المحاسب - The Accountant

Role

Lead the field finance team in one DC and monitor their performance, review all the function transaction /reports and ensure that the controls are effective and in place across all cycles.

Accountabilities

Ensure that all the reports and tasks for Accountant/Cashier have executed timely and accurately as per policy and agreed timeline.

Review the daily settlements and ensure the completeness of the supporting documents and signature, also ensure that there is no settlements not reviewed .
Monitor and review the checks and ensure that the fiscal received checks are matched with MEA S&D before the submission to the bank representative and send the checks report to banking team to monitor the collections.
Review the daily entry supporting documents and review all daily reports.
Analyze B&C (Billing and Collection )movements and reconcile the total with MEA S&D reports.
Close the daily financial period and review the daily entry.
Prepare daily and monthly adjusting entries.
Reconcile the monthly AR (Account Receivable) entry with the monthly reports before the submission to the commercial supervisor.
Update default balances status and the legal CR (Customer Representative) /Customers as per OTC (Order to Cash) policy.
Follow up with USM (Unite Sales Manager) and RSM(Regional Sales Manager) for the customers/CRs who have overdue and set action plan either overdue collection or transfer to legal as per OTC policy.
Follow up on the insurance cases with insurance department.
Monitor and follow up on legal status that has been transferred to legal.
Prepare the credit report and the exceeding report on a daily basis.
Validate Monthly sales with inventory reports.
Perform monthly cut-off procedures as per closing checklist.
Ensure sending the invoices for the centralized customers to prepare the claims.
Participate in fiscal count task force (Monthly, quarterly, etc.…).
Review the CR/customers credit and validate VS the approved credit for the DC(Distribution Center).
Obtain the credit guarantee for the CR/customers as per OTC policy.
Review inventory reports such as Marketing free products, write off report, samples, etc..
Review product in transit report and validate it with MB5T and ensure that the product delivered in the next month.
Review cancelled settlements and ensures that the settlements not released from security team and obtain the proper signature from all function.
Prepare and review the customer balance confirmations on a monthly basis and identify and solve all the variances if any.
Review Coolers documents.
yReview credit documents and keep track for credit guarantee.
Participate in coolers and FG write off committee.
Review and reconcile customer balance SAP VS. MEA S&D VS. open items on monthly basis.
Clear all the settlements and manual entries correctly and review the customer aging.
Review CRs sales achievements and send it to payroll team.
Review cash cycle daily with the proper documentation.
Deliver HO(Head office) requirements timely and accurately.
Review other revenue transactions.
Prepare monthly closing analysis and reports as per closing checklist.
participate in department projects as requested.
Prepare COSO testing quarterly.
Arrange the weekly shifts for finance team in the DC as per business need.
Develop technical skills for the accountants and Cashiers
Enhance the policy and control awareness to sales and SC(Supply Chain) teams.

Apply here : http://g5u.pw/t/1X7N

افضل المواقع التعليم المجانى

2017-03-18T04:54:00.001-07:00

المواقع العربية :

1- كورساتى

2- رواق

3- ادراك

4- ابصر

5- مهارة

6- ملتقى الدارين

7- معلم

8- w-enter

المواقع العالمية:

1- Coursera

http://cut-urls.com/YdjZRav4

2- Future Learn
http://cut-urls.com/Fi3P8Gc

3-MIT
http://cut-urls.com/WWuS

4-EDX
http://cut-urls.com/RqKg5q

5-Alison
http://cut-urls.com/QqZZHx

6- Webcast
http://cut-urls.com/W3VtKU

7-Udemy
http://cut-urls.com/rryo

شهادة Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)

2017-03-16T05:43:00.002-07:00

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants - ACCA

- هى شهادة محاسب قانونى معتمد من جمعية ACCA البريطانية.

- مميزات الشهادة

1) تهدف الى توفير المعرفة و المهارات المحاسبية مصاحبا لاخر تطوير فى المعايير الدولية

2) تعدد الفرص اى لا تكون منحصر فى مجال التدقيق و المراجعة .. لها من المرونة لتعمل كمحاسب فى الشركات و المؤسسات المصرفية ...

3) شهادة معترف بها فى اكثر من 90% من دول العالم و الدول القابلة للهجرة بخلاف الشهادات الامريكية

4) اخر احصائية تشير بان دخل الحاصل على الشهادة كاملة هو 72000 يورو سنويا

5) انتحانها متاح فى القاهرة و الاسكندرية فى معهد British Council

6 ) اشتركات فى الشهادة و بالتالى ACCA newsletter يقوم بامدادك بالاخبار العالمية و ايضا اخبارك و ترشيحك للوظائف فى مختلف الدول.

-المواد المقررة

Level 1 : Fundamentals

A) Knowledge

1- (F1) Accounting in Business

2- (F2) Management Accounting

3- (F3) Financial Accounting

B) Skills

4- (F4) Corporate and Business Law

5- (F5) Performance Management

6- (F6) Taxation

7- (F7) Financial Reporting

8- (F8) Audit and Assurance

9- (F9) Financial Management

level 2 : Essentials

A) اجبارى

10- (P1) Professional Accountant

11- (P2) Corporate Reporting

12-(P3) Business Analysis

B) اختار 2 من 4 مواد

13- (P4) Advanced Financial Management

14- (P5) Advanced Performance Management

15- (P6) Advanced Taxation

16- (P7) Advanced Audit and Assurance

بالنسبة للمواد الاختيارية اللى عايز يكمل فى شركات و مصانع تحت تمويل و محاسبة ادارة او ادرة مالية فالاختيار بيكون P4 و P5

لكن اللى عايز يكمل فى مكاتب المحاسبة و خاصة الBig Four ياخد P6 و P7

المستندات المطلوبة :

1- شهادة البكاليريوس

2- سجل رسمى بالمواد التى قمت بدراستها بالكلية

3- استمارة التسجيل للاعفاءات

- ملحوظة خريجى الجامعات المصرية معفىين من اول اربع مواد و هما F1 - F2 - F3 - F4 بس بردوا حتدفع رسوم بس مش حتدخل الامتحان.

- يمنح بالاضافة للاربع مواد السابقين اعفاء اخر لاعضاء الجمعية المصرية للمحاسبين و المواد هى F5-F6-F7

- يحصل المتفوقين على منحة دراسة الدكتوراه فى بريطانيا

التكاليف :

اشتراك اولى : 79 جنيه استرلينى

اشتراك سنوى : 96 جنيه استرلينى

رسوم مواد الاعفاء :

72 جنيه استرلينى للمادة الواحدة فى مرحلة Knowledge

96 جنيه استرلينى للمادة الواحدة فى مرحلة Skills

مثال : لحاملى البكاليريوس حتدفع حوالى 313 جنيه استرلينى

و مش حقول عامل كام بالجنيه المصرى عشان زى ما انتوا عارفين الجنيه المصرى بسم الله ما شاء الله مش مستقر !!!

الامتحانات تعقد مرتين قى السنة يونيو و سبتمبر

لاى استفسار برجاء ترك تعليق (Comment) و سوف اقوم بالرد

موقع الرسمى للشهادة

http://cut-urls.com/WQwlM0

لمتابعتنا بكل جديد اول باول برجاء الاشتراك على :

https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=-TheAccountant&loc=en_US

صفحتنا على الفيس بوك:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1083050541805845/

برنامج تكاليف صناعية على الاكسيل

2017-03-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

برنامج تكاليف صناعية على الاكسيل
https://userscloud.com/vffq0yl6lrfo

صفحتنا على الفيسبوك
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1083050541805845/

تجميع لمجموعه من الابحاث التى تستعرض الدراسات السابقه

2017-03-12T23:59:00.004-07:00

النوعيه دى من الابحاث بتعرض المصطلحات العامه واتجاهات الابحاث اللى اتعملت فى موضوع معين وبتقدم اقتراحات لأبحاث مستقبليه:

Audit Quality جودة المراجعه

يوجد بحثين: بحث باللغه العربيه للاستاذ الدكتور طارق اسماعيل

وبحث اخر باللغه الانجليزيه

قرأتك للبحثين دول هيعرفك ايه المقصود بالظبط يعنى ايه جوده المراجعه audit quality وايه هى محددات جودة المراجعه من وجهة نظر العميل ومن وجهة نظر شركة المراجعه.

كمان هتعرف ايه هى النماذج المختلفه لقياس جودة المراجعه

وفى النهايه المقالات بتقدم أقتراحات لأفكار مستقبليه

https://www.file-upload.cc/r53h894pmnqw

المعايير الدوليه للمحاسبه
الجميل فى المقاله دى مش انها بتستعرض الابحاث اللى اتعملت فى IFRS
لكن الجميل فيها انها بتشرحلك بالتفصيل طرق قياس الكثير من المتغيرات زى
Transparency
Comparability
Market liquidity
Cost of capital
Investment efficiency
Others
المتغيرات دى ممكن ربطها مع الكثير من المتغيرات الاخرى
المقاله بتقدم فى النهايه ايضاً اقتراحات لأفكار مستقبليه

https://www.file-upload.cc/n8rbwb9wsyad

Balanced Score Card بطاقه القياس المتوازن
المقاله بتستعرض الابحاث اللى اتعملت فى اخر ٢٠٠ سنه عن بطاقة القياس المتوازن وبتكلم عن اتجاهات الابحاث والانحاز اللى تم فى تطوير مقاييس الاداء والقغرات الموجوده فى الدراسات السابقه وايضاً تتحدث عن الفرص المتاحه لعمل أبحاث مستقبليه

https://www.file-upload.cc/uoopijvtbp1y

بالتوفيق للجميع

صفحتنا على الفيس بوك

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1083050541805845/

اتعلم ببلاش !! و خد شهادة من برة ببلاش بردوا !!

2017-03-10T15:21:00.001-08:00

ركز معايا بقي
الموقع ده اسمه FutureLearn
بيقدم كورسات في كل حاجه تتخيلها من الالف للياء وكلها مجانيه
كورسات في البزنس وازاي تعمل مشروع وازاي تتعلم الاداره والماليه والتسويق والاتش ار وازاي تتعلم الطب والصيدله والادب واللغات وكل حاجه تتخيلها من الالف للياء
بيقدم كل الكورسات ديه مجانا تماما بس عيبه الوحيد انك عشان تاخد الشهاده لازم تدفع حوالي 33 الاف جنيه عشان الشهاده تجيلك لحد باب البيت 😀 😀
المهم بقي من فتره بسيطه الموقع ده اعلن عن 100 الاف شهاده مجانيه للطلبه بتوعه من دول معينه وللاسف مصر مكانتش منها 😞 😞
بس فيه بنت ربنا يباركلها بعتتلهم وسالتهم ليه وبالفعل ضافو مصر في القائمه ديه 😀 😀
طب دلوقتي ايه المطلوب
المطلوب من حضرك تدخل تسجل في اي كورس متاح ليه الشهاده وتخلصه قبل 311 مارس وتنجح في الاختبارات بتاعته وتجيب بحد ادني 80 في الميه ولما تخلص تدخل عنوان البريد بتاعك او المكان اللي حابب الشهاده تجيلك عليه من انجلترا 😀 😀
ليك بحد اقصي 5 شهادات يعني حوالي 155 الف جنيه تتتعلم بيهم وتاخد بيهم شهادات من انجلترا مجانا من غير ماتدفع ولا مليم والكورسات كلها فيها ترجمه للكلام اللي بيتقال subtitle
هات كشكول حلو بقي وكام قلم كده واعمل منشن لاصحابك واختارو كورسات تذاكروها سوا

لينك الموقع

http://cut-urls.com/Fi3P8Gc

لينك صفحتنا

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1083050541805845/

أفضل 11 قنـاة نتعلم الانجليزية

2017-02-19T03:16:00.002-08:00

معظمنا بيضيع يوميا مش أقل من 3 ساعات في المواصلات يعني بحسبة صغيرة كده

بنضيع 90 ساعة في الشهر يعني 1080 ساعة في السنة الواحدة من غير أي أستفادة ..

قررت أني أبدأ قاعـــــدة عظيمة أسمها قاعدة ال 30 دقيقــة وربنا يستر :D

ايه هي قاعدة ال 30 دقيقـة بأختصـار:

هي ان في حاجات في حياتنا نفسنا نحققهـا ومش صعب أننا نحققهـا ممكن نديها 30 دقيقـة من حياتنــا..

أول الحاجــات دي أننا نتعلم أنجليــش دورت ولقيت قنوات كتير جدا علي اليوتيــوب

جمعتلكم أفضل 11 قنـاة نتعلم منهم

درب نقسك ازار تتكلم انجليزى و متخافش

2017-02-01T03:35:00.002-08:00

خوفك دايما من إنك تغلط لما تيجي تتكلم #إنجليزي قصاد اى حد هو أكتر سبب بيخليك اصلا مابتتكلمش خالص !

فى الـPost هنخليك تـ Practice وتتكلم مع اجانب وانت قاعد فى بيتك :D .. ازاي ؟

دي بقا عبارة عن مواقع هتقدر من خلالها تتكلم مع ناس تانيين بيتكلموا اللغة اللى انت بتدور عليها عشان تتعلمها ، وفى نفس الوقت هتعلّمهم اللغة اللى انت بتتكلمها لأنهم هيكونوا بيدوّروا عليك عشان يتعلموا منك :D
_المواقع دي عبارة عنlanguage community exchange l بين طلبة ومدرسين ، او ناس عاديين بيتعلموا من بعض عن طريقة تبادل اللغات من خلال Conversations .

HowDoYou
دا أولهم واللى هتقدر من تتعلم English عن طريق ال Chatting أو الـ Texting .

http://cut-urls.com/1QQVkaU

Coeffee
واحد من المواقع اللى دمها خفيف وهتحبها جدا، عبارة عن community بس بشكل Funny , دة غير الـ Games اللى هتلاقيها فيه هتساعدك انك تتدرب على الـvocabulary و الـ pronunciation بتاعك .

http://cut-urls.com/INHS

italki
نقدر نقول ان دا " البرنس " بتاع كل مواقع دي وعشان كدا هو اشهرهم من حيث الإستخدام على مستوى العالم فى تبادل اللغاتشوفه من هنا

http://cut-urls.com/Bg4tbyqV

SharedLingo
من المواقع بردوا المُبهجة اللي واخدة تقييم عالي جدا على مستوى العالم
شوفه من هنا :

http://cut-urls.com/3x6Q

lang-8
اللى يميز الموقع دا انه community بين طلبة ومدرسين، وفكرته معتمدة على انك تكتب فى اى حاجة انت عايزها وبعدين تـPost اللى كتبته، وحد من المدرسين الاجانب هيصلحلك الغلطات اللى انت عملتها وهيقولك ليه .
شوفه من هنا

http://cut-urls.com/iTdLofM

ELE
ببساطة هتقدر من خلال دا تقرأ، وتكتب، وتعمل Practice لغوي مع شخص تاني .
شوفه من هنا :
http://cut-urls.com/P7bEem3

polyglot.club
دة عبارة عن Conversation club بس اونلاين
http://cut-urls.com/2SS2RW

آخر حاجة دول أسماء Apps على الموبيل وكلهم بيخدموا نفس الهدف، منهم اللى ليه علاقة بالمواقع اللى اتكلمنا عنهم، ومنهم حاجات تانية جديدة :D
Italki - Busuu - WeSpeke - Speaky - HiNative - Tandem - HelloTalk

ممكن تدخل برامج الشات بس بدل ما تقضيها طول النهار هاي وممكن نتعرف , استفيد بوقتك صح وحاول تتناقش مع اجانب في مواضيع مختلفة تكون مفيدة .. غير طبعا انك عاوز تعرف هي لابسة اية تحت التي شيرت :D
ممكن مثلا تستخدم الشات بتاع الفيسبوك والواتساب وتتكلم كتابة مع الاجانب
او تستخدم برامج المحادثات الصوتية زي Line و Soma
وطبعا الافضل تستخدم برنامج Skype لانه الافضل من حيث نقاء الصوت 🎧 وكمان موجود ع الكمبويتر والموبايل ومش هتضطر تدي نمرتك لحد

لا خير في كاتم علم .. كتر ألف شيرك

صفحتنا على الفيسبوك
https://goo.gl/pE2oMI

اهم 4 كتب فى المحاسبة الادارية

2017-01-29T05:51:00.005-08:00

من اهم 4 كتب فى المحاسبة الادارية بالترتيب:

1- Managerial Accounting 15E by Garrison Noreen and Brewer

http://cut-urls.com/jpF3rLvp

2- Managerial Accounting 10th E by Ronald W Hilton and David E Platt
http://cut-urls.com/CBzrVK

3- Management Accounting by Alicia Gazely and Michael Lambert
http://cut-urls.com/8BiPCE

4-Management Accounting 2nd Edition by Pauline Weetman
http://cut-urls.com/SO185sCK

تابعونا صفحتنا على الفيسوبك
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1083050541805845/

معايير المحاسبة الدولية مترجمة

2017-01-27T23:15:00.000-08:00

معايير المحاسبة الدولية مترجمة

http://cut-urls.com/BVT8wU

Facebook
https://goo.gl/TYAlbZ

الناس اللى عايزة تتعلم إنجليزى ممتاز و ببلاش

2017-01-26T05:10:00.002-08:00

الناس اللى عايزة تتعلم إنجليزى ممتاز و ببلاش .. دى منحة مقدماها الجامعة الأمريكية عبارة عن 80 فيديو ع يوتيوب .. يعنى حضرتك مش هتعمل غير إنك تقعد تتفرج ع الفيديوهات و تعيد وتزيد مرة واتنين وعشرة لحد ما تستوعب فتخش ع الفيديو اللى بعده.. الفديوهات متقسمة من اول مستوى المبتدئين لحد الإحتراف .. الموضوع بسيط بلاش تكسل .. خدهم بالترتيب ده كده :

beginner level
http://cut-urls.com/xNgG5

intermediate level
http://cut-urls.com/jHwxoKG

elementary level
http://cut-urls.com/CUX1Qkec

English conversation
http://cut-urls.com/QHADWbzZ

منحة الحكومة التركية 2017 – 2018

2017-01-23T00:03:00.000-08:00

منحة الحكومة التركيةمنحة الحكومة التركية للعام الدراسي 2017 – 2018 للدراسة في جامعات تركيا تقدم مجموعة من المنح الدراسية بمختلف الاختصاصات و لمختلف الدرجات العلمية و تشمل طلاب الدول العربية

منحة الحكومة التركية متاحة فقط لمرحلة الماجستير و الدكتوراه , مرحلة الدراسة الجامعية سيتم الاعلان عنها لاحقا

سوريا غير مشمولة في التقديم على هذه المنحة و سيكون هناك برنامج خاص للسوريين

مرحلة الماجستير والدكتوراه

وتشمل

منحة Ali Kuşçu للعلوم و التكنولوجيا : تشمل العلوم و الهندسات . للطلاب من جميع أنحاء العالم

منحة ابن خلدون : لدراسة العلوم الاجتماعية . للطلاب من جميع أنحاء العالم

المستوى الدراسي للمنحة : الماجستير و الدكتوراه

لاختصاص المطلوب : جميع الاختصاصات التى يتم تدريسها بالجامعات التركية . و يتم اختيار التخصص ضمن عملية التقييم من خلال الموقع الرسمى للتقدم.

يمكن الاطلاع على الجامعات المشاركة فى البرنامج و الاختصاصات المتاحة فى الرابط التالى : http://cut-urls.com/FqFp

المنحة: كاملة المصاريف تشمل : راتب شهري + السكن + الطعام بالاضافة لتكلفة الطيران - ويخضع المقبولون لسنة دراسة اللغة التركية مشمولة ضمن المنحة

شروط الحصول على المنحة : يجب على المتقدم عدم الحصول على الجنسية التركية

- بالنسبة للماجستير يجب على الطالب ان يكون ليس من مواليد قبل 1-1-1987 و ان يكون منتهى من الدراسة الجامعية او سيحصل عليها بنهاية السنة الحالية.

بالنسبة للدكتوراه : يجب على الطالب ان يكون ليس من مواليد قبل 1-1-1982 و ان يكون منتهى من مرحلة الماجيستيراو سيحصل عليها بنهاية السنة الحالية.

القبول الجامعى : الوثائق المطلوبة اجباريا

- صورة شخصية واضحة

- صو اثبات هوية او جواز سفر او شهادة ميلاد

- شهادة المؤهل التعليمي: او شهادة الجامعة للمتقدمين للماجستير, او شهادة الجامعة والماجستير للمتقدمين للدكتوراه. في حال لم تكن شهادة التخرج جاهزة أو تبقى على تخرج المتقدم عدة أشهر, فيمكن تقديم افادة رسمية مختومة تفيد بذلك ترفع الى الموقع عوضا عن شهادة التخرج.

- كشف الدرجات التعليمي يوضح درجات الطالب في المواد: بالنسبة لخريجي الثانوية هو نفسه شهادة الثانوية, وبالنسبه لخريجي الجامعة والماجستير فهو الكشف التفصيلي لدرجات المواد خلال سنوات الدراسة.

- رسالتي توصية من مدرس أو مدير في العمل: ومطلوبة بشكل أساسي من المتقدمين للدراسات العليا. ترفع رسالة التوصية الى الموقع بالاضافة الى ضرورة ادخال البريد الالكتروني للشخص الكاتب للتوصية, حيث ستصل إليه رسالة تطلب منه التأكيد بأنه الشخص الذي قام بكتابة الرسال

مستندات داعمة :

- شهادة كفاءة للغة الانجليزية في حال كانت الجامعة التي تم اختيارها تطلب شهادة اللغة كشرط اساسي. الشهادات المعتمدة هي شهادة التوفل (TOEFL) و شهادة الايلتس (IELTS). في حال كانت شهادة اللغة غير متوفرة اثناء التقديم, فيجب تجهيزها حتى موعد السفر في شهر سبتمبر.

- شهادة امتحان مهارات في حال كانت الجامعة التي تم اختيارها تتطلب ذلك. تطلب هذه الشهادة في الغالب من الطلاب المتقدمين للدراسات العليا, كشهاادة امتحان GRE أو GMAT. في حال كانت الشهادة المطلوبة غير متوفرة اثناء فترة التقديم, فيجب تجهيزها حتى موعد السفر في شهر سبتمبر.

وثائق اختيارية ليست إجبارية:

1) شهادات خبرة في اعمال سابقة انتظم فيها المتقدم.

2) شهادات مشاركة في دورات تدريب أو تأهيل او ندوات.

3) شهادات تكريم في أي مجال.

4) شهادات مشاركة في انشطة تطوعية خدمية.

تنبيه: عند استخراج جواز سفر, يجب مراعاة تطابق الاسم في الجواز وشهادة التخرج, خصوصا الاسم الاول واللقب

يتم التقديم من خلال الرابط الاتى :

http://cut-urls.com/gRHyI2j

Why is the Hedge Fund World Still so White and Male?

2017-01-19T03:04:00.000-08:00

The diversity issue plaguing the financial world is nothing new and well-documented in popular culture. While many outsiders may have assumed that recent decades and years would have brought changes to the balance of women and non-white employees into the investment industry, recent data suggests that the problem has persisted, and in fact that there have been very few signs of a shift toward racial and gender parity in most workplaces.

According to research organization Morningstar, only one out of 10 managers of mutual funds in the U.S. is a woman. In this regard, the U.S. lags well behind many other countries, including Singapore, Portugal, and France, where the rates of women managers reach to 30%, 28%, and 21%, respectively. The problem is not just a local one, however Morningstar's report indicates that the global rate is only 20%, and that this percentage has not changed at all since 2008.
Hedge funds see similar statistics as well. Globally, female CEOs of hedge funds constitute only 15% of the total pool, and the large majority of hedge fund leaders tend to be white. Morningstar indicates only a small number of Latinos and African-Americans are in top leadership positions in hedge funds around the world.
Analysts both inside and outside of the industry have asked a number of questions about this disparity. It seems likely that there are a number of potential causes or contributing factors to these issues, including engrained biases, hiring practices that are inclined to play favorites, poorly established resource pools and networks for certain applicant groups, and more.
A report by Business Insider explores some of the possible implications of the racial and gender disparity in the finance world. The report reveals everything from minor annoyances, such as women being asked about their roles in the workplace, to more significant issues including poor treatment from supervisors, harassment, and more. Nonetheless, most of the minority or female workers interviewed for the report suggested that overall, their work experiences had generally been positive. In fact, because investing provides concrete and quantifiable records of employee performance, some felt that there were checks against biases that otherwise might have impacted their careers. At the same time, though, interviewees indicated that having a "thick skin" was important, that there were frequent instances of being ignored or discounted, and more. Responders told stories of clients requesting coffee from female money managers, of widespread institutional racism and prejudice, of harassment at a variety of levels. Will the industry move to address these issues? Or will it continue to be business as usual for the foreseeable future?
A Problem Both Inside and Outside of the U.S.
Hedge Funds, Too
What May Be the Cause?
And What are the Implications?

10 Weird Things About Being Left-Handed

2017-01-18T04:32:00.003-08:00

For many people, being left-handed means there are a lot of little, everyday inconveniences that you just learn to deal with; from scissors to desks, the world was designed for right-handed people. But there are some very weird things that go along with being left-handed, including a long history of suspicion and distrust, along with a scientifically proven tendency to develop a mental illness.

10- People With Psychotic Disorders Are More Likely To Be Left-Handed

Left-handed people have long been viewed with a certain amount of suspicion. Recently, science has shown that there might be a solid reason for that. In 2013, Yale University researcher Jadon Webb conducted a survey among patients diagnosed with different types of psychotic illnesses, including schizophrenia. Participants in the study were asked to fill out a questionnaire, which included the question about which hand they wrote with. The results were surprising. Researchers found that about 40 percent of those who were suffering from psychosis were left-handed. That’s a significant percentage, considering that only about 10 percent of the population is left-handed.

Researchers believe that being left-handed involves having a sort of biomarker that might indicate a predilection toward mental illness—specifically psychosis. In studies done with other groups suffering from mental illness such as depression, there was no similar correlation. When these other groups were studied, there was a much more expected pattern where the number of left-handed sufferers was comparable to the overall percentage of left-handed people in the population.

9- Our Ancestors Also Had A Left-Handed Minority

We tend to think of right- or left-handed dominance in terms of modern things, like what hand we write with or use for the television remote. But, it turns out, early humans were favoring one or the other even 500,000 years ago. Researchers have taken a look at Neanderthal tools and have found that the vast majority of them show wear and tear consistent with right-handed use. Many of the tools were used in the cleaning of hides, which the individual would typically grip with their teeth and rake with a tool to clean. Teeth would often get scratched by the stone tool, and the direction of the scratches indicates which hand was used. In most cases, it was the right hand.

There were, of course, left-handed individuals. Today, about 10 percent of the population is left-handed, which seems to be fully consistent with the researchers’ findings about Neanderthals. This supports the theory that they’re much more like us than has been previously thought. Even other animals that are thought to be pretty close to us on the evolutionary tree—like gorillas and chimpanzees—are only about 5 percent more likely to favor their right hands than their left hands.

8- Left-Handed Tendencies And Language

No other animal has such a huge bias against being left-handed. So why humans? It’s thought that it has something to do with language. For most people, language develops in the left side of the brain—specifically, in Broca’s area. This is where we not only develop ideas but translate them into a form of communication that others can understand. Since the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, the prevalence of right-handed individuals is an outward sign of left-brain dominance.

However, it’s now been discovered that, in some people, language skills happen in the right side of the brain. These individuals are subsequently left-handed. It’s not just that cut-and-dried, either. The more a person favored one hand or the other, the stronger the connection was with the other side of the brain. People who use their left hand for almost everything have an extremely high chance of being right-brain language dominant. Additionally, those who have a familial history of a high rate of left-handed individuals also have a stronger right-brain language processing center, suggesting that as a species we became left-handed and right-handed when we started developing language.

7- Left-Handed Spiral Stairs

It’s well known that many medieval castles have spiral staircases built as a defense measure. A spiral staircase that turns clockwise gives the defender (presumably the one backing up the stairs or coming down them) a better freedom of movement. The defender can place his left hand on the central “post” for balance and strike down with the sword in his right hand. That assumes the defenders are right-handed, which is a problem for those who aren’t. So what’s a left-handed lord to do?

Ferniehirst Castle in Scotland is the ancestral home of the Kerr family, which traces their family tree back to their arrival in Britain alongside William the Conqueror in 1066. They’re said to have a long history of left-handedness running in the family. According to the story, many of the Kerr homes and castles—like Ferniehirst—were constructed with spiral staircases that go counterclockwise (as pictured above) instead of the traditional clockwise ones. This allowed the largely left-handed clan to maximize their defenses, making it easier for them to fight while simultaneously presenting a major challenge to anyone who tried to take their castles by force. The early lords discovered the massive advantage held by left-handed fighters, and it became tradition to train all their guards and soldiers to fight left-handed. This lead to the term “Kerr-handed” or “corrie-fisted” to describe someone who favors their left hand.

6- Fear Of The Left-Handed Might Be Innate

Similar results were found when the threat was changed to a radioactive disaster; even though the occurrence on the right was closer, the left was viewed as more of a threat. People were also more disgusted by objects on their left, as illustrated by how far out of their way they went to avoid things like fake poop. There are a couple of different theories about why this happens, such as our brain’s tendency to overcompensate for things and favor the right, as well as most of us feeling more capable of defending ourselves from threats on our stronger—right—side.History hasn’t been kind to the left-handed. They were made to retrain their hands and even punished for using the “wrong” one. But now, science is suggesting that it’s not just the desire to make people conform to a certain standard that has created this bias against left-handed people. According to researchers at the University of Utah, things that have to do with our left side are innately more scary. For the experiment, researchers exposed their subjects to a number of different threats, coming from either their right or left side. For example, in one case, participants were told that an earthquake had hit to the left or to the right of their city (on a map shown) and asked whether they would evacuate because of the danger of aftershocks. The earthquake to their left was seen as much scarier, and more people chose to evacuate.

5- The Left-Handed Biblical Warriors

According to Judges, the Benjamites were incredible warriors that could hit a single human hair with a sling and used a bow with unparalleled ambidextrous skill. There is debate as to how this warrior tribe developed the left-handed fighting style. One theory states that the Benjamites were simply predisposed to being left-handed, much like the abovementioned Kerr family. Another theory focuses on the translation. The words used to describe their left-handed fighting style didn’t just mean “left-handed” but also, quite literally, “restricted in his right hand.” Some think that this translation hints at the tribe taking great lengths to retrain right-handed people to use a left-handed fighting style, giving them an edge in battle. It’s also possible that the Bible took special note of specifically left-handed Benjamites because of the humor in their name: “Benjamin” translates as “son of my right hand,” so the left-handed Benjamites were, ironically, “left-handed right-handers.”We’ve talked a bit about how someone left-handed may have an advantage in combat, and that’s certainly been well-known throughout history. In fact, the Bible makes special mention of left-handed warriors, which has led to an interesting debate. Needing to free Israel from the rule of the Moabites, God sent Ehud, a left-handed assassin, to carry out one of the most gruesome Biblical assassinations. A big deal is made of left-handed Ehud sneaking his double-bladed dagger into the king’s presence by hiding it on his right thigh. Ehud is far from the only left-hander that the Bible mentions. These Biblical left-handers were warriors that came from a tribe called the Benjamites.

4- King George VI And Retraining Of Left-Handed Children

Even kings weren’t exempt from this; tutors struggled to get the young Duke of York (later George VI) to start using his right hand instead of his left, along with working on his well-known stutter. This, along with other children developing stutters after similar retraining, gave rise to the idea that the two were somehow connected. A number of medical works were presented on how retraining children to become right-handed would lead to the development of a stutter, as well as conditions like dyslexia and other reading difficulties. It was put forth that switching dominant hands led to a struggle for dominance between the two sides of the brain, which in turn manifested itself in a stutter. This theory led to a massive rethinking of the whole retraining idea, and the practice began to die out.The bias against left-handed children has resulted in some pretty extreme measures. A Zulu child who ate his porridge with his left hand could expect to have that hand burned in the hot porridge as a lesson. Even in 20th-century Britain children could expect to have their left hand tied down to make them use their right one. British child psychologists that supported this retraining method also preached that children who used their left hand were simply demonstrating—and developing—a defiant personality that needed to be corrected as soon as possible.

Nowadays, it’s thought that there’s a different reason that children forced to change their hand of choice can develop a stutter: It has more to do with being put in a stressful situation than with the two sides of the brain arguing with each other.

3- Cesare Lombroso’s Theories On The Left-Handed

Lombroso thought that there was a higher part of the brain that was connected to logic and reason, while the lower part of the brain was responsible for governing man’s baser urges and emotions. It was this lower brain that dictated the lives of the left-handed, as well as of criminals, lunatics, and the generally wicked. He also said that while a person who’s left-handed wasn’t necessarily bad, left-handedness was one of the traits that he had found to be present in “the worst characters among the human species.” Lombroso pointed to a long history of bias against the left-handed in support of his theory, which, at the time, was viewed as medical fact and pretty new, revolutionary science. Weirdly, his ideas haven’t gone away. Scientists as recently as the 1990s have used his work as a basis for their studies that have concluded that left-handed people were more prone to genetic disorders and had shorter lifespans.Since Lombroso was a physician who lived at the turn of the 20th century, you’d expect his opinions on the matter of left-handed people to have been a little more clinical and forgiving . . . but we’ll let his words speak for him: “Man advances in civilization and culture; he shows an always greater right-sidedness as compared to . . . women and savage races; [who] even when they are not properly left-handed have certain gestures and movements which are a species of left-handedness.” In case that leaves any doubt as to his position on the matter, he went on to explain it.

2- Debunking The Myth Of Shorter Lifespans

Our left-handed readers will be glad to know that the theory has since been debunked as total garbage. The numbers might work and the method might have been theoretically sound . . . so where’s the discrepancy? The problem is a weird one. Throughout history, left-handed people have been forced to become right-handed, and that practice has only really recently begun to change. So when researchers took a look at how many people had died, their results were skewed. To collect data for their study, they called the families of the deceased and asked them whether their loved ones had been right-handed or left-handed; given the age of the people the survey was investigating, there was undoubtedly a large number of left-handed people who had grown up in a world where being left-handed was discouraged and frowned upon. So not only would they have tried to hide their left-handed tendencies, but their families would have identified them as largely right-handed. Those who admitted to being left-handed tended to be younger, having grown up after the stigma went away. This made it seem like the young deaths of left-handed people were representative of the whole.Speaking of the myth that left-handed people don’t live as long as right-handed ones, let’s take a look at that oft-repeated statistic. According to a study published between the late 1980s and early 1990s, a survey of 2,000 people living—and dying—in Southern California led researchers to conclude that left-handed people were, on average, nine years younger when they died. Researchers then went on to speculate that the cause of death had something to do with living in a world designed for right-handed people; statistics like left-handed drivers being about five times more likely to die in a car accident seemed to support this theory. Sort of. They also looked at the number of other types of accidents left-handed people were involved in and chalked it all up to them having to deal with the daily difficulties of using things designed for right-handed people, like knives and power tools. Sounds . . . almost right?

1- Being Left-Handed Might Help You Survive The Apocalypse

The baseline for the population’s percentage of left-handed people is around 10 percent, but in some societies that number is far greater. Among Venezuela’s Yanomami tribe, about 5 in every 1,000 people are murdered yearly—and about 23 percent of the population is left-handed. For the Eipo in Indonesia, the murder rate is 3 in 1,000, and they’re about 27 percent left-handed. And then there are the people of Jimi Valley in Papua New Guinea, who have a murder rate of 5.4 in 1,000 and an above-average instance of left-handed people at 13 percent.The end is nigh, society is crumbling, and civilization is falling apart. People are scrambling for whatever supplies they can find in order to make it through the night. Chances are, you’ve been part of (or at least overheard) a conversation about what you’d require to get you through the apocalypse. You probably have never heard someone say that they’d like to be left-handed, but perhaps that should actually be the first answer they think of. If you’ve seen Rocky, you know how much of an advantage left-handed fighters have, and studies have shown that the more lawless the society, the greater that advantage is.

The study, conducted by the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences, University Montpellier, shows a measurable difference between the most violent societies and the most peaceful ones. For instance, the Dioula from West Africa have a murder rate of 0.013 in 1,000 murder and a left-handed rate of only 3 percent. Researchers conjecture that the advantage of being left-handed in a violent society isn’t just a matter of survival, it’s a matter of natural selection and allowing one generation to pass its left-handed traits on to the next.