The Lumiere Brothers Essay Example

The Lumiere Brothers Essay In the early stages of cinema in the 1890s, each film that was taken lasted for not even a minute long. The frames per second that technology at that time enabled producers to make the film look more seamless and â€Å"life-like,† although the quality of the film visually detracted from the film itself. In 1888, Thomas Edison conceptualized the idea of a â€Å"movie projector†-esque mechanism that would create the illusion of movement using a string of perforated film containing â€Å"stills† passing over a light source with a high shutter speed. People would view these images though a small â€Å"looking glass† that became to be known as â€Å"peep show†-style.This was then developed by William Kennedy and Laurie Dickinson, two members of Edison’s lab team, between 1889 and 1892, later to be known as the Kinetoscope. On April 14, 1894, a commercial exhibition of motion pictures were displayed in New York City with the help of 10 different ki netoscopes. Edison’s kinetoscope had a broad range of influence because he did not seek any international patents. This lead to the development of an even greater piece of Film recording technology. In the 1890s, a new motion picture film camera that could not only record, but also project and develop was created.This piece of technology was known as the Cinematograph. It was to be superior to Edison’s Kinetoscope in it’s ability to take sharper images and have better illumination. Not only this, but the Cinematograph had a weight of only 16 lbs. which increased its mobility and ease of placement. Though the Cinematograph was manually operated using a hand crank, and the kinetoscope was electrically powered, the big difference was that the cinematograph was able to project images onto a screen enabling large audiences to be able to view the production simultaneously.One last arguably better quality that the cinematograph had was a slower frame rate of 12 frames per second versus Edison’s 48 frames which created a lot of noise and distraction to the viewer. Edison’s machine able to create a faster stream of images therefore leading to the higher fps, but this wasn’t actually that great because the viewer was constantly distracted by all the sounds the machine was making. The Lumiere brothers, Louis and Auguste were credited with the conceptualization of the idea of the cinematograph, and they shared a patent of it.However, a device that was invented on February 12, 1892 named Cinematographe Leon Bouly by French inventor Leon Bouly is argued to have invented this machine before the Lumiere brothers were able to create a patent. Leon Bouly coined the term â€Å"cinematograph† because it meant â€Å"writing in movement†. No matter who was actually credited with the birth of this invention, Bouly was unable to pay rent on his patent the following year (of 1893), therefore the Lumiere’s engineers bought the license. People who were able to view the Lumiere’s productions ranged from ordinary middle-class citizens to those of the highest class.When movies first started to come out on the cinematograph, those who viewed them were amazed at the â€Å"life-like† qualities that the machine was able to reproduce. It was said that at the initial showing of the movie â€Å"Train Enters the station† in 1895, people would be so convinced that there was a real train headed towards them that they would jump up and run out of the theater. Regardless of who created this wonderful piece of technology, this was the dawn of a new age where life could be recorded and displayed to others to sculpt their ideas and influence others’.

HIPA A Violations Affect the Medical Billing Process The WritePass Journal

HIPA A Violations Affect the Medical Billing Process Introduction HIPA A Violations Affect the Medical Billing Process IntroductionREFERENCESRelated Introduction AIDS. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is found to be in the immune system of the affected body and it focuses on destroying the CD4 and T cell,  which actually helps fight off diseases. It was said that a  person will be able to tell when they are experiencing HIV because they will get flu symptoms or not even get symptoms until months or years down the line. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) arrives at the end stages of HIV. AIDS begins to come when the immune system can no longer defend it self from diseases. HIV is often transmitted through sexual activity within partners or IV drug use, such as sharing needles. Also, it was said from people that AIDS was initially thought to be a disease for  gay males and that stigma has stuck but it was clear  that women and children of all ages, sexual orientations and races can also be the victims of HIV and AIDS. Understanding what exactly the Health  Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is all about help people to understand the implications of HIV  and AIDS  from the perspective of HIPPA confidentiality.  In 1996 it was Congress that enacted HIPAA to prevent patients personal health information from being used by people who was  not given permission or allowed too. HIPAA restriction was given permission to be allowed on medical records and the way information  is handled and which party  has access to  the information. HIPAA operates in four different ways and not only that but they are  broken down into four parts. First will be the portability part,  this is what gives people the chance to get insurance coverage. Second will be the transaction, this control the way you are to file a claim and also any other information that falls in this category. Than you have third and fourth, which is security and privacy  and by the way I believe is most important . The HIPAA Privacy Rule informs the national standards for protecting all patients’ privacy of health information of any sort. Any type of medical information that contains patient’s personal identifiers must protected access no exception what so ever. Something else is HIPAA requires that an organization must define who has access to PHI and just how much of the patient personal information is accessible.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HIPAA affects billing process by making sure that patient demographics are  up to date  and kept confidential. Within the patient files it  should be an authorization letter  to allow a practice to use any of  the confidential information and to bill that patient information to their carrier for services. If this authorization letter  is not  on file the practice may not for any reason release or disclose any patient’s  information that falls under treatment that the patient has had in the  past. All of the patientâ⠂¬â„¢s medical records, reports and other important clinical materials are legal documents that belong to the person who created them. But for any reason  the provider cannot withhold  any of  the information in the records unless providing it would be detrimental to the patients’ health. The  medical insurance specialist handles any issues, such as requests for information from patient records. It is recommended that they are trained to know what information can be released about patients’ conditions and treatments. Concerning HIPAA regulations a patient’s healthcare provider and his entire staff must adhering and demonstrating to the regulations of HIPAA. HIPAA demands privacy regarding a patients personal information. That includes diagnose as well as information regarding sexuality and history of drug use. This applies to  all diagnoses, but because of the social stigmas mentioned earlier, people are even more sensitive when it comes to AIDS disclosures.  There are  always  steps that can be  done to  be absolutely sure  that  everyone  practices compliance with HIPAA. One would  be to check your privacy guidelines, by  browsing through  the HIPAA privacy and security guidelines occasionally  to make sure that you stay  up to date with  all guidelines.  You can also make sure that you are in compliance by  being sure  that all employee’s along with everyone that comes in contact with the patient  are trained and that they attend training   at least two to  three times  a year.  This is  something that should be  recommended because of how  HIPPA changes it’s rules. It is also good to be sure that any business  that’s involved has a written agreement in place over regulations to be on the safe side. All Incidents should be handled right away when the matter occurs as well handled immediately with all documents in place. To make sure that any violation that has occurs and reported their can be no retaliation against the reporting party. Reviewing the  systems activity on a daily basis to ensure that there is no suspicious activity that you are not aware of is a also something that would be a good thing to do.  By the way research shows in the past there have been some cases of medical identity theft and how it can be  prevented. Research states that, you can do this by conducting a technical audit if there is any suspicious activity then it can be caught in its early stages. While  examining â€Å"the social, legal, and ethical ramifications of improper disclosure† important information was given out  during the research. Privacy regulations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act declare to protect the privacy of American patients health information in several ways. (HIPAA Privacy Regulations, 2000). The regulations  were intended to give patients control over any of their health information and create strict limit around how medical records can be used and released in any confidential way. The regulations also made it to where they  balance public responsibility with specific privacy protections meaning that they allow many uses of patient information without consent. There are a few legal ramifications of improper information disclosure which the U.S. Department of Justice has clarified. There are a few penalties that may be assessed and whom these penalties may be against for these violations. Covered facilities and persons whom intentionally attain or disclose individually identifiable health information in violation of HIPAA may be fined up to $50,000, as well as imprisonment up to one year (Amaguin, 2011) When ever confidential  information is  inappropriately disclosed  it can create family and social stress, employment issues and even housing issues. The law does say that all patients have every  right to sue medical providers if their information is not properly locked up and safe. When new laws implemented to make HIV medical information, and the confidentiality surrounding it extremely strict this was done to protect those suffering from this virus. The ethical issues  relating to confidentiality and partner notifications within the context of HIV infection are complex. The right of the  individual to confidentiality  can be  in conflict with the right of the partner to be protected  from the risk  of infection. (Social and  Ethical Issues, 2004)   In the world, society  is a discriminative society period. An  HIV patient is prone to social isolation and discrimination consistent throughout society.  A lot  of  people view the HIV patient as a germ or an infected area. With various explanations available the  people in public  does not want to understand what the public fears so they try to avoid the situation by talking about the infected person among each other.  This is something that goes on in society and when it comes to the patient’s health information physicians are suppose to be sure that all personal information stay hidden away and is not given out to any third party or people is not given permission. REFERENCES L. Amaguin (2011). Legal Action Center, retrieved from http://lac.org/doc_library/lac/publications/HIV-AIDSTesting-Confidentiality-Discrimination2003.pdf S. Col (2004). Social and Ethical Issues, retrieved from http://medind.nic.in/maa/t04/i2/maat04i2p107.pdf HIV and AIDS Bureau Staff (2004). Protecting Health Information Privacy and Complying with Federal Regulations, retrieved from http://hab.hrsa.gov/publications/hippa04.htm

Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Microeconomics - Essay Example The ecological paradigm emphasises on the health and survival of ecosystems. This means minimal and controlled exploitation of the ecosystem. On the other hand, microeconomics stresses on maximising the welfare of the people. This involves maximum exploitation of resources. This causes destruction, depletion and pollution. This has led to the development of ecological economics. This field deals with merging the insights of the two paradigms and resolve their differences. Microeconomics seeks to understand why a market has failed to deliver satisfactory results. It then explains theoretical conditions that are necessary for achievement of perfect competition. When a market has failed, its standard economic assumptions have been undermined. Causes for this include, negative externalities which makes social cost of production to surpass private cost. An example is effects of pollution. On the other hand, positive externalities cause social benefits of consumption to be higher than the private benefit. Imperfect information leads to over-production of demerit goods and under-production of merit goods. Underproduction and high prices can result from dominance by monopolies in the market. Incomplete market occurs where buyers and sellers are not fully aware of the other person’s position regarding product price hence prices may not reflect the true value for the product. Production inefficiency results from factor immobility which causes unemployment. Its competitive advantage is below the expectations of the society (Garegnani, 2006). Market failure results in allocative inefficiency. This is where there is resource misallocation and production of products that are not needed by customers at that time. It is an issue because these resources could have been utilized to make products that meet customer needs. It also causes production inefficiency. This is where given inputs are put in place but the outputs are

The United States (Foreign) policy towards Haiti Essay

The United States (Foreign) policy towards Haiti - Essay Example The richest 10% receive 48% of the national income while the poorest 10% receives less than 1%. More than 70% of these immigrants live in Florida and New York states. Haiti has been ranked as the most politically corrupt state in the world.3 The tax structure majorly targets the basic commodities produced by peasants while ignoring the capitalist class. This work will address the US foreign policy towards Haiti as we try to establish the relations that have been there between the two countries. The essay will revolve around the interactions between the two countries to cover the question in an amicable manner. Haiti gained independence from their French colonizers under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte in January 1804. However France did not recognize their sovereign state until 1825 when Haiti paid 150 million gold francs to compensate for lost property, slaves, land and equipment France had used during the colonial era.4 Haiti had to shoulder an economic burden in the form of high interest loans which was fully paid in 1947. Arguably the U.S migration policy on Haiti is hurting. In 1957 Duvalier established a dictatorship government which combined violence against political opponents and instilling fear among citizens through the use of coercive power and threats. U.S.A government suspended aid program towards Haiti in 1961 after allegations surfaced that he had misappropriated aid money. Duvalier’s son Jean Claude inherited his father’s presidency after his death in 1971. His regime dropped some of the coercive elements that characterized his father’s presidency. The United States thus restored its aid program to Haiti in 1971. Duvalier was forced into exile after months of disorder in the country after Pope John Paul II condemned the regime.5 A provisional military government took control from 1986 to 1988 and a new constitution enacted. This provided for an elected parliament, an

Southern Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Southern Company - Essay Example Southern Company is an electric utility company headquartered in Atlanta.    The firm possesses electric gadgets in ‘Alabama’, ‘Florida’, ‘Georgia’, and ‘Mississippi’ and services millions of customers. It also provides services in fiber optics and wireless communications fields. The brands of this company are known for their customer service, which is highly excellent, have high reliability standards, and for the best part have priced their retail electric prices below the national average. The hiring system of the company was at the entry level, and individuals were promoted internally for leadership positions to be filled.  Because of this, the company had a very low turnover rate, of which the result was that an older and more tenured workforce was present. After much thought, the Company came up with a group of leaders who had a professional level of business knowledge and were conversant with the company’s organizat ion and culture. In the late 1970s, the company hired a large number of people, and this ensured that by the year 2003, most of those workers who had remained with the company were beginning to face retirement (Goldsmith, Marshall, Carter, Louis, & Best Practice Institute, 2009). The company’s employees had and still have a retirement age of 50 years old, so many executives had to retire in large numbers, and also those who succeeded them would have to follow shortly. With this, the cthis assisted the firm to review and reform their succession planning and leadership development efforts to ensure that they had a well planned from which effective leaders would be able to meet the company’s future business needs. The company’s leadership people formed teams that assisted in the overall ratings. Leaders comprehended what they wanted after the recognizing the performance standards. They were equipped with skills of making employees work outstandingly hard (Goldsmith , Marshall, Carter, Louis, & Best Practice Institute, 2009). Leaders are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that their companies have the maximum performance ability and also to ensure the effectiveness of the company’s employees. Leaders are tasked with ensuring that employees’ performance is effective, and also should be able to develop and integrate new workers (Cohen, 2007). Developing and retaining of existing workers is also a major concern, while also finding ways to attract skilled workers to a company is another role of a leader. Talent management is the process by which an organization finds ways and means to retain, motivate, attract, engage, train, plan, manage, and most importantly develop individuals who can make the company rise to unimaginable heights in the global market. For every person coming into working economy, they have a particular talent and qualification. The Talent Management program enables these qualifications and talents to be sys tematically used in the operative process of a company. Most companies have a type(s) of employee appraisal system. Many companies are at a disadvantage of experiencing the lack of manual staff evaluation systems. Many individuals have trouble differentiating between performance management and performance appraisal. Performance Management is the process whereby the employees’ activities and outcomes are in line with the company’s objective and also ensures that whatever the outcome and activities involved, they are for the success of

Gillette Fusion Case Study

Gillette Fusion Case Study Introduction Gillette holds leadership market share which is 70% within the razors market (PG 2008). The companys success has been created by regular product innovations and prestigious campaigns in order to boost the sales. However, one product namely Fusion, which is the first five bladed razor has captured 55% of all new razor sales in the US just four weeks after launch (Datamonitor, 2008). What is more, Fusion was expected to be Procter and Gambles fastest ever product to reach a US$1 billion in sales (Datamonitor, 2008). This paper will focus on why it is so important to move customers to Fusion and how to attain and promote this migration. Why Gillette is so desperate to move all customers to Fusion The Boston Consulting Group matrix provides a framework for allocating resources among different products. This technique is useful for multi-divisional and multi-product companies such as Gillette since it allows them to compare different products and decide where to invest the money. As can be seen above single blade razor is a dog which means that this product has a low market share and low growth rate and it do not generate large amount of cash. However, dogs can turn out to be a cash trap since Gillettes money can be tied up there with no potential for the future increase. Furthermore, Mach 2 double blade razor is between being a dog and question mark but due to market saturation and product advancements Mach 2 soon will be a dog with low market share and growth. Mach 3 triple blade razor on the other hand, is between a question mark position which is low market share but high market growth rate and a star. Star can generate large sums of money because of its strong market share but at the same time can consume a lot of resources due to high growth rate. Mach 3 has the potential to gain market share and become a star however, Gillette found out that when Mach 3 did not become a market leader there was a possibility that it would become a dog with a little market growth. As a result, Gillette focused all its attention on Fusion which is between being a star and a cash cow that gives greater return on assets than the market growth rate. Consequently, Gillette analysed the BCG matrix and decided that the company needs to persuade all the customers to buy Fusion in order to achieve a status of cash cow for this product and bring continued profit with relatively little investment in the future. Furthermore, according to Armstrong and Kotler (2008) the best way for Gillette to achieve that position was to introduce new product in this case Fusion that outdate the existing ones Mach 3 Mach 2 and single blade razors. Therefore, Gillette is using positive cannibalization practice. This means that the company is focusing its marketing resources on switching its own customers from Mach 3 to more profitable Fusion line instead of trying to gain more market share from competitors (Ritson, 2009). In the long run this is more effective strategy as it is cheaper for Gillette to market to existing customers and easier to covert them than anyone else (Holland 2008). The marketing plan Marketing mix is a part of marketing plan that involves different techniques to influence perception favorably towards the product (Keller Kotler, 2006). The main parts of marketing mix are four Ps which are known as Product, Price, Place and Promotion: Product: Gillette Fusion is the first shaving system for men that combines revolutionary blade technologies on the front and on the back (Gillett, 2008). Price: The next part of the marketing plan is the pricing strategy as this will indicate what kid of ROI (Return on Investment) the company will have (Dewhurts Burns, 1989). However, the charge has to be competitive but still allow the company to make a reasonable profit (Barrow et all 2005). In this case reasonable will depend on the customer. Gillette charges 40% price premium over Mach 3 and to persuade its customers to switch for a Fusion the company needs better communication. This means by educating existing consumers on product advancements and improved shaving performance, only then higher price can be justified. Place- Distribution as shown below Instead of selling directly to the consumer Gillette sells through an intermediary such as a wholesaler and retailer who resell companys products Fusion razors. Promotion Marketing communication which is a different term for promotion constitutes part of the marketing mix. It is not a single entity but rather, involves a wide range of activities that aim to convey marketing messages to target audiences (Pickton Broderick, 2001). Those activities can be classified into four overlapping heading. To promote the migration from older Gillettes products to Fusion the company can use sales promotion. That means launch an introductory promotional discount joined with a competition with entry via product purchase. This could grab the attention of male consumers and encourage existing to switch. Another idea to convince existing consumers to use Gillette fusion is to advertise it for different parts of the body and not only for the face. The advertisement can be supported by online campaign (interactive videos) which will encourage the clients to use Gillette razors to shave for example their armpits. Finally, new form of public relations should be used to spread the word via blog. Gillette could create a shortlist of influential bloggers that are male between 18 and 35 years of age. Then, the company would send them a gift pack including Fusion razor, shaving gel and aftershave with some background details of the product. Further, Gillette could influence them to use it for a short period of time and write about their experiences on their blogs. As a result, this could promote migration of companys existing customer base to Fusion from the older razor products. Conclusion After detail analysis it can be concluded that Gillette wants to migrate companys existing customer base to use Fusion. Since Fusion is perceived as a cash cow which brings continuous profits with relatively little investment in the future. Furthermore, the best way to attaining a massive migration to Fusion will be by sales promotion, online advertising and writing blogs. Consequently, massive migration to Fusion will be achieved. References: Armstrong, G. and Kotler, P. (2008) Principles of marketing 13th ed., New Jersey, Pearson Prentice Hall Aaker, D. A. (1995) Strategic Market Management, 4th ed. John Wiley Sons, New York. Barksdale H. C. and Harris C. E (1982). Portfolio analysis and the plc Long Range Planning, 15(6): 74- 83. Barrow.C.Barrow.P.,Brown,R.,(2005) The Business Plan Workbook, 5th Ed, Cambrian Printers, Wales. Burns.P. (2007) Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2nd Ed, Palgraive Macmilla, New York. Datamonitor, (2008) Gillette Fusion case study: developing a US$1 billion brand available from http://www.market-research-report.com/datamonitor/CSCM0171.htm (accessed 2 December) Dewhurts.J.Burns.P.,(1989) Small Business Planning Finance and Control , 2nd Ed, Macmillan Education, London. Gillette (2008) P G Annual Report available form http://www.scribd.com/doc/5892225/PG-2008-Annual-Report (accessed on 2 December). Holland A. (2008) Sherpa Blog: Quick, Easy Step to Increase Repeat Buyers (Profits) Real-Life Marketing Story available from http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=30687 (accessed 3 November). Keller K.L. Kotler,P (2006) Marketing Management, 12th Ed, Pearson Education, New Jersey. Kotler P. Armstrong G. Saunders J. and Wong V. (1999) Principles of Marketing, 2nd European edn, London: Prentice Hall Europe. P G (2008) Annual Report overview 2008 available form http://www.pg.com/annualreport2008/financials/mda-overview.shtml (accessed 3 December) Pickton D. W. and Broderick A. (2001) Integrated Marketing Communications, London, Financial Times Prentice Hall. ch. 1. Ritson M. (2009) 5 Reasons Gillette Is The Best A Brand Can Get available from http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2009/06/5-reasons-gillette-is-the-best-a-brand-can-get.html (accessed 3 December) Shimp T . A (1997). Advertising and Promotion and Supplemental Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications, 4th ed, Fort Worth: Dryden Press.

The Not So Great Gatsby Essay -- essays research papers

The Superficial Gatsby   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the novel entitled The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is at times made out to be better than us. At first glance he is sophisticated, using big words and claiming that he is an 'Oxford man.'; But when we look closer we can easily see that this man is a farce. Much of this man has been shrouded in mystery. We know very little about his past until later in the book. We don't know where he was born, who his parents are, or where all of his money came from. He frequently disappears form Nick's view seemingly without a trace. All of these things make him out to be somebody of real importance but by looking closely we can gather an abundance of evidence to the contrary. We see that he is just a man looking for the lost love of his life, Daisy. He is a man looking for the American dream and when he does not find it, we see at last that he is just like the rest of us.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The word great is somewhat vague in meaning. Whether someone is great or not often times depends on the person judging them. My personal beliefs as far as greatness are concerned are not very complicated. When I think of someone who is or was great, I think of Jackie Robinson, Louis Armstrong, and Albert Einstein. These are all people who affected the way we live and have changed our society as a whole for the better. My parents are great; my teachers are great, and my coaches are great. All of those people have a lot of influence directly over me and they are always changing me for the better. A truly great person has to make sacrifices and be very brave. Jackie Robinson was the first black person to enter the major leagues. To face the kind of racism that he faced and still perform the way he did is a feat hat I don't think I could do. His bravery and grace under pressure has earned him a place among the greats. He is a wonderful example of greatness, and there are many more like him. Not everyone has the same kind of standard for greatness as I do. Another part of being great is growing up from an impoverished background. Some people, like the two kids who murdered thirteen kids at Littleton High, think that Hitler was a great man. Some people think that Stalin and Milosevic are great. These dictators did not rise to power without support from other people. People fought and died for these tyran... ...s life by loving her and doing the best he could to get her back. Daisy's problem is that she is pushed around a little too easy and just like that she seemingly forgets everything between Gatsby and herself. But being a great person is more than just those few things. Being a great person means being great and living up to that standard for most of your life. Most really great people continue to meet the standard of being great for a long time. That is part of what makes them so great. Jay Gatsby has turned his past life in to a fraud. Jay Gatsby who, for his own purposes, would break up a marriage. These are not traits of a truly great man.Then we come to the question: Why? Why would Fitzgerald name the book 'The Great Gatsby?'; I believe it is because Nick is the narrator and does see him as great. When I was finished reading this novel I did not come off thinking not thinking 'wow that man was really great.'; I came off thinking (among other things) 'wow that title is not acc urate'; because there is an abundance of evidence to the contrary even when it is presented by a narrator that thinks he is great. I believe that is what Fitzgerald wanted us to think (among other things).

Feet case study Essay

The item that seemed to really call my attention as being a problem is some of the profitability ratios. Starting with the Gross Profit margin, it seems at the moment that Just Feet makes $41.62 in 1999 and in 1998 $41.53 in profit, but it cost the company more to produce than what they are making in profit. This shows that they need to lower their costs in making their product to be more profitable. The company has not even reached a breakeven point. We also see that in the two years of 1998 to 1999 that there was a decrease in profitability a decrease in return of equity. This means that the company is making less profit for each dollar that the shareholders have invested in the company. This ratio shows us how efficiently the company is working, and it shows how efficiently management is using the funds that shareholders have contributed to the company. So in doing these analysis  for Just for Feet Inc. I would be questioning the efficiency of management for handling the income that shareholders have contributed. I would also want to look for closely at how the company is producing, the cost they are having is higher than the profit, for that reason we would want to evaluate how they could lower cost to make the profit more profitable for the company. Question 2. Just for Feet operated large, high-volume retail stores. Identify internal control risks common to such a business. How should these risks affect the audit planning decisions for such a client? One of the risks that a large retail store like Just for Feet Inc. could find in internal controls is in the area of Inventory Control. The largest concern is that what is stated on the Financial statements really exist. It is important to evaluate this risk so that a company can see if there is any thievery by employees and to make sure that on its balance sheet it shows an accurate report of inventory. Another area of risk in a high volume retail store would be the issue of handling cash. Since there is such a high turnover of cash in a large retail store, there needs to be good internal controls in place that will prevent false accounts receivable, and a misrepresentation of revenues. Another risk that needs to be evaluated is the management operations and how they handle and divide responsibilities within the location. In retail stores there can be a high turnover of people, for that reason management needs to make sure that there are always the proper division of duties, they need to make sure all paperwork is properly recorded and accounted for. As to how it will affect the audit plan, the auditor needs to make sure that there is proper division of duties, needs to test to make sure values are correct and there are no misstatements. The need to look closely at the inventory, accounting for the proper value on hand as well as the proper items in stock. Question 3 Just for feet operated in an extremely competitive industry, or sub-industry. Identify inherent risk factors common to businesses facing such competitive conditions. How should these risks affect the audit planning decisions for such a client? An inherent risk is when a company is susceptible to a misstatement in financial statements. It is the responsibility of an auditor  to carry out audits that will make these risks low to nonexistent. An example of this is segregation of duty. IN a highly competitive business profit and larger revenue will identify you as being the best, a possible risk is the lack of personnel that keeps expenses low giving people double duties, but creating an inherent risk. If we do not have management signing off on purchase orders, and others account for the product being received and another accounting for it being sold and another confirming the completion of the process in the accounting of such items through monthly closings or such. An auditor would want to evaluate that management has the experience necessary to carry out these plans. And those that are in the mentioned positions also would be experienced. If there is a high turnover in these positions it could be a sign of fraudulent behavior because people who are trust worthy would not stay in a place to do something dishonest. All these type of changes should be evaluated by the auditor. Question 4 Prepare a comprehensive list, in a bullet format of the audit risk factors present for the 1998 Just for Feet audit. Identify the five audit risk factors that you believe were most critical to the successful completion of that audit. Rank these risk factors from least to most important and be prepared to defend your rankings. Briefly explain whether or not you believe that the Deloitte auditors responded appropriately to the five critical audit risk factors that you identified. The emphasis that management made on reaching the earnings goals at whatever cost. The near year end transactions that Just for Feet was engaged in The law cash resources of the company The type of business strategy that the management of Just for Feet used The way that the company always kept the stock prices on the high end The increase in inventory at the end of both years. The vendor confirmations not coming through to confirm transaction by Just for Feet. The risk factors that were most significant to the audits completion would be the Inherent Risk, control risk, audit risk and detection risk. An Audit  risk is when an auditor answers the following questions: Is there a risk of fraud? Is this risk related to the complexity of transactions? Does it include and significant transaction out of the normal course of business? Karl M Johnston, (Auditing 2014) states that â€Å"whether the risk is related to recent significant economic accounting, or other developments and, it requires specific attention.† In my ranking of more important to least important in risk factors I think that they are generally all equally important. Inherent risk are important because it will evaluate if there has been some type of theft, or if there was anything changed in the form of a non-routine transactions or a complex transaction. Sort of like what Just for Feet did when raised the inventory at the end of two years. The Control risk is also of equal importance because it is relates to a misstatement being stopped with internal controls in place. The fact that Just for Feet was allowing misstatements to be written by outside vendors to send to the auditor shows that the lack of internal controls within the Just for Feet entity allowed this type of poor fraudulent management to occur. This would be assessed through assertion level checks like: Valuation, existence, presentation, completeness and rights and obligations disclosures. In my opinion Deloitte did not respond appropriately to these risk factors. Though they may have seen the risk factors, though they saw the misstatements and questioned them, they did not act accordingly. If they had the SEC would not have fined them. Question 5 Put yourself in the position of Thomas Shine in this case. How would you have responded when Don-Allen Ruttenberg asked you to send a false confirmation to Deloitte & Touche? Before responding, identify the parties who will be affected by your decision? The people who would have been affected by my decision is the shareholders, others who worked for the company, the public, management and executives of the company, even those who were customers of Just for Feet. But even then with all those people at risk I would have said no and risked losing my job by being fired. My ethical position to adhere to what is right is what would require me to make this decision. To be asked to do something fraudulent would make me want to separate myself from this type of management. At the  end I would pay the price for my bad choice. REFERENCES http://www.investinganswers.com/financial-dictionary/financial-statement-analysis/return-equity-roe-916 retrieved 10/2/14 http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-assess-inventory-management-control-risk.html retrieved 10/3/14 http://accounting-simplified.com/audit/introduction/audit-assertions.html retrieved 10/5/14

Differences in the movie and book of Shawshank Redemption essays

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Free Essays on Legalizing The Magic Herb

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Strategic Marketing Plan Bellway Plc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Strategic Marketing Plan Bellway Plc - Essay Example The construction division was even able to showcase an operating profit of 13.7m as well. This indicates that situation might not be as bad as it appears. In fact if we take a look at the developments of past couple of years, it appears amply clears that the levels of profit margin which used to be the trademark of this industry are no more available to the industry. Increasing levels of competition, more assertive consumers, increasing emphasis on quality, strict norms for deadline adherence, dynamic nature of business proposition etc are some of the factors which have led to the shrinking of profit margins in the industry. Pettinger (1998) also underlined the fact that the industry is now increasingly being dominated by client groups and peer pressure with too many contractors chasing too little work in the industry. The trend coupled with indications of imminent recession has become a cause of worry for the industry. Gilmore and Jordan (2008) also reported that the construction sector in UK has slumped to new lows with deteriorating conditions in the housing market. As the construction sector comprises of 6 percent of British econo my, and if this significant sector is not able to contribute its bit towards nation's economy, then the country's economy will also come under pressure. Therefore under the circumstances the construction companies are supposed to tread a cautions path with well planned strategic moves. This study is an effort to chalk out a course of action for Bellway Plc under the prevailing circumstances. Well, the times are indeed quite uncertain and nobody knows how things are going to shape up in the next 6-12 months, which in turn calls for planning with short term moves. Such a move might be suitable for a corner shop or for a small scale enterprise, but for a company with a successful track record of operation for last more than 50 years, planning exclusively for short term gains might not be a wise move from a long term perspective. While devising a marketing plan for Bellway Plc for the coming years, we need to think about two broad strategies; i. How Bellway will take on the competition ii. How the company will remain in business with prevailing recessionary trends iii. How the day to day operations will be executed to supplement the marketing plan. A marketing plan for Bellway Plc forms an integral part of its broader business plan implying in words and numbers how, where and to whom Bellway proposes to offer its services to its existing as well as prospective customer under the highly challenging circumstances. This paper is an effort to outline the company's approach not only in attracting potential customer, but also in convincing the existing customers to remain with the company for their future needs as well. In general the components of a marketing plan may include: 1. Terms of Reference: Bellway requires a feel of the market, particularly after the recessionary trends have started showing signs of serious nature with impact on the overall economy. Though the major area of operation of Bellway Plc is UK only and it doesn't have big stakes in the international arena. But the impact of international markets and economic conditions in other countries will certainly have an impact on the UK economy, which in turn will affect the profitability of the company. Therefore, while analysing the domestic market, analysing the global cues is equally important. 2. Executive Summary: