The Enron and Worldcom Scandals Essay Example

The Enron and Worldcom Scandals Paper E. Boos – Week 2 – Assignment February 17, 2013 The Enron and WoldCom Scandals ENRON 1. The segment of Enron’s operations that got them into difficulties had several parts. They published misleading financial reports. They could not meet their bridge financing commitment with Barclay Bank because outside investors were not found. Because of this, they restated activities of JEDI and Chewco SPEs so they could be retroactively consolidated into Enron’s accounts. The SPEs helped to hide the inaccurate accounting records. Enron’s legal department wrote contracts that helped provide a cover for misuse of funds regarding the SPEs. Future revenue was reported as current revenue. Stocks were paid with promissory notes instead of cash. They also engaged in off-the-books activities and excessive executive compensation. Enron’s board of directors allowed the executives, accountants and legal department to use Special Purpose Entities (SPEs), a type of partnership, in an attempt to camouflage their debt and create a facade of financial stability (Brooks, 2007). 3. Enron’s directors understood how profits were made. They also knew management’s activities were dishonest. Andrew Fastow was active in forming the SPE partnerships and his affiliation with LJM2 was a conflict of interest. When Enron began experiencing financial problems in October 2001, the board of directors began holding special meetings. They were paid with cash, restricted stock, phantom stock units and stock options. The Senate Subcommittee Report, dated July 8, 2002, found that the Enron board of directors was aware that employees participated in management of the SPEs which was a conflict of interest. We will write a custom essay sample on The Enron and Worldcom Scandals specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Enron and Worldcom Scandals specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Enron and Worldcom Scandals specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The directors ignored the inaccurate accounting, extensive unrecorded activities and excessive executive compensation. The Senate report discovered that the board of directors knew of financial activities between Enron and some of the board’s members. The board permitted consulting services, internal audits, and external audits to be performed by the same company, namely, Arthur Andersen (Brooks, 2007). 5. Ken Lay was chairperson of the board. He reassumed the position of CEO after Skilling resigned. As CEO he oversaw all of Enron’s activities. Lay and Whaley directed Causey to sell the Raptor SPEs. The sale price of was privately negotiated between Fastor, on behalf of Enron, and Kopper on behalf of LJM2. Lay did not interfere when Arthur Andersen directed Enron to record the buyout excess money as income. He knowingly allowed fraudulent activities and false information to be included in the financial reports. This was unethical. The Powers Report identifies seven questionable accounting issues concerning the sale of the Raptors (Brooks, 2007). 6. The board of directors did not insist that full disclosure of Enron’s earning be made available to the public and the shareholders. They allowed inaccurate reports to be published. Since they did not challenge management involvement in fraudulent activities, this meant the shareholders interests were not protected (Brooks, 2007). 9. Conflict of interest concerning SPE activities occurred because Enron employees were active in managing certain SPEs. Losses were not reported in end of year reports to offset other nonprofitable dealings. Arthur Andersen did not report all of the earnings and helped Enron cover up losses. When Andrew Fastow, wanted to manage the SPE, Chewco, he was advised by Jeffrey Skilling who was on the board of directors, that he should not manage Chewco because it would be a conflict of interest. Instead, Fastow appointed Michael Kopper who worked for him at Enron, to manage Chewco (Brooks, 2007). WORLDCOM 1. To inflate their profit in the current period, WorldCom created overstatements of cash flow and income by inaccurately reporting line costs. Line costs were a major expense to WorldCom. They were payments WorldCom made to third party telecommunicator network providers for the right to access their networks. These costs should have been shown as an expense rather than appearing on the income statement (Brooks, 2007). 2. WorldCom’s board of directors could have prevented the manipulation of revenue that management used if they had not been intimidated by Bernie Ebbers. They allowed themselves to be intimidated by Bernie Ebbers when he did not want their questions answered or give them more definitive explanations. Eventually, they demanded Bernie Ebber’s resignation and he resigned. The board of directors scheduled periodic meetings with WorldCom. The directors should have been more involved and familiar with WorldCom’s activities and efforts to manipulate expenses and decreased income (Brooks, 2007). 4. Bernie Ebbers was the CEO of WorldCom, the CFO was Scott Sullivan and David Myers was the Controller. Prior to working for WorldCom they had worked for Arthur Andersen. Arthur Andersen was the auditor for WorldCom. That is why the accountants did not say or do anything to prevent Ebbers’ manipulation of WorldCom’s financial reports (Brooks, 2007). . Ebbers received $408. 2 million dollars as a loan to buy WorldCom stock or for margin calls as the stock price fell. Instead of using the money for the purpose he received it, he used it to buy a cattle ranch in Canada, build a new home, pay for personal expenses of a family member, and provide loans to family and friends (Brooks, 2007). Reference: Brooks, L. J. (2007). Business professional eth ics for directors, executives, accountants (4th ed. ). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.

Free Essays on Business Proposal

Proposal to the Women’s Business Development Association - Opportunity for Disadvantaged Women to Receive Free Computer Skills Training and Career Development Services Problem Many disadvantaged women do not have access to and/or funds for professional services and computer skills training in their neighborhoods. Typical barriers to empowerment include special needs, childcare needs, and language proficiency. Recommended Solution Create WiredWomen of Fort Lauderdale This program will provide support for access to computers, technology, and technology-based educational learning activities for women in low-income communities who otherwise would lack that access to computers and information technology. Individuals under this program will receive career development and job preparation, such as computer skills training (basic and advanced), resume writing workshops, and access to databases of employment opportunities, career information, education/degree opportunities and other online materials. WiredWomen will initially receive referrals from Family Central, a local non-profit organization that services low-income, single-parent families. Organization Goals A recent GAO report (Telecommunications: Characteristics and Choices of Internet Users, February 2001) and a series of U.S. Department of Commerce studies (Falling Through the Net, 1995, 1999, 2000) on Americans’ access and use of technology show that although more Americans now own computers, low-income households are still far less likely to own computers and know how to use advanced technology. The mission of WiredWomen of Fort Lauderdale is to empower disadvantaged women in the field of computer technology. GOAL 1: INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT – provide career development and job preparation resources in small groups (10-15 women per class) Objective 1: provide computer skills training classes at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels (e.g., Introduction... Free Essays on Business Proposal Free Essays on Business Proposal Proposal to the Women’s Business Development Association - Opportunity for Disadvantaged Women to Receive Free Computer Skills Training and Career Development Services Problem Many disadvantaged women do not have access to and/or funds for professional services and computer skills training in their neighborhoods. Typical barriers to empowerment include special needs, childcare needs, and language proficiency. Recommended Solution Create WiredWomen of Fort Lauderdale This program will provide support for access to computers, technology, and technology-based educational learning activities for women in low-income communities who otherwise would lack that access to computers and information technology. Individuals under this program will receive career development and job preparation, such as computer skills training (basic and advanced), resume writing workshops, and access to databases of employment opportunities, career information, education/degree opportunities and other online materials. WiredWomen will initially receive referrals from Family Central, a local non-profit organization that services low-income, single-parent families. Organization Goals A recent GAO report (Telecommunications: Characteristics and Choices of Internet Users, February 2001) and a series of U.S. Department of Commerce studies (Falling Through the Net, 1995, 1999, 2000) on Americans’ access and use of technology show that although more Americans now own computers, low-income households are still far less likely to own computers and know how to use advanced technology. The mission of WiredWomen of Fort Lauderdale is to empower disadvantaged women in the field of computer technology. GOAL 1: INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT – provide career development and job preparation resources in small groups (10-15 women per class) Objective 1: provide computer skills training classes at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels (e.g., Introduction...

Information pertaining to the imperativeness of mergers that are Research Paper

Information pertaining to the imperativeness of mergers that are gaining prominence in the current business world - Research Paper Example The two institutions are chosen due to their complimentary support capacity that they hold that would see them receive immense benefits from any strategic alliance or agreement. The institutions provide health care services and were founded with a core mission to offer quality, affordable and timely Medicare to patients. They focus on community outreach programs, research on various medications, provision of cancer services, coronary care, digestive and nutritional support. The paper also analyses their financial status based on the strength of their financial performance. It also evaluates the key ratios and the need for ensuring effective setting of debt collection period. Introduction Business merger is a performance strategy whose practice in gaining momentum in most settings due to its relevance in the current competitive society. The strategy provides viable incentives and synergies that enable organizations to improve on their standards of performance. Indeed, institutions wit h strong aspirations to recording vibrant performance levels should adopt the strategy. This is vital since it gives credible systems of engagement and operations that facilitate exemplary performance. It is imperative to note that mergers are strategic agreements between institutions that are set with an aim of enhancing service delivery and productivity. The agreements are driven under quality ideals and mutual understanding to ensure that the ultimate objectives are achieved. In most jurisdictions, for example, in US, mergers and strategic alliances remains innovative system of acquiring competitiveness and improvement on service delivery. The idea is under exploitation and is executed innovatively by various institutions. It has seen key institutions or organizations in diverse field of operations including health sector develop into vibrant corporations through consolidation of their potentials and synergies. The institutions have increased their performance capacity and servic e delivery systems to match the need of the consumers. In particular, the two health institutions that would materially benefit from this initiative are Georgia Baptist health care and Grant health organization. The two organizations would benefit from the initiative since they are set with pertinent mission and they hold complimentary capacities. That is Georgia heath care operate strong cancer clinics, coronary care centers and cancer treatment facility with limitation of financial or asset capacity for expansion that Grant health center has. This explains why the merger between the two institutions would yield quality results that would revolutionize service delivery in the health sector. The Companies, Justification and Imperativeness of the Merger As noted, the two companies selected for this study (Georgia health center and Grant medical center) are bound to receive substantial benefits from the merger initiative. This is evident since the institutions have strong complimentar y synergies that would steer development of health services. They would pull up and share resources to ensure that quality services  (Smith 1997) are delivered to in US citizens (Harris2006). The corporations are founded under strong mission to provide quality healthcare through adoption of conventional health care systems and resources. They seek to expand research on health issues to facilitate

DCFS Policy of Regulation of Day Care Centers Research Paper

DCFS Policy of Regulation of Day Care Centers - Research Paper Example In this paper a clear picture of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is given. The history of the DCFS policy is analysed along with the aim of the policy, services provided, beneficiaries of the policy, finances and funding of the DCFS policy etc. The History of the DCFS Policy: Since its inception in 1965, DCFS has played a major role in the protection of children. The DCFS came into being by making child welfare on a State basis from Illinois. The policy of DCFS has got momentum and started spreading in various states. The DCFS policy has reached from the State of Illinois to other states like Nevada, Utah, Louisiana, Los Angeles, Arkansas, etc. The Impetus for the DCFS Policy: The DCFS policy was created with the aim of protecting the children through all possible ways. The impetus behind the formation of DCFS is clear from its mission. â€Å"The mission of DCFS is to: †¢ Protect children who are reported to be abused or neglected and to increase their families' capacity to safely care for them †¢ Provide for the well-being of children in our care †¢ Provide appropriate, permanent families as quickly as possible for those children who cannot safely return home †¢ Support early intervention and child abuse prevention activities †¢ Work in partnerships with communities to fulfil this mission† (Mission Statement, 2009, para. 1). DCFS Programs or Services: ... Foster care is another service provided for the betterment of children and under this child who faces neglect or dependency or is abused is placed outside the home in a temporary place. A foster family doesn’t mean a permanent home for the child but a temporary shelter to protect the child. Adoption is a service of the DCFS for children without home or protection. DCFS provides a chance for the children who need care through the process of adoption. A society in a building block is constituted as family for these children who provide love and care to them for growing them as healthy adults. â€Å"The Department helps thousands of adoptable children to find a new home each year. Most children placed by DCFS were from homes so abusive or neglectful that it would be unsafe for them to return† (Adoption, 2009, para. 2). Day care centres and its regulation is another service or function of DCFS policy. For this the process of licensing, Protective/Family Maintenance Day Care Programs and Family Maintenance Day Care services are introduced. The main programs introduced by DCFS include licensing, Protective/Family Maintenance Day Care Programs and Family Maintenance Day Care services. The licensing of day care centre is done by the DCFS for the betterment and protection of children. It is the function of DCFS to give license and set standards for day care centres, homes, group homes and day care agencies in the state. Protective/Family Maintenance Day Care Programs is implemented by DCFS for protecting the children who are found to be neglected or abused. DCFS implemented the Family Maintenance Day Care services for taking effective steps in controlling the abuse and neglect of

Steve Job's success and his (responsibilities) as a leader for do Assignment

Steve Job's success and his (responsibilities) as a leader for do changes to face the external environment changes - Assignment Example For example, when he became the Apple CEO, the company started manufacturing an unsystematic assortment of computers and peripherals. However, through his leadership, Jobs cut down the production of a myriad of products and instead urged his team to focus on making only four computers, and this was a success (Emerald, 2002). As a transformational leader, Steve Jobs took his responsibility from the end to end. In particular, he not only created a new vision for the company but was also involved in institutionalizing the change (Eisenbach, Watson & Pillai, 1999). He knew that in order to gain simplicity in Apple devices was to ensure a seamless integration of the hardware, software and other peripheral parts (Isaacson, 2012). Consequently, he was involved in fulfilling this in the Apple products that were produced. In a nutshell, Steve Jobs provided a clear responsibility and priorities with extensive communication and freedom to improvise. He experimented with ideas and also linked his projects to the future with predictable intervals (McKnight, 2013). Steve Jobs was able to change the culture of Apple from being quantity focused on quality focused. In particular, he was able to create a small manageable product portfolio that ended up attracting huge revenues for the company. In the first place, he recognized the need for change in the way things were done at Apple. The recognition came from the fact that Apple was having declining sales figures and posting poor financial results. Consequently, he provided a vision of the company’s future about the need to turn things around and make Apple profitable (Schein, 1996). Upon communication of his vision for the company, Jobs began seeking for solutions from members who agreed on reducing the company’s product portfolio and concentrating on improving quality of the remaining products. The reduction also meant to lay off of workers to manageable levels

Creativity and Innovation to Further Developing Countries

Creativity and Innovation to Further Developing Countries The keyword to be an successful country is develop two important abilities that will help you think in a different and intelligent way to develop your ideas and your beliefs. The purpose of this research is to develop the creativity and innovation in developing countries by increasing the systems education in three different ways. Furthermore, this paper discuss about the importance of develop creativity and innovation for the future of countries. Creativity is define like the ideas that come up to your mind to follow anything that you want to do and innovation is the process to became your ideas or inventions in something that help the people or the environment. Finally, the main idea of this paper is to find the best solutions to solve the problem of creativity and innovation by improving the traditional model of system education. Keywords: creativity, innovation, system education, develop. There are so many countries in the world, and this countries are classifieds according to how much developed they are. First of all, we have countries that are developed a lot of because they produces many things like technology, weapons, food, raw material (wood, iron, cotton, crude oil, etc) for the others that doesnÂÂ ´t have this advantages. Therefore, these develop countries are in the top, but how could they develop more than the others? the answer is very simple. These develop countries made a change in their system education by improving so many things that will help students to be prepared in the future because they know that students are the 100% of their future. As a result, the best solution to improve the road of being a develop country in the world is focused in creativity and innovation of each people could have, but how we can improve this skills? We can improve these skills by following the next steps: First, schools should increase hours of extracurricular clas ses. Secondly, students must interact with the environment. Finally, using technology in the process of learning-teaching can help to everyone with innovate ideas. Schools should increase hours of extracurricular classes Currently, schools are an important parts of our lives because there we learn how to front any problem that we could have, and also we learn many skills that help us to develop in the future. But what is wrong with schools nowadays? the problem is that they are killing the creativity and innovation by obligating us to think in the way that they want. The recently model of system education have one purposed, and it is to became students in university professors. They have in mind that if you made less mistakes, you will be a perfect person. So this means, education system just are focused in science subjects such as math, chemistry and physics, and this is a big problem because each person believe that you will be successful if you have lot of science degrees. But no one knows that they could be better if they develop creativity and the capacity of innovate (Robbinson, 2006). Of course we can develop creativity in schools by increasing hours of extracurricular classes because in that classes we learn how to be an artist, and when you said artist everyone thinks in creativity. Scientists says that every person in the world develop the 80% of their brain when they are in the childhood, so what they need? They need classes about science, but they also need extracurricular classes like music or dance because in that classes they will express their creativity in an easily way. For example, a little girl called Gillian was accused that she has a learning disorder because she canÂÂ ´t get focus while she was receiving classes. So her mom took her to the doctor because she was worried, but the doctor was talking with Gillian alone, and while they were talking Gillian was dancing, So he understand that she didnt have any disorder learning. Then he goes to Gillians mom and he said that Gillian doesnÂÂ ´t have problem, he explain that her daughter is a dancer, she needs to move to think. After, GillianÂÂ ´s mom understand that her daughter need to go to learn dance and finally Gilliam became in a professional choreographer and she made important works such as Cats and Phantom of the Opera (Robbinson, 2006). In a brief, people lost their creativity because in schools they just learn mechanically and they donÂÂ ´t learn how to develop their ideas or how to express their opinions. Students must interact with the environment Everyone could become in creativity people if they learn by themselves. Many people in the world are autodidact people because they like o learn by their own methodology. This is an excellent way to became in a creativity people because you find out or sometimes you create your ways to make easily studies. A big example could be scientist because they are always looking for new things, so what they need is a lot of creativity and innovative ideas to get what they want. However, people says that scientist are not creativity people because they use statistics and data, so for the people this is not creative is just like a lot of information (Ossola, 2014). The main idea is to add the option forÂÂ   students that can interact with their environment to understand better and increase their creativity. For example, if students are learning about the nature, they should go outside to the forest and they will be able to learn how everything works in the environment, and also this is an interesting and funny way to learn because is not boring and you will be entertaining. Moreover, you can find another advantage about learn interacting with the environment because when you are outside you will found many information just looking, you dont need search it on the internet or books, is an easily way to obtain real and good information about something. Using technology in learning-teaching process Nowadays, technology is the best sources that humans could created. Technology have many uses in all the world. We could find technology everywhere like in medicine, weapons and even in our houses. Technology is everything and also is an important tool for education because we could use it for teach and also learn in schools or colleges. Furthermore, each school has technology to support the knowledge of students, but while more technology have schools, they will be considerate better than the others. The last step to improve developing countries into develop one is improving all the technology from schools as many as they can. For example, people could use Duolingo platform that teaches language through gaming (Segal, 2016) to learn in a funny way and creative way. Also technology is an excellent way to teach students because they like new things, and they want to discover things. So technology is like a motivated tool that make students want to learn by themselves. In summary, we could improve any developing country by increasing important skills such as creativity and innovation because creativity is process that you develop to make sense any ideas that you have in mind and innovation is the success of created any idea. So there are many steps to develop your abilities like the importance of schools should increase the hours of classes that help you develop your ideas and also it help you to make strongly opinions about any topic. References Ossola, A. (2014). Scientist Are More Creative Than You Might Imagine. The Atlantic , np. Robbinson, S. K. (nd de February de 2006). TED. Recuperado el 15 de February de 2017, de TED: https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity?language=en Segal, S. (2016). The case for disruption in Latin AmericaÂÂ ´s classrooms. Usa Published , np.

Free Huckleberry Finn Essays: Ignorance :: Adventures Huckleberry Huck Finn Essays

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Ignorance While there are many themes expressed in the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn one makes a stronger presence by its continued, if not redundant display of itself. Far too often in society people's lack of knowledge on a given subject causes their opinions and actions to rely strictly on stereotypes created by the masses. This affliction is commonly known as ignorance. This is curable but people have to become open-minded and leave their reliance on society's viewpoints behind them. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the ignorance of society becomes extremely evident at many parts of the book. Society forms ideals for all walks of life and then lets them become like stone in their minds. Thus, once a person has been put into a group they will remain there forever. The ignorance of society is clearly seen when one looks at Huck Finn, Jim the Slave, Pap, and the senseless violence of the Grangerfords and the Shepardsons. Many people see Huckleberry Finn as a mischievous boy who is a bad influence to others. Society refuses to accept Huck as he is and isn’t going to change its opinions about him until he is reformed and civilized. The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson try to "sivilize" Huck by making him stop all of his habits such as smoking, etc. They try to reverse all of his teaching from the first twelve years of his life and force him to become their stereotypical good boy. The rest of the town also refused to view him as good and he was considered undesirable. The only time that the town's people are able to put away their views of Huck was when there was excitement to be found, like when they all crowded on the steamboat to see if the cannons can bring Huck's body to the surface. Everyone got interested in him and tried to show that they cared about him, but this is only after he is presumed dead. They take on these views to follow society in its ignorance. Few of them would have cared abou t Huck before because they didn't know him and didn't want to know him, but since taking interest in mysteries was the popular thing to do, society did it. Although Huck is viewed in an ignorant light, he was also in accordance with this novel and very ignorant himself.