Primark and Ethical Business.Doc Essay Example

Primark and Ethical Business.Doc Essay Example Primark and Ethical Business.Doc Paper Primark and Ethical Business.Doc Paper Primark and Ethical Business Introduction Primark the leading clothing retailer Rapid changes in media, transport and communications technology have made the world economy more interconnected now than in any previous period of history. Nowhere is this more evident than in the world of textile manufacture and clothing distribution. Consumers want fashionable clothes at affordable prices. Much of high street fashion is produced in various countries across the world. Businesses source clothes from countries like India, China, Bangladesh and Turkey because of lower material and labour costs in these countries. In order to meet consumer demand, Primark works with manufacturers around the world. Primark is part of Associated British Foods (ABF), a diversified international food, ingredients and retail group. Primark has almost 200 stores across Ireland, the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Portugal. Primark’s annual turnover accounts for a significant proportion of ABF†s revenues and profit. Primark’s target customer is fashion-conscious and wants value for money. Primark can offer value for money by: Sourcing products efficiently Making clothes with simpler designs Using local fabrics and trims Focusing on the most popular sizes Buying in volume Not spending heavily on advertising. The largest Primark store is located on Market Street, Manchester, England. Some 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2) of retail space is spread across its three floors. It took over from Liverpool in 2008 after TK Maxx moved from the basement floor to the Arndale Centre, allowing Primark to fu rther expand Corporate Social Responsibility Every business has the corporate social responsibility (CSR) to be Ethical in its business environment and CSR is about responsibility to all stakeholders and not just shareholders. What is Stakeholder? A person, group or organisation, has direct or indirect stake in an organisation because it can affect or be affected by the organisation’s actions, objectives and policies. Key stakeholders in a business organisation include its creditors, customers, directors, employees, government agencies, owners, suppliers, unions and the community from which the business draws its resources. What are Business Ethics? Ethics are moral guidelines which govern good behaviour so behaving ethically is doing what is morally right Behaving ethically in business is widely regarded as good business practice. Being good is good business† (D. Anita Roddick) â€Å"A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business† (Henry Ford) Code of Practice A common approach is to implement a code of practice. Ethical codes are increasingly popular – particularly with larger businesses and cover areas such as: Corporate social responsibility Dealings with customers and supply chain Environmental policy actions Rules for personal and corporate integrity Primark from Ethical to Unethical Business Let’s take one of the above stakeholders the suppliers to analyse how the suppliers and supply chain can affect the business ethics and can make a business unethical business. A business cannot claim to be ethical firm if it ignores unethical practices by its suppliers. Use of child labour and forced labour, Production in sweatshops, Violation of the basic rights of workers, Ignoring health, safety and environmental standards. An ethical business has to be concerned with the behaviour of all businesses that operate in the supply chain i. e. Suppliers, Contractors, Distributors, Sales agents. So the Primark could not consider and concentrate on the supply chain of its suppliers who were hiring the child labour in the factories in various states of India and Bangladesh. Those suppliers were the main source of Primark retail clothing products in UK and. This issue was exposed by The Observer, The Independent News and the BBC panorama. Primark declared as least ethical business Primark, the discount clothing chain beloved of bargain hunters, has been rated the least ethical place to buy clothes in Britain. Primark scores just 2. 5 out of 20 on an ethical index that ranks the leading clothing chains on criteria such as workers rights and whether they do business with oppressive regimes. Mk One and Marks Spencer were ranked second and third worst for ethics by Ethical Consumer magazine (By Martin Hickman Consumer Affairs Correspondent Thursday, 8 December 2005, The Independent news) The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), of which Primark is a member, has undertaken an investigation in to the reports. The ETI confirmed to Drapers this week that the investigation was ongoing and no conclusion had yet been reached. Primark refutes the claims stating it can offer good value and good quality because of low mark-ups and big volumes. We use simple designs, our overhead costs are extremely low and we dont run expensive advertising campaigns. Lapse in standards The information provided by the BBC enabled us to identify that illegal sub-contracting had been taking place and to take action accordingly, Primark explained. According to Primark, the garments affected accounted for 0. 4% of the retailers worldwide sourcing. It added that the sub-contracting involved home working and in some instances children were also found to be working at home We take this lapse in standards very seriously indeed, said Primark, which is owned by Associated British Foods Under no circumstances would Primark ever knowingly permit such activities, whether directly through its suppliers or through third party s ub-contractors. The Primark supplier in question, a major Indian exporter called Fab n Fabric, had employed a subcontractor who had discovered the ultimate disposable workforce: child refugees. Primark’s Code of conduct and Initiatives taken Under the terms of its code of practice for suppliers, Primark prohibits the use of child labour in its manufacturing chain. Primark says it will terminate relations with suppliers guilty of certain transgressions and those unwilling to make the necessary changes to their employment practices when breaches of its code are uncovered. Primark and Stakeholders Engagement Primark sacked the three suppliers before being hit by a wave of negative publicity inevitably coming its way from the documentary. The firm, owned by Associated British Foods, said it had made the statement to fulfil a responsibility to shareholders, not as cynics suggested to lessen the shock of an international expose. The retailer said that, as soon as it was alerted to the practices over a month ago by The Observer and the BBC it cancelled new orders with the factories concerned and withdrew thousands of garments from its stores. A statement from Primark Stores on Bangladesh 19/11/2010 A Primark spokesman said: â€Å"Primark shares and recognises many of the concerns raised by No Sweat. We acknowledge that conditions for workers in some factories do not always meet them high standards that we and other brands sourcing from these factories, expect. Primark believes ethical business practices are of the highest importance and that is why we work tirelessly with our supplies and other stakeholders, including those in Bangladesh, to raise standards and the welfare of the workers that depend on the orders placed at these factories. Primark is working in several ways to continually improve ethical standards and working conditions among suppliers. Primark’s Initiatives and Working with stakeholders Working closely with external partners featured strongly in much of what Primark achieved during 2010. Highlights include the following: Primark in Bangladesh In Bangladesh, 16 of the factories from which we buy have been working with Nari Uddug Kendra (NUK), an NGO that focuses on women’s rights. Together, Primark and NUK have provided training for factories on how to manage workers more fairly, and educate them about their rights. In 2009, 974 workers received training through this programme. Furthermore, Primark has created a new Ethical Trade Manager position in Bangladesh. One of the first initiatives to be launched by the Ethical Trade Manager will be tailored ethical training for suppliers in Bangladesh. Further plans are underway to recruit a female Ethical Trade Executive with a specific remit to focus on women’s issues in factories, which we know are particularly important I this context. Primark in China In China and Bangladesh, Primark began projects that aim to create long-term, sustainable improvements in labour standards and provide living wages for people. Several visits had been undertaken to both countries in 2009, to identify suppliers, factories and local implementation partners including NGOs, worker organisations, employer associations, and technical experts. Primark in India In southern India we are working at grassroots level with an NGO to understand and address the challenges faced by workers in communities where Primark’s products are made. The programme includes surveys to identify workers, families and children at risk, as well as providing a counselling service and helpline for people. A core part of this initiative is worker education and we have established groups that look at issues from hygiene and personal development to gender equality and workplace rights. Primark with International Organisations Through Primark’s membership of the ILO and International Finance Corporation (IFC) Better Work programme, we engage and collaborate with retailers and labour experts within countries to provide localised supplier training, remediation and worker engagement. Primark’s supplier factories in Vietnam are part of the initiative, and we support the efforts and plans of the ILO to implement the programme in other countries from which we source. Primark and BSR This year Primark joined Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), a CR organisation with over 250 corporate members. Primark is an active member of the BSR Mills and Sundries working group, a coalition of clothing retailers which looks at ethical and environmental performance within spinning mills, dye-houses and sundry manufacturers. BSR also worked with Primark on identifying key trends in labour migration in China, and how Primark suppliers could mitigate potential labour shortages through good human resource management. Finally, we are proud that Primark is BSR’s partner in Bangladesh for the health enabled returns programme, a groundbreaking initiative that provides healthcare and education for women in factories. Primark and ETI As a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), Primark continued to be actively involved in a number of ETI groups in 2010 relating to the following: General Merchandise, Home working Principles of Implementation, Annual Report, Purchasing Practices, and China. Primark also increased its collaborative efforts with other brands, via membership of cross-brand forums in a number of countries as well as more informal joint efforts on supplier remediation. As 95% of the factories that supply Primark also supply other retailers, this joined-up approach is one of the best ways to achieve progress Primark altered internal system Primark has brought many changes in its internal system to meet the requirements of Ethical Trading Initiative and to over come the issue of least ethical business. Appointment of Ethical trade Director Team The Primark has employed Katharine Kirk, from Gap Inc, as Ethical Trade Director. No new supplier can be appointed without being audited, and then Cleared by her. Primark has been steadily expanding the size of its own ethical trade staff over the last 2 years. In-house there is currently an 8 person team (including the Director). Recent additions to the team include a new Ethical Trade Manager in Bangladesh and plans are underway to recruit a female Ethical Trade Executive for Bangladesh with a specific remit to focus on women’s issues in factories. Primark also has a new Ethical Trade Manager in Turkey, and a new Ethical Trade Executive to add to the strength of the existing team in India. The aim is to have in place a team of 15 by the end of 2010. Monitoring and Auditing In 2009 Primark had conducted over 1080 audits, which is almost double the number in 2008 (533 audits). The growing in-house ethical team, new third party auditor partners, and the online audit database are helping to support this growth. Audits are accompanied by a remediation programme for each supplier as required. This is the accepted way the industry seeks to raise standards. Primark uses a mix of our own in-house and third party auditors. Third party auditors performed around 70% of our audits last year. So the Primark is increasing the number of them. Most of their visits are unannounced or semi-announced. They are paid for by Primark, to reduce the burden on suppliers and factories. The focus of Primark’s auditing programme is the top 250 suppliers which represent 87. 6% of the selling value of the business. Primark had audited all suppliers ranked in the top 250 by the end of 2009. Primark audit according to: Level of turnover with a supplier, proportion of a supplier’s production that is dedicated to our business, country of manufacture, risk of production process, any other information about a particular supplier or factory that identifies risk. However, Primark recognised that audits are a necessary, but not sufficient, part of the solution to raising standards in the supply chain. Much is dependent on remediation and training. Remediation plan with Factories Primark has third party auditors and staff works out a remediation plan with each factory after an audit, and then a follow-up is conducted, mainly by our own team members. More than half the audits we do are follow-ups (55% of Audit in 2009) 18 months ago Primark began work on a new, cutting-edge, online audit management system. BSI Entropy’s management system helps us to keep track of non-compliances at the individual production site, as well as at country and buying department levels. The system helps us to follow up non compliances in a timely manner and identify root causes of problems and where additional training is required. Primark has established a dedicated living wages projects in China and Bangladesh. The lessons learned and models developed will be rolled out more widely within Primark’s supply base. The project entails using local experts in each country – NGOs, trade unions and productivity experts – to improve the systems within the factories. Primark buyers will also be involved in encouraging factories to make the necessary changes, sharing knowledge and experience with the factory management, as well as looking at how they can improve the way they buy – for example by paying close attention to the timing and volume of orders so as not to overstrain the factory. Training programmes All Primark buyers and key personnel have been trained in ethical trade. In total this has covered 209 staff equating to over 1,672 hours worth of dedicated ethical trade training. New staff members are also given training on ethical trade during their induction. Ethical trade training was provided to Primark’s China-based staff. The supplier training programme has been extended and dedicated events took place in China, the UK and India last year. In November Primark hosted 3 days of ET training for the top 50 Chinese suppliers and their factories in Shanghai. 192 individuals attended these sessions. In July 40 Irish and UK suppliers and factories attended one of the ethical trade workshops held in Reading and Birmingham Primark is about to launch a new Suppliers’ Extranet, an online information resource centre for suppliers which will include helpful training tools and guides for factories. Primark has also developed an online compliance training tool for suppliers with a specialist provider, so we can reach more factories, more quickly. Recommendations to improve Ethical Practices The ethical climate of a business organization can make the difference between a successful venture and an unsuccessful one, that there may be a co nnection between how a business is perceived and its internal ethical climate. Improving the ethical climate of your own business enhances and preserves its reputation, inspires loyalty and advertises that it has its ethics message right. It also fosters an ethical culture within the organization. Evaluating Ethical Behaviour I would like to recommend and suggest that companies should undergo internal ethics audits on a regular basis because that the regular internal audit of the business organizations ethics and compliance program adds great value to the organization. A business organization should take a top-down approach to ethics. By communicating and modelling behavioural standards from the highest levels of your business down to the entry-level positions. So we can ensure that there is no gap between ethical standards and the actual behaviour of employees. By regularly evaluating these standards and the behaviour of your companys leadership, you can effectively promote compliance to ethical behavioural norms for your organization. Educating Employees A business organisation should Increased focus in the business community regarding ethics-based issues has led to increased funding and research to increase ethical awareness. One strategy to improve the ethical climate of your business organization is to offer or even require classes in business ethics. Business ethics classes at the local community college or even classes offered directly through the human resources department can be a practical and cost-effective way to offer ongoing ethics training and motivation. Protecting Employees One problem that might arise in the promotion of ethical guidelines to your orkforce is the fear employees may have regarding their role in reporting unethical or questionable behaviour by another employee or even a supervisor. Employees must be assured that they will be safe from retaliation from other employees or supervisors who might be turned in for engaging in questionable activities. The best way to make this assurance is to offer employees a confidential channel through which they can report bad behaviour. A company ethics hot line is one way to increase employee willingness to speak out. Another might be a suggestion box kept in a secure location where other employees are not likely to see one of their fellow employees turning them in. Employees must be confidently assured that reporting bad behaviour is expected and safe. Supply chain sources Every business organisation should choose its supply chain sources with carefully and make sure that all your suppliers are taking care of human rights in their factories by visiting the factories of your business suppliers. Conclusion For companies with plans to establish a more formal code of conduct and ethics program or to improve existing ones, the tone must be set at the top. Effective standards for ethical conduct must be initiated, supported, encouraged, and practiced by top management. Furthermore, a code of conduct cannot be effective if it is not adequately communicated and explained. Todays technology provides various cost-effective methods for communicating an ethics code. These communication efforts should be provided in a steady stream even after the initial awareness campaign. The advantages that are to be gained from formally practicing in ways that adhere to ethical principles include, the development of company documentation that guides and informs staff members on their proper conduct both during normal business interactions and during ethically-challenging situations; A better understanding by staff members of their responsibilities, and an ability to align their values with those of the organisation; The assumption of an appropriate level of accountability by staff members in identifying and anaging business risks; The facilitation of fairness and moral management in business activities; Increased trust from, and between, internal and external stakeholders. Increased employee satisfaction; A more open-minded organisational culture in which the interests of the employer, employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders are protected; An enhanced reputation within the community that helps attract new staff and customers, increases both public and community relations, and the potential for improved financial performance; and an enhanced reputation with competitors, governmental agencies and financial institutions by working with external agencies such as the International Labour Organization, the ETI and independent auditors, Primark helps to set and maintain standards. Its auditors work with suppliers over a period of time to help them meet the exacting standards set out by the Ethical Trading Initiative. This enables the supplier to become approved. So the PRIMARK has proved it wrong that its business operations are unethical, by taking the key measures and introducing many changes in its internal and external operations. Now Primark’s operations are based on Based on international Labour code and this is Translated into 26 Languages and published on Primark website. PRIMARK has sets off full policies and is part of terms and condition Training for suppliers and buyers to ensure adherence to ethical practice Tough selection process for new suppliers Reference: tutor2u. net/business/strategy/business-ethics-issues. html tutor2u. net/business/strategy/business-ethics-introduction. html tutor2u. net/blog/index. php/business-studies/comments/1175/ http://tutor2u. net/blog/index. php/economics/comments/my-primark-answer-and-more-questions/ abf. co. uk/stakeholder-engagement. spx ethicalperformance. com/news/article. php? articleID=6068 Source: tutor2u AS/A2 Economics Blog Source: tutor2u Business Studies Blog businessdictioneray. com : investopedia. com/terms/s/shareholder. asp#ixzz1Q7yKwTDG www. primark. co. uk/Ethical www. primark-ethicaltrading. co. uk/ /primark_announcement_on_eti_review . htm Read more: Strategies to Improve the Ethical Climate of a Business Organization | eHow. com ehow. com/way_5891381_strategies-ethical-climate-busines s-organization. tml#ixzz1QJ2wEgBZ Published in 2004, Curtis C. Verschoor NASDAQ letter to the SEC, April 11, 2002, nasdaqnews. com/ news/pr20 02/corporate%20governance. pdf Lei singer, KM, Corporate Ethics and International Business: Some Basic Issues foundation. novartis. com/business_corporate_ethics. htm, Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development (June 2, 1994) Murphy, Diana E. , The Federal Sentencing for Organizations: A Decade of Promoting Compliance and Ethics, Iowa Law Review (January 31, 2002), pp. 703-704. Anonymous, (2001), The importance of business ethics, HR Focus, Vol 78, Iss 7, p 1, 13+, New York Brandl, P. and Maguire, M. , (2002), Codes of ethics: A primer on their purpose development and use, The Journal for Quality and Participation, Vol 25, Iss 4, PP 8-12, Association for Quality and Participation, Cincinnati, OH Hopen, D. , (2002), Guiding corporate behaviour: A leadership obligation not a choice, The Journal for Quality and Participation, Vol 25, Iss 4, pp 15-19, Association for Quality and Participation, Cincinnati, OH Lovitky, J. A. and Ahern, J. , (1999), Designing compliance programs that foster ethical behaviour, Healthcare Financial Management, Vol 53, Iss 3, pp 38-42, Healthcare Financial Management Association, Westchester, IL Malan, D. , (2002), Applying tick-box ethics, Accountancy SA, PP 3-9, Hinesburg, South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ken gray, Johannesburg. Master, M. , (2002), Ethics at work: The disconnect in ethics training, Across the Board, Vol 39, Iss 5, pp 51-52, New York Read more: hetimes100. co. uk/case-studyconclusion158-412-6. php#ixzz1QJJhwWDY Messmer, M. , (2003), Does your company have a code of ethics, Strategic Finance, Vol 84, Iss 10, pp 13-14, Institute of Management Accountants, Montvale, NJ Niedermeier, S. and Rhodes, L. , (2002), Creating a culture of credibility, The Journal for Quality and Participation, Vol 25, Iss 4, pp 13-14, Association for Quality and Participation, Cincinnati, OH The Work Foundation, (2002), Managing Best Practice No. 8: Corporate Soc ial Responsibility Case Study 1, pp 20-21, The Work Foundation, Birmingham Verschoor, C. C. , (2000), To talk about ethics, we must train on ethics, Strategic Finance, Vol 81, Iss 10, p 24, Institute of Management Accountants, Montvale Wells, S. J. , (1999), Turn employees into saints? , HRMagazine, Vol 44, Iss 13, pp 48-58, Society for Human Resource Management, Alexandria thetimes100. co. uk/case-studyconclusion158-412-6. php#ixzz1QJJhwWDY

Organizational communication analysis paper Essay

Organizational communication analysis paper - Essay Example This is also to achieve uniformity and consistency in production and to make quality and output predictable. Scientific Management is an engineering approach to achieve efficiency in the workplace where the organization can be likened to a machine which is composed of several parts that should work together to achieve optimum efficiency. This principle can be applied the Metropolitan Medical Group case to improve their service rating and arrest their declining revenues. In MMG, the administration and staff already the desired performance which is â€Å"leeway service† where Mike Taslow, the CEO of MMG elaborated to Betty McDaniel the newly hired director patient care â€Å"Patient should expect the same procedures, the same treatment from our staff, and the same efficiency from all the various departments of the MMG (Turner and Krizek 219). This is the same principle of Taylor’s uniform output albeit the setting is on a health care facility and not on a manufacturing plant. The problem in MMG was obvious. From the patient’s point of view evident with Betty’s interview with patients (Miriam), the appointment procedures was far from the ideal and causes the hospital’s service rating to drop. On the part of the employees, they are blaming the patients for not being educated of their system and has to coordinate with their friends in other department to fix things up. This shows the problem that Taylor identified as a cause of inefficiency which in the case of MMG, staffs are coordinating on a â€Å"personal level† rather than a established procedure causing inefficiency and ultimately, poor service rating. This issue could be solved by using Taylor’s scientific management approach to clearly define and establish systems and procedures, break down work to specific tasks and to quantify every work involved with the end of providing the same quality of

Profile and discuss one communications sector of a country of your Essay

Profile and discuss one communications sector of a country of your choice. ( India film industry Bollywood) - Essay Example Bollywood, the Indian film industry, is an important part of the global international communication system in the modern world. This paper is aimed at providing the profile of Bollywood, the Indian film industry and also in discussing various aspects of international communication related to this industry. International communication and films: International communication is considered as the inseparable part of human lives as it is playing an important role in developing various social, cultural, socio-cultural, economic, educational and other aspects of their lives. After the World War II, international communication has gained significant attention from all over the world. Since the middle of the 19th century, global communication started to gain greater amounts of focus by people (McPhail, 2011, p.1). According to McPhail (2011), â€Å"international communication refers to the cultural, economic, political, social and technical analysis of communication and media patterns and ef fects across and between nation-states† (McPhail, 2011, p.2). International communication is essential for the purpose of producing effective value judgments. The most important sources of international communication are online media services, print media services, news channels and films and theaters (Supadhiloke, 2008, p.109). The notion of international communication is closely related to the society as various societal imbalances and inequalities are revealed through international communication (Moby, 2003, p.10). Improvements in satellite, television and internet system are helping films to become an important medium of international communication. Modern technologies are getting transferred in developing countries from developed countries like UK and USA (Hallin, 1998, p.153). Film is considered as traditional media and the growing technological advancements are creating greater amounts of integration in favour of developing the international digital telecommunication ne twork (Madikiza and Bornman, 2007, p.16). With the help of film media and industries cultural aspects are commoditised (Madikiza and Bornman, 2007, p.32). However, several instances reveal that national cultures are becoming the victim of the film media as the most important way of communicating with the people nationally as well as internationally (like the Western society) (Golding and Harris, 1996, p.199). Numerous epic films which have been produced in different countries all over the world have raised the effectiveness of international communication all over the world with the help of greater popularity of these films (Curran and Morley, 2006, p.267). Indian film industry: Bollywood, the Indian film industry is effectively using various social, cultural, economic as well as political aspects which are creating various impacts on the lives of people of the country, in particular, and in the lives of people of the world, in general. Bollywood is the largest film industry in India (there are number of regional film industries in the country which are popularly known as Tollywood. The New York Times as well the Washington Post regularly publish reviews of Indian films which are released and shown in different multiplexes of New York, Toronto and other cities of the United States (Rao, 2007, p.57). More than 300 films are produced every year in Bollywood and large numbers of Bollywood films are exported to the United

Prose Commentary, Pat Barker Essay Example for Free

Prose Commentary, Pat Barker Essay The title of the book from which this excerpt is taken, Regeneration, highlights what I see as the main theme in this thought provoking prose piece. This piece of prose raises images for me of the moist dampness, humid soil, death and the prospect of life arising from the continuation of the cycle of life and death. These Images are shown in phrases such as the final sentence, which says, Now they could dissolve into the earth as they were meant to. This sentence is the one which stuck out most to me in the whole excerpt; I found it very powerful in that it brings out the theme of regeneration to the reader and it is a sentence which sticks in your mind. I can see this as an overall whole picture, where Burns, who I view as a returning soldier, perhaps from the Gulf War given the date, experiences, and successfully faces one of his terrible fears, picked up from the war, of bloody, dead corpses, and through this finds the prospect of soul peace before him. I also see that nature and the cycle of life as a big theme in this excerpt as it shows up in nearly every line. Words such as, rain, mud, trees and wind support this. The narrative structure of this excerpt is also important, because it is as if the story of Burns is being told by someone else and so it is likely not subject to the bias of the actual persons account. In the first three paragraphs, rain and the wetness of the land is a large part of describing, setting the scene and the tone of the rest of the excerpt. The author creates a feeling about Burns, that he is somewhat stranded, for the writing states, He didnt know what to do and so long since hed been anywhere alone. As well as creating a lost feeling this sentence confirms the thoughts, though not directly, that Burns is a returning soldier. The use of the words, Raindrops dripped with the repeated d sound, creates the patter of large raindrops. Persistent and monotonous link up with each other to remind the reader of the continuity of the wetness. When Burns reaches a fence, he sees that, A tuft of grey wool had caught on one of the barbs. Perhaps an animal had once quite recently struggled to free itself from this discontinuity in nature as Burns does when he too gets caught on a barb just like an animal. The repetition of the b sound in Burns blinked, carries on the theme of the persistence of the rain. Throughout the whole of the third paragraph there is another repetition of the b sound, this time though it is used to bring out the sound of the thud and plodding of Burns in his mud encumbered boots. There is also a repetition of the s sound in words such as slipping and stumbling for exactly that, to create the sound of someone slipping in the wet mud. The writer also uses words such as cold, khaki and tight cloth to create a chilling stiff sound to make the reader feel the cold that Burns is experiencing. In the next two paragraphs, the author makes the wind and its severity, an impacting factor on Burns' progress toward the safety that he seeks. The wetness of the setting which surrounds Burns is also again a major influence in his quest. The tone of these two paragraphs is much more severe than the first three. The author says that the wind tries to scrape Burns off its side. suggesting that the situation has become more intense. That line is very effective literally because the word scrape is an onomatopoeic word and when joined together with side it creates an alliterating s sound. The fact that he has to keep his head bent and the Rain beat onto his head both confirm the increased severity of the weather. When the weather is so bad that the distance vanishes in a veil of rain, the alliterating v sound bringing out the hum of the constant rain, Burns' survival instinct kicks in and he decides to take shelter, running clumsily toward a clump of trees. But again he is slowed to a walk because of the dragging mud. The words mud dragged are effective here, for even to say them together takes effort and your reading is slowed by them, amplifying their effect. The sucking of your reading is again shown in the words mud-clogged boots, the d, g and b sounds all together make the reader have to pronounce each syllable in a drawn out way. Where the author talks about, the whine of shells he is referring to the sound that you hear when you put a shell to your ear and compares it to the noise of the wind through the trees. In paragraph five the author shows the exhausted Burns so tired he cannot even be bothered to wipe away the rain drenching his face. In the next three paragraphs, the tone of the extract becomes quieter; there is neither mention of the intense rain nor the sound of it. The tone of the setting becomes almost sinister amongst the trees. Burns now in what he thinks is the safety of the trees continues to stumble and the writer again uses the repeated b sounds in the words, began, stumbling, blindly and between to show us that Burns has still not quite got his bearings right yet. The author uses the repeated c sounds in the words catching, clumps and bracken to the same effect. Because he is stumbling blindly, something brushed Burns' cheek and when he tried to push it away, his hand touched what he first thought to be slime. On turning to see what it was, Burns discovered that there was a dead mole, suspended, apparently, in air. The use of commas in those few words are effective because they make the reader pause and thus put emphasis on a very important part of the extract, it begins the change in plot of the whole extract. Its small pink hands folded on its chest. suggests the authors feeling that the mole was innocent, but was still killed. The author provokingly compares the dead animals Burns sees to a fruit tree bearing, what the author makes you think are heavy fruit by using the word laden. Heavy fruit because they are generally more likely to smell of decay, which is what the dead animals are, decaying. The author quite interestingly uses animals from each part of the earth; the magpies from the sky; the fox from the ground and the moles from under the ground, this I see as a continuation of the regeneration theme carried on throughout the whole excerpt. I think that the fox scared Burns so much because it reminded of something that he saw in the war. Again in paragraph eight the trees are against Burns. The author uses the alliteration of the words twigs tore through the t sound to remind the reader of the snapping sound of twigs and the force that Burns was putting into getting away was enough to snap the twigs on his skin. It brings out how frightened he really was. The writers reference to dead leaves also fits in with the theme of Regeneration for dead leaves must dissolve into the earth to create nutrients for the trees from which they fell and thus continue the circle of life. In the short paragraph nine, the setting changes briefly once more because Burns goes out into the field once more. He splashes effectively through the alliterated flooded furrows, the f making the sound of the swishing water. Burns then hears a voice, probably the voice of a fellow soldier from the war. It is said to be the voice of a person named Rivers. I did find it quite ironic that the author of the book from which this excerpt is taken, would use the name Rivers for the voice which Burns hears because in Scotland a small river is called a burn. This brings out to me that the author is making the aspect of water very important to this particular scenario. I feel that the use of water here is important to the overall theme of regeneration because water is a key part in the cycle of life, it is the source of all life and so I think that this is why the author emphasises this point. The voice that Burns hears tells him that, If you run now, youll never stop. basically telling him to face his fear. This may be because perhaps Burns ran away from something before and did not face his fear. The last two paragraphs of the excerpt talk of Burns facing his fear, finding a peace amongst his dead companions and his finding a control which he did not have at the beginning of the excerpt. Burns turns back therefore facing his fears. The fact that the author talks about what the real Rivers might have said confirms that Rivers is a real person and he is probably still alive. When Burns lets down the dead animals he is allowing for the natural cycle of Regeneration to be complete. This seems to make him feel better for he sits down inside the circle of his companions who he no longer views as scary and is happy because, Now they could dissolve into the earth as they were meant to do. By facing his fear, Burns was regenerated in himself, this also made him content. The last line is the most important in the whole text; it sums up and puts into context the entire idea of Regeneration. In conclusion I would say that there is one main theme in this excerpt; it being the ongoing recurrence of the idea of Regeneration through the means of nature, water, the cycle of life and death and the facing of fear. It is also important to say that in order for regeneration to happen, something has to die.

Ballroom Dancing :: essays research papers

Have you did something that you didn’t really want to do, and then later get selected for doing it? Well, I have. It was another beautiful Friday at Spottsville Elementary School, and ever Friday at Spottsville was music class. But today we didn’t have music class, today was something totally different. Our music teacher Ms.Belcher was having try-outs for Mrs. Benson's ballroom dance team. To tell you the truth, I was just going to get up there and goof-off, and that I did do. But, on that Friday something went wrong, something terrible, something I didn't expect to happen. "Now class take your seat. Today we will be trying out for ballroom dancing. Only the best dancers will be teaching the 5th graders for Mrs. Benson," said Ms. Belcher. Well, I thought that it was going to be boring (which it was), and I was mad because we all had to try-out (which we all did). Ms. Belcher picked the first group and then walked over to her boom-box and started playing the Macarena. This was simple; everyone knew how to do that dance. About ten min. into dancing, my friends thought it would be funny for someone not to know how to do the Macarena, and just do something totally different. So they dared me to, and like the comedian that I am, I agreed. When she called up for the last group (which I was in) everyone was laughing, including me. I did do something totally different from the Macarena, I did the disco. Even I can’t believe it now, but I was. If I was in the audience and could see myself dancing, it would have probably looked like something off the movie â€Å"Boogie Nights†, starring John Travolta. And I know I would have been laughing too. Finally Ms. Belcher turned off the music and said, "Now class settle down. I will have the results for you sometime next week." At the end of class when we all leaving everyone was telling me how funny it was, but you could tell that Ms. Belcher did find it amusing at all. But I don’t care, as long as I got a few laughs (well it was more than a few). That following week I was sitting in Mr. Adkin's class, my regular teacher. He was showing us how to fractions, when someone knocked on the door. Mr. Adkins walked over and gladly opened it. Mrs. Benson stepped in the room and told us why she had came. Then one bye one she called people out into the hallway.

Wgu Fin Analysis Task 1

In order to ascertain how well a company is performing, analyses must be done in regard to the business being stable, including its’ ability to pay debts, how much cash or other liquid assets are available, and whether the organization is viable enough to continue operations. These analyses typically look at income statements, balance sheets, and statements of cash flow, where current and past performance will be studied with the goal of predicting how the company will perform in the future. There are four ways in which the Competition Bikes will be evaluated. First, we will look at a horizontal analysis.This is a comparative study of a balance sheet or income statement for two or more accounting periods, to compute both total and relative variances for each line item. (businessdictionary. com) Second, the company will be judged based on a vertical analysis. This is done by way of financial statement analysis in which each entry for the three major categories of accounts †” assets, liabilities and equities in a balance sheet, is represented as a proportion of the total account. (investopedia. com) The third method we will use to evaluate the bike company is through trend analysis.This type of analysis is often employed to identify current and future movements of an investment or group of investments, and may involve comparing past and current financial ratios as they relate to various institutions in order to project how long the current trend will continue. (wisegeek. com) And last, a ratio analysis will be studied by looking at the broad method by which financial data is converted into simple mathematic ratios for comparison. (ratioanalysis. org) Horizontal Analysis When looking at Competition Bikes Inc, we will be comparing their sixth and seventh years, and then their seventh and eighth years.This will allow us to gauge the performance over a significant period of time to see if the organization’s business is rising, staying steady or fa lling. For example, if net sales were ten thousand dollars in year one, and eleven thousand dollars in year two, this would be seen as a ten percent increase. Using the horizontal analysis worksheet, we see that Competition Bikes realized an increase in net sales between years six and seven by over thirty percent. This was followed in years seven and eight by a decline of fifteen percent.While the net sales in year eight were better (+13%) than year six, sales did fall from the previous year. Another key indicator to look at is gross profits, where the difference between net sales and the cost of goods sold is calculated. In our case, for years six and seven we see an increase of over thirty seven percent, but a decrease of over sixteen percent between years seven and eight. This could be caused by either selling less, through an increase in the cost of goods sold, or a combination of the two. One very important aspect when examining how any business is able to make and sustain prof itability is the operating cycle.This looks at how quickly a company is turning over their receivables, inventory and payables. By lowering the operating cycle, businesses are able to manage their assets more efficiently. Using figures derived from days inventory outstanding, days sales outstanding and days payable outstanding, a business can determine how long inventory is staying in the pipeline, and how long it is taking to sell and collect payment on that inventory. This is done by finding the cost of goods sold (from income statement) and dividing by 365, which will yield the sales per day.Then determining the average inventory (from balance sheet) by adding previous inventory plus ending inventory and dividing by 2, and finally, taking the result of the average inventory and dividing by the cost of sales per day. For Competition Bikes this results in a figure that shows a decrease over the course of two years. Lower is better, and clearly signals that sales are increasing in c omparison to inventory. Another promising sign is the cash conversion cycle. This is a metric expressing the time (in days) that it takes a business to translate resources into cash.In this case it calculates out to a lessening conversion cycle, which points to asset liquidity through a short receivables time span with a long payables period. This is another sign that Competition Bikes is efficiently managing its’ resources. Lets take a look at the expenses listed under â€Å"general and administrative† on the horizontal analysis worksheet. These particular expenses are costs a business incurs when performing normal operations. For years six and seven there was an increase of a little over 20%, or approximately 156 thousand dollars. Then in years seven and eight there was another slight increase.In order to maintain consistent or increased profits without raising prices and/or selling into new markets in order to increase sales figures, a business would have to cut exp enses. Next comes â€Å"operating income†, which is revenues minus operating expenses, and generally referred to as EBIT, or earnings before income and taxes. In other words, this is a measurement of a company’s profits before all relevant deductions have been made. In our case, there was a significant increase of nearly 155 percent from year six to seven, and then another increase of over 60 percent in year seven to eight.The net earnings of Competition Bikes is up well over 300 percent for the first years of comparison, but declined over 80 percent between year seven and eight. This clearly indicates that factors have changed during the last two years that are directly impacting the bottom line of the business. Moving on to company assets, the â€Å"cash and cash equivalents† portion of the income statement shows a decrease of nearly 55 percent on a decline of over 142 thousand dollars, but during the year seven and eight horizontal analysis there was a signif icant increase in cash assets by almost 350 percent.These are assets that are cash, or can be readily converted into cash. Balance that with the â€Å"total liabilities† which is the combination of all debt Competition Bikes is liable for. As can be seen on the worksheet, the liabilities increased a small amount from year six to seven, but decreased over the next two years. Increasing assets and decreasing liabilities of any company means the long-term sustainability is good. And last, we look at stockholder’s equity. This refers to how much capital investors have put into the business. In other words, this should represent positive differences between assets and liabilities.For Competition Bikes, from year six to seven this margin increased by a little over 3 percent, or approximately 70 thousand dollars. While slightly increasing, investors prefer to see a larger gain. Between years seven and eight the equity increased by almost one and a half percent. While not a la rge increase, at least this was a step in the right direction. Vertical analysis Through a vertical analysis, we can take a look at entries for assets, liabilities and equities. These are represented as a proportion, or percentage of the totals for any given year.The main advantage of a vertical analysis is that it is easy to read, clearly understandable and charts changes in the operations of a business on a yearly basis. By looking at a vertical analysis a person can see financial performance over a period of time. Lets start by looking on the revenue side. By calculating what the relationship is between net sales less cost of goods sold, we can see that our gross profits are remaining steady at roughly 27 percent. In other words, the cost of goods sold is approximately three quarters of the amount of net sales.These two measurements would probably be considered the best barometer of how efficiently a company is operating. Likewise, when we consider the operating expenses for sell ing products and running the company, we see that they are relatively steady with only a slight fluctuation of a few percentage points either up or down, with all the variation coming from differences in general and administrative expenses. Given the minor fluctuation of expenses over time, there seems to be a good internal control system in place. This holds costs in check while being able to concentrate on sales.Generally, the percentage of â€Å"total liabilities† has been declining over the three years shown. This represents the company’s ability to retire debt, and as the worksheet shows, the proportion of total stockholder equity has been holding steady as well. By holding the line on expenses, retiring debt and maintaining stockholder equity. Competition Bikes has been able to operate in a very efficient manner, while growing the company’s assets at a rate of 5 to 6 percent per year. Trend analysis The goal of performing trend analysis is to collect infor mation over a period of time, and to use that data to spot a pattern, or trend.Under this scenario of comparative analysis, the finances of a company are evaluated over in order to predict future potential based on past performance. When we look at Competition Bikes historical data for net sales, there is a year over year gain, with the exception of year 8. To start, from year 6 to year 7 there was a significant uptick in sales by a little over 33 percent. While net sales declined in year eight by approximately 17 percent from the previous year, they still represented a gain over year 6. For each subsequent year following the eighth, there should be a steady rise in sales.Because there is very little change in expenses, even though sales dropped off, the profitability of the company remained strong. This trend is predicted to hold through the remainder of years 9 through 11. Given the steadily increasing sales, the company would be attractive to investors looking for steady but reli able future growth. While sales are rising slowly, the net income continues to see increases that are in tandem. Ratio analysis Ratio analysis is the conversion of financial data into simple math ratios in order to use for comparing with other, similar businesses.Data from past years that is widely available through public financial statements can be analyzed and compared to other organizations, and the results of these comparisons can provide vital information when making decisions. For the case of Competition Bikes, I will be using four different metrics to calculate the financial well being of a company. They are liquidity ratio, debt to equity ratio, return on equity ratio and net profit margin ratio. There are three types of liquidity ratios that we will look at.The current ratio is considered to be a barometer of a company’s liquidity, and shows the relationship between working capital and its availability to meet present obligations. It is calculated by doing the follo wing: current assets ? current liabilities Competition Bikes, Inc. Year 6 1,029,303/105,080= 9. 8 Year 7 1,353,044/233,700= 5. 8 Year 8 1,575,831/300,200= 5. 2 The current ratio of Competition Bikes is decreasing slightly over the three-year period shown, but the ratio that is commonly thought to be acceptable would be anything above 2, and higher current ratios are always better.Since these ratios calculated out to well above that figure, this business would have no problem meeting its short-term debts. Next, another type of liquidity ratio is the quick ratio or acid test. This is used to measure the liquidity of a company, and its ability to meet financial obligations. The quick ratio is used to determine a company’s financial strength or weakness, where higher numbers mean there is a stronger probability, while lesser numbers mean weaker probability, of ability to pay off short-term debt. Quick ratios are calculated as follows: (current assets – inventories) ? urren t liabilities Competition Bikes, Inc. Year 6 1,029,303 – 203,300 = 826,003/105,080 = 7. 85 Year 7 1,353,044 – 219,068 = 1133976/233,700 = 4. 84 Year 8 1,575,831 – 221833 = 1353998/300,200 = 4. 5 The quick ratio is an indicator of a company's short-term liquidity. It measures the company's  capacity to meet  its short-term debts with  the most liquid of assets, but is more conservative than the current ratio because it excludes the inventory. This is done for the reason that companies may have difficulty converting inventory into cash should an immediate need arise.The higher the quick ratio,  the  better the position of the  company, where a value of less than 1 may mean the business might have difficulty meeting its short term obligations. While Competition Bikes has a declining ration, it is still well above what is commonly considered acceptable. This points to their ability to pay their short-term debt. The last type of liquidity ratio is the cas h ratio. This ratio is generally the most conservative calculation of liquid assets because it removes inventory and accounts receivable from the equation, and is the best measurement of a company’s liquidity.By using this ratio, it is possible to determine if a business can pay off its short-term debt. Typically this is the measurement that will be used by creditors to determine how much credit they would be willing to extend, and is simply the ratio of  a cash assets to current liabilities. Cash ratios are calculated as follows: cash + short term investments/current liabilities Competition Bikes, Inc. Year 6 261,000 + 198,500 = 459500/105,080 = 4. 37 Year 7 92,376 + 220,000 = 312376/233,700 = 1. 34 Year 8 414,038 + 220000 = 634038/300,200 = 2. 1 The cash ratio is a further refinement of quick and current ratios, and ndicates a company's liquidity. This is done through the measurement of cash on hand, cash equivalents and short-term investments in relationship to current l iabilities. Cash ratios are the most conservative of the liquidity ratios because it only looks at the assets that are highly liquid. It is unusual for companies to have the cash on hand to cover all current liabilities, and these ratios are generally lower than other measures of liquidity. When compiling financial reports, these ratios are not used very often because it is realistic for a company to maintain the levels of cash necessary to pay off all current liabilities.It is generally accepted that businesses do not hold large amounts of cash. Competition Bikes has a very good cash ratio, and while it had declined from year 6 to year 7, the ratio has improved in year 8. This company is highly liquid. A  class of financial metrics that are used to assess a business's ability to generate  earnings as compared to  its expenses and other relevant costs incurred during a specific period of time. For most of these ratios, having a higher value relative to a competitor's ratio or the  same ratio from a previous period is indicative that the company is doing well.The debt-to-equity ratio is a measurement of how much a company's creditors have committed versus what the shareholders have committed. This ratio is calculated by dividing  total liabilities  by  stockholders' equity, and indicates what proportion of equity and debt the company is using to finance its assets. Debt-to-equity is calculated as follows: total liabilities ? shareholders’ equity Competition Bikes, Inc. Year 6 1,995,080/2,204,223 = . 905 Year 7 2,018,700/2,274,344 = . 887 Year 8 1,980,200/2,305,631 = . 858The debt-to-equity ratio is a key financial analysis ratio that is used to evaluate a company's financial standing by measuring their ability to repay debts. The optimal debt-to-equity ratio should be about 1, where liabilities are equal to equity. However, these ratios can be tied to particular industries, where companies with more long-term investments have higher ratios. If the debt-to-equity ratio is increasing, creditors are financing the company. This is not the preferred situation in regard to both lenders and investors, because less debt to creditors means interests are better protected in the event of a business decline.Typically, having a high debt-to-equity ratio means not being able to draw additional lending. The lower the debt-to-equity ratio, the better. Competition Bikes debt-to-equity ratio is very good, and has held fairly steady over the three-year analysis period. This demonstrates that the company relies on shareholder equity to do their financing, rather than through loans. These factors point to minimal long-term borrowing needs, meaning the business doesn’t use long-term debt to finance its operation. Maintaining a low ratio is the usual approach, because future solvency is not impacted.The return on equity ratio indicates the returns, by way of net profits, to the shareholders of the company, and is measured as a percen tage of shareholder equity. This ratio measures how much  profit a company is able to generate  with money that shareholders have invested, as opposed to what creditors have loaned a business. It is also a useful ratio at determining success with managing resources, and is especially useful for privately owned businesses that have no easy way of determining the market value of owners’ equity.Return on equity ratios are calculated as follows: net income ? shareholders’ equity Competition Bikes, Inc. Year 6 41,148/2,204,223 = . 0186 or approximately 1. 8% Year 7 170,121/2274344 = . 0748 or approximately 7. 5% Year 8 31,286/2,305,631 = . 0135 or approximately 1. 3% The ratio of return on equity from year 6 to 7 improved substantially through the realization of a large gain in net income, while at the same time having shareholder equity remain largely unchanged. Then from year 7 to 8 the ratio nosedived to below what is was in the first year of comparison.This declinat ion in ratio is indicative of the inability of the company to make profits with the investments made by its shareholders. The company seems to be trending downward, and is unable to produce sufficient earnings for its investors. There are many analysts that view return on equity to be the most important ratio for stockholders to look at, and is indicative of how well a company’s management is performing. Lower numbers mean Competition Bikes may not be spending wisely, and is not very profitable. The net profit margin is a ratio measuring the profits of a company, and is used to measure how well a company controls costs.This calculation refers to money left for the owners, after all sales, expenses and taxes are paid. Higher net profits mean the company is more effective at translating sales into actual profit. Net profit margins may also provide clues into a company's pricing policies, costs and efficiency of production. This ratio is useful in looking at performance over a p eriod of time. It is calculated as: net profit ? net sales Competition Bikes, Inc. Year 6 41,148/1,191,000 = . 0345 or approximately 3. 4% Year 7 170,121/5,980,000 = . 0284 or approximately 2. 8% Year 8 1,286/5,083,000 = . 006 or approximately . 6% In looking at these net profit margins over the course of three years, Competition Bikes is in a severe decline. While the drop off between year 6 and 7 was only a little more than half of one percent, going from year 7 to 8 showed well over 2 percent less. This means the company is not efficient with in controlling costs, and must get a handle on their expenditures. The rise in costs could be attributed to raw materials costing more, rising salaries, declining sales or lowered sales prices due to competition.The bike company needs to gets its costs under control if it expects to survive. Working Capital Working capital is the amount of current or liquid assets a company has, after subtracting its current liabilities. Working capital is s ometimes called operating capital, and is a valuation of liquidity the organization has to run and build their business. In general, companies with greater amounts of working capital are better able to achieve success by utilizing their assets to invest back into the business.While a business may have a large amount of assets, it may be very difficult to convert them into cash in order to take advantage of opportunities that require fast action. If current liabilities are more than current assets, a working capital deficit is created, and a business cannot survive for long when in this situation. The calculation is as follows: current assets – current liabilities Competition Bikes, Inc. Year 6 1,029,303 – 105,080 = 924,223 Year 7 1,353,044 – 233,700 = 1,119,344 Year 8 1,575,831 – 300,200 = 1,275,631The working capital of year six was 924,223, with year seven posting a gain up to 1,119,344. This was again increased in the year eight results at a total of 1 ,275,631. This equates to an increase from year 6 to 7 of over 21%, and another increase from year 7 to 8 of approximately14%. The rising amounts in working capital demonstrate that the company has been steadily increasing their working capital during the three-year period. The consistent rise in available liquid assets confirms that the business has sufficient working capital to make advances in creating more profits.There are several ways in which to improve the working capital. Since more profit and/or more cash on hand equates to more working capital, steps should first be undertaken to increase profit through reduction in expenses. This could be accomplished by systematically auditing all processes and procedures of the business and streamlining wherever possible. Second, by issuing more stock, the company could increase their available working capital. Third, replacing short-term debt by converting to long-term debt would lessen the amount of current liabilities, and free up f unds to invest in something else.Four, by converting all non-cash liquid assets into cash, the organization could make available, additional funds to spend. And last, by speeding up the accounts receivables cycle, and collecting money more quickly, the business would be able to have this money in hand. By maintaining a positive working capital the business would be able to undertake initiatives to improve their profitability. These liquid assets could be used to increase production, hire more employees, purchase other businesses, or expand the operations into additional buildings in order to accommodate an increase in orders.By spending money on the â€Å"latest and greatest† equipment in order to increase efficiency you will realize more productivity from workers. This can include things such as better computer systems that are able to automate the sales process, as well as manufacturing equipment that has a higher production capability. Growing a business can be done in man y ways, but the easiest ways are by spending money in order to make money. One method is to increase the number of new clients by hiring more salespeople that can cover more territory.Another way is to increase the amount billed for each transaction, by offering sales incentives. And last, you can use marketing dollars to increase the frequency at which purchases are made by way of repeat business. Purchasing system evaluation Every business must have internal controls in place to create a system of checks and balances that safeguard company assets and resources. These controls include things such as audits, reviews and procedures, all of which are designed to allow the organization to conduct business in an orderly and efficient manner.These controls also serve to deter and detect errors, prevent theft/fraud and promote accuracy of the accounting data. In the end, the business must be able to produce up-to-date and reliable information that is readily accessible to those making bus iness and financial decisions. Competition Bikes has a few internal purchasing controls in place that are designed to streamline their ordering. The steps that are taken by the purchasing department when buying items for Competition Bikes are: ) Purchasing is instigated through the use of monthly budget projections 2) Purchasing gets bids from three sources for similar quality materials and selects low bidder 3)Purchasing issues a PO to chosen supplier 4) PO is sent to the supplier by purchasing on the first of projected month 5) Upon receipt of goods, materials are brought to production line for use during the month 6) Unused parts are sent to the raw materials inventory stores on last day of month 7) Purchasing sends suppliers invoice to accounting ; accounting writes check to payAs we can see, the company has put some checks into place when purchases are made. First, the orders are based on budget projections that mirror the amount of needed raw materials. This ties the employees doing the purchasing, to a system that can be checked for accuracy. Because there will be a record of the monthly projections and the corresponding order that was placed, there will be an audit trail that can verify validity. Next, there is a requirement of getting three bids before an order can be placed.This removes the temptation of doing underhanded deals with a particular vendor. Then, as materials are received the items are delivered to the production line for use. This allows the purchasing department to check the items received against the items ordered, to make sure the order is complete before it is made available for use. At the end of the month whatever parts are left get sent to the storage area that is used for excess material. The last internal control that is in place is the accounting department being given the invoice by purchasing for final payment.This process puts in place, the appropriate oversight by the accounting department, whereby the same person(s) order ing are not writing the checks. If this were not the case, there would be potential for financial improprieties to occur. While there are some controls in place, there is a general lack of process centered around accounting for the inventory. The purchasing department buys raw materials based on the projected budget for the month. If they were to balance projected material needs against the amount of material left over from the previous month, the system would be less wasteful and more manageable.This would also allow them to keep tight reign on the already purchased materials inventory by carrying the remaining inventory forward. Then the company would be able to save money by reducing the material in storage, eliminating the need for storage space and buying things as the need arises. In addition, there is no procedure for signing off on receiving material, getting approval to move material to storage at the end of the month or for signing in order to have the invoice paid.There s hould be a method creates a paper trail over the entire course of tracking the purchases. I recommend the following course of action: 1) Purchasing is instigated through the use of monthly budget projections 2) The required amount based on projected budget is checked against the leftover inventory on the production run 3) The amount of materials left in inventory should be used to reduce the new order 4) Purchasing gets bids from three sources for similar quality materials and selects low bidder 5)Purchasing issues a PO to chosen supplier ) Supervisor checks work of the procurement clerk and signs off on order 7) PO is sent to chosen supplier by purchasing, on the first of projected month 8) Upon receipt, materials received are compared against the order and a supervisor validates what was purchased/received 9) If correct, order is taken to production floor for use 10) Purchasing sends invoice to accounting department to write check to pay 11) Accounting supervisor gives OK for invo ice to be paid 12) Cycle begins all over the next month by taking inventory of what still remains on the production floor.There are several risks at play in light of the company’s internal controls. First, since there are no procedures in place for managing the inventory, the company is opening itself up to the possibility of theft. Once the raw materials leave the purchasing department and get taken to the production floor, there is no way to account for what has been used. Then, at the end of the month when the left over parts are taken to inventory storage there is no way to determine exactly what is left.Another area of risk is the lack of approval process, and no supervisors being given the ultimate responsibility for creating checks throughout the process. In conjunction with this same area of threat, there is no system in place for accounting to cross check the purchases before they receive the invoice. If the accounting department was required to sign off on the order before it went out, they would be able to provide another check to see if budget lined up to orders, and carried through to the invoice being paid.Sarbanes-Oxley compliance Back in 2002 the federal legislators felt they needed to act in the wake of the Enron and Worldcom debacles. These two companies were caught falsifying their accounting records to cover up misdeeds. Because the falsified information was published in the balance sheets, income statements and annual reports, people invested their money and lost millions of dollars. The resulting action was creation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) that is administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission.This was a piece of legislation that was designed to protect shareholders and the general public from errors in accounting and unscrupulous financial practices. The act provided rules and requirements for the retention and storage of electronic documents. These rules impact the financial side of companies, as well as IT depart ments that are charged with storage of electronic records. This act specifies that electronic records and electronic messages must be saved for at least five years. There are three rules associated with SOX.The first rule makes it a crime to alter, destroy or falsify records or documents. Second, this legislation lays out rules for accountants performing audits. When auditing a company that issues securities through the SEC, all paperwork that is produced during the audit must be retained for five years. And last, the act specifies the type of documents that must be stored. This includes any audit related documents, electronic communications created or received during the course of an audit and any financial data.In regard to Competition Bikes and its compliance with SOX, the company believes they are adequately addressing the requirements of the legislation. However, there has been an audit finding that points out the possibility of â€Å"material misstatement† on the compan y’s annual or interim financial reports. In short, this means there is the chance that false information is reported in the financial statements. This could be either accidental or intentional, but could impact the company’s stock prices.Based on the available information, this is possible because of the lax control over the materials inventory. There exists a loophole in the purchasing process whereby at the end of each month the remaining production materials inventory is sent to storage without accounting for what has been used. This opens up the company to theft of materials without even knowing something has been taken. Another area that is problematic is not having a system of checks and balances in place when creating orders and paying for them.The purchasing department does the buying without getting higher-level approval, and the accounting department pays the bills strictly on the authority of the purchasing people. This leaves the door open for fraudulent pu rchases because no one is overseeing what is being bought, and nobody is checking to see if the inventory has been received. Competition Bikes should put some procedures in place that more tightly control the purchasing and inventory of materials. One that controls how much gets ordered, who oversees the process, and how the vendors get paid once the products arrive.First, the purchasing department should account for any remaining inventory at the end of the month and only purchase additional materials that are needed. The current practice has materials being put into storage at the end of each month without being inventoried, with complete replacements being ordered based on projected needs. By scrutinizing raw materials, and how they get purchased, overspending and theft opportunities are alleviated. Second, before orders are placed, a single responsible party needs to sign off on all purchases, thus creating a system of checks and balances.Third, the accounting department needs t o be involved in the receiving/inventorying in order to maintain oversight of products and the associated payments. And last, the accounting and purchasing departments need to work collaboratively in order to create oversight of each purchasing/inventory/payment process. By having the separate departments involved in each step along the purchasing process, the opportunity for improprieties to exist is greatly lessened. References Horizontal Analysis: Definition (n. d. ) In businessdictionary. om Retrieved February 24, 2013, from http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/horizontal-analysis. html Vertical Analysis: Definition (n. d. ) In investopedia. com Retrieved February 24, 2013, from http://www. investopedia. com/terms/v/vertical_analysis. asp Trend Analysis: Definition (n. d. ) In wisegeek. com Retrieved February 25, 2013, from http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-trend-analysis. htm Ratio Analysis: Definition (n. d. ) In ratioanalysis. org Retrieved February 25, 2013, from h ttp://www. ratioanalysis. org/

Virtual Memory Management For Operating System Kernels 5

CSG1102 Operating Systems Joondalup campus Assignment 1 Memory Management Tutor: Don Griffiths Author: Shannon Baker (no. 10353608) Contents Virtual Memory with Pages 2 Virtual Memory Management 2 A Shared Virtual Memory System for Parallel Computing 3 Page Placement Algorithms for Large Real-Indexed Caches 3 Virtual Memory in Contemporary Microprocessors 3 Machine-Independent Virtual Memory Management for Paged Uniprocessor and Multiprocessor Architectures 4 Virtual Memory with Segmentation 4 Segmentation 4 Virtual Memory, Processes, and Sharing in MULTICS 4 Virtual Memory 5 Generic Virtual Memory Management for Operating System Kernels 5 A Fast Translation Method for Paging on Top of Segmentation 5 References 6 Virtual Memory with Pages Virtual Memory Management (Deitel, Deitel, Choffnes, 2004) A page replacement strategy is used to determine which page to swap when the main memory is full. There are several page replacement strategies discussed in this book, these methods are known as Random, First-In-First-Out, Least-Recently-Used, Least-Frequently-Used and Not-Used-Recently. The Random strategy randomly selects a page in main memory for replacement, this is fast but can cause overhead if it selects a frequently used page. FIFO removes the page that has been in the memory the longest. LRU removes the page that has been least recently accessed, this is more efficient than FIFO but causes more system overhead. LFU replaces pages based onShow MoreRelatedComputing And Information Technology Programmes Essay1436 Words   |  6 PagesCLI 5 System Requirements 5 Windows Server 2008r2 5 Oracle Solaris Server 11.2 5 4. Common MUOS components and their purposes and functional relationship: 5 a. Define an Operating System Kernel. Explain functions and operations by the kernel. 5 b. Identify and compare Kernel used in corresponding MUOS. 6 c. 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