Case Study Charles Schwab in 2008

Case Study Charles Schwab in 2008 Introduction Investor confidence is one of the major factors that determine the funds that investors are willing to invest in various sectors of the economy. The current economic conditions determine the confidence of the investors. In addition, the future economic outlook also determines the investor confidence. Favorable future economic outlook increases the confidence of investors.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Case Study: Charles Schwab in 2008 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Prior to the global financial crisis, investor confidence was very high. Investors were willing to invest huge funds in the financial markets. This led to the growth of companies that specialized in the provision of financial services. These companies include stock brokerage firms, insurance companies, and banks. Charles Schwab is one of the companies that existed during this period. Charles Schwab was one of the most profitable comp anies that provided financial services. The company specialized in the provision of discount brokerage services. This helped in differentiating the company from other companies that provided financial services. However, the company also faced several problems. These problems necessitated the company to undertake several strategic decisions to improve its competitiveness. History, Development, and Growth of the Company One can trace the history of Charles Schwab to 1963. Charles R. â€Å"Chuck† Schwab was one of the founders of the company. In 1963, Chuck Schwab formed the Investor Indicator newsletter with the help of two other partners. They incorporated Investor Indicator on April 1971 as First Commander Corporation. First Commander was a subsidiary of the Commander Industries. The main business activity of First commander was to conduct a broker-dealer business and publish an investment magazine. Chuck Schwab and four others partners decided to buy back the stock of the co mpany from Commander. This facilitated the formation of Charles Schwab Co., Inc. The company has its headquarters in San Francisco. Brokerage transactions were the main services that the company offered. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) helps in the regulation of companies that engage in brokerage services. The SEC is one of the major bodies that determine the growth of brokerage firms. From time to time, the SEC implements various regulations that affect companies that provide financial services. Soon after the incorporation of Charles Schwab, the SEC implemented several changes that affected brokerage firms. In 1975, the SEC enacted regulation that that increased the flexibility of charges that companies that offered financial services charged its customers.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Several brokerage firms took advantage this directi ve to increase their commissions. However, Charles Schwab took advantage of this directive to increase its competitiveness. The company established discount brokerage. This was a new type of brokerage. This move enabled the company to attract more customers. In the financial services sector, service hours determine the number of customers that an organization may serve. Therefore, it is vital for companies to have long service hours. This would enable them to serve more customers. Throughout its history, Charles Schwab has used service hours to increase its competitiveness. The company has prolonged its service hours on several occasions. In 1978, Charles Schwab prolonged its service hours. This was the first time that a company in the industry had prolonged its service hours. This strategic move enabled the company to attract more customers. This strategic decision helped in increasing the number of customers of the company to more than 40,000. In 1980, Charles Schwab formed a 24-h our quotation service. This was the first time that a company had established a 24-hour quotation service in the industry. This strategic move enabled the company to increase its customers significantly. It enabled the company to increase its customers to approximately 150,000. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is one of the major stock exchanges in the world. Therefore, it was vital for Charles Schwab to become a member of this renowned stock exchange. Charles Schwab joined the NYSE in 1981. This enabled the company to trade on various stocks and securities in the stock market. When Charles Schwab became a member of the NYSE, its clients were more than 200,000. The company was on its way to becoming one of the most popular companies that offered financial services in the U.S. Technology enables companies that provide financial services to create a network that helps in supporting the activities of companies in this sector. Charles Schwab realized the importance of technology in it s growth. In 1979, the company made huge investments in a mainframe that used modern technology. This system enabled the company to automate its transactions.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Case Study: Charles Schwab in 2008 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In addition, the system helped in improving the record keeping of the company. In the 1980s, the company launched several technological solutions that helped in improving the competitiveness of the company. In 1984, the company introduced the ‘Mutual Fund Marketplace.’ In addition, the company launched the ‘TeleBroker’ in 1989. Launching several technological products helped in establishing the company as a leader in the online investment revolution. Charles Schwab used mergers and acquisitions to maintain its growth. In 2000, the company merged with U.S. Trust. During the same year, the company acquired CyBerCorp, Inc. This enable d the company to improve the quality of services it offers to online traders. Training Americans on how to be financially fit is one of the most recent campaigns of the company. The company collaborated with the Boys Girls Clubs of America to teach young people about money management. This helped in improving the visibility of the company in the industry. In addition, it guarantees the future growth and profitability of the company. This is because the teens are the future customers of the company. Various strategic decisions have enabled Charles Schwab to become a leader in the provision of financial services. The company has more than 300 offices and 7 million client brokerage accounts. In addition, the assets of the company’s clients are approximately $1 trillion. Various subsidiaries of the company enable it to offer a wide range of financial services to its customers. Internal Strengths and Weaknesses Engaging is discount brokerage is one of the factors that has improve d the competitiveness of Charles Schwab. Charles Schwab was one of the first companies that offered discount brokerage. The company offered discount brokerage instead of increasing its commission fees due to the SEC regulations that facilitated the negotiation of commission rates. Other companies took advantage of this directive to increase their commission rates. Therefore, this move helped in improving the image and reputation of the company.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More People associate the company with discount brokerage. It is a fact that Charles Schwab is not one of the cheapest discount brokerage in the industry. However, being among the first companies that engaged in discount brokerage has improved the reputation of the company. It is vital for companies that provide financial services to focus all their efforts on their customers. They should strive to improve the welfare of the customer while making handsome profits. Availability of information determines the investment decisions of customers. It is vital for companies that offer financial services to provide customers with all the information they may need to make sound investment decisions. Charles Schwab strives to provide their customers with all the information that they may need to make investment decisions. In addition, the company offers its customers various technological tools that enable them to make sound financial decisions. Empowering customers helps in improving the image and reputation of the customers. It reduces the likelihood of customers making the wrong financial decisions. This improves customer loyalty. It is vital for companies to strive to form good relationships with their clients. Customer relationships determine the competitiveness of companies. Companies that provide services use several strategies to improve the relationships with their customers. Forming personal relationships enables these companies to gain the trust of the customers. Charles Schwab strives to form personal relationships with its customers. This enables the company to increase customer loyalty. Companies in various industries strive to reduce their operating costs. This helps in increasing the profitability of the companies. Companies may use several strategies to reduce their operating costs. Technology is one of the major tools that enable companies to reduce their operating costs. Charles Schwab is one of the companies that use technology to reduce their operational costs. Throughout its history, the company has implemented various technological tools that have reduced its operating costs. In addition, these technological tools improve the quality of services that the company offers. Using an online platform is one of the strategies that have enabled the company to reduce its operating costs. It enables customers to place orders without having to visit the company’s offices. Online processing reduces the costs of maintaining the staff of the company. The perception that people have on a certain company determines its competitiveness. Since its inception, people have perceived Charles Schwab as a discount brokerage firm. This has made it difficult for the company to attract the high-end customers. High-end customers usually prefer full brokerage firms. This is because they offer personalized services. Despite being a discount brokerage firm, Charles Schwab also offers services that resemble those in full brokerage firms. Therefore, it is vital for the company to use various strategies to attract the high-end customers. However, the company should ensure that it does not shed its image as a discount brokerage firm. This is because the low-end customers are the major clients of the company. Therefore, losing these customers may have devastating effects on the company. It is vital for companies that would like to guarantee their future growth and profitability to improve their presence in emerging markets. Saturation of companies and services in developed countries reduces the growth potential of companies in these countries. Charles Schwab does not have a good presence in emerging markets. The company concentrates its activities in developed countries. Saturation in these markets reduces the growth potential of the company. Therefore, it is vital for the company to improve its presence in emerging markets. Nature of the External Environment Online trading holds the key to the future growth of companies that offer fina ncial services. Charles Schwab was one of the first companies that realized the importance of online trading in financial services. However, the revenue that the company gets from online trading has been declining. Increased competition is one of the major factors that have reduced the revenue from online trading. Companies can easily open online trading platforms. This has increased the number of companies that offer online trading services. Retirement packages account for a sizeable percentage of the products of companies that offer financial services. The U.S. population is aging. This would increase the demand for various retirement services. Therefore, it is vital for companies that offer financial services to take advantage of the changing population patterns. This would improve the profitability of the companies. Companies should create several products that target people who are retired. The global and domestic economic conditions affect the profitability of companies that p rovide financial services. Slowing of the economy has a negative effect on the growth and profitability of companies that provide financial services. Slowdown of the economy necessitated Charles Schwab to undertake several strategic decisions to safeguard its position. Investor confidence also determines the profitability of companies that offer financial services. Reduced investor confidence reduces the amount of money that investors are willing to invest in financial markets. In 2008, there was a significant reduction in the investor confidence. People were not willing to invest in the financial markets due to the revelations of problems in the subprime market. Most people withdrew their investments in the financial markets. Reduced investor confidence had a negative effect on the financial markets. It led to the steady decline of market indicators in various regions. This reduced the profitability of Charles Schwab. Market volatility also determines the profitability of companies that offer financial services. During the global financial crisis, the financial markets were on a steady decline. Companies that offer financial services operate in a highly regulated environment. The SEC is one of the major bodies that regulate companies that provide financial services. Regulation helps in safeguarding the investments of customers. It ensures that companies do not engage in illegal activities. In addition, it ensures that companies do not exploit their customers. In 2008, the SEC implemented various regulations to help in safeguarding the investments of customers of companies that offer financial services. However, these measures did not increase the investor confidence. Increased regulation may jeopardize companies that offer certain financial services. Regulation may increase the bureaucracy of the companies. This may reduce the number of customers who are willing to invest in the companies. In addition, regulation may limit the ability of companies to venture into various markets. This is because companies that offer financial services have to meet stringent requirements to receive licenses to operate in various regions. These requirements prevent companies from engaging in illegal activities. SWOT Analysis Strengths The presence of Chuck Schwab in the management of Charles Schwab is one of the major strengths of the company. Schwab has undertaken several strategic decisions that have helped in developing the company. In addition, he has invaluable experience in the stock brokerage industry. Schwab offers visionary leadership that helps in improving the current and future growth of the company. Charles Schwab is one of the most popular discount brokerage companies. The company has a very strong brand name. Charles Schwab was one of the first companies that offered discount brokerage services. Charles Schwab empowers its customers by offering them all the information that they would need to make investment decisions. This helps in improvi ng the image and reputation of the company. Charles Schwab has very low operating costs. The company uses technological tools to reduce its operating costs. The technological tools also enable the company to improve the efficiency of its activities. Charles Schwab forms personal relationships with its customers. This enables the company to retain its customers. In addition, it helps in improving customer satisfaction. Charles Schwab has efficient marketing strategies. The company launches advertising campaigns regularly. These advertising campaigns help in improving the visibility of the company Weaknesses Charles Schwab has been unable to shed its image as a discount brokerage firm. This has reduced the ability of the company to attract customers who have a high net worth. Therefore, customers who have a low net worth form the bulk of the company’s customers. Charles Schwab does not have a large presence in emerging markets. Most of the company’s operations are in dev eloped markets. This limits the future growth and profitability of the company since the developed markets are already saturated. Charles Schwab engages in expensive advertising campaigns. These advertising campaigns increase the operating costs of the company. Opportunities The aging of the American population provides the company with many growth opportunities. This is because it would increase the amount of retirement services that the company offers. This would improve the profitability of the company. Charles Schwab is one of the largest companies that provide financial services. This is despite the fact that the company focuses on developed markets. Therefore, venturing into the emerging markets would help in improving the future growth and profitability of the company. Threats Slowdown of the global economy would reduce the growth and profitability of the company. Reduced investor confidence threatens to lead to the total collapse of the company. During the global financial c risis, few investors were willing to commit funds to the financial markets. Technology has revolutionized the provision of financial services. Therefore, it is vital for the company to undertake several changes that would incorporate new technology regularly. Failure to do so would make the company become irrelevant. There is increased competition in the financial services sector. Various companies provide online financial services. The ease of opening platforms that enable companies to provide online financial services have increased the number of companies that provide financial services. Corporate-Level Strategy Corporate-level strategy guides the strategic decisions of a company. Companies use their corporate-level strategies to create value in their activities. The corporate-level strategy helps in coordinating different activities of the company. Companies use the corporate-level strategy to determine the direction that the organization should follow in the long term. The corp orate-level strategy enables companies to gain a competitive advantage. The corporate-level strategy enables an organization to determine the businesses that the organization to concentrate on to improve its long-term profitability. A company may decide to concentrate on a single business to improve its long-term profitability. In addition, a company may use vertical integration or diversification to improve its long-term profitability. Charles Schwab uses vertical integration to improve its long-term profitability. Throughout its history, the company has used mergers and acquisitions of other companies in the industry to improve its long-term profitability. Charles Schwab acquired companies that provide online services to improve its ability to provide online financial services. In 2000, the company acquired CyBerCorp. CyBerCorp was a company that provided online financial services. In 2001, Charles Schwab renamed the company to Cyber Trader. In addition, Charles Schwab enhanced th e software of the company. This helped in improving the quality of services of the company. The inability to capture customers who have a high net worth was one of the major problems of the company. In addition, most customers of the company left the company after their assets reached $500,000. This reduced the profitability of the company. Charles Schwab used vertical integration to capture the high net worth customers. The company merged with the U.S. Trust. The U.S. Trust was a company that focused on managing the wealth of high-end customers. This strategy enabled the company to increase the number of high-end customers. In addition, it enabled the company to retain customers whose assets reached $500,000. This strategy enabled the company to shed its image as a discount brokerage firm that served low-end customers. Charles Schwab later sold the U.S. Trust to Bank of America. Advances in technology enabled the company to retain high-end customers. The company used various techno logical tools to generate model investment portfolios. These portfolios helped in personalizing the financial services of the company. Technological tools enabled the company to reduce the number of forms of advice. This helped in improving the quality of services that the company offered its customers. In addition, it enabled the company to offer sound financial advice to customers in various locations. Vertical integration enables Charles Schwab to take advantage of the capabilities of other companies. Retirement-plan services are some of the major products of the company. However, the company would not have been able to increase its retirement products if it had not acquired other smaller companies that provided retirement services. In 1995, Charles Schwab acquired Hampton Co. Hampton was a company that specialized in the provision of retirement-plan services. Charles Schwab uses diversification to increase its long-term stability. The company offers a wide range of financial ser vices. These include brokerage of securities, mutual funds, investment advisory services, and banking. In addition, the company also provides retirement services. The growth of online financial services has helped in the growth of the company. In 2003, the company launched the Charles Schwab Bank. The bank provided home mortgage loans. Schwab Retirement Plan Services, Inc. enables the company to provide retirement services. Subsidiaries of the company enable it to provide a wide range of financial services effectively. Business-Level Strategy Business-level strategy helps in identifying the methods that a company would use to compete in a certain industry. Therefore, the business-level strategy determines the competitive strategy of the organization. One of the major differences between business-level strategy and corporate-level strategy is that business-level strategy focuses on only one business. On the other hand, corporate-level strategy focuses on a wide range of businesses wi thin an organization. Therefore, the business-level strategy enables an organization to manage its business effectively. The business-level strategy ensures that the activities of the business units conform to the corporate-level strategies of the organization. In addition, business-level strategy enables an organization to develop capabilities that would help in improving the competitiveness of the organization. Business-level strategy also helps in monitoring the industry environment of the company. Some business-level strategies include cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. Cost leadership is one of the major business-level strategies of Charles Schwab. The company strives to organize its activities in a method that enables it to provide various services at a lower cost. This enables the company to offer various services at very low prices. This strategy enables the company to gain a competitive edge in the provision of financial services. Use of information technology is one of the major methods that the company uses to reduce its operating costs. Technological tools enable the company to automate various activities. In addition, technological tools enable the company to improve the quality and efficiency of its activities. Online trading platforms enable companies to reduce their operational costs. They eliminate the need to open branches in various locations. Customers only need an internet connection to access the financial services. E*Trade is one of the major competitors of Charles Schwab. It was one of the first companies to offer its services via the internet only. This strategy enabled the company to reduce its operating costs significantly. Reduced operating costs enabled the company to offer its services a lower price. The threat posed by the company necessitated Charles Schwab to launch an online trading platform. The company launched ‘eSchwab’ to counter the threat posed by E*Trade. This product enabled the company to provid e real-time personalized financial information to customers. It enabled customers of the company to undertake financial transactions via the internet. In addition, it enabled customers to access financial information via the internet. This strategy enabled the company to reduce its operating costs significantly. Therefore, it could afford to reduce the prices of its services. Charles Schwab strives to empower its customers. The company offers financial information that helps customers to make sound investment decisions. Offering financial help helps in increasing customer loyalty. In addition, offering financial help enables the company to increase its interaction with customers. The company uses various strategies to show that it is willing to offer financial advice to its customers. The ‘Talk to Chuck’ campaign is one of the recent advertisements that highlight the willingness of the company to offer financial advice to its customers. In addition, this advertising cam paign showed the transparency of the company. It enabled customers to access information about the company. Organizational Structure Charles Schwab specializes in the provision of financial services. The company has operations in the United States, Hong Kong, and various European countries. In addition, the company offers online financial services to people around the globe. The company manages financial assets that are worth more than $1 trillion. Charles Schwab offers a wide range of financial services. These services include banking, mutual funds, and retirement-plan products. Therefore, it is vital for the company to use an organizational structure that would help in managing its activities efficiently. Charles Schwab uses a matrix organizational structure. This organizational structure enables the organization to coordinate its activities. Charles Schwab has various managers that oversee various functions of the organization. These functions include networking, engineering, sal es and marketing, and communication. This organizational structure enables the organization to benefit from the talent of its employees in various functions. The size of Charles Schwab makes it difficult for the company to use only the functional organizational structure. In addition, the company offers various financial products. Charles Schwab employs a divisional organizational structure to help in the management of various products of the company. This organizational structure enables the company to manage its banking services, retirement-plan products, and online financial products effectively. In addition, this organizational structure enables the organization to fulfill the needs of various stakeholders quickly. Charles Schwab uses teams to accomplish various tasks within the organization. This helps in improving the quality of the products of the organization. In addition, the company empowers employees to develop various innovative products that would improve the competitiv eness of the company. Empowering employees helps in improving the quality of their services. Conclusion Charles Schwab is one of the most popular companies that offer financial services in the U.S. The company has more than 300 offices in various regions around the world. Investing in technology is one of the major factors that led to the success of the company. Investing in technology enabled the company to reduce its operating costs. This enabled the company to offer its services at very low costs. Charles Schwab is renowned for its discount brokerage services. This image limits the ability of the company to attract high-end customers. The company merged with U.S. Trust to shed this image. The growth of the internet poses several risks to the company. This is because it has increased the number of the companies that provide online financial services. These companies have very low operating costs. This enables the companies to offer various financial services at very low costs.

School English Essay

School English Essay School English Essay School English Essay: Choosing Custom Writing Service As a rule, students do not like writing school English essay, especially those, who were not born in English speaking country. This fact is simple to interpret, as while you are writing your school English essays, you have to care at least, about several things at one and the same time. The first one is the sense and content of your school English essay itself. As any other kind of essay, it should be interesting, creative, informative, and actual. The second is the grammar and lexis used in your school English essays. It is rather difficult to write in a language, which is not native for you. That is why school English essay is considered to be a rather complicated task. However, nowadays, you do not have to trouble yourself while trying to write school English essays. If you feel that school English essay is not your strong point, however, you are a hard working and caring about your grades student, do not fall into a risk and order your school English essay online. Before ordering your school English essay, choose only such a source which can be trusted. Of course, it is not simple to understand whether this or that custom writing site is a professional one until you try its service, but still there are several things you have to pay attention to. The first thing you can do while choosing the site where to buy your school English essay is to ask for the advise your group mates. Believe, the number of students who use different custom essay writing sites is just huge, that is why you are certain to find some necessary information. You can also search for such a site by yourself. While choosing one, do pay attention to the price of servicing. If it is going to be too cheap or even free of charge, you are running the risk to come across internet cheating. You see, to write a professional school English essay takes some particular times and some certain efforts. That is why if they are going to off er you school English essay for the miserable price, either they will provide you with the low quality essay full of mistakes and other pleasant surprises or they will sell you the essay which is already sold to the hundreds of people as well. Do not economize on your grade; it may influence your future. Better, use the service of custom writing sites which offer acceptable and moderate price for their servicing, as for example, our site.

All forms of government welfare should be abolished Essay - 1

All forms of government welfare should be abolished - Essay Example Moreover, most of government welfare initiatives fail the test of providing long-term solutions to economic challenges facing society, thus encourage a persistent culture of reliance on others and loss of productivity. 3. What is your position regarding the topic? My position is that government welfare programs should be abolished. 4. What â€Å"evidence† have you offered to support your claim/position? Have you included your survey results? A lot of Americans were dissatisfied with the management of the program, claiming that the beneficiaries of the programs were misusing the welfare funds by staying idle, and having bigger families in order to receive more aid (Sheely, 2012). Others refrained from marriage so as to be eligible for more benefits (Greenberg, Ashworth, Cebulla, & Walker, 2005). These are clear signs of abuse, which basically call for the abolition of the government welfare. 5. Put your claim/position and â€Å"evidence† through the â€Å"Scientific Met hod† and â€Å"Proving a theory† steps. Are there any steps on which your claim/position and evidence do not measure up to the examination? If so, what can you do to make them more acceptable? Firstly, despite the significance of the welfare reform initiated in the mid-1990s, states are still struggling to curb the exploitative nature of the policy upon the productive segment of the economy. Greenberg et al (2005) indicated that more than half of people covered in the programs do not deserve the benefits. The current legal safeguards do not seem to offer long-lasting solutions to these ills at all. Many women have persisted with their habit of having many children in order to enjoy more benefits from the program. Moreover, the hefty annual benefits amounting to $7,000 is costly, especially where the beneficiaries channel the money elsewhere other than for a child’s upkeep (Grogger, Haider, & Klerman, 2003). This means that if such benefits were eliminated, chance s of women having children for purposes of benefitting from the cash would be very slim (Sheely, 2012). Secondly, as Gelman (2008) has pointed out, government revenue mainly generated from taxation of the salaries of the working class end up funding the more than a $746 billion welfare budget in 2010 (Guzman, Pirog, & Seefeldt, 2013). It is apparent that the social security fund is an area where hardworking citizens are disenfranchised to offset the needs of the supposed persons in need of services. The moneys collected from the social security fund do not amount to credible benefits for retirees. The funds are channeled to undeserving individuals who do not work hard to earn a living at all. In view of this, it is unfair for government to sustain the welfare programs because most of the beneficiaries are not willing to work hard, despite the existence of economic opportunities in the country (Grogger, Haider, & Klerman, 2003). The channeling of funds into wrong hands calls for the need to reexamine the clear definition of a needy individual. 6. Who is your intended audience? My intended audience is the government, especially the lawmakers and the working class populations because they hold the key to the abolishment of the legal structure which support welfare programs. 7. What is your purpose? What do you want the audience to do, to feel, or to think? Congress and the working class should be cognizant of the waste and work towards the realization of a change of laws as a way of making the economically

Forensic Accountants as Fraud Buggers Case Study

Forensic Accountants as Fraud Buggers - Case Study Example A forensic accountant must be equipped with investigative skills. These skills are important in gathering, evaluating and analyzing accounting data and audited information from business organizations (Ramaswamy, 2010). It is through these skills that a forensic accountant will be able to determine possible discrepancies and loopholes within audited accounting data and information (Carnes & Gierlasinski, 2001; DiGabriele, 2008). The effectiveness of a forensic accountant is measured by the ability to apply investigative skills to interpret accounting information and financial evidence to back misappropriation of resources within a business organization or company (Fleming, Pearson, Riley & Richard, 2008). Fraudsters within companies and business organizations often devise methods of embezzlement or fraud that are hard to detect. It is in this regard that a forensic accountant must have effective investigative skills to detect accounting problems which would not be determined by ordina ry auditing and accounting approaches (Bawaneh, 2011). Investigative skills also allow a forensic accountant to adhere to the ethics and regulations that govern investigations of criminal cases. Computing or technical skills are required for an effective forensic accountant. This is due to the fact that contemporary companies and business environments have adopted and implemented information technology methods in accounting and finance (Fleming, Pearson, Riley & Richard, 2008).... This is due to the fact that contemporary companies and business environments have adopted and implemented information technology methods in accounting and finance (Fleming, Pearson, Riley & Richard, 2008). Through computing skills, a forensic accountant is able to retrieve, analyzed and report financial evidence in electronic formats (Topping, 2008). More importantly a forensic accountant must be able to apply computer software and applications and other computer assisted tools to detect fraud or embezzlement of resources within companies (Fleming, Pearson, Riley & Richard, 2008). Modern business organizations are characterized by what is referred to as white collar crime in which technology is used to defraud or embezzle resources and hide evidence. It is in this sense that computing skills of a forensic accountant become significant (Carnes & Gierlasinski, 2001). Litigation skills area also required for effective forensic accountants. These skills are significant in the role of a forensic accountant as an arbitrator or mediator in legal accounting problems. These skills are also important because they enable forensic accountants to be effective experts and credible consultants who could be used by companies to detect and report fraud or embezzlement of resources. Through litigation skills, forensic accountants are able to evaluate damages and losses and find ways of resolving disputes among the disputants (Topping, 2008). Other important skills of a forensic accountant include analytical and forensic skills. Effective forensic accountants must have analytical skills that will empower them to determine the importance of the gathered financial evidence in reporting fraud (DiGabriele, 2008). Through analytical skills, forensic accountants analyze and professionally

Capital Punishment :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each year there about 250 people added to death row and only 35 of them are even executed. The death penalty is the harshest form of punishment actually enforced by the United States government. Once the jury has convicted a criminal offense they go to the second part of the trial, the punishment part. If then the jury considers the death penalty, then the judge agrees that the criminal will have to face a form of execution. Lethal injection is the most widely used by todays death row criminals. For a period between 1972 to ‘76, capital punishment was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. There are many reasons for why they thought that. The death penalty was looked at a cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment. This decision was switched when a new method of execution was formed. Capital punishment is a difficult issue and there are many opinions as there are people on this earth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the beginning of the United States there has been over 13,000 legal executions. Texas has executed the most people since the death penalty has been reinstated in 1976. There are only about 30-60 prisoners killed yearly. â€Å"The Bible requires the death penalty for a wide variety of crimes, including sex before marriage, adultery, homosexual behavior, doing work on Saturday, and murder. It even calls for some criminals to be tortured to death by burning them alive†(SOURCE 1). Some of the things stated in the last quote were a little morbid, and made me question in what I truly believe in. John Stuart Mill once stated, â€Å" When there has been brought home to any one, by conclusive evidence, the greatest crime known to law; and when the attendant circumstances suggest no palliation of guilt, no hope that the culprit may even yet not be unworthy to live among mankind, nothing to make it probable that the crime was an exception to general character rather than a consequence of it, then I confess it appears to me that to deprive the criminal of the life which he has proved himself to be unworthy--solemnly to blot him out from the fellowship of mankind and from the catalogue of the living-- is the most appropriate as it is certainly the most impressive, mode in which society can attach to so great a crime the penal consequences which for the security of life it is indispensable to annex to it†, this was stated before Parliament on April 21, 1868. I find that in this passage a lot of good is said.

ALPES case anlysis Essay

CONTENT Part One 1. Key Issue Charles Rivers Laboratories (CRL) is evaluating a joint venture proposal that a Mexican company creates a state-of-the-art specific pathogen-free (SPF) egg for the vaccine. If the proposal is approved, CRL is going to invest 2 million dollars to the Mexican company. However, CRL must consider the potential risks of cooperation. Part Two 2.Internal Analysis: VRINE ANALYSIS 2.1VALUE Charles River Laboratories has a large variety of customers more than 15 countries, which means CRL is already capable to expand overseas market. The demand of SPF eggs is very high due to making flu vaccine. More than 100 million SPF eggs were consumed for influenza vaccines each year. The demand even exceeds its supply between 5 to 10 percent worldwide. Accordingly, the operation margin will be improved around 20 percent and revenue will be doubled in four years. Therefore, joint venture is valuable. 2.2RARITY The rarity of normal eggs switching to SPF eggs is relatively high. First, Charles River Laboratories is still using standard eggs to produce influenza vaccines. Many franchisees haven’t totally changed to cultivate SPF eggs. They still use old chicken farm, This goes to show that the traditional eggs haven’t been replaced and new eggs are rare. Second, most companies don’t intend to take an adventure to try new products due to political instability and corruption. However, SPAFAS took long time to do sufficient research on APLES. It means the rarity exists because not many companies decide take advantage of new eggs. 2.3Inimitable & Non-Substitutability The degree of inimitable and Non-Substitutability is medium. Even though not many companies start to produce vaccine by SPF eggs, there are still some like APLES working on it. Therefore, technology might be imitated by several companies to some extent. As far as APLES, it is the only company producing SPF eggs in Mexico. The popularity and loyal customers are strong so substitutes are hard to enter. However, other companies can still use the current standard eggs to make vaccine instead of higher price SPF eggs. 2.4Exploitability The degree of joint venture exploitability is high. According to high demand and double revenue prediction in the case, cooperation of CRL and ALPES could increase production of SPF eggs and highly benefit from sales to both of them. 3.External Analysis: PESTEL ANALYSISA The most highly used method when conduct the external analysis of a company is PESTEL Analysis, which includes political, economic, sociocultural, technological, environmental and legal aspects. 3.1Political Analysis Politically, in 1994, The North American free trade agreement came into effect, which allowed the free trade between USA, Canada, and Mexico. This political alliance benefited the economic development. The flow of capital, goods and services became more smooth and swift among these three countries. Due to the concerns from strong competition some business quit. Whereas, increased demand of vaccine production from U.S. and Canada led to the increased supply in Mexico. 3.2Economic Analysis Economically, as the case implied, demand for specific pathogen-free (SPF) eggs had exceeded available supply by five to ten percent across the globe. Furthermore, after the M&A, SPAFAS more than doubled its annual revenues while improving its operating margin to nearly 20%. To support the growth, CRL continuously invested capital in expanding domestic SPF egg production capacity. Alpes is the sole supplier in Mexico, which makes it more instrumentally beneficial from the production. Yet, problems such as endemic corruption, economic instability and unstable currency hinder the development of business in Mexico. 3.3Socialcultural Analysis Social and culturally, without being vaccinated against Salmonella and Campylobacter, poultry are easily got contaminated which excreted severe human health risk to people who were fed with these. Frankly, the recognition from the public of importance of vaccination would benefit the business like CRL and ALPES in the long run. Additionally, the bond the friendly relationship between the two family-style director boards has been combined successfully. 3.4Technical Analysis Technologically, having been founded in 1947, CRL was the global market leader in the commercial production and supply of laboratory animal models for use in discovery and research and the development and testing of new pharmaceuticals. CRL has taken the leadership position in SPF eggs production after the acquisition of SPAFAS. Additionally, Alpes was the only franchisee in Mexico. Given that production capacity is less than needed and highly sanitary standards are expected to be met, challenge still exist. 3.5Environment Analysis Environmentally, the old informal â€Å"handshake agreement† can be still influential when joint venture is functioned. And then, the market needs more production which means demand is more than current storage supply. The business opportunity is huge ever. Board directors are divided into two piles, one is supportive of the proposal and another is more objective to this business move. The freezing situation stands between Alpes and CRL: Alpes is in urgent need of capital investment, while CRL claims the acquisition. 3.6Legal Analysis Legally, Asian and European vaccine regulations are getting more and more strict and high-quality standard and tend to be more preferable to the vaccine industry. It is quite a challenging move prior to export products to theses countries. 4.Porter’s 5 Forces – Industry Analysis: 4.1Rivalry While Alpes supply eggs to the tow biggest buyers in the industry, there are  just two providers of the SPE eggs beside them. Furthermore, IDISA has a chance to make capital and compete in different area in the industry due to the 4 different companies that make profit in different research areas. As a result rivalry degree is comparatively (low). 4.2 Threat of Substitutes ALPES has the largest market comparing by other competitors in the same field. Actually, mice are the only threat they use, but this threat is has not too much influence and not strongly effective. Also, because of the expensive if this area buyers try to find another options. So, substitutes within the industry are (low). 4.3 Threat of New Entrants The threat of substitutes degree is from (medium to low) because of the difficulty of success they face due to the specialized in pharmaceuticals. But expertise in this area can find some of the facilities in less expensive areas easily. Furthermore, it is hard to the new entrant getting into industry because that needs a very high level requirement. SPF has a small market share in pharmaceutical and the lack of facilities prevent agriculture company supporting. ALPES has large market share because it is a provider to the two largest producer of vaccine. 4.4 Bargaining Power of Buyers: Power of buyers is low. Supplier of eggs has option to increase the prices due to the highly demands one of this demand is the tow biggest companies ALPES made further research into SPF eggs, which is between 5 and 10 percent. And this increasing in prices justified that the revenue in the first four years was almost doubled. 4.5 Bargaining Power of Suppliers There is little agriculture company that provides SPE eggs by facilities with high prices that’s why the power of suppliers is (high). Moreover, its hard to make high quality of good under the industries regulation and it is highly cost and expensive. Part Three 5.FINANCIAL ANALYSIS Ratio Analysis Indicators Year1 Debt-to-Equity 0.128 Current Ratio 8.903 Quick Ratio 7.901 From the table above, we can see that the Debt-to-equity ratio is very low. It shows that ALPES has a potential to use more debt to earn revenue. However, the current ratio and Quick ratio are quite high. A current ratio that higher than 1 means the company is able to pay off its obligations, as this ratio is 8.903, we are sure ALPES is in a very good condition. Much similar to Current ratio, if a Quick ratio is higher than 1, then the company is able to meet their short-term liabilities. As this ratio is 7.901, we can say ALPES has no doubt to meet its obligations. Forecast after joint venture Indicators Year1 Year2 Year3 Year4 Year5 Profit Margin 2.757% 15.802% 19.005% 21.110% 22.752% Gross Margin 18.867% 27.401% 29.270% 30.520% 31.489% Operating Margin 2.899% 15.914% 19.104% 21.200% 22.836% We can see from the chart above that, after joint venture, all of the profit margin, gross margin and operating margin will have an increase trend between year1 and year 5.The net profit margin indicates how much out of each dollar of sales a company actually earns. In year 5, the company will keep $0.23 in earnings for every dollar of sales. The gross margin represents the proportion of each dollar of revenue that the company retains as gross profit. In year 5 the gross margin will be 31.49%, therefore the company may retain $0.32 from each dollar of revenue generated to pay off liabilities. Operating margin gives us a view of how much a company’s operation can make on each dollar of sales. The company’s margin is increasing so it is earning more per dollar of sales. In year 5 the operating margin is 22.84%, this means that the company’s operation makes $0.23 for every dollar of sales. 6.Decision Criteria Decision making by CRL whether invest up to $2 million in ALPES to built a joint venture in Mexican has to consider tow criteria: expected profit and facing risk. 7.Alternatives 7.1Alternative 1 The joint venture with ALPES is a good option for Charles River Laboratories. CRL invest up to $2 million to APLPES joint venture to create a state-of-the-art specific pathogen-free (SPF) egg farm in Mexican. Mexico’s  trade policy implements the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) so it is open and welcome to foreign investment. Pros: Joint venture can overcome entry barriers in a foreign market Save transaction costs Provide new expertise and share resources, including specialized staff and technology Risks sharing with a venture partner Cons: Invest $2 million is not a small name. Investment itself is a kind of risk. It takes time to build partnership with foreign business. ALPES is a small family company. The different between U.S. and Mexico in culture and management style is a problem. Mexico currency is unstable and Mexico is an uncertain market. 7.2Alternative2 The following chart is the pros and cons of alterative two which is reject the proposal and no joint venture. As for this alternative, the pros can be illustrated in 3 aspects: CRL does have to invest extra 2 million capital into this project and avoid the loss and risk this performance may bring about. Cons can be elaborate in 3 aspects as well: if CRL declines to invest this joint venture, meaning giving up this opportunity and even worse leaves it to rivals and in a long run, maybe will jeopardize the benefit of the organization as a whole. Pros Cons No invest risk Discard opportunity to develop Spare 2 million capital Create a chance for competitors Avoid loss Less benefit for CRL in long run 8.Recommendations Growth about 12% and 15% annually and entire business by 20% is the strategic objective of Charles River Laboratories. Joint Venture can increase the sale, which helps CRL get this goal. Join a new market is a risk, but after  visit members of Romero family. It can be seen that this family has knowledge, government influence, and trust. ALPES believes that this corporation should be successes. Invest in Mexico presents opportunities as well as challenges. But Mexico’s trade barriers have reduced by the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The business environment should be friendly. 9.Implementation Firstly, visit Mexico to get more information about ALPES and Romeros’ family. Both the CEO and the board of directors believe that this project could be trusted and this joint venture would serve profit. Secondly, this joint venture company is 50%-50% equity share. The profits also go halves SPAFAS would invest $2 million cash and ALPES would contribute their knowledge-existing SPF and commercial egg assets to the joint venture company. Thirdly, the direction of the investment: $1.5 million should be used to increase the SPF egg production capacity of the joint venture. $250,000 would be used to establish a pre-incubation facility; the left $250,000 would be used for ALPES to do some activity to build good social image and complete the services. 10.Contingency Plan Charles River Laboratories (CRL) has to prepare a contingency plan for the certain events may interrupt normal business operations. CRL has to build a team to follow up operation of this joint venture to make sure the profit from $2 million investment.

United Arab Emirates Oil Free Essay Example, 2250 words

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