Essay on Abortion - 2903 Words

Abortion â€Å"Abortion is a procedure, either surgical or medical, to end a pregnancy by removing the fetus and placenta from the uterus.† This definition (A.D.A.M., 2003) is a dry medical definition that lacks meaning. This paper attempts to apply meaning to this dry definition, and in doing so, will show the less known and less published side of abortion; the human side. A Brief History Archaeologists have recently uncovered Roman ruins that contain the evidence of aborted children, abandoned children, and children that were destroyed just after birth (infanticide); all of these bodies were recovered from a brothel. Fast forwarding a few hundred years, Thomas Aquinas wrote on the evils of abortion, and the moral†¦show more content†¦On January 22, 1973 the famous Roe vs. Wade case was decided, essentially legalizing abortion in the United States, and meant the death of millions of babies for years to come. This was a sad day in our nation’s history, and is known as the point of no return for many people. In this same year, the nation saw a rise in action groups that were concerned with the preservation of human life, from the â€Å"womb to the tomb,† or from the unborn to the elderly and aging. The 1980’s had similar legislation, which met with similar opposition. In late 1987 or early 1988, the first federally funded fetal tissue research facilities were formed, capitalizing on the death of the unborn, and was condemned by then president Regan. In the 1990’s we saw the introduction of RU-486, the abortion pill. Currently, we are seeing a reverse trend in America; the political opposition of the now common practice of abortion. The ban on the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion has been passed. Minnesota, with the aid of Gov. Pawlenty, and Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) have passed a â€Å"right to know† act, calling for the education on abortion, prior to the mother receiving an abortion. The Problem Since the 1973 ruling on Roe vs. Wade, there have been over 35 million deaths (Heritage House, 1998). More death occurred in these 25 years than in all of the wars that the United States fought, combined. In fact, if you take the number of US casualties in all ofShow MoreRelatedAbortion : Abortion And Abortion998 Words   |  4 PagesAbortion Abortion is defined in several ways all of which stop a pregnancy. There are different ways of abortion, which are spontaneous abortion, surgical abortion, and medical abortion. Abortion has been arguable topic for decades. One can neither believe abortion to be good nor bad. The idea of individuality and human life is not quite the same. Idea of human life has come from conception; simultaneously on the other hand, fertilizer eggs used for in vitro fertilization are also human lives butRead MoreAbortion : Abortion And Abortion Essay921 Words   |  4 PagesPaper: Abortion Laws The topic of abortion is a widely debated and very heated topic in Texas. The Republican party’s platform supports family values and are completely against abortion under any circumstances, including abortifacients. The Democrat party’s platform supports the rights for women to make choices about their own bodies. They support abortifacients and a person’s right to have an abortion. There is also a large percentage of those that are in the middle in that they believe abortion shouldRead MoreAbortion, The, And Abortion998 Words   |  4 PagesIn the United States there are more than a billion abortions performed each year. Since the court case Roe vs Wade in 1973 more than 56 million babies have been murdered in the United States before they had the chance to take their first breath (Snyder, Michael). These statics along with many more show the huge injustice that is happening in the country I call home. Abortion is defined as the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy. It can include any of variousRead MoreAbortion : Abortion And Anti Abortion1624 Words   |  7 Pagesa very large controversy between the ideas about abortion and anti-abortion. Different religious views, beliefs, peoples many different customs and even people of different cultures all have their own preferences and ideas on the take of this political issue. Views against abortion can lead to as much of an impact as a violent/non violent riots outside of an abortion clinics, to something as simple article in the newspaper. The belief on abortion that leads to a lot of the controversy is that inRead MoreAbortion, The, And Abortion Essay1656 Words   |  7 Pages An abortion is when the pregnancy of a women is ended; it is called sometimes Termination of pregnancy. There are two types of abortion. The first type is the spontaneous abortion; it occurs within the first two months. What causes it is frequently unknown yet is probably the results of intra-uterine contamination, or limited attachment in the building unborn child to the interior coating walls in the womb (uterus). Such conditions this unborn child, if the idea advances further, mayRead MoreAbortion, The, And Abortion953 Words   |  4 Pagesdebates that is constantly talked about is abortion. When it comes to abortion, the laws vary depending on the state you live in. Whether people support or are against abortion, few actually know about the abortion process. Have you ever heard of suction aspiration or prostaglandin chemical abortion? Those are two of the various methods that are performed in the different trimesters of pregnancy. According to writer Steven Ertelt of Li feNews.com, Oklahoma’s abortion laws are restrictive compared to otherRead MoreAbortion : Abortion And Abortion1930 Words   |  8 PagesAbortion has been around for quite some time. Laws have been set allowing it and banning it during different periods of time. The procedures that can be done are all very different. There is a medical abortion involving drugs and there are surgical abortion involving a more invasive procedure. There are also different points of view on it. There are those who fully support the termination of a pregnancy and those who are completely against it. There are many factors to consider and very differentRead MoreAbortion And Abortion2038 Words   |  9 PagesMostly seen as a religious issue, abortions are anything but that. Biology and science are the only deciding factors when it comes down to it. Science is the only thing that can prove whether an unborn child is living; no religion can do that. Through modern science and technology, it has been proven and well documented that human life does in fact begin at conception. The scientific evidence also contradicted the court ruling in the Roe v. Wade case, where it was stated that the Court could notRead MoreAbortion : The Fight For Abortion1543 Words   |  7 PagesAlthough abortion was decriminalized in 1973, the fight for abortion rights did not end with Roe v. Wade. Just in the past three years, there have been systematic restrictions on abortion rights sweeping the country sate by state. In 2013, 22 states enacted 70 antiabortion measures, including pre-viability abortion bans, unnecessary doctor and clinic procedures, limits on medicated abortion, and bans on insurance coverage of abortion In 2011, 92 abortion restrictions were enacted, an in 2012, thatRead MoreAbortion : The Issue Of Abortion1212 Words   |  5 PagesThe topic of abortion has been an ongoing debate for many years. According to ProChoice.org, abortion was legal in in the days of the early settlers . At the time that the constitution was adopted abortions were legal. Abortions were openly advertised and performed before the first fetal movement (13-16 weeks from the start of a women’s last period). The concern for abortion started in the late 1800’s when immigrants were coming into the country in large numbers and the fear was that they would produce

Social Justice System Of The Upper Class Essay - 1628 Words

Social justice is one of the fundamental factors that can make a community, society, or the entire country thrive. Counties that have any sort of social justice system even if it is not perfect are more stable than one who lack all forms of social justice system. It is very difficult to see social justice in most countries of the world due to the greediness of those who are in the upper class. This kind of behavior makes the others who are below the the upper class revolt against the regimes and their allies from the upper class who control almost everything within the country. Those who control almost everything describe the lower class as unpatriotic and the enemies who want to destroy the country. In Fact, the lower class are those who work hard to keep the life of the entire society move on forward, but they do not get what they deserve as hard workers due to injustice. Lack of social justice threatens the stability of countries around the globe, turmoils and chaos erupt, and peo ple die for the seek of dignity as human beings. The phenomenon of revolutions that can be caused due to injustice within societies can be contagious from country to another and the Arab Spring being an example. In that case we can not quietly say that the revolution that broke to achieve social justice goals was triumphed because what happen to come was the other face of the system that already existed. Even though there are challenges that the lower class faces in life while looking forShow MoreRelatedThe And Justice For All1743 Words   |  7 Pages With liberty and justice for all. These are the 6 words that conclude the pledge of allegiance of our United States. This is what our nation was built upon: liberty and justice. Justice is the just behavior (insert dictionary source here) or treatment that one may receive or give. To be just is to be fair and righteous and this righteousness is the quality of being morally right (insert dictionary source here). For someone to be shot in cold blood and the killer not have any consequenceRead MoreThe Impact of Social Class and Stratification1728 Words   |  7 PagesSkylar Freve Mr. Gompf Sociology 101 30 November, 2010 The Impact of Social Class/Stratification Stratification and the division of people into social classes is a fundamental part of American society. Stratification is a concept that is universal; it is found in every country, every nation of the world. It is a system in which large groups of people, not individuals, are divided into different layers according to their relative property, power, and prestige. Stratification appliesRead MoreOliver Twist: The Battle for Morality831 Words   |  3 Pagesmajor social conflicts and struggles between the rich, who hold positions of power, and the poor and working class who fight for economic justice. In addition, the book is representative of the need for moral values based on the author’s believe that people should not be oppressed, that every person deserves a chance. The story offers a contradiction central to bourgeois consciousness, which embraces conventional bourgeois ethics and demoralizes and suppresses the awareness of the harsh social realitiesRead MoreTheories of Deviance from the Conflict Perspective1465 Words   |  6 PagesTheories of Deviance: Conflict Theory Why are some people s behaviors more apt to be negatively labeled by the criminal justice system? Labeling theorists point to the role of moral entrepreneurs or social movements, but what about the forces that underlie a particular moral crusade? Why, for example, would American society want to criminalize the production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the 1920s? Why the increased penalties for domestic violence in the 1970s, or the War onRead MoreConflict Theory : Conflict Criminology, And Sociology799 Words   |  4 Pagescriminologists began to study the social conditions of the U.S. which promoted class conflict and crime. This paper will discuss how conflict theory relates to both criminology and sociology, how politics play a role in conflict theory, and how politics influence crime rates of the lower class. Also, this paper will evaluate various sociological schools of crime causation. â€Å"Conflict theory is the view that human behavior is shaped by interpersonal conflict and those who maintain social power will use it to furtherRead MoreThe Criminal Justice System Essay949 Words   |  4 Pagescriminal justice system affirmatively depends on inequalityquot; (5). Cole has substantial grounds for making this statement. Race and class have long been issues in the criminal justice system, but does the system quot;affirmatively depend on inequality?quot; Does the criminal justice system depend on the disparities of the people that it serves? American justice is supposed to be blind. Despite this there have been many disparities in the justice system due to racial, social class, and economicRead MoreGreat Expectations1110 Words   |  5 Pagesof characters to show Pip learning this lesson and to provide insights into various aspects of the Victorian era culture. Characters such as Joe and Magwitch provide an insight into the education and the crime and justice systems of Victorian England, along the importance of social class and wealth. Whilst, Estella and Miss Havisham provide an insight into the position of women and the inequality of power between the genders. Throughout the novel Pip encounters a range of people and undergoesRead MoreDealing with Social Ostracism in ‘The Doll’s House by Katherine Mansfield1235 Words   |  5 PagesAnyone who lived through high school gym class knows the desperation of being picked last for the sports team. The same hurt feelings bubble up when you are excluded from lunch with co-workers, fail to land the job interviewed for or are dumped by a romantic partner. Within a society, social classes are unavoidable. In the short story ‘The Doll’s House’, the author, Katherine Mansfield examines the difficulties dealing with class-consciousness and social ostracism in this society, also the influenceRead MoreBook Review of Sandal1245 Words   |  5 PagesIn Justice: Whats the Right Thing to Do? (2009), Michael J. Sandal argues that politics and society require a common moral purpose beyond the assertion of natural rights like life liberty and property or the utilitarian ca lculus of increasing pleasure and minimizing pain for the greatest number of people. He would move beyond both John Locke and Jeremy Bentham in asserting that a just society cant be achieved simply by maximizing utility or by securing freedom of choice (Sandal 261). Justice andRead MoreThe Divide : American Injustice1247 Words   |  5 PagesThe American justice system is divided between the wealthy and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds. A system that has been systematically built to favor wealthy Americans and punish poor Americans, as suggested in Matt Taibbi’s book â€Å"The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealthy Gap†. Meanwhile, poor Americans, specifically people of color, face punishment far beyond crime allegedly committed. In the following paragraphs, we will explore the root causes behind systematic forces that

Auditing challenging fair value measurement - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about the Auditing challenging fair value measurement. Answer: Introduction The globally known and publicized series of the financial scandals that had occurred in the last few years have effectively eroded the public trust in regards to the audit process of the corporate bodies. The gradually increasing mistrust has led to the public, doubting the role of the auditors carrying out such evaluating procedures. This is because the primary duty of a public auditor lies in acting, in the interest of the public, thus safeguarding the public welfare. The series of auditing scandals that have taken place has led to the public, question the ethics of the auditor. In fact the trust placed in the accuracy of services provided by the auditors has also been hampered. The importance of the ethical considerations in the profession of auditing has increased over the years mainly due to these frequent financial scandals. The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has also developed a professional code of ethics for the auditors. This has been done in order to regula te the ethical considerations involved in the profession of auditing. In spite of such initiatives taken, the occurrence of the auditing scandals has not decreased in number (Pearce 2016). This study particularly aims to focus on this particular topic of accounting scandals and the initiatives taken by the accounting professional bodies like ICAEW, ACCA, ICAS and CIMA and the big four auditing firms like PWC, KPMG, Deloitte and EY for improving the reputation of the audit. In order to achieve such an outcome the particular investigation by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of the audit proceedings by KPMG of British giant, Rolls Royce has been analyzed. The issues that led to the occurrence of such a particular auditing scandal and the recommendations for mitigating such financial scandals have also been discussed in this study. KPMG Audit Plcs audit of Rolls-Royce Group The conglomerate Rolls-Royce had already been alleged in the year of 2010, for paying a huge amount of fine (671 million) to the Serious Fraud Office. The luxury car company did admit to a number of corruption charges that involved falsifying accounts, interference with the ongoing investigations and payments in tens of millions of pounds to win the ownership of the contracts in Indonesia, Thailand, Russia and China (Arruda de Almeida and Zagaris 2015). KPMG has been the sole firm responsible for carrying out the audits of Rolls-Royce. The investigation by the Financial Reporting Council has been executed in relation to the financial statements of the Rolls-Royce Group plc for the year ended 31 December 2010 and the Rolls-Royce holdings plc for the financial years of 2011, 2012 and 2013. This investigation had been carried out as a result of the Senior Fraud Office announcement on 17th January, 2017 that a Deferred Prosecution Agreement between the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Rolls-Royce plc has been agreed (Mayer 2017). A DPA is a statutory means with the help of which a corporate entity will have gained the authority to appear to a court for conduct without suffering the complete consequences of a criminal conviction that might result in restriction of the firm for competing for public contracts. The particular event that led to the requirement of a DPA was the scandal that had taken place in the year of 2010. The corruption charges that the leading automaker company was accused of ranged back for more than over twenty years. Rolls-Royce has been bribing hugely for gaining the ownerships illegally. The British giant has been adopting such unethical and illegal practices since 1989 till 2013 (Tombs and Whyte 2015). An instance of the cases against which the investigations are carried out is that the $100 million order for the supply of Trent 700 jet engines to Indonesias Garuda airline in the year of 1991. The Indonesian deal had been a well known deal for Rolls-Royce. The general estimation that th e engines that were to be selected belonged to the US rival Pratt Whitney. However, the deal was overruled in favor of the Rolls-Royce Group. Even proper evidence had been recorded in support of the unethical action committed by the company. Senior officials at the Rolls Royce did agree to the payment of $2.25 million along with a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit car that was rewarded to an agent for the sale of Trent 700 engines to Garuda (KISS, FLP and CORDO? 2015). It had been further recorded that the employees of the Rolls-Royce were charged with the payment of $2.2 million to the executives of Air Asia for winning the ownership of sales orders. The company had admitted to a total of seven counts of conspiracy in terms of corruption and five cases in regards to failure to prevent bribery. Furthermore, the company had also engaged itself in the payment of bribes of a total amount of $36.3 million to the agents of Thai Airways for securing orders (Nomoto 2016). There have been similar instances of such illegal operations in Germany, India and China. As a consequence, the company had received two profit warnings and had applied for a DPA so that the company would not be criminally convicted. As it can be concluded from the above instances the major offences, against which the company had been charged guilty, are payment of bribes, receiving bribes, the bribery of foreign public officials and the failure of a commercial organization to prevent bribery. Issues that potentially led to the scandal The issues that led to the unlawful conduct of the leading automaker company involved the inappropriate or unethical use of the third-party intermediaries (TPIs). TPIs include people from the category of agents like distributors, brokers, government intermediaries and resellers. Therefore, the unethical proceedings by Roll-Royce had occurred due to the close associations with the suppliers, customers or the public officials and making improper offers to them for securing orders or obtaining favoritism (Bingham and Druker 2017). Now, the particular causes for the occurrence of a financial scandal may be numerous. For instance, the lack of transparency in the financial transactions or the existence of a poor structure of internal control within the organization may be the potential reasons for the occurrence of a financial fraud. Moreover, the lack of independent audit department in the organization might also lead to fraudulent occurring. In case of Rolls-Royce the company had also revealed that its civil aerospace unit would have made an operating loss instead of an 800 million pound profit, if the company had used a different accounting method. The operating profit of the group would be two-fifth of what had already been reported in the annual report. This clearly indicates that the accounting practices followed by the automaker are complicated and difficult to comprehend which has effectively helped in the process of executing the fraudulent activities (Bowman 2014). Furthermore, the issue that is coming up from the above discussions is that the auditing evaluations of the accounting as well as the internal operating procedures of the organization have not been conducted properly. The primary duty of an auditor lies in making sure that the business operations that are carried out by a particular firm are genuine and reflects a true and fair view of the financial condition of the company. However, in case of the British giant, Rolls-Royce that primary perspective of audit has been effectively hampered. Thus, to be very particular the issue that led to the financial scandal in Rolls-Royce was an instance of audit capability. This means that the audit carried out by the particular auditing firm is not appropriate as it is not looking into the proper areas or is not conducting the auditing evaluations in accordance to the analysis framework established by the regulating bodies (Carr and Jago 2014). In case of Rolls-Royce the audit had been conducted by one of the big four firms that is KPMG. However, the exposure of the financial scandal carried out by the company has questioned the audit carried out by KPMG over the years. The Financial Reporting Council has thus launched an investigation into the audit of Rolls-Royce by KPMG. Though KPMG had taken enough initiative and it would be unfair to blame an audit firm for the misconduct of their client, KPMG has failed to ensure its primary duty that is to ensure the welfare of the public who are in this case the employees of the organization, the stakeholders and the luxury car makers whose reputation had been at stake due to the unethical deeds carried out by Rolls-Royce. In the annual report of Rolls-Royce for the financial year of 2014, KPMG had indicated that the company had made use of estimations and assumptions that resulted in mildly cautious profit recognition (Soh, Leung and Leong 2015). However, the audit firm should have been much stricter and should have delved into the issue further, highlighting the fraudulent operations carried out by the corporate body. The audit firm in a 2013 report had also mentioned that the company was at risk of bribery, but again did not delve further into the issue. In support of the perspective that the accounting scandal was a result of lack of audit capability, the FRC while conducting the investigation had reported that the audit proceedings were deficient in nature (William, Glover and Prawitt 2016). Therefore, the fact that can be summarized from the above discussion is that accounting scandal that had been carried out by the leading automaker company was a result of lack of audit capability. Initiatives taken by the regulating bodies One of the international regulating bodies like the ICAEW has established an entire new reporting model for the purpose of mitigating the occurrence of accounting scandals. The new reporting model effectively promotes the communication of the business proceedings to the investors and other stakeholders of business at regular intervals. The new reporting model also establishes a transparency in reporting the business proceedings. ICAEW believes in the fact that the ongoing financial scandals have led to a huge gap between what is being audited and what the public believe should be audited (Cannon and Bedard 2016). The regulating body acknowledges the requirement of an enhanced corporate reporting and a greater degree of assurance. Thus, the potential solution lies in the fact that the corporate reporting has to improve qualitatively. The new reporting model not only promotes transparency but also mandates the preparation of a sustainability report that effectively should disclose all the information that concerns the stakeholders. Even the materiality issues should also be disclosed in order to ensure the report reflects the true and fair view of the company (Soh, Leung and Leong 2015). ACCA on the other hand, has identified the reasons of lack of audit capability like the lack of human resources as a result of high talent attrition rate, lack of focus on the audit quality and inability to understand the business carried out by the client. ACCA recommends the development of solutions by the proper collection of audit evidence and adopting an honest approach while preparing the audit report for the client (Masztalerz 2014). The ICAS or FRC that had played the major role in launching an investigation behind the auditing proceedings carried out by KPMG in case of Rolls-Royce has developed strict guidelines in achieving the objective of less frequent accounting scandals. After the occurrence of the Rolls-Royce accounting scandal, the FRC did make a mandatory rule that an organization is required to change the auditing firm carrying out its annual audit in every ten years. This is another potential solution that may be applicable in the case of Rolls-Royce. The auditing firm, KPMG had been associated with Rolls-Royce for a period of 25 years. This might have led to the development of personal relationship between the firm and the company, on account of which they adopted a lenient approach towards auditing the British giant (Dewing and Russell 2015). The global body CIMA aims to develop a risk prevention framework that consists of four major components prevention, detection, deterrence and response. The regulating body also states that maintenance of high ethical standards in regards to business operations also reap long term benefits not only to the stakeholders but also to the company as well (Knechel and Salterio 2016). The particular solution in case of the Rolls-Royce accounting scandal The particular solution in regards to the Rolls-Royce financial scandal is that the auditing process should be conducted following a particular framework. It is the primary duty of the organization to maintain the highest standards of integrity while dealing in business operations. However, when the case is not such, the auditor must step in and point out the particular areas of doubt. In case of Rolls-Royce, the fraud was not just limited to a handful of rogue employees but the senior management was also involved in paying and receiving bribes. This should have been noted by KPMG and allegedly reported. The reasons KPMG failed to do so was lack of auditing capabilities. The firm being attached to its client for more than 20 years made the audit team to blindly believe in the integrity standards of the conglomerate. Thus, this evidently indicates that audit rotation in regards to the firm is also necessary. However, the fact that the foremost should be adhered to is the strict follow ing of the audit principles as laid down by the regulating bodies. The corporate bodies should also adhere to the corporate reporting standards established by the regulatory boards. Conclusion Thus, as can be concluded from the above discussions, in spite of the trust issues between the public and the audit firms, the compliance to the solutions or amendments established by the regulating bodies will certainly improve the future of the profession. The corporate bodies have to understand that adopting fraudulent techniques will definitely harm the business in the long run. Therefore, the maintenance of ethical standards will make the work of the auditors easy and in turn ascertain and promote transparent business operations. References and Bibliography Alles, M.G., 2015. Drivers of the Use and Facilitators and Obstacles of the Evolution of Big Data by the Audit Profession. Accounting Horizons, 29(2), pp.439-449. Arruda de Almeida, M. and Zagaris, B., 2015. Political Capture in the Petrobus Corruption Scandal: The Sad Tale of an Oil Giant. Fletcher F. World Aff., 39, p.87. Backof, A., Bowlin, K. and Goodson, B., 2017. The impact of proposed changes to the content of the audit report on jurors assessments of auditor negligence. Bingham, C. and Druker, J., 2017. Acting With Integrity Across The World? What Do Multinationals Say About Labour Standards?. Bowman, C., 2014. When are Executives Paid Too Much?. Byrnes, P.E., Al-Awadhi, C.A., Gullvist, B., Brown-Liburd, H., Teeter, C.R., Warren Jr, J.D. and Vasarhelyi, M., 2015. Evolution of auditing: from the traditional approach to the future audit. Audit Analytics, 71. Cannon, N.H. and Bedard, J.C., 2016. Auditing challenging fair value measurements: Evidence from the field. The Accounting Review, 92(4), pp.81-114. Carr, I.M. and Jago, R., 2014. Corruption, Money Laundering, Secrecy and Societal Responsibility of Banks. Christensen, B.E., Glover, S.M., Omer, T.C. and Shelley, M.K., 2016. Understanding audit quality: Insights from audit professionals and investors. Contemporary Accounting Research, 33(4), pp.1648-1684. Dewing, I.P. and Russell, P.O., 2015. Audit, Supervision and Risk in Financial Services. ICAS. KISS, C., FLP, M.T. and CORDO?, G.S., 2015. Relevant Aspects Regarding the Changes of the Statutory Audit Report in the Light of International Regulations. Audit Financiar, 13(126). Knechel, W.R. and Salterio, S.E., 2016. Auditing: Assurance and risk. Taylor Francis. Kogan, A., Alles, M.G., Vasarhelyi, M.A. and Wu, J., 2014. Design and evaluation of a continuous data level auditing system. Auditing: A Journal of Practice Theory, 33(4), pp.221-245. Masztalerz, M., 2014. Global Management Accounting Principles-Emperor's New Clothes. Research Papers of Wroc?aw University of Economics, (345). Mayer, C., 2017. Whose Responsible for Irresponsible Business? An Assessment. Nomoto, S., 2016, September. Product planning and innovative developments from the perspective of anticipated market trends in the coming years: An analytical approach based on machine tools developed for auto manufacturers. In Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), 2016 Portland International Conference on (pp. 2549-2562). IEEE. Pearce, B., 2016. Gatsbys Rolls-Royce: reflections on the automobile and literature. English Academy Review, 33(2), pp.52-67. Soh, D.S., Leung, P. and Leong, S., 2015. The development of integrated reporting and the role of the accounting and auditing profession. In Social Audit Regulation (pp. 33-57). Springer International Publishing. Tombs, S. and Whyte, D., 2015. Introduction to the Special Issue on Crimes of the Powerful. The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, 54(1), pp.1-7. William Jr, M., Glover, S. and Prawitt, D., 2016. Auditing and assurance services: A systematic approach. McGraw-Hill Education.

Endogeneity In Accounting Finance Research â€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Endogeneity In Accounting Finance Research? Answer: Introducation: The methods and the techniques for the purpose of capital budgeting is inclusive of numerous processes for the description and the projection of the cases. With the help of the tables provided in the above requirement, the Net Present Value (NPV) tool has been employed for predicting the future cash outflow of the project under consideration (Beekes et al., 2015). The other techniques that are available for use are the aggregate rate of return and payback period in order to estimate the challenges that are interlinked with the project. After the examination of the tables constructed above, it can be depicted that the NPV of the project has been positive and the profitability index of the project under consideration accounts to 191.89%. The observation of a positive NPV explains that the project is possible and the firm should undertake the outlay operations of the business. The cost benefit ratio of the associated plan is constructed with the assistance of the profitability index, which has been 191.89%, which proposes that the NPV of the future cash flow is more than the primary outlay value that has been paid by the company. The other data in accordance to the approval and refusal of the project can be constructed by taking assistance of the incorporation of the other techniques of capital budgeting that includes the payback period and the aggregate rate of return (Gitman et al., 2015). The financial declaration has been computed so that knowledge about APN Outdoor Groups structure of capital can be known. The company has been known to be an ASX listed organization. The declaration has depicted that the calculation of the WACC and the examination of the critical financial ratios of the company. Evaluation of the Capital Structure of APN The WACC of APN has been 8.32% and an additional amount of $181.8 of equity has been established by the firm in 2016 in order to establish an innovative capital framework. The firm has the intention of lowering the cost of capital with the assistance of the preservation of the ideal capital framework. By taking help of the examination of the annual financial report, it is cited that during the accounting year of 2016, the debt capital proportion in the structure has fallen. APNs cost of capital can fall further by increasing the debt proportion value in their capital structure. The factor has been the equity capital that has been issued and he interest bearing liabilities has fallen in the present year (McKay, and Haque 2016). Hence, for conclusion it is depicted that value of equity has stayed at 38.1 in the current year and the debt capital overall value has accounted to 27.61. Computation of After-Tax WACC APNs net operating cash has reduced for the last three years and the per share earnings of the company has been lower by 19% than the target of the present strategies and the amount has accounted to 0.29 in the current year. The earnings per share have reduced to 31.4 in the year 2016 and this value has been lower than the previous year value of 44.4. The price earnings ratio has been found to be 16.92 in 2017. The assessment of the liquidity scenario of the company has been understood by looking at the values of ratios of cash, quick and current (Ali, 2016). The cash ratio has been 0.38; current ratio has been 1.90 while the quick ratio has been 1.89. On the other hand, the interest coverage ratio has accounted to 25.96 and the debt to asset ratio valuing at 0.23. APN Outdoor and the performance of their competitors Ooh Media has been one of the key competitors of APN. The capital framework of the firm is mingling of the equity and loans. The capital equity amount rises with the company loans and therefore it can be defined that the capital structure of APN is a mixture of the debt and capital. There has been a transition in the capital framework of APN for the past three years and they have been based on the equity financing loan (Unda, 2015). Therefore, it can be said that the capital framework of the organizations is a mixture of financing their assets (Sivathaasan, 2016). APN has obtained an effective cash flow that aids in funding the projects and establishes favourable earnings to the shareholders. Capital Structure of APN Outdoor Group APNs capital structure is a mixture of equity and debt with the idea of funding the asset. The cost of capital is the rate of return that is predicted by the company on the revenue over the capital as an alternate amount of investment with the existence of risk. (Gallagher et al., 2015) The transitions on the capital framework have a straight effect on the WACC. Thus, to increase the market value, it is vital for the firm to reduce their cost of capital. The cost of capital of a company can be declined with the assistance of redeveloping their capital framework and it is to be scrutinised that the cost of capital does not exceed the anticipated return rate. The cost of capital being lower would make funding in the new projects more reasonable (Gippel et al., 2015). Conclusion After the evaluation of the above case study, it can be depicted that the capital framework of APN comprises of debts and equity, they have been providing feasible returns to the shareholders and hence provides increased dividends to their stakeholders. The revenue and the returns before interest and tax of the firm have undergone an upward movement that has help in establishing feasible returns to the stakeholders. Reference List Ali, S. (2016). Corporate governance and stock liquidity in Australia: A pitch.Jo Beekes, W., Brown, P., Zhang, Q. (2015). Corporate governance and the informativeness of disclosures in Australia: a re?examination.Accounting Finance,55(4), 931-963. Gallagher, D. R., Ignatieva, K., McCulloch, J. (2015). Industry concentration, excess returns and innovation in Australia.Accounting Finance,55(2), 443-466. Gippel, J., Smith, T., Zhu, Y. (2015). Endogeneity in Accounting and Finance Research: Natural Experiments as a State?of?the?Art Solution.Abacus,51(2), 143-168. Gitman, L. J., Juchau, R., Flanagan, J. (2015).Principles of managerial finance. Pearson Higher Education AU. McKay, W., Haque, T. (2016). A study of industry cost of equity in Australia using the Fama and French 5 Factor model and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM): A pitch.Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems,15(3), 618-623. Sivathaasan, N. (2016). Corporate governance and leverage in Australia: A pitch.Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems,15(4), 819-825. Unda, L. A. (2015). Board of directors characteristics and credit union financial performance: a pitch.Accounting Finance,55(2), 353-360.

Strategic Audit Ford Essay Example

Strategic Audit Ford Paper contents 1. 0 Introduction3 2. 0 Strategic Issues of Ford4 3. 0 The External Environment5 3. 1 PESTEL Analysis5 3. 1. 1 Political Environment5 3. 1. 2 Economic Environment6 3. 1. 3 Social Environment7 3. 1. 4 Technological Environment7 3. 1. 5 Natural environment8 3. 1. 6 Legal Environment8 3. 2 The Industry Porters’ Five Model9 3. 2. 1 Buyer’s Power Moderate9 3. 2. 2 Suppliers’ Power Low10 3. 2. 3 Threat of New Entrants Low11 3. 2. 4 Threat of Substitutes – Slightly Moderate11 3. 2. 5 Industry Rivalry High12 4. 0 The Internal Environment13 4. The Value Chain Analysis13 4. 1. 1 Primary activities13 4. 1. 2 Secondary activities14 4. 2 Analysis of Ford’s Core Competencies16 5. 0 Strategy Formulation19 6. 0 List of Strategies19 6. 1 Financial Restructuring of Ford20 6. 2 Resource-based value20 6. 3 Retrenchment Strategy21 6. 4 Product differentiation21 7. 0 Recommendation and Evaluation23 8. 0 Conclusion23 9. 0 Appendix24 9. 1 SWOT Analysis24 9. 2 TOWS Matrix25 10. 0 Reference List28 1. 0 Introduction Ford Motor Company was incorporated as a company in the year 1906. The founder of the company was Henry Ford. Ford Motor Company was the first company to make use of assembly lines for the production of cars. Currently, Ford is the fourth largest car manufacturer in the world. In the year 2008, its global production of automobiles was approximately five million (World Automobile Industry Challenges and Prospects 2009). However, due to the automotive crisis in the year 2008-2010, Ford has experienced a critical situation. Therefore, in this report we explain the competitive position of Ford in the Australian and International Motor Vehicle Industry. Moreover, we have analysed the costs the company has been incurring. From this analysis, we provide our recommendation where Ford can cut it cost or it should financially restructure itself. Furthermore, we explain the reasons why Ford has been losing its market share and what should be done to reverse the situation. In order to analyse the situation of Ford Motor Company, we have used different analytical tools. For the external analysis, we have used PESTEL Analysis and Industry Porters’ Five Model. To have a more in-depth analysis of Ford’s internal environment, we analysed its core competencies and we make use of the value chain analysis. We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Audit Ford specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Audit Ford specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Audit Ford specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Other analytical tools that were used are the SWOT Analysis and the TOWS Matrix. 2. 0 Strategic Issues of Ford Ford Motor Company is a global automotive industry, which is based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company manufactures and distributes automobiles in six different continents across the world. It currently employs approximately 180, 000 workers and it has 90 plants in different regions of the world. The company brands include Lincoln, Ford, and Mercury(Ref). Ford Motors Company bought many other car manufacturers in the past for example, Volvo, Aston Martin and Jaguar. In the process Ford was so proud to show off all the prestigious brands it own that it forget to concentrate on Ford itself. In the long wrong due to poor management and bad decision making Ford vehicles demand started to drop. Recently, the company had to lay off 40% of its workforce to cut manufacturing costs. At the same time the costs of materials needed to manufacture cars such as steel have been increasing globally affecting the cost to produce vehicles. Moreover, Ford has been losing its market shares as compared to other automobile companies such as Toyota. The loss of market shares can also be attributed to raising fuel prices. Additionally, another problem that Ford Motor Company is facing is the highly layered organizational structure, which makes decision making bureaucratic and a much longer process. Another strategic issues found is that Ford build to many variant of the same model, for example the Ford Mondeo of America is not the same as that in Australia or England. This further raised the price of the car as each variant needed research and development cost for the same model. 3. 0 The External Environment In this section of the report, we scan the external environment by using analytical tools like the PESTEL Analysis and the Industry’s Porters Five Model. . 1 PESTEL Analysis In this section we analyse the political, economical, social, technological, natural and legal environment of Ford Motor Company. 3. 1. 1 Political Environment The government of Australia is encouraging the buying of more â€Å"greener† vehicle. According to the Australian government choosing a greener car can h ave a direct financial benefit as well as helping to conserve the environment for all Australians and future generations. Buying a vehicle that is more fuel efficient can save thousands of dollars on fuel bills and many tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over the vehicles life (Greener Vehicle Guide 2010). This political incentive is directly link to Focus on introducing the new environmentally-friendly technology engine for the Falcon, a bestselling car in the territory and the country. The Australian Transport Councils National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) for 2001-2010 aimed to save 700 lives per year by 2010 (40%) and  3600 lives over the period. In 2001, 1736 people were killed. In 2009/10, this figure was  1424, making for an 18 percent reduction (â€Å"ANCAP Calling On Australian Political 2010). It is estimated that almost 25% of person could be save with safe cars. The government could in the future start a new more severe rating system for cars which will influence customer awareness before buying a vehicle thus have direct impact on demand for cars in Australia. Better rated car will have a competitive advantage compare to those car which are poorly rated. Stolen car is becoming an issue in Australia A workable and cost effective system of vehicle identification plates, combined with a national register of stolen vehicles, should make it more difficult for professional thieves to ‘re-birth a stolen car. The mandated use of immobilizer technology, steering wheel locks and vehicle alarms is also expected to reduce the incidence of car theft in Australia (Parker 2010). Finally, the labor government promise on cleaner car debate campaign that would see rebates given for the trade-in of old cars in favour of new and greener vehicles. With the ultimate aim of getting around 200,000 old vehicles off the nations roads, the program will offer a $2000 rebate on cars built before 1995 (â€Å"Gillard Government to Give $2000† 2010). 3. 1. 2 Economic Environment Analyzing the car industry it is important to have a global view of the economy. Australia is forecast to grow again at 2. 75 per cent in 2008-09 which is above the average growth rate of members of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) of 2. 2 per cent (Australia in Brief 2008). AUSTRALIAS economy grew by nearly one per cent in final three months of 2009, after government stimulus helped it shrug off the worst of the global financial crisis, economists say. But the pace set by the economy could leave borrowers with higher interest rates by the end of 2010 (Lunn 2011). Australia is one of a few countries that have the facilities to design and produce a car from clean sheet to dealer sale. In 2008 Australia produced 171,432 vehicles for domestic sale. Australia is best known for designing and producing large sized passenger vehicles, which has seen a recent downturn in Australian markets resulting in many cutbacks including the February 2008 closure of Mitsubishi Motor plant in the country. It can be said the situation is going from bad to worse, new vehicle sales fell 3. % in Australia in 2008 to 1,012,164 units, but most worrying for the industry was the sharp 11. 3% fall in sales in December, despite dealers offering sharp discounts to attract buyers. Sales of cars produced by local manufactures slumped by 14. 5% last year. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries expects vehicle sales to fall by 12. 5% in 2009, with total sales forecast to be 880,000 units (â€Å"Midas Australia’s collapse adds to car industry chaos† 2009). The impact of the automobile industry on the U. S. economy is huge. According to the University of Michigan and the Center or Automotive Research, the automobile industry is the main user of computer chips, textiles, aluminum, copper, steel, iron, lead, plastics, vinyl and rubber (World Automobile Industry Challenges and Prospects 2009). 3. 1. 3 Social Environment Ford did not operate in isolation of society but form thus it is of importance that managers pays more attention to social element of the environment. The size and age of population associated with their standard of living plays an important role in the design of car. (Gabriel 2004, 19). Additionally, today’s society judges people on the type of car they drive. Although members of the society do not want to admit it, it is very true. Manufacturers know this and they target their market by these thoughts. Anyone having a luxury or nice car is thought to be wealthy. Conversely, those driving unattractive piece of junk are perceived as people from low social status. Consumers also like better cars because this makes them feel proud about themselves (World Automobile Industry Challenges and Prospects 2009). 3. 1. 4 Technological Environment Internet has made the industry more efficient and less costly. U. S manufacturers; Ford, GM and Daimler Chrysler, all opted for a global online exchange for their suppliers and equipment manufactures according to their plans for 2000. In August 2002, GM was set to start sending requests for quotes to suppliers through Covisint using a tool called â€Å"Quote Manager† (World Automobile Industry Challenges and Prospects 2009). 3. 1. 5 Natural environment The natural environment factor have bring increasingly important in the macro environment of almost all type of company irrespective of the business they are engaged with. The carbon footprint is now consider because they are aware of its impact on global warning. The customers now have increasing expectation over the company product performance over the natural environment but also the overall impact of the company on the natural environment. Ford provided a world premier for three new electrified products: the new Focus Electric, Fords first full-electric passenger car; the Ford C-Max Energi, the companys first plug-in hybrid electric; and the new Ford C-Max Hybrid. The C-Max is a seven-passenger, multi-activity vehicle with a hands-free liftgate, and a new version of what is already in use in Europe (Pearson 2011). There are basically two type of company tend to cope for natural environmental needs those who seek to comply with regulation and those who go above the regulation which ford is by providing electrified motor vehicles and hybrid engine to reduce the carbon footprint. 3. 1. 6 Legal Environment Legal conditions are often closely related to political condition. Legal conditions are often the result of political decision (Grant et al. 2011, 103). Since 1960’s, laws and regulations have had major impacts on the automotive industry. These regulations were mainly from consumers’ concern for the environment and safer automobiles. In 1966, the national Traffic and Motor vehicle Safety Act was the first safety act passed by the Congress, which compelled manufacturers to improve passenger’s safety, driver’s visibility, braking of cars and also, manufacturers had to inform the public upon when cars had to be recalled. The trigger for passing this safety act was Ralph Nadar’s 1965 novel, Unsafe at any speed: The Designed – in Dangers of the American Automobile. The only concern was not about safety but also about the environment, even before the oil crisis. In 1965, the Vehicle Air Pollution and Control Act was passed, which was the first act to set standards for pollution caused by automobiles. Later, in 1970s, the Congress passed the Clean Air Act which required a 90% decrease in automobile emission within the next six years. These laws have been strengthen recently to decrease the level of emission in the environment (World Automobile Industry Challenges and Prospects 2009). The oil crisis in the 1970s caused the Congress to pass the Energy Policy and Conservation Act which required automobiles to meet a certain mileage per gallon, that is, a standard of 20mpg for the 1980 model and 27. 5mpg for the 1985 model. Subsequently the Intermodal Surface Transportation act was passed in 1992 which required the installation of front airbags in automobiles (World Automobile Industry Challenges and Prospects 2009). 3. 2 The Industry Porters’ Five Model In this section, we analyze the Buyers’ Power, Suppliers’ Power, Threats of New Entrants, Threat of Substitutes and The Industry Rivalry in the automobile sector. 3. 2. 1 Buyer’s Power Moderate The worldwide trend for buyer’s power of car is low. This is because having a car is nowadays perceived not as a luxury but it is more a must for people. Therefore people do not have much option and are more likely to buy a car (World Automobile Industry Challenges and Prospects 2009). However, which car to buy varies from people to people and from country to country. Toyota is seen as the bestselling car over the world and it is the largest car manufacturer. In the United States, the bestselling car is Toyota. Ford is the fourth largest bestselling car in America (Edgerton 2010). In Australia, people who prefer luxury cars opt for BMW, Mercedes and Audi while BMW is the most preferred choice of luxury cars in Australia (Audi No Threat 2007). Ford’s reputation in the Australian market is increasing. This is because Ford is investing significantly to meet customers’ requirements. Additionally, as Ford is going for intense innovation in order to provide its customers with higher safety kits and comfort, it has been able to increase its market share by 14 percent. Moreover, analysts highlight that the new Ford Focus which is expected to enter the Australian market in the third quarter of 2011 is being impatiently awaited by car dealers and car resellers (Ford Defend Focus 2010). Therefore it can be said that Ford has a moderate buyer power as it has loyal customers. At the same time, the brand reputation of Ford is increasing. 3. 2. 2 Suppliers’ Power Low Ford Motor Company has a network of Aligned Business Framework (ABF) with forty-six productions and nineteen non-productions suppliers. Ford has entered into a network with these suppliers to reduce suppliers’ power. Ford and its suppliers work together to create value for customers. Additionally, the ABF agreement will help the suppliers in the network to strengthen collaboration and develop a sustainable business model to drive mutual profitability and technology development (Fact Sheet: Ford’s Family of Strategic Suppliers 2008). Moreover, Ford Motor Company has rewarding system which rewards its suppliers for good performance. For example, one supplier of Ford Motor Company is The Global Suppliers. Global Suppliers was rewarded by Ford for strong performance in 2010. Those suppliers who help to create higher customer value are rewarded because Mr Alan Mullaly, Ford President and CEO, said that suppliers high performance is crucial for the company to progress. He stated that â€Å"We made tremendous progress on the One Ford plan in 2010 and the partnership with our suppliers was absolutely critical in making that happen† (Ford Honors Global Supplier for Strong Performance in 2010 2011). Therefore it can be said that Ford suppliers power is low as it has entered into a strategic network with its suppliers for the purpose of creating value for its customers. . 2. 3 Threat of New Entrants Low The presence of new firms in an industry may force prices down and put pressure on profits. There are, however, barriers to entry that tend to protect established firms. One would expect the production of automobiles to require significant economies of scale, an important barrier to entry. The new entrant would have to achieve substantial market share to reach minimum efficient scale, and if it does not, it may be at a significant cost disadvantage. While the evidence suggests that economies of scale in the auto industry are substantial, there are also indications that large size may not be as important as commonly assumed. Nevertheless, entry would represent a large capital investment to any new firm and the body of research still indicates that economies of scale represent a substantial barrier to entry (World Automobile Industry Challenges and Prospects 2009). Consequently, entry is currently a weak threat to profitability. 3. 2. 4 Threat of Substitutes – Slightly Moderate While five-forces do not directly consider demand, it does consider two factors that influences demand ? substitutes and complements. Although new cars generally are slightly price elastic, suggesting few real substitutes (e. g. , bus and rapid transit), the demand for a particular model is highly sensitive to price because of the availability of close substitutes for a given model. A change in the price of a complementary product (e. g. , gasoline, batteries, and tires) could have a significant impact on the demand for automobiles. The rising price of gas, an important complementary product, is likely to affect some firms more than others depending upon the vehicle composition. Recent rising fuel prices are likely to have a greater impact on the big three (GM, Ford Motor and Daimler-Chrysler) whose most profitable models are energy inefficient pick-up trucks and sports utility vehicles (Automotive Industry Analysis – GM, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, Ford, Honda 2011). On balance, the overall impact on industry profitability from substitutes and complements is weak to moderate. 3. 2. Industry Rivalry High The automobile industry is an oligopoly and companies in the industry are, to a large extent, able to determine the industry prices. As the industry is not fragmented and companies don’t indulge in price wars the industry have better opportunities to grow (World Automobile Industry Challenges and Prospects 2009). The competitors in the global automobile industry are facing the recession repercussions and their competing power has reduced giving new entrants from developing nations an opportunity to enter foreign markets more easily. In the early 2000 the US automobile manufacturers to some extent, were able to intensify competition because of the demand for the light trucks by American consumers, which was also compounded because of the low oil prices in the US. But in early 2008, oil prices increased and the customers switched to fuel-efficient cars made by foreign companies and even after the oil prices fell the perception that the oil prices would go up after economic recovery has taken hold and the demand for the American SUVs has remained low (World Automobile Industry Challenges and Prospects 2009). However, demand in developing nations has been growing and this provides the auto manufacturers in the US an opportunity to expand to newer foreign markets (World Automobile Industry Challenges and Prospects 2009). The cost conditions also affected the competition in the US. Auto manufacturers have high fixed costs and when the demand declined their sales fell below breakeven levels increasing the losses (World Automobile Industry Challenges and Prospects 2009). These factors also created high exit barriers, the companies are locked into an unprofitable industry where overall demand is declining and there is excess productive capacity. This has increased the intensity of rivalry. 4. 0 The Internal Environment In this section, we use the value chain analysis and we analyze the core competencies of Ford Motor Company to understand its operation. We also come up with a SWOT analysis and it was included in the appendix. 4. 1 The Value Chain Analysis 4. 1. 1 Primary activities 4. 1. 1. 1 Inbound Logistics Currently, all regional Ford motor companies, manages their inbound activities through the use through an information system called the extended warehouse management system with the assistance of SAP and Deloitte (Deliotte 2010). The system encompasses all the inbound logistics such as inbound delivery processing, put away location determination, quality management, return from vendor, goods receipt, put away and return from dealer (Deliotte 2010). As a result, inventory control becomes easier by using the just in time system. 4. 1. 1. 2 Operations The organization has embarked on sustainable manufacturing practices to address environment issues such as efficient energy use, waste management and their carbon emissions. Ford Motor is restructuring all its assembly plants around the globe to a flexible manufacturing system, to assemble different vehicles models on the same plant. This will help to gain efficiency and meet customer’s ever changing demand. Most of the US assembly plants have already been changed up to now. However over the past decade, the production of the small cars is not profitable due to the increasing production cost and manufacturing expenses. Ford has also developed a new program development to develop new car in a smaller lapse of time in 8 to 14 months. 4. . 1. 3 Outbound logistics/ Service Ford Motor Company has appointed dealers around the globe to manage their outbound logistics. However over the last 6 years, the company noticed that it has an overcapacity of dealers to represent their product. Therefore, the management of the company has reduced their dealer network by 14% to strategically align with the market share for sustainable profits. In addition, the Fordà ¢â‚¬â„¢s dealers provide customer service in terms of after-sale support, maintenance of vehicles and sale of spares parts. 4. 1. 1. 4 Marketing and sales Ford Motor Company has a wide presences and distribution network in the following geographical region: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, and Caribbean. At the outset of promoting new product designs, Ford attractive packages to their potential clients such as technological gadgets. Further to this, the company offer discount offer and financing options to the buyer. However, the downturn in their financial performance and that of their dealers, are limiting their ability to provide fully these financing facilities. Besides, the company attempts to increase their sales and improve their brand image by marketing their product in the media and participating in car exhibition 4. 1. 2 Secondary activities 4. 1. 2. 1 Organizational Infrastructure Ford’s organizational structure is very complex and bureaucratic. It comprised of a six layers management. As a result, implementation for changes in the organisation will take considerable amount of time. In addition, Ford’s family members in top management level have most decision making power and influence in the company. . 1. 2. 2 Human Resource Management The motor company strategically aligns its global human resource management activities towards the same goal through the â€Å"ONE Ford† program, for the success of the whole Ford team. The management of the company invest massively in training and development programs to develop a learning organisation as well as to strengthen the employees’ technical and leadership skill. The training programs include in-house training and web based training sessions together with mentoring and coaching programs. Ford Motor has created an internal college to cater for different types of training and development programs for all their departments and their global managers and executives. The enterprise acknowledged the benefits of a diverse workforce as part of its recruitment strategies to have a talented workforce. This diversity strategy embraces five focused areas to have a motivated workforce which are: â€Å"leading the way, fostering a respectful and inclusive environment, supporting work/life flexibility and supporting their diverse workforce and strengthening their external partnerships† (Ford Motor Company 2010). In a recent survey conducted in 2009, employees were satisfied with management. The company also ensure that it continuously promote a health and safety workplace. 4. 1. 2. 3 Technology development At Ford Motor Company, has invested massively to gear their manufacturing activities towards using a global lean production system for their product development in term of new technologies. They attempt to create superior product by using the following concepts to create superior product for customer: cross-functional integration, top-hat focused, virtual vehicle development and voice of the customer. Undeniably these ends will enable the enterprise to reduce cost of production. In addition, they use information technology in all their departments to improve their value chain. In addition, the company has invested in $14 billion in 2008 in advanced technologies to be able to provide fuel economy technologies to meet demands. 4. 1. 1. 4Procurement The automobile company developed a program called the Aligned Business Framework to conduct business with selected suppliers (Ford Motor 2010). The fundamental purpose of this program is the number production suppliers from 3300 in 2004 to 750 long term suppliers (Ford Motor 2010). The company will gain competitive advantage in terms of the cost and quality of manufacturing components when few suppliers will get large amount of purchases to assist them with their global programme. Ford used innovative information technology tool to enhance their procurement processes. The company has also form alliances and partnerships with different companies as well as with its own subsidiaries. 4. 2 Analysis of Ford’s Core Competencies To gain advantage over their competitors, Ford has several core competencies that can help them. Those core competencies might even help Ford overtake competitors such as General Motors or Japanese automakers in the automotive market industry. For instant a research conducted by the company Merrill Lynch and the Bank of America (2009) predict that due to Ford core competencies and good planning they will surely, by 2013, have higher market share than GM, Toyota, Nissan and Honda. The research predict that Ford will have a 3. 0% market share followed by Honda with 3. 0%, Toyota with 1. 0%, Nissan with 0. 5% and finally GM with -5. 0%. Beginning with Ford brand equity, According to William Clay Ford, Jr. 2010) the executive chairman at Ford Motor Company, Ford conducts many brand tracking studies in different countries. Ford brand has a strong and high recognition worldwide and this recognition is growing rapidly in countries like China, India and Indonesia. One reason this is so, is that in all those country, people can access the Ford website and see all the models that they sel l worldwide. This mean two things, first that everybody can see and buy all the models that Ford produce and this make Ford models owners in China, India and Indonesia proud because they are driving the same car as American, English and French people. The second outcome is that long ago and still today some car manufactures sell old technologies and old car models to those countries, leaving the customers frustrated and no choice than to buy out-dated models. Thus Ford has managed to create high brand equity in those countries, despite the fact that Ford does not have a strong presence there yet (Ford, 2010). In some remote countries where cars are not a popular medium of transport, people recognise and have a high esteem for the Ford brand. For example in Chile where people still pass on cars from generation to generation. Jose, Mendez, Podlech and Olave (2004) conducted a research to know the best way for Ford to have good brand equity. They found out that Ford should make an advertisement that shows the emotional bond a person have with his Ford car model rather than showing the vehicle functionalities. This shows that even if Ford is not well present in some countries they care that people have a good image about the company and Ford brand. Ford has an excellent supply chain management, which is another core competency. This is due to the fact that Ford has maintain a good standing and long-term relationship with their raw materials suppliers such as steel, glass, plastic and many more. This has allowed Ford to maintain a constant flow of raw materials coming in for production. Furthermore there logistics system allowed high coordination between the outsourced firms and this has lead in a brilliant inventory management and steady flow of automotive parts for smooth production activities. Some of the suppliers are Bosch, Hankook, Superalloy, Siemens, Sanyo, Panasonic, Pirelli, Johnson Matthey, and many more. Bosch for example deals with engines parts. Bosch is not the only supplier of Ford Motors but all Ford Motors joint ventures and associates like Mazda who benefits from the same improvement and progression found in Bosch engine parts. Moreover Ford being the first mover in the moving assembly line detained here another core competency. Ford is the pioneer of the mass production system, which later on has been copied by Mr Toyoda from Toyota. This core competency has allowed them to manufacture and deliver their product at high speed not to mention that this save time and costs in the process. Ford loss that competency when they try to buy and manage many different car manufactures at the same time in the past but recently when they sold all the other car manufacturers and focus on their core business, that is to sell Ford models they reacquired this competency. The last but not the least Ford is listening to their stakeholders namely, investors, consumers, NGOs and others in terms of a more sustainable vision. Stakeholders are more environmental conscious and believe in sustainability and made Ford aware that they need to consider environmental and social costs as genuinely as they take financial costs. As such, Ford has given enormous attention to its research and development department in terms of efficient vehicles. This can be seen in recent models of Ford were by they are more economical in fuel consumption yet powerful, smaller in size yet spacious-well design interior and less expensive yet high quality. Ford has integrated sustainable development into their planning and business enterprise measurement systems in order to achieve the sustainability vision potential. This has proved to be a good move by Ford as many investors are increasingly seeking sustainable companies and investors tend to avoid companies that have low environmental performance. This is so, as investors believe that sustainable companies have a better chance to survive over the long run. In addition to that consumers are not only searching for environmental friendly cars but more economic cars as the price of petrol is always on the rise and they find it more and more difficult to use big engine cars on a daily basis (Alan Mulally, 2010). 5. 0 Strategy Formulation To be able to develop sound strategies for Ford Motor Company, it is important that we highlight the problems Ford is facing. These problems were already mentioned in our strategic issues section. One of the most pertinent issues is the loss of the share market. Therefore, we develop our strategies in such a way that will help to counter the loss of market share. Additionally, we developed a TOWS Matrix which helped to formulate strategies based on our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. We have included the TOWS Matrix in the appendix. . 0 List of Strategies Based on the problem that Ford is currently facing, we believe that there are three strategies that might help to overcome its loss of share market. These strategies are the Financial Restructuring of Ford, Retrenchment Strategies, The Resource-Based Value Strategy and Product Differentiation. 6. 1 Financial Restructuring of Ford In 2008, Ford Motor Company was at a loss of $8. 7 billion. Nevertheless, the restruct uring of the organisation, make it reap a net income of $6. 6 billion for the financial year 2010. The enterprise’s declining financial performance is mainly because of the two main reasons, the accentuating production cost and operation expenses and decrease in demand for their product. Fierce competition in both foreign and domestic market, and the financial crisis as well as the soaring price of fuel had a negative impact on their sales and market share loss. The annual sales of Ford fell down to 31% in 2008. Currently, that is before any restructuration of the company, it has an excess capacity and duplication of their operations as they are done separately at different geographical areas. In addition the financial position of the company suffered because of their $13. 2 billion paid in 2009 to meet their obligations to give post-retirement benefits to retired employees. As a result, they have to develop a new corporate strategy to resolve the issues. 6. 2 Resource-based value Mr Henry Ford painted the Ford Model T in black only because black dries quicker than any other colour. That is the spirit that Mr Henry Ford left in the company and Ford is still using model such as the just in time management to produce its vehicles. Two or more ideas came out under the â€Å"ONE Ford† plan. â€Å"ONE Ford† plan consist of producing the same Ford model for the world market, for example the new Ford Focus will be the same in Mauritius, America, England, France etc Ford Motors has realised that instead of using different platforms for different models they can reduce the number of platforms and make it more polyvalent, that is more models can be build on only one platforms. 72% of all vehicles that are sold under the Ford brand will be build on 15 platforms by 2012. Furthermore Ford had such trust in its supplier, Johnson Matthey for example, that Ford has given the company the liberty of designing and engineering parts for the seat. This allowed Johnson to produce the seat on a global market perspective and the outcome is that Ford Motor was able to reduce the cost of seat by 40% on the new Focus. Ford has redesign and reorganise its resource- based value to make the company more efficient in building its vehicles. (Ford Motor Company 2011). 6. 3 Retrenchment Strategy Under this strategy the company will have to reduce the diversity of their operations in various around the globe. This means that the company has to undertake activities such as divestment, liquidation of assets, and withdrawal of their products in saturated market such as Europe while focusing on new emergent markets such as India and China. Further to this, they have to focus on the contraction of the operations in few assembly plants. These activities will make the company to become stable (Grant et al. 2011) while ensuring their growth. The management has to close down further the four plants that they announced in 2008 and sell their remaining four ACH plants. 6. 4 Product differentiation Ford core product in Australia is the ford falcon and ford territory which are sold in Australia as well as exported to market such as New Zealand, South Africa and Thailand. (Elly Haug 2006). Ford did not anticipate that vehicles such as the ford territory will be regarded as a polluting motor car going against the new green purchasing mind set of customers during the previous years. Another factor that goes against the Ford territory is the rising oil prices from 2005 oil crisis until now the Libya oil crisis which had made petrol prices reach record prices. This continuous increase in the prices of petrol did have consequences on the buying criteria of customers that shifted from high petrol consuming vehicles such as the ford territory to more economic cars. The combine factor which not green vehicles and high consuming vehicles make Ford surely consider changing the features of the Ford territory, for example equip the vehicle will more eco engine will help to remove the poor image of SUV such as done by Lexus for it SUV by making use of the hybrid technology. This engine also drops petrol consumption making the petrol bills for customers becoming more attractive. Ford must establish a sustainability plan to achieve continuous and innovative improvement in fuel reduction and CO 2 reduction. The Australian car market is one of the most competitive market in the world, with more than 50 brands offering over 350 models in a relative small market by global standards (Elly Haug 2006). The resulting effect of this situation is low market share per brand with a continuous decrease of locally manufactured brand such as Ford territory and falcon. The above analysis show clearly that it will be more and more difficult in the future to manufacture and sell car in Australia, Ford will have seriously to consider the option of restructuring the company by selling it production plants especially the ford territory and make use ONE Ford plan thus making small, medium and large vehicles in the car, utility and truck segments facilitated by using Ford’s world class vehicles available in all of our regions. ONE Ford plan enforces product excellence through leadership in fuel economy, innovation, quality, safety and leading edge â€Å"comfort and convenience† technology. The maintenance cost is another factor which consumers seek before purchase of a car, it thus of importance in ford product offering to consider the cost of maintenance by providing competitive price for space part and servicing at ford concession. This will enable the company to gain competitive advantages over its competitor, in an area ignore by many others company. 7. 0 Recommendation and Evaluation The different strategies we mentioned in the above section can be used to overcome the loss of market share. However, Ford should adopt the Financial Restructuring of the Organization. This is because it will help to avoid unnecessary costs. Strategic restructuring reduces financial losses, simultaneously reducing tensions between debt and equity holders to facilitate a prompt resolution of a distressed situation. Moreover, a company that has been restructured effectively will theoretically be leaner, more efficient, better organized, and better focused on its core business with a revised strategic and financial plan. It is also important that the strategic financial restructuring of Ford is done in the shortest possible delay or precisely before three months. This is because we are experiencing a dynamic business environment whereby competitors are also looking forward to capitalize on the market share. The financial restructuring will be successful only if it is implemented in the right time. 8. 0 Conclusion From our analysis, it can be said that there exist opportunities in the external environment of Ford as it has a moderate external environment. Ford also has some key competencies which might help the company to create and sustain its competitive advantage. Among the different problems that Ford has been experiencing, the most pertinent one is the loss of market share. There are different strategies that can be adopted to overcome this problem. The best strategy will be the strategic financial restructuring of the Ford Motor Company as it will help to avoid duplication of activities and will help to prepare a better financial statement report. 9. 0 Appendix 9. 1 SWOT Analysis Strength| Weakness| * Strong Brand image and equity. * Manufacturing capacity are in lined with customer demand. * Lean product development strategies at the plants. * Flexible manufacturing plants. * New product development process to reduce the development time for new vehicle. The adoption of new business structure, â€Å"One Ford† to work as a global organization. * Ford is ranked among top fourth non-luxury brands in the automobile industry. * Leading company for quality, safety and technology product. * Competence in producing fuel economy vehicle through cost-effective technology. * Balance product portfolio. * Product excellence and innovation. * Embark on susta inability projects. * Has flexible work arrangement. | * Too many suppliers for manufacturing components and there are overlapping of supplier networks. * Financial position is still dim. Low profitability for the production of small cars. * Labour constraints, including unions are reducing the company’s ability to restructure the organization. * Inefficiencies in the inventory and control process. * Operational expenses are high. * Poor financial planning and forecasting, accounting to large amount of debt. * Inability to maintain communication with all employees. * Inability to provide more benefits to employees compared to before. * Investment on other non-core assets. * Inefficient, complex and bureaucratic organisational structure with too many management layers. The members of Ford family has more power and influence in decision making power. | Opportunity | Threats| * Huge potential of investment exist in emerging economies such as Brazil, China and India. * The global economy is recovering from the recent global financial crisis. * Many governments wish to raise the living standard of their citizens. * Most economies are strengthening Intellectual Property Rights. * More emphasis being laid on greener cars. * Global demand for fuel efficient cars. * Global increasing rate of high skilled workers. * Better technologies availability. The tsunami in Japan benefits American and European car manufacturers . * Consumers want cars which reveal their personality. | * High level of rivalry in the Automobile Industry. * Trade unions are constantly fighting to safeguard employees’ interest. * Cost of labour is increasing. * Skilled employees prefers to work into different companies. * Fluctuations in exchange rates. * Environmentalists are increasing their campaign to reduce the number of cars on road. * Cultural clashes may hinder overall progress. * Natural disasters and calamities. * Suicide bombings and Terrorist attacks. 9. 2 TOWS Matrix OPPORT UNITIES| THREATS| 1. Huge potential of investment exist in emerging economies such as Brazil, China and India| 1. High level of rivalry in the Automobile Industry| 2. The global economy is recovering from the recent global financial crisis| 2. Trade unions are constantly fighting to safeguard employees’ interest| 3. Many governments wish to raise the living standard of their citizens| 3. Cost of labour is increasing| 4. Most economies are strengthening Intellectual Property Rights| 4. Skilled employees prefers to work into different companies| 5. More emphasis being laid on greener cars| 5. Fluctuations in exchange rates| 6. Global increasing demand for fuel efficient cars| 6. Environmentalists are increasing their campaign to reduce the number of cars on road| 7. Global increasing rate of high skilled workers| 7. Cultural clashes may hinder overall progress| 8. Better technologies availability| 8. Natural disasters and calamities| 9. The tsunami in Japan benefits American and European car manufacturers | 9. Suicide bombings and Terrorist attacks| 10. Consumers want cars which reveal their personality| | | | | S1+O1: Using the strong brand image, establish in the emerging economiessuch as Brazil, China and India| S1/S8/S11+T1: Using and maintaining the good image and product quality of the company, can lead to ford surviving and making profitsin the industry| S10/S12+O5: Introduce greener cars to the balance product portfolio| S6+T7: Employees will be acquainted to the culture of One ford of the company, seeking to enhance th e performanceof workers working together| S8/S11+O8: Constant innovation and using the better technologies available to gain competitive edge. S4/S13+T2: Owing to the flexible manufacturing plant and work arrangement, employees interest will be safeguarded, reducing the risk of disagreement with trade unions| S1/S8+O9: Using the strong reputaion, exploit the advantages of american car manufacturers due to the tsnami in Japan. | S8+O4: Skilled employees would be keen to work for Ford as the company is deemed as a highly reputed one and employees can make career advancements| STRENGHTHS| 1. Strong Brand image and equity| 2. Manufacturing capacity are in lined with customer demand| 3. Lean product development strategies at the plants| 4. Flexible manufacturing plants| 5. New product development process to reduce the development time for new vehicle| 6. The adoption of new business structure, â€Å"One Ford† to work as a global organisation| 7. Ford is ranked among top fourth non-luxury brands in the automobile industry| 8. Leading company for quality, safety and technology product| 9. Competence in producing fuel economy vehicle hrough cost-effective technology| 10. Balance product portfolio| 11. Product excellence and innovation | 12. Embark on sustainability projects| 13. Has flexible work arrangement| | | | WEAKNESSES| 1. Too many suppliers for manufacturing components and there are overlapping of supplier networks| 2. Financial position is still dim| 3. Low profitability for the production of small cars| 4. Labour constraints, including unions are reducing the company’s ability to restr ucture the organisation| 5. Inefficiencies in the inventory and control process| 6. Operational expenses are high| 7. Poor financial planning and forecasting, accounting to large amount of debt| 8. Inability to maintain communication with all employees| 9. Inability to provide more benefits to employees compared to before| 10. Investment on other non-core assets| 11. Inefficient, complex and bureaucratic organisational structure with too many management layers| 12. The members of Ford family has more power and influence in decision making power | W4+O7: The global increasing rate of skilled workers can compesate for the labor constraints| W10+T8/T9: Due to uncertainties, the company can invest in other well evaluated core assets to minimize risks| W5/W6+O8: Better technologies can lead to efficient inventory management and control process, further reducin operational costs| | W3+O10: Consumers will tend not to focus on small cars, instead on those cars that will reveal their personality| | W8/W9+S8: Efficient communication channels can be established within the company as well as performance management system to better reward employees| | 0. 0 Reference List Ford Defend Focus: Ford boss claims Focus sales are â€Å"exceeding expectations†, despite slump. 2010. http://www. goauto. com. au/mellor/mellor. nsf/story2/DAA074726BEB71A7CA2577C000010E9F Audi No Threat: BMW’s true rivals in Australia are Lexus and Mercedes, not Audi: Seemann. 2007. http://www. goauto. com. au/mellor/mellor. nsf/story2/29BD68AA9B6E146DCA2 572F900097F05 Edgerton, Jerry. 2010. JD Power: New Cars that Buyers Avoid. http://moneywatch. bnet. com/spending/blog/cars-money/jd-power-new-cars-that-buyers-avoid/2016/ World Automobile Industry Challenges and Prospects. 009. International Labour Office. www. ilo. org/public/english/dialogue/sector/papers/te/tokyo. pdf Ford Honors Global Supplier for Strong Performance in 2010. 2011. Media Ford. Com. http://media. ford. com/article_display. cfm? article_id=34233 Fact Sheet: Ford’s Family of Strategic Suppliers. 2008. Media Ford. Com. http://media. ford. com/article_display. cfm? article_id=28880 Automotive Industry Analysis – GM, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, Ford, Honda. 2011. Academic Mind. http://www. academicmind. com/unpublishedpapers/business/management/2004-11-000aaa-automotive-industry-analysis. html

or females in families Essay Example

Investigate the distribution of malesacute; and/ or females in families Essay Example Investigate the distribution of malesacute; and/ or females in families Essay Investigate the distribution of malesacute; and/ or females in families Essay It states: Investigate the distribution of malesà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ and/ or females in families. You may choose, for example, to collect data on the distribution of girls in families of three children and to estimate the probability of a female birth. To be able to collect the necessary data for the investigation, I will have to look at families with 3 children. The datum will be collected from pupils in the school I go to. I will collect the data by sending questionnaires to every pupil in the school from year seven (aged 11-12) to year thirteen (aged 17-18) asking them how many children are in there families and how many are male/female. From here the data will be sorted through and only the relevant questionnaires (the ones with three children in their families) will be taken out. A sample size of thirty is thought to be sufficient in this data collection so to collect this number every successful questionnaire was given a number (136 in total). 136 was placed into a graphic calculator which then randomly gave out 30 numbers. It should be noted that the larger the sample size the more reliable the results are likely to be. Hypothesis: The probability of having a boy in a three-child family is above 75 %. The probability of giving birth to a boy is the same as a girl, this can be proved by using genetic code which is below. x y Boy xy x xx xy When these two are mixed there are 4 out comes: Girl xx x xy xx As the probability of a boy and girl has been proved equal a suitable probability model can be chosen. The most suitable model is the binomial probability model. It is also suitable because the probability of giving birth is independent; this means one event is not dependent on the other. In the instance of giving birth it means that if a mother has already had a boy the chances of having another one are exactly the same as if she had given birth to none. The Binomial Model The binomial model must be set so that the probability of having a boy is 0.5 and the probability of having a girl is set at 0.5. The number of times that the event must happen is 3. The binomial model below is an example of how the final model will look it is possible from this to see how the mathematics are carried and set out. N how many times the event happens R Outcomes from the events P The probability of the outcome Using the results that will be obtained from the binomial model it will be possible to calculate the amount of families out of the 30 collected that should have 3 boys, 3 girls, 1 boy 2 girls or 2 boys 3 girls. The 4 binomial models are below: 1 (no boys) 2 (one boy) 3 (two boys) 4 (three boys) Results to Questionnaires Number selected Amount of children in family Amount of boys Amount of girls 1 3 2 1 2 3 2 1 3 3 1 2 4 3 1 2 5 3 1 2 6 3 2 1 7 3 1 2 8 3 2 1 9 3 2 1 10 3 2 1 11 3 1 2 12 3 1 2 13 3 2 1 14 3 2 1 15 3 3 0 16 3 1 2 17 3 0 3 18 3 2 1 19 3 1 2 20 3 3 0 21 3 3 0 22 3 1 2 23 3 2 1 24 3 2 1 25 3 1 2 26 3 0 3 27 3 1 2 28 3 3 0 29 3 2 1 30 3 0 3 Total families questioned Amount of children in family Total male(Possible 90) Total female(Possible 90) 30 30 47 43 What the results show From the data collected it is possible to see that out of the 30 families questioned, four families had three boys, and three families had three girls, 12 families had two boys and one girl and eleven families had two girls and one boy Below is a probability table showing how the children in the families were distributed Number of boys 0 1 2 3 Probability p(X) 0.1 0.366 0.4 0.133 When this is compared to the binomial probability table the results are very similar. Binomial probability table Number of boys 0 1 2 3 Probability p(X) 0.125 0.375 0.375 0.125 Comparing the real lie results to the binomials model shows a very strong correlation. This seems to prove that the odds of giving birth to a boy is the same as a girl, the results also prove that giving to a boy is independent of any births the mother may have had before. Looking at both sets of results it is possible to calculate the probability of having one or more boys in a family of three children. To work out the probability of having on or more boys in a family the probabilities of having one, two or three boys in a family must be added together. Below is the working for the real life and binomial probabilities. Real world 0.366 + 0.4 + 0.133 = 0.899 Binomial 0.375 + 0.375 + 0.125 = 0.875 Therefore it is possible to conclude that the real world model and the binomial show a strong correlation and therefore proving the original hypothesis. They prove that there is not only a higher than 75% chance of having a boy in three but that there is actually a chance of almost 90%

Legal Issues in Undocumented Immigrant Workers Essay

Legal Issues in Undocumented Immigrant Workers - Essay Example However, the development of such means as electronic verification systems (E-verify) has become a major blow to the industry especially to the companies that was dependent on these undocumented immigrants. This is due to a reduction in the labor pool, higher wages and the cost of hiring new staff might shoot, and what looked like a humming industry could be brought down to its knees.With the changes that are being advocated for by human rights activists and other international bodies, it has come a time when the hospitality industry with have to face the impact of the new legislations put in place to advocate for the rights of these undocumented immigrants. Not that these legislations have not been there before, but the fact is that the government is setting up more profound measures that will ensure that the immigrants do not suffer the same historical injustices as they have suffered before. This will also be aimed at ensuring that the job market in the states is decongested, allow ing room for the citizens to have access to job opportunities.Previously, legislations were aimed at barring entry of some illegal immigrants especially from Asia, Japan and Korea. The Quota Act aimed at reducing the number of immigrants entering the country and dictated a gradual incorporation of any foreign born immigrants. For example, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 that allowed H-2 visas to immigrants with labor skills to help in agriculture industry created an opportunity for immigrants to find legal refuge in the country.