Mintzbergs Planning and Positioning Schools Essay

Mintzbergs Planning and Positioning Schools - Essay Example Aspects addressed include Steiner model of strategic planning, planning hierarchies, and Mintzberg’s 7 deadly sins of strategic planning. Steiner is recognized for coming up with a model that outlines the structure and process of strategic planning in a systematic way (Steiner, 1979). He pointed out that the process of strategic planning should be a collective responsibility of all managers in all managerial levels within an organization. Steiner’s model outlines the assessment of expectations of key outside interest, assessment of expectations of key inside interest, examining past performance, and current performance and future forecast. The model also outlines the evaluation of environmental opportunities and threats, organizational strengths and weaknesses, assembling of master strategy as composed of mission, purposes, objectives, policies, and program strategies. Steiner’s model provides organizations with strategies on competitive advantage over their rivals, which is not elaborate in other models. The other strength is its emphasis on a plan, which calls for commitment from top management (Steiner, 1979). Planning can be effected through corporate, business and departmental hierarchical levels. Planning at the corporate level entails selection of businesses in which the organization should compete. It also deals with the development and coordination of a corporate level portfolio. Planning at the corporate level focuses on defining corporate responsibilities, determining the center for competition, management of business units, and identifying the overall goal of an organization (Simerson, 2011). Planning at the business unit level concentrates on the functioning of operating units, as well as developing a competitive advantage for goods and services rendered by an organization. This entails placing the organization against its rivals, speculating on future changes, and influencing the

A Historical Look at U.S. GAAP Essay Example for Free

A Historical Look at U.S. GAAP Essay ABSTRACT This paper discusses the historical development of generally accepted accounting principles through its contributing sources from 1930 to the present. U.S. Businesses had been using double entry accounting since the 1800s yet no uniform accounting practices had been introduced until the American Institute of Accountants (AIA) recommended to the New York Stock Exchange in 1932, †¦Ã¢â‚¬ five broad principles of accounting which have won fairly general acceptance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , (Zeff, 2005, para. 4). In which, the terms â€Å"fairly present† and â€Å"in accordance with† were first used followed up with â€Å"generally accepted accounting principles†. Later, a sixth principle was approved. These recommendations were based on the three assumptions that all business transactions were apart from the business owner, all transaction currencies measured in the US dollar, the assumption of time and the matching principle. Thus establishing a foundation of which all future accounting principles are based. The AIA formed the Committee on Accounting Procedures (CAP) to publish Accounting Research Bulletins (ARB) on GAAP under the authority of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) created by the Securities Act of 1934. The CAP was later reorganized into the Accounting Principles Board (APB) that issued Opinions between 1959 and 1973. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has been the source for private sector generally accepted accounting principles since 1973. Input by the private sector has been crucial to the development of GAAP since 1930. Historically, GAAP is influenced by the business condition and public interest. The Great Depression left the public with little faith in the private sector. Although the knowledge and experience of businesses would be consulted for standards; businesses were not trusted to set and regulate accounting standards. A common practice in the 1920s was to adjust asset values upward to the highest market value arguably misleading investors prior to the 1929 crash (Zeff, 2005, para. 10). In response, CAP and the SEC strongly mandated historical cost accounting as the acceptable basis of reporting. Shortly after, the U.S. was brought into WWII directing the CAP’s focus to issues pertaining to war time accounting. In addition, the CAP addressed the issues of the exclusion of unrealized profit from income, the use of capital surplus to offset losses, and notes and accounts receivable from officers, employees, and affiliated companies. The most notable item during the CAP’s tenure summed up was its ARBs issued in response to congress’s decision permitting companies to use the LIFO inventory method. This was a rare instance that tax policy influenced GAAP and was initially directed to companies purchasing natural metals because the FIFO method was equated to higher income taxes due to the time lapse between the asset’s acquisition and sale (Zeff, 2005). The method was available to all industries in 1939. While CAP was praised for addressing questionable reporting practices prior to the crash; it was mostly labeled as weak by critics for failing to set a uniform accounting framework to mitigate comparability issues. At the advice of the AIA, now known as the AICPA, the Accounting Principles Board replaced the CAP. ARB 43 was quickly published to restate all Accounting Research Bulletins and eliminate any superseded ARBs. The research driven APB published 31 opinions. The first few answered reporting questions regarding the investment credit per the Revenue Act of 1962 allotting businesses a credit for a â€Å"†¦specified percentage of the cost of certain depreciable assets placed into service after 1961† (FASB, 1962, para.1). The board concluded that the credit may be recorded as an offset to net income over the asset’s life or as a reduction in acquisition cost during the period it occurred. This is important because it is a conceptual precursor to today’s section 179 and bonus depreciation credits of which most small and medium sized businesses depend on and consider when determining capital investments. All opinions regarding credits and other tax reporting issues were later superseded by the FASB’s statement number 109, Accounting for Income Tax. Many of the APB’s remaining opinions dealt with emerging issues brought about by the postindustrial economy. For instance, the board developed guidelines for intangible assets such as goodwill, the equity method of accounting for common stock, accounting for employee stock options, the reporting of extraordinary items in the income statement, and set the criteria to use pooling of interest or the purchase method in business combinations. The most controversial accomplishment of the APB was its 1970 publication Basic Concepts and Accounting Principles Underlying Financial Statements of Business Enterprises. The board’s issuance of this as a non-authoritative â€Å"standard† rather than opinion was met with negative criticism as it failed to commit to any conceptual framework solutions and reaffirmed the fundamental disagreement among members on this topic. The board was soon after dissolved and replaced by the FASB with new, independent members in 1973. Nearly all APB Opinions were superseded by FASB statements (FAS) at different points in time. The FASB remains the authoritative source for private sector accounting practices today. The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 restated the FASB’s position in setting accounting standards. The FASB does not have the authority to enforce standards. The responsibility has always been with managers to prepare and file financial statements in accordance to GAAP with the SEC. Auditors, overseen by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), issue opinions on the conformity and accuracy of the financial statements. The role of auditors has become increasingly crucial in the post Enron era. The FASB remains committed to addressing any deficiencies in the reporting process and meeting regularly with the PCAOB and SEC to prevent future financial disasters. Probably the most serious issues to date addressed by the FASB resulted from the subprime mortgage crisis and the subsequent financial crisis of 2008. According to Leslie Seidman (2011), chairman of the FASB, high profile controversy relating to the determination of the fair value of assets and liabilities in an illiquid market prompted the issuance of FAS 157, Fair Value Measurements. Effective November 2007, the standard expanded disclosure for fair value measurements and included changes in fair value practice â€Å"†¦ for certain entities† (FASB, 2006, para. 1). The FAS 133 released in January 2008 provided new and additional guidance on derivatives and designated a team within the FASB to assist with statement implementation. The FASB works to â€Å"harmonize† the previously mentioned standards and all others with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Discussion of international accounting principles has occurred for decades and an International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) has existed since 1973. It was not until the 1990s when globalization motivated the FASB to deliberate a strategic plan for international activities. In 2002, the FASB and IASB started collaborating to â€Å"converge† US GAAP and International Accounting Standards. A memorandum of understanding was released by the two boards in 2006 and amended in 2008. In 2011, the FASB sent a letter to the IFRS Foundation Trustees describing its views on many key issues. The FASB continues to balance long term IASB projects with its work on issues relating to US GAAP. REFERENCES Financial Accounting Standards Board. (1962). APB 2: Accounting for the â€Å"Investment Credit†. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/cs/BlobServer?blobkey=idblobwhere=1175820900137blobheader=application%2Fpdfblobcol=urldatablobtable=MungoBlobs Financial Accounting Standards Board. (2006). Summary of Statement No. 157. Fair Value Measurements. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/summary/stsum157.shtml Financial Accounting Standards Board. (2012). International Convergence of Accounting Standards –Overview. IASB-FASB Update Report. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/Page/SectionPagecid=1176156245663 Seidman, L.F. â€Å"The Role of the Accounting Profession in Preventing Another Financial Crisis.† U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment [Testimony]. FASB. April 6, 2011. Zeff, S. A. (2005). The Evolution of U.S. GAAP: The Political Forces behind Professional Standards. The CPA Joural, Retrieved fro m http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/105/infocus/p18.htm

One Day Ill Meet Someone :: Personal Narrative Writing

All right. I'm bitter. I seem to always be in this state lately, but never more so than after the weekend I've just had. I spent about half a year thinking that I was in love with one of my closest friends, and in the space of about ten minutes he completely obliterated any respect I had for him, while destroying my own self-image in the process. So I've been friends with this guy for about four years now, and we've been pretty decent friends for most of that time. But in the past year or so, we have gotten much closer. About six months ago, I suddenly had the revelation that I was in love with him. And it was perfect, I thought, because we were so close, and I respected him so much, and we got along so well together, blah blah blah. It didn't matter that he is kinda fat, or not very good looking, or that he has no sense of humor, or that most of my friends don't like him. All that mattered was I knew that deep down he is a good person with a good heart, not to mention smart, honest, and responsible, all qualities I admire in a man. Not to mention the fact that I totally believe that friendships make a good foundation for a relationship, and that my ex-boyfriend was and is still one of my closest friends. So my feelings for this guy grew stronger while getting to know him better over the past year. Although none of my friends thought he was good enough for me (even the ones who are also friends with him), I would defend him, even when he was rude or acted like a jerk, because I knew he really was a good person at heart. Finally, after many months of not getting any response from him and wondering if I should tell him how I felt, I decided it was time to get over him. I was sick of waiting for him to wake up and see me, and I was too scared to say anything about how I felt. I went out with another guy, but it didn't work out and then I realized that I was never going to let go of him until I had some sort of closure, however lame that sounds. Late one night after a disastrous date, I saw him online and IM'ed him.

The Mayflower Compact

Morison’s quote does not diminish the importance of early documents such as The Mayflower Compact. It only puts it in context of part of a larger process that began with the English settlement of North America. The compact did not create a plan for Democracy. It did, however, establish a theoretical framework that would grow over the succeeding centuries. In 1620 the Pilgrims created a document of self-governance. It was meant to foster a better society, if only within their small colony. It was a combination of religious ideals and ideals of freedom. The Mayflower Compact was not a constitution. It did, however, implant ideas that would be central to the creation of a new and prosperous nation The Origins When the Pilgrims sailed for North America, nothing was assured. They were taking a tremendous risk with their lives. Past settlements had been decimated by weather, disease and Indian attacks. Despite the hardships, the settlers saw the new world as a great opportunity. Many were fleeing from religious persecution in Europe. While they remained loyal to the King of England, the fact was that the new settlers were far from his direct control. Some on board the Mayflower saw this as a chance to form a better and more just government. The Mayflower had landed far north of Virginia, its original destination. The settlers knew they were beyond the control of the Virginia Company. They would have to make do on their own. Knowing that past settlements had failed because of a lack of coherent government, the settlers took steps to remedy the problem. In 1620, they wrote the Mayflower compact. It was a basic theory of government. The settlers past experiences with religion and various forms of persecution influenced the document. The theory of government stated in the Mayflower Compact would, in time, become the prevailing model for a democratic society. The compact begins by paying homage to the King, but goes on to spell out the ideas of freedom that form the bedrock of American culture. The Ideals The signers of the Mayflower compact were Puritan separatists. For pragmatic reasons they recognized the King of England. They were primarily concerned, however, with staying in the good graces of God. They brought with them a unique combination of experiences and motives. The Puritans wanted a society more in accordance with their religion. However, they also had experienced the pain of religious persecution. They innately understood the danger of an all-powerful government. While they were firm in their religious beliefs, they wanted to limit how much those beliefs were written into future laws. The result was a local government based on social contract. It was pragmatic, given the small size of the colony. Everyone had to work together for survival. It was also idealistic in its aims. The social contract was not a new idea, but the settlement of America gave the first opportunity to use it on a large scale. The social contract was necessary to encourage further settlements that could survive away from a central government. The Mayflower Compact created a theoretical template to do this. The Pilgrims called their creation a â€Å"civil body politik† (Dahl, 2000). Its purpose was to enact just laws that would benefit the colony as a whole. The Plymouth colony eventually succeeded. Other colonies adopted the ideas of the Mayflower Compact, and the social contract became the primary form of government in America. The Lasting Impact Here was a unanimous and personal assent by all the individuals of the community to the association by which they became a nation. John Adams, 1802 (from The Pilgrim Hall Museum, 1998) The Mayflower Compact started a process by which democracy took root in America. Success breeds success. The Plymouth colony provided an example that people can thrive by essentially ruling themselves. The feeling that the colonists didn’t need an all-powerful king set in over the first hundred years of European colonization. The eventual products of this feeling were the Declaration of Independence and the new United States Constitution. The society that sprung from the Mayflower Compact made room for the wide variety of people that would come to America in future years. Freedom encouraged ever more immigration, and democracy was strengthened. The Mayflower Compact itself was not a blueprint for democracy. It did, however, plant the seeds of freedom with self-restraint. That idea is central to American democracy. Sources Dahl, Robert A. (2000). On democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press. Eldredge, Laurence H. (1968). Men, laws and government: some reflections on the Mayflower Compact. Philadelphia: Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pilgrim Hall Museum. (1998). Later Significance of the Mayflower Compact. Retrieved 2/6/2006 from: http://www.pilgrimhall.org/compcon.htm The Society of Mayflower Descendents. (2002). The Mayflower Compact. Retrieved 2/6/2006 from: http://www.ctmayflower.org/mayflower_compact.php Wishing, Lee. (2004). Thankful for a Fourth Grade Play. Retrieved 2/6/2006 from: http://gccsavvior.com/VISION_&_VALUES_CONCISE_Thankful _for_a_Fourth_Grade_Play.php?view_all=            

Case Study: What Is Up with Wall Street?

NORTHCENTRAL UNIVERSITY ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET Learner: Demetrice S. Campbell | | MGT7019-8| Douglas Buck| | | Ethics in Business| #3 Paper- Case study: What is Up With Wall Street? The Goldman Standard and Shades of Gray| | | Academic Integrity: All work submitted in each course must be the Learner’s own. This includes all assignments, exams, term papers, and other projects required by the faculty mentor.The known submission of another person’s work represented as that of the Learner’s without properly citing the source of the work will be considered plagiarism and will result in an unsatisfactory grade for the work submitted or for the entire course, and may result in academic dismissal. ————————————————- ————————————————- ——â €”—————————————- Faculty Use Only ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- lt;Faculty Name> Running Head: What Is Up with Wall Street? The Goldman Standard and Shades of Gray What is up with Wall Street? The Goldman Standard and Shades of Gray Demetrice S. Campbell Ethics in Business November 11, 2012 Abstract Case Study of Goldman Sachs What is up with Wall Street? The Goldman Standard and Shades of Gray was a case study focused on the company Goldman Sachs and the unfolding of a horrible decision that affected the economic structure of our bank ing system, stock shares, and the government.Their strategies to make a more successful business, ended with them being greedy for more money and success. These strategies lead to questions of their ethical standards in their business practices. The company was founded by Marcus Goldman and Samuel Sachs in 1869 (Jennings, 2012). The company was supposed to provide loans to small businesses, but instead Goldman wanted to do investments. Greed caused the company to turn a blind eye to what was really going on and this resulted in several downfalls for the company and others involved.The 1929 market crash was one result of the company’s practices. Rather than doing what was right, Goldman and Sachs just carried on running into many walls. The problem to be investigated is the ethical standards of the company in relation to their investors and the price they pay. Introduction The problem to be investigated here is the ethical standards of the company in relation to their investor s and the price they pay. In the corporate world, business ethics are very important and can be costly. Sometimes ethics can be over looked to motivate people.Ethics should be important elements of our day to day functions. It is important to realize the importance of business ethics if you want your business to grow. This could have a positive or negative impact on the productivity of the company. Business ethics are made up of a lot of subjective topics. Some people think that business ethics are comparative. There are many things that businesses take part in that can be seen as gray area. Gray areas are situations in which the rules are not clear, or you are not sure what is right or wrong.Key items include lying and false representation. Goldman may have committed both these behaviors just to have greed and a successful company. Things that Goldman did that would be in the gray area include: a. Sophisticated Investor–by definition, it is to escape full disclosure to its c lients. Goldman made offerings to sophisticated investors, but failed to tell the whole story and their position in the investment or the market. Since then, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act has better clarified the definition to prevent firms from withholding information b.Analysts and two opinions—He failed to follow the rules on the consistency between the analysts’ internal conversations and their communications and the external recommendations of the SEC rules require because it was for a particular group as strategists. The rules did not apply if their name did not have the word analyst in it. c. Auction rate securities—it took state law to come up with a settlement of these problems. The SEC had difficulties applying regulations and laws to this behavior of bidding up the price and then not buying.The clients were not aware that Goldman was bidding on the securities. Goldman’s response as well as some others was that there was always investmen t houses bidding in such auctions. d. IPO allocation and structure of the market—this also was eventually settled, but not without the insistent small fines and new rules on IPO allocations and agreements between the clients on second-wave agreements to buy more. e. IPO profitability changes prior to IPO—Goldman failed to share that the steady drift from three years of profit to one year then down to one quarter.This was sort of a unique legal problem in regards to the profitability standard to one quarter because the financials were available on the dot-coms for the investors to see. Nothing was being disclosed. f. Partnership to corporation structure—When Goldman decided to change from partnership to a corporation, this shielded them from being liable, where as being the principals, you put it all on the line. The move to a corporation with limited liability resulted in riskier practices taken by the firm.Goldman was guilty creating a company and buying 90 per cent of the shares with its own money. This practice made the public want in on the deal not knowing they were being misled. This allowed him to sell the shares he bought for more money; while he buys more shares on the secondary market and causes the share prices to increase. He then turned around and used his money to create another corporation. (Jennings, 2012) Goldman was also engaged in laddering, which is an agreement between Goldman and its best clients for the distribution of a portion of the IPO at a reestablished price.However, under a laddering arrangement, those clients also had to agree to purchase a certain number of shares later during the IPO rollout at a price of $10 to $15 higher. (Jennings, 2012) Goldman also participated in auction-rate markets. He gave loans to executive members in exchange for shares. Many of the issues included the nondisclosure of facts that an investor would have deemed very important in making their investment decisions. Goldman and Sachs w ere guilty of false impression, simply because the investors were not aware of their position in the market.There is also the point of moral vulnerability and how allowing AIG to be bailed out provided a cover for Mr. Goldman and his sneaky business practices. Then there is the â€Å"too big to fail† issue, this is important because the investors were the one who lost money, not Goldman. He was protected. The front page of the newspaper test was a winner in this case because the headlines did not prove to be flattering for Goldman. The Senator’s questions reflected the struggle of the people who were trying to understand how and what Mr.Goldman had done complied to the law, but still come across as a deceptive practice. The law is only one part of the ethical analysis. Goldman failed to think through the consequences of additional regulations, the fines that would be involved, and the clients because of the perception that he could not be trusted and may not always be acting in the best interest of the client. There areas affected by the Goldman model and gray areas include: investors, the market, the U. S. conomy and the global economy, AIG, AIG investors, employees of AIG and other companies and investment banks that had to be dissolved or acquired or reduced in size, employees of dot-coms, beneficiaries of donations by companies and investment bankers, nonprofits also were affected because they had their endowment funds invested, real estate markets because of the impact in value, all those affected by a slump in the real estate market including real estate agents and brokers, contractors, furniture and window covering companies, decorators, landscapers. A little of everything was affected by these strategies and gray areas.Some of the people that were effect by Goldman’s decisions were his clients as well as some of the top employees, such as Lloyd Blankfein. (Jennings, 2012) Investors thought they were going to receive money on their purchase. No employee or officer should take unfair advantage of anyone through manipulation, concealment, abuse of privileged information, misrepresentation of material facts, or any other illegal trade practice. (Jennings, 2012) The main factors that contributed to the way that the employees, executives, traders, and advisers made their decisions were money and political power.The idea of being â€Å"Filthy rich by 40,† and the enticement is what produced so many millionaires so early in their lives. Many companies are cutting back on their financial-incentive programs, but there are many things that can be used to motivate employees. Goldman worked â€Å"toes to the line† culture, always looking to find the next big loophole available. The culture was also, â€Å"If it is legal, then it is ethical†; which is not always the case. (Jennings, 2012) Goldman’s behaviors are a typical image of Carr’s theories. (Jennings, 2012) Could it be bluffing of Goldman to not reveal their positions or were they just tricking innocent people?Not everybody is aware and knowledgeable of the rules of the Wall Street. The larger investment bankers clearly were aware because of their own involvement in IPOs to auction securities to their structuring of the CDOs. However, these investments made their way to the retail level where the knowledge base was nonexistent. Goldman and others believed them to be sophisticated investors by definition and it was unnecessary to share. However, that definition has now changed and more disclosure is required because they obviously did not understand the double positions.This is saying that the culture that existed at Goldman before will stay the same. The drive to be successful and the fact that Goldman does not feel that its client base will be affected is why things will go on as business as usual. In other words, Goldman emerges with a fine but little remorse and a plan to go forward with the status quo. It does not seem as if any lessons were learned. Compare & Contrast Senator Collins has made clear that there was no legal fiduciary duty, but she questioned whether Goldman needed to act in its clients’ best interests as an issue of good business practice.The discussion states, Goldman struggled with that answer and could only come to the conclusion that it was â€Å"an interesting idea. † Goldman had a mentality that only the strong can survive in the markets. However, he did not take into account that with new regulations and the changes in the market; he could no longer engage in those legally gray areas and would be obligated to compete on a different foundation other than his normal loopholes Conclusion Business ethics are very important to have but sometimes they can conflict with personal ethics.Owning a business can be a risky task. You have to make the decision of what is more important to you, is it the money that drives you or the will to do what is right and ethical. Goldman was not producing but he trick the investors into giving money without every showing anything. This is a very common thing that most investors never realize until they have lost millions of dollars. References Jennings, M. (2012). Business ethics: Case studies and selected readings. (7th  Ed. ). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.