Brunswick Corporation

Introduction This research paper undertakes a strategic analysis of the Brunswick Corporation, which is a manufacturing company based in the United States of America. The firm does not strictly operate in a single industry as it manufactures extensive product types in marine, fitness, billiards, as well as bowling industries.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Brunswick Corporation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Brunswick is organized into major divisions that represent the numerous products that it manufactures. The division heads report to the company’s chief executive officer. An extensive distribution network supports the marketing activities, with each global region being served by specific dealers and distributor agents. The company was founded in 1845 by John Brunswick when he formed the Cincinnati Carriage Making Company. The company expanded in its operations to include cabinet, table, and chair making (Brunswick par. 1). In 1903, the company acquired and operated quarries together with an expansive land with trees to serve as a source of its raw material needs. The first international sales offices were established in 1912 in Mexico City, Paris, and Honolulu, among other locations. The year 1925 also served as a milestone for the company as it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time. Today, the company has grown into a renowned boat manufacturer, with strong market sales across the world. However, the company presently faces strong market challenges in the areas of endowing its pension fund as most of employees are dissatisfied. Brunswick is a notable company owing to its consolidated kind of business that traverses across numerous industries and the global market. SWOT Analysis Strength Extensive Distribution Network Brunswick has established a highly extensive network for the distribution of its products. In particular, the firm uses dealers, distributors, and retailers to aid in the sale of most of its boats. Equally, a considerable number of marine engines, billiards, bowling, and fitness products are also sold using the same network. Brunswick business segments are serviced by over 16,000 dealers on the international scene (Brunswick Corporation SWOT Analysis 4). This highlights how extensive and strong the company’s distribution network is. Another extensive global network comprising of close to 2,850 dealers together with distributors are in charge of selling the Boat Group manufactured goods (Brunswick Corporation SWOT Analysis 4). Brunswick also owns the Land ‘N’ Sea brand, as well as the Kellogg Marine Supply, among other numerous marine products. These primary distribution platforms are the industry’s leading, especially in the USA and Canada (Brunswick Corporation SWOT Analysis 4). Improving Financial Performance Brunswick Corporation has continued to post positive market revenues and profits even in the face of the global financial crisis that slowed down the global economy performance. For instance, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) registered by the company stood at 6% during the period between 2010 and 2012. Revenues of the company also increased by 1.3% during the 2012 financial year as a result of the strong growth registered in the overall outboard engine and boat sales in the US (Brunswick Corporation SWOT Analysis 4).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The operating profit improved in the 2012 financial year to $264.1 million from $62.9 million only registered in 2010. A 23.6 percentage increase in the operating profit was also recorded in the 2012 financial year compared to the previous year’s profit. The increase was occasioned by improved operating earnings. Brunswick had, during this period, improved its operating efficie ncy where sales volumes were also increased in selected segments (Brunswick Corporation SWOT Analysis 5). This overall improved financial performance is likely to raise investor confidence, thereby providing financial flexibility for purposes of expanding its operations. Weaknesses Poorly funded Pension Benefit Brunswick operates a pension plan that covers some of its unionized employees. In the 2012 financial year, the pension benefit responsibility stood at $1,388 million, with planned assets fair value at $898.6 million. This resulted in a deficit $489.4 million. Similarly, the funded pension benefit position had a deficit of $523.6 million in the 2011 financial year. The underfunded pension plans are likely to force Brunswick to make contributions towards the fund later to achieve parity as far as the funding levels required are concerned (Brunswick Corporation SWOT Analysis 5). Another weakness in the company is in its rising pension expense, particularly in the recent years. B runswick has different contribution plans, including postretirement benefit plans that cover its entire workforce to a larger extent. Defined contribution plans’ expenses, for instance, stood at $34.2 million, $30.9 million, as well as $25 million for the 2012, 2011, as well as 2010 financial years respectively (Brunswick Corporation SWOT Analysis 5). In general, the poorly funded pension plans, coupled with the growing pension expense, may end up restricting available funds as far as Brunswick’s working capital along with the capital expenditures are involved. Opportunities An Improving Fitness Equipment Industry It is expected that the global fitness industry will register growth in the coming years. There is growing need among people from all the social and demographic categories to improve their health using exercises.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Brunswick Corporation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is estimated that a significant $75.7 billion is generated annually in the health club industry throughout the world. The Asia-Pacific and Americas markets are set to register positive performances in the coming years. In 2012, the health club industry in the US alone equaled $21.8 billion (Brunswick Corporation SWOT Analysis 6). Latin America has health clubs that exceed the 45,000 mark spread across 15 markets. These present a significant growth potential. Strong growth rates have equally been registered within the Asia-Pacific fitness industry (Brunswick Corporation SWOT Analysis 6). The changing lifestyle trends are pushing growth in the industry in which Brunswick is a major player. Positive Stance of the Recreational Boating Market in USA The recreational boating market, especially in the USA, is projected to grow in the coming years. In 2012, the retail sales of sailboats and new power increased in the US by over 10.5% to 163,245. New powerboat sales ha ve equally remained consistent in 2013, with the expectations put at 5% growth overly. The recreational boating participation saw 37.8% of US adults participating at least for the first time in 2012. This marked a 6% increase compared to the 2011 figures. The growing recreational boating market provides Brunswick with a great growth potential. Threats Credit and Business Threat Brunswick’s extensive dealer network of more than 16,000 globally has a significant number, among them who are comparatively small. Such dealers, in essence, require financial assistance to enable them offer stability for the company’s products. The company allows the dealers to take loans or other financial commitments that would help the dealer operate smoothly. Brunswick is in agreement with financiers to help its customers get money to purchase its commodities. Brunswick may be forced to repurchase its manufactured products, or be forced to consider other options. This is the case in instanc es when the dealers fail to pay or meet their debt obligations (Brunswick Corporation SWOT Analysis 6). The risk faced by Brunswick in such arrangements is cushioned by reselling the repurchased products to other dealers. A dealer who terminates the contract they have with Brunswick implies that the Brunswick goes at a loss. Restricted market coverage means that the sales that are made are also reduced. US Dollar Fluctuations It is significant to point out that the firm’s revenues do not necessarily depend on the US market alone because Brunswick operates in the global market. Transactions entered into by the firm outside the US market are often traded in local currencies. However, this is risky for the firm because the fluctuating dollar value against other foreign currencies could affect its overall revenue base in the long run. A strong US dollar, for instance, lowers the company’s revenues, while a weakened dollar increases the revenue amount.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Weaker Economy in Europe The global financial crisis has affected most of Europe’s economies adversely. Estimates indicate that the euro area economy grew in 2011 by 1.5%, but declined in 2012 by 0.6%. In 2013, a further 0.6% decline is anticipated with the European market facing high unemployment rate. The European Union economy expanded in 2011 by 1.7%, but declined in 2012 by 0.2% with a further 0.1% decline expected to occur in 2013. The declining economy in Europe portends a poor market for Brunswick at least in the near future (Brunswick Corporation SWOT Analysis 7). Industry Trends Social As a global firm, Brunswick deals with individuals from different cultural backgrounds. This potentially affects its business operations. The company recruits dealers, for instance, to help in marketing its products in various parts of the world. However, these dealers may not necessarily perform their duties to the expectation of Brunswick because of numerous cultural and social aspe cts, including language, social beliefs, and religion (Venkatraman 4). Such instances may force the company to accept and operate with the situation at hand as it may not change people’s basic social construct to align perfectly with its expectations. Economic The globalization phenomenon has since occasioned a global economy where economic effects occurring in one region of the globe affect the entire world economy. The global financial crisis, for instance, began in the USA in 2008 and spread to other parts of the world. The European market is still struggling from the aftermath of the economic contraction. This affects the general market potential for Brunswick. With Brunswick being a global company with focus on the global market, the firm is at a risk of suffering similar economic situations, both in the present and in the future. Political The global politics play a significant role in determining purchase decisions made by different countries (Venkatraman 4). The USA, where Brunswick Corporation is based, is among the most powerful nations that influence global politics in the world. The country has strong global interests which it guards using its immense influence and power. However, the US also faces stiff opposition of its global politics and policy from other countries. Such politics affect the business performance of companies like Brunswick that originate from the US. International markets opposing the American policy and general political stand are likely to shun products and companies originating from the country, which would end up denying Brunswick substantial revenue sources. Technological Great technological advancements have been experienced in the recent years, with innovations in ICT playing a major role. Manufacturing companies, such as Brunswick, have integrated these technologies in their operations to enhance their performance. Improved technology helps companies to maintain lean operations, which lowers their operation costs and enhances their competitive edge. However, high-paced technological advancements have also resulted in the short lived technologies and innovation that make it difficult for manufacturers to attain maximum benefits out of them. The duration spent in undertaking research and development activities and the costs involved require a significant period to recoup the benefits fully (Venkatraman 4) Ecological Firms all over the world are increasingly being required to take care of their environmental surroundings. Environmental management has grown in prominence, with some buyers making their purchase decisions after analyzing the environmental management practices of the firms. However, environmental management requires firms to spend a significant portion of their revenues to control the environmental effects of their activities. In essence, the additional cost reduces the company’s overall profit and forces prices to be adjusted upwards to cater for the expenses in some instan ces (Venkatraman 4). Management of the environment is also a demanding task that requires the firms to put a lot of focus and concentration on the activities. Such divided attention in management puts companies, such as Brunswick, at the risk of losing focus of their main agenda, resulting in losses. Five-Force Analysis of the Industry Suppliers’ Bargaining Power The suppliers have a high bargaining power. Brunswick’s operations rely on supplier relationships to maintain efficiency in operations. It is difficult for the industry players to achieve their anticipated profitability without suppliers working closely with the manufacturers. The strong supplier power is further enhanced by their ability to amalgamate into the industry. Supplier firms can potentially venture into direct manufacturing using their established operations and significant supply base. This would render the traditional manufacturers, such as Brunswick, irrelevant (Venkatraman 4). Customer Bargainin g Power Buyers in this industry have a high bargaining power. Sales are reliant on the macro-economic factors, such as the global financial crisis. In essence, firms such as Brunswick are forced to loan their buyers to sell their manufactured products (Venkatraman 4). Buyers in this industry are predominantly price sensitive owing to the fact that the acquisition of luxury products is done through discretionary spending. It is crucial to point out that the dealerships enjoy a powerful say when it comes to pricing issues, given that Brunswick depends on its dealership networks to reach the market. The dealers control a significant portion of the end consumer market. Additionally, the high buyer bargaining power emanates from the fact that Brunswick mainly manufactures standard products that may fail to meet the individual needs of customers. New Entrants Threat The threat of entry into the industry by new players is moderate. A relatively large capital base is required by any new pla yer wishing to operate in the industries involved, which is not an easy achievement. However, the industry has a low switching cost and significantly lacks customer loyalty. Substitution Threat The threat of substitution is high. There lacks a unique and specialized niche within the industry segment that Brunswick operates. This provides room for buyers to start considering other substitute products. The high threat of substitutions is further highlighted by the low research and development expenditure incurred by Brunswick in 2011, which was 2.66% of the overall sales. It points at the company’s failure to innovate adequately to achieve a competitive edge. The value chain for the numerous products manufactured by Brunswick is overextended. This fails to achieve a distinct product differentiation. In the long run, this results in diminished brand equity, thus opening the room for buyers to consider buying alternative products (Venkatraman 4). Competitive Rivalry The extent of competition amongst the existing industry rivals is high. The companies are seeking to establish themselves as the industry leaders, thus they are in the process of undertaking various competitive measures (Venkatraman 4). Business Level Strategy Generic Strategy Brunswick is mainly a cost leader. Brunswick has remained as a cost leader by providing goods that are of recognized quality in large quantities. There is a limited personalization of products. It is significant to note that the company spends very little portion of its revenue to fund its research and development activities. Equally, Brunswick has established an associated distribution strategy to achieve an extensive marketing networking such that it may increase its sales volumes (Daft 245). The company builds its significant competitive edge by increasing its sales volume through such extended distributor networks. Overly, the industry in which Brunswick operates includes several strategic groups. The existing strategi c groups include the total segments served, the distribution channels used, as well as the degree of geographic coverage. Brunswick, however, does not follow a special strategy that is based on the life cycle of the industry. Strategy plays a critical role in shaping the firm’s objectives. In seeking to achieve cost leadership, the company is targeting to maintain its operation cost as low as possible. This requires the manufacturing activities to be maintained in a lean manner to drive down costs. Achieving lean manufacturing requires the use of technology to enhance speed in production and better quality. Corporate Strategy Brunswick’s operations in the recent years have not entailed the use of mergers and acquisitions as a strategy for operations. On the other hand, the company has adopted and embraced a diversification strategy that has resulted in different businesses in various industries. The diversification strategy is largely unrelated as the segment industrie s have no association with one another other (Daft 245). Brunswick pursues a horizontal integration strategy for its business operations. It has managed to absorb its various industry performances, including billiards, marine engines, bowling, and fitness to form a single firm. However, it does not support vertical integration of its operations as all its production processes are performed by the same company. Brunswick participates in the environmental management of its operations and activities. The firm follows an elaborate environmental management plan that addresses waste management, monitoring and protecting water quality, preventing the escape of potential contaminants of its well bore, and addressing the potential concerns that relate to geophysical testing (New Nouveau Brunswick Canada 8). Additionally, Brunswick’s environmental management program extends to address air emissions, such as greenhouse gases and plans for public safety and related emergency issues. Brun swick also addresses ethical issues that are involved in its various business activities. The firm has established an ethics program that it seeks to implement in the entire organization (Brunswick Corporation par. 1). Workers at the company are expected to observe stipulated ethical guidelines, while a further code of ethics exists specifically for the senior financial personnel and managers. Strategic Recommendations Brunswick should seek to enhance its innovation levels significantly if the firm seeks to remain in business for a longer duration. The current budget set aside for research and development activities is not adequate to achieve the necessary competitive edge for the firm. In essence, more funding should be channeled towards improving its innovation capabilities. The firm may fail to adapt to the new environment with its low RD funding as leisure and recreational behaviors face a major shift across the world and with the great advancement in technology. Conclusion Brun swick has expanded its operation to span across several industries. The company’s strengths include a widespread distribution and agent network that enables it to reach all global markets. Brunswick has also registered strong financial performance in the years. This has seen the company improve its revenue and profit base. Brunswick’s fitness products will face a positive market stance in the near future in the face of people changing their lifestyles and, instead, opting to do exercises. However, the firm suffers from poor funding of its pension fund, which has consequently led to loss of motivation among its workforce. The firm pursues a cost leadership strategy with a view of maintaining its operating costs as low as possible. The extensive distribution network is Brunswick’s greatest market competitive advantage because it ensures that the company increases sales opportunities, which in turn implies significant market revenues and profits. Works Cited  "Brunswick Corporation SWOT Analysis.† Brunswick Corporation SWOT Analysis: 1-7. Business Source Premier. Web. â€Å"Brunswick Corporation†. Web. Daft, Richard. New Era of Management. Mason, OH: Cengage Thompson Higher Education. Print. New Nouveau Brunswick Canada. Responsible Environmental Management of Oil and Natural Gas Activities in New Brunswick: Rules for Industry. Web. Venkatraman, Maya. Brunswick Corporation (BC) Memo. Web. This research paper on Brunswick Corporation was written and submitted by user Baylee L. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Analysing Premise Upon Which Every Child Matters Social Work Essay Example

Analysing Premise Upon Which Every Child Matters Social Work Essay Example Analysing Premise Upon Which Every Child Matters Social Work Essay Analysing Premise Upon Which Every Child Matters Social Work Essay Before the argument goes any farther in its attempt to construct the remainder of us better parents, possibly it may hold to see at what is traveling on in its ain secret plan. ( Millar, 2006 ) As the disposal launches Care Matters, a betterment programme aimed at transforming the lives of brood in the lovingness system the state of affairs is a rotten parent utter its critics ( DfES, 2006d ; Millar, 2006 ; Sergeant, 2006 ) . For all its denouncements of job parents and anti-social households, this disposal like those before it has a really hapless record when it comes to looking after the kids for which it has parental duty. It is argued that the kids purportedly in its attention, or who are to utilize the official term looked after, are in fact anything but. Care is neglecting on a graduated table that is ruinous , says the author of one scathing study, every bit good as neglecting society and perpetuating an lower class of cocottes, drug nuts and felons ( Sergeant, 2006, p1 ) . Curiously, this is a sentiment echoed by the authorities itself in relation to kids raised in their ain households. But before sing the official discourse about the impact of bad rearing on kids and in bend society ; I want to take a brief expression at the treatment around kids in attention, as it is by respects this bunch that the province s intercessions are usually seen to be most hard. As disparagers of the attention system by no agencies enervate of indicating out, the outcomes for kids are awful. A batch of immature citizens spend their care callings traveling as of one arrangement to another, sometimes traveling between different parts of the state, and as a consequence attend a figure of different schools. This inescapably has an impact on their quality of life and their educational public presentation. Merely 1 in 10 achieves five good GCSEs and many leave devoid of any certificates at all. Care departers are more likely to be excluded from school and to be unemployed when they leave. Few go into post-compulsory instruction, and far fewer ( a figure of 1 % is sometimes quoted ) will travel on to higher instruction. They are more likely to acquire a cautiousness or condemnable strong belief, and history for a big option of immature wrongdoers, grownup captives, and street homeless ( DfES, 2006c ; CSCI, 2006a ; Sergeant, 2006 ; Millar, 2006 ; Goddard, 2003 ; C abinet Office, 2005 ) . On the plus side, the sum of kids in attention in the UK has decreased as of around 7.5 per 1,000 ( 100,000 kids ) in the 1970s, to around 5.5 per 1,000 ( or 70,000 ) kids at nowadays ( Bullock et Al, 2006 ) . But even this is to overrate the figure of kids who spend a drawn-out period in attention. In England, for case, there are around 45,000 ( DfES, 2006c ) kids populating in the attention system for 12 months or more. There has besides been a displacement from a trust on residential judicial admission to a attention system preponderantly made up of Foster attention agreements. There is an increasing accent on utilizing kinship arrangements as opposed to, or as a less riotous mode of, suiting a kid ( Bullock et Al, 2006 ) . In this respect, at least, the state of affairs has arguably improved for looked after kids. The Children Act 1989 represented a displacement from parental rights to parental duties . Harmonizing to critics local governments were guilty of using a minimalist reading of their duties under the Act to kids in the attention system. Harmonizing to one observer at that place has since been an enlargement of the province s direct parenting duties and an effort to retroflex the actions of good parents ( Goddard, 2003, p29 ) . This is instantly evident in Care Matters which says that the State has a particular duty for their well-being. Like any good parent, it should set its ain kids foremost ( DfES, 2006d, p31 ) . However, for some the job of the State as replacement parent is an intrinsic 1. It is argued that as a corporate and many-sided entity tied to the immature individual neither by kinship nor heritage the State has a potentially disruptive influence. The separation of existent attention from formal duty ( Bullock et Al, 2006, p8 ) is ineluctable. A deficiency of security, support and permanency for the looked after kid blight the system ( Ibid, p15 ) . Although ultimate duty rests with cardinal authorities, it is local governments that have a legal and moral responsibility to their several attention populations. It is this responsibility which is normally being referred to when the term corporate parent is used ( Dobson, 1998 ) . Corporate parenting is about the cooperation of local services e.g. wellness, instruction, lodging and societal attention in looking after a kid ( DfES, 2003b ; DoH, 1989 ) . It is about the societal worker co-coordinating the work of each skilled involved by agencies of a peculiar kid ; and supervising the daily attention that the kid receives from their carer ( Jackson, Ajayi and Quigley, 2005 ) . The societal worker like the local councilor sometimes seen as the personification of the corporate parent is an necessarily inconsistent parent ( DfES, 2006d ) given the troubles that local governments have by agencies of employees keeping. However, though each dramas their portion in sabotaging the atten tion experience for immature people, these are proficient statements that do nt get down to undertake the political character of province intercession in the life of kids and households. The Children ( Leaving Care ) Act 2000, for case, gave legal force to the consensus that post-care agreements were unequal ( Grover, Stewart and Broadhurst, 2004 ; Goddard, 2003 ; Bullock et Al, 2006 ) . The decision of research conducted in the 1980s- 90s was that go forthing attention was even more debatable than the attention experience itself ( Goddard, 2003 ) . The statement that [ T ] he province besides has to accept long-run duty for kids into early maturity ( Bullock et Al, 2006, p16 ) was readily accepted. But the extension of post-care support, nevertheless justifiable in practical footings, besides implied the extension of childhood for the care-leaver to at slightest the age of 21 in maintaining with the experience of their stay at place equals populating outside the attention system ( DfES, 2000a ; DfES, 2006d ) . This resonance by agencies of broad cultural tendencies has nevertheless gone unexamined. This matter-of-fact tone of the statement about the weaknesss of kids s societal attention besides means that the wider significance of corporate parenting is mostly disregarded. As stated in the regulation handbill that first made explicit elected members duties, when you were chosen as a local Councilor, you took on important duties for the wellness in add-on to good being of all kids in your country ( Dobson, 1998 ) . Written by Frank Dobson, Minister for Health at the clip, it launched the authorities s Quality Protects enterprise, aimed at bettering the life opportunities of vulnerable kids . It besides made clear that notwithstanding councilors peculiar duties to other children in demand ; they besides had a duty to go to to every kid in their country. The centre on the desperate chances of the 8,000 immature people go forthing the attention system each twelvemonth is apprehensible. However it leaves unexamined the broader deductions of the corporate parenting function at present assumed by the State. Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.1 Introduction In this chapter, assorted positions of corporate parenting have been reviewed as the footing of the farther research. First, the research worker clarifies the general constructs of corporate parenting. Then services and merchandises, and the demand for alteration in schemes, is explained in inside informations. In the modern-day universe where everything whether its personal security, concern and or any other thing one feels in security and uncertainness. Similar is the instance with good parenting and parents do experience threatened by the fact that if they are working category who had to work every bit good as expression after the kids as good, it makes life hard for them as they have got this feeling that are or possibly non that much successful to go goo parents as they have or might neglect in doing their kid a perfect homo and supply him/her whatever he or she needs. This is where authorities comes to play function and authorities organic structures like councils are assigned with this undertaking of covering with this issue of corporate parenting. This survey is an attempt carried out in order to enable one to understand the demand and importance, the challenges, the menaces, the hereafter chances that are or can be faced by this topic of corporate parenting. ( Aldous, J. , Klaus, E. , A ; Klein, D. ( 1985 ) ) The chapter ends with a sum-up of the literature reappraisal. 2.1 What is Corporate Rearing ? Corporate Parenting is the word used to explicate the joint duty that the local authorization and its associate bureaus have for their Looked after Children ( LAC ) and Care Leavers . The Children Act 2004 says that important bureaus including wellness, the constabulary and all phases of local authorities, have a responsibility to co-operate to protect the public assistance of kids. The Government s White Paper, ( 2007: p.20 ) accent that this duty to collaborate underpins the agreements for efficient Corporate Parenting . North East Lincolnshire Council s Children and Family Services offer the mundane attention intended for looked after kids ; this includes guaranting that they all have a annual wellness rating and dental cheque. We will besides measure the consequences of emotional wellness testing for looked after kids and guarantee that suited support is accessible on an single and group beginning. It is ensured that all attention departers are registered with a physician. However, it is critical that the wider local influence sections and spouse bureaus besides contribute to retrieving results for these immature people. ( Aldous, J. , Klaus, E. , A ; Klein, D. ( 1985 ) ) 2.2 Why is Corporate rearing important? Childs who are taken into the concern of the local authorization are several of the by and large vulnerable and deprived kids in our society. Corporate Parents have a shared duty to offer them with the best accomplishable parenting and chances, based upon their single demands. Corporate Parenting Local Advancement: Corporate Parenting Board held its first meeting in October 2007. Meetings are held 6 times a twelvemonth. Membership of the panel is made up of Elected Members and Corporate Directors from all North East Lincolnshire Council ( NELC ) Directorates. Corporate Parenting Working Group alleged its first assemblage in August 2008. The group is made up of Corporate Parenting Champions, who have been selected by their Directorate. The Working Group undertakes undertakings focused by the Corporate Parenting Board. Meetings are scheduled for 6 times a twelvemonth. Care Matters ( 2007 ) needs that each country established a Council for Children in Care ( CfCiC ) and develops a Pledge for their Children in Care. In North East Lincolnshire we have had a little but consistent group of immature people attend our CfCiC. We are soon working with them to widen involvement and advancement attending at the CfCiC. Some of our LAC, including those on the CfCiC, has worked jointly to make a papers sketching what they might desire from a promise. The Corporate Parenting Working Group is soon in the procedure of bring forthing the concluding Pledge papers, in treatment with the immature people. 2.3 Critics positions about corporate parenting: While critics of the corporate parenting system neer seem to b tired of bespeaking the outcomes for such kids are awful. Great Numberss of immature people spend their care calling relocating from one place to another, at times traveling between assorted parts of the state, and as a consequence attend several different schools. Unsurprisingly all this puts an feeling on the status of their life and their academic public presentation. Harmonizing to the survey, merely 1 in 10 gets able to make good plenty to acquire five good GCSEs and tonss of them even leave without any makings at all. It has been observed that bulk of the pupils who are excluded from schools are the attention departers and they are more likely to be remained unemployed when they leave. Few go into post-compulsory instruction, and far fewer ( a figure of 1 % is sometimes quoted ) will travel on to higher instruction. They are more likely to acquire a cautiousness or condemnable strong belief, and history for a big minority of immature wrongdoers, grownup captives, and street homeless ( DfES, 2006c ; CSCI, 2006a ; Sergeant, 2006 ; Millar, 2006 ; Goddard, 2003 ; Cabinet Office, 2005 ) . On the plus side, the sum of kids in attention in the UK has decreased as of about 7.5 Per 1,000, 100,000 kids in the 1970s, to about 5.5 per 1,000 ( or 70,000 ) kids today ( Bullock et Al, 2006 ) . However even this is to misjudge the figure of kids who spend a drawn-out period in attention. In England for case, there are around 45,000 ( DfES, 2006c ) kids populating in the attention system for 12 months or more. There has besides been a move as of a trust on lodging judicial admission to a attention system preponderantly made up of Foster attention agreements. There is an increasing accent on utilizing kinship arrangements as opposed to, or as a less riotous manner of, suiting a kid ( Bullock et Al, 2006 ) . In this respect, at least, the state of affairs has arguably improved for looked after kids. 2. 4 Service-user Engagement Legal A ; policy context: Duties A ; History Meeting immature people requires bipartisan operation to set off societal exclusion. Dissimilar service user experiences of go forthing attention, for case, a cared Leaver a secure Foster arrangement compared with that of a attention Leaver go forthing a local influence tally attention place, looking at the assorted of the arguable issues such as accommodation, Education and preparation and wellness. The nucleus capableness construct appealed imposingly to companies disheartened with variegation, it did non present any practical guidelines for mounting corporate-level scheme. To make full the spread, the writers recommend the parenting construction, by agencies of utensils intended for replying two inquiries: Which trade should a concern own? What rearing progress will acquire the finest presentation as of those trades? To make up ones mind the vigorous affecting a parent every bit good as its trades, concern strategians should stare at four stages: the critical accomplishment issues of the trade, the parenting chances in the trade, the individualisms of the parent, every bit good as the economic radioactive dusts. Subsequently, to set up which trades to maintain asset which to deprive, they should rank them into five groups: those that in form good ; those that fit in a figure of ways ; those that fit nevertheless have been little likely ; those with an chance of deserving annih ilation ; plus those that fit in rearing chances nevertheless non in important success factors. ( Aquilino, W. ( 1997 ) . From stripling to immature grownup ) The overturning aim of corporate parenting is to vouch that the Local Authority and its spouses act jointly as a good parent . A good parent is one who puts their kid foremost, maintain them safe, listens to them, meets their physical, societal, cultural, psychological, wellness, educational and emotional demands ; battles on their behalf ; It develops their full potency and supports them through to independence Every Child Matter, Change for Children ( C4C ) is a national plan of incorporation and service re-modeling, which puts kids at the Centre of service design and bringing. To better meet results for kids Walsall has recognized its ain C4C plan, which seeks to integrate cosmopolitan and targeted services at the head where suitable. Integrate planning and procedure Integrate administration agreements throughout the Walsall kids s Trust Elected members have a cardinal function to play in guaranting the local authorization meets its aims. ( Aquilino, W. ( 1997 ) . From stripling to immature grownup ) 2.5 Rearing scheme Sefton s distinguishes that all parents desire to make the greatest intended for their kids. Not merely is rearing the top occupation, but it is every bit good one of the firmest plants in the Earth. Sefton s parenting policy sets out how Sefton Children s Trust purposes to keep up parents in conveying up kids. It has five cardinal feats. Strategic Annoyed cutting Parenting policy made, which includes a thematic manner to doing the Think a household plan, the no incorrect door attack. The development of a strategic lead for rearing, specifying the nucleus results for the program inside the results for ECM ; The scheme will besides vouch that all practicians working with parents are adept at that ground. 2.6 part plus conference A part / conference policy urbanized in association by agencies of parents plus practicians, making suited chances for them to be concerned in planning, development, administration and appraisal of all applicable services and policies ; 2.7 Information Precise, available and up-to-date information sing parent support services is gettable for parents, prospective parents and practicians. 2.8 Commissioning Working together to acknowledge spreads and precedences for nucleus widespread and targeted services, in line with by and large commissioning construction for parent support and wider kids s services ; 2.9 Safeguarding In emanation with the Think Family method, all relevant staff can measure and acknowledge Safeguarding demands of kids inside susceptible households and act appropriately following LSCB processs. These actions will be efficient every six months and the present action program will be presented here. ( Aquilino, W. ( 1997 ) . Sefton recognizes that Parents have a main influence on the felicity of their kids, prospect informative accomplishment and shared behaviours. There are many dissimilar ways of conveying kids up good, and a batch of dissimilar types of households. Bing a parent is non everlastingly easily, every bit good as the bulks parents require to hold several upholds every bit good as advice at some stage in their kids s lives. Parent support is a wide word, and can be interpreted in dissimilar ways. At its bosom is the gratitude that parents have the most considerable control on a kid s societal, physical and emotional felicity. Meeting parents desires for support, as early and expeditiously as likely, is accordingly, critical if kids are to carry through their potency in life and experience good results, both as kids, and subsequently as grownups and parents themselves. Parent support services are defined as: ( Aquilino, W. ( 1997 ) . Any activity or installation aimed at supplying information, advice and support to parents to assist them in conveying up their kids. Parents have dissimilar degrees of require sing their parenting function, which consecutive require the suited degree and type of support. Parent support services can be viewed on a assortment from turning away and ill-timed invasion through to more authorization and thorough services, numbering those that have an extent of enforcement attached to them. Degrees of demand may alter at dissimilar times in the lives both of kids and parents. ( Aquilino, W. ( 1997 ) . Sefton s Parenting Apparition Parents to obtain high quality receptive services, which meet their demands. Parents to acknowledge their rights and duties Parents are listened to and their visions used to organize future services. Parents recognize sing and hold entree to information refering services, which are gettable for them and their households. Servicess work jointly to back up the full household. 2.9.1 What unsimilarity will present the scheme do? Gaps in rearing support are identified and are addressed. Positions of parents will hold been used to organize possible services. Parents in susceptible fortunes will hold used rearing support more quickly. Practitioners will hold expected to develop to present high quality rearing support plans. Parents better acknowledge the effects and benefits of helpful drama and relaxation clip with their kids. Easier entree to information refering rearing support. Staff trained and supported to work expeditiously in partnership with parents. It does non count where a parent goes to for support but that will obtain the aid and support that they need. The Strategy looks for to: Provide attention in plain scenes and entryway to Education, Leisure activities, adjustment and other public services to which all kids are entitled harmonizing to their demands. Supply appropriate attention, construction and way to back up the kid s development and be a tolerant, reliable and supportive spouse in the adult/child relationship. Support productive and suited friendly relationships. Celebrate and administer our kids s accomplishments. Distinguish and esteem their enlargement to independency by being charitable and supportive. Offer dependable support and be gettable through offer advice and practical aid when needed. Advocate and trouble-shoot on their behalf. Be determined for them and carry and back up their attempts to accomplish their possible, through instruction, preparation or employment. Celebrate birthdays and festivals inside the single kid s faith and civilization. Encourage and facilitate suited contact with household members where it is in the kid s best involvements to make so. Carry them to feel portion of the local Community through contact with local organisations Make certain admittance to suited wellness services 2.9.2 Every Looked After kid and immature individual has the right to: High category arrangements A choice of arrangement to run into their demands Well skilled and experient staff and cared. Timely determinations, forceful programs and usual reappraisals Not to be treated in a different manner, since they are looked after. Entree to first-class quality instruction Entree to employment chances Entree to happen quality room when they leave attention. High quality support once they leave attention for given that they need admittance to feature, leisure and cultural activities. For their shared parent to hold aspirations for them To hold their accomplishments renowned and rewarded. To be unafraid To be cherished 2.9.3 Bettering corporate parenting Underneath summarizes the systems and processes that require being in a place to help a local influence meet its duties as a corporate parent. Corporate parenting may be delivered throughout dissimilar systems and constructions in different governments. On the other manus, in all instances kids and immature people in attention should be given a strong influence, every bit good as those most at danger of nationalisation, for case, handicapped kids and those with communicating troubles. Directors of Children s Services and Lead Members should obtain the usher in guaranting that they are listened to both independently and jointly and that their demands are met. In each country, the constituents outlined below should be in topographic point, irrespective of the local corporate parenting construction. Strong corporate parenting agreements are critical to bettering all services for kids and immature people in attention. 2.9.4 Components of effectual corporate parenting Whatsoever constructions subsist in a kids s services influence, there are convinced cardinal elements of corporate parenting that require being in a place. The Director of Children s Services and Lead Member have in general answerability for taking corporate parenting agreements both across the influence and with its spouses in the kids s trust. Governments may besides delegate a group of senior functionaries with answerability for the shared parenting of kids in attention. The answerability and authorization agreements of these groups must be clear. Whatsoever constructions exist in a kids s services influence, kids s part is an of import portion of the process. We suppose every local influence to establish Children in Care Council to vouch that every kid has the juncture to aerate their positions. In doing these agreements, the local influence should see as in peculiar the demands of handicapped kids and really immature kids, and of those kids who are non members of the council themselves. During the Children in Care Council, kids and immature people should be capable of put their experiences of the attention system unswervingly to those accountable for corporate parenting including the DCS and Lead Member, who should demo how they will continue contact with kids and immature people in attention. In exerting their maps, those accountable for organizing corporate rearing need efficient direction information. This information should cover up fifty quantitative informations, such as instruction and wellness results for looked subsequent to kids, and fifty qualitative informations, for case, the positions of consumers of services sing the high quality and suitableness of the services to piece their demands and achieve good results. Strategic planning, policies, protocols and partnerships should back up and inform the work of the group. Children s religion agreements, underpinned by the duty to collaborate ( Children Act 2004 ) and the schools duty to promote good being, offer the context for developing better corporate parenting. Children and Young People s Plans should put out how the kids s trust will cover with the demands of looked after kids and care-leavers. Passage to grownup services, in add-on to the status of grownup services for parents and cared, should be integrated within this strategic program to warrant coordinated services that meet the assessed demands of the kid. Other arguments that can be of critical usage is the inquiry that ever pops up in one s head as whether the corporate parenting is necessary or non, whether it s merely an action or corporate attempt both by the parent and local governments of the modern age where they merely execute this or speak about this merely for the interest of mentioning because it s at that place in the system. The reply to that after a twosome of studies would decidedly be no. It s non merely at that place because it non needed and it at that place for the interest of a formality, it s at that place because of the important function that it can play or has played in the yesteryear to day of the month. Corporate parenting where parents and local governments perform jointly in order to procure the hereafter of immature and approaching coevalss is a really positive and good attack. UK is one of the luckiest states, which has got this system and is followed with all due to duties were other states are missing. It is really realistic and reasonable to hold the construct of corporate parenting in the system and doing certain that it s working decently as this non merely merely enables the parents to a great extent to take a suspiration of alleviation as they have got this local authorization playing a spouse function in doing their child future secure, but at the same clip it besides enables the authorities organic structures to guarantee that child and kids are all in safe custodies. As this will merely guarantee a better and safer hereafter for everyone with fewer ratios of offense and other wretchednesss that can go on to a society if kids are non in safe and good custodies, if their instruction and expression after is at kink. Chapter 3 Research Methodology 3. 1 Research Methodology 3.1.1 Research Doctrine Research doctrine depends on the manner that the research worker thinks about the development of cognition. There are two positions about the research procedure Positivism and phenomenology. They are different, but both have an of import portion to play in corporate parenting. It would be easy to fall into the trap of believing that one research doctrine is better than another. This would lose the point. They are better at making different things. As ever, which is better depending on the research inquiries the research worker is seeking to reply. The intent of this research is to understand how to better the industry image and the sweetening, the growing and besides to understand why should at that place be extended in corporate parenting construct more and more? How can these services be extended and managed? What are the effects? Products and services are extremely intangible assets and, as a consequence, are non easy measured. 3.1.2 Research Approach The research undertaking will affect the usage of theory. That theory may or may non be explicit in the design of the research. The context to which the research worker is clear about the theory at the beginning of the research undertaking, this is whether the research worker should utilize the deductive attack or the inductive attack. The inductive attack is applied in conformity with the research doctrine. The research worker does non put up hypothesis in this research. The research worker understands why some services are successful and what the effects of good corporate parenting image are. The purpose is non to deconcentrate the out semen of the survey, because the findings show the sentiment of a smaller figure of public or parents that the research worker would run into. The little sample informations does non stand for the population of all British parents. The research worker physically meets the parents and asks inquiries in individual utilizing the interviewer administrated questionnaires. Although the questionnaire is connected to quantitative informations and a deductive attack, the inductive attack is still the most appropriate. 3.1.3 Research scheme The intent of the research is to derive an penetration into the merchandises and services extension in the corporate parenting The research worker chooses afield that is corporate parenting every bit good as it offers great potency for analyzing the issues related to a corporation from the parents side, kid s hereafter, instruction, commanding offense and with all these accomplishments with a positive image, in possibly the best known illustration of successful unrelated variegation ; if it is true that all of their services are extended successfully through their alone corporate parenting schemes ; what do the populace think about the corporate parenting and the information and merchandises i.e. instruction provided to them? To acquire a basic apprehension of these ; The research worker seeks to happen out what the parents think about the parenting constructs and the assorted images about them. The chief resource for this research is a study ; the study method is a popular and common scheme in concern and direction research or any other industry. It allows the aggregation of a big sum of informations from a ample population in a extremely economical manner. A study is frequently based on a questionnaire with standardised inquiries, which are good for comparings. Consequently, the result of a study is easy to understand and presents a just overview of what participants think. 3.2 Method of Information Collection 3.2.1 Primary Research The Primary information is collected by a study method. The research uses a standardised questionnaire to happen out the parents or local governments, attitude towards the corporate parenting. Prior to utilizing the questionnaire to roll up informations, the research worker undertook a pilot provi

Gender discrimination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Gender discrimination - Essay Example Traditionally, men had better opportunities in life; but this has changed with modern girls and women having better opportunities albeit with many challenges than women in the past (Girls Inc 1). Feminist advocates have fought against social traditions and cultures that devalue and treat women as lesser human beings, and they have achieved valuable gains all over the world (Chesler 3). Their fight has highlighted some of the challenges and disadvantages women continually face. This has made it possible for the legislation of laws against gender discrimination. In the modern world, prestigious and powerful positions are obtained through quality education and this has traditionally been used to deny women these positions. In the past, education for boys and girls was different with women being predominantly trained on child rearing and housekeeping despite being intelligently at par with men (Deberg 1). This practice still exists in some parts of the world where the girl child is denied education based on worthless religious, social, or cultural norms. Without an education, women are restricted to low paying unskilled positions; and when married become inferior to the male who provide everything. This lack of independence is discriminatory and purely meant to make women submissive to the men. The modern woman, however, is sexually discriminated in employment promotions, benefits and leaves of absence because of her gender with the majority of the populace in the society having entrenched mentalities that women are the weaker sex supposed to be under the dominion of their male counterparts. The society has developed cultures based on the biological differences between men and women with each gender having specific roles, responsibilities, and expectations to be fulfilled (Haeberle 1). These cultural roles are discriminatory to women who are only

Global Awareness and Modern Business Survival Term Paper

Global Awareness and Modern Business Survival - Term Paper Example Basically, in order for an organization to remain relevant in the market for long-term basis, it is critical for the organization to find ways of developing and maintaining competitive advantage. This can only be learned from contemplation of how different markets around the world behaves and what is required to create a strategy that would keep the organization relevant even in the long run. Although the primary goal of every organization is to make profits, it is essential to study other areas relevant to keep the organization relevant in the market. The global business operation requires organizations to consider strategic areas that the customer and community are equally focusing on and define as practices of a successful organization. For instance, although definition of organizations focusing on long-term goals tends to or revolves around sustainability, other areas are critical focusing on or that foster the sustainability. Notably, issues of corporate social responsibility ha ve been highly prioritized globally as to having played a key role in strategically placing organizations in a position to thrive in a highly competitive market. Specifically, customers and the community through which businesses operates are looking beyond what the business offers. This is critical because issues such as environmental and social are considered ideal in any business operations. In addition, governance issues have also been prioritized globally. Studies have documented that organizations that have good practices of governance tends to win the favor of investors and employees. This means that such organizations recognize employees as part of the primary assets of the organization thus according them the treatment they deserve. In this regard, global awareness means that the organization learns different ways through which such matters other than profit gaining can positively contribute to the organization. Incentives such as different and new ways of attracting and ret aining competent workforce are contemplated upon. In another dimension, due to globalization, different ideas, innovations, and new ways of conducting business are learned. In fact, these issues can easily be learned by subjecting not only the organization leaders, but also the workforce in training and development programs. The idea behind such a move is to produce or develop people who can formulate and integrate multinational strategies in the organization. Globalization has effects both for local businesses as well as well as the international businesses. In a global business environment, every business in the world is competing with another business in the world, as long as they are in the same sector. For instance, a dairy farmer in America is in competition with a dairy farmer in Africa. In this regard, if a dairy farmer does fails to gain the competition which makes a dairy farmer in the Africa has, the farmer will have issues. This phenomenon can be exemplified in the trade relations between the China and the United States (China Briefing Media, 2006). Because Chinese manufacturers can achieve the highest competencies as compared to US firms, Chinese producers have taken over the US economy. If a firm in one market in the world is unable to meet the competencies in the global economy, the firm will be pushed out of the market by a firm that is far away in the world. This has been seen in numerous situations. For instance, South African farmers have been able to find way to produce low price and high quality agricultural products. The cost of production and expert for these firms have been so low that they are able to produce and exported products around the work and sell the so cheaply in the export market at they are able to

Roman Architecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Roman Architecture - Essay Example It could hold 45-50,000 spectators who would queue for tickets days in advance. There would have been a wooden floor covered in sand to soak up the blood (Augent 25). The underground corridors of the Colosseum The arena floor measured 228 feet by 177 feet (crystalinks 3). A wooden construction had existed from the year 29 BC but it was burnt down in the fire of 64 AD (Caggia 1). Nero had not been interested in listening to the demands of his people and following the fire he built a huge palatial palace, known as the Golden House (Domus Aurea), on large expanses of Roman land. After Nero's death Vespasian wanted to offer the Roman people a gesture and set about draining a large lake near the site of Nero's palace and knocking down the great Golden House for its rich source of materials for the amphitheater (Caggia 1). It is understood by historians that the name Colosseum actually referred to the 'collosus', (crystalinks 2) due to a huge statue of Nero that once stood nearby which was 130 foot high (crystalinks 2). A Spectators view of the arena The class system was used to determine the seating arrangements of the audience. The 'first level, called the podium, was for the Roman senators' (crystalinks 3) and the seating would have been quite lavish with cushions and marble coverings. Above this on the 'maenianum primum' (crystalinks 3) there would have been Roman aristocracy and then above them the 'maenianum secundum' (crystalinks 3) was split into two separate areas; the wealthy people in the lower section and the poor citizens on the upper section. Domitian had a further wooden section added at the highest position for the very poor and lower class women (crystalinks 3). The entrance would have been on the... Exterior walls of the Colosseum showing the many arches within the Construction Concrete were a good material to use, as it is stronger in resisting compressive stresses whereas it is very weak when dealing with tensile stress. Spanning an open space or doorway, where forces on the arch are not vertical would provide the most suitable circumstance to use an arch, as it would be at its strongest. The correct formwork had to be used to ensure that the structure would remain intact. Wood was built in a frame to support the underside of the arch and form its basic structure. The Romans used a ‘Voussoirs’ technique, which involved the placing of a stone at the uppermost point of the center of the arch. It was understood that they learnt this technique from the Etruscans; however, they were the first to adopt the structures for above ground use as previously they had been used for drainage systems and vaults underground. The technique was not the strongest of the arch types, however, it was simple for them to build. There were eighty arches on every floor of the building; each of the arches was numbered and divided by half columns of a different style on each floor. There was a Doric style on the ground floor where the arches measured 13’9’’ in width and 23’1’’ in height, followed by Ionic on the second and Corinthian in the third where the arches were lower at 21’2’’ in height. The upper wooden flo or had windows with panels separated by Corinthian style columns at every second panel.

Agnews General Strain Theory (GST) Summary and Analysis

Agnews General Strain Theory (GST) Summary and Analysis INTRODUCTION According to an American Psychological Association survey, 73% of Americans named money as the primary affecter of their stress levels. Stress can be influenced by a variety of factors however, whether it is accumulation of wealth, death of a friend, or perhaps loss of job. Anger and depression are often are the results of failing to achieve goals, such as a student struggling to fit in with his peers or with the loss of a positively valued stimuli such as a friend or family member. Peoples methods of coping with stress can take two general avenues, the first avenue being the use of legitimate means of achieving goals or coping with stress, such as seeking professional help, and the second being illegitimate means, for example, bullying kids at school because of frustrations of not fitting in. Are people more likely to commit crime when stressed? This question would be answered yes by Robert Agnew and can be examined using his General Strain Theory which explores the causes strain, h ow to measure strain, the relationship between strain and crime, as well as policy implications based directly off his theory. A BRIEF HISTORY OF STRAIN THEORY Emile Durkheim first popularized the term anomie, which essentially is defined normlessness, or the instability that occurs when norms and cultural values breakdown. Durkheim argued that during rapid changes that take place in society, norms will breakdown. Robert King Merton in 1938 used the idea of anomie to help develop the foundation for strain theory. Merton argues that the struggle to accumulate wealth is the chief cause of strain (Merton 1938: 670). Merton suggests that there are two important elements of social structure. The first contains cultural goals, the function of the goals, and interests (Merton 1938: 672). The second phase of the social structure defines how society is to go about achieving these goals, by placing regulations and creating laws (Merton 1938: 673). The American dream is a popular culturally defined goal, Merton argued, which through honest-dedicated work, anyone can achieve this dream of wealth. Society defines what avenues are to be considered legitimate to achieve this goal, for example, earning a college degree and earning a high paying job would be a legitimate path as defined by our society. Since wealth in American is not distributed equally Merton (1938) argued that strain often occurs for those who are undercapitalized and do not have access to these legitimate means. Merton (1938) illustrates four responses to this strain. The first, conformity, Merton suggests that people who take this path subscribe to cultural goals and go about achieving these goals by using societys institutionalized means. The second path, innovation, suggests that when a person finds that an obstacle inhibits the ability to achieve the cultural goals, the person will not use institutionalized means; rather, they will employ other means. The third path, ritualism, describes a person that will reject the culture goals of society, but use its institutions as an avenue for advancement. The fourth, is the polar opposite of the path of conformity such that a person who is retreatist will reject cultural goals and its institutionalized means, people that take this path are people who essentially are not part of society (Merton 1938: 674). Furthering Mertons ideas in 1994, Messer and Rosenfeld expanded on idea of the American Dream as an origin of criminality. Messer and Rosenfeld (1994) state that the heavy emphasis on American Dream encourages criminal impulses while creating a weak normative environment. Agnews Revision of Strain Theory Robert Agnew, who devised a revision to previous strain theories, argued that most of the previous theories accredit crime to the failure of adolescents to accomplish traditional goals defined by society through legitimate avenues (Agnew 1985). Agnew (1992) states that despite criticism from distinguished theorists such as Travis Hirschi, strain theory can be vital in the explanation of some delinquency, although to do so effectively, strain theory needs revision. Agnew cites that if in fact the previous theories were to be true, it would be expected that crime would occur when there would be there a strong desire for monetary success and a low expectation of fulfilling that desire (Agnew 1985). However, Agnew (1985), suggests that tests have proved differently. According to Agnew (2001) studies show that delinquency peaks when desires, goals, and the expectation of achieving the desires or goals are low, and delinquency is lowest when desires, goals and the expectation of accomplishing the goals are high(Agnew 2001:). This is only one example of how Agnew began his revision Agnews General Strain Theory Agnews strain theory is focused on the individual level and their immediate social environment (Agnew 1992:48). Where most other strain theories, such as Mertons, put a heavy focus on accumulation of wealth, a structural cultural goal, Agnew tends to focus on goals that cause strain other than wealth accumulation. Agnew (1992) identifies three major sources of strain, being, the prevention or blockage of achieving positively valued goals, the removal of positively valued stimuli, and the threat or presentation of negatively valued stimuli. Failure to Achieve Goals Agnew (1992:51) describes multiple types of strain that fall under the category of failing to achieve positively valued goals. They are (1) strain as the disjunction between expectations and actual achievements; not achieving these goals is likely to cause anger, dissatisfaction, and disappointment, this cause of strain connects back to previous strain theories, such as Mertons (Agnew 1992:51). (2) Strain as the disjunction between just or fair outcomes and actual outcome. This source looks beyond simply failing to achieve a goal of monetary success or doing well in school (Agnew 1992:53). An example of this source of strain would be when an outcome of a situation conflicts with what the individual believed they deserved. Lets say a sales worker who thought they deserved a promotion due to good sales performance gets demoted while someone with less credentials get promoted. This can lead to strain due to inequity, where an individual will feel that they are unequal to those of their peers and will subsequently increase the chances they engage in delinquency. The main reason for delinquency in this case is to attempt to improve their outcome, such as lying on sales and fudging the books, or affect others outcome, such as writing slanderous rumors that get someone fired (Agnew 1992:54). Removal of Stimuli Agnew describes that by removing a positively valued stimuli it has the potential to cause strain. Getting something of great value stolen from you would be an example of the removal. The desire to get the object back could lead to a person committing delinquent acts by seeking revenge for those responsible. Negative Stimuli The existence of unpleasant stimuli can lead to delinquent behavior through the following avenue: Agnew (1992) states that a person may seek an escape from the negative stimuli, by trying to dispose of the stimuli. An example of removing stimuli could be someone shooting up a school because they were bullied, thus terminating the negative stimuli. Crime In short, using the above sources of strain, it is clear that negative relationships with other have potential to cause strain in an individual and in turn result in negative emotions. Agnew (1992) argues that the key emotion associated with General Strain theory is anger. A negative affect such as anger, is likely to lead an individual to take corrective steps to quell their anger. Often times anger leads an individual to seek revenge and is also a strong motivator for action. Broidys Test Agnews Theory state that strains are shaped by various factors, including the nature, intensity, and duration of the strain, the emotions that the strain produces in the individual, the collection of coping mechanisms at an individuals disposal (Broidy 2001:10). By measuring these factors, primarily intensity and duration of strain, General Strain Theory can be empirically tested by criminologists. (Broidy 2001:10) Lisa Broidy, from the University of New Mexico, examined cross sectional data of 896 undergraduate students from seven different disciplines, who participated in self report surveys. Although Broidy (2001) suggests that the non random sample is not ideal, being neither representative of all college students nor representative to the population as a whole is useful for the purpose of this test. Broidy (2001) asserts that by testing the theory with most middle-class, white college age students, it ensures that the results of the test are not spurious. Using the survey data to test three hypothesizes, Broidy found that a failure to achieve goals that were set by an individual were less likely to result in anger where a failure to achieve goals due unfair circumstances were much more likely to cause negative emotions. This study done by Broidy appears to be consistent with general strain theory such that, anger induced from strain is likely to lead to illegitimate coping strategies. However, Broidys study yielded some results that were not consistent with General Strain Theory. For example, the finding that anger is unrelated to the likelihood of legitimate coping, is a finding that is not assumed in General Strain Theory (Broidy 2001:29), as the theory does in fact predict that negative emotions like anger would be associated with legitimate coping strategies. Also found in this study was that females were much less likely to employ illegitimate coping strategies than males, leading Broidy to suggest that future studies of general strain theory should study the effect that gender has on assumptions described in general strain theory. (Broidy 2001:) Since Agnews major revision in 1992 there has been a substantial amount of empirical tests like Broidys, which there had not been previously (Froggio 2007: 392-394). Much of the test results conducted between 1992 and 2003 confirms that correlation exists between stressful events, strain induced anger, and criminal activity. However, Froggio (2007) argues that despite evidence of correlation between delinquency and assumptions of General Strain Theory, the correlation is not clear cut in that many of the surveys conducted were limited. Moreover, Froggio (2007), argues that surveys in the future should incorporate Agnews assumptions of when crime is most likely to occur. Policy Implications After reading the literature, policy implications for General Strain Theory become obvious. Since General Strain Theory builds off the idea that blocked goals cause negative emotions such as anger, it should be emphasized that going to anger management is appropriate route to coping with stress rather than using alternative means such as beating someone up. Encouraging K-12 schools to teach children that the accumulation of wealth is not what is success necessary is could be another implication based off of this theory, by doing this it could encourage children to value family, job stability, and good health rather than simply becoming wealthy. Although difficult, equalizing the opportunity for all to become successful would prove to be effective based on the assumptions of strain theories. Equalizing opportunities could include paying females equal wages, or provide more intensive education in low income areas, as well as making it easier for those in lower socioeconomic classes to attend college. Strengths, Weaknesses, and Comments General strain theory can be easy to subscribe to due in part to its broad scope, and General Strain Theory unlike previous strain theories is able to focus on middle and lower class delinquency, rather than exclusively lower class like Merton. Some empirical evidence regarding general strain theory shows a strong correlate between negative emotions (anger) caused by strain and criminal activity. However, General Strain Theory fails to explain why some individuals who experience great amounts of strain fail to resort to illegitimate coping strategies. General Strain Theory by definition is a logically sound theory, as it is not tautological, and can clearly be falsified. General Strain theory in my opinion is parsimonious in its general explanation of why strain causes crime, but latent variables such as gender, age, race, neighborhood, and other factors make it complicated when it boils down to experimental testing. Although the theory appears to be logical and fits the criteria for being a good theory by what was learned in CRMJ 301, I have become a skeptic of the theory. In order for a person like me, who is eternally critical, to become an advocate of a theory like such, I would like to see more comprehensive studies done. If money and resources were not an issue I would suggest organizing a birth cohort study, where a team follows children from birth until they are in their 25. This would let the researchers look at various factors that cause strain firsthand, by doing interviews and surveys more frequently. Until then I beli eve that General Strain Theory is incomplete but if incorporated with other theories it can be helpful in explaining some delinquency.

English Should Be the Official Language of the United States Essay

English as the official language of the United States could benefit the U.S. Government and America as a whole. America has long since been a multicultural nation and has been an English speaking nation since it was founded. The constitutional and federal documents are all in English, which furthers the American people, believing English should be our official language. The majority of states already have English as their official language, for English has always provided a much needed cohesion to our diverse citizens since it was founded. Being made of diverse peoples, and being able to continue to use your own language may seem preferable as we encourage individuality and do not want anyone to disappear into the soup. This stand, however, also means that more people are needed as interpreters and that more programs and information needs to be readily available to ensure understanding. More people would have jobs associated with interpretation, whether on paper or face-to-face, in order to deal with the transition. If English was the official language, instead of just having interpreters in public places, there would be opportunities to learn the language with classes, etc. Presently, immigrants expect to have to learn some of English to get by, while the children have to learn it on their own to survive in school. With English as an official language, we would feel compelled to offer help to those we expect to learn the language. In part of Canada, where there are two languages, children are taught both languages. If we had an official language we would be responsible for insuring that everyone gets a chance to learn the language. As seen in the statutes of Section 3-3-31 of the Mississippi code, â€Å"†¦the purpose (of the st... ...and/or immigrants, we would still be preserving the cultural heritage of early America. Works Cited Perea, Juan. Immigrants Out! The New Nativism and the Anti-Immigrant Impulse in the United States. New York or London: New York University Press, 1997. Print. Baron, Dennis. The English Language Amendment: Backgrounds And Prospects. 1988. ERIC. Web. 28 Nov. 2014. Daniels, Harvey A., and Urbana, IL. National Council of Teachers of English. Not Only English: Affirming America's Multilingual Heritage. 1990. ERIC. Web. 28 Nov. 2014. Lewelling, Vickie W., and Washington, DC. ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics. Official English And English Plus: An Update. ERIC Digest. 1997. ERIC. Web. 28 Nov. 2014. Crawford, James. Effective Language Education Practices and Native Language Survival. Reyhner, Jon. Montana:8m (NALI) Institute, 1990. Print.

Pros and Cons of Single-Sex School on Students

PROS & CONS OF SINGLE-SEX SCHOOL ON STUDENTS Pros & Cons of Single-Sex School on Students INTRODUCTION Single-sex school has not been a stranger to us even from back in those old days. It practically shows how gender differences and effects caused by it had largely impacted on the society. People learnt how the attraction between Adam and Eve kind brings a lot of many things, including the separation of these two kinds through – one of the most important thing to the society, the education. According to the article ‘What is Single Sex  Education? Defining Single-Gender  Education’ by Amanda Morin,  Single-Sex education are the practice of educating girls and boys in separate classes or schools. Just like many other co-educational schools, single-sex ones are no exception to the ‘villains and angels’ of this issue. There has been a lot of discussion regarding the pros and cons of single-sex school, which would be my focus in the essay. Pro, based on the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, are something that are in favour of. Hence, con would be the opposite meaning of pro, meaning disadvantages of something, issues or problems.Before 1900, education in America was contained largely within a single-sex framework (Bracey, 2007). That structure was the result of societal views, expectations, and opportunities for each gender. As a rule, males required greater formalized education to facilitate their expected worldly occupations, and females received a much less formalized education, rich in the practical skills necessary for their anticipated domestic life. Males and females required such different educational experiences and subject matter that they were educated separately (Cohen, 2000).There were long and storied history in American higher education about single-sex colleges and universities where a few original colleges in U. S. existed – though that is to educate men only. However, in the early 1800s severa l seminaries for women were founded to provide girls with a liberal education. Post Civil War has also produced the women's colleges of the Northeast, whom been wishing to demonstrate that women were as capable of achieving advanced education as were men. By 1950 the percentage of women in higher education dropped to a low of 30 percent, and enrolment at many of the single-sex institutions began to decline.The 1960s and 1970s saw a more pronounced shift away from single-sex institutions toward coeducation. The history of one’s place or issue could probably make us understand better, whereas would help us to elaborate more on the matter. The focus in this essay would be the advantages and disadvantages of single-sex school, from two different perspectives – academically, and socially. ADVANTAGES As we all know it, boys and girls inhibit and exhibit different learning style and learning outcomes. Research has shown that boys and girls brains are different, they are progr ammed to learn distinct ways.It is not saying that one gender is inferior to the other, they are just different. Single sex education has been shown to reduce stereotypes based on gender rather than promote them. Factors such as smaller classrooms and teacher training are factors of a good school and many single sex schools offer those variables, in addition to offering different and specialized teaching styles which also may improve the quality of education. From the book entitled ‘Early Implementation of Public Single-Sex School : Perceptions and Characteristics’ , its study team has contacted all 20 schools the U.S. Department of Education identified as public single-sex schools in 2003. It shows academic behaviours in 164 single-sex classrooms and 45 coed classrooms in the single-sex and coed schools visited. Students in the single-sex elementary, middle, high schools, were more likely to complete homework than were students in the coed comparison elementary and mid dle school, but no study on high school were included. One public charter school in Northeast Indianapolis namely Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School, segregates academic classes for its younger students.Overall, the policy has been positive, resulting in better grades and fewer distractions. On the social side of this matter, Rosemary Salomone, professor of law at St. John’s University and author of the 2003 book Same, Different, Equal: Rethinking Single-Sex Schooling, said that: â€Å"Many students in single-sex classes report feeling more comfortable raising their hands and expressing uncertainty regarding a lesson or topic without fear of embarrassment or teasing from the opposite sex. † Boys tend to soften up and become more collaborative as they can just be boys and not worry about what the girls might think in a single sex setting.Girls become competitive, bold, and a risk-taker which also give girls the opportunity to take on leadership roles and interact wit h women in positions of leadership. National Coalition of Girls' Schools had conducted a survey which 93% of the women surveyed felt that they had more leadership opportunities and that 63% felt they were well-prepared for the â€Å"real world. † DISADVANTAGES On the surface, it is undeniably true that most single-sex schools do well academically, by saying that the gender gap between girls and boys has been overcome. However, by separating them, the gender gap are still there, but not always seen.Over the past 10 years, 130 independent schools that taught girls and boys separately have either become co-educational or closed. Some schools now offer single-sex lessons in an attempt to close the gender gap that has seen girls overtake boys in achievement. This gender gap is about the fact where boys are always lagging behind girls, and if practiced through placing them in a same sex school, it should probably causes the fact that all-boys’ school lagging behind all-girls ’ school. From the article ‘All-boys school are not the answer’ by Oli De Botton, in practice, the single-sex question is a distraction from what really matters.It sounds obvious, but both boys and girls will do better if they are taught better by excellent teachers. That means skilled teachers whom can attract and teach the students well – regardless of their gender. Kids that are able of responding to all learning environments are better, which they can break out from their comfort zone. Let boys and girls learn together, taught by the best teachers we can find. A new report, published in the journal Science, states that single-sex schools’ students are no better educated than those who attend co-ed schools. The study has also noted that a review commissioned by the U. S.Department of Education found only, little overall difference in academic outcomes between children in single-sex schools versus those in co-ed schools. The professor of psycholog y and education at Penn state, Lynn Liben says that â€Å"There's really no good evidence that single-sex schools are in any way academically superior, but there is evidence of a negative impact,† Another disadvantage would be students’ socialization. The article ‘Co-ed vs. Single-sex schools’ by ULS. com has said that a wider range of people allows the interaction of students of both sexes which allow them to learn how to work and talk to people of the opposite sex.This, though does not happen in a single-sex school causing lack social skills of the students of a single-sex school. Furthermore, the all-boys and all-girls situation might lead to other case such as homosexual. Ghanaweb. com has reported that how their Ghana Education Service has conceded that single-sex schools in Ghana are becoming the place where homosexuals breed. Stephen Adu, the Deputy Director General of the GES told Citi News, that he disagree to the way of dealing with the situation with converting such schools into mixed school. Instead he thinks holistic approach is required to deal with the situation.He added, â€Å"I will agree that homosexuality and lesbianism started with single-sex schools. It has become prevalent and so more people have become aware of it. This is just one of the many problems we have in our educational system†. OPINION In my opinion, single-sex school is neither good or bad. It is the matter of how people work, consider and tolerate it. Elizabeth Weil, in her article titled ‘Teaching Boys and Girls Separately’ stated that the United States Department of Education, along with the American Institute for Research, published a meta-analysis comparing single-sex and coed schooling.The authors started out with 2,221 citations on the subject that they then whittled down to 40 usable studies. Yet even those 40 studies did not yield strong results: 41 percent favored single-sex schools, 45 percent found no positive or negat ive effects for either single-sex or coed schools, 6 percent were mixed (meaning they found positive results for one gender but not the other) and 8 percent favored coed schools. I have one friend of mine, ex single-sex’s school student, whom has such different way of thinking. She’s a feminist, has such a hard time trusting guys and has limited social skills.She doesn’t know how to interact with boys especially, even with the girls sometimes. This is what I can see from her. My evaluation and interpretation might be wrong as I am not an expert. As academically, she’s a perfectionist, hardworking, competitive and a bright student indeed. But her low self-esteem and lack of social skills penetrated her from speaking in class as she doesn’t have the ability of delivering what she wanted to say. What I can see is that single-sex school benefit so much on the academic side, as students really focuses on studying because there is no other distraction an d attraction at school.They really want to compete with each other, curious and wanting to know their ability because they think they have the same capabilities, just at different levels. However, it is sad to compare to their socialization, because single-sex school changes the way they think. They got used to the all-girls or all-boys situation that they end up being sexist, which then later lead to cases like homosexuals. CONCLUSION. Boys and girls are obviously different in nature, and vary in their likings and favourites. What people do not know is a little bit of understanding in these differences could bring such a vast improvement on students.Socialization and academic are both important, and must be balanced well in order to have a fully accomplished life. Pros and Cons are unavoidable where we can’t really choose the good one instead of the bad one but to accept both willingly and somehow work with it. REFERENCES References : RMC Research Corporation Portland, Ore. (August, 2008). Early Implementation of Public Single-Sex Schools : Perceptions and Characteristics. Bradley, K. (n. d. ) The Impact of Single-Sex Education on the Performance of First and Second Grade PUBLIC School Students.Kreyden, V. (March, 2011). Multiple benefits of single-sex classes. Retrieved from : http://blogs. indystar. com/ypress/2011/03/01/multiple-benefits-of-single-sex-classes/ Morin, A. (n. d. ) What is Single-Sex Education? :Defining Single-Gender Education. Retrieved from : http://childparenting. about. com/od/schoollearning/a/what-is-single-sex-education-def. htm Weil, E. (March, 2008). Teaching Boys and Girls Separately. Retrieved from : http://www. nytimes. com/2008/03/02/magazine/02sex3-t. html? pagewanted=all (e-news) APPENDICES

The Leslie Fay Companies Essay Essay Example

The Leslie Fay Companies Essay Essay Example The Leslie Fay Companies Essay Paper The Leslie Fay Companies Essay Paper Background The Leslie Fay Companies was a women’s dress maker established by Fred Pomerantz. a former Women’s Army Corps uniform shaper during World War II. Despite the â€Å"volatile and intensely competitive† ( Knapp 34 ) nature of the industry. Leslie Fay grew to hold the 2nd largest one-year gross revenues compared to any of the other publically owned women’s dress makers. merely behind Liz Claiborne. Fred Pomerantz hired Paul Polishan for a place in the accounting section where Polishan befriended Pomerantz’s boy. John. After Fred Pomerantz’s decease in 1982. John Pomerantz became CEO and president of the board. holding been president of the company and supervising operations ten old ages prior. Polishan was besides promoted and became the company’s CFO and senior frailty president of finance. Although Leslie Fay’s central office was situated in New York City’s garment territory. the accounting office was off-site in Wilkes-Bar re. Pennsylvania. Polishan was known for his â€Å"strict and autocratic† ( 33 ) regulation in this location. demanding much from his employees and digesting really small. In Polishan’s absence. the accounting office was run by Donald Kenia. the company accountant. Contrary to Polishan’s demeanour. Kenia was mild and soft-spoken. The women’s dress industry suffered during the late 80s and early 90s due to the â€Å"casualization† ( Knapp 35 ) of American manner every bit good as the economic recession. The desire for more casual-looking apparels led to worsening gross revenues of frocks and other high-end garb. The recession besides caused â€Å"many consumers to restrict their discretional outgos. including the purchase of new clothes† ( 35 ) . This was a major blow to Leslie Fay’s chief customers- department shops. When some of these section shops filed for bankruptcy. Leslie Fay incurred material losingss. â€Å"In October 1991. John Pomerantz announced that Leslie Fay had achieved record net incomes for the 3rd one-fourth of the year† ( 36 ) . These net incomes were achieved despite the disabling economic state of affairs and John Pomerantz’s antique concern patterns that shunned â€Å"extensive market testing† ( 35 ) and the usage of computing machines. Wh ile many rivals were financially fighting. Leslie Fay was turning. On January 29. 1993. Polishan informed Pomerantz of a major fiscal issue ; seemingly Kenia had â€Å"secretively carried out† ( Knapp 36 ) an accounting fraud for several old ages. exaggerating net incomes â€Å"by about $ 80 million from 1990 through 1992† ( 33 ) and subjecting â€Å"approximately $ 130 million of fake entries† ( 39 ) . Leslie Fay’s stock list was inflated. minimizing cost of goods sold and hence increasing the gross net income border. In add-on to the forging of â€Å"inventory tickets for nonexistent products† ( 39 ) and the fiction of â€Å"large sums of fake in-transit inventory† ( 39 ) . orders were prerecorded. price reductions were omitted from fiscal statements. and disbursals and liabilities at the period-end were non reported. Almost all of Leslie Fay’s diary entries associating to be were tampered with in some manner. Donald Kenia claimed full duty for the fraud. but because of his compliant nature and low bets in the company. many believed this to be false. Polishan. as CFO. â€Å"was straight responsible for the unity of Leslie Fay’s accounting records† ( Knapp 37 ) . and since he ruled the accounting office with an Fe fist. he was thought to hold played a greater function in the cozenage. Kenia lacked an obvious inducement in orchestrating this large-scale fraud since he was non compensated based on net incomes. but other executives. such as Polishan and Pomerantz. w ho owned a important sum of portions in company stock. did benefit. They received â€Å"substantial year-end fillips. in some instances fillips larger than their one-year wages. as a consequence of Kenia’s alleged scam† ( 34 ) . Pomerantz and Polishan claimed to hold known nil about these accounting mistakes. After the fraud was uncovered. the audit commission investigated and released a study that exonerated Pomerantz ( 40 ) . but Kenia subsequently confessed. in resistance to his original testimony. that Polishan â€Å"had overseen and directed every major aspect of the fraud† ( 42 ) . Polishan and Kenia were convicted. In 1997. Leslie Fay was ruled to pay $ 34 million in colonies and filed for bankruptcy. but the company was able to return to a â€Å"profitable condition† ( 42 ) before being bought out in 2001. The function of Leslie Fay’s external hearer in the thick of this fraud of course comes into inquiry. BDO Seidman had been Leslie Fay’s â€Å"audit house since the mid-1970s and issued unqualified sentiments each twelvemonth on the company’s fiscal statements† ( Knapp 39 ) . After the disclosure of the fraud. BDO Seidman withdrew these unqualified sentiments for 1990 and 1991. The accounting house took on a similar defence to that of John Pomerantz. claiming themselves as victims of misrepresentation. Leslie Fay shareholders sued BDO Seidman for foolhardy auditing in 1993. Leslie Fay’s fiscal statements had been â€Å"replete with ruddy flags† ( 40 ) . lending to the cases. These pending legal conflicts led to questionable hearer independency. therefore doing BDO Seidman to vacate as Leslie Fay’s hearer. Numerous misstatements in about all cost and liability line points leads to the inquiry of whether the deficiency of sufficient internal controls was mostly responsible for the fraud and if the external auditor’s failure to look into Leslie Fay’s internal controls caused them to lose such mistakes. Business Risk Assessment Nature of the Entity The Leslie Fay Companies was a publically traded house on the New York Stock Exchange in the concern of fabricating women’s dress. From its origin. Leslie Fay’s focal point was on bring forthing â€Å"moderately priced and conservative frocks for adult females aged 30 through 55† ( Knapp. 34 ) . In 1982. John Pomerantz. boy of Fred. became the company’s CEO and president of the board following a leveraged buyout after the decease of his male parent. The steadfast re-listed on the NYSE in 1986. Pomerantz. Polishan. and other company executives held big parts of company stock. and as a consequence. they had a direct fiscal involvement in the continued fiscal success of Leslie Fay. Top executives were besides the receivers of frequent and big year-end fillips. In some instances. these fillips were greater than their one-year wages. Structurally. the company CFO and accountant. Polishan and Kenia. had big overruling powers over fiscal informations. Internal controls were badly missing. leting direction to skew about all minutess related to cost. Polishan â€Å"‘dominated’ Kenia through bullying and fear† ( Knapp 42 ) . converting Kenia to blow up Leslie Fay’s gross borders. Until the fraud was uncovered. Leslie Fay produced the 2nd largest net incomes in the industry. puting the company in the leaderboard. Industry. Regulatory. A ; external factors To understand the place of Leslie Fay in the late eightiess and early 1990s. it is of import to look at the province of the women’s manner industry at that clip. Leslie Fay’s cardinal rivals included Oscar de la Renta. Donna Karan. and others. However. the firm’s top challenger was Liz Claiborne. â€Å"the merely publically owned women’s dress maker in the late eightiess that had larger one-year gross revenues than Leslie Fay† ( Knapp 34 ) . The firm’s chief clients. which were besides shared by its rivals. were the big section shop ironss. Several industry tendencies contributed to economic adversity. The most impactful of these tendencies was the â€Å"casualization† ( Knapp 35 ) of America. This was a tendency that had developed a few old ages before and was in full force by the late ’80s. Millions of consumers began to eschew the traditional impressions of women’s manner and opted alternatively to dress in more comfy vesture. This motion began with younger adult females but so hit adult females in the 30 to 55 year-old section. Leslie Fay’s mark market. More specifically. this displacement toward insouciant vesture significantly impacted women’s frock gross revenues. In the early 1970s frock gross revenues began to worsen as a consequence of the popularity of pants suits. and by the late 1980s the displacement toward casualwear had for good damaged the gross revenues of frocks. All of this was bad intelligence for Leslie Fay. Since they were a maker of â€Å"stylishly conservative frocks. † ( Knapp 34 ) they were stuck in a current towards insouciant vesture with a concern theoretical account trying to swim upstream. The civilization of deregulating in the United Sates that began in the seventiess. took off in the 1980s. and flourished in the 1990s and early 2000s had an affect on the fiscal and accounting sections of many companies. Specifically sing accounting. the PCAOB did non be until 2002. This meant the deficiency of a regulative organic structure to supervise the creative activity of and conformity with accounting and auditing criterions. In add-on. jurisprudence did non yet necessitate the modern. SOX-created version of the audit commission. responsible for the hiring and fire of the external hearers among other things. The CFO and CEO were non required to personally certify ( with a signature ) to the truth of the company’s fiscal statements. giving them less answerability. The overall deficiency of answerability for CFOs and CEOs and the more mellow attack that hearers took during that clip period enabled Leslie Fay’s dirt to go through through unnoticed for that long. A assortment of external factors influenced Leslie Fay. Most of import was the recession of the late eightiess and early 1990s. The recession merely heightened the jobs in the women’s manner industry. as consumers began to watch their disbursement and spent less on new apparels. There was an overall economy-wide diminution in retail disbursement. which hurt concern for the major section shops that were Leslie Fay’s clients. As a consequence of weak retail gross revenues. many section shop ironss were forced to either merge with rivals or to neutralize. This injury Leslie Fay because the lasting section shops. with which the house did concern. â€Å"wrangled fiscal grants from their suppliers† ( Knapp 35 ) . As Leslie Fay’s primary clients took hits during the economic recession. the fabrication house besides suffered great losingss. Internal Control From the information presented in the instance by Knapp. it is apparent that Leslie Fay did non hold an effectual system of internal controls. First and foremost is the fact that the firm’s accounting offices were located 100 stat mis off from corporate central office. Bing this far off from the Garment District in Manhattan would hold made it hard for internal and external hearers to hold a complete apprehension of how Leslie Fay’s concern operated since they could non physically detect it. In add-on. most accounting forces located in PA could non discourse issues face-to-face with people in corporate central office. Paul Polishan made frequent trips to New York. nevertheless he was finally responsible for orchestrating the accounting fraud. and his bossy leading manner exacerbated the issue. Anyone who asked for records had to instantly reply to Polishan. supplying a ground why they needed to cognize that information. This gave Polishan the possible ability to cover up information before anyone else could see them. Leslie Fay besides had a deficiency of any type of information engineering system. In an age where it had become platitude in the industry to utilize computing machine webs to supervise day-to-day gross revenues. the house was still doing calls to clients on a hebdomadal footing to enter gross revenues Numberss ( Knapp 35 ) . This made it easier to pull strings gross revenues and stock list Numberss towards the terminal of accounting periods. particularly when sing Polishan’s strong belief. because a deficiency of IT meant less-precise Numberss. In add-on. the accounting offices in PA were non up to rush with modern informations processing ; instead they did more work by manus. Last. the extent of the influence that Polishan had over Kenia. the accountant. and finally the full accounting procedure. indicated a deficiency of cheques and balances within the system. Knapp provinces in the instance that Kenia and other subsidiaries followed any order given by Polishan merely due to his bullying factor. A good system of internal controls would guard against this. a cardinal agreement Leslie Fay clearly lacked. Aims. Strategies. A ; Business Risks Leslie Fay had received ailments from consumers that its vesture line was excessively â€Å"old-fashioned. † â€Å"matronly. † and â€Å"overpriced† ( Knapp. 36 ) . Given these fortunes. the house should hold sought to revamp their merchandise line and industry more voguish vesture while remaining true to the basic thoughts about manner that Leslie Fay was known for. Unfortunately for the company. John Pomerantz insisted on making concern the antique manner and relied on himself and his interior decorators to calculate manner tendencies. This might hold worked had Pomerantz known what the overall tendency in the women’s manner industry was. but he did non do usage of market proving to see what adult females were truly looking for in vesture. The house faced many concern hazards during this clip period. The recession heightened competition as many houses were all aiming the same market section that was passing less on new vesture. There was besides force per unit area to get the better of Liz Claiborne as the gross revenues leader in the industry. Leslie Fay was besides pushed to develop trendier vesture in a changing set of consumer demands. The settlement and amalgamations of section shops led to many write-downs and loss of income for the fabrication house. Leslie Fay was besides capable to less-advantageous gross revenues footings forced upon them by the shops such as longer payment footings. more indulgent return policies. and increased fiscal aid ( Knapp 35 ) . As ever. the force per unit area is on maintaining costs down in the market they are in. Since they aimed for reasonably priced vesture. the house needed to drive down costs in order to do a net income on their ware. The house had to maintain gross revenues and net incomes up all while factoring in these alterations in the economic system and in their specific market place. Leslie Fay faced the force per unit areas of run intoing analysts’ projections. since they were a publically traded company. If they did non run into projections. they were capable to a loss of investor capital. Healthy fiscal Numberss were besides of import to keep for the interest of maintaining creditors happy. The house needed funding from both loaners and investors in its common stock to back up the design and industry of its vesture. Entity Performance Measures The province of the economic system and industry in the late eightiess and early 1990s led to cut down disbursement. which would hold translated to take down gross revenues and net incomes for most houses in the manner industry. However. as noted in the instance and as seen by Leslie Fay’s financials. the house was accomplishing record net incomes despite a slow retail industry ( Knapp 36 ) . Some cardinal fiscal ratios and observations are presented in Exhibit 1. An analysis of these ratios shows that. harmonizing to Leslie Fay’s doctored fiscal statements. they were more liquid than the industry norm. but less solvent. They had lower stock list. histories receivable. and plus turnover ratios than the industry. and the ages of their stock list and histories receivable were higher than the industry norm. Their gross border per centum was about on par with industry norm. nevertheless they showed a higher net income border on their gross revenues ( by 1. 31 % ) every bit good as a significantly higher ROA ( 9. 79 % higher ) . Their Roe was lower than the industry norm. A higher net income border on gross revenues. together with reduced gross revenues from 1990 to 1991. suggests that Leslie Fay manipulated cost-side entries. Fraud Triangle Incentive/Pressure Changes in consumer behaviour of the women’s dress industry pressured Leslie Fay as it suffered a diminution in clients in the 1970s and 1980s. During this clip. manner tendencies were switching to go more insouciant. and new manners included more comfy. well-worn garments like denims and jerseies. Even Leslie Fay’s mark market of adult females between the ages of 30 and 55 were dressing more casually and buying less frocks. As tierce of Leslie Fay’s entire gross revenues are attributed to frocks. Leslie Fay felt the force per unit area of the alteration in the dress industry ( The Leslie Fay Company Inc. History ) . It was besides affected by the economic recession of the late eightiess and early 1990s. The company’s major clients. section shop ironss. experienced a diminution in retail disbursement due to this recession ( Knapp 35 ) . The fiscal strain on section shops caused them to demand fiscal grants from providers like Leslie Fay. The company was asked to let the section shops longer payment footings and more indulgent return policies. and to supply more fiscal aid for in-store shows. booths. and apparel dress shops ( Knapp 35 ) . Retailers criticized Leslie Fay of fabrication apparels that were overpriced and antique. The company was forced to give discounts to sweeping clients that could non sell all of the dress they had purchased. Pressure from retail merchants created an environment that burdened Leslie Fay with happening new ways to maintain up net incomes. Executive compensation is another inducement to perpetrate fraud. Executives including Pomerantz and Polishan had significant involvements in the Leslie Fay Companies as they owned big blocks of the company’s stock. In add-on. executive fillips were highly generous. sometimes transcending one-year wages ( Knapp 34 ) . Top executives whose fiscal involvements were to a great extent invested in Leslie Fay through stock ownership and these big fillips were more likely to perpetrate fraud for their ain personal benefit. Opportunity A important facet of Leslie Fay’s operations was the geographical difference between corporate central offices and the accounting offices. Corporate central offices were located in Manhattan. while the accounting offices were 100 stat mis north-west in Wilkes-Barre. Pennsylvania. Paul Polishan dominated the Wilkes-Barre office. nicknamed â€Å"Poliworld. † as the CFO and senior frailty president of finance. This physical separation between the accounting section and other executives and top direction created an chance for fraud. Finance and accounting employees were non as closely supervised as those in the corporate central offices due to this geographical gulf. This besides limited the internal controls that could be implemented over the accounting section ( Knapp 33 ) . Public accounting houses were non yet regulated by Sarbanes-Oxley. making an chance for Leslie Fay Companies to perpetrate Fraud. SOX mandates that public companies obtain an incorporate audit. including an audit of fiscal statements and internal controls over fiscal coverage ( Messier 43 ) . BDO Seidman was non required to carry on an audit of internal controls as there was no bing ordinance. This means that management’s actions associating to fiscal coverage were non needfully being investigated by its external hearer. This deficiency of ordinance affected the audit processs performed by BDO Seidman. which left the internal control system unchecked. Attitude/Rationalization Paul Polishan’s ruling personality made him a powerful influence over his subsidiaries. particularly Donald Kenia. Polishan purely ruled the Wilkes-Barre offices and when senior directors from the corporate central office asked him for fiscal information he frequently demanded the ground they needed the information ( Knapp 33 ) . This defensiveness which should hold been a ruddy flag created an environment where people were hesitating to oppugn Polishan. The relationship between Kenia and Polishan was besides closely examined during the probe of Leslie Fay. Kenia claimed to hold been â€Å"dominated† by Polishan through bullying and fright ( Knapp 42 ) . Polishan’s dashing personality allowed him to intimidate Kenia and his staff into distorting fiscal minutess and commit fraud. Polishan’s laterality at Leslie Fay put a strain on internal controls. Case Questions 1. A common size balance sheet and income statement. every bit good as cardinal fiscal ratios are detailed in Exhibits 2 through 4. Key ratios that should pull hearer attending include stock list turnover and age of stock lists. histories receivable turnover and age of histories receivable. gross border. and net income per centum. The low and continuously diminishing stock list turnover and similar histories receivable turnover that the ratio spreadsheet shows means that stock list is sitting for 85. 68 yearss in stock before it is sold. and when it is finally sold Leslie Fay is non having the money owed to them for 56. 33 yearss. While this is to be expected in the recession that the company was confronting during this clip period. it is significantly longer than the industry norms of 53. 7 yearss for stock list and 45. 5 yearss for histories receivable. This should pull hearer attending to the stock list and histories receivable lines on the balance sheet. doing certain they are valued right and wholly. including appropriate allowances. With clients purchasing less and taking longer to pay for it. how does the company maintain the steady gross border and net income border in line with and transcending industry norms. severally? This is the cardinal inquiry that should hold drawn auditor attending and where hearers should hold exercised their professional incredulity. Decreasing stock list turnover and histories receivables turnover is to be expected in difficult times when clients want to purchase less and some are even traveling insolvent. but more attending should hold been focused on how Leslie Fay managed to transcend the remainder of the industry in net income border ( Leslie Fay’s 3. 5 % compared to the industry norm of 2. 2 % ) under these conditions. 2. In add-on to the balance sheet. income statement. and fiscal ratios. an hearer would wish to hold other cardinal fiscal information to execute the existent audit. For the hearer to make up ones mind what extra fiscal information was needed. he would foremost execute a comparing similar to that in Question 1. which evaluated the hazards on the fiscal statements. particularly in relation to industry norms. Through this analysis. the hearer would hold decided that physical stock list counts and substantial analysis of the stock list would be of import information to hold because Leslie Fay is a merchandising company whose concern wholly relies on its stock list. During a recession. it would besides be of import to verify gross revenues and the gross border. to guarantee that gross border is really higher than industry norms as the company claims. The hearer should scan for big and unusual entries. particularly at the terminal of the period. to guarantee that Leslie Fay is non merely fabricating extra stock list at the terminal of the period to convey down the cost of goods sold. Hearers should besides corroborate gross revenues with the clients both for happening and completeness of the minutess that were recorded. During this cheque it would be of import to read gross revenues contracts to guarantee that gross was recognized consequently. Finally. the hearer would necessitate to verify that Leslie Fay included a big adequate allowance for dubious histories. During this period there was a recession and many clients were unable to pay or were traveling out of concern. a major concern for company. 3. When measuring a company’s industry. it is of import to observe the current economic system and the peril of the industry itself. Even before the recession hit. Leslie Fay was non large on alteration ; it did concern without the usage of much engineering or consumer trailing. even in the accounting sections. In the extremely volatile manner industry. how did Leslie Fay header with invariably altering manners and gustatory sensations? They tried to foretell altering manners on their ain. without any trailing of consumer penchants to assist steer them ( Knapp 35 ) . Leslie Fay was taking a hazardous attack to a hazardous market. As the economic system declined. this manner industry merely became more hazardous. The industry was clearly in a ruin due to the recession and the culture’s motion off from frocks. both of which caused a lessening in how many frocks were purchased by retail clients. In this sort of market. it would be of import for the hearers to non merely garner non-financial information about Leslie Fay and the manner industry. but they should besides garner information about Leslie Fay’s clients. the large section shops. to find whether or non they will be able to pay for outstanding histories receivable. This information would assist find an appropriate allowance for dubious histories. which would act upon the sum of gross revenues recorded in the income statement and the histories receivable balance on the balance sheet. The downward force per unit area on the industry would greatly increase the inducements and force per unit areas to keep good financials. which in bend. would increase the hazard of fraud. All of these factors should act upon the type and measure of the trials performed by the hearers. Hearers should corroborate purchases with clients. and inquire interior and outside the house for how Leslie Fay merchandises fit in the market. The downswing of the economic system should besides increase the proving done to the gross revenues account to guarantee that they really happened to reply this inquiry: How did Leslie Fay net income when all other companies in the market were losing gross? 4. As antecedently mentioned. Paul Polishan played a really dominant function in the accounting and finance sections in add-on to his subsidiaries at Leslie Fay. When there is such a dominant individual at the top. particularly one that has great control over subsidiaries. the dependability of the fiscal information lessenings. The dominating figure decreases the cheques and balances within the company that guarantee right information. which increases chances for fraud. Hearers need to acknowledge this figure and program consequently to ask about company information from both internal and external independent beginnings. maintaining in head that the dominant individual could besides compromise internal enquiries. The hearers must acknowledge the important force and seek to analyze the facets that he had definite control over deeper. The hearer should seek out the motives that the dominant participant may hold and analyze countries that he would desire to hold altered. For illustration. Polishan’s personal income was greatly influenced by stock monetary value. significance that he would desire to blow up net incomes to increase market value. Hearers must. therefore. lessening sensing hazard and sample potentially affected histories more. The hearer should so take the clip to carefully measure direction averments about completeness. rights and duties. rating and allotment. and being of history balances and minutess that have taken topographic point. Overall. the hearers need to get down to scrutinize a company with a dominant figure like Polishan with a good degree of professional incredulity. recognizing that the tone at the top decreased the internal controls and they will hold to increase the sum of proving and asking done to acquire an accurate image of the company’s financials. 5. Independence and objectiveness are two of the most of import external hearer features. The SEC ruled that BDO Seidman’s independency had been jeopardized by the cases that named BDO Seidman and Leslie Fay as suspects because of the deficiency of objectiveness that the accounting house would hold if they performed the following year’s external audit. Because the shareholders’ case against them put BDO Seidman and Leslie Fay on the same side. BDO Seidman now had a personal interest in Leslie Fay’s fiscal statements and was no longer independent of the firm’s financials. If BDO Seidman were to execute the audit. the stockholders would non be able to trust on or swear the fiscal statements ; they would presume that BDO Seidman would change the auditing procedure to their benefit. The case was non the lone object of conflicting involvement between BDO Seidman and Leslie Fay. GAAS # 2 provinces that an external hearer must be independent in the manner of thought. After the fraud was revealed. BDO Seidman retracted two unqualified sentiments for the past two old ages and publically stated that they were victims of the Leslie Fay fraud. faulting Leslie Fay’s upper direction for the full strategy. This blasted game back and Forth between Leslie Fay and BDO Seidman clearly eliminates any possibility for hearers to travel into a Leslie Fay audit with an independent mentality. Extra Questions 1. The fraud would hold been more noticeable to the external hearers had SOX been implemented at that clip. Howard Schilit. a forensic accounting specializer. â€Å"suggested†¦that Leslie Fay’s fiscal informations had been full with ruddy flags† ( Knapp 40 ) . bespeaking that adequate abnormalities were present to warrant farther examination. One of the largest constituents of SOX is the probe of internal controls. Such an probe would hold helped the external hearers realize that the information they were given was non to the full dependable. BDO Seidman should hold evaluated the cheques in Leslie Fay’s system. doing certain that neither Donald Kenia. the accountant. nor Paul Polishan. the CFO and senior frailty president of finance. were able to fiddle with the fiscal informations without ordinance. The deficiency of any kind of IT system due to the CEO’s peculiar affinity to â€Å"old-fashioned† ( Knapp 35 ) tradition besides gave more power to executive management- they had absolute control over the fiscal informations without electronic grounds of fiddling. The legion ruddy flags described by Schilit make it evident that BDO lacked professional incredulity in this instance. ensuing in the unqualified audit studies for Leslie Fay’s fiscal statements. 2. The proper executing of audit trials would hold enabled BDO Seidman to bring out the accounting mistakes. Inquiry of Leslie Fay forces would hold rapidly indicated that Polishan had absolute control over the fiscal informations. doing the hearer to so prove internal controls. An experimental review of the application of internal controls should hold been administered so BDO Seidman could see what checks Leslie Fay had in topographic point to modulate their fiscal informations. If this was decently observed. executive management’s control over the fraud may hold been revealed. Many substantial processs could hold been implemented to further uncover mistakes. A trial of inside informations would hold shown mistakes in all the major line points sing cost and liabilities. Substantial trials of single minutess. such as with purchase bills. could demo that the stock list reportedly in-transit did non really exist. A walkthrough and review of paperss and activities would uncover that much of the stock list reported was falsely recorded because there would be no organic procedure in which existent stock list entered the warehouse and was recorded- since they were fabricated. the perceiver would hold recognized this cardinal measure. A trial of history balances would besides demo that the stock list on manus did non fit up to the reported sums. Substantial analytical processs are cardinal in this instance. Due to hapless economic fortunes and rival battles. a ruddy flag should hold been raised when Leslie Fay continued to describe net incomes growing but failed to explicate how. Since fillips were tied to net incomes. executives had inducement to blow up their Numberss. Pomerantz’s â€Å"total wage and fillips of â€Å"3. 6 million [ was ] three times more than the 1991 compensation of Liz Claiborne’s CEO. whose company reported gross revenues more than double those of Leslie Fay’s† ( Knapp 40 ) . BDO should hold compared Leslie Fay to other companies in the women’s dress industry. observing differences in tendency lines. The elephantine fillips may hold indicated that company operations were non management’s largest concern. Decision The accounting fraud engineered by Paul Polishan. CFO and SVP of finance at Leslie Fay. doubtless tarnished the repute of Leslie Fay and its direction. every bit good as BDO Seidman as its hearer. Many factors finally contributed to the $ 80 million accounting fraud that was eventually uncovered in the early 1990s. One of the major factors included a terrible deficiency of internal controls. No employee would contend the domineering Polishan. particularly the second-in-command at the office. Donald Kenia. the accountant. In add-on. whenever an employee or direction at the corporate central office would bespeak fiscal information from Polishan. he would oppugn them about why they needed the information. which should hold been a mark that possibly something illegal was go oning behind the scenes. Not merely was there a big communicating job between the executives of the company. but besides the deficiency of transparence between executives was amazing. as other executives were in the d ark refering the fraud. Leslie Fay’s continued success in a fighting women’s manner industry should hold sparked BDO Seidman to look more closely into the fiscal information provided by Polishan. and possibly carry on substantial analytical processs on a more elaborate degree. BDO Seidman besides should hold actively compared Leslie Fay to its close rivals. and the industry as a whole. to see that cardinal fiscal ratios did non fit the general tendency. The chance and inducements for Paul Polishan to perpetrate fraud were both present. The physical distance of Polishan from central offices opened up a big chance for him to perpetrate fraud. In add-on. he had an employee willing to take the autumn for him when the fraud was uncovered. With this chance. Polishan was able to hedge bad fiscal statements that the worsening women’s manner industry would hold given him and increase his fillip. which was tied straight to the net incomes of Leslie Fay. Had the Sarbanes-Oxley ( SOX ) statute law been implemented prior to the accounting dirt at Leslie Fay. the fraud would hold been more easy noticeable. SOX would hold held executives accountable for the truth of fiscal statements The external hearer would besides hold been held to a higher criterion of supplyi ng sensible confidence as to the truth of the company fiscal statements. Even though BDO Seidman merely provided an â€Å"unqualified opinion† on the truth of the statements. SOX would hold prevented BDO Seidman from being so careless in their auditing of Leslie Fay. Last. SOX would hold required an in-depth reappraisal of internal controls. which Leslie Fay was missing. The deficiency of internal controls at Leslie Fay. and BDO Seidman’s ignorance of this job. was a major part to the deceitful accounting strategy that took topographic point. If the external hearer. BDO Seidman. had performed a proper reappraisal of Leslie Fay’s internal controls. they would hold uncovered a complete deficiency of said controls. including a deficiency of cheques and balances between top direction. This lack caused a major gulf between the CFO and other company executives. with the critical job being information dissymmetry between the two parties. The accounting offices of Leslie Fay were located a 100 stat mis from the corporate central office. fostering the spread between the CFO and other top direction. and non leting the accounting squad to physically see the operations of the company. Additionally. Leslie Fay lacked any type of information engineering system. and alternatively tracked day-to-day gross revenues and stock list counts by manus. This allowed for easier use of informations linked to the net incomes procedure of the company. As seen through the state of affairs at Leslie Fay. strong internal controls. and the ordinance of these controls. is indispensable to the uncovering and bar of fraud within any company. The effectivity of the internal controls should be tested by the external hearer. every bit good as sporadically evaluated by executives of the company.