What you think quality is and your perceptions of quality Essay

What you think quality is and your perceptions of quality - Essay Example Quality is a highly desirable concept that is normally and sometimes wrongly associated with money especially in matters of ostentation goods. People have been known to buy products, especially jewelry for exorbitant prices simply because they are stocked in high-end stores, others purchase the same in different shops for lower prices but the two stores may be selling identical products. The word is normally used in business and advertising by firms that wish to convince their customers that their products and services are the best. However, despite the term being relative, in many commodities the standards of quality set are quite inflexible and have to be enforced. This is because the quality of goods such as food, medicines and construction materials cannot be compromised and for any of these and other commodities whose misuse could lead to damage or loss of life and property. Therefore, quality cannot be left in the hands of money-minded producers of uniformed consumers. As a result, many countries have quality assurance bodies mandated with the task of licensing products and declaring them fit for consumption, or use before they can be allowed into the distribution chain. One of the main hindrances to achieving to achievement of quality standards is the increasing rate at which goods are pirated, and fake products are passed for the real products. This costs th e manufactures millions each year and risks customer’s lives by selling them substandard

Fair Value Reporting And The Financial Crisis Essay

Fair Value Reporting And The Financial Crisis - Essay Example Fair value accounting is the unbiased and rational estimate of the market price of a service, an asset, or a product. The concept of fair value accounting takes into consideration factors such as the demand and supply, the distribution, production, the various costs of the products close substitutes, the utility produced at any given level of development, etc. These are referred to as the objective factors of fair value accounting. There are also some subjective factors of fair value accounting, and these factors include, the utility which is individually perceived, the risk characteristics, the return on, and cost of capital. It is important to understand that accountants use fair value reporting to depict the market value of a product or a liability, which in most cases; it is difficult to determine their market price. The FAS 157 defines fair value accounting as a value in which an asset can either be sold or bought in a current business transaction that involves willing parties. It is important to understand that fair value accounting is used for assets which have a carrying value that is based on the mark-to-market valuations. It is also important to understand that the fair value of an asset that has a historical cost is not always used. It is important to understand that the financial crisis began with the decline of the housing prices, and with an increase in the default rates. There was uncertainty in the financial market because of lack of accurate information from policy formulators.