The Survey of Factors Influencing Kolej Asa Students

The survey of factors influencing Kolej Asa students in choosing Diploma in AccountancyCourse as their major 1 CHAPTER 1 1. 0 INTRODUCTION The introduction of this study, will discuss the background of the survey of factors influencingKolej Asa students in choosing Diploma in Accountancy Course as their major. The significant and objectives of the project, the limitation encountered during the investigation of this project. 1. 1 OVERVIEW OF STUDYAccountancy  is the process of communicating financial information about a  business entity  to users such as  shareholders  and  managers . The communication  is generally in the form of  financial statements  that show in money terms the  economic resources  under the control of management; the art lies in selecting the information that is relevant to the user and is reliable. The  principles  of accountancy are applied to business entities in three divisions of practical art, named accounting,  bookkeeping, andà ‚  auditing.The  American Institute of Certified Public Accountants  (AICPA) defines accountancy as â€Å"the art of recording, classifying, and summarizing in a significant manner and in terms of money, transactions and events which are, in part at least, of financial character, and interpreting the results thereof. † 2 Accounting is thousands of years old; the earliest accounting records, which date back more than 7,000 years, were found in  Mesopotamia  (Assyrians). The people of that time relied on primitive accounting methods to record the growth of crops and herds. Accounting evolved, improving over the years and advancing as business advanced.Early accounts served mainly to assist the memory of the  businessperson  and the audience for the account was the  proprietor  or record keeper alone. Cruder forms of accounting were inadequate for the problems created by a business entity involving multiple  investors, so  double-entry bookkeeping  first em erged in northern Italy in the 14th century, where trading ventures began to require more  capital  than a single individual was able to invest. The development of  joint stock companies  created wider audiences for accounts, as investors without firsthand knowledge of their  operations  relied on accounts to provide the requisite information.This development resulted in a split of accounting systems for internal (i. e. management accounting) and external (i. e. financial) purposes, and subsequently also in accounting and disclosure regulations and a growing need for independent attestation of external accounts by  auditors. 3 Today, accounting is called â€Å"the language of business† because it is the vehicle for reporting financial information about a business entity to many different groups of people. Accounting more concentrates on reporting to people inside the business entity is called  management accounting.It used to provide information to employees, managers,  owner-managers  and  auditors. Management accounting is concerned primarily with providing a basis for making management or operating decisions. Accounting that provides information to people outside the business entity is called  financial accounting  and provides information to present and potential shareholders,  creditors  such as  banks  or vendors,  financial analysts,  economists, and  government agencies. Because these users have different needs, the presentation of financial accounts is very structured and subject to many more rules than management accounting.The body of rules that governs financial accounting in a given jurisdiction is called  Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP. 4 1. 2 BACKGROUND OF STUDY Accounting is a significant subject in the middle of students. Essentially accounting process involves record keeping—recording, classifying, reporting and interpreting economic events. However accountingat the mo ment is somuch more. Currently, the accountant is an even more precious member of the corporate strategic team with involvement in the corporation’s planning, evaluating and forecasting of the future.According to Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib b TunRazak (Speech on The Occasion of the ICAEW Malaysia Achievers’ Ball, 2004) by the year 2020 in line to achieved residential country status it has been predictable that Malaysia needs 60,000 accountants. The figure now stands at 21,000. All the way through Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW’s) hard work, and together with the Malaysian accountancy bodies, can show to students the charisma of an accounting profession and lend a hand to correct any misconceptions on the career. For the Diploma Accountancy course in Kolej Asa, students are being exposed to the importance of current situation of our country. Students require to completing 7semester in order to gain their D iploma in Accountancy. Understanding students’ perceptions of accounting is a very significant first step in the effort to attract the best to the accounting profession. This paper aims to study the factors such as personal factors, reference group and job related factors that may possiblymanipulate Kolej Asa students in choosing accounting course as their foremost. 1. PROBLEM STATEMENT Even though there are many opportunities created in the accounting profession, there are also many challenges the accounting profession has to contend with (Mladenovic, 2000; Parker, 2001). In today’s world accounting profession is facing one challenge that is rehabilitating the public perception of the accounting profession itself, especially in the aftermath of the many high-profile scandals in the United States involving corporate giants such as Enron, WorldCom and others. 6 Choosing a course to study after â€Å"Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia† (SPM) is not easy.On the one hand, it can be quite confusing due to the plethora of courses and institutions available to the student to choose from. On the other hand there are many pitfalls that a student should avoid in order to make the right choice (Loke, 2008). Several programs and marketing material are design by The American Institute of Certified PublicAccountants (AICPA) and some state societies to attract students to accounting. According to AICPA research conducted in 2002, the number of graduates of accounting programs, undergraduate and graduate, declined by 21. 3%, from 59,140 in 1990/1991 to 46,555 in 2000/2001.In Canada, the UK and the US the decline in quantity and or quality of students majoring in accounting and entering the profession has been an issue of concern for several decades, (Adams et al. , 1994; Stice and Swain, 1997). Recent evidence from The USA, the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada indicates that professional accountancy practice is becoming less attractive to accounting graduates and trainees from universities and colleges, and that professional accountancy firms are concerned about losing bright accounting candidates to other professions (Ahmed et al. 1997; Albrecht and Sack, 2000; Felton et al. , 1994; Marriot and Marriot, 2003). 7 This research intends to find the relationship regarding the factors that influence student’s choice in accounting course. According to Carolyn, Susan and Brian (2005) understanding students’ perceptions of accounting is an important first step in the effort to attract the best to the accounting profession. Many studies have been done at universities on the universities level for example research by Cohen and Hanon (1993), Ahmed et al. (1994) and Saeman et al. (1999). 1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS Based on the previous discussion, research question is to help out the researcher to respond and clarify the problem statement. The research questions are: i. Is there any significant relationship between â€Å"personal factorsà ¢â‚¬  and student’s choice of accounting course? ii. Is there any significant relationship between â€Å"reference group† and students choice of accounting course? iii. Is there any significant relationship between â€Å"job related factors† and students choice of accounting course? 8 1. 5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The objectives of this research are: i.To investigate the relationship between personal factors and the choice of the Kolej Asa students’ in accounting course. ii. To investigate the relationship between reference group and the choice of the Kolej Asa students’ in accounting course. iii. To investigate the relationship between jobs related factors and the choice of the Kolej Asa students’ in accounting course. 9 1. 6 SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY Accounting profession is becoming less attractive to accounting graduates and trainees from universities and colleges, and that professional accountancy firms are concerned about losing bright acco unting candidates to other professions.The misinformation about accounting effects students’ decisions in choosing accounting as a potential career or major. However, when students are exposed to more information about accounting, there is a significant increase in their interest in accounting (Saudagaran, 1996). The AICPA and some state societies have introduced several programs and marketing materials designed to attract students to accounting. Employers and universities also have a stake in attracting students to accounting careers (Hardin al. , 2000).Recruiting efforts should begin early and should emphasize the challenging nature of accounting work and provide specific information about starting salaries. Rather than avoiding discussion of the recent accounting scandals e. g. Enron, recruiters should considering using them as an illustration of the critical role accounting plays in our capital markets. 10 1. 6. 1 STUDENTS A good starting place is to listen to high school students’ perceptions of theaccounting profession. In Malaysia, students have to make a decision in choosing a course to study afterSPM.Business studies has become one of the main courses offered in many tertiaryinstitutions be it public or private universities or colleges. Students choosing a businesscourse will have to major in one the fields such as accountancy, finance, marketing,human resources or business administration. While there has been increasing effortsamong the universities and colleges in offering the courses that matches the students’qualifications and needs, very little research has been conducted on the factors thatactually influences the students’ choice. 1. 6. KOLEJ ASA This research will subsequently help those producers to know more about the opinion of accounting students on influences on accounting course provided in Kolej Asa. 11 1. 6. 3 FUTURE RESEARCHER This research will also benefit future researcher sources of in information if the y are in fasted to do the topic related with this study. They also can extend to the other factors that studied in this research. 1. 7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1. 7. 1 SUBJECT This research is focus on the student’s influences factors on accountancy course in Kolej Asa. 1. 7. LOCATION Kolej Asa in Rawang town has been chosen. The reason of choosing is, Rawang town area has more students compare to rural area. 12 1. 7. 3 RESPONDENTS The student consists of accountancy course provided in Kolej Asa. The specific chosen sample for this survey is in Kolej Asa. In this survey there are 50 students from accountancy course were being chosen. This research is essentiallyfocused on students who study accountancy course. 1. 8 LIMITATION I do aware that my research is not possible to accomplish due availability of current resource.Besides that, shortage of time is the main constraint to me. In addition to that, the information that I obtain from secondary data might not be accurate. The subjec t area of my research is student’s satisfaction. Therefore, customer perception will not be included. As this research is conducted at Kolej Asa in Rawang, the result will not reflect the view of student in other state within Malaysia. Alongside, the college authorities are not co-operate enough, disallowed survey on their student. 13 1. 8. 1 TIMEIn my research, I realize that shortage of time is the main constraints to me due to the reason that we just provide 4 months to conduct the survey. With the given 4 month of time, it is actually very limited amount of time for me to collect data and report analysis. Therefore, due tom the reason above with lacking of time, I had to settle this research for non-random sample of population. 1. 8. 2 COST By conducting this survey, we realize that the semester holiday of Kolej Asa will be factor that will be the factor that will affect this research.From this, we know that semester holiday of Kolej Asa is different from other College. T herefore, it is very hard to estimate the holiday of Kolej Asa and due to this research, I have to waste some cost in order to prepare my research as well as some expenses in order to do the questionnaire papers to conduct my survey. 14 1. 8. 3 RESPONDENT The respondents are the student study in Kolej Asa at Rawang. Therefore, this research is conducted student at Kolej Asa; Rawang town such as other colleges will not be the respondent of the research. 1. CONCLUSION The chapter 1 is the introduction to the reader on the topic of my research. It started out with a general introduction about the intended study before deductively moving towards narrowing down the research scope. I have given a brief introduction about accounting and the factors influencing them. Besides that, I had identified the subject area of my study: student’s preferences towards in accounting course. Further, problem faced by the accounting course have been clearly stated and identified in the problem stat ement section.I had list out 3 research question related to this research and subsequently the research objective to the research question. Significant of the study have been clearly mention in this chapter in which this research will benefit the students, Kolej Asa and future researchers. This study will be specifying on the students influencing in accountingcourse. 15 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEWAPTER 2 2. 1 Introduction This chapter reviews factors that are significant to student’s choice in accounting majoring.Using quite a few present literatures, we will talk about factors such as individual personal factors, reference group, job related factors and institutional factors that manipulate students in choosing accounting course as their foremost. There were researches done in United States of America and Australia in identifying factors influencing student’s choice of business major. Some of this research examined the subjective factors including social, cultural, so ciological, psychological and personal factors, some looked at the objective factors and many others took into consideration both categories.The dramatic decrease in both accounting graduates and enrollments prompted the AICPA to undertake a comprehensive survey of the factors causing the downturn in accounting majors. The AICPA engaged the Taylor Consulting and Research Group toconduct the survey and the report of the study can be found on the AICPA web site (AICPA, 2001, http://accounting. rutgers. edu/raw/aaa/aapg/spr01/spr01-6. htm). 16 The findings reveal that the accounting profession is facing several critical challenges, including the awareness and understanding by students about accounting careers as well as negative perceptions of the profession.High school educators have a relatively low opinion of accounting as a career option for high school students (Hardin et al, 2000). Hardin et al. identified three major hurdles in changing high school teachers’ and studentsà ¢â‚¬â„¢ perceptions of the accounting profession. First, it is difficult to get the message that accounting is a challenging and rewarding career to the teachers who interact with the best and brightest students. Second, when accounting is offered in high schools, it is offered as part of a vocational track.Third, many students say that their counselors had discouraged them from taking high school accounting because it was not for college-bound students. Students who attend high schools that offer accounting courses and even students who take accounting in high school are no more likely to take a college accounting class than those who attend high schools that do not teach accounting. It appears that having a high school accounting class does not encourage students to study accounting in college. 17 Accounting education has been the subject of considerable debate since 1980s.Prior research documents that introductory accounting students study accounting with negative perception on a ccounting. Accounting is attractive to the students in terms of professional, but â€Å"negative views regarding the nature and role of accounting persist† (Fisher and Murphy, 1995, p56). Similar findings have been documented by other researchers. The accounting majors also because of less attractive in accounting education. According to Albrecht and Sach (2001), most introductory accounting classes often focus on the preparation of financial data rather than on its use.In that case Students are not exposing to the business operation financially and they feel that accounting course are too hard and need more time to study. Nowadays preparation and dissemination will be faster, easy and not an expensive process due to advance in technology. In Malaysia, business studies has become one of the main courses offered in many tertiary institutions be it public or private universities or colleges. Students choosing a business course will have choose to major in one the fields such as accountancy, finance, marketing, human resources or business administration.While there has been increasing efforts among the universities and colleges in offering the courses that matches the students’ qualifications and needs, very little research has been conducted on the factors that actually influences the students’ choice of major. 18 Research in other countries such as United States of America, United Kingdom and Australia have established that students’ choice of major appear to be influenced by several factors ranging from personal to job related factors.Gender, race, their quantitative skills, students’ interest in the subject, expected marketability, performance in major classes, the approachability and teaching reputation of the faculty are among the factors that have some influence on the students’ choice. 2. 2 Factors influencing students’ choice 2. 2. 1 Reference Group Students’ norms, attitudes, and values through dir ect interaction are providing by reference group including family and non-family groups. Previous studies confirmed that reference groups either family or non-family groups who have significant amount of interaction could influence student’s choice of major.Other studies have found that students’ decision to major is influence by referents. Study confirmed that parents do influence students’ choice of business major except for those who chose accountancy as their major. Parents, followed by instructors had a strong influence on students’ choice of majors. 19 Parent’s occupations are also influence students’ choice of business major. Research has showed that the instructors including high school teachers and college lecturers play a significant role in influencing a student’s final choice of business major.This study aims to explore if Malaysian students with a different cultural background are influence by either parents or educators in choosing their business major. 2. 2. 2 Personal factors An important selection factor is the genuine interest in the subject. Many research revealed that one of the significant factors identified that influences their choice of major are student’s interest in the subject found that factors such as interest in the subject, ability to do the major is important for the students in making such choice. Other factor such as quantitative skills and intellectually challenging also influences student’s choice.When students considered that accounting is interesting and enjoyable they are more likely to choose accounting as a major. This finding was further supported by results of where intrinsic rewards such as enjoyment of the study of the topics studied in accounting, were a predictor of intention to undertake a career in accounting. 20 Other research findings indicated that students with better quantitative skills tended to choose either accountancy or finance as business major whereas those who chose to major in marketing, management and management information system were those with weaker quantitative skills.This is consistent with the finding of who suggest that accounting requires good number skills. 2. 2. 3 Job related factors A number of studies have indicated that in accounting students’ discipline choice, a job satisfaction is important. Many research indicated that student’s choice of business major are influenced by higher earnings, prestige and career advancement discover students who chose other business major were more influenced by personal and normative factors and students who choose accounting as their major feel that compensation, career opportunities and prestige were significant factors that influence them.The findings from many other studies also support the result that student’s choice of business major are influenced by higher earnings, prestige and career advancement. This means that accounting studentsâ⠂¬â„¢ discipline choice has traditionally been heavily influenced by earnings potential and job market conditions or opportunities. 21 There should be a general awareness among students on the career opportunities available in Malaysia and overseas and level of compensation for accountants as it has been widely published in the local newspapers.With the amount of news publicity given to a particular profession, it is interesting to find out if these job-related factors are the key factors influencing student in choosing accountancy as a major in Kolej Asa. 2. 3 Summary Based on the literature discuss above, this paper investigates if the personal factors, reference group and job related factors have significant influence to the KOLEJ ASA students in choosing accounting course as their major. 22 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3. 1 IntroductionThe purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influencing Kolej Asa students in choosing Diploma Accounting course as their major. Survey based methodology was used in this research to obtain data from the respondents namely first semester Diploma Accountancy students from KOLEJ ASA. It was a basic question regarding their choice of choosing Diploma Accountancy course in KOLEJ ASA. The questionnaire was developed to study the factors that influence students in choosing Diploma Accountancy course as their major. The data for this study was collected through a self-administered questionnaire.In the survey, respondents were asked to indicate the influence of four different factors on their selection of Diploma Accountancy. The set of four possible influences on decision to choose Diploma Accountancy course were determined from internal and external factors. 23 3. 2 Research Theoretical Framework ? The research theoretical framework is presented in the figure 1 below: Figure 1 – Research Theoretical Framework |Personal Factors | |Reference Group | | | STUDENT’S CHOICE | |Job Related Factors | †¢ In th is framework the dependent variable is a students’ choice while the independent variables are personal factors, reference group and job related factors. 24 3. 3 Hypotheses Development Paolillo and Estes (1982), Zhang (2006), Malgawi et al. (2005) and Pimpa, (2007) studied on the factors which influence the choice of course. From these previous researcheshypotheses were developed in finding the relationship of the three factors influencing students in choosing accounting course as a major. 3. . 1 Personal factors Personal factors such as interest in the subject, ability to do the major quantitative skills and intellectually challenging and not boring were examined. Many research revealed that student’s interest in the subject is one of the significant factors identified that influences their choice of major. Research findings indicated that students with better quantitative skills tended to choose either accountancy or finance as business major whereas those who chose t o major in marketing, management and management information system were those with weaker quantitative skills.Many research revealed that student’s interest in the subject is one of the significant factors identified that influences their choice of major. It was conclude that personal factors have a relationship with student’s choice. 25 Based on these previous researches, it can be suggested that personal factors has a relationship with student’s choice in choosing accounting course. Therefore, for the purpose of the current research, the hypotheses built will be: | |H1 – There is a significant relationship between personal factors and students’ choice on their major. | 3. 3. 2 REFERENCE group There was a positive relationship between reference group and the choice of student which indicates that parents, high school teachers and college lecturers play significant role in influencing student’s choice. Other than that, parent’s occup ation could also influence student choice on accounting course as a major.Therefore, the hypothesis built for this paper is: | | |H2- There is a significant relationship between reference group and students’ choice in accounting course. | 26 3. 3. 3 Job related factors The Albrecht and Sach (2001) study asked participants to identify the â€Å"most important reason† students choose to major in accounting. A study conducted by Doran also found that the â€Å"most important action† that would attract more high-quality students to the accounting profession would be to â€Å"pay higher starting salaries† (Doran, 2001). | |H3 – There is a significant relationship between job related factors and students’ choice in accounting course. | Zhang (2006), found that job-related factors including potential job opportunities and compensation are two keyfactorsthat influence the student’s choice. The research by Giladi, Amoo and Friedman (2002) foun d that higher earnings, prestige and career advancement influence the choice of student. From the previous researches, it was found that job related factors do have significant effect on student’s choice. Therefore, the hypothesis build for this paper is: 7 3. 4 Variables Definition 3. 4. 1 Personal factors ? Including interest in the subject, ability to do the work, workload and challenge. 3. 4. 2 Reference group ? Including parents, relatives, friends, school teacher and counselor. 3. 4. 3 Job related factors ? Including job opportunities, higher earnings, career advancement and prestige. 28228 3. 5 Operational Definition 3. 5. 1 Personal factors ? The degree to which the students believes that the interest in the subject, ability to do the workload and challenge can influence them in choosing accountancy course. . 5. 2 Reference group ? The degree to which the students believes that parents, relatives, friends, school teacher and counselor can help them in making decisions . 3. 5. 3 Job related factors ? The degree to which the students believe that job opportunities, higher earnings, career advancement and prestige can influence them in choosing accountancy course. 29 3. 6 Sampling and Data Collection The population or the unit of analysis for this research will be the first and second semester of Diploma Accountancy Students in KOLEJ ASA.At Kolej Asa there are 5accounting classes and total of the students are 100. From the total population, the researcher tried to achieved 100% response rate, however, due to certain limitation, response rate that were obtained was only 50 students. A set of questionnaire were given to the class representative and he was responsible to distribute the questionnaires to the respondents and to collect the questionnaire after being filled by the respondents. The respondents were given 15 minutes to answer the questionnaire and returned it to the class representative.The next day, researchers collect the questionnaire fro m the class representative from each class. 30 3. 7 Instrumentation and measurement of variables The questionnaire was divided into two parts. Part 1 of the questionnaire solicited demographic information such as gender, race and basic qualification. In Part 2 of the questionnaire was further divided into section A, B and C. Section A contains 10 questions on respondents’ personal factors that would influence them in choosing accounting course using a five point Likert scale (1= strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree).Section B contains 9 questions on respondents’ referent group view of their choice and the degree of importance they placed on the referents’ view. Using a five point Likert scale (1= strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree), respondents were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with the statement that their parents/relatives/friends/counselor think that they should choose accounting course. Section C is set out to ascertain the job r elated factors that would influence them in choosing accounting course.Respondents were asked to indicate the extent of their agreement on a Likert scale of 1 to 5 (1= strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree). In this section there were 9 questions to be answered. The questionnaire used was adapted from Tracy (2003) and Marriot (2003), however, certain alteration has been made to suit the condition of this research. Refer Appendix B. 31 3. 8 Validity and reliability of measurement In determining the validity of the measurement used, pretest had been conducted.According to ASA (1997), pretesting a questionnaire is central to planning a good survey and is critical for identifying questionnaire problems. The problems can occur for both respondents and interviewers regarding question content, patterns, or formatting. Before the questionnaire was distributed to the respondents, the researcher firstly sent the questionnaires to 6 pretest respondents consisting of colleagues and friends to comment on the questionnaires. The purpose of pretesting is to get the experts’ view on the questions. After the comment was obtained, modification was made to the questionnaire.For the purpose of testing the reliability, Cronbach alpha was used to determine the reliability of each the data collected for each factor. The analysis was done using SPSS package. Cronbach alpha are widely used to describe reliability of tests and measurements (Kistner and Muller, 2004). A high alpha indicates that the factors has a high reliability and vice versa. According to guidelines by Sekaran (2003), a coefficient of below 0. 6 is considered to be poor, 0. 7 is acceptable, and over 0. 8 is good. Therefore, from the alpha score, the conclusion on whether the data is reliable can be concluded.If the alpha is low, this indicates that some of the items for a factor might not consistent with other items for the same factor. To overcome this problem, the items which are not consistent with other items will be eliminated. 32 3. 9 Data Analysis The analysis was done by using SPSS package and was divided into several phase. The first phase of analysis involved the analysis of central tendency. In this research, mean was used, which enable the interpretation of data where the point of greatest concentration can be obtained.Therefore, it can be observed on which factor the respondents will be in choosing Diploma Accounting course. The next phase involved the analysis of standard deviation. This was done to study the spread of dispersion of data. Therefore, interpretation of data involved in seeing whether the choices of respondents were dispersed or their choices were converged to certain point. The final phase involves the analysis on the relationship between the independent variables (Personal factors, Reference group and Job related factors) with the dependant variable, which is students’ choice. These were one through the analysis of multiple regressions and enable th e data interpretation to see the strength and direction of each independent variable with dependent variable. Therefore, it can be identified on whether the independent variables have a significant relationship to dependent variables as being hypothesized previously. The analysis had also identified the independent variable that have the most influence on choosing Diploma Accounting course. 33 In determining the regressions among the independent variables and the dependent variables, the impact of multi co linearity should not be neglected.Multi co linearity results from the situation where exists the correlation amongst predictor variables or the independent variables (Polhemus, 2005). When this situation happens, the regression results between the independent and dependent variables might be imprecise. 34 CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS 4. 1 Respondents background The main objective of this research is to find out if there is a significant relationship between reference groups, personal f actor, job related factor and institutional factor of KOLEJ ASA accounting students in choosing accounting course as being hypothesized before.As explained in the earlier chapters, the scope of this research is limited to KOLEJ ASA accounting students. The population for this research is 50, and from this total population, the data gathered was from 50 respondents, which represents 25% of the total population. Table 1 shows the respondents’ backgrounds which represent 78 % are female and male 22%. They are from various races where, 44% is Chinese, 38% is Indian, 16% Malay and 2% others. All the respondents are students currently studying in KOLEJ ASA. 35 Table 1: Respondents Background Respondents |Frequency |Percent | |Gender | | | |Male |11 |22% | |Female |39 |78% | |Race | | | |Chinese |22 |44% | |Indian |19 |38% | |Malay |8 |16% | |Others |1 |2% | Figure 1: Distribution of gender[pic] 36 Figure 2: Distribution of type of race [pic] 37 QUESTIONAIRE |STRONGLY AGREE |AGR EE |UNSURE |DISAGREE |STRONGLY DISAGREE | | |(5) | | | |(1) | | | |(4) |(3) |(2) | | |2. Accounting is interesting |32 |14 |3 |1 | | |3. I would enjoy being an accountant |42 |7 | |1 | | |4. I am willing to learn accounting subject |32 |18 | | | | |5. I am willing to spend a lot of time studying accounting |40 |7 |2 |1 | | |6.I can do better in calculation |42 |7 |1 | | | |7. I like to answer question in figures |43 |4 |3 | | | |8. Accounting is a course with lots of classwork |18 |29 |3 | | | |9. Learning accounting is very challenging |31 |17 |2 | | | |10. I can maintain high greed point average (GPA) |28 |19 |3 | | | |11.My family wants me to choose accounting course |13 |29 |3 | |5 | |12. My friends think I should choose accounting course |29 |15 |5 |1 | | |13. Other students recommend accounting course to me |32 |15 |3 | | | |14. My teacher thinks that I should take accounting course |45 |5 | | | | |15. My own motivations for choosing accounting course |35 |15 | | | | |16.My co unselor at school recommend accounting course to me |35 |12 |3 | | | | | | | | | | |17. Performance in secondary school subjectmatter makes me | | | | | | |choose accounting course |39 |11 | | | | |18. My parent’s occupation encourage me to choose accounting |12 |21 |15 |1 |1 | |19. My parent wants me to choose accounting course |40 |10 | | | | |20.If I choose accounting course,there will be job |26 |24 | | | | |available for me when I graduate | | | | | | |21. If I choose accounting course,there will be a great job |39 |8 |3 | | | |market demand for people like me | | | | | | |22. I can get a high paying job if I graduate with accounting|36 |14 | | | | |23.My starting salary will be satisfying if I graduate with |27 |23 | | | | |accounting | | | | | | |24. Accountants are boring people |6 |19 |2 |8 |15 | |25. Being an accountant has a lot of prestige |42 |8 | | | | |26. The accounting profession is well respected |31 17 |2 | | | |27. Accounting is a profession on par with me dicine and law |45 |5 | | | | |28. Accounting is a field with broad exposure to business |39 |11 | | | | 39 4. 2 Validity and Reliability of the Instrument Earlier chapter explain that to increase the validity of the instrument, the researcher has conducted pretest, where the questionnaires are distribute to the experts who gave their comments. The questionnaires are then being amended to increase the validity.Apart from that, the questions are also being design to include both positive and negative questions. In managing the data, the negative questions are being transformed and record into different variables before being analyzed. In other words, the negative questions were being transformed to positive questions. 40 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS 5. 1 Discussions The purpose of this paper is to find out factors influencing Kolej Asa students in choosing Diploma Accounting course as a major. From the data analysis gathered from 50 respondents, as explained in Chapter 4 the three factors h ave been supported by the findings which is significantly influence the student’s choice.Reference group, personal factors and job related factors indicate a significant correlation with students’ choice, which means that all the factors had a relationship which will influence the respondents’ to choose accounting course. However, the strength of influence by reference group is considered moderate compared to personal factors and job related factors. This showed that the respondents perceived personal factors, although significant and to be a huge influence to the students choice. 41 Among all the three factors, personal factors is seen to have the strongest influence over students’ choice which is consistent with the result found in Adams, Pryor and Adams (1994)Doran ( 2001), and Pritchard et al. , (2004).Therefore, it can be concluded that the respondents perceived that their choice in choosing accounting course will be determined more by independents, higher earnings, career advancement and prestige, followed by the job related factors which influence them to choose accounting course which consistent with the finding in Adams, Pryor and Adams (1994), Doran ( 2001), and Pritchard et al. , (2004). 5. 2 Conclusions The above discussion is based on the objective of the research, which is to find out if there is any significant relationship between the personal factors, reference group and job related factors and the students’ choice in choosing accounting course at KOLEJ ASA. All the factors indicated a significant relationship to the students’ choice. 42 5. 3 Implications The implications of this findings suggest the importance of career counseling road shows and career fairs to create awareness and understanding among young high school leavers who intent to pursue an accounting course in higher education institution.This will rectify the problem of students enrolling into other courses of which they have no knowledge of the subjects taught and future career options thus minimizing the number of students dropping out when they found out they are not interested in the subjects taught at all. The awareness and understanding of subjects taught and career options available are important to high school leavers who intent to pursue an accounting course as this research found that the utmost important factors influencing their choice of courses include interest in the subject, career advancement and career opportunities available. Another implication derived from this research is the emphasis of factor influencing undergraduate’s choice of courses.It is vital to highlight to undergraduate who intent to pursue a particular course on the possibility of the existence of factor influencing them to choose a particular course. This research hopes to highlight the importance of the role of the higher education institutions in offering sufficient and relevant information to potential students who want to pursue an accounting course so that these young high school leavers are able to make informed decision about their future career. 43 5. 4 Limitations This study has the following limitations. Firstly the study has a limited reference from local researchers so it is more depend on research that had been done abroad.It is also lack of accounting research which could help to explain on local situation. Secondly the study selected only four variables because of time constrains. Thirdly the questionnaire was only administered at one institution. The limitations of this study provide a pathway for further research in this area. 44 References ? How to Conduct Pretesting. 1997. American Statistical Association. ? Speech on The Occasion of the ICAEW Malaysia Achievers’ Ball, 2004 ? Brown, J. W. 2004. Techniques of Multivariate Data Analysis ? Adams, S. J. , L J. Pryor, and S. L. Adams. 1994. Attraction and retention of high –altitude students in accounting: An exploratory long itudinal study. Issues in Accounting Education. Ahmed, K. , K. F. Alam, and M, Alam. 1997. An empirical study of factors affectingaccounting students’ choice in New Zealand. Accounting Education: an international journal. ? Albrecht, W. S. , and R. J. Sach, 2001 . The Perilous Future of Accounting Education. The CPA Journal. ? Auyeung, P. and J, Sands. 1997. Factors influencing accounting students’ career choice; a cross cultural validation study. Accounting Education: an international journal. ? Bryman, A. and D, Cramer. 2001. Quantitative Data Analysis with SPSS Release 10 for Windows : A guide for social scientists, East Essex: Rout ledge ? Cohen, J. , and D. M. Hanno. 1993.An Analysis of Underlying Constructs Affecting theChoice of Accounting Major, Issues in Accounting Education. ? Doran, D. T. 2001. Concern for the Future of the Accounting Profession, The CPAJournal ? Dowall, M. T . 2008. What influences accounting students’ attitudes towards accounting as a profession? Available from :http:///www. afaanz. org/opencofafaanz2008/modules/request. php 45 ? Felton, S. , N. Burh and M. Northey. 1994. Factors influencing the business student’s choice of a career in chartered accountancy, Issues in Accounting Education. ? Fisher, R. , and Murphy. 1995. â€Å"A pariah profession? Some student perceptions ofaccounting and accountancy. † Studies in Higher Education. ? Geiger, M. A. and S. M. Ogilbly. 2000.The first course in accounting: students’ perceptions and their effect on the decision to major in accounting. Journal ofAccounting Education. ? Hair, J. F. , R. E. , Anderson, R. L. Tatham, and W. C. Black. 1998. Multivariate Data Analysis,5thEd. , London: Prentice Hall. ? Hardin, J. R. , D. O’Bryan, and J. J. Quirin. 2000. Accounting versus engineering, law, and medicine: Perceptions of influential high school teachers. Advancesin Accounting. ? Howieson, B. 2003. Accounting practice in the new millennium: is acco untingeducation ready to meet the challenge? , The British Accounting Review, 35(2). ? Inman B. C. , A. Wenzler and P. D. Wickeert. 1989.Square pegs in round holes: are accounting students well-suited to todays’s accounting profession? Issues in Accounting Education. 46 ? Jack ling, B. and C. Calero. 2006. Influences on undergraduate students’ intentions to become qualified accountants: evidence from Australia. Accounting Education:an international journal. ? Kim, D. , F. S. Markham and J. D. Cangelosi. 2002. Why students pursue the business degree: a comparison of business majors across universities. Journal of educationfor Business. ? Kistner, E. O. , & K. E. Muller. 2004. Exact Distributions of Interclass Correlation and Cronbach’s Alpha with Gaussian Data and General Covariance Psychometric. Leppel, K. , M. L. , Williams and C. Waldauer. 2001. â€Å"The Impact of Parental Occupation and Socioeconomic Status on Choice of College Major. † Journal ofFami ly and Economic Issues. ? Lowe, D. R. and K. Simons. 1997. Factors influencing choice of business majors – some additional evidence: a research note, accounting education. ? Lowe, D. R. and K. Simons. 1997. Factors influencing choice of business majors – some additional evidence: a research note, accounting education. 47 ? Malgwi, C. A. , M. A. Howe and P. A. Burnaby. 2005. Influences on students’ choice of college major, Journal of education for business. ? Marriott, P. and N. Marriott. 2003.Are we turning them off: a longitudinal study of undergraduate accounting students’ attitudes toward accounting as a profession, accounting Education: an international journal. ? Mauldin, S. , J. L Crain and P. H. Mounce. 2000. The accounting principles instructors’ influence on students’ decision to major in accounting, Journal of Education for Business. ? Sekaran. (2003) Measurement: Scaling, reliability, validity. In Research methods for business: A skill building Approach. John Wiley. ? Zickmund, W. G. 2003. Business Research Methods. Thomson South Western, Ohio 48 QUESTIONNAIRE GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Gender ? Male ? Female 2. Race ? Malay ? Chinese ? Indian ? Others 3. Basic qualification ? SPM ? STPM Other institution Stated below are a number of questions to test on the factors that influence the respondent in choosing Diploma Accountancy course in KOLEJ ASA. Circle the best answer for each question according to the scale provided below: Strongly Agree (5) Agree (4) Unsure (3) Disagree (2) strongly disagree (1) Part 1 PERSONAL FACTORS 1. I like accounting 5 4 3 2 1 2. Accounting is interesting 5 4 3 2 1 3. I would enjoy being an accountant 5 4 3 2 1 4. I am willing to learn accounting subject 5 4 3 2 1 5. I am willing to spend a lot of time studying accounting 5 4 3 2 1 6. I can do better in calculation 5 4 3 2 1 7.I like to answer question in figures 5 4 3 2 1 8. Accounting is a course with lots of class work 5 4 3 2 1 9. Learning accounting is very challenging 5 4 3 2 1 10. I can maintain high gred point average (GPA) 5 4 3 2 1 Part 2 REFERENCES GROUP 1. My family wants me to choose accounting course 5 4 3 2 1 2. My friends think I should choose accounting course 5 4 3 2 1 3. Other students recommend accounting course to me 5 4 3 2 1 4. My teacher thinks that I should take accounting course 5 4 3 2 1 5. My own motivations for choosing accounting course 5 4 3 2 1 6. My counselor(s) at school recommend accounting course to me 4 3 2 1 7. Performance in secondary school subject matter makes me choose accounting course 5 4 3 2 1 8. My parent’s occupation encourage me to choose accounting 5 4 3 2 1 9. My parent wants me to choose accounting course 5 4 3 2 1 Part 3 JOB RELATED FACTORS 1. If I choose accounting course, there will be job available for me when I graduate. 5 4 3 2 1 2. If I choose accounting course, there will always be a great job market demand for people like me. 5 4 3 2 1 3. I can ge t a high paying job if I graduate with accounting 5 4 3 2 1 4. My starting salary will be satisfying if I graduate with accounting 5 4 3 2 1 5.Accountants are boring people 5 4 3 2 1 6. Being an accountant has a lot of prestige 5 4 3 2 1 7. The accounting profession is well respected 5 4 3 2 1 8. Accounting is a profession on par with medicine and law 5 4 3 2 1 9. Accounting is a field with broad exposure to business 5 4 3 2 1 Suggestions / Comments: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you for your time in completing the questionnaire. I am sure that the responses will be a great help and useful for the purpose of this research. [pic][pic]

Deception Point Page 60

â€Å"Ms. Tench?† the transparent voice on the line said. â€Å"William Pickering, here. To what do I owe this honor?† Tench could hear the television in the background-NASA commentary. She could already sense in his tone that he was still reeling from the press conference. â€Å"Do you have a minute, director?† â€Å"I expected you'd be busy celebrating. Quite a night for you. Looks like NASA and the President are back in the fight.† Tench heard stark amazement in his voice, combined with a tinge of acrimony-the latter no doubt on account of the man's legendary distaste for hearing breaking news at the same time as the rest of the world. â€Å"I apologize,† Tench said, trying to build an immediate bridge, â€Å"that the White House and NASA were forced to keep you unapprised.† â€Å"You are aware,† Pickering said, â€Å"that the NRO detected NASA activity up there a couple weeks ago and ran an inquiry.† Tench frowned. He's pissed. â€Å"Yes, I know. And yet-â€Å" â€Å"NASA told us it was nothing. They said they were running some kind of extreme environment training exercises. Testing equipment, that sort of thing.† Pickering paused. â€Å"We bought the lie.† â€Å"Let's not call it a lie,† Tench said. â€Å"More of a necessary misdirection. Considering the magnitude of the discovery, I trust you understand NASA's need to keep this quiet.† â€Å"From the public, perhaps.† Pouting was not in the repertoire of men like William Pickering, and Tench sensed this was as close as he would get. â€Å"I only have a minute,† Tench said, working to retain her dominant position, â€Å"but I thought I should call and warn you.† â€Å"Warn me?† Pickering waxed wry momentarily. â€Å"Has Zach Herney decided to appoint a new, NASA-friendly NRO director?† â€Å"Of course not. The President understands your criticisms of NASA are simply issues of security, and he is working to plug those holes. I'm actually calling about one of your employees.† She paused. â€Å"Rachel Sexton. Have you heard from her this evening?† â€Å"No. I sent her to the White House this morning at the President's request. You've obviously kept her busy. She has yet to check in.† Tench was relieved to have gotten to Pickering first. She took a drag on her cigarette and spoke as calmly as possible. â€Å"I suspect you may be getting a call from Ms. Sexton sometime soon.† â€Å"Good. I've been expecting one. I've got to tell you, when the President's press conference began, I was concerned Zach Herney might have convinced Ms. Sexton to participate publicly. I'm pleased to see he resisted.† â€Å"Zach Herney is a decent person,† Tench said, â€Å"which is more than I can say for Rachel Sexton.† There was a long pause on the line. â€Å"I hope I misunderstood that.† Tench sighed heavily. â€Å"No, sir, I'm afraid you did not. I'd prefer not to talk specifics on the phone, but Rachel Sexton, it seems, has decided she wants to undermine the credibility of this NASA announcement. I have no idea why, but after she reviewed and endorsed NASA's data earlier this afternoon, she has suddenly pulled an about-face and is spouting some of the most improbable allegations imaginable of NASA treachery and fraud.† Pickering sounded intense now. â€Å"Excuse me?† â€Å"Troubling, yes. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Ms. Sexton contacted me two minutes before the press conference and warned me to cancel the whole thing.† â€Å"On what grounds?† â€Å"Absurd ones, frankly. She said she'd found serious flaws in the data.† Pickering's long silence was more wary than Tench would have liked. â€Å"Flaws?† he finally said. â€Å"Ridiculous, really, after two full weeks of NASA experimentation and-â€Å" â€Å"I find it very hard to believe someone like Rachel Sexton would have told you to postpone the President's press conference unless she had a damn good reason.† Pickering sounded troubled. â€Å"Maybe you should have listened to her.† â€Å"Oh, please!† Tench blurted, coughing. â€Å"You saw the press conference. The meteorite data was confirmed and reconfirmed by countless specialists. Including civilians. Doesn't it seem suspicious to you that Rachel Sexton-the daughter of the only man whom this announcement hurts-is suddenly changing her tune?† â€Å"It seems suspicious, Ms. Tench, only because I happen to know that Ms. Sexton and her father are barely civil to one another. I cannot imagine why Rachel Sexton would, after years of service to the President, suddenly decide to switch camps and tell lies to support her father.† â€Å"Ambition, perhaps? I really don't know. Maybe the opportunity to be first daughter†¦ † Tench let it hang. Pickering's tone hardened instantly. â€Å"Thin ice, Ms. Tench. Very thin.† Tench scowled. What the hell did she expect? She was accusing a prominent member of Pickering's staff of treason against the President. The man was going to be defensive. â€Å"Put her on,† Pickering demanded. â€Å"I'd like to speak to Ms. Sexton myself.† â€Å"I'm afraid that's impossible,† Tench replied. â€Å"She's not at the White House.† â€Å"Where is she?† â€Å"The President sent her to Milne this morning to examine the data firsthand. She has yet to return.† Pickering sounded livid now. â€Å"I was never informed-â€Å" â€Å"I do not have time for hurt pride, director. I have simply called as a courtesy. I wanted to warn you that Rachel Sexton has decided to pursue her own agenda with respect to tonight's announcement. She will be looking for allies. If she contacts you, you would be wise to know that the White House is in possession of a video taken earlier today in which she endorsed this meteorite data in its entirety in front of the President, his cabinet, and his entire staff. If now, for whatever motives she might have, Rachel Sexton attempts to besmirch the good name of Zach Herney or of NASA, then I swear to you the White House will see to it she falls hard and far.† Tench waited a moment, to be sure her meaning had settled in. â€Å"I expect you to repay the courtesy of this call by informing me immediately if Rachel Sexton contacts you. She is attacking the President directly, and the White House intends to detain her for questioning before she does any serious damage. I will be w aiting for your call, director. That's all. Good night.† Marjorie Tench hung up, certain that William Pickering had never been talked to like that in his life. At least now he knew she was serious. On the top floor of the NRO, William Pickering stood at his window and stared into the Virginia night. The call from Marjorie Tench had been deeply troubling. He chewed at his lip as he tried to assemble the pieces in his mind. â€Å"Director?† his secretary said, knocking quietly. â€Å"You have another phone call.† â€Å"Not now,† Pickering said absently. â€Å"It's Rachel Sexton.† Pickering wheeled. Tench was apparently a fortune-teller. â€Å"Okay. Patch her through, right away.† â€Å"Actually, sir, it's an encrypted AV stream. Do you want to take it in the conference room?† An AV stream? â€Å"Where is she calling from?† The secretary told him. Pickering stared. Bewildered, he hurried down the hall toward the conference room. This was something he had to see. 70 The Charlotte's â€Å"dead room†-designed after a similar structure at Bell Laboratories-was what was formally known as an anechoic chamber. An acoustical clean room containing no parallel or reflective surfaces, it absorbed sound with 99.4 percent efficiency. Because of the acoustically conductive nature of metal and water, conversations onboard submarines were always vulnerable to interception by nearby eavesdroppers or parasitic suction mics attached to the outer hull. The dead room was, in effect, a tiny chamber inside the submarine from which absolutely no sound could escape. All conversations inside this insulated box were entirely secure.

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Another problem with finding a definition for organisational culture is the sheer number of definitions that already exist. Kroeber and Kluckhorn list more than 250 definitions of culture, that include components such as ideas, concepts, ideologies values, attitudes, goals, norms, learned behaviours, symbols, rites, rituals, customs, myths, habits or artefacts such as tools and other material representations. (Sackman, S, 1991). This inevitably leads to confusion amongst researchers as to a universal definition of organisational culture. The term the way we do things around here (Deal and Kennedy, 1988) is often accepted as an operational definition of organisational culture. However this offers little in terms of the content of culture. Kilman et al. (1985) suggests culture is the reflects the ideologies, shared philosophies, values beliefs, assumptions, attitudes, expectations, and norms of an organisation 3.Levels of culture Now we have looked at a definition of organisational culture we should look deeper into what develops and makes up an organisations culture. According to Schein (1985), organisational culture is made up of three levels. Visible organisational structures and processes (Hard to decipher) Strategies, goals, philosophies (Espoused justification) Unconscious, taken for granted beliefs, habits of perception, thought thought and feeling (Ultimate source of values and action) The Levels of Organizational Culture, Schein, E (1985) Artefacts These form the surface level of culture. They include all the things that a person sees, hears and has contact with. In an organisation it would be the architecture of the environment such as the management hierarchy, its technology, its creations and products and its style in terms of manners of address both up and down the hierarchy, dress codes and formal procedures. Schein identifies the most important point of this level being that artefacts are easy to identify but hard to decipher. Two organisations may well have the same system in operation but they can mean different things in terms of the culture of the organisation. Schein puts his point into an example by saying both the Egyptians and Mayas built large pyramids, but they were tombs in one culture and temples in the other. This point is contradicted by Gagliardi (1990) who says ones own response to physical artefacts such as buildings and other office layouts can lead to the identification of major images and root metaphors that reflect the deepest levels of culture. This is supported by my own experience. I have worked in a supermarket, an  organisation with a tall management hierarchy. Many of the artefacts of the organisation gave the impression of a very formal culture. A strict uniformed dress code was in place, with management wearing different colours from subordinates, and formal forms of address being used. The company was also largely bureaucratic with countless forms to be filled out a large numbers of standard procedures in place. One person however may look at a very informal organisation and class it as inefficient and unproductive, while another may class it as innovative and free from unnecessary bureaucracy, this depends on the individuals previous preconceptions about the artefacts that are present. Values Values are usually one persons beliefs about a given situation. If a manager believes that at a certain time of the year his/her company should run at a lower capacity due to demand etc. This is attributed to his personal values. Only once these values are acted on, successfully implemented and accepted by the organisation do they become transformed into underlying assumptions. From a marketing perspective, some of these values may remain conscious and may be explicitly stated in a companys mission statement as the dominant values of the organisation (Deal and Kennedy, 1982). Only values that are concrete that can be physically and socially validated, they are confirmed by the groups experiences, go through his transformation process. Underlying assumptions If a solution to a problem works frequently then it is often accepted as a rule for solving the given problem. The power of culture comes forth because these assumptions are shared within the group and are therefore mutually reinforced. These assumptions can often cause problems when someone new, with a different set of underlying assumptions from a previous culture, joins the organisation. As humans we like stability. Any decision which challenges or questions an underlying assumption, such as changing a costing method, or a method of production, will likely lead to anxiety and defensiveness within the organisation. A skill required by managers wishing to change aspects of an organisations culture is to recognise this connection, to get to the deeper levels of culture, and to deal with the anxiety that results when these assumptions are changed. The three stages are linked constantly together. Basic assumptions are treated as the essence- what culture really is; and values and behaviours are treated as observed manifestations of the culture essence. (Mullins, 2002). We are able to see now how culture is developed in term of values being acted upon and accepted by the organisation, these values being transformed into underlying assumptions and the artefacts of the organisation being formed by the interpretation of these underlying assumptions. 4.Types of organisational culture Handy (1993) identifies four types of organisational culture. Power culture Power cultures revolve around a focal person or small group, this person or group has absolute power throughout the entire organisation. It is often found in small entrepreneurial companies, and relies largely on trust and communication. It is normally non-bureaucratic with few formal procedures. The success of the organisation depends largely on the skill of the focal person or group. Role culture Role cultures are often largely bureaucratic, it is often described as a small number of senior managers resting on the strong pillars of the various functions of the organisation. Each person has a specified role within a function of the organisation which in turn has a specified role within  organisation as a whole. These roles are expected to be adhered to and it is rare for an individual or function to deviate into different areas of the business. Predictability and stability are two main themes within this type of culture. This type of culture often develops in large companies with large numbers of staff and a tall management hierarchy. Companies with this type of culture tend to have steady objectives and operate in largely predictive markets. Again this relates back my own experience as this type of culture is largely prevalent in supermarket chains. Task culture Task cultures recognise the objectives and goals of the organisation as being paramount. Handy describes this as a net or matrix culture. Power is often shared by a team of experts who are highly manoeuvrable to suit the needs of the organisation. It largely found in team or project based organisations such as consultancy firms or engineers. Person Culture Person cultures are largely individual orientated. Any structure is solely suited to aid the individuals within the organisation. There is no specific power structure with individuals having complete power over their own operations. Examples of this would be barristers chambers, architects, business consultants, individuals that have come together to share resources such as office space and admin support. Some people are more suited to different types of cultures than others. Where one person will be happy working in an organisation with a task culture, he/she may feel constricted and undervalued in a role culture environment. Another person may be the opposite and may feel secure within a largely role orientated company. An important skill for managers is being able firstly to identify the type of culture his/her organisation is operating in and then to hire the correct people for that culture, this helps in reducing any anxiety caused by  changes to underlying assumptions previously discussed. There are many other models of the types of organisational culture available to the researcher. Writings by Deal and Kennedy on the generic cultures, Ouchis type Z companies, and several more. The focus of this paper however is on the development and change of culture and this will be explored in the following sections. 5. Factors affecting the development of culture The role of the founder Organisations do not form accidentally or spontaneously. They are created because one or more individuals perceive that the coordinated and concerted action of a number of people can accomplish something that an individual cannot (Frost,p et al. 1991) At the beginning of an organisations life the founder often has complete control over the organisation. He/she will make most of not all of the important decisions over all areas of the organisations operations. Because they had the original idea, founders will typically have their own notion, based on their own cultural history and personality of how to get the idea fulfilled. (Schein, 1985). Since the founder started the group it is natural to assume that he/she also impose their thoughts, values and assumptions on the group. As new members enter the group the founders assumption will be changed and modified to suit the new organisation, but will always have the biggest impact on what becomes the organisational culture. This has large implications for the future of the organisation. If the company was founded by an informal, easy going type of person then this is the type of organisational culture that is likely to develop. Similarly if the organisation is founded by a formal, autocratic person, the company will likely develop this kind of organisational culture. This will continue to form the organisations culture and have a large influence on the actions of the company even if new leaders are brought in to the organisation. The assumptions of the founder will already be deep routed and form the basis of  the culture. Size Size affects an organisation because of the formality that is often required in larger companies. A large company with many levels of management and a large number of functions or even businesses cannot realistically operate on an informal level. This has implications for the culture of the organisation. Technology If the company uses highly technological systems and procedures in its operations ie pharmaceuticals, the cultural emphasis will be on the technical skills of its employees. A company in the service sector may have a cultural slant towards customer service. Goals and objectives What the organisation wants to achieve will also affect culture. An organisation that wishes to become a market leader may inherit cultural values that reflect that attitude, i.e. company image focused, or have a heavy marketing orientation. Environment There are many environmental factors that can affect an organisations culture, stakeholders, competitors, government etc. etc. How a company chooses to interact with each of these environmental forces will determine how the organisations culture develops. People The preferred style of work amongst both senior management and employees has a large effect on the organisations culture. If senior management attempt to implement a culture that is unacceptable to employees a reaction will  follow, industrial action, low motivation, poor productivity etc. Likewise if employees attempt to force management into following their own culture then a negative reaction will also result. i.e. relocation or the replacement of workers. (Section taken from Martin, J, Organizational Behaviour, 2001) Senior management need to realise the factors that affect an organisations culture and attempt to you analyse the likely impact major business decisions may have. Failure to do may have negative consequences for the culture and hence the success of the company. 6.Cultural change, the role of management There is some considerable debate as to whether changing something as deep-seated as corporate culture is possible Writers with this view usually focus on the deeper levels of culture, the underlying assumptions. Turner (1986) supports this view by suggesting that it would not be possible to manipulate it accurately because it becomes such an integral part of the organisations fabric. Because these are taken for granted assumptions about organisational life, members cannot envision any other way of operating. Those advocating corporate culture usually focus on the surface elements of culture, the artefacts. These are more easily changed than the deeper routed assumptions. Some writers have argued that unless the deeper assumptions are changed that the company will revert back to old ways of operating. Despite these arguments there is wide consensus that cultural change should only be attempted as a last resort and after other avenues have been sought. (Cummings, Worley, 1993) A primary task of management is to control the activity of employees to best serve defined organizational interests. They can achieve this control using formalized rules (bureaucratic mechanisms), economic rewards and sanctions or values and norms about how the work is to be done (clan or cultural  mechanisms) (Wilkins and Ouchi, 1983; cited by Sinclair, A, 1993). This statement reflects the common view that organisational culture needs to be aligned with organisational strategy if the company is to be successful. Many companies have now realised the importance of developing strategies harmonious with the organisations culture. Sometimes however culture needs to be changed, if circumstances require an organisation to follow a particular strategic route or a significant change affects the organisation i.e. market forces, government action, rapid growth etc. then the culture will have to be adjusted to suit the strategy and external environment. Managers require many skills in order to successfully change an organisations culture. It is a lengthy process that is full of danger. Staff need to be reassured and convinced that the new culture will work, otherwise defence mechanisms and the problems discussed earlier may begin show. The following guidelines to changing culture have been cited in (Cummings, T, Worley, C, Organization development and change, 1993) 1.Clear strategic vision- the firm needs to have a clear view of its operational strategy if culture is to be changed. Managers need to know where the company is now and where it is planning on going. 2.Top-management commitment- cultural change must be managed from the top of the organisation. Senior managers need to be committed to the new culture. They must have the staying to see the changes through. 3.Symbolic leadership- executives must communicate the new culture through their own actions. Their behaviour needs to symbolise the behaviours and actions that are being sought in the entire organisation. In an example given in the text, the CEO of Dana Corporation Rene McPherson threw the companies multi-volume policy manuals into a waste paper basket during a meeting and replaced them with a one page set of principles. 4.Supporting organisational change- the culture change must also be supported by changes in the organisational structure and operations, the artefacts as have already been discussed. They can get people aware of the behaviours required in the new culture for the organisation to be successful. 5.Selection and socialization of newcomers and termination of deviants. One of the most important methods in changing an organisations culture is hiring the right people. This is particularly prominent in management positions where the manager has influence over the behaviour of subordinates. 6.Ethical and legal sensibility- sometimes when culture change happens some employees feel they are being hard done by, maybe due to a change in roles, due a promise made during the transition that has been fulfilled. This may lead to legal battles and or resignations from the company. These steps demonstrate some of the ways that managers can influence and successfully change an organisations culture. There is of course no universal solution to changing or influencing culture, all companies are different and individual approaches are more than likely necessary for cultural change to be successful. An example of cultural change is given in (Martin, J, Organizational Behaviour, 2001). In this case study of a motor car dealership in the UK, the newly appointed managing director wanted to change the company culture. The existing culture was largely autocratic with instructions coming down the hierarchy and staff carrying out these instructions. She wanted to change the culture so that the company has a more had team based approach with decision making at team level and initiative being used at all levels of the organisation. To do this she had to use drastic tactics such as showing staff a video of disappointed customers and even accepting a loss in revenue while the changes were being made. Along with this approach she introduced many changed such as more staff training, revision of pay schemes, continuous improvement groups, multi-functional teams etc. After three years the culture change was deemed complete and she could turn her hand to the future of the company. This case study highlights the often drastic measures and level of commitment that is required by managers to introduce a culture change to an organisation. 7.Conclusion It is relatively clear that organisational culture exists and that it plays a huge part in an organisations actions and the behaviour of its employees. Very few writers now argue with this point. I have discussed how culture develops in an organisation and the different levels and types of culture that emerge. Referring back to the second part of the original question, we have seen how managers can influence and attempt to change an organisations culture and the various problems that are encountered in this process. Although there are debates as to whether an organisations culture can or cannot be changed it would seem that there is a mid-point between the two arguments. There are examples of successful culture changes and I have given one in the text. It is clear that if properly organised and implemented a cultural change can be achieved. However we cannot assume that the culture has been changed all together. If the underlying assumptions are as strong as Schein and other writers claim then these will always affect the company culture in some shape or form. If the new culture is not carefully controlled could reappear. To conclude I would say, although cultural can be changed to suit the environment and organisational strategy, that managers should be cautious take into account the underlying principles that govern the organisational culture. 8.References Martin, J, (2001), Organizational Behaviour, 2nd edn, Thomson Learning Mullins, L, (2002), Management and Organisational Behaviour, 2nd edn, Financial Times, Prentice Hall Schein, E, (1992), Organizational Culture and Leadership, 2nd edn, Jossey-Bass Inc. Cummings, T and Worley, C, (1993), Organization Development and Change, 5th edn , West Publishing Company Sackman, S, (1991), Cultural knowledge in Organizations Exploring the Collective Mind, Sage Publications Frost, P et al. (1991), Reframing Organizational Culture, Sage Publications Sinclair, A, (1993), Approaches to organisational culture and ethics, Journal of Business Ethics, Dordrecht: Jan 1993. Vol. 12, Iss. 1; pg. 63, 11 pgs Wilson, A (2001), Understanding organisational culture and the implications for corporatemarketing, European Journal of Marketing, Bradford, Vol. 35, Iss. 3/4; pg. 353

Survey Engine to Assess Indirect Attainment Parameter in OBE

Survey Engine to Assess Indirect Attainment Parameter in OBE 1 INTRODUCTION The proposed system consists to two modules: Admin Users Report The administrator can perform several operations such as add and delete Question in question bank and creating survey etc. The administrator cans also send email to user to give survey and generate report. The User can receive an email to give survey he can give survey by opening link in email received by him. If user does not give survey he will receive email again for survey. The Generated report are useful for useful for outcome based education system where improvement and necessary changes are made into the system by using survey reports. 1.2 COMPANY PROFILE Founded in 2007, e-Sutra Chronicles Pvt. Ltd is a technology products firm based in Bangalore, India. Our innovative, category creating products for the Indian and international education sector are marketed under the brand name of Contineo. Our vision is to build world class products with Indian relevance and global applicability. Our mission is to accelerate the adoption of academic autonomy in India through IT. Contineo is a pioneering OBE enabling software platform for implementation and administartion of academic autonomy contineo executes full academic autonomy cluminating in secure confidential accurate,efficient and auditable examination of both the digitized answer script and coventional paper and pen variety. The contineo IT platform helps to organizations to quickly implement OBE conform to processes of academic autonomy execute credible examiniations and simplify accredition. While providing insightful analysis so as to allow institutes to focus on academic inovation and research. 2. LITERATURE SURVEY EXISTING SYSTEM: Currently to find information about survey we have to depend on various different sources to gain or find information Before the computerization of the survey system. Survey was taken manually using papers. The manual system requires lot of man power. A Person has to handle all the section like creating survey taking survey by using paper etc. which was so lengthy and tedious job. A Person has to manually check the records and maintain it. Then he generate reports it is very difficult job. If there is some inquiry for any information about survey then we need to check all the survey information and then the information was given. It was very tedious process. Limitation of manual system Wastage of manpower Inaccuracy in Maintaining records Time consuming PROPOSED SYSTEM: The proposed system is a web based application that helps to take survey from the people online. Admin will setup survey and send email to invite people for survey. People will give survey. In management dashboard we can maintain all the stuff like who is responded those who not respond we can send remainder email. Survey is based on question and option each option has weight age and this weight age is analyzed by using different OBE parameter. By using formulas graph and report are generated. Advantages of proposed system Saves manpower Accuracy in Maintaining records Time Saving FEASIBILITY STUDY Once you define a problem you have to check whether it is feasible or not, because all possible solutions are not feasible and feasible one is not always possible. A feasibility study is a test of checking your system proposal and its work ability, impact on the organization ability to meet user needs an effective use of resources. When a new application is proposed it can be goes through a feasibility study before it is approved for deployment. During feasibility analysis for this project, following issues are to be considered. The Key Considerations In Feasibility Study Are: Technical Feasibility. Organizational Feasibility. Economical Feasibility. Behavioral Feasibility. Technical Feasibility: In Technical Feasibility study, we have to test whether the proposed system can be developed using existing technology or not. The proposed system can be implemented with the existing technology with few changes easily. Organizational Feasibility: Organizational Feasibility is the study to identify the priority given to the system in the organization. The objective of the proposed system is to reduce the maintenance and overload of management employees. Using Online Application for survey the company can maintain all the detail of survey. Economical Feasibility: Economic feasibility means that the benefits of project are greater than the costs incurred. 1. Manpower cost As the proposed system is automating the survey it doesn’t require any additional man power thereby reducing the manpower cost. 2. Hardware and Software cost The organization already has a computer network and the proposed system can be installed without any additional expenditure of hardware and software. Behavioral Feasibility: In behavioral feasibility an estimate is made of how strong a reaction the user staff is likely to have towards the development of a computerized system. As the firm is in process of development so there are no chances of resistance from the users. TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES USED TOOLS USED 1) LAMP Server: is a Linux web development environment. It allows you to create web applications with Apache2, PHP and a MySQL database. Alongside, PHPMyAdmin allows you to manage easily your databases. 2) Firebug: What is Firebug? Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of web development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page. 3) phpmyadmin : It is a open source free tool developed in PHP. It handle the data of MYSQL by using GUI and web browser. It can do various tasks such as add, delete, modify databases, tables, rows etc. by executing SQL command. 4) Mysql workbench: It is good software of Mysql. This is useful creating database. Adding foreign keys and all is easy. We can also draw EER diagram which show exact relation between tables. 5) gedit: this is ubuntu by default editor where we can write code. It shows line number and other details. TECHNOLOGIES USED The technology selected forimplementing the application is PHP, and joomla framework MVC component since it was the requirement of the Client to develop an Interactive User Friendly Application. The development was done in a ‘Linux’ environment using for security reasons. The MVC software design pattern There are three parts to the MVC design pattern: the model, view, and controller. The controller and view may both be considered a part of the presentation layer while the model may be seen as a fusion of the business logic and data-access layers. Each element of the MVC is represented in Joomla! by an abstract class: Jmodel, JView, and JController. These classes are located in the joomla.application.component library. MODEL A model will normally contain data access methods to retrieve, add, remove, and update data stored within a specific data source. The model allows us to modify data. The methods that define business logic are essentially defining the behavior of the data VIEW The view defines how we present our data. In Joomla!, when we use a view to display HTML, we use layouts (a form of template) that provide us with an extra layer of control and enable us to present our data in multiple formats. In addition to HTML, views can be formatted to present data in other formats such as PDF or news feeds. CONRTOLLER The controller determines what operation or task has been requested and, based on the request, selects the appropriate model(s) and passes any data modification requests to the appropriate model, creates a view, and associates one or more models with the view. The controller does not manipulate data; it only calls methods in the model. The controller does not display data but rather creates a view that can display the data. JOOMLA Joomla! is a modular and extensible PHP MySQL CMS (Content Management System). It is an open-source project, which is released under version 2 of the GPL license. Joomla! has fast become one of the most popular open source CMSs, which is proved by its numerous awards and massive online community. PHP PHP originally stood for â€Å"Personal Home Page† and was released as a free, open source project. Over time, the language was reworked to meet the needs of its users. GUI applications PHP generally runs on a web server, taking PHP code as its input and creating web pages as output. HTML: HTML is used to creating the web page either of Static or of Dynamic and used to develop the user friendly web pages. HTML uses ASCII characters for both the main text and formatting instructions. The main text is data and the whole information is used by the browser to format the data. A HTML document is simply a text file, which contains certain information you would like to publish. HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS Hardware Requirements: The basic hardware requirements are as follows: PROCESSOR : Pentium IV above. RAM : 512 MB above. HARD DISK : 10 GB above. MONITOR : Color. Software Requirements: OPERATING SYSTEM: Linux Ubuntu 12.04 SERVER: LAMP server DATABASE : Mysql BROWSER : Mozilla Firefox/Google chrome TOOLS USED : Mysql workbench; USER INTERFACE : HTML, CSS, JavaScript LANGUAGES : PHP FRAMEWORK : Joomla 3 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION USERS Users are those who are actually going to use this software. The â€Å"survey engine to assess indirect attainment parameters in outcome based education† has two types of users. Both of these users are provided with different user interfaces. Users: Users are the actual users of this system. They use this software in to give an feedback. The user will receive an email for survey he has give survey which is very useful for outcome based education system make changes in system. Admin: Administrator is the person who is going to maintain this software. He is provided with the interface that helps to create an survey an send email to users and generate report. This software must satisfy the time and speed constraints of both the users. FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS Functional requirements are very important system requirements in a software requirements in a software engineering process (or at micro level, a sub part of requirement engineering) such as technical specifications, system design parameters etc. In contrast there is one more requirements which are based on some parameters such as performance of the system, software quality attributes, reliability and security, cost constraints, design/implementation constraints. The functional requirement defines the capabilities and functions that a system must be able to perform successfully. The System must provide following functionalities :- Keeping records survey. A detailed Report regarding the survey should be maintained and produced whenever needed. Storing the feedback complaints given by the users. The Feedback and Complaints given by the users should be stored and accessible by the Admin. Keeping details about the users he is given survey or not. Sending emails. The Admin can notify users regarding information of survey through email. User friendly user interface User will get good user friendly interface.The software should run on various operating systems with different browsers . NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS Non-Functional requirements define the needs in terms of performance, logical database requirements, design constraints, standards compliance, reliability, availability, security, maintainability, and portability. Performance Performance requirements define how fast the system responds. The load time for user interface screens shall take no longer than ten seconds. Requested queries shall be return results within few seconds. Reliability System should specify the factors required to establish the required reliability of the software system at time of delivery. Availability The website is available as and when user needs. Maintainability Data in the System shall be easily maintained. Testing rigorously and fixing bugs as it occurs to make the application robust Scalability The system should scale well as the number of users increase. It’s a large survey base application so as the numbers of user increase the application should provide the same performance Testability The Developed system is tested with test goals, test methods used, and test resources. The result is stored with proper values so that it can be referred for future testing conditions. 4 SYSTEM DESIGN SYSTEM PERSPECTIVE This system is a replacement for the manual existing systems to get survey from users. The authenticated users only allowed using the services of the system. So that the related information can be accessed by the particular users. â€Å"Survey engine to assess indirect attainment parameters in outcome based education† is aimed at developing a web-based system that helps people to get the details regarding the request from the users. Our application helps to maintain the details of survey i. e. feedback is taken from users to improve outcome based education system. Our application provides a way to produce staff, course, industry survey reports with graphs, which helps in analyzing growth and suggestion of institute. This can be achieved by graphs like PI, Bar graphs. CONTEXT DIAGRAM System Design: Design is the blue print of the system documentation. Designing process starts after identifying reports and other outputs the system will produce. It should be done carefully since if it is incorrect, it will produce the incorrect outputs. CONTEXT LEVEL DATA FLOW DIAGRAM OF PROPOSED SYSTEM: Here is the Context Level DFD and let’s see it contains: First admin login. He can add question in question bank. Then he creates a survey by selecting question from question bank and assigns it to a particular survey. After that he send email to user. user will receive email and gives survey. According to the user response report are generated. 5 DETAILED DESIGNS Use-Case Diagram: SEQUENCE DIAGRAMS COLLABARATION DIAGRAMS ACTIVITY DIAGRAM DATABASE DESIGN CONCEPTUAL SCHEMA : 6 IMPLEMENTATION SCREEN SHOTS 7 SOFTWARE TESTING Introduction: Software testing is the execution of program to find its faults. The testing process focuses on the logical internals of the software, ensuring that all statements have been tested and on the functional externals, that is conducting test to uncover errors and ensure that defined inputs will produce actual results agreed with required results. The following test strategies were adopted to test the system. Testing Strategies: There are two general strategies for testing software. These are as follows: Code Testing: This examines the logic of the program. To follow this test, cases are developed such that every path of program is tested. Specification Testing :Specification Testing examines the specification starting what the program should do and how it should perform under various conditions. Then test cases are developed for each condition and combinations of conditions and to be submitted for processing. Testing Method Used: Here black box testing and statistical testing are used. In black box testing, all possible types of inputs and seen for corresponding outputs and if not giving, code are corrected. In statistical testing, checking for all variables whether they assigned values before using it, whether array bound correctly defined, whether looping statement terminating without going to infinite loop, whether function parameter are passed in order and about number of parameters etc., are checked successfully and found correct everything working satisfactorily. The stages in testing process are: Unit Testing: Individual components are tested to ensure that they operate correctly. Each component tested independently without other system components. Ex. Checked for Username and Password with the table, after the next module is loaded session allocation. System Testing: System testing is actually a series of different tests whose primary purpose is fully to exercise the computer-based system. The system tests that where applied are recovery testing and performance testing. Finally a review or audit is conducted which is a final evaluation that occurs only after operating the system long enough for user to have gained a familiarity with it. System testing was done by the inspection team to verify that all the functionality identified is the software requirement specification has been implemented. Defects that crept in the system has been found defect free and is working well. System testing is concerned with interfaces, design logic, control flow recovery, procedures throughput, capacity and timing characteristics of the entire system. For blank field, alphabets, number and special character validation. 8 CONCLUSION The present computerized system is useful for creating survey. This system is developed as simple as possible to user. Being user-friendly software the user doesn’t find any difficulty in using it. Creating survey and taking survey by using paper. Which was so lengthy and tedious job. This software overcomes these problems. Importance of the system: Less manual work. Increased efficiency. Decreases the rate of errors. It reduces the time consumption. Quick (instant) result. 9 FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS We can use this project in all the Institute where survey is required. We can manage all the information of survey in cloud. The coding pattern is kept as dynamic as possible with minimum amount of static values to make it easier for future extensions. As the current system is expected to add more functionality and dependency according to requirement changes and technology, proper coding standards and working platform have been kept in mind to produce a quality product. This will be a feature which will be added in future. Appendix A BIBLIOGRAPHY Reference Books Robert W. Sebesta : â€Å"Programming the world wide web†, 4th edition, Pearson Education, 2008 Ian Sommerville: Software Engineering,8th Edition, Pearson Education, 2007 Elmasri and Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, 4th, Edition, Pearson Education 2003. Mastering Joomla! 1.5 Extension and Framework Development Second Edition The Professional Guide to Programming Joomla! Website https://docs.joomla.org/ http://www.php.net/ http://www.w3schools.com/ http://www.joomla.org/ KLEDRMSSCET, BelgaumDepartment of MCA 2014-2015