Ethical Codes Of Conduct Are Secondary Thoughts - 1531 Words

Enron, WorldCom and Bank of Credit and Commerce, just to name a few, runs chills up and down the spines of, well, just about everybody. These scandals swirled around several large businesses, and hinged on unethical practices – unethical accounting practices, specifically. The idea of ethics is a hot button these days in all genres. In fact, universities and colleges are including ethics in the curriculum of every discipline instead of offering an ethics major, per se (Kanaiah Kumar, 2009). It seems that ethical codes of conduct are secondary thoughts after the critical elements of a chosen discipline, when in actuality; ethics are a common thread across the disciplines. When considering accounting and ethics, the implications of†¦show more content†¦In addition, and maybe most important to the layperson, an auditor does not prepare financial statements, nor do they determine the amounts included in said financials. In essence, an auditor sets the stage to a co mpany’s claim to reliability and accountability to its stakeholders. To that end, ethical standing is essential. Ethics In a perfect world, a company does not commit fraud or some other action to deprive its stakeholders standing, financially or otherwise. However, since the world is a smidge short of perfection, there are some checks and balances to protect stakeholders. Usually, a company’s accountants are such that the financial credibility is maintained internally and then confirmed by an auditor externally with the minimum of adjustments. If internal controls are ineffective, and a company is determined to undermine its stakeholders financially, those types of incidents are reined and culpable accounting practices are discovered by an auditor’s refusal to endorse the financials associated with said business. If the external process fails, the business’ potential viability fails. This has been proven over and over and quite famously. With all that having been said, it is safe to assume that auditors are not perfect; and commit ethical failure as the Arthur Andersen firm did with Enron. There are many ways or reasons

Good vs. Evil, Wrong vs. Right, and Ought/Should Be vs....

Good vs. Evil, Wrong vs. Right, and Ought/Should Be vs. What Is Group B: Question 1: An office worker had a record of frequent absence. He used all his vacation and sick leave days and frequently requested additional leave without pay. His supervisor and co-workers expressed great frustration because his absenteeism caused bottlenecks in paperwork, created low morale in the office, and required others to do his work in addition to their own. On the other hand, he felt he was entitled to take his earned time and additional time off without pay. Was he right? Answer: I feel that yes the office worker was entitled to take his earned time and additional time off without pay but I think how he went about doing so was wrong. Also, it†¦show more content†¦Answer: This could be a very bad situation for Rhonda because one of her friends could overhear them and this could cause problems not only in their friendship but at work also. Rhonda is wrong in thinking that it does no real harm and feeling no remorse for joining in because this decision she made can end up biting her in the rear. Just like these fellow employees are gossiping about other people, she can be sure when she is not around, they are going to be gossipingShow MoreRelatedCivilization Versus Savagery in Goldings Lord of the Flies Essay807 Words   |  4 Pagesnature of man. Golding uses symbols, characters and objects to represent his main ideas and themes. The conch was used to call meetings but is also symbolic of the government structure and power. One of the main themes in the novel â€Å"Civilization vs. Savagery† is fought between two egos, Jack the Id who represents savagery and the desire for power and Ralph the Ego and protagonist, who represents order and leadership. 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Riordan’s Competitive Advantages Free Essays

Riordan’s Competitive Advantages The research will describe which competitive advantages Riordan has in common with McDonald’s and Burger King. This study will estimate, which competitive strategies Riordan could use to improve innovation and sustainability of business operations both in the United States and in the global market. Research will explain why those competitive strategies were chosen and estimate how they may affect sustainability of long-term organizational performance. We will write a custom essay sample on Riordan’s Competitive Advantages or any similar topic only for you Order Now The examination will also explain how the global market would affect the business strategy of Riordan. Riordan Organization McDonald’s and Burger King The McDonald’s Corporation and the Riordan Manufacturing Company are both main industry leaders in their own field. One major competitive advantage that each company has in common is differentiating their products. Each company has a variety of items that meets the need of their consumers. The three companies sell both nationally and internationally. Burger King, Riordan, and McDonald’s increase their sales by offering price discounts, and sale promotions to ensure that their prices are affordable to everyone in need. All three companies use cost leadership, focus, and differentiation tactics to gain a competitive advantage over their competition. Another commonality between the three companies is that they use some type of reward and incentives program to ensure that they are recognizing their employees for operational excellence. Riordan Innovation Strategies Innovation Riordan could increase innovation and sustainability for the business operations in the United States of America and globally by implementing a strategic capacity plan. This plan will increase effectiveness, add improvement to its supply chain, and implement the methods and concepts of lean production to gain value and over time help sustain competitive advantage. Strategic capacity planning starts with better use of resources by reducing waste of raw material and producing products in good time at a lower cost. Riordan should make sure it has stock available and on the shelf, which will allow the inventory cost to rise. Riordan can increase its competitiveness by using farsighted capacity planning, by making use of the breakeven analysis of financial statements. This will help Riordan improve the process that it already uses, and by using the just-in-time inventory, which would help the company in the area of its operation processes. These strategies can be implemented by ensuring a better eye for detail, adding the key values of extreme precisions and enthusiastic quality control to help continued success in the future. Business Decisions Differentiation and cost leadership were two strategies chose because they are the most common between the different companies. Amazingly two leading organizations from different industries are using the same competitive strategies and tactics. The two competitive strategies may be the reason both organizations are leading within their industries. Differentiation is a type of competitive strategy with which the organization seeks to distinguish its products or services from competitors (Valdehueza, 2009). Riordan’s organization sells heart valves, plastic bottles, fans, and medical stents. Clearly, they have a large variety of products. According to Valdehueza, cost leadership is a competitive strategy with which the organization aggressively seeks efficient facilities, cuts costs, and employs tight cost controls to be more efficient than the competition. Decreasing business costs every way possible while providing customers with a high quality product is a definite way to ensure an advantage over the competition. Sustainability When organizations master’s cost leadership, and differentiation they will began to meet and exceed long-term goals. The organizations can use these two strategies for every business situation they may encounter. Proper use of both strategies will result in sustainability and organizational performance. Competition between companies will create a winner and a looser. In the competition process in efforts for the winners to win, they have to increase consumer value to satisfy the customer. This method alone will create long-term sustainability within the corporation. Organizations create customer loyalty by increasing consumer value in efforts to surpass the competition. Continual improvements of this particular process will sustain long-term organizational performance, and operational excellence. Global Market Affect Business strategy The globalization of markets is the merging of historically distinct and separate national markets into one larger global marketplace (Hill, 2009). With any form of globalization, companies will have to understand international measurement issues. Riordan’s Plastic began with international measurement in efforts to prepare the company for the global market. According to Hill, the globalization of production is the sourcing of services from one location around the world to take advantage of national differences in the cost of factors or production in labor energy, land, and capital (2009). International measurement issues include return on investments (ROI), budget analysis, and historical comparison (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). Dr. Riordan insisted on using their resources as a tool to increase profits when he started this company. This way when Riordan became international customer satisfaction and the rate of return was the most important factors. Riordan also needed a budget analysis as well as a historical comparison to maintain global success. Conclusion One major competitive advantage that each company has in common is differentiating their products. Each company has a variety of items that meets the need of their consumers. All three companies use cost leadership, focus, and differentiation tactics to gain a competitive advantage over their competition. Riordan can increase its competitiveness by using farsighted capacity planning, by making use of the breakeven analysis of financial statement, which will help Riordan improve the process that it already uses, and by using the just-in-time inventory, which would help the company in the area of its operation processes. Differentiation and cost leadership were two strategies chose because they are the most common between the different companies. When an organization masters cost leadership, and differentiation they will began to meet and exceed long-term goals. Continuous improvements of this particular process will sustain long-term organizational performance, and operational excellence. Riordan also needed a budget analysis as well as a historical comparison to maintain global success. References Chauhan, S. , Nagi, R. , Proth, J. (2004) Strategic capacity planning in supply chain design for a new Market opportunity International Journal of Production Research 42(11), p. 2197 – 2206 Hill, C. W. (2009) International business competing in the global marketplace (7th ed. ) Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Shields, T. 1999) Tutorials – lean production / lean manufacturing Defense Acquisition University. Retrieved January 31, 2012, from http://www. dau. mil/educdept/mm_dept_resources/navbar/lean/01rdg-lean. asp Valdehueza, Gregar, D (2009) Strategy Formulation, and Implementation Retrieved from: http://www. slideshare. net/gar_dev/strategy-formulation-and-implementation-1224519 Wheelen, T. L. , Hunger, J. D. (2010) Concepts in strategic management and business policy: Achieving sustainability (12th ed. ) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall How to cite Riordan’s Competitive Advantages, Papers

Just-In-Time Manufacturing free essay sample

A study of the method of Just-in-Time manufacturing for business organizations. This paper examines the use of the Just-in-time manufacturing method. It describes the key strategy behind just-in-time manufacturing: less inventory means more cash, which is good for most businesses, and demonstrates the application of this principal. The author writes that with Just-in-time manufacturing, stock is wasteful and eliminated, but there are also negative effects on the environment involved in this alternative process. Just-in-time manufacturing is a method of manufacturing goods that was developed by Toyota in the 1980s. Since that time, many companies around the world have begun to successfully implement just-in-time processes, including several companies in the United States. (Maskell, 1989) Just-in-time manufacturing is a method of manufacturing in which non-value-adding activities (or are identified and removed for the purposes of reducing costs, improving quality, improving performance, improving delivery, adding flexibility and increasing innovativeness.

Community Work program The pros and cons of this alternate approach to criminal justice Essay Example

Community Work program: The pros and cons of this alternate approach to criminal justice Essay The American criminal justice system has adopted punitive measures of varying degrees, the harshest of them being capital punishment. Over the recent decades, the judiciary has decidedly moved toward incorporating more restorative measures in its sentencing. This is not applicable across the length and breadth of the country, as the conservative South is still differentiated by its unwillingness to abandon death penalty. Nevertheless, at least in the more liberal states of the Union, the judiciary is seen to promote community service as a means of delivering justice as well as inculcating into the guilty individual a sense of social responsibility. The rest of the essay will discuss the pros and cons of this alternative approach to criminal justice. As a result of community work programs, the participant individuals undergo a personal transformation in the way they relate to society. Moreover, the places and events where they serve require volunteers; and when there is a shortfall of volunteers, the criminal justice system can enroll some minor offenders into this program. In other words, the chief strength of community work programs lie in the fact that they are â€Å"essential services†, as opposed to work conjured up on an ad hoc basis in some of the prisons in the country (Zehr, 2002). The drawbacks of the prison system are all too well documented in social science scholarship. Now that crimes in the twenty first century have taken on more devastating proportions in the form of terrorism, etc., the retaliatory and revengeful measures against individuals and groups found guilty of these crimes will only help increase the likelihood of such attacks in the future. Also, unlawful detention and instances of torture are more likely in under such a legal framework. There are disagreements concerning the ends and means of a particular case. One might dispute that the means are more important than the ends they realize. The question of ethics also crops up while dealing with such topics. Human rights activists hold that an individual, however inhuman he/she may be, needs to be treated ethically maintaining human dignity. An additional barrier towards legalizing torture is that a lot of thought and effort needs to be pumped in to make torture acceptable to all sections of th e society. As long as these questions remain unanswered, more inclusive and compassionate approaches like community service would be ideal as the criminal justice system goes forward (Zehr, 2002). We will write a custom essay sample on Community Work program: The pros and cons of this alternate approach to criminal justice specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Community Work program: The pros and cons of this alternate approach to criminal justice specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Community Work program: The pros and cons of this alternate approach to criminal justice specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Although community work would be too mild a sentence for crimes of great magnitude, they can be included as part of the overall package of convict rehabilitation and restoration. The appeal of community work lies in the greater public support it gets and also from the fact that such a program does not impinge on human rights considerations and the basic dignity of the sentenced individual, while at the same time guaranteeing the safety and protection of the civil society. These are some of the strengths of community work programs. There is one other crucial factor which makes community work the first choice punishment in the criminal justice system – the failure of the conventional prison system and their tendency to psychologically disturb the prisoner. For example, recent research indicates that young offenders are more prone to suicidal tendencies than the control group. The researchers studied one large prison centre in the United States and the statistics reveal a disturbing trend. The institute in question housed 500 prisoners in remand and 304 convicted ones. Most inmates were between the age of 18 and 35. In a span of ten months, between August 2001 and June 2001, four inmates hung themselves. The remand prisoners were forced to spend more than 80 % of their time inside the cell. New entrants to the facility found it difficult to socialize due to bullying by the older inmates. Most prisoners were in a state of â€Å"anxiety and vulnerability† due to the alien nature of their dwelling and their separation from close family members (Zehr, 2002). The techniques used by the prison officers to control and restrain these offenders were extremely harsh. On top of all this the inmate health care system was found to be inefficient. The prison staffs were found to lack morale and motivation to perform their duties. So, the suicides of 4 of these prisoners are attributable to conditions existing within the confines of the facility. Sadly, the above case was not a one-off. They represent the general state of prisons and detention centers across the country. A report released by a reliable human rights group, Helsinki Watch, supports the view that Overall, prisons are inadequate in providing its inhabitants with necessary emotional support. Community work programs on the other hand have proved more effective in terms of keeping the convict in better mental and physical health (Andrews Bonta, 2003). Of course, community work programs bring with them their own set of risks. For example, if the guilty individual is posted to a locality or an institution with a history of discrimination or physical/sexual abuse, then there is a good likelihood that the community work enrollee will get into quarrels and altercations, if not give vent to more violent reactions. Moreover, the participant will have to fully commit himself/herself for the task assigned to him/her. Half-hearted efforts to serve the community will only result in making the individual vulnerable to commit further crimes and will ultimately defeat the restorative purpose. These are a set of drawbacks associated with the concept of community service as a remedial measure for social crimes (Mason, 1998). There are human rights activists, who take a more compassionate view of the flawed behaviors of criminals. The implication here being that relatively un-oppressive punishments such as imposition of so many hours of community work is more legitimate when compared to harsher punishments. But, it should be borne in mind that â€Å"The human rights movement is based on the need for a counter-ideology to combat the abuses and misuses of political authority by those who invoke as a justification for their activities, the need to subordinate the particular needs of the individuals to the general good. The stance of the rights workers in the long haul benefits a few persons in comparison to the safety and security of the entire society.† (Andrews Bonta, 2003) Hence, we need to gain a more nuanced understanding of the nature of civil liberties and how the rights of individuals square off against that of the community, before deciding on the right approach to punishing criminals. Another area where community work holds an advantage over traditional measures of justice is its long-term effects on the guilty individual. Studies have documented how convicts, having completed their prison terms find it difficult to reintegrate into society, making them more vulnerable for repeating violent behavior, which landed them in prison in the first place. It also has to be remembered that any opportunity for social interaction in the prison environment can also be an opportunity for sexual experience. Correctional programs will not work without an atmosphere of camaraderie and a sense of belonging. Hence, the solution lies in balancing between these two necessities. Admonishments and physical restraints have obviously failed to improve the inmates’ wellbeing, as several studies indicate. Moreover, such ex-convicts are prone to indulge in deviant sexual behavior when they come out of their detention centers, making a strong case for holistic and accommodative punish ments as community work (Andrews Bonta, 2003). The debate on the efficacy of conventional punitive measures of the criminal justice system, such as imprisonment and monetary penalty has a long history. But such measures do not take into account the fact that the reasons behind crimes comprise of a broad spectrum of causes, ranging from socio-economic factors, level of education, physical or emotional abuse and even genetics. So, designing a system of that would factor-in these causes and attempt to remedy the roots of the malady has now become imperative. While community work program are not a panacea, they help mitigate the problem to an extent. Works Cited: Andrews, DA Bonta, J., The Psychology of Criminal Conduct, ISBN 1-58360-544-4, published in 2003 â€Å"Is torture ever justified? Terrorism and civil liberty.,(All democracies eschew torture, but some are ambivalent).† The Economist (US) 384.8547 (Sept 22, 2007): 72US. Mason, W. A., Zimmerman, L., Evans, W. (Oct 1998). Sexual and physical abuse among incarcerated youth: implications for sexual behavior, contraceptive use, and teenage pregnancy. Child Abuse and Neglect, 22, n10. p.987(9). Zehr, H, Little Book of Restorative Justice, ISBN 1-56148-376-1, published in 2002

Biography on Dave Mirra essays

Biography on Dave Mirra essays Dave started riding at the age of four with his brother, and was jumping curbs and flying over dirt ramps by the time he turned five. He never thought he was special when he entered his first BMX freestyle contest in Columbus, Ohio at age ten and placed second to last. But he just loved riding a bike and discovered that he was best suited to ramp riding. Soon he mastered the vert slopes and got on sponsored teams, with Haro bikes being the first at age 13. By the time he graduated from high school, he was a professional BMX rider and considered one of the top ramp riders in the world. He has gone on to become known as 'Miracle Boy' for the many incredible moves he added to the sport. It could also be due to the fact that he is the athlete that has won more medals in BMX history, and has a combined total of 12 X Games medals in street and vert (- 9 gold and 3 silver). Dave holds the record for the most gold medals won for and X Games athlete. In the 2000 X-Games he pulled off the first-ever double back flip in a competition. In 2000, Dave was one of two extreme sports athletes to be recognized as a notable sports icon in all sports with his media value alone reaching an approximate $2.5 million. Currently residing in Greenville, North Carolina, Dave is respected among his rider buddies as the leading influencer of BMX. He was voted BMX Rider of the Year at the 2001 ESPN Action Sports Dave has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated for Kids, and has been featured in Rolling Stone, ESPN the Magazine, Good Morning America, Disney's The Jersey Show, several celebrity challenges and The Late Show with David Letterman. Dave has also contributed a lot back to th ...

Film and Media Studies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words - 1

Film and Media Studies - Research Paper Example In philosophical reconfiguration of cinema the researcher has discussed on the terms phenomenology, ontology, semiotics and ethical factors as found in the films. The utilitarian deontological ethics are the other philosophies discussed and they are supported by various references in the films. Cinema has been the major source of the knowledge of human psyche. â€Å"Every theorist, every film maker, every philosopher, every place has a different story to tell.† (Flicity Colman 2009: 5) Cinema started developing at the end of nineteenth century with the advancement in photography, mechanics, optics and chronophotography. Much have been discussed about the essence of cinema, what we call it a theory of cinema. Film theory is a scientific process of organizing through which we learn to be disciplined and as objective as possible in our judgement about films. (Pieter Fourie: 194) Fourie further discusses four subjects of film theory: According to some experts cinema is a movement, and some say it is an interval. Some thought cinema as an image and some thought it as writing. The experts also debate on the question whether cinema is a science or it is an art. The discussion further continued with the ontological, epistemological and anthropological connections of cinema. Cinema was considered as a new medium of communication in early twentieth century. Many Film theories were developed to study the essence of cinema. They include classic film theory, apparatus theory, auteur theory, feminist film theory, formalist film theory, genre studies, Marxist film theory, philosophy of language film theory, psychoanalytical film theory, screen theory, and structuralist film theory. The paper tries to discuss some of these theories through the examples of some films. The topic of discussion is based on particular category of cinema and that is psychological thriller films. The research paper on Media studies basically