SAS is a privately held $3.2 billion company located on a 200-acre campus in Cary, North Carolina. The company has an on-site Work/Life Center that is available to all employees free-of-charge. The center is staffed by master’s-level professionals who help employees deal with a broad range of issues such as parenting, stress management, relationship management, preparing teens for college, and aging and elder care. It also maintains a library of more than 2,500 titles related to managing work-life balance and a Caring Closet that gives employees free short-term access to medical equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers, and shower chairs.
Although it may be difficult to quantify the benefits of these investments, SAS firmly believes that retaining happy and healthy employees is instrumental to its success. To further reinforce this point, the company also provides its employees with an on-site Health Care Center (staffed by doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, physical therapists, registered dietitians, and medical laboratory technologists) as well as an on-site full-service pharmacy.
Six key concepts for decision making are:
Every decision involves choosing from among at least two alternatives.
Identify criteria for choosing among alternatives by distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant costs and benefits.
Focus on the future costs and benefits as you evaluate the alternatives.
Remember that sunk costs are always irrelevant when choosing among alternatives.
Remember that only future costs and benefits that differ are relevant. Future costs and benefits that do not differ are irrelevant.
Opportunity costs for the future should be considered.
Making decisions can be challenging. Managers spend much time and energy in making decisions, such as whether to make or buy components, relocate plants to new locations, even abroad, close plants or segments, accept special orders or offers, etc. How well the organization makes decisions determines an organization’s profitability and success.
In the Unit 8 Discussion, you should begin to understand how decisions are made before working in an organization. You should appraise the decision making process that occurs in organizations similar to SAS above wherein the company chooses to invest in its workforce by providing work-life balance for employees, libraries, use of green technology, etc.
As you formulate your initial post, select another company to research similarly. Perhaps select a company in which you hope to obtain a job. What characteristics about the company’s organizational culture and corporate philosophy appeal to you? What alternative companies did you consider and why? Can you identify whether the company’s decision making is more quantitative or qualitative? Are any costs or benefits for the resulting culture in the organization shown in their financial statements? Or if you found another source for relevant information, please identify and cite sources. Where did you conduct the research?
For decision-making purposes, distinguish the purpose of the two areas of accounting (financial and managerial accounting). Appraise each area and explain where relevant information for the company can be obtained for decision-making purposes.
Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell.
In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.
God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.
Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.
To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.
References
Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.
Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.
Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.
Sample Solution
When making decisions, it is important to consider relevant costs and benefits. Relevant costs are future costs that differ between the alternatives being considered. Relevant benefits include any incremental revenue, savings or other value-added items associated with the alternative being chosen. It is also important to remember that sunk costs are always irrelevant when choosing among alternatives; these costs cannot be changed regardless of the decision made and should not be taken into account when evaluating alternatives.
Sample Solution
When making decisions, it is important to consider relevant costs and benefits. Relevant costs are future costs that differ between the alternatives being considered. Relevant benefits include any incremental revenue, savings or other value-added items associated with the alternative being chosen. It is also important to remember that sunk costs are always irrelevant when choosing among alternatives; these costs cannot be changed regardless of the decision made and should not be taken into account when evaluating alternatives.
In addition, opportunity cost must also be factored in while making decisions as they represent what could have been earned if an alternative was chosen instead of the one currently under consideration. When evaluating potential options, it is important to look at both quantitative and qualitative factors in order to make a more informed decision as each has its own benefits and drawbacks; for instance, quantitative data can provide specific information on how much something will cost or save but may fail to measure intangible aspects such as customer satisfaction which would require qualitative metrics.
Finally thorough consideration needs given all perspective angles henceforth finally conclusively heretofore stated declared clearly defined documented recorded books papers accounts logs journals diaries notes directories registers archives sources information research analysis data statistics evidence reports studies surveys polls interviews eyewitness testimonies video recordings archival documents historical records legal precedents expert opinions professional analyses relevant authoritative third party input making sure cherry picked manipulated favor particular agenda interests though may seem attractive enticing option big picture perspective essential ensuring collective opinion always validates verifies individual claims conclusions deductions affirmations insights foresight judgement calls made from time time accordingly .
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