Why Is There No Universally Accepted Accounting Theory?

Why Is There No Universally Accepted Accounting Theory? Abstract This paper discusses the statement: there is no universally accepted accounting theory. In addition, it offers some basic and historical background regarding accounting and discusses the different approaches to develop an accounting theory, before describing three common accounting theories. Finally, the reality of the above statement and the factors that confront a universal accounting theory are debated. Introduction Accounting is a very old science as it is strictly related to the first forms of trade in the old world. According to Belkaoui (1992: 22), the Committee on Terminology of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) defines accounting as follows: Accounting is the art of recording, classifying and summarising in a significant manner and in terms of money, transactions and events which are in part at least, of a financial character, and interpreting the results thereof. Belkaoui (1992: 22) believes that such a definition is limited and a broader alternative is offered that defines accounting as: The process of identifying, measuring and communicating economic information to permit informed judgments and decisions by users of the information. Historical Background The history of accounting is of importance to those wishing to understand existing and future accounting practices. Historically, the first form of accounting practices was bookkeeping. Bookkeeping resulted from a need of ancient traders in Chaldean, Babylonian, Akkadian, and Assyrian civilizations (Belkaoui, 1992). Those ancient traders developed advanced trading practices to track their costs and incomes. This of course, led to record keeping as the best. Belkaoui states that the earliest known form of record keeping dates back to 3000 B.C. which was found in Old Irak (Belkaoui, 1992). Egyptian and Chinese civilisations also had old accounting practices for handling both treasury and other government accounts. In Greek civilisation, there was a famous accountant named Zenon. He managed the estates of Apollonius (a Greek minister of finance). Zenon was the first to introduce the first Responsibility Accounting System according to Belkaoui (1992). In the Roman civilisation, taxes and social classes were dependent on declared properties. As a result, taxpayers were supposed to submit clear financial statements. Of course, these factors enforced the existence of bookkeeping in the ancient world. During the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a huge transition in accounting took place. Luca Pacioli introduced the Italian double-entry method. Later on, new methods were introduced to handle fixed assets (Belkaoui, 1992). According to Schroeder and Clarke (1998), between the years 1900 and 1973, several bodies were introduced to establish and improve financial accounting standards, practices, and reporting. These bodies included the American Institute of Accountants (AIA) which was established in 1916.Then, in 1934, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was established. In 1937, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) was formed as a result of a merger between the AIA and the American Society of Certified Public Accountants(Schroeder and Clarke, 1998). Accounting Theory A theory in its simplest form is an explanation of a certain phenomena, a set of observations. The theory can be understood as a generalisation used to organise data into meaningful information. Glautier and Underdown (1991) argue that theories are supposed to be concerned with the explanation of a set of observations. Also, they argue that relating an existing theory to a set of observations or coming up with a theory that relates to a set of observations is essentially having the same objective which is providing an explanation to these observations. Need for an Accounting Theory Webster define a theory as a systematic statement of principles. Also, it gives a more detailed definition: A formulation of apparent relationships or underlying principles of certain observed phenomena which has been systematically accumulated, organised, and verified well enough to provide a frame of reference for future actions (Schroeder, Richard et al., 1998:1). The second definition gives some reason for the need of an accounting theory. These reasons include organising accounting practices and handling future changes. Of course, a theory can be applied into practical areas of interest. An accounting theory makes it easier to understand accounting in a professional way. Developing Accounting Theory: Approaches and Methods An accounting theory should provide accountants with guidelines for how to represent a summary of financial data for activities during a year. Of course, this information should be useful to people who are going to use it in making decisions and judgments. Glautier and Underdown (1991) list three common approaches that have been used to develop accounting theory previously. These approaches are: Descriptive Approach Decision Usefulness Approach Welfare Approach They classified the Decision Usefulness Approach into two types: empirical and normative (Glautier and Underdown, 1991). On the other hand, there have been several approaches to develop accounting theory. These approaches make use of other classical methods of reasoning such as the ethical, sociological and economic approaches. The descriptive approach developed theories that are concerned with what accountants should do. Descriptive theories use induction. Usually, inductive reasoning will begin by making enough observations by looking at similar instances and practices before drawing a generalised conclusion. Glautier and Underdown (1991) state that the descriptive approach has attempted to relate the accounting practices of accountants to a generalised accounting theory. Usually, descriptive approaches lead to descriptive or positive theories. These theories are concerned with existing accountants practices. Descriptive theories explain those practices and make it possible to predict future behaviours. Glautier and Underdown (1991) offer a useful example with regards to such predictions. By applying the descriptive theory, one can easily predict that the receipt of cash will be entered in the debit side of a cash book. The Decision Usefulness Approach resulted from the great interest in behavioural researches in accounting during the 1970s (Glautier and Underdown, 1991). This type of approach resulted into two main theories: Empirical and Normative theories. The Empirical theory resulted from the increase in empirical research in accounting. The objective of such research was to have reliable results that would positively influence decision making. This objective forced the use of advanced statistical techniques. The increase in university accounting courses resulted in a great number of students that were capable of carrying out advanced and sophisticated quantitative research. On the other hand, the Normative Theory concentrates on which decision models should be selected by decision makers in order to make logical decisions. The third approach mentioned by Glautier and Underdown (1991) is the Welfare Approach. This approach can be considered as an extension to the decision-making approaches. The main objective of the welfare approach is to increase social welfare through rational decisions based upon reliable accounting information. Common Accounting Theories Positive Theory The positive theory is mainly explaining existing accounting practices and observed accounting phenomena (Schroeder, Richard et al., 2001). Belkaoui (1992) believes that positive accounting theory is looking into why accounting practices have developed into the way they are today. Then, the positive theory explains or predicts accounting events. Many positive accounting theory supporters are optimistic due to that positive approach is getting more supporters. Belkaoui (1992) noted criticism of positive theory including the point that the theory concept is based on an obsolete philosophy of science and that theories of empirical science do not have positive statements on what is. Normative Theory The normative theory focuses on what should be instead of what is (Belkaoui, 1992). Therefore, it is on the contrary side to positive theory. This theory is based on a set of objectives. It was developed using the deductive approach that uses logic. Normative theory advocates agree on a set of objectives, believing that these objectives are the best for accountants. Then they deduce their hypotheses and principles. Their next step is to apply this theory to real life accounting practices and events. Actually, normative theory will depend on its advocates and the level of harmony they can reach on the agreed set of goals. Although the normative approach is very important in regulating the industry and developing new accounting practices, it may not handle possible future effects caused by new theories that may change accounting practice in the future. Agency Theory Agency theory tries to describe financial statements and their basic accounting theories (Schroeder, Richard et al., 2001). This theory emerged from the relationship that exists between managers and shareholders. Agency theory assumes that individuals always try to increase their own expected utilities. Also, it assumes that they are creative in doing so. This theory is based on the fact that there is an agreed relationship between two parties. The first is the agent (usually the managers of a firm) and the second is the principal or the stakeholders. The principal agrees to let the agent act on his or her behalf. This usually happens because stakeholders are not capable or not trained sufficiently well to handle the firm in the manner that the managers can. An issue arises here which is the conflict of interest. This issue can be solved through several methods that ensure mutual benefit to both sides such as bonuses or a percentage for the agents. One negative point regarding agency theory is that it is based on the assumption that both parties are trying to maximise his own expected utilities. This assumption is not accepted politically or socially. Universally Accepted Accounting Theory From the previous elaboration on accounting theories, it is clear that there are different approaches to develop them. In addition, there is a wide and diverse range of accounting practices all over the world. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) is the standard framework of guidelines for financial accounting used in the United States of America. The obstacle that prevents GAAP becoming the principles on which global accounting theory is developed is that every country has its own standard accounting practice version of GAAP, usually set by a national governing body. Currently, there is no Universally Accepted Accounting Theory. It seems that having such a theory will not occur in the near future. This is due to many factors, including the fact that using different approaches to develop such a theory will result in different theories. Also, establishing international standards is a very tricky process due countries seeking to protect the privacy of their domestic legal and economic matters. In addition, it is difficult to have one theory that satisfies all needs. Of course, it is important to have guidelines to assist users with no accounting knowledge to understand company accounts. Also, there should be similar guidelines for accountants to handle multi-national firms and establishments. Conclusion Although some may argue that there is no need for such a universal theory as we are doing well without it, there is still a need for such a theory even if it is not as perfect as it should be. To sum up, establishing Universally Accepted Accounting Theory can be a very complicated process. This paper discussed the statement: there is no universally accepted accounting theory. It gave a brief historical background and some basic information relating to accounting. It discussed the different approaches used to develop accounting theories, as well as the three common accounting theories. Finally, the essay elaborated on the fact that currently there is no universal global accounting theory. References Belkaoui, A. (1992) 3th edition, Accounting Theory. London: Dryden Press Glautier, M. W. E. and Underdown B. (1991) 4th edition, Accounting Theory and Practice. London: Pitman Publishing Schroeder, R. G. and Clarke, M. W. (1998) 6th edition, Accounting Theory: Text and Readings. London :John Wiley Sons Inc. Schroeder, R., Clark, M. and Cathey, J., (2001) 7th edition, Financial Accounting Theory and Analysis: Text Readings and Cases. London :John Wiley Sons Inc.

Creating Tension and Drama in the Courtroom in The Crucible Essay

Creating Tension and Drama in the Courtroom in The Crucible The crucible is about a mass hysteria which led to the 1692 Salem witchcraft trials. A group of young girls are caught dancing in the woods and are suspected to of been calling out to the devil. Strange things begin to happen around the local village which are then suspected to be the work of the devil. Everyone in the village is to appear in court and faced with a death sentence. This fantastic and extremely tense play is written by Arthur Miller. Throughout Act Three Danforth; the deputy governor, who is in his sixties and plays an important part, is introduced. He is very sophisticated and respectful. Danforth plays the part of a very loyal man in which he makes antagonising decisions. However he is a very strong character and has his own opinions without being easily persuaded. Danforth has high expectations of both himself and his people. ’ I judge nothing of no one’ This tells the audience what Danforth’s character is like; a strong and noble man, and he will be looked upon as loyal man who has pride in which he can make his mind up for himself without listening to what others have to say. During Act Three Mary Warren plays a main part of a quiet girl who is made to confess by John Proctor that they girls are faking it and being over powered by the devil. Mary Warren who works for the Proctors has a good reputation. She has never done wrong, and is a hard working quiet girl. Mary is forced into court by Proctor to confess the truth. She speaks short words which shows fear. ‘ it were pretence sir’ ‘ aye, sir.’ Mary’s weakness causes tension as she is a weak character being forced to speak out by Proctor. Proctor mainly speaks... ...tly leaving the reader in suspense. My favourite scene was when Elizabeth was called into the court to justify Proctors accusation of lechery against Abigail. It gave the reader an unsure feeling of what the turn out would be like and what was going to happen next, this created more tension in this particular scene. I thought the ending was good and Act 3 was a fantastic build up for this dramatic ending. I think Miller’s intention of scene 3 being so dramatic was to build of for the ending which was not what I would have expected to of been like. This is good because it makes the reader want to read on. Miller was definatly successful in writing this play, he gave me the message, of what it was like back then, very strict and strong about there beliefs and witch craft. I think people would have definatly learnt from this story which is very strong.

Coca Cola Strategy Essay

Slide1: International strategy (tià ªu Ä‘á »  cá » §a slide nhà © c) The enterprise has core competencies => the competitors in the host country does not have or difficult to develop, catch up or imitate Being not under pressure to localize products and to reduce production costs Company’s head office played a central role Slide 2: International strategy of Coca Cola (1900 to 1950) 1899-1909: added to 379 bottling plants across the United States for consumption of about 70 million liters / year. 1906: developing the first bottling plant in Havana, Cuba => marked the first step of Coca cola international market 1936: World War broke out => the bottling plant follow the army and when the war ended, coca has owned subsidiaries in 64 countries. 1950: Coca cola started advertising on TV => effects promote in worldwise Slide 3: Global Strategy A business strategy as global market or single market Company produce and deliver the products which are standardized and identical. Businesses build production facilities globally in locations with low cost as the basis for operational efficiency => save cost The operation of the system will be connected and coordinated through a central management official Make the business does not pay attention to the important differences between different markets => opportunity for competitors to jump in and meet the needs Slide 4: Global Strategy of Coca cola (1950 to early 2000) Coca-cola implementing global business strategy by: producting homogeneity, uniforming marketing strategy worldwide. In the 1970s and 1980s: + very diversified distribution system in both horizontal and vertical, + the bottling plants of Coca-Cola were on around the world + linked the retail stores to serve consumers better. In the 1990s: find new market with the advantages of the new front to the market => Africa and Asia Slide 5: Transnatoinal strategy Make a separate strategy for each country in which businesses consume their  products. Implemented localized products and methods of marketing products to suit the tastes and preferences of each national market Slide 6: Transnatoinal strategy of Coca cola (from 2000s to now) Set up independent subsidiaries, joint ventures in different markets => carry out the research and development stage products, manufacturing and marketing products in the local market. In the early 2000s: success on a global scale with nature is a business providing consumer goods Local adaptation â€Å"Think local, act local†: strategy towards adaptation but not contrary to the traditional strategy of company-global strategy Distributed organizational structure according to geographic area, including five areas: -North America – Latin America. – Europe, Asia, Europe and the Middle East borders. – Asia – Africa. Slide 7: Localization strategy of Coca cola: Localization strategy: the practice of adjusting a product’s functional properties and characteristics to accommodate the language, cultural, political and legal differences of a foreign market or country. For Coca Cola this will be done through a number of actions, first is changing their method of advertising. Ex: In India the use of celebrities would be used more than in Africa whereby football is the bigger love of the people Coca-Cola decided to change their iconic product name to something a little more consumer-friendly for Chinese market, adopted to use Chinese characters to present a truly localized version of their logo. Cuá »â€˜i cà ¹ng là   cà ¡i clip t gá » ­i hà ´m trc nhà © Há º £i.

Cheating Behavior and Students Morality

Cheating Behavior and Students Morality Cheating is a widespread, increasing in its prevalence, and perhaps the most unpleasant aspects of teaching and learning. The result of the study in higher education suggests that cheating only occurs if there is an opportunity to cheat and it is possible for teachers to eliminate cheating without creating a scandal. Hashtag: #YgsKopyaSkandal? (YGS Cheating Scandal) Cheating Behavior and Students’ Morality Kohlberg’s model of moral reasoning suggests that motivation for learning change from childhood to adulthood thus those with higher levels of moral reason cheat less. However, study shows that students level of moral reasoning were not associated with cheating. In fact, students with low-level moral reasoning tend to obey school authority thus normally do not cheat while older students with higher levels of moral reasoning often rationalize cheating as situational demands. LEARNING MORAL VALUES IN COLLEGE MOVIES Results of studies on cheating behavior suggest that external factors have a greater influence on older students cheating behavior than internal factors or perception of right and wrong. Moreover, although many college students do perceive cheating as wrong, most of them believed that such act is a normal  part of life and plainly accept cheating a part of their college experience. However, close monitoring tends to thwart cheating in older students with more mature reasoning. Similarly, smaller class size appears to discourage cheating while students with clear knowledge of what constitute cheating usually are not involved in such immoral act. For instance, study shows that students who willingly provided test answers to peers are mostly unaware that it was cheating. Environmental factors such as teacher intervention can greatly reduce the occurrence of cheating and avoid dramatic cheating scandal similar to #YgsKopyaSkandal? For instance, large universities tend to respond to student cheating by instigating scandalous actions rather than protecting the interest of parents and students and preserving academic integrity through prevention and classroom reforms. For instance, directly teaching students of what constitutes cheating and greater emphasis on mastery of tasks rather than grades are beneficial classroom reforms. Preserving Academic Integrity without a  Scandal Cheating is a widespread, increasing in its prevalence, and perhaps the most unpleasant aspects of teaching and learning. The result of the study in higher education suggests that cheating only occurs if there is an opportunity to cheat and it is possible for teachers to eliminate cheating without creating a scandal. The literature has demonstrated that majority of students perceived cheating as an acceptable behavior and youths of all ages are likely to engage in some form of cheating. Cheating is an academic crime but there can be serious legal consequences if a teacher falsely accuses a student of cheating. The most effective approach a teacher can adopt therefore is to prevent cheating by establishing cheating policies and strictly enforcing them. Primarily, a teacher on the first day of class has the opportunity to state his or her position about cheating clearly and why school considers such act as a crime. It is also helpful to explain its consequence using relevant situations such as the fact that since many of them will be competing with other people for jobs in the near future, a person who cheats and gets  illicit high grades from it is literally cheating everyone out of a job. Teaching styles that promote cheating such as grading on a curve and covering too much material on a single examination should be avoided. The reason is that students often cheat when the stakes are high and consequences are low. Moreover, research shows that likelihood of cheating is strongly linked to the quality of teacher-student relationship and students’ level of respect for the teacher.

How to Use Mandarin General Prepositions

How to Use Mandarin General Prepositions Mandarin prepositions are used to link nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases within a sentence. Mandarin prepositions can refer to movement within time or space, or function as general prepositions such as the English prepositions with, to, or for. General Prepositions The most common general Mandarin prepositions are: Ã¥ °  / Ã¥ ¯ ¹ – duà ¬ – to (someone)è ·Å¸ – gÄ“n – with; fromç µ ¦ / ç »â„¢ – gÄ›i – to; foræ› ¿ – tà ¬ – for (someone)ç” ¨ – yà ²ng – with Using Mandarin Prepositions The object of a Mandarin preposition comes directly after the preposition, and the OBJECT PREPOSITION phrase (the Prepositional Phrase or PP) comes before the verb, as in this example: Zhà ¨gà ¨ xiÇŽo nÇšhi duà ¬ wÇ’ wÄ“ixio.這個å ° Ã¥ ¥ ³Ã¥ ­ ©Ã¥ ° Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¥ ¾ ®Ã§ ¬â€˜Ã£â‚¬â€šÃ¨ ¿â„¢Ã¤ ¸ ªÃ¥ ° Ã¥ ¥ ³Ã¥ ­ ©Ã¥ ¯ ¹Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¥ ¾ ®Ã§ ¬â€˜Ã£â‚¬â€šThis little girl smiled at me. (literally: This little girl at me smiled.) Modifiers such as adverbs are placed either before the PP or after the verb’s object: WÇ’ mà ­ngtiÄ n huà ¬ gÄ“n tÄ  shuÃ… .我明å ¤ ©Ã¦Å"Æ'è ·Å¸Ã¤ »â€"è ª ªÃ£â‚¬â€šÃ¦Ë†â€˜Ã¦ËœÅ½Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¤ ¼Å¡Ã¨ ·Å¸Ã¤ »â€"è ¯ ´Ã£â‚¬â€šI will speak with him tomorrow. (literally: I tomorrow will with him speak.) Mandarin Preposition Examples Here are a few sentences with Mandarin prepositions. Please note that there may be more than one translation of English prepositions. Mandarin prepositions have stricter usage than English. Gn JÄ «ntiÄ n wÇŽnshang wÇ’ yo gÄ“n tÄ  qà ¹ chÄ «fn.ä »Å Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¦â„¢Å¡Ã¤ ¸Å Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¨ ¦ Ã¨ ·Å¸Ã¤ »â€"åŽ »Ã¥ Æ'é £ ¯Ã£â‚¬â€šÃ¤ »Å Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¦â„¢Å¡Ã¤ ¸Å Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¨ ¦ Ã¨ ·Å¸Ã¤ »â€"åŽ »Ã¥ Æ'é ¥ ­Ã£â‚¬â€šThis evening I am going to have dinner with him. (literally: Today’s evening I am going with him to go and eat food.) Gi LÇ  xiÄ nsheng xiÇŽng gÄ›i tÄ  de titai mÇŽi yÄ « tio jÄ «n xinglin.æ Å½Ã¥â€¦Ë†Ã§â€Å¸Ã¦Æ' ³Ã§ µ ¦Ã¤ »â€"çš„å ¤ ªÃ¥ ¤ ªÃ¨ ² ·Ã¤ ¸â‚¬Ã¦ ¢ Ã©â€¡â€˜Ã©  â€¦Ã© Å Ã£â‚¬â€šÃ¦ Å½Ã¥â€¦Ë†Ã§â€Å¸Ã¦Æ' ³Ã§ »â„¢Ã¤ »â€"çš„å ¤ ªÃ¥ ¤ ªÃ¤ ¹ °Ã¤ ¸â‚¬Ã¦  ¡Ã©â€¡â€˜Ã© ¡ ¹Ã§â€š ¼Ã£â‚¬â€šMr. Li is thinking of buying a gold necklace for his wife. (literally: Mr. Li is thinking for his wife to buy a gold necklace.) T TÄ  yÇ jÄ «ng tà ¬ wÇ’ xiÃ… « hÇŽo le.Ã¥ ¥ ¹Ã¥ · ²Ã§ ¶â€œÃ¦â€º ¿Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¤ ¿ ®Ã¥ ¥ ½Ã¤ ºâ€ Ã£â‚¬â€šÃ¥ ¥ ¹Ã¥ · ²Ã§ » Ã¦â€º ¿Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¤ ¿ ®Ã¥ ¥ ½Ã¤ ºâ€ Ã£â‚¬â€šShe has already fixed it for me. (literally: She already for me fixed it.) Yng TÄ  yà ²ng mà ¹ gà ¹n qiÄ o wÇ’ de tà ³u.ä »â€"ç” ¨Ã¦Å" ¨Ã¦ £ Ã¦â€¢ ²Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã§Å¡â€žÃ©   ­Ã£â‚¬â€šÃ¤ »â€"ç” ¨Ã¦Å" ¨Ã¦ £ Ã¦â€¢ ²Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¥ ¤ ´Ã£â‚¬â€šHe hit me on the head with a stick. (literally: He with a stick hit my head.)

Physical Geography Of South And East Asia Essay

Physical Geography Of South And East Asia - Essay Example The people who occupy India have mainly embraced Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism and Jainism who are also spread in other parts of India (James & Merchant, 2013). Central Asia is composed of countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, West China and Xinjiang. The people of Central Asia are mainly Muslims and Buddhists. The people who have greatly influenced the way of life in Central Asia are the Persians, Mongols, Tatars, Afghans, Sarmatians and the Russians who conquered most parts of the region. Other people who live in Central Asia are the Chinese, Arabians, Mongolians and the Turkish (Ooi, 2004). East Asia is made up of countries such as China, Macao, Taiwan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Japan, North Korea and South Korea. Some of the ethnic groups in the region include Korean, Yamato, Han, Tibetan, Kazakh, Uyghur, Mongol and Manchu, Evenks, Yakuts and the Buryats. Major language groups in the region include Korean language, Tungusic, Mon-Khmer, Sinitic, Tibeto-Burman, Ainu languages, Turkic and the Miao-Yao. The Chinese language has greatly influenced other languages in the region including that of the Japanese and Korea. The Northern part of Asia is mainly occupied by Russia. Most of the ethnic groups in North Asia speak Uralic, Turkic, Mongolic and the Tungusic languages. East Slavs, as well as the Paleo-Siberian, also form part of the population. The geographic region of Siberia is mainly composed of the Turkic, Tatars and the Siberia Khanate.

Commercial Law Case Analysis Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Commercial Law Analysis - Case Study Example The impact point on the ground should have been with fine beach sand. In this case, this was not to be found. The ground was semi-hard to hard up to a height of 0.3m and harder beyond this height. A series of studies were done to find out whether the hardness of the impacting surface could have any effect on the damage done to his skill. The research did prove that this was true. The harder the surface, the damage is hard. There should have been beach sand in the pit at least up to a depth of 0.3 m. This was not to be found. The Respondent's reason for his head having to impact the ground first was also found to be not in consonance with the scientific evidence at hand. There is a possibility that the Respondent was traveling upside down for such a large impact to happen. At the trial court, the trial Judge offered compensation to the Respondent and held valid the claim that the damage to the Respondent is due to the negligence of the City. The City has moved the appellate court subsequently as an appeal over the decision made by the trial court. Summary of Decision: The Judges in the Appeal court considered the following stance and the facts above to come to a conclusion on the case: 1. The Judges found that this was a case under the causation principle. The Appellant, in this case, is liable only if the damage is caused by the negligent act of the Appellant of the case. And it is the onus of the Respondent to prove that the act did cause the damage.2. The negligent act of the Appellant need not be the sole cause of the damage. It could have materially contributed to the loss or damage to the Respondent.