to learn to work with diverse people of different cultures. At one time or another, everyone has had life experiences that help guide his or her decision making process. Nancy Haught (2006) states the following: For many people, from many different belief systems, their faith is the only factor that they see shaping their personal ethics. But most Americans would admit that other factors do play a part: parents or other relatives;? experiences such as a stint in the Peace Corps or a brush with the law. The factors that shape our ethics are varied, but it religion that often gets the credit, or the blame (p.C1) Many people have come to the realization that they dont have to have the world to live a good life. Although, someone may want a successful career, they shouldnt have to sacrifice other aspects of their life to obtain it. Other aspects of life are more fulfilling, such as a wonderful relationship with God, family, and friends. Many people have a set of core values that assist him or her in making decisions in their daily existence, and many people expect these values to lead them to live a wonderful life References Haught, N. (2006, March 11). Ethics values | definitions ethics, morals, values. The Oregonian, C1. Kanungo, R. P. (2006). Cross culture and business practice: are they coterminous or cross-verging? Cross Cultural Management, 13(1), 23. Peters, David. (2003) Your Personal Ethics ? is it time for a check up? National Jeweler, 97 (7), 30. Posner, Roy. (2006). The Power of Personal Values. Retrieved July 05, 2007 from http://www. gurusoftware. com/GuruNet/Personal/Topics/Values. htm.

Principles of Management in McDonalds

Principles of Management in McDonalds McDonalds is the largest and most well known global foodservice retailer, which was founded in 1955 by Ray Kroc; head quarter in Oak Brook, Illinois, US. McDonalds has more than 32.000 restaurants (19% operated by the Company and 81% of restaurants operated by franchised restaurants) in 117 countries, serving more than 60 millions people each day (McDonalds, 2009). Recently, many of Vietnamese people still think that fast food services are small business that are not worth to do business. After studying McDonalds, my point of views about fast food industry have been changed considerably. Serving fast foods only, McDonalds receives annually almost 23 billions USD, that is equal about 27% of GDP or 71% total revenues of all types of services of Vietnam on 2009 (Vietnam General Statistic Office, 2009) and McDonalds ranks 153 biggest companies in the world (Forber, 2010). This study aims to analyze management of the Company in the past few years and strategy in the next decade, which help us to understand the reasons that lead McDonalds to the success. 1. Core business 1.1. The main products and services The products of McDonalds are fast foods of wide range of choices, such as: hamburgers, chicken, french fries, soft drinks, coffee, milkshakes, salads, deserts and breakfast with varies of famous in the world brands (Big Mac, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Filet-O-Fish, Chicken McNuggets, Chicken Selects, Snack Wraps, McFlurry, McCafe) which meet requirement of customers of different ages. McDonalds fast foods have became necessary daily foods for the numbers of people not only in the US but in other countries also. Therefore, McDonalds brand name became so popular, that many investors in the world willing to deal with McDonalds to open restaurant under franchised agreement 1.2. Business generates the most revenue McDonalds revenues mainly come from its own restaurants and from restaurants operated by franchisees. In accordance with the McDonalds Corporation Annual Report 2007, 2008, 2009, revenues of the Company in 2007, 2008 and 2009 are 22.8 billions USD, 23.5 billions USD and 22.75 billions USD respectively. Most of Companys revenues come from the restaurants operated by the Company, which has percentage in 2007, 2008 and 2009 are 73%, 70% and 68% respectively; the rest of revenue are from franchised restaurants. Obviously, the percentage of revenue of Companys operated restaurants has been decreased while percentage of revenue of franchised restaurants increased (McDonalds, 2009). Source: McDonalds Corporation Annual Report 2009 1.3. Business generates the most profit In 2007, 2008 and 2009, consolidated net incomes of Company are 2,395, 4,313 and 4,551 millions respectively. In accordance with McDonalds Corporation annual Report 2009, the most profit of the McDonalds has been generated by franchised restaurants, which in 2007, 2008, 2009 holds about 64%, 65%, 66% of the total profit of the Company respectively. The second place of profit has been generated by restaurants operated by the Company (McDonalds, 2009). Franchised margins Franchised margin dollars represent revenues from franchised restaurants less Companys occupancy costs (rent and depreciation) associated with those sites. Franchised margin dollars increased $254 millions of 4% (7% in constant currencies) in 2009 and $695 millions or 14% (11% in constant currencies) in 2008. The franchising strategy contributed to grow in franchised margin dollars in 2009, 2008 and 2007 (McDonalds, 2009). Company-operated margins Company-operated margin represent sales by Company-operated restaurants less the operating costs of these restaurants. Company-operated margin dollars decreased $101 millions or 3% (increased 3% in constant currencies) in 2008. Company-operated margin dollars were negatively impacted by this transaction in 2008 and 2007 and by the enfranchising strategy in 2009 and 2008 (McDonalds, 2009). Source: McDonalds Corporation Annual Report 2009 1.4. Business will drive growth in the next decade In order to keep sustainable growth in the next decade, for the last few years, McDonalds has differentiated the brand and enhanced efficiency of investment in expansion of restaurants chain in the world, mainly in the type of franchised restaurants. In accordance with McDonalds annual Report 2009 and report of Jim Skinner (2009) To our valued shareholder: To state the obviuos, 2009 was a tumultuous year economically, these strategies will continue drive growth in the next decade. Regarding to the strategy of differentiation of products, due to criticism in the society to McDonalds fast foods as the cause to obesity, McDonalds has launched new lines of products, which contain low fat, low calories or more fruit and vegetable, healthy alternative for the customers, which have been in great success for the last few years with some famous brands, such as: Fremium Fiesta Salad, New mans Own Low Fat Balsamic Vinargrette These types of foods will be developed in the next decade. Regarding to efficiency of investment, McDonalds will concentrate into expansion of restaurants in the world, mainly in the type of franchised restaurant, which have many advantages compare with restaurants operated by Company type. 1.5. How successful would you say this company has been since 2007? Cumulative total shareholder returns from 2007 to 2009 has been increased, higher than average of that of SP 500 index and Dow Jones Industrials (McDonalds, 2009). Net income is increased. Source: McDonalds Corporation Annual Report 2009 At the result of implementation of strategy Plan to Win, income and dividends were increased during period from 2007 to 2009, while revenue has been decreased. The number of restaurants operated by the Company decreased from 6,906 in 2007 to 6,262 in 2009, while franchised restaurants is increased from 24,471 in 2007 to 26,216 in 2009 (McDonalds, 2009) 2. Corporate Responsibility In accordance with the commitment to social responsibility, McDonalds focuses primarily on animal welfare, education, environment, people, quality, safety and Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). Regarding to the animal welfare, McDonalds recognizes that its responsibility as purchaser of food products includes working with their suppliers to ensure good animal handling practices. Thus, it buys all its beef, fork and poultry products from suppliers who maintain the highest standards and share McDonalds commitment to animal welfare. Regarding to the education, McDonalds mould the future of the society and therefore, is committed to the education of the youths. Thus, they support school-age employees in their reaching of educational goals. Regarding to the people, McDonalds recognizes the importance of the employees, who is driving force to the Companys success. So, McDonalds is committed to creating an environment that value and respects their employees, recognizes and rewards their performance, as well as providing them with meaningful growth opportunities. Regarding to the quality and safety, McDonalds has set strictly enforcing high-quality and safety standards often exceeding those standards established by industry and governments, quality and safety are the most important items on McDonalds menu of success, because they give customer confidence to McDonalds. Regarding to the Ronald McDonalds House Charity (RMHC), McDonalds supports RMHC by providing free goods and services, covering 100 percent of management and general costs for RMHCs global office. Therein, RMHC works to improve the health and well-being of children by awarding grants to organizations and supporting 206 RMHC worldwide. Recently, McDonalds has many CSR initiatives; and these seem to focus mainly on the areas in which they ware accused. For example, on allegations of rainforest deforestation, McDonalds response was CSR initiatives in the field of environment. Where they were being accused of bad working conditions, they responded that McDonalds has been a leader in setting and strictly enforcing high-quality and safety standards often exceeding those standards established by industry and governments and contributing to this cause. Fortune Magazine has even ranked McDonalds as one of the most admired socially responsible company. 3. Crisis management McDonalds manages to overcome the crisis occurred for the last few years, such as: CSR case (McLibel trial) and economical crisis from 2008-2009. From the case McLibel In the middle of 1980s London Greenpeace began a campaign focusing on McDonalds as a high profile organization, symbolizing everything they considered wrong with prevailing corporate mentality. In 1986 London Greenpeace produced a 6-sided fact sheet called Whats wrong With McDonalds? Everything they dont want you to know, which accused McDonalds of exploiting children with advertising, promoting an unhealthy diet, exploiting their staff and being responsible for environmental damage and ill treatment of animals. In 1990, McDonalds served libel writs against the five activists who came up with the Whats wrong With McDonalds leaflet. Three of the five activists took the former suggestion, while Dave and Helen chose the former. On 28th June 1994, the McLibel trial began and the verdict was announced on 19th June 1997 in favour of McDonalds, which stated that Helen and Dave had not proved the allegations against McDonalds on rainforest deforestation, heart disease and cancer, food poison ing, starvation in the Third world and bad working conditions. However, they had proved that McDonalds exploited children with their advertising, falsely advise their food as nutritious, risk the health of their most popular, long term customers, are culpabably responsible for cruelty to animals, are strongly antipathetic to unions and pay their workers low wages. Justice Bell ruled that Helen and Dave had libelled McDonalds, but because they had proven many of allegation true, they would only pay half of the claimed damages, that was à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤60.000. However, both Dave and Helens litigation fee and the damages had to pay were donated by the public. Recently, McDonalds has many CSR initiatives; and these seem to focus mainly on the areas in which they ware accused, such as through animal welfare, education, environment, people, quality and safety and Ronald McDonalds House Charity (RMHC), McDonalds has tried to do a lot of good to the community. Economical crisis from 2008-2009 During economic crisis from 2008-2009, the prices on energy, foods and commodities were high, financial market was frozen, rate of GDP of almost countries were low, high rate of unemployment, many companies in fast-food industry suffered loses, such as income have been turned down. However, during this period, McDonalds took necessary measure to stabilize the business, on this, keep relationship with the suppliers to ensure the continuous supply of necessary ingredients for its foods at the reasonable price. Therefore, the prices on foods were stable, revenue was increased, income growled up. In fact, McDonalds net income in 2008 were 4,313 billions and was 4551 billions in 2009. 4. Strategy What markets has it forced on? Over the past few years, McDonalds has focused on the emerging markets, such as China and Russia, where the rate of growth has been highest in the world, even in the time of economic downturn during 2008-2009, the revenue of McDonalds in China increased almost 16% annually, while in the same period, in US and in Europe the rate of growth decreased. Till now, China is the fastest market of McDonalds, where McDonalds operates 1.100 restaurants and plans to increase the number of its restaurants in China to 2.000 by 2013. What are the core strengths? Brand name McDonalds with Golden Arches logo have became the symbol of retail of low cost fast foods among the people, therefore McDonalds products are the first choice of customers in the market of fast foods services. Process management have been established providing business activities efficiency helped secure the quality of products and reduce the cost, which can compete with other fast food companies. Managements staffs, employees of McDonalds are high qualified, quick respond to the changing of the market (products and service innovation, remodelling of restaurants, improvement of technology, management). McDonalds economy scale and bargaining power dominance provide advantages in supplying of raw material (at low costs), that contribute to reduce the price on products lower than competitors. Would you describe the company as innovative? McDonalds is a innovative company because of the following activities: + From 1973, McDonalds was the first company in the world to provide customers with nutrition about the products its offers. + In order to meet requirement of customers to avoid obesity, McDonalds created new line of low fat products, in this Salad is one of the successful low fat bands. + In recent years, McDonalds has turned to new line of products, which are innovative and trendy, such as: coffee and beverage products with brand names McGriddle, Snack Wrap, premium coffee (take market share from Starbucks), Strawberry-banana and Wild berry (take market share from the fruity beverage sector). 5. Vision, Goals and how does it motivate its employees? 5.1. McDonalds mission statement In every stage of development of the Company, the mission of the Company has been changed to meet new goal and adapt trend of the market, and at present, McDonalds brand mission is to be our customers favourite place and way to eat. To implement the mission, Company has reinvented global strategy which called the Plan to Win, which identifies five core drivers that are: people, products, place, price and promotion. 5.2. What are its goals? As stated Jim Skimmer, Vice Chairman and CEO in annual report in 2009, the goals of the Company are improving the overall experience for customers of the Company. In accordance with report of Andy McKenna, Chairman in annual report in 2009, the goal of the Company are elevation of industry leadership of the Company, enhancing long term profitable growth, providing relevant offerings and supporting balanced lifestyles all contribute to the Companys continued success. 5.3. How does it motivate its employees? McDonalds recognizes the importance of the employees, who is driving force to the Companys success. Therefore, McDonalds has taken necessary measures, such as: create good conditions for working, living, studying and promotion. For example, September 2006, McDonalds Europe introduced the McPassport program, designed to help employees move and work in other McDonalds restaurants across Europe with relative ease. McDonalds Singapores vision, Every crew member can be a manager. McDonalds offers a unique training opportunity through the McDonalds University Accredited Programme. McDonalds builds a caring, warm community for employees, offers a variety of programs that franchised and company-operated restaurant employees can participate in to grow and develop, both personally and professionally. Healthcare options for McDonalds restaurant employees. 6. Would you like to work for this company and why? Studying McDonalds I would like to work for McDonalds for the following reasons: McDonalds is a qualified company managed by intellectual management teams, which has continuous developed with high rate and high profits. Therefore, McDonalds will secure the job for the long term. McDonalds encourages people to work creative. McDonalds provides good working conditions, social benefits, having a chance to education and of promotion.   The company follow CSR initiatives. 7. Summary McDonalds, with limited of fast-food menu, has served 60 million in almost 120 countries in the world every day and became the biggest company in the food industry and a one of 200 biggest companies in the world. The success of the McDonalds has shown the sample of efficiency management of MacDonalds Board of Management and Directory, which are: strategy in motivation of people, innovation of product, CSR initiatives, creation in management. Although in its history of foundation and development, there were difficulties, but McDonalds has overcame and adjusted these in time contributed in its development. At present, McDonalds still faces many difficulties, such as there are different campaign against McDonalds in advertising towards to children, or accuse its products effect obesity, but I think McDonalds will take necessary measures to overcame this difficulties.

Entertainment And News Essay -- essays research papers

Entertainment and News   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  News coverage, whether by television, radio, the internet, or newspaper must be selective, selective not simply in which stories it reports but in how it presents them as well. The media is incapable of providing a rundown of everything that has transpired in a day. Therefore, editors, reporters, etc… decide what will go into the reports. Equally important, reporters are still human beings who, in spite their good intentions, occasionally succumb to anger, jealousy, anxiety, impatience and other emotions that could cloud their objectivity. They belong to large, complex organizations that have their own diverse, often conflicting, goals and needs. So, to report a story “like it is'; can become difficult because of individual agendas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Entertainment is to hold the attention of with something amusing or diverting. News is information about recent events. In recent history, news has become a commodity. Therefore, news must sell. News organization use entertainment as a basis for getting the viewer to watch their news program. Manheim claims “that the media is not as diverse as it claims to be. He states, though for competitive purposes they might have us believe otherwise, most American news organizations have a great deal in common with one another…they define news itself in essentially the same terms (Manheim, 1991). Manheim argues that the media entertai...

Thinking About Stupidity In Our Scholars :: essays research papers

The stupidity in our scholars, like stupidity and arrogance everywhere, follows a model. The model presented here was developed by Anticommerical University Professor William Mason. It applies in general to stupidity at any level of intensity. It has 5 stages.1. Mimetic ArroganceOne party identifies themselves as an authority on a subject and other parties imitate that arrogance. Examples of things scholars and professors are arrogant about: science, literature, art, sociology, psychology, philosophy. Whatever the culture tells us is a difficult subject, that's what scholars decide is worth being arrogant about.2. Mimetic Use of the Word MimeticNow the parties begin competing for the object of arrogance: jargon. Whatever big, fancy words emerge, others copy them. Since they all use the same words in different ways, any hope of finding concrete definitions of them vanishes. To win, you only need to get more exclusivity of words such as 'exclusivity.' If the word becomes ubiquitous, then you make up even more complex words that have simple meanings, such as 'ubiquitous.' If this doesn't work, then you must resort to using neojargon or pseudojargon or neopseudojargon or neopseudoneojargon. Examples of these forms of jargon are the prefixes 'neo' and 'pseudo.'3. GraikosGraikos is a Greek word that means "Greek." It's the root of much stupidity found in scholarly discursions. In the rivalry for respect, if one side finds an inferior usage of jargon, they are caught in the temptation of Graikos and feel compelled to retaliate by literally speaking a whole new language. Thus begins a "jargon" war, fought on the battlefield of the dictionary. Graikos is what makes it so hard to read their professional journals, so hard to feel like you have any grasp whatsoever on vocabulary. It's so easy to feel intellectually inferior to such unjustified usage of language. The gap between scholar and layman escalates.4. IntimidationEventually one side crosses some arbitrary threshold of concern where the supervising authorities feel compelled to intervene. It's essentially random which side is considered the "supervising authority" since they both consider the other as worthless scum, but often it's the faction with more college degrees, which uses more venomous attacks to maintain parity. Whichever side is considered the "supervising authority" becomes the intimidator of the layman and the others who kept their ego below threshold are victims, doomed to low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness.5. Authorized, Sanctioned and Sacred StupidityTo appease the scholars, the authorities determine guilt and visit sanctions and punishment on the intimidated.

Gender Roles Seen in Toys

Gender Roles and Toys By Shawna Robb English 101 Professor Solomon One room has pretty pink wallpaper with a princess border; the other is blue with monster trucks on one-wall and sports pictures on another. It is not hard to tell which room is female and which room is male. Male and female are used in this instance to define genders. Gender, unlike sex, is a universal guideline upon which individuals are placed. Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behavior, and activities that a particular society considers appropriate for men and women. When the pressure of gender stereotypes is open to debate some say there are prenatal influences that are gender based. What is obvious is that gender plays a significant role when it comes to the toys people select for their children and the way that toy companies market them. â€Å"Toys-R-Us† is a United States based toy company who has been taken to task for marketing designs that reflect or promote gender specific toys. It is wrong that toy stores, like â€Å"Toy’s-R-Us†, clearly divides the toys by gender in stores and in toy advertisements because it teaches children how they are supposed to be in order to be accepted by society, promotes aggressive behavior for males and a passive attitude for females. Stereotypical boy toys are things like action figures and toy cars. These are both active and aggressive, which is â€Å"masculine† representing how men are supposed to be in society. Girl’s toys are often dolls, dress up, and toys that mimic household duties. That is stereotypical because its saying girls are passive, not active. It is setting standards that girls belong in the home for their future while boys get doctor kits or chemistry sets that give them higher goals. Introducing children to these gender role ideas this early is shaping them for the rest of their lives. The world’s leading fast food franchise has an interest in the gender of its young customers. At McDonalds a very popular child’s meal is the happy meal. When a Happy Meal is ordered the worker always asks if the child is a boy or a girl. This lets the worker know what type of toy to put in with the meal. The McDonalds worker could ask if the customer wants a hot wheels or a mini Barbie but instead they learn the gender of the customer and stereotypically provide the toy. Toy stores separate their store by toys for girls and toys for boys. The girl isle has stereotypical girl colors like pink, purple, and yellow. All of these colors are light when the boy’s section has colors like red, blue’s, black, brown and green. All of the boy’s colors are darker and less â€Å"pretty†. Just from that quick look down the isle one can notice which is for girls versus boys. The dark colors are less southing and action oriented. The girl colors, are lighter making them much more calm and subdued. This same pattern can be seen in advertisements on television. Female directed commercials are light colors, with softer music usually having lyrics that explain the toy and giving passive examples for what can be done with the toy. Boy’s commercials however have the message that they are going to go out and do something active with the toy. The music for masculine toys is generally uplifting and motivating, which makes a boy excited to play with the toy. Commercials cannot be avoided and they reach almost all boys and girls on a day-to-day basis. One interesting area in looking at the influences of toys and gender is the advertising of toys relative to levels of aggression. The television airwaves are filled with toy advertising. Is there a relationship between this advertising and levels of violence, does this relationship show a gender bias? For example a parent might wonder if the purchase of â€Å"boy oriented† toys for their child might increase the child’s risk for becoming violent. The parent might also wonder if merely watching the advertisements themselves increase children’s risk for becoming violent. In 2001 Kilinger, Hamilton and Cantrell offered the observation that the use of commercials to sell children’s toy products could have a socialization impact on children similar to that of television programming. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory says, â€Å"human behavior is transmitted, whether deliberately or inadvertently, largely through exposure to social models†(Bandura 1). When a child thinks that a behavior will be punished versus rewarded but instead is not even acknowledged they will perceive it as a reward. Children usually continue rewarded behavior to receive more praise. Television is seen as a â€Å"super tutor† to Bandura, the child will model what they see on television, not knowing if it is good or bad. For those children whose parents are not good role models, the television becomes the behavioral role model. If violence and aggression is viewed on the television, it is more likely that children will engage in violent and aggressive behavior. While television can model appropriate behavior, there is a well-documented tendency for violence and aggression. Advertisements are difficult to avoid since they are interwoven in shows and they tend to emphasize violent and aggressive behavior (Kilinger 13). In the study by Kilinger, Hamilton and Cantrell they observed â€Å"children’s perceptions of aggressive content, stereotypic sex-role behavior, and appropriateness of television toy commercials†(Kilinger, 11). The results of the study support the notion that there is a gender bias in terms of aggressive content and consequently aggression potential. The results did show that toys and the advertisements for them aimed toward boys were more aggressive than that of the toys that are gender neutral or aimed toward girls. The commercials shown were clearly sex role stereotyped. This is consistent with other research that has supported the idea that boys are more socialized toward aggression. Boys may be more desensitized to aggression as a result of gender stereotyped toy commercials as well as their toy selections in the past. Again, this is a reason for concern since commercials are unavoidable while watching television. While the promotion of aggression is certainly an adequate reason to exercise great care when it comes to toy and gender, it is not the only reason. Parents do support gender bias toys from the time the child is born. More often than not, a boy will receive toys that are focused towards boys and girls will receive stereotypical girl toys. The children do not go out and buy this themselves; their parents will pick out their toys until the child is already taught what they should like. Parent’s will find out they are having a boy or a girl then base everything around that detail, like the room color example, children and baby clothes are also gender biased as well as their toys. When the girl is playing with girl toys she will be rewarded for the â€Å"right† interests, as would a boy playing with a boy toy. They will then continue this behavior to get their parent’s approval. If a father see’s their son playing with a Barbie doll or asking to be a princess, their father might redirect them saying those are girl things urging them to play with a male biased toy. One thing Social Learning Theory has assumed is that reinforcement and punishment is the means by which parents socialize children. The study named â€Å"Parental Socialization of Young Children’s Play†, done by Eisenberg, Wolchik, Hernandez and Pasternack, observed the parent’s involvement with enforcing gender stereotypes. This study found that parents do reward their children for same-sex toy play. It is not only the toy companies that enforce gender roles in toys; the people raising the child are also responsible for teaching stereotypical thinking. The idea that cross-sexed interests are wrong does come from society and children start learning this from the time they are born. (Eisenberg, Wolchik, Hernandez and Pasternack 1506). A thirteen-year-old Swedish boy, Hannes Psajd, spoke out about the gender focused toys in â€Å"Toys-R-Us†. Hannes said that the 2008 â€Å"Toys-R-Us† Christmas Catalog showed boys playing with different toys than girls do. The boy said that he and his sister always play with the same toys and there is nothing wrong with that. Psajd said that it sends the wrong message to girls, since they are playing with only passive toys. Hannes stated â€Å"boys want to be princesses sometimes†(Landes 1), demonstrating that this store does not only discriminate against girls. When the claim was looked into by a regulatory committee they stated that, â€Å"Toys-R-Us discriminates based on gender and counteracts positive social behavior, lifestyles, and attitudes†(1). This shows that children do recognize this problem if it is brought to their attention. The problem of toys defining gender roles does not completely rest  rest with â€Å"Toys-R-Us† but is a societal problem. Society has created the gender roles we now have and these roles are often strict. While it will take time to make fundamental changes in gender bias a starting point could be the creation of more gender-neutral toys. These toys would have to find their way into homes and that could be a function of the advertising that is currently part of the problem. Parents need to be educated to nurture more flexible gender roles and allow children to explore their interests, even if this interest violates stereotypical norms. Boys and girls should have equal opportunity to play with a doll or a monster truck. Children are taught gender roles from the time they are born, toys are one way that this is taught to them. In a toy store like â€Å"Toys-R-Us†, it is clear to see which isle is for boys and which one is for girls. The colors and stereotypical gender bias toys show the clear division in the store between feminine versus masculine toys. Television advertisements depict females as being passive while they promote aggressive behavior for males, this can lead to boys acting violently in the future. Parents sometimes scold children who play with cross-sex toys, which will teach the child not to repeat this behavior. Gender roles teach a child what they are supposed to be, feminine or masculine, and toys to play a part in enforcing these gender stereotypes. Works Cited Bandura, Albert. â€Å"Psychological Modeling: Conflicting Theories†. Chicago: Aldine Atherton, 1971. Print. Eisenberg, Nancy, Walchik, Sharlene A. Hernandez, Robert, Pasternack, Jeannette F. â€Å"Parental Socialization of Young Children's Play: A Short-Term Longitudinal Study. † Child Development 56. 6 (1985): 1506-13. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. Klinger, Lori J. , James A. Hamilton, Cantrell, Peggy J. â€Å"Children's Perceptions of Aggressive and Gender-Specific Content in Toy Commercials. † Social Behavior and Personality 29. 1 (2001): 11-20. PsycINFO. EBSCO. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. Landes, David. â€Å"Toys‘R’Us Scolded for Gender Discrimination. † The Local: Sweden’s News in English. 6 October 2009. Print.