The Importance Of Art And Its Impact On Society - 2506 Words

Throughout history, one of the most expressive mediums through which humans can convey their thoughts is via art. Whether it is through sculpture, painting, or a print, an artist is capable of making a political statement or endorsing an idea simply by subtly alluding to it in their work. Alternatively, an artist can be forthright with their ideals as would have been the case for people such as the Dadaists. In any case, artists are able to support a lot more than just beauty in their work, and a pretty sky or a scantily clad woman on a canvas does not always directly reflect what the artist is truly saying. Unsurprisingly, it did not take long for those in power to realize the significance of art, and so for as long as art has been around, those in power have wanted its endorsement. The Spanish Royal Family wanted Diego Velazquez to flatter them, and noblemen such as Philip the Good wanted Jan Van Eyck for a court painter (Philip). 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Teaching Philosophy Is Perennialism An Opinion Essay

A philosophy provides a framework for thinking and guides professional practice, (p. 219). My teaching philosophy is perennialism, and it will help me to address the lack of motivation to learn beyond the boundaries of the rote methods that these students have been trained to work with, due in large part to No Child Left Behind. As a perennialist, I believe in time-honored absolutes when it comes to my instructional methods and approach (p. 219). It is not the fault of these students that they have not been taught how to think critically and creatively about history. They have been taught that their whole life in education depends on their test scores, which is why they simply want to know the right answer and the wrong answer on the test. As important as the tests are to their educational record, as well as to my own and my schools record, I will not give up on helping these students learn how to think as well as what to think. When students ask, Why do we have to learn this stuff? 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Goboy BSED- IV March 02, 2013 Second Semester SY: 2012- 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgement †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Dedication†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Philosophy of Education†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. StudentRead MoreExistentialism vs Essentialism23287 Words   |  94 Pages------------------------------------------------- Essentialism vs. Existentialism Essentialism: A belief that things have a set of characteristics that make them what they are, amp; that the task of science and philosophy is their discovery amp; expression; the doctrine that essence is prior to existence While, Existentialism:A philosophical theory or approach, that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free amp; responsible agent, determining

A Case Analysis of BP Russia-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Case Study of British Petroleum in Russia. Answer: Introduction British Petroleum first opened their office in Moscow in the year 1990. Since then, the company is working with collaboration with different leading Russian oil and gas companies. They entered the Russian oil market by purchasing 10% share in Sidanco in 1997, the largest oil company in that time (Spekman and Linetsky 2013). By 2002, they increased their share to 25% plus one share (bp.com 2017). Their noticeable move was in 2003, merging with TNK to form TNK-BP and operating in nearly all the major Russian hydrocarbon region. They made a profit of $55 billion in the period of 2003-12 (bp.com 2017). BP sold their 50% of share in TNK-Bp to Rosneft in exchange of $12.5 billion and 18.5% share of Rosneft in 2012, which was finalize in 2013. BP and Rosenft signed a Heads of Agreement on exploration and possible development of Domanik formation in the Volga-Urals region in May 2014, and signed another agreement with Rosenft in June designing to organize long-term deliveries of oil products and crude oil on pre-paid basis. BP purchased a 20% share of Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha from Rosneft in 2015. By June 2016, Bp and Rosneft was holding the share of Yermak Neftgaz in a ration of 49:51 (bp.com 2017). Industry analysis Profitability Five forces It is an analytical tool for analyzing different level of competition in the industry. It will be used in the report to gain the idea about BPs competitors and environmental factors that comes into action in Russia. Threat of new entrants This threat depends on the entry and exit barriers in any particular industry. This industry requires a huge capital investment and technical knowledge, which makes it hard for the new entrants to enter the market. The threat of new entrants is very low and reduced through the first mover advantage obtained by making partnership with TNK (E. Dobbs 2014). Threat of Substitute Products Coal, solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectricity, nuclear energy, and many other types are considered as the substitute products of oil and gas. The threat for BP in Russian market is low due to an increased cost of production of alternative energy. On to it, the alternative energies do not have the similar efficiency that is provided by oil and gas. Hence, these high cost alternative energies become less attractive for the consumers (Rothaermel 2015). Rivalry among the Existing companies British petroleum is currently facing challenges in operating in Russian oil market. The alliance with Rosneft was accused to be violating TNK-BP shareholders agreement by AAR As the Aar believed that BP could not form a new oil and gas exploration partnership with Rosneft without working through TNK-Bp. AAR group sought an interim injunction in an English court to stop BP-Rosneft alliance which was granted by the court. Bp has to come up with a new plan for the hurdle faced (Aithal 2016; Shuen, Feiler and Teece 2014). Bargaining Power of Suppliers Bp has collaboration with AAR in TNK-BP which gains the company a strong base in Russian oil market. Moreover, considering the high number of supplies and maximum size of the supplies and there were high switching cost as BP strong supplier power (Dlken 2014). Bargaining Power of the Buyer It depends on the level of control of the buyer has to force down the product price and bargain for higher quality or better service. As the gas and oil is a commodity, which has a low loyalty, the bargaining power is medium. Considering the less number of suppliers in the market makes the price more or less stable, as the buyer will likely to go in favor of low process (Harrel 2016). Company Analysis Resource and Capabilities By resources, it means the assets that the company is holding. On the other hand, capabilities are the complex patterns of skill in utilizing resources to achieve a desired end-result. The company first established its office in Moscow in 1997 and since then they have gained many assets in the market. In 1997, BP entered the Russian oil market by purchasing 10% market share of Sidanko. In 2002, BP purchased 15% more of Sidanko with one market share. Next year Bp invested US$ 6.75 and became 50-50 joint venture with AAR, to be known as TNK-BR (forbes.com 2017). Their joint venture generated $ 19 billion of net dividends for BPs shareholders, excluding the taxes and duties of $190 billion paying to the Rsuuian Federation. The company had Human resource of fifty thousand employees working in TNK-BP. Moreover, BP had their separate three hundred staffs in Russia. The organization continually invested for their professional development with training of 177,000 days over five year period ( undergraduatelibrary.org 2017). The company had access to a wide range of natural resources. Their production facilities hold around 9.1bn barrels of oil in the reserves. On to it, the company started to exploit the gas reserves in 2005 (Thurner and Proskuryakova 2014). It enabled them to use a more diversified use of their resource base. This highlighted their aim in the changing environment and was recognized as their key aim in strategy refreshment in 2011. This assets of the joint collaborated organization enabled BP to grow their global production (Stepanov and Shrives 2013) BP had always invested in their research and development division to stay ahead in technology in the oil and gas industry. In Russia, they implemented their high efficient recovery and production process to ensure their long-term competitive advantage. They increased their margin and created competitive advantage in the market with their superior technology. However, the British Petroleum had stronger RD than their partner in TNK-BP which is important in the context of their breakdown of partnership. It gives BP more information control in the joint venture. BP achieved a good will of $9.1 billion in 2003. This value helps the company boost it downstream sales for the business as it is recognized as a quality petroleum offering. On the other hand, ethical business operation can help the company to improve the efficiency of the business and yeild advantage over competitors Company Business Strategy Business strategy of British Petroleum in Russia will be discussed in this part of the report. Evidence of a number of incompatible strategies has been spotted in the case. BP in the Russian market was tie up with TNK, a local oil company to do their business in the industry. The TNK-BP wanted to promote high standards of corporate governance, which required a developed operational structure and procedure that make their management accountable. However, the majority of the board positions were filled with a large number of western BP-sponsored who were not tied up with Russian corruption. Internal division and cultural clash in the organization became inevitable due to this reason (Peng 2013). On the other hand, an advanced technological advancement was necessary in the business that was supply by BP. However, this give BP the upper hand in the company, which again contributed towards cultural division This also has a positive outcome as the company was able to extract maximum amount of oil that kept their investors happy. Another incompatibility can be seen in the organization, which is the investors desire. TNK-BP was just a Russian business for BP, whereas their Russian partner visualizes it as the scope to expand internationally. These incompatibilities led to the demise of TNK-BP (Verbeke 2013). The incompetence of the business strategy was evident during the attempt to form partnership with Rosneft. The situation occurred, as the companies did not established strategic fit. TNK-BP was bias towards BP due to the formation of an unhealthy organizational culture within the organization. After overcoming the drawbacks, BP is now doing their business in Russia by making Rosneft their partner. It is a state owned Oil Company. To avoid the previous misconducts, agreement was do between the two companies with a degree of equity swap. An integration committee was form to avoid possible cultural conflict. BPs new business strategy with Rosneft can be sum up as follows: Maximum use of technological expertise in deep-water operations to recover reserves in the Arctic Circle. Use the projects of Rosneft as a supply source to Asia and provide energy to the emerging markets. Maintain balance of due-diligence to prevent all possible corruption interference with business activities. Involvement in the board of the Rosneft in order to manage the political risk in Russia. If the company can maintain the business strategy opted, they will be able to gain a long term profit out of this joint venture (bp.com, 2017). Strategic Leadership Evidence Strategic leadership can be refer as the ability to influence others to make decision that enhance the prospects for the organizations long-term success. Clearly, BP in Russia lacked a proper leadership strategy that became the prime reason for their fall. As discussed in the company business strategy, the culture clash became the primary reason in their failure. Despite of their significant growth in Russian oil and gas market in collaboration with TNK, their different business strategy resulted in cultural clash within the company cornered the company resulted into breakdown of the partnership. The joint venture of TNK-BP appointed approximately fifty thousand skilled people. BP alone stationed around 300 staffs in Russia. This led to the acquisition on BP hiring western people for significant post of the company. This resulted in cultural polarization. A proper strategic leadership could have foreseen the situation and take necessary steps in advance in which the company failed (H ouse et al. 2013). Current Position of the Company There have been many changes over past few years since 2011, when the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal formally stopped BPs effort to ally with Rosneft for Arctic oil exploration. On 2012, the company sold 50% of his TNK-BP share to Rosneft. Later, the company got approval from the Russian Federation for acquisition of 5.66% of Rosneft. The deal was finalized in the year 2013 where received US$ 12.5 billion in addition to 18.5% of Rosneft in exchange of its 50% stake in TNK-BP . 18.5% combining with 1.25% pre-deal holding resulted in 19.75% holding of BP in Rosneft. Rosneft sold 20% of its share of Taas-Yuryah Neftegazodobycha to British Petroleum, thus creating a new joint venture in East Siberia (bp.com 2017). Recently in 2017, these two companies signed final binding agreement to create a new joint venture, Yermak Neftegaz LLC that will be focusing on the onshore exploration of two major AMIs in West Siberian and Yenisey-Khatanga basins. It will cover a combining area of approximate ly 260,000 square kilometers (bp.com/en 2017). Conclusion Based on the above discussion and the current situation of the company, a conclusion can be drawn that British Petroleum has high chances in developing in the Russian oil and gas market due to their alliance with Rosneft. Rosneft is not in the oil and gas business for long, but shows ambitious growth plans, which include, its first liquefied natural gas plant. On the other hand, BP has a lot of complementary skills and ambitions and possess the most competitive LNG plants. Moreover, they have most mature assets such as water flood fields. Russia has the most number of water flood reservoirs in the world and BP has the experience in managing water flooding. This can come out as a great deal in future. The aim of BP in Russia is to build a business in which BP has quotable, material production that is separate from the production comes through Rosneft. BP is looking forward to build around 200,000 barrels a day in Russia. They need more investments and bigger plans for that. BP wants t o go more in the Downstream or venturing for low-cost and the gas potential. References Aithal, P.S., 2016. Study on ABCD analysis technique for business models, business strategies, operating concepts business systems.Browser Download This Paper. bp.com. (2017).strategic report. [online] Available at: https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/pdf/investors/bp-strategic-report-2015.pdf [Accessed 7 Aug. 2017]. bp.com. (2017).Working in Russia. [online] Available at: https://www.bp.com/en_ru/russia/about-bp-in-russia/business.html [Accessed 7 Aug. 2017]. bp.com/en. (2017).Why Russia matetrs. [online] Available at: https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/bp-magazine/locations/the-energy-giant-why-russia-matters-for-oil-and-gas.html [Accessed 7 Aug. 2017]. Dlken, F., 2014.Are porters five competitive forces still applicable? a critical examination concerning the relevance for todays business(Bachelor's thesis, University of Twente). Dobbs, M., 2014. Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates.Competitiveness forbes.com. (2017).four horsemen. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2015/01/21/the-four-horsemen-of-russias-economic-apocalypse/#3620d1931542 [Accessed 7 Aug. 2017]. Harrell, L., 2016. British petroleum (BP): a critical analysis of its corporate and international strategies.International Journal of Research in IT and Management,6(3), pp.143-161. House, R.J., Dorfman, P.W., Javidan, M., Hanges, P.J. and de Luque, M.F.S., 2013.Strategic leadership across cultures: GLOBE study of CEO leadership behavior and effectiveness in 24 countries. Sage Publications. Peng, M.W., 2013.Global strategy. Cengage learning. Rothaermel, F.T., 2015.Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education. Spekman, Robert E. and Linetsky, Zuri, 2013. BP in Russia: Bad Partners or Bad Partnerships? (A). Darden Case No. UVA-M-0819. Stepanov, R. and Shrives, P., 2013. Analysis of corporate governance disputes in the Russian context: a case study of TNK-BP.NBS Working Paper Series. Thurner, T. and Proskuryakova, L.N., 2014. Out of the coldthe rising importance of environmental management in the corporate governance of Russian oil and gas producers.Business Strategy and the Environment,23(5), pp.318-332. Verbeke, A., 2013.International business strategy. Cambridge University Press. Shuen, A., Feiler, P.F. and Teece, D.J., 2014. Dynamic capabilities in the upstream oil and gas sector: Managing next generation competition.Energy Strategy Reviews,3, pp.5-13.

Strategic Management The Commercial Airline Industry

Important micro influences of the commercial airline industry The PESTLE analysis tool is relevant for presenting influences for the airline industry. Political factors have had a major role in influencing growth. For example, many countries have considered a national commercial airline as part of the national pride, and this has translated to the government’s willingness to support such airlines to show a country’s competitiveness. Economic factors have also played a role in ensuring there is a growing business for the airline.Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on Strategic Management: The Commercial Airline Industry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More More than 3 billion people who fly annually do so because their incomes or their companies’ incomes support air travel choices. On the other hand, growth in capital availability through the development of markets around the world has allowed inve stors and investment groups to participate in the building of the commercial airline industry. This has happened through the sale of private airlines to the public, allowing more companies to tap into the freely available capital from people’s savings (Basignani 2011). The third factor is the social, where people have come to change mindsets about flying. In the past, flying was a privileged activity for the well-endowed people in society. The division of commercial flying into different classes like the economy, business, and first class ensures that even the most cost-sensitive customer can afford a flight in most cases. Low-cost budget airlines have also eased the pressure of flying, and they have transformed it into a means of travel as ordinary as bus transport. Technological factors have also created a micro influence in the industry. For example, internet booking has made airlines friendlier and responsive to customer needs, which has promoted customer loyalty. Another technological trend is the use of social media for marketing, which has helped the management of commercial airlines to collect customer intelligence inexpensively for improvement of service delivery (Basignani 2011). Legal factors that have an influence on airlines’ operations include the bilateral agreements between countries, the immigration laws on the movement of labor, and the protection of business interests in different countries to allow commercial airlines to have more than one operation base for serving their customers. The developments are not very significant; they influence the opportunities and risks of the airline industry based on a collective scale (Basignani 2011). Lastly, environmental factors have also had a role in shaping the current industry. As consumers continue to increase their awareness of clean travel and the impact of waste on their quality of life, they are cutting back on unnecessary travel using unclean means. The number of conscious consume rs making such choices remains low, but the trend is notable and will be a considerable opinion maker for leading industry heads (Basignani 2011). Three factors of most interest to BA CEO daily According to a report by IATA, passengers remain the core thinking of the airline business, and the BA CEO will have to think of this often (Basignani 2011). Within the passenger segment, the CEO will be considering the business segment that is the most profitable for airlines. The CEO will be looking at the cost of business travel overall and seek to position the airline to match the trends in travel. Business travelers are affected by the overall cost of doing business in a particular region and prefer to fly business class for its convenience.Advertising Looking for coursework on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Airlines have to work in partnership with hotels and tour/travel companies to facilitate smooth transfe rs of business travels when checking in and checking out of a particular destination. Thus, the cost of the auxiliary service providers that collaborate with the airline will end up affecting the competitiveness of the airline’s business package. The CEO, in this case, will be interested in ongoing partnerships at providing value added services to passengers. For destinations with a glut of business hotel rooms, airlines have an opportunity for earning high rates of profitability as the overall cost of business travel reduce for their partnership deals as is the case in the Asia-Pacific region (Baker 2015). The second factor of most interest to the CEO of BA would be the strengths and weaknesses of the company about its market conditions. In the airline industry, the main actors are customers, suppliers, potential entrants and airline rivals. The use of the Porter’s five force analysis can help to reveal the exposure of BA’s business to market threats (Why airli nes make such 2014). These threats are then featured on the strength and weakness analysis to expose the choices that the CEO has to sustain the business. BA is part of the International Airlines Group (IAG). The airline’s strengths are in its operation of the modern Airbus A380 plane in its lucrative business traveler routes. A modern fleet allows customers to enjoy comfort and has been a significant determinant of the ‘SuperBrands’ award for British Airways (British Airways Plc. 2015). The major weakness for BA has been the cost of its services to passengers. The company faces threats of substitution from low-cost airlines that offer budget travel solutions across Europe. It faces the same threats on its Atlantic route where legacy airlines are increasing their focus on the route, which increases threats of existing rivalry. At the same time, there is a threat of new entrants into the routes that BA dominates, especially in Africa and Asia. These market forces are affecting the realization of the full benefits of BA’s strength factors, which are its customer care service, its modern fleet, and safety record (British Airways Plc. 2015). Nevertheless, BA is seeking to challenge all parts of the cost base to ensure that it remain competitive and profitable at all levels and can use its strengths to minimize weaknesses and withstand market threats (Wright 2015). The third factor worth daily considerations of the CEO is the staff welfare and turnover interests at BA. Over the last five years, the company has faced strikes and strike threats from sections of its workforce. The biggest claims for striking have been paying claims that do not go well with a turbulent airline industry reports and forecasts. The company faces a challenge of keeping costs down, and it must satisfy employee demands to ensure high-quality service delivery to its customers.Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on Strategic Management: The Comm ercial Airline Industry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The biggest challenge and weakness for the company have been the use of inferior terms of employment for recently employed staffs over the existing staff in the cabin-crew section (Topham 2014). Therefore, the CEO will have to look consistently at ways of cutting overall staff costs without leading to glaring differences in employee pay that lead to employee disappointment and poor demonstration of organizational loyalty. In summing up, the CEO will duly consider passenger numbers concerning their profitability, the strengths and weakness of the company and the way they unfold against competitive market forces. Lastly, the CEO will consider staff welfare as a market for service quality and overall airline competitiveness. Reference List ‘Why airlines make such meagre profits’, 2014, The Economist. Web. Baker, M. B. 2015, 2015 corporate travel index: As Asia/Pacific demand falls short of supply, business travel costs drop. Web. Basignani, G. 2011, ‘IATA vision 2050’, Report, International Air Transport Association, Singapore. British Airways Plc. 2015, Annual reports and accounts year ended 31 December 2014. Web. Topham, G. 2014, British Airways cabin crew ready to strike over pay claim. Web.Advertising Looking for coursework on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Wright, R. 2015, Airline margins widest since mid-1960s but rivalry casts shadow. 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Iso 9001 Quality Management System Essays

Iso 9001 Quality Management System Essays Iso 9001 Quality Management System Essay Iso 9001 Quality Management System Essay EME2036 MANUFACTURING AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Lecturer: MR JAMIL BIN HASHIM Title: 17. ISO 9001 Quality Management System Trimester 3 2010/11 No| Name| Id| 1| CHUAH KIM SAN| | 2| SOON JAN FEI| | 3| CHAN JUN YU| | 4| KOK ZIH FONG| | 5| TAN WEN JUN| | | | | | | | Title: ISO 9001 Quality Management System Acknowledgements We would like to thank our Manufacturing and Operations Management lecturers, Mr Jamil bin Hasim and Ms How Heoy Geok for all the patience and guidance given to us throughout our research. Besides that, thanks to each group members for their precious time and fantastic team work. They were present in every meeting, dedicated in gathering information, and diligent in writing the report. Last but not least, thanks our parents for having faith in us as well as friends who supported us all the way. Thank you from the bottom of our heart. Abstract Our group consists of 5 members and we choose to study and analyze ISO 9001 Quality Management System. The purpose of this research is to learn more about ISO 9001 Quality Management System. First, we introduce what is ISO 9001 Quality Management System. Next, we expound the concept of the topic. Then, we discuss the implementation issues and its applicability thoroughly. In addition, the benefits are included in this report. Finally, we conclude what do we learned from this research assignment. We obtained information mainly from International Standard Organization (ISO) main website. Besides that, we searched related journals from MMU Library Website data base. We also included the citations from various related journals. Introduction ISO 9001 is an international quality certification that defines minimum requirements for a companys Quality Management System (QMS). A companys QMS comprises the organizations policies, procedures and other internal requirements that ensure customer requirements are met with consistency resulting in customer satisfaction. Some of the areas of the company within the scope of ISO 9001 include: * Customer contracts * Hiring and employee training * Design and development of products and services * Production and delivery of products and services * Selection and managing of suppliers| * Management responsibility * Internal quality audits * Monitoring and measuring * Continual improvement * Corrective and preventive action| To receive an ISO 9001 certification a company must put the required QMS processes and controls in place, monitor performance of its processes and demonstrate continual improvement. Most companies hire an experienced consulting firm to assist with these preparations. Once the QMS is in place, a registrar (or certification body) is hired to audit the companys compliance with ISO 9001 requirements. If discrepancies are found during the audit, they must be corrected before the ISO 9001 certificate is issued. The ISO 9001 certification must be maintained through regular audits (bi-annual or annual) conducted by the selected registrar. Why seek certification to ISO 9001? Registration to ISO 9001 by an accredited certification body shows committed to quality, customers, and a willingness to work towards improving efficiency. * It demonstrates the existence of an effective quality management system that satisfies the rigors of an independent, external audit. * An ISO 9001 certificate enhances company image in the eyes of customers, employees and shareholders alike. * It also gives a competitive edge to an organization’s marketing. Concept of the topic Why an org anization should implement ISO 9001:2008? To keep customers satisfied, the organization needs to meet their requirements. This is because without satisfied customers, an organization will be in peril. The ISO 9001:2008 standard provides a tried and tested framework for taking a systematic approach to managing the organizations processes so that they consistently turn out product that satisfies customers expectations. Quality management principles There are eight quality management principles on which the quality management system standards of the ISO 9000:2000 and ISO 9000:2008 series are based. These principles can be used by senior management as a framework to guide their organizations towards improved performance. The principles are derived from the collective experience and knowledge of the international experts who participate in ISO Technical Committee ISO/TC 176, Quality management and quality assurance, which is responsible for developing and maintaining the ISO 9000 standards. The eight quality management principles are defined in ISO 9000:2005, Quality management systems Fundamentals and vocabulary, and in ISO 9004:2000, Quality management systems Guidelines for performance improvements. The eight quality management principles are: * Principle 1: Customer focus * Principle 2: Leadership * Principle 3: Involvement of people * Principle 4: Process approach * Principle 5: System approach to management * Principle 6: Continual improvement * Principle 7: Factual approach to decision making * Principle 8: Mutually beneficial supplier relationships Applicability ISO 9001:2008 ISO 9001:2008 has been developed in order to introduce clarifications to the existing requirements of ISO 9001:2000 and to improve compatibility with ISO 14001:2004. ISO 9001:2008 does not introduce additional requirements nor does it change the intent of the ISO 9001:2000 standard. No new requirements were introduced in ISO 9001:2008 edition but, in order to benefit from the clarifications of ISO 9001:2008, users of the former version will need to take into consideration whether the clarifications introduced have an impact on their current interpretation of ISO 9001:2000, as changes may be necessary to their QMS. ISO 9001:2008 is intended to be generic and applicable to all organizations, regardless of type, size and product category. It is recognized, however, that not all the requirements of this standard will necessarily be relevant to all organizations. Under certain circumstances, an organization may consider the exclusion of the application of some requirements of ISO 9001:2008 from its QMS. ISO 9001:2008 makes allowance for such situations, through sub-clause 1. 2 Application. How the ISO 9001:2008 model works? The requirements for a quality system have been standardized but many organizations like to think of themselves as unique. So how does ISO 9001:2008 allow for the diversity of say, on the one hand, a Mr. and Mrs. enterprise, and on the other, to a multinational manufacturing company with service components, or a public utility, or a government administration? The answer is that ISO 9001:2008 lays down what requirements your quality system must meet, but does not dictate how they should be met in any particular organization. This leaves great scope and flexibility for implementation in different business sectors and business cultures, as well as in different national cultures. Checking that it works 1. The standard requires the organization itself to audit its ISO 9001:2008-based quality system to verify that it is managing its processes effectively or, to put it another way, to check that it is fully in control of its activities. 2. In addition, the organization may invite its clients to audit the quality system in order to give them confidence that the organization is capable of delivering products or services that will meet their requirements. 3. Lastly, the organization may engage the services of an independent quality system certification body to obtain an ISO 9001:2008 certificate of conformity. This last option has proved extremely popular in the market-place because of the perceived credibility of an independent assessment. The organization may thus avoid multiple audits by its clients, or reduce the frequency or duration of client audits. The certificate can also serve as a business reference between the organization and potential clients, especially when supplier and client are new to each other, or far removed geographically, as in an export context. How is the Certification Achieved? There are basically four steps to get certified: Step 1: Plan The starting point for a company pursuing ISO certification is the planning and preparation of the required processes and documentation specified in the ISO 9001 standard. While these requirements are comprehensive in scope, meaning they apply to most areas of your business, they are also very general in their descriptions, meaning they can be adapted to any type of business. Because of this non-specific language, the ISO standard is extremely flexible and may be implemented in a variety of ways to suit your specific way of doing business. Step 2: Implement The starting point for any ISO implementation is to identify and define your key business processes; that is, how you produce and deliver your products and services to your customers. For each process, measurable performance measures and objectives (called quality objectives) must be developed and implemented to serve as the basis for continual improvement. In addition to defined processes and objectives, certain formal documents must be developed and implemented to provide control of your processes. The first is a quality manual that defines policies your company follows based on the ISO requirements. Additionally, six administrative procedures must be documented and implemented which include: control of documents, control of records, internal auditing, control of nonconforming products, corrective action, and preventive action. Beyond these basic six procedures, your company must determine any additional procedures, work instructions, forms or other formal documents needed to effectively implement your QMS. In prior editions of ISO 9001 (prior to 2000), there were numerous required procedures. More recent versions of the tandard have reduced the focus on required documentation and increased focus on control and improvement of your key business processes. Once your processes and documents are developed and implemented, train your employees. Once your QMS is implemented, it is required that you maintain your system for a minimum of 60 90 days before your certification. This waiting period is necessary to generate sufficient records of your QMS to be auditable. Newly developed proc esses and documents cannot be demonstrated effectively without some auditable history for the auditor to review. This timeframe should be factored into your overall project plan for certification. Step 3: Review During the Review Stage you will conduct your internal audit and management review. Once these are completed, your QMS is considered implemented and your company is ISO Compliant, though not yet certified. Step 4: Certify The ISO 9001 certification is granted by a third-party auditing firm called a Registrar who specializes in quality system auditing. There are a wide variety of Registrars located in every ISO participating country. Some firms have offices internationally; others have a more regional focus. The selection of your Registrar is one of the more important decisions you will make to ensure the best alignment with your type of business, your location(s) and overall cost of maintaining the certification. Auditing Two types of auditing are required to become registered to the standard: auditing by an external certification body (external audit) and audits by internal staff trained for this process (internal audits). The aim is a continual process of review and assessment, to verify that the system is working as its supposed to, find out where it can improve and to correct or prevent problems identified. It is considered healthier for internal auditors to audit outside their usual management line, so as to bring a degree of independence to their judgments. The initial certification audit is conducted in two parts. The Stage 1 audit is a general review of your QMS documentation to ensure you have addressed all of the requirements of the standard. Depending upon the size of your business, this can be conducted in a one to two day visit to your facility or virtually via phone. Any discrepancies noted during the Stage 1 audit will be documented in a formal report and must be corrected before the Stage 2 audit. The main part of the ISO audit is the Stage 2 audit which is always conducted onsite at your location(s) and will be focused on the implementation and effectiveness of your QMS. During this audit which can take 1 day (for very small companies) to several days, the auditor(s) will tour your company, speak to managers and employees, and review documentation and records (along with any Stage 1 discrepancies) to ensure that your system is fully implemented. If nonconformances are found, they will be documented in a formal report for correction. Following the Stage 2 audit, you are generally given thirty (30) days to submit corrective action plans for all audit nonconformances. Once corrective actions are received, your certification is complete and your certificate is issued. In order to maintain the certification, you will participate in an annual surveillance audit from your Registrar where they confirm that you are maintaining your QMS. Every third year, a more comprehensive re-certification audit is conducted, similar to the initial certification audit. The Process Approach The process approach means that you improve your business by managing and improving certain key business processes that directly impact your ability to serve your customer. Since the year 2000 release of ISO 9001, all ISO certified companies have wrestled with the practical application of the Process Approach that was introduced in the current version of the standard. In fact, other than the reduction of the number of required (i. e. prescribed) doc uments, the shift to the Process Approach was the most significant change from older editions of ISO 9001. The process approach is described as: The application of a system of processes within an organization, together with the identification and interaction of these processes, and their management (ref. section 0. 2). The process approach means that you improve your business by managing and improving certain key business processes that directly impact your ability to serve your customer. Since your business processes are basically how you get things done, by improving these processes you improve your companys ability to meet customer requirements. Gains made by improving your key processes pay dividends today and in the future as your QMS drives meaningful improvement in your business. So, that takes the focus of your ISO efforts off of getting ready for the next audit. While a necessary part of ISO, passing the audit will only maintain your certification. This is the minimum benefit you should receive from your efforts. The real opportunity for measurable business benefit from ISO 9001 is for better efficiency, reduced failures and higher levels of performance for your customers. The most effective ISO lever to achieve these results is the management and improvement of key business processes. Often, the most critical processes in your business are cross-functional, cutting across boundaries within you organizational structure. Improvements in these processes have an ongoing payback if such improvements are sustainable and sustained. The process approach, when correctly applied to your QMS, is the way this gets done. Whats involved in managing processes? The management of key business processes basically involves the following: 1. Identifying the processes that most directly impact your customer and overall business performance. 2. Establishing reliable measures of performance for those processes. 3. Assigning responsibility for monitoring and improving each process. 4. Proper procedural documentation to control each process. 5. Effective action to root out obstacles in the process and to resolve root causes to performance gaps. 6. Integrating the process with the requirements of other business processes. The management of your key processes should serve as the top level of your QMS – that is, it should provide the overall purpose and structure to your procedures, work instructions, training, etc. In addition, the selection of processes and establishment of process measures should be derived from your overall business and quality objectives. When reading the ISO 9001:2008 standard, its easy to miss this central emphasis on managing key processes. This is in part because the requirements for managing processes are sprinkled throughout the standard under various headings. Piecing together a complete understanding involves pulling a umber of requirements together. Implementation Issues A common criticism of ISO 9001 is the amount of money, time and paperwork required for registration. According to Barnes, Opponents claim that it is only for documentation. Proponents believe that if a company has documented its quality systems, then most of the paperwork has already been completed. ISO 9001 is not in any way an indication that products produced using its certified systems are any good. A company can intend to produce a poor quality product and providing it does so consistently and with the proper documentation can put an ISO 9001 stamp on it. According to Seddon, ISO 9001 promotes specification, control, and procedures rather than understanding and improvement. Wade argues that ISO 9000 is effective as a guideline, but that promoting it as a standard helps to mislead companies into thinking that certification means better quality, [undermining] the need for an organization to set its own quality standards. Paraphrased, Wades argument is that reliance on the specifications of ISO 9001 does not guarantee a successful quality system. While internationally recognized, most US consumers are not aware of ISO 9000 and it holds no relevance to them. The added cost to certify and then maintain certification may not be justified if product end users do not require ISO 9000. The cost can actually put a company at a competitive disadvantage when competing against a non ISO 9000 certified company. The standard is seen as especially prone to failure when a company is interested in certification before quality. Certifications are in fact often based on customer contractual requirements rather than a desire to actually improve quality. If you just want the certificate on the wall, chances are, you will create a paper system that doesnt have much to do with the way you actually run your business, said ISOs Roger Frost. Certification by an independent auditor is often seen as the problem area, and according to Barnes, has become a vehicle to increase consulting services. In fact, ISO itself advises that ISO 9001 can be impleme nted without certification, simply for the quality benefits that can be achieved. Another problem reported is the competition among the numerous certifying bodies, leading to a softer approach to the defects noticed in the operation f the Quality System of a firm. Effectiveness Effectiveness of the ISO system being implemented depends on a number of factors, the most significant of which is the commitment of Senior Management to monitor, control, and improve quality. Organizations that implement an ISO system without this desire and commitment, often take the cheapest road to get a certificate on the wall and ignore problem areas uncovered in the audits. Besides that, how well the ISO system integrates into their business practices. Many organizations that implement ISO try to make their system fit into a cookie-cutter quality manual rather than create a manual that documents existing practices and only adds new processes to meet the ISO standard when necessary. Next factor is how well the ISO system focuses on improving the customer experience. The broadest definition of quality is Whatever the customer perceives good quality to be. This means that you dont necessarily have to make a product that never fails, some customers will have a higher tolerance for product failures if they always receive shipments on-time, or some other dimension of customer service. Your ISO system should take into account all areas of the customer experience, the industry expectations, and seek to improve them on a continual basis. This means taking into account all processes that deal with the three stakeholders (your customers, your suppliers, and your organization), only then will you be able to sustain improvements in your customer experience. The following factor is how well the auditor finds and communicates areas of improvement. While ISO auditors may not provide consulting to the clients they audit, there is the potential for auditors to point out areas of improvement. Many auditors simply rely on submitting reports that indicate compliance or non-compliance with the appropriate section of the standard, however, to most executives; this is like speaking a foreign language. Auditors that can clearly identify and communicate areas of improvement in language and terms executive management understands allows the companies they audit to act on improvement initiatives. When management doesnt understand why they were non-compliant and the business implications, they simply ignore the reports and focus on what they do understand. Moreover, the standard also strongly promotes a methodology, amely the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle originally proposed by Deming in the 1950s. The PDCA cycle, incorporates a continuous feedback loop, allowing organizations to achieve benefits, such as reducing variation between the desired goals and realized performances and creating process-oriented thinking and perspective [Gupta, 2006] through continuous feedback. In additio n, the standard provides a process-based model that describes processes that are necessary components of a quality management system such identifying customer’s requirements and measuring outcomes. The model includes the specification of activities which address the following areas of concern: management responsibility, resource management, product realization, and measurement, analysis, and improvement. The model essentially considers that the areas of concern are address sequentially. Therefore, initially top management commits to the adoption of ISO 9001 standard by allocating resources and establishing strategies. Using the resources and strategies, employees produce products or services. The products or services are measured and analyzed through the enactment of appropriate activities or sets of activities. Benefits The main objective of the standard is to state requirements for a quality management system for organizations that want to demonstrate their ability to offer high-quality products consistently and increase customer satisfaction. Through the standard, certified companies can enjoy numerous benefits. These include: improved internal communication and performance; improved quality perception; a disciplined work environment; improved documentation; continual improvement of operations; consistency in procedures and practices; fewer supplier quality assurance audits; and improved customer satisfaction [Casadesus et al. 2001; Dissanayaka et al. , 2001; Dowlatshahi and Urias, 2004; Bhuiyan and Alam, 2005]. ISO 9001 certification benefits can be classified into external and internal categories. The former are related to improvements in terms of marketing and promotional aspects, customer satisfaction and market share, while internal benefits are related with organizational improvemen ts, the reward system, team work, measurement of performance and communication, and continuous improvement [Coleman and Douglas, 2003; Gotzamani and Tsiotras, 2002]. As an xternal motivation factor, ISO 9001 certification is frequently used mostly as a marketing tool [Poksinska et al. , 2006]. Some companies admit that without ISO 9000 certification they would not have achieved a significant number of contracts [Douglas et al. , 2003]. One of the benefits is to create a more efficient, effective and consistent in operations. With ISO 9001 certification, your operation will run more smoothly, as the QMS promotes consistency in how work is performed and recorded. This helps new employees learn processes more quickly and reduces misunderstandings with customers. If a problem does occur, it is traced to its root cause and fixed, saving the organization from re-correcting it every time it happens. Moreover, it can improve employee motivation, awareness, and morale. During implementation, quality awareness will increase, since all staff must be trained on ISO 9001. Staff will be required to take ownership of processes that they are involved in developing and improving. The QMS will also have built-in systems to report on key quality indicators, which will significantly reduce the reoccurrence of problems. This helps develop a strong quality culture, where the staff recognizes problems such as systems or process issues and works on fixing them, rather than placing blame with an individual. The result is increased confidence in workmanship and a more confident staff. The next benefit is process improvements. As you implement your QMS, you have the opportunity to improve your processes. You will outline the current process, add the requirements of the standard and then optimize the process with input from the process users. After achieving certification, you will likely see continual process improvements. A recent survey of 100 registered firms reported the average improvement in operating margin at 5% of sales. These firms also reported faster turnaround times, and a reduction in scrap and overtime. In addition, ISO 9001 certification is becoming a must to do business in many markets. A recent survey of ISO 9001 certified companies shows that 41% were asked to achieve certification by a client. Considering that it can take 6 months or longer for some organizations to accomplish certification, already having a compliant QMS in place can be a distinct advantage. Other benefits include increase customer satisfaction and retention, reduce audits, promote international trade, increases profit, reduce waste, and increases productivity. Conclusion ISO 9001 is an international quality certification that defines minimum requirements for a companys Quality Management System (QMS), illustrating company’s competence to design, produce and deliver products or services with a consistent and coherent level of quality. It doesnt matter what size they are or what they do. ISO 9001 is an excellent tool for developing a strong foundation of good processes and systems. Processes and systems are essential for ensuring performance and growth in any enterprise. Furthermore, ISO 9001 certification can be effectively used in marketing, as it is a well-recognized standard for quality. It demonstrates to customers that the entity takes quality seriously and considers customers’ satisfaction to be a top priority. It is wise to conclude that ISO 9001: 2000 is viewed as an opportunity to develop an effective total quality management and quality assurance system that can contribute to the achievement of a total quality management and organizational performance. Moreover, most certified organizations use ISO 9001: 2000 certification to meet or exceed the quality levels of competition, as they are faced with powerful international competitors from the industrialized world in its domestic market as well as in foreign markets. In addition, proper quality management improves business, often having a positive effect on investment, market share, sales growth, sales margins, competitive advantage, and avoidance of legal action. References 1. ISO 9001- Quality Management Standard, Quality Standards from Approachable Auditors, from isoqar. com/iso9001/qualintro. tm/ 2. Scott Dawson. ISO 9001:2008 Articles: Enhance your ISO Knowledge Base, ISO 9001:2008 Certification Solutions, from 9000world. com/ 3. Hesham Magd. Quality Management Standards (QMS) Implementation in Egypt: ISO 9000 Perspectives. Global Business and Management Research(GBMR): An International Journal. Vol. 2, No. 1, 2010. pp. 57-68 4. Jelena Jovanovic, Aleksandar Vujovic ; Zdravko Kr ivokapi. Between Balanced Scorecard and Quality Management System. International Journal for Quality research. UDK- 005. 21 / 006. 35 (100) ISO. Scientiic Review Paper (1. 02). Vol. 2, No. 3, 2008 5. Roslina Ab Wahid and James Corner. Critical success factors and problems in ISO 9000 maintenance. International Journal of Quality ; Reliability Management Vol. 26 No. 9, 2009 pp. 881-893 Emerald Group Publishing Limited 6. Adolfas Kaziliunas. Impacts of different factors on the implementation of quality management systems and performance outcomes. Current Issues of Business and Law, 2010, Vol. 5 75 ISSN 1822-9530 7. Gilles Lambert and Noufou Ouedraogo. Empirical investigation of ISO 9001 quality management systems’ impact on organisational learning and process performances. Total Quality Management Vol. 9, No. 10, October 2008, 1071–1085 8. Dong-young Kim, Vinod Kumar and Uma Kumar. A Framework of Intellectual Capital Management Based on ISO 9001 Quality Management System: The Case Study of ISO 9001 Certified Public R;D Institute. Knowledge and Process Management Vol 16 Number 4 pp 162–173 (2009). 2009 John Wiley ; Sons, Ltd. 9. Sousa-Poza, Mert Altinkilinc ; Co ry Searcy. Implementing a Functional ISO 9001 Quality Management System in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. International Journal of Engineering (IJE), Volume (3) : Issue (3) 220 10. Ray Tricker. ISO 9001:2000- The Quality Management Process. Information Systems Control Journal. Volume 6, 2007 11. ISO 9001:2008, International Standards for Business, Government and Society, from iso. org/iso/iso_catalogue/management_and_leadership_standards/quality_management/iso_9001_2008. htm 12. D. Tzelepis, K. Tsekouras, D. Skuras and E. Dimara. The effects of ISO 9001 on firms’ productive efficiency. International Journal of Operations ; Production Management Vol. 26 No. 10, 2006 pp. 1146-1165 Emerald Group Publishing Limited 13. ISO 9001 2008 Translated to Plain English. Praxiom Research Group Limited. ,from praxiom. com/iso-9001. htm

Geology of the Tibetan Plateau

Geology of the Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau is an immense land, about 3,500 by 1,500 kilometers in size, averaging more than 5,000 meters in elevation. Its southern rim, the Himalaya-Karakoram complex, contains not just Mount Everest and all 13 other peaks higher than 8,000 meters, but hundreds of 7,000-meter peaks that are each higher than anywhere else on Earth. The Tibetan Plateau is not just the largest, highest area in the world today; it may be the largest and highest in all of geologic history. Thats because the set of events that formed it appears to be unique: a full-speed collision of two continental plates. Raising the Tibetan Plateau Nearly 100 million years ago, India separated from Africa as the supercontinent Gondwanaland broke up. From there the Indian plate moved north at speeds of around 150 millimeters per year- much faster than any plate is moving today. The Indian plate moved so quickly because it was being pulled from the north as the cold, dense oceanic crust making up that part of it was being subducted beneath the Asian plate. Once you start subducting this kind of crust, it wants to sink fast (see its present-day motion on this map). In Indias case, this slab pull was extra strong. Another reason may have been ridge push from the other edge of the plate, where the new, hot crust is created. New crust stands higher than old ocean crust, and the difference in elevation results in a downhill gradient. In Indias case, the mantle beneath Gondwanaland may have been especially hot and the ridge pushed stronger than usual too. About 55 million years ago, India began to plow directly into the Asian continent. Now when two continents meet, neither one can be subducted under the other. Continental rocks are too light. Instead, they pile up. The continental crust beneath the Tibetan Plateau is the thickest on Earth, some 70 kilometers on average and 100 kilometers in places. The Tibetan Plateau is a natural laboratory for studying how the crust behaves during the extremes of plate tectonics. For example, the Indian plate has pushed more than 2000 kilometers into Asia, and its still moving north at a good clip. What happens in this collision zone? Consequences of a Superthick Crust Because the crust of the Tibetan Plateau is twice its normal thickness, this mass of lightweight rock sits several kilometers higher than average through simple buoyancy and other mechanisms. Remember that the granitic rocks of the continents retain uranium and potassium, which are incompatible heat-producing radioactive elements that dont mix in the mantle beneath. Thus the thick crust of the Tibetan Plateau is unusually hot. This heat expands the rocks and helps the plateau float even higher. Another result is that the plateau is rather flat. The deeper crust appears to be so hot and soft that it flows easily, leaving the surface above its level. Theres evidence of a lot of outright melting inside the crust, which is unusual because high pressure tends to prevent rocks from melting. Action at the Edges, Education in the Middle On the Tibetan Plateaus north side, where the continental collision reaches farthest, the crust is being pushed aside to the east. This is why the large earthquakes there are strike-slip events, like those on Californias San Andreas fault, and not thrust quakes like those on the plateaus south side. That kind of deformation happens here at a uniquely large scale. The southern edge is a dramatic zone of underthrusting where a wedge of continental rock is being shoved more than 200 kilometers deep under the Himalaya. As the Indian plate is bent down, the Asian side is pushed up into the highest mountains on Earth. They continue to rise at about 3 millimeters per year. Gravity pushes the mountains down as the deeply subducted rocks push up, and the crust responds in different ways. Down in the middle layers, the crust spreads sideways along large faults, like wet fish in a pile, exposing deep-seated rocks. On top where the rocks are solid and brittle, landslides and erosion attack the heights. The Himalaya is so high and the monsoon rainfall upon it so great that erosion is a ferocious force. Some of the worlds largest rivers carry Himalayan sediment into the seas that flank India, building the worlds largest dirt piles in submarine fans. Uprisings from the Deep All this activity brings deep rocks to the surface unusually fast. Some have been buried deeper than 100 kilometers, yet surfaced fast enough to preserve rare metastable minerals like diamonds and coesite (high-pressure quartz). Bodies of granite formed tens of kilometers deep in the crust have been exposed after only two million years. The most extreme places in the Tibetan Plateau are its east and west ends- or syntaxes- where the mountain belts are bent almost double. The geometry of collision concentrates erosion there, in the form of the Indus River in the western syntaxis and the Yarlung Zangbo in the eastern syntaxis. These two mighty streams have removed nearly 20 kilometers of crust in the last three million years. The crust beneath responds to this unroofing by flowing upward and by melting. Thus  leading to the large mountain complexes rise in the Himalayan syntaxes- Nanga Parbat in the west and Namche Barwa in the east, which is rising 30 millimeters per year. A recent paper likened these two syntaxial upwellings to bulges in human blood vessels- tectonic aneurysms. These examples of feedback between erosion, uplift and continental collision may be the most wonderful marvel of the Tibetan Plateau.

Health and safety (human resources) within an organization reported in Essay

Health and safety (human resources) within an organization reported in the media - Essay Example The HR department of an organization should ensure the safety and health responsibilities of the employees. Managing record of injuries and deaths, co-ordinating in occupational safety and health training programs and providing advice to the employers and employees will help the organizations to practice effective occupational health and safety management. Description An explosion in the Foxconn factory in Chengdu in May 2011 left four people dead and may more injure. Over the last decade or so Apple had become one of the largest and most successful companies in the world and hence there millions of people want to be a part of the organization. Among these there exists one certain Mr. Lai Xiaodong who was badly injured in the blast. As mentioned before there is little doubt over the achievements of Apple. But there is also no denying regarding the fact that various workers assembling the products of Apple such as the iPhones, iPads have to work in quite harsh conditions. Various repo rts have suggested that the problems are quite serious; as a matter of fact some are known to be deadly. Sometimes the workers have to do overtime and have to work seven days a week. Some reports also suggested that some of the workers of the company happened to underage also. Another major course of concern has been the disregard shown by the suppliers of the company towards occupational hazard. Few years back more than hundred workers of the company were badly injured as the workers were forced to use poisonous chemicals to clean up iPhones. There have been various reports in which the employees of Apple, both current and formed said that there were various cases where Apple was the first to report such abuses. ( Duhigg and Barboza 1). However, it seems that some major problems are still at large. According to reports since 2007 more than 50% of the suppliers were found to have violated the suppliers’ code of conduct. In the year 2010, few months prior to the explosion Mr. Lai joined the Foxconn factory, it was noticed by him shifts ran almost 24 hours a day. Mr. Lai was promoted quite quickly as he was made the in-charge of the maintenance group (Fox News 1). It is believe that just two weeks prior to the explosion an advocacy group in Hon Kong published a report regarding unsafe conditions at the plant in Chengdu. A copy of the report was sent to the authorities in Apple also. Unfortunately there was no response. It was believed that aluminium dust could be found all over the factory. Conclusion To conclude it can be said that health and occupational hazard are a major course of concern and need to be treated seriously. However, lack of monitoring and presence of ignorance among the authorities still looms at large across various companies, which includes multinational giants like Apple also. The case is a classic example of how negligence and lack of monitoring can lead to lethal accidents. Hence it is to be said the just like healthy pay outs resp ect for health and safety issue at work is of equal importance and needs to be treated to respectfully by the organizations to avoid such deadly accidents. Recommendations It is evident that, lack of monitory and negligence is the major reasons behind the workplace hazard in the Chinese manufacturing plant of Apple. The workplace environment was not healthy and safe for the employees. The supervisor has repeatedly sent

Human Resources Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Human Resources Development - Essay Example The oil spill proved to be a violation of the water act, migratory bird act and related acts on the conservation of natural resources (Graythen, 2013). The reader also gets an overview of the five-month oil disaster and a detailed background on how the leakage resulted. Moreover, the author narrates how the explosion occurred and outlines the government response to the incident. As expected, the spill affected the American energy policy something that the author also gave attention. In addition, the article mentions the efforts that taken to bring the exploded well back into control and the setbacks hindering rescue by the team charged with that responsibility. The article also mentions the probable recovery after the disaster. This article relates the saddening truth about the mine disaster in 2010 that left 29 dead in West Virginia. The author describes the desperation evident in the families of the victims concerning the loss. In addition, the author emphasizes on the long hours taken by the rescue teams in their effort to uncover the debris in the collapsed mine and unearths the bodies. Moreover, the moving story mentions that the tragedy resulted because of the mines negligence to abide by the stringent safety rules in place to protect the welfare of workers in the risky mines. It becomes clear from the story that the rescue task was difficult because of the state of the collapsed mine (Urbina, 2010). The West Virginia mine disaster highlights the surging problem in many mines and that concerns safety of the workers. Occupational safety in the mining industry deserves a priority in any mine because risk assessment reports have shown that the workers are always at a great risk. This explains the stringency of the rules and regulation that govern mining. However, the West Virginia case just highlights the reluctance with

Assess the view that the positions of men Essay Example for Free

Assess the view that the positions of men Essay Over the past few decades the roles of men and women have changed drastically. These changes occur throughout society, within a family or in a relationship. In the past, the most common relationship between the two genders would have been very different, with the men being viewed as more masculine and of higher authority, whereas the women of a society would have been viewed to have a stay at home role, where they would look after children and participate in household chores. During the 1900’s women were seen a minority, where the slightest amount of freedom would have been frowned upon. Nonetheless over the years, as we have developed, so have the different role for both genders, this now consists of sharing jobs equally in a household and around a workplace. The most obvious change within a family would be the amount of work the couple share, both in the household and outside of it. Since the 1960, where the civil rights act was released, it detailed that women were now able to work and should be offered equal opportunities as men, whereas in the past that would have been forbidden. Due to this seismic change, women are now able to provide for themselves, which in the past would have been extremely difficult as they would have essentially been dependent on their partner’s income. Gershuny, a famous sociologist, said that women who work full time would do less of the domestic labour jobs around the house. However statistics show this is incorrect. Women who work full time tend to still do 73% of the household chores, leavening only 27% to the men, who may or may not work full time. An equally significant aspect of this change would be the commercialisation of society today. Commercialisation of society is defined as the new technologies that have been introduced into today’s world in order to allow basic household chores, which would have takes several hours to do, to be completed within a few hours. The commercialisation of basic household necessities means that couples still have time to work and spend time with each other. For women, supermarket food products; means they don’t have to spend hours cooking and preparing food for the family. This would also mean, washing clothes now has become much easier due to the washing machine appliance. Due to this significant improvement, the hours of domestic labour on a woman has decreased a great deal. In spite of this, the commercialisation of products wouldn’t apply to everyone. Working class families or women would be able to afford such expensive items, however this doesn’t quite apply to poorer women; and hence they would suffer with longer hours of household chores. This also doesn’t take into account who uses these appliances; women still load and unload the dishwasher, or wash clothes. Despite having these appliances, it doesn’t necessarily mean these jobs are equally shared; the majority of women still complete them. Consequently, men and women are now becoming more equal when it comes to making decisions as a family. In the past men were off more authority and hence they were the ones that made the more important decisions. Stephen Edgell did a study in 1980 which showed that very important decisions were usually taken by men, important decisions were usually taken jointly however rarely by the wife alone, and lastly less important decisions were usually made by the wife alone. This has changed considerably over the years since the decisions are now shared equally. Pooling (where the couple have access to income and joint responsibility) has increased from 19% to 50%; on the other hand, allowance system (where men give their wives and allowance as a weekly budget) has decreased significantly from 36% to 12%. This shows a clear indication of how the roles have changed, although the increase for pooling was very little, we can judge that eventually role will get even. Moreover, we can see from the past that men and women were given gender scripts. Men were seen to be masculine and of higher standard thus they would work. This was often referred to as the instrumental role, where men were the providers. Women were viewed as having a role solely in the house where they would do household chores. This was often referred to as the expressive role, where women were the homemakers. Nonetheless this can be argued with the concept of homosexual couples. For example within a lesbian couple, they wouldn’t have suited gender scripts and hence would have to negotiate roles equally. Also the idea that now a day’s men aren’t the only providers within a family, women also work and hence can provide for themselves as well as their family. Having considered those points, there are many things to suggest things still need a lot of time in order to improve and become slightly equal. A concept that could argue the progress over the years would be the idea of dual burden which explains the roles women take upon themselves, or in other words are expected to take. Many feminists believe women are now doing two shifts, one at work which is paid work, and eventually returning home to do unpaid work. They believe men benefit from both works, as they receive a steady income as well as a clean house. Some also claim that women do three shifts, also called the triple shift. This is described as emotional work which is role which is usually related to women. Women have an extra unpaid shift where they return home to take care of the rest of the family, also called as the ‘labour of love’. Subsequently, it seems convincing to me that although roles have changed over the years, the change itself is very little because the roles within a family still aren’t as equal. Despite having the same job opportunities, the job of domestic labour in a household are far from equal. Nonetheless I believe roles will eventually change one day where they will be close to equal. However I think roles will never be fully equal.

Shirley Temple: Origins of the Optimistic Image :: Shirley Temple Image Essays

Shirley Temple: Origins of the Optimistic Image Shirley Temple. When the name is uttered an image of the dimpled faced, curly haired, tap dancing four year old from the 1930s automatically appears in everyone's mind. She was the child actress of the depression era, winning over the hearts and pocket books of many. Films, dolls and even a drink named after her, her face and name were ones that couldn't be missed. She was Fox's gem and saviour. She was an escape from the hard life. She was a star. The image that she gave off, of love for the needy and pure optimism, must have had an origin. Did it rise from the social needs of the public to escape the depression or was it purely constructed by Twentieth Century-Fox? Her image clearly correlates with the mentality of the public at the time, but Fox must have had a hand. Undoubtedly her image was created through a mixture of both elements. To analyze the degree to which Shirley Temple's image was formed through the needs of the time or through manipulation by Fox, one must first look at stars' images in general and how they come into being. What do stars represent to the audience? What is the nature of their images? Many people might say that stars are merely a product of the Hollywood system needing to make a profit; Hollywood manufactures a product and creates the demand for it. A star's image is processed through advertisements and promotions and has little to do with what the audience wants and needs from entertainment. There is a widespread mentality that any Average Joe can become a star with enough resources backing him up. Richard Dyer points out, however, that even movies full of stars fail, and stars can and do fall out of fashion (12). A star's economic worth is not invulnerable to audiences' opinions. The audience isn't so easily controlled. As Dyer says, "Stars ... are the direct or indirect reflection of the needs, drives and dreams of American society." (6). The star's image is formed by what the audience chooses to see, and the audience will choose to see a movie that fills their societal needs, even if unconsciously. Once the audience has made its decision, it empowers that star to fulfill these needs. "Stars have a privileged position in the definition of social roles and types, and this must have real consequences in terms of how people believe they can and should behave" (Dyer 8).

The Bridge to San Luis Rey

The Bridge of San Luis Ray is an American author Thornton Wilder's second novel first published in 1927. It tells the story of several interrelated people who die in the collapse of an Inca rope-fiber suspension bridge in Peru. A frior named Brother Juniper witnessed the tragic accident. He has taken on a mission to find out why the five people had to die with the collapse of the bridge. Juniper decided to research the lives of the five victims and figure out the reason of their deaths, why God chose the lives of these five people. He wanted theology to take the place among exact science. Before now, he had lacked a laboratory. He had studied other specimens, People who had died if spider bites or their houses burning down. But these accidents hadn't been fit for examination, because they lacked proper control. The accidents had been dependant upon human error or they had the elements of probability. The bridge collapse was an Act of God, so it made a perfect laboratory. Juniper could figure out God;s intentions is a pure state. Juniper know the answer to his experiment but wanted to prove it historically and mathematically to his coverts. He thought his stubborn converts were slow to believe that God insertd pains into their lives for their own good. Juniper had tried to experiment before to â€Å"justify the ways of God and man,† for example he kept a record of Prayers for Rain and their results. Juniper worked on the bridge experiment for six years. He asked the people in Lima thousands of questions. His goal was â€Å"establishing the fact that each of the five lives was a perfect whole. Juniper finished a huge book but it was publicly burned in the great square. A secret copy of thr book remained. It is in the Library of University of San Marco. Juniper's book contains thousands of facts about the victims and why God had chosen each victim. Juniper never new the central passion of Dona Maria's life; not Uncle Pio's life; not even Estaban's. † And I, who claim to know so much more, am not i t possible that even I have missed the very spring within the spring? †

Internal Control and Shady Accounting Practices

Group 3 1. Why did accounting fraud occur at WorldCom? Fraud occurred at WorldCom for a variety of reasons. The senior executives had unchecked power because the board of directors were only figure heads, the ethics hot-line was nonfunctional, and in internal audit department did report to the appropriate link in the corporate chain to minimize fraud. These reasons, combined with a poor company culture, created the environment where fraud was able to become an acceptable business process. The senior executives at WorldCom had a â€Å"do it or else† attitude that was unchecked by any external force.That external force should have been the board of directors. Unfortunately the board of directors were being directed by the senior executives, given information about WorldCom that was disorganized to hide highly controversial and aggressive accounting techniques. These directors should have recognized they were being used and realized their agency to the stock holders to administer the oversight they were compensated to provide. The ethics hot-line, according to the case, while existed, was not known or trusted by the general population of employees at WorldCom.While many employees were aware of unethical activity, no of them felt that using this channel was a viable solution to addressing problems at WorldCom. Finally, the Internal audit department reported to the senior executive who ultimately steered their activity. If the executive was informed that internal audit was close to uncovering the unethical acts of managers, he directed their internal activity to other areas of the firm and blocked access to their department to the files that could expose the problem.If the internal audit department reported to the board of directors, better policing of executive activity would have been possible. All of these reasons had an element of poor culture in their makeup. Allowing senior executives to bullying their subordinates, inattentive directors, allowing for t he ethics channel to be nonfunctional, and accepting the unethical actions of seniors as the way things get done, ultimately doomed WorldCom to a spiral of actions that had the momentum of everyone's livelihood at stake, with no system in place to automatically apply the brakes to protect the shareholders. . What is the difference between earnings management (or earnings smoothing) and accounting fraud? What are the relevant criteria to use in distinguishing ethical from unethical accounting practices? I don't think there is a difference between earning smoothing and accounting fraud. Both practices intentionally mislead investors to alter their opinion of their holdings. Even if altering earning to smooth it out is mean only to put investors at ease, the underlying goal of smoothing is to change the perception of risk and volatility, which demand premiums in the market.Relevant criteria for distinguishing ethical from unethical accounting practices are if the accounting practice ma terially changes what the average investor values the company at and items addressed in GAAP and other accounting standards that are against conventional accounting guidelines actively used and unchallenged in the business landscape. 3. What internal processes or systems do you recommend to prevent fraudulent practices such as those present at WorldCom?Why were these practices not detected sooner? It appears WorldCom's fraudulent activities was uncovered by the companies own internal accounting department, indicating that at least one of five internal controls – â€Å"monitoring of controls† was functional. However, I believe if there were to have been periodic external auditing from impartial entities outside of WorldCom, the fraudulent activities would have been uncovered sooner than it occurred in 2005.Other internal control processes that could have prevented WorldCom's fraudulent activities and demise are; hiring competent, reliable and ethical personnel, particul arly in leadership positions that the company's board of trustees failed to accomplish, or perhaps were oblivious and complacent with the â€Å"red flag warnings† – falsely professed financial growth and profitability to increase the price of WorldCom's stock, and underreporting line costs (interconnection expenses with other telecommunication companies) by capitalizing these costs on the balance sheet rather than properly expensing them.In addition to inflating revenues with bogus accounting entries from corporate unallocated revenue accounts. I also believe there was failure with â€Å"assignment of duties†, or separation of duties if you will. Because, Mr. Ebber's seems to have been in control of his CFO – Sullivan, Controller – Myers, and Director of General Accounting – Yates. All of whom were unethical leaders at WorldCom that helped concoct â€Å"shady† accounting practices that led to the demise of WorldCom. It is my opinion t hat the above mentioned practices were not detected early enough due to micro management of lower taff employees by unethical leadership through autocratic style leadership, and environment that instilled fear in employees for fear of losing their jobs if any concerns were raised. An unfortunate reality that sadly exist in many big corporations, and even in governments. 4. What external processes or systems do you recommend to prevent and detect fraudulent practices such as those present at WorldCom? Were the directors on the board or the external auditors to be blamed?External auditing is an effective process that can in many ways prevent fraudulent activities within organizations, as the respective auditing teams have no â€Å"loyalty† to management or leadership within the company undergoing review by the external auditors. Retrospectively, I believe that the board of trustees of WorldCom at the time of the scandal would have wished that they had carefully looked into the background and leadership style of Mr. Ebber's and his co-conspirators to have checked for any signs of unethical behavior that many companies continue to blindly ignore.Barely about a year ago, Yahoo's former CEO was publicly humiliated, and subsequently fired by the company for â€Å"embellishing his academic credentials†. A very minor issue that could have been easily prevented, had the board of trustees of Yahoo looked thoroughly into Thompson's background by doing their due diligence. Unfortunately, the board of trustees of Yahoo failed at this task, much like what happened back in the late nineties with WorldCom and Ebber's. 5. You are a representative from the SEC.Briefly describe any sections of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that you would cite to either Mr. Sullivan or Mr. Ebber's when they refuse to comply with your request for information. Under the federal regulations and securities Section 3(a)(47) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U. S. C. 78c(a)(47)), ref usal of any individual(s), or company(s) to conform to set accounting practices including external auditing by appropriate personnel (entities) will be liable to punitive actions set forth by federal legislations – up to or more than 25-years imprisonment and fines.Additionally, accounting and auditing practices by firms and individuals associated with a particular entity, or provide other services to any or such entities are prohibited to prevent conflict of interest, and accurate reporting of accounting practices. All of which were corporate infractions engaged in by Mr. Ebber's and his co-conspirators at WorldCom. 6. The E/R ratios of other telecommunications companies during the late 1990’s hovered around 50% or at best high 40%. If you were an investor, would you have invested in WorldCom? I probably would have.Despite the fact that WorldCom's E/R ratio seems to have been lower than its competitors , which should have raised a red flag in any potential investors m ind. However, like my decision to still invest in WorldCom despite its â€Å"too good to be E/R ratios†, many investors back then may have ignored what was obvious because WorldCom's â€Å"cooked books† from previous years all â€Å"seemed financially sound†, thanks to Ebber's and his co-conspirators great efforts at evading external auditors, fooling the public and its shareholders, and â€Å"muscling† junior employees to cover up its â€Å"shady accounting practices†.So naturally, any potential investor would probably back then have made the same mistake of investing in WorldCom. Obviously, not expensing largest operating expense â€Å"line costs† – incurred to gain access to other carriers networks to allow WorldCom to complete customers calls, as reported in its SEC filings will make its E/R ratio lower compared to WorldCom's competitors, resulting in an â€Å"inflated performance† – overstatement of earnings and und erstatement of operating expenses. 7. Contrast the roles of Vinson and Cooper in the case.Should Vinson have been charged with committing crime? According to the section â€Å"Resolution of Ethical Conflict† in the Institute of Management Accountants' Code of Ethics, how should employees proceed when under pressure by senior managers to engage in unethical behavior? As stated by James Comey, the U. S. attorney that prosecuted Ms. Vinson's case, â€Å"just following orders† is not an excuse to break the law. Why? Because, like many accounting professionals, Ms. Vinson knew right from wrong as it pertains to the prescriptive law of accounting ethical practices.In her own statement and admissions to prosecutors during the initial stages of her prosecution, and attempt to become a witness for the prosecution to gain leniency. (Pulliam, 2003). She (Ms. Vinson) stated that â€Å"each time she was ordered to â€Å"cook† or cover unethical accounting practices, she tho ught and hoped it will be the last time she caved in for such unscrupulous activities. Unfortunately, she kept on caving for years till the scandal was uncovered†. In light of the facts, and Ms.Vinson and Cooper's knowledge of right and wrong concerning the ethical practices of their chosen professions, it is appropriate for both of them to have been held liable for conspiring and engaging in such fraudulent activities as purported by WorldCom. As outlined by the IMA, accounting professionals in any company that are micro-managed, â€Å"muscled†, or coerced to engage in any fraudulent activities or witness any such improprieties, should first report the issue to an immediate supervisor that is not involve in such activities.In the event such option does not exist, one should then report the issue to a higher management staff that is not involved in such impropriety. it's also advisable for one to seek legal counseling with a private attorney about how to proceed in such matters n the event that reporting to an external body is imminent. Reference:PULLIAM, S. , Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Online, June 23, 2003| | Internal Control and Shady Accounting Practices Group 3 1. Why did accounting fraud occur at WorldCom? Fraud occurred at WorldCom for a variety of reasons. The senior executives had unchecked power because the board of directors were only figure heads, the ethics hot-line was nonfunctional, and in internal audit department did report to the appropriate link in the corporate chain to minimize fraud. These reasons, combined with a poor company culture, created the environment where fraud was able to become an acceptable business process. The senior executives at WorldCom had a â€Å"do it or else† attitude that was unchecked by any external force.That external force should have been the board of directors. Unfortunately the board of directors were being directed by the senior executives, given information about WorldCom that was disorganized to hide highly controversial and aggressive accounting techniques. These directors should have recognized they were being used and realized their agency to the stock holders to administer the oversight they were compensated to provide. The ethics hot-line, according to the case, while existed, was not known or trusted by the general population of employees at WorldCom.While many employees were aware of unethical activity, no of them felt that using this channel was a viable solution to addressing problems at WorldCom. Finally, the Internal audit department reported to the senior executive who ultimately steered their activity. If the executive was informed that internal audit was close to uncovering the unethical acts of managers, he directed their internal activity to other areas of the firm and blocked access to their department to the files that could expose the problem.If the internal audit department reported to the board of directors, better policing of executive activity would have been possible. All of these reasons had an element of poor culture in their makeup. Allowing senior executives to bullying their subordinates, inattentive directors, allowing for t he ethics channel to be nonfunctional, and accepting the unethical actions of seniors as the way things get done, ultimately doomed WorldCom to a spiral of actions that had the momentum of everyone's livelihood at stake, with no system in place to automatically apply the brakes to protect the shareholders. . What is the difference between earnings management (or earnings smoothing) and accounting fraud? What are the relevant criteria to use in distinguishing ethical from unethical accounting practices? I don't think there is a difference between earning smoothing and accounting fraud. Both practices intentionally mislead investors to alter their opinion of their holdings. Even if altering earning to smooth it out is mean only to put investors at ease, the underlying goal of smoothing is to change the perception of risk and volatility, which demand premiums in the market.Relevant criteria for distinguishing ethical from unethical accounting practices are if the accounting practice ma terially changes what the average investor values the company at and items addressed in GAAP and other accounting standards that are against conventional accounting guidelines actively used and unchallenged in the business landscape. 3. What internal processes or systems do you recommend to prevent fraudulent practices such as those present at WorldCom?Why were these practices not detected sooner? It appears WorldCom's fraudulent activities was uncovered by the companies own internal accounting department, indicating that at least one of five internal controls – â€Å"monitoring of controls† was functional. However, I believe if there were to have been periodic external auditing from impartial entities outside of WorldCom, the fraudulent activities would have been uncovered sooner than it occurred in 2005.Other internal control processes that could have prevented WorldCom's fraudulent activities and demise are; hiring competent, reliable and ethical personnel, particul arly in leadership positions that the company's board of trustees failed to accomplish, or perhaps were oblivious and complacent with the â€Å"red flag warnings† – falsely professed financial growth and profitability to increase the price of WorldCom's stock, and underreporting line costs (interconnection expenses with other telecommunication companies) by capitalizing these costs on the balance sheet rather than properly expensing them.In addition to inflating revenues with bogus accounting entries from corporate unallocated revenue accounts. I also believe there was failure with â€Å"assignment of duties†, or separation of duties if you will. Because, Mr. Ebber's seems to have been in control of his CFO – Sullivan, Controller – Myers, and Director of General Accounting – Yates. All of whom were unethical leaders at WorldCom that helped concoct â€Å"shady† accounting practices that led to the demise of WorldCom. It is my opinion t hat the above mentioned practices were not detected early enough due to micro management of lower taff employees by unethical leadership through autocratic style leadership, and environment that instilled fear in employees for fear of losing their jobs if any concerns were raised. An unfortunate reality that sadly exist in many big corporations, and even in governments. 4. What external processes or systems do you recommend to prevent and detect fraudulent practices such as those present at WorldCom? Were the directors on the board or the external auditors to be blamed?External auditing is an effective process that can in many ways prevent fraudulent activities within organizations, as the respective auditing teams have no â€Å"loyalty† to management or leadership within the company undergoing review by the external auditors. Retrospectively, I believe that the board of trustees of WorldCom at the time of the scandal would have wished that they had carefully looked into the background and leadership style of Mr. Ebber's and his co-conspirators to have checked for any signs of unethical behavior that many companies continue to blindly ignore.Barely about a year ago, Yahoo's former CEO was publicly humiliated, and subsequently fired by the company for â€Å"embellishing his academic credentials†. A very minor issue that could have been easily prevented, had the board of trustees of Yahoo looked thoroughly into Thompson's background by doing their due diligence. Unfortunately, the board of trustees of Yahoo failed at this task, much like what happened back in the late nineties with WorldCom and Ebber's. 5. You are a representative from the SEC.Briefly describe any sections of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that you would cite to either Mr. Sullivan or Mr. Ebber's when they refuse to comply with your request for information. Under the federal regulations and securities Section 3(a)(47) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U. S. C. 78c(a)(47)), ref usal of any individual(s), or company(s) to conform to set accounting practices including external auditing by appropriate personnel (entities) will be liable to punitive actions set forth by federal legislations – up to or more than 25-years imprisonment and fines.Additionally, accounting and auditing practices by firms and individuals associated with a particular entity, or provide other services to any or such entities are prohibited to prevent conflict of interest, and accurate reporting of accounting practices. All of which were corporate infractions engaged in by Mr. Ebber's and his co-conspirators at WorldCom. 6. The E/R ratios of other telecommunications companies during the late 1990’s hovered around 50% or at best high 40%. If you were an investor, would you have invested in WorldCom? I probably would have.Despite the fact that WorldCom's E/R ratio seems to have been lower than its competitors , which should have raised a red flag in any potential investors m ind. However, like my decision to still invest in WorldCom despite its â€Å"too good to be E/R ratios†, many investors back then may have ignored what was obvious because WorldCom's â€Å"cooked books† from previous years all â€Å"seemed financially sound†, thanks to Ebber's and his co-conspirators great efforts at evading external auditors, fooling the public and its shareholders, and â€Å"muscling† junior employees to cover up its â€Å"shady accounting practices†.So naturally, any potential investor would probably back then have made the same mistake of investing in WorldCom. Obviously, not expensing largest operating expense â€Å"line costs† – incurred to gain access to other carriers networks to allow WorldCom to complete customers calls, as reported in its SEC filings will make its E/R ratio lower compared to WorldCom's competitors, resulting in an â€Å"inflated performance† – overstatement of earnings and und erstatement of operating expenses. 7. Contrast the roles of Vinson and Cooper in the case.Should Vinson have been charged with committing crime? According to the section â€Å"Resolution of Ethical Conflict† in the Institute of Management Accountants' Code of Ethics, how should employees proceed when under pressure by senior managers to engage in unethical behavior? As stated by James Comey, the U. S. attorney that prosecuted Ms. Vinson's case, â€Å"just following orders† is not an excuse to break the law. Why? Because, like many accounting professionals, Ms. Vinson knew right from wrong as it pertains to the prescriptive law of accounting ethical practices.In her own statement and admissions to prosecutors during the initial stages of her prosecution, and attempt to become a witness for the prosecution to gain leniency. (Pulliam, 2003). She (Ms. Vinson) stated that â€Å"each time she was ordered to â€Å"cook† or cover unethical accounting practices, she tho ught and hoped it will be the last time she caved in for such unscrupulous activities. Unfortunately, she kept on caving for years till the scandal was uncovered†. In light of the facts, and Ms.Vinson and Cooper's knowledge of right and wrong concerning the ethical practices of their chosen professions, it is appropriate for both of them to have been held liable for conspiring and engaging in such fraudulent activities as purported by WorldCom. As outlined by the IMA, accounting professionals in any company that are micro-managed, â€Å"muscled†, or coerced to engage in any fraudulent activities or witness any such improprieties, should first report the issue to an immediate supervisor that is not involve in such activities.In the event such option does not exist, one should then report the issue to a higher management staff that is not involved in such impropriety. it's also advisable for one to seek legal counseling with a private attorney about how to proceed in such matters n the event that reporting to an external body is imminent. Reference:PULLIAM, S. , Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Online, June 23, 2003| |