Enron Corporation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Enron Corporation - Case Study Example Executive Summary Some stories are so unbelievable that they become Hollywood movies. One of those stories is the Enron scandal. The movie called Enron the Smartest Guys in the Room was created based on the Enron story. Enron was once the biggest company in the energy industry, but a complex fraudulent scheme that began many years prior to the revelation of the fraud led to its demise. The corporate executives of the company were the primary agents that designed one the biggest accounting scandals in United States history. Two of the accounting tools that were used by Enron to cook up the numbers were market to market accounting and off balance sheet liabilities. The company would own only 49% of a subsidiary in order not to have to report liabilities of the entity. Debt from Enron was hidden in thousands of hedge funds or subsidiaries. It was all a huge scam. The organization violated or used to its advantage a variety of organizational theories. Five of the theories that influenced the behavior of Enron management and its employees were agency problem, corporate culture, teamwork, perception, and leadership. Agency problems exist at Enron in terms of the yearly bonuses, inside trading activity, and in the partnership scheme particularly the LJM partnership. The executive management team colluded with each other in a team effort. The leadership abilities of the top executive managers were outstanding. The corporate culture of the company was based on greed, disloyalty, and unethical behavior. The managers of the company were able to create a perception of a superb company that had tremendous financial performance. This was not true since the company was a fraudulent firm. Statement of the Problem Enron Corporation cooked up the numbers by violating the conservatism principle in market to market transactions and used deceptive accounting practices to hide liabilities by creating a complex network of partnerships. The mastermind of the network hedge funds was An dy Fastow. All the top corporate executives were crooked. The traders were unethical and money hungry. In a partnership called LJM Fastow stole $45 million. The company had a rotten corporate culture where the employees had tough pressures to perform or they would be fired. The company got corrupted and collusion occurred which led to the biggest corporate crime of the 21 century. Analysis of the Problem The Enron accounting scandal was a well orchestrated machine. Prior to the whistleblower revealing the truth nobody knew that the accounting of the company was not truthful. The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the use of market to market accounting for Enron. They could have never imagined that it was going to be used as a tool for deception and financial fraud. When the company got a new energy contract they would recognized the profits immediately without any cash coming in. The executives exaggerated the benefits of the energy contracts in order to boost profits and r eceive bonuses and rewards for fake money. The company was creating monopoly money that did not really exist. In the year 2000 the company reported $1 billion in profits. The truth was that they did not make any money whatsoever. The company for years was overstating the value of the energy contracts. As time passed most of the earnings did not manifest themselves. The company in reality was

Assessment item 4 Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assessment item 4 Report - Essay Example Pepsi was able to maintain such big reputation in international markets because of their innovative distribution strategies. This paper briefly analyses the distribution strategies of Pepsi in international markets. Distribution strategies of Pepsi Pepsi has concentrated in developing a wide range of distribution channels like, supermarkets/retail stores, fountain/restaurant, convenience stores, vending machines etc for marketing their products. Their product distribution philosophies or objectives were based on; making available all or most of the products in its portfolio within a distance easily reachable by consumers. Pepsi has realized that the beverage market is highly competitive and the customers may not take many efforts in locating the products. Most of the customers who like to purchase a soft drink will select the drink which is easily accessible to them. They will never travel long distances to purchase a soft drink even if they like a particular drink very much. Pepsi k nows better about the above consumer psychology and they structured their distribution channels in such a way to meet the customers at their doorsteps rather than asking the customers to travel lengthy distances in search of Pepsi products. In order to meet the above objective of shortening the distance between the customers and Pepsi products, â€Å"PepsiCo had developed various distribution models to offer its products and services to customers including the Direct Store Delivery (DSD), Broker Warehouse Distribution (BWD) and Vending & Food Service (V&FS) systems etc† (PepsiCo's Distribution and Logistics Operations, n. d). Advanced logic systems were also incorporated to the distribution channels in order to ensure hassle free transport of Pepsi products across the world. Moreover, in order to serve the customers more effectively and efficiently, Pepsi has made agreements with the local bottling companies. Direct channels, retailer channels, wholesaler channels, agent or b roker channels, dual channel or multiple channels etc are some of the common channels opted by product manufacturers to distribute their products. The distribution channels is selected based on the nature of the product, type of customers, market size, the producer’s level of control, the size of the producing company, the size of the retailers etc (The Retail Distribution Channel, n. d, p.36). PepsiCo is one of the largest companies in the world and they can opt for any type of distribution channels because of their immense financial capabilities. Pepsi has made use of different distribution channels based on the geographical characteristics and the cultural and economical aspects of the country in which they operate. For example, in countries like America and Middle East, Pepsi vending machines are available large in number whereas in countries like India instead of vending machines,

Media Violence Not Good for Children Essay Example for Free

Media Violence Not Good for Children Essay The effects of media violence on children have been studied for over thirty years, with researchers repeatedly finding correlations between aggressive/violent behavior and the viewing of media violence. These education and psychology researchers began asserting years ago that a cause-and-effect relationship existed, i.e., viewing media violence was one of the causative factors in aggressive behavior in children. We often use the phrase that children are impressionable. We mean that children do not see the world through the same filter of experience that adults do. Children see things more literally. They do not yet possess the sophisticated sensibilities to distinguish fiction from reality. It matters a great deal, therefore, how much TV children watch and what they view. Young children often mimic what they see. Parents and caretakers observe this regularly. If children see people punching and kicking, they may act out that same behavior. Older children develop, through years of watching, sub-conscious mental plans of how they will react in conflict situations. For years they have seen conflicts resolved by violence, and they sub-consciously develop the same reaction plan. When confronted with a conflict, the tendency is to react the way they have seen countless others react—in a combative, aggressive or violent manner. Researchers call this developing a cognitive script. Through television, video games, and movies, children and teens view countless acts of violence, brutality, and terror as part of entertainment. They become conditioned to associating violence with entertainment. This is the classical conditioning. First-person shooter video games develop our children’s skills in operating weapons. The games reward marksmanship, and further reinforce the association of killing with entertainment. In the past, the heroes of movie and television shows were usually people who strictly followed the law. Now, heroes are often people who take the law into their own hands, who see an injustice or evil and seek to rectify it personally, sometimes brutally, regardless of the consequences. Such portrayals signal to a child society’s approval of that behavior. Lacking the judgment that comes with age, a child who feels he has been dealt with unfairly may copy that behavior, with disastrous consequences

Hostile Or Friendly Takeovers Mergers Economics Essay

Hostile Or Friendly Takeovers Mergers Economics Essay The process of mergers and acquisitions is gaining a significant importance in todays corporate world and is extensively used for reorganizing the business organizations. (Cartwright, Cooper, 1992).The phrase mergers and acquisitions refer to the characteristic features of Corporate strategy, corporate finance and management that deal with the purchasing, selling and combining of different companies that can support, fund, or give their hand to an upcoming company in a given industry and grow rapidly without having to create another firm(Gauhan, 2007). There are many reasons why MNCS go in for merging and acquisition, the most important among them are the rising market, political power, defensive reactions, economies of scope or synergies, reduction of transaction and information costs.( Gaughan,2005) The factors that generates a firm to go in for merger and acquisition are identified in the budding regulatory changes that happen internationally, regionally at national levels and in the fast pace of technological change which enhance the market opportunities of a business, technological interrelationship, communications and cross border reconstituting. The advantages of MAs are evaluated in terms of the ability to exploit the scale and scope of economies, gain the market control, economize the transaction costs, diversify risks, and to provide access to the existing know-how It is. (Cantwell, Santangelo, 2002) A multinational enterprise (MNE) considering an entry into a foreign market by foreign direct investment (FDI) has to consider two strategic decisions regarding the organizational form of its foreign operation. First what is the level of control i.e. whether it will be a full ownership or a joint venture and, secondly, the mode of foreign entry i.e. setting up a new venture via Greenfield investment or merger and acquisition (Muller, 2007). Let us analyze the circumstances which make MA activity the optimal entry mode into a new international market in the forthcoming paragraphs. In the period of global competition, firms realise that the effectual use of universal sourcing will contribute significantly to the performance of the market. With the materialization of new products and technologies, the firms began to experience a new developing cycle which is accompanied by the degree of competition in the market. Most of the development of the industries experience four processes and they are starting up, developing, maturing and the declining (Wang, 2009). With the invention of new products and technologies, the industries start experiencing a new developing cycle. In the initial stages of development due to less competition firms preferred greenfield investment as the optimal mode of entry in to the foreign market. As the industry started maturing the speed of the MAs which is one of the main factor started to be seen as the biggest advantage over the Greenfield investment or any other entry modes (Kang, 2001). One of the most fundamental motives for MAs is th e speedy growth and the growth through MAs are a quicker process and it takes only few months than the other entry modes. An example of this kind is the German automobile company Daimler-Benz which realised that it needed a bigger occurrence in the U.S automobile market, therefore it did not waste its time by building new factories in United States which would have taken years, instead it acquired the number three U.S. automobile company, Chrysler, and merged the two operations to form Daimler-Chrysler(Barba Navaretti,2006). Firms either expand within their own industry which is the internal growth or they expand outside their business category which is the external growth to increase the market share or the removal of a rival. When the firms grow internally, competitors respond quickly and take the market share and in due course of time the firms advantages dissipate. The firms are left out with only solution of acquiring other companies that have possessions. For example Johnson a nd Johnson, rather than internally trying to be on the fore front of each of the major area of innovation decided to purchase those companies who had developed successful products. This strategy simply describes that instead of suppressing its competitors by its internal growth JJ stretched out for acquisition to increase its market power and this is referred to as inorganic development (Gaughan, 2007).Companies like Nestle use acquisition as a form of external growth to improve its organic growth( Morschett, Schramm-Klein,2009) Merging so as to create synergy is most often the cited validation for an acquirer to shell out a premium to the target firm. Synergy is created by redeploying a firms assets. The acquiring firm may transfer a resource from the target firm to the acquiring firm and assets may be redeployed from the bidder to the target. Authors like Colombo, Conca, and Gnan (2007) found that a strong forecaster of acquisition performance was the extent to which the asset is redeployed from the target. For example, Renault acquired Nissan and therefore the leadership skills of CEO Ghosn were redeployed to the benefit Renault and firms like Ford and GM were unsuccessful in enticing Ghosn away from Renault (Hopkins.D, 2008) Economic motivations are an important subcategory of MA establishing the economies of scale thereby reducing the costs due to superfluous resources of two firms in the same or related industry. Thus acquiring a firm in the same or a related industry results in considerable overlap between the two firms and reduces costs. When Daimler-Benz acquired Chrysler it announced that the merger would lead to $1.3 billion of cost savings in the first year mainly through collaboration (Morck, Yeung, 1992). Diversification is another important strategy that motivates the firms going in for MA.Diversification is growing outside a companys current industry category. Firms either diversifies to extend their product, extend their market, or purely diversify. When a firm is specialized in a given technology or product base it tries to enter new market by entering in to different industries, different social group or different geographical location. An example of this type is G.E which was merely an electronic company through a pattern of acquisitions and diversification started operating in insurance, television stations, plastics, medical equipments and so on(Hitt.M,Ireland.D,2009). Often firms go in for merger and acquisitions to exploit a core competence and take an insubstantial skill, know-how, or information and purchase it by spreading its use to additional industries where it can create a competitive advantage. For example the company such as Honda by its internal combustion engines develops a core competence and tries to use it as a basis of competitive advantage in different businesses (Hopkins, 2008) (Morosini, Shane, Singh, 1998) say that the larger the distance in culture of the countries in which merger partners are based the greater the potential benefit Cultural differences can also be a source of complimentary strength in the cross border MAs i.e. cultural differences between countries, like the nations strength allows working in groups for example collectivism in Japan versus the individualistic in the U.S, clearly shows that by the combination of two companies that are based out of different culture and country might result in a stronger combined company (Hennart, Young-Ryeol, 1993). Companies in order to improve their product development and to improvise their research and development which is important for the future growth of many companies go in for MA and cross border activities. During the 1990s a widespread consolidation took place in the pharmaceutical industry and the motive for such a merger was to come up with new drugs and mounting costs of RD, this explains the reason for the mega merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham merged in order to increase the RD budgets.(Gaughan.P,2007) Changes in the technology results a firm to either buy or sell depending on its position with respect to technological changes and effects. For example, Indias third largest software exporter Wipro had a success history of 10 acquisitions. Most of the acquired companies were based out in Europe and dealt technology or RD services. The Nerve Wire, AMS and Mpower helped Wipro gain skills in areas like financial securities, utility consulting and technologies respectively. (Paulson, Ed., Huber, 2007) CONCLUSION These were one among the few strategic factors that motivate a firm to opt for the Merger and Acquisition than going in for the other modes of entry. Despite the fact that by far the largest part of worldwide FDI takes the form of MA while in some regions Greenfield investment is most prominent.

The Mask of Horror: Eating Disorders Essays -- Bulemia and Anorexia ner

In this Golden age of humanity with technology at the fingertips of mankind and world wide global awareness, it's hard to imagine from the comfort of well lit homes, a large population of the human race lives without fresh water and a nourishing daily meal. In the United States of America it has been said of an over abundance of food, though many of the citizens are forced to consume highly processed ready made meals in order to survive due to poverty. These meals are high in fat, sodium and of course, calorie, leaving the consumer with extra weight. This leads to the image of "'merica" with over weight men and women on scooters. While some of this is actually a result of poor self control or a medical issue, many can attribute it to having a very low income and the substance affordable is akin to garage. "Big" a book by some author, chronicles a young women who is very overweight by the design of her home environment. Her mother is disabled, obese and living off the government. She gets a job, goes to fat camp and learns why she can never loose weight. With all of this in mind, not to mention the idolization of stick thin models and actors, its not hard to figure out what the mind of an adolescent will conclude. Weight equals prosperity; being heavy is unsuccessful and ugly, whist-while bones and tight skin stretched over cranium is attractive and desirable. This of course calls Eating disorders to mind; Anorexia nervosa, Blumina, and EDNOS (eating disorder not diagnosed). In light of what is going on in the world today, eating disorders seem farfetched and frivolous. Anorexia Nervosa could be considered a classic example of a serious eating disorder as it is defined as having a fatal a... ...he common world. Through isolation and ostracization of these individuals who developed these disorders when they should have been refining common social skills and relationships, they become set apart and put on stage as having an ideal figure or made to be a kin to circus freaks. The solution is a difficult but simple one, the individual in question has to learn to accept whatever may have caused them to trip down this violent and dangerous road to adulthood and left unchecked, the grave. Works Cited http://www.2medusa.com/2009/01/anorexic-bulimic-pro-ana-mia-some-tips.html http://www.drphil.com/slideshows/slideshow/6707/?id=6707&slide=2&showID=1774&preview=&versionID= http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/the_goddess/goddess_glossary.asp http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=7409

Psychology As Storytelling Essay -- essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites Storytelling has been with us since the days of campfire and besieging wild animals. It served a number of important functions: amelioration of fears, communication of vital information (regarding survival tactics and the characteristics of animals, for instance), the satisfaction of a sense of order (justice), the development of the ability to hypothesize, predict and introduce theories and so on. We are all endowed with a sense of wonder. The world around us in inexplicable, baffling in its diversity and myriad forms. We experience an urge to organize it, to "explain the wonder away", to order it in order to know what to expect next (predict). These are the essentials of survival. But while we have been successful at imposing our mind's structures on the outside world - we have been much less successful when we tried to cope with our internal universe. The relationship between the structure and functioning of our (ephemeral) mind, the structure and modes of operation of our (physical) brain and the structure and conduct of the outside world have been the matter of heated debate for millennia. Broadly speaking, there were (and still are) two ways of treating it: There were those who, for all practical purposes, identified the origin (brain) with its product (mind). Some of them postulated the existence of a lattice of preconceived, born categorical knowledge about the universe - the vessels into which we pour our experience and which mold it. Others have regarded the mind as a black box. While it was possible in principle to know its input and output, it was impossible, again in principle, to understand its internal functioning and management of information. Pavlov coined the word "conditioning", Watson adopted it and invented "behaviorism", Skinner came up with "reinforcement". But all ignored the psychophysical question: what IS the mind and HOW is it linked to the brain? The other camp was more "scientific" and "positivist". It speculated that the mind (whether a physical entity, an epiphenomenon, a non-physical principle of organization, or the result of introspection) - had a structure and a limited set of functions. They argued that a "user's manua... ... inaccessible, recesses of his mind. He feels that he is being reintegrated, that "things fall into place". In psychodynamic terms, the energy is released to do productive and positive work, rather than to induce distorted and destructive forces. c. The Purgatory Principle - In most cases, the client feels sinful, debased, inhuman, decrepit, corrupting, guilty, punishable, hateful, alienated, strange, mocked and so on. The plot offers him absolution. Like the highly symbolic figure of the Saviour before him - the client's sufferings expurgate, cleanse, absolve, and atone for his sins and handicaps. A feeling of hard won achievement accompanies a successful plot. The client sheds layers of functional, adaptive clothing. This is inordinately painful. The client feels dangerously naked, precariously exposed. He then assimilates the plot offered to him, thus enjoying the benefits emanating from the previous two principles and only then does he develop new mechanisms of coping. Therapy is a mental crucifixion and resurrection and atonement for the sins. It is highly religious with the plot in the role of the scriptures from which solace and consolation can be always gleaned.

Major Problems In California History Essay

The major arguments in the two essays by Cletus E. Daniel and Devra Anne Weber revolved around the harsh working conditions and poor wages that the farm workers were subjected to in California. These injustices prompted reactions from the farm workers through strikes that were organized by their unions and mutual aid societies in a bid to negotiate for better wages and improved standards of living. The essays also highlight the fact that the farm workforce in California comprised majorly of Mexican workers and a minority of Filipino workers. Finally, the essays highlight the unsuccessful nature of the attempts by the farm workers to push for reforms in their working and living standards as well as negotiating for wage increase. However, there also exist some differences between the conclusions of the two essays. According to Devra, the Mexican union headed by the Mexican Consul, Terrazas was able to reach an agreement with the growers concerning the conditions and wages of the Mexican workers. The agreement included a wage payment of between twenty five to thirty five cents per hour and thirteen cents a crate. It also suggested guaranteed access to water to workers furnished by the growers. Devra also records that this agreement was reached without complete support of the union. According to her, the issue of communism was vital in the history of California labor. This comes to light with the agreement of the growers to give protection to their workers against the communist agitators (Weber, 295). Cletus however does not record any instance where such an agreement was reached between union members and growers. He concludes by showing the plight and helplessness suffered by the farm workers following the failure to procure better working conditions and higher wages. Cletus distanced capitalism as the cause of the problems experienced by the farm workers citing that they believed their problems to be as a result of low wages (Daniel, 288). As far as the difference in the conclusions of the two essays is concerned, the question on the accuracy of the California history of labor comes to mind. This is a problem that is brought about by the uniqueness of each author in interpretation of events and occurrences in history. This in the two essays is brought to light by the link created by Devra between the problems the growers were experiencing with the farm workers and communist agitators while Cletus explores this issue from a capitalist perspective and its link to the problems experienced by the farm workers. The Imperial Valley episode reveals a number of issues about labor and unionism in the US. To begin with, it highlights the frustrations of the farm workers in terms of poor working and living conditions as well as low wages which led to the surge in protests and strikes. It is these frustrations that necessitated the participation and formation of unions so as to fight for the rights of the workers following the realization that the only way that they could be heard was only if they acted collectively. Another issue that is revealed is the use of authorities to suppress the unionization attempts of the workers as well as to deny them their rights of assembly and strikes. The growers used city, county, state and federal authorities to quell strikes by the workers. There also was the unfair trial of the leaders of the unions for example the El Centro trial which were meant to intimidate future leaders of the unions. Finally, it appears that it is the communists that were actively involved in the fight for the rights of the farm workers as well as the unionization attempts. This is because it is the communists that came to head the unions and organize strikes against the growers who were capitalists. References Daniel Cletus E. Communist Organizers in the Imperial Valley Weber Devra A. Mexicano Farm workers on Strike