The Use of IT in Teaching Accounting in Egypt the Case of BeckerConviser

The use of information and communication technology with its different tools and techniques is penetrating different aspects of life with various implications. The use of the Internet and the World Wide Web as well as the emerging of different communication channels have brought the world closer and contributed to the concepts of globalization and the extended enterprise. The educational sector at large has been one of the beneficiaries of the use of different information and communication technology tools and techniques. This paper focuses on a research that has been conducted in Egypt to study the use of emerging information and communication technology tools in teaching accounting. The paper reports the results of the preliminary analysis of the research that focuses on a program called BeckerConviser. The program is conducted through the Institute of Management Development of the American University in Cairo. The study addresses the feasibility and effectiveness of using unconventional technologies in delivering accounting knowledge

Framework for continuous improvement of production processes

This research introduces a new approach of using Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control) methodology. This approach integrates various tools and methods into a single framework, which consists of five steps. In the Define step, problems and main Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are identified. In the Measure step, the modified Failure Classifier (FC), i.e. DOE-NE-STD-1004-92 is applied, which enables to specify the types of failures for each operation during the production process. Also, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is used to measure the weight of failures by calculating the Risk Priority Number (RPN) value. In order to indicate the quality level of process/product the Process/Product Sigma Performance Level (PSPL) is calculated based on the FMEA results. Using the RPN values from FMEA the variability of process by failures, operations and work centres are observed. In addition, costs of the components are calculated, which enable to measure the impact of failures on the final product cost. A new method of analysis is introduced, in which various charts created in the Measure step are compared. Analysis step facilitates the subsequent Improve and Control steps, where appropriate changes in the manufacturing process are implemented and sustained. The objective of the new framework is to perform continuous improvement of production processes in the way that enables engineers to discover the critical problems that have financial impact on the final product. This framework provides new ways of monitoring and eliminating failures for production processes continuous improvement, by focusing on the KPIs important for business success. In this paper, the background and the key concepts of Six Sigma are described and the proposed Six Sigma DMAIC framework is explained. The implementation of this framework is verified by computational experiment followed by conclusion section

Problematizing the transgender phenomenon: sexual geopolitics and Europeanization in contemporary Ukraine

This dissertation explores the emergence of the transgender phenomenon within professionalized transgender and LGB activism in contemporary Ukraine. I explore how the transgender phenomenon has been formed within professionalized transgender activism as a particular object for thought and problematized. I investigate the production of “transgender” as a problematized phenomenon at the intersection of three intertwined frameworks: (1) local legal and medical regulations, (2) local professionalized transgender and LGB activism with its external conditionality imposed by donor agencies and “Western” discourses, and (3) an ongoing geopolitical process of Europeanization which involves negotiations over belonging to “Europe”.  The analysis has borrowed from governmentality studies, notably the concept of problematization, and scholarly literature on Europeanization, paying particular attention to the instrumentalization of sexual diversity and the transfer of ideas (both seen as indispensable parts of Europeanization). I position my research in relation to transgender and LGBT studies on the one hand, and Russian and Eastern European (post-socialist) area studies on the other.  I lean on a conceptual vocabulary developed by scholars who have problematized the construction of “Central and Eastern European” and/or “post-Socialist” spaces from an explicit or implicit post-colonial stance, as well as scholars who have critically investigated sexual politics in “Eastern and Central Europe” in the context of EU enlargement.  I ground my research in problematization as a methodology and use qualitative research methods to collect data. Therefore, the study is based on a combination of interviews, participant observations, as well as texts and documents, including transgender archive material from Ukrainian LGBT NGOs. Using this data, I investigate how the transfer of ideas from “West” to “East” pertaining to (trans)gender issues and activism is interwoven with current global and local geopolitical interests and implicated in East/West dynamics. Importantly, the research also pays attention to the ruptures in discourses and practices that occur in the process of translation of globalized approaches into local settings