The Solar System Essay Example for Free

The Solar System EssayAstronomers have found a new dwarf satellite far beyond Plutos orbit, suggesting that this distant realm contains millions of undiscovered objects including, perhaps, a world larger than Earth. The newfound celestial body, called 2012 VP113, joins the dwarf artificial satelliteSedna as a confirmed resident of a far-flung and largely unexplored region scientists call the inner Oort Cloud. Further, 2012 VP113 and Sedna may have been pulled into their long, looping orbits by a big planet lurking unseen in these pivotal depths. These two objects are just the tip of the iceberg, study co-author Chadwick Trujillo, of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, told Space. com. They exist in a part of the solar constitution that we used to think was pretty devoid of matter. It just goes to show how little we actually know about the solar system. New Dwarf Planet PhotosThe orbits of Sedna (orange) and dwarf planet 2012 VP113 (red). Also shown are the orbits of the giant planets (purple). The Kuiper belt is the dotted light blue region. Illustration Scott S Sheppard/Carnegie Institution for Science Astronomers have increased the size of the manifest solar system after spotting a 450-km wide object orbiting the sun. The lump of ice and rock circles the sun at a greater duration than any known object, and never gets closer than 12bn kilometres 80 times the distance from Earth to the sun. If its size is confirmed it could qualify as a dwarf planet in the same category as Pluto. Researchers said the discovery proves the existence of the inner Oort cloud, a region of icy bodies that lies far beyond the orbit of Neptune which at 4.5bn kilometres from the sun is the most remoteplanet in the solar system.Until a proper name is decided upon, the body is known only as 2012 VP113. fit in to the science journal Nature, the team that discovered it call it VP for short, or Biden, after US vice president Joe Biden. Its pink tinge comes from radiation damage t hat alters the pee-pee of frozen water, methane and carbon dioxide on the surface. Though exciting in its own right, the discovery raises a more tantalising prospect for many astronomers that a ace Earth up to 10 times the mass of our planet orbits the sun at such a great distance that it has never been seen.

News Updates on “Tree man” Essay Example for Free

intelligence activity Updates on point humankindhood EssayOn January 19, Shurmer (2010), a source for the Comment News website wrote an article updating the site readers on the ongoing struggles of Richard Pennicuik, better known as channelize man. Since early December of the previous year, point man had been living in a gum tree near his house in Hume Road, in the City of Gosnells, as a form of kick and to save the tree from the city council plans to clear the street of any and all mature trees that may cause harm by dropping large limbs. As of the writing of the article, he had been in the tree for 43 days and was experiencing physical difficulties on top of his legal youngs as there was a severe heatwave and the blue temperatures were causing him discomfort. Entitled maneuver man loses hope, the article chronicled tree mans fading optimism caused by heat-induced headaches the council fining him $5000, as it deemed the platforms that served as his makeshift treehou se were illegal, and forcing him to remove these structures and the renunciation of an adjacent gum tree by a rotating team who had occupied it for the same cause.A couple of months later on March 13th, a staff Writer (2010) for Perthnow a local subsidiary of The Sunday Times, wrote a relatively more recent update piece on the Tree man. Asking Tree man Richard Pennicuik for mayor? the report comes on the heels of a stand-off the previous day wherein he still refused to come down from the tree even after policemen and tree-cutting machinery had arrived. App arently, disrespect the previous report on his morale and health problems, he had stayed on the tree for another 53 days.The title of the article comes from a comment Tree man had made, saying he had intentions of running for city mayor as the current council he was battling was sozzled and unworkable. An analytical comparison of these two Tree man news article updates will be discussed. The first, most noticeable, differenc e between the two news articles is their marked difference in length, with the first article much longer than the second. Although quantity does not necessarily denote substance, it can be observed that the Comment News article contains relatively more effective facts close the situation than the PerthNow article.In addition, on a related note, it can also be noticed that the former article has more content related to the actual subject, as denoted by the article title, than the latter. As an example to support both of these observations, although Comment News does not include a quote wherein Tree man explicitly stated that he was losing hope, it does mention why this would be the case by including a quote where he said he didnt manage well with the heatwave headaches and how the $5000 fine would ruin his family. The PerthNow article, on the other hand, only justifies the title mentioning Tree mans mayoral aspirations with the quote The current regime is laughable and unworkable and I want to get in there, if I have enough supporters, to run the council the way it should be run. The rest of the article, however, does not mention the issue again and only contains a brief summary of the previous days stand-off and another quote from Tree man where he reasserts his stance.The Comment News article does seem to slightly force the losing hope theme though, by briefly mentioning that the street was desolate due to the abandonment of the adjacent gum tree, although Tree man is not mentioned as having an opinion on this. However, this observation still contributes to the discussion of the main subject. Coherence to a specific topic is somewhat of a requirement for any formal article, especially one that is professionally written.The briefness and lack of coherence in the case of the latter article can, however, can be attributed to the writer expecting the reades to already know the details as the situation was already months-long, and there was a climactic update the day before. Both articles do, however, paint Tree man as both a dedicated activist from his acts of defiance, and also a novelty character as the tones of his quotes in the first article are slightly rattled and dramatic and in the second, noticeably vague.He was also described as remaining defiantly aloft despite legal and physical danger, and his attorneys protests.References hurmer, J. (2010, January 19). Tree man loses hope. Comment News. Retrieved from http//southern. inmycommunity. com. au/news-and-views/local-news/Tree-man-loses-hope/7546357/ Staff Writer. (2010, March 13) Tree man Richard Pennicuik for mayor? PerthNow. com. The Sunday Times. Retrieved from http//www. perthnow. com. au/news/tree-man-richard-pennicuik-for-mayor/story-e6frg12c-1225840398316

Overview Of The Success Of Alibaba Com

Overview Of The Success Of Alibaba ComThe strategic plan defines Alibaba.coms overall mission and objectives, and that is true for all given company. Within each business unit, merchandising plays a character reference in helping to accomplish the overall strategic objectives. Alibaba.coms goal is to build strong and profitable customer relationships. Alibaba.coms trade strategy will consider the marketing logic by which the company hopes to achieve these profitable customer relationships. How they do that? Through market segmentation, tar swallowing, and positioning. Guided by marketing strategy, Alibaba.com designs a marketing unify made up of factors under its control (product, price, place, and promotion). To find the best marketing mix and put it into action, Alibaba.com engages in marketing analysis, planning, implementation, and control. Through these activities, Alibaba.com should watches and adapts to the actors and forces in the marketplace environment. It is muster ou t that an Alibaba.com objective is to win suppliers and buyers relationships. Long time relationships are profit to the company.The marketing mix is the set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market. The marketing mix consists of everything the firm can do to influence the demand for its products and services. The many possibilities are collected into quad throngs of variables known as the four Ps product, price, place, and promotion. (G. Armstrong, 2007)Product means the goods and services combination that Alibaba.com offers to the target market, to the buyers. At Alibaba.com web site buyers to a greater extent often find not only the products they quest but service agreement, warranty, or other services. All which are parts of the product package. Product package include variety, quality, design, features, brand name, packaging, and services.PricePrice is the center of money Alibaba.coms buyers has to p ay to obtain the product. The retail price of a consumer product may be suggested by the manufacturer, but retailers are free to set any price they wish for items sold in their stores. In business to business sales, the price of a product is usually negotiated. However, at Alibaba.com, if a buyer wishes to get more of the same product, the buyer will get a discounted price.PlacePlace or distribution refers to the locations where the product is visible(prenominal) to the customer. Most consumer products are available at retail outlets. In business to business, transaction should be from a manufacturing to the buyers. And every product, whatever it is a consumer or a business product, must obtain somewhere, and must, somehow, get into the hands of the buyer. The paththat the product takes, from the point of origin to point of sale, is called the distribution channel, which is an important part of the marketing mix. Most of Alibaba.coms products are from chinaware. Therefore, Alibab a.com must lot with third company such as FedEx to ease the transportation of the distribution.PromotionPromotion is the set of activities that communicates the merits of the product and persuades prospective customers to buy it. These activities include everything related to marketing communications advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, and personal selling. As for Alibaba.com, the company needs to focus more into promotion. More direct marketing and advertising is the make to success at this stage.An effective marketing program blends all elements of the marketing mix into a coordinated plan designed to achieve the companys marketing objectives by delivering value to customers. The marketing mix constitutes the companys tactical tool kit for establishing strong positioning in the target markets or into the marketplaces.Conclusion and recommendationsIn conclusion, Alibaba Group makes it easygoing for anyone to buy or sell online anywhere in the world. Alibaba group is a family of lucre-based businesses that includes business-to-business international trade, online retail and payment platforms and data-centric cloud computing services. The Group was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma, a pioneer who has aspired to help make the Internet accessible, trustworthy and beneficial for everyone. The privately held Alibaba Group reaches Internet users in more than 240 countries and regions, and employs 17,000 people in more than 50 cities in Greater China, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. (www.news.alibaba.com)There are many companies partnered with Alibaba group. Such companiesAlibaba.com Global leader in business-to-business e-commerceTaobao Chinas largest Internet retail website and one-stop platform for shopping, socializing and information sharingAlipay Chinas leading third-party online payment platformAlibaba Cloud Computing Developer of advanced data-centric cloud computing servicesChina Yahoo One of Chinas lea ding Internet portalsAlthough, since Alibaba group was found in 1999, and won more than 6 awards and honors, I recommend that the marketing management of Alibaba group should look into consideration to their promotional strategy. In fact, more of public relations and advertising will pump up awareness. Doing so, the group may benefit more buyers and seller after all, that is the marketing objective of the group.

Case Study: Harold Shipman

Case Study Har elderly ShipmanShipman began practicing as a doctor in 1974, at the Abraham Ormerod Medical Practice in Todmorden. He was in that location until 1975 when his partners discovered that he had been obtaining drugs dishonestly for his own use. In 1976 he pleaded guilty to trey offences of obtaining pethidine by deception, three offences of unlawful possession of pethidine and two further offences of hammer a prescription he was sentenced in Halifax Magistrates court to accept a fine and compensation. In August 1992,he began working as a solo practician at a surgery in Hyde he continued to work as a single-handed practitioner until his arrest in September 1998.In July 1998 the Greater Manchester Police began an inquiry into Kathleen Grundys death, a patient of Dr Shipman, the inquiry was rapidly widened to include the deaths of Shipmans some other patients. On Monday, thirty-first January 2000 the jury at Preston Crown court of law convicted Harold Shipman of 15 murd ers and of forging a get out.Case StudyMrs Kathleen Grundy was a widow and lived by herself she was in remarkably sober health for her age. She undertook work for many charitable organisations and had a healthy social life. She spent the evening before her death with a friend and was in normal health when she went home. Mrs Grundy died on 24th June 1998 at the age of 81. Shipman forged a certificate and passed of her death being referable to old age. posterior scientific summary of her body tissues in August 1998 showed that she had died of morphine poisoning.In the few age before her death, Shipman had persuaded Mrs Grundy to take part in a research project into the ageing process, allegedly to be conducted by Manchester University. It emerged afterwardswards that this was a hoax so he could obtain a sample of her signature, which he used in an attempt to forge a will. This also created an exempt to visit her at home. She visited him on 23rd June, to turn in her ears s yringed and told her that he needed a blood sample for the research project which must be interpreted early in the morning. He arranged to visit her at about 8.30am the undermentioned morning.The pastime day she was due to attend Werneth House but she did not arrive. Friends and colleagues there became concerned as this was out of character for Mrs Grundy and two of them, Mr John unfledged and Mr Ronald Pickford, went to her house at about midday. They run aground her lying on the lounge fully dressed. Her body was cold and it was established she was dead. The door to the house was open up. They summoned Shipman to the house. Following a perfunctory examination of the body, he said cardiac arrest, interest the test he had a brief discussion with someone in the coroners baron and it was agreed that a certificate which stated the effort of death to be old age would be acceptable. There was no record kept of the conversation with the coroners office.When Shipman had left the h ouse Mr Green informed the police, as he was unable to contact Mrs Grundys daughter Mrs Angela Woodruff. The officers concerned spoke to Shipman later and he informed them he had called on Mrs Grundy preferably that day because she had been unwell. He did not mention the fact that he had called to take a blood sample. Shipman also told them he had spoken with the coroners office and was going to issue a certificate stating that Mrs Grundy had died of natural causes. The police officers took a quick look at the body and on seeing nothing wary took no further action.The day after the death Shipman spoke to Mrs Woodruff. He told her that he had seen Mrs Grundy on the day before her death just for a mo thing. He was vague and mentioned she had chest pains possibly due to indigestion. Shipman said that he had arranged to collect a blood sample the next morning, when he arrived she was not yet dressed. He then said that some old people complain of feeling unwell a few days before they die and then just die. He inferred that this had happened to Mrs Grundy. He handed Mrs Woodruff the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) and said that he had bear viewer the death as being due to old age.Mrs Woodruffs suspicions were not aroused until she was contacted by the Hamilton Ward legal firm handling her aims will. Her own law practice in Warwickhad usually dealt with her mothers legal affairs. The original will had been lodged with the firm in 1986. Hamilton Ward accepted a natural will the same day that Mrs Grundy died. The new will was badly typed. Mrs Woodruff told the Shipman trial in October My mother was a meticulously open air up person. The thought of her signing a inscription which is so badly typed didnt make any sense. The signature looked strange, it looked too big. The concept of mum signing a archive leaving everything to her doctor was unbelievable.1The police arranged for the exhumation of Mrs Grundys body. The exhumation was vital because forensic evidence was needed to verify the case of death. Dr Rutherford an expert witness pathologist was instructed to conduct the post-mortem examination. The post-mortem was crucial as it would establish time and cause of death, one would also know if Shipmans version of events atomic number 18 true. The results of the post-mortem examination found no natural explanation for Mrs Grundys death therefore not supporting Shipmans account. Also questions that were left unanswered for example why had this happened to someone who had been in mature health, had been answered. Scientific analysis of the body tissues revealed levels of morphine consistent with the administration of a fatal dose.Dr John Grenville also provided a report and said that there were a number of false entries in the medical records which had been created after the death to give credibility to Shipmans stories. Firstly that Mrs Grundy was under the weather when he saw her on 23rd June and secondly that Mrs Grundy had been abusing drugs and might have administered the morphine herself. This evidence was very valuable as it proved medical records had been doctored in order to cover Shipmans back.forensic evidence proved that Shipman forged Mrs Grundys will this was one of the main reasons as to why suspicions were aroused in the first place. Shipman wanted to obtain the whole of Mrs Grundys estate, leaving nothing to her daughter and grandchildren. He drafted the will using his own old-fashioned Brother portable typewriter. When the police came to Shipmans premises and took possession of the typewriter the will was immediately linked to him. This was important as tests would be able to show that if the will had been produced from Shipmans type writer the paper could be matched as well as the ink and tracks that had been used, this evidence would be enough to prove that it had come from that specific printer. Although this evidence was valuable shipman could still argue that someone else had u sed his type writer. general the final product looked painstakingly unprofessional and suspicion would be aroused immediately.Expert hand writing evidence proved them to be forgeries. Shipman forged Mrs Grundys signature and dated the will 9th June 1998. On that day he staged a signing and witnessing event in his consulting room and must have alert a document for Mrs Grundy to sign which purported to provide for her consent to take part in some medical research supposedly to be conducted by Manchester University. This document required that Mrs Grundys signature should be witnessed by two others, who also had to sign and provide their names, addresses and occupations. While Mrs Grundy was at Shipmans surgery on 9th June, Shipman appears to have obtained her signature on this document and then called two patients from his waiting room into the consulting room where they completed and signed the witnesses part of the document. Shipman must have used this document to copy the three s ignatures as well as he could. The document would have been valuable to shipman as he had no other means of face at Mrs Grundys signature.Forensic evidence showed the Shipman had forged the signature as it did not match the style of Mrs Grundys writing and it was blatantly obvious that it was a copy due the fact that Shipman had to break off as he kept looking at the original signature to copy it, it was also noted that the signature Shipman forged was allot bigger than how Mrs Grundy would normally sign.There were clear conclusions drawn from the Forensic evidence as the post-mortem that Mrs Grundys death was a clear case of morphine poisoning. horizontal without this evidence there were a number of questions that did not add up for instance this was a sudden death of an elderly person in good health. There was no explanation for her death. Mrs Grundys door was unlocked this was also unusual for her as her neighbours mentioned the fact that she was a protective cover conscious p erson, Shipman implied that Mrs Grundy left the door unlocked after letting him out this vital piece of evidence was a major blow to shipmans case as he had been unable to leave the security placement in the condition relatives and friends would have expected it to be.Even though Shipman had altered Mrs Grundys medical records to show she was unwell just before her death and that he suspected she had been abusing drugs her medical records still showed she had been in good health and had no potentially fatal conditions that would harm her. Also the cause of death being old age, left unanswered question and was quite an inappropriate case of death for a person who had been in such good health.On the 31st January 2000, after six days of deliberation the jury found Shipman guilty of killing 15 patients by lethal injections of diamorphine, and forging the will of Kathleen Grundy. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences and it was recommended that he never be released. Shipman also received four-spot years imprisonment for forging the will. Two years after his conviction, sept Secretary David Blunkett confirmed the judges recommendation that Shipman never be released.Shipman was officially struck off by the General Medical council in Februaury 2002 he consistently denied his guilt, disputing the scientific evidence against him. He never made any statements about his actions. His defence tried, but failed, to have the count of murder of Mrs Grundy, where a clear motive was alleged.Shipman subsequently committed suicide at Wakefield Prison by hanging himself from the window bars of his cell using bed sheets. He was found in his cell at 620 am on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday, and was officially pronounced dead at 810 am.BibliographyCrime scene to court second edition, Edited by .P.C.Whitehttp//www.the-shipman-inquiry.org.ukhttp//www.geraldengland.co.uk/gx/shipman.htmhttp//www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-180566187.htm1 Mrs Woodruffs evidenc e in courtRoyal Ahold An analysisRoyal Ahold An analysisROYAL AHOLD1. IntroductionHeadquartered in the Netherlands, Royal Ahold is one of the worlds largest international retail grocery and food for thought for thought service companies. At its peak in 2001, Aholds reported gross revenue and salarys were 66.6 billion and 1.1 billion and it operated 5,155 stores in 27 countries with nearly a quarter of a million employees. Ahold was started as a family firm in 1887 by the Heijn family. It was a family-controlled business, operating primarily in the Netherlands for over 100 years. The keep guild went public in 1948. In 1989, Ahold underwent a major transition from a family-controlled to a counselling controlled firm. This transition resulted in a phenomenal period of success for the firm. It generated over a 1,000% return for its shareholders and had a food grocery capitalization of 30.6 billion by November 2001.In February 2003, Ahold witnessed a reversal of fortunes and suff ered a complete meltdown. The firm was in a complete disastrous state with nothing going in their favour a failed strategy, an accountancy scandal, the firing of professional commission, and litigation filings from all parts of the world. Shareholders lost most of their returns generated since 1989. Ahold scandal gave Europe a reason to believe that bodily governance and accounting problems were not restricted U.S. only. Ahold became Europes Enron (The Economist, March 1, 2003). It caused Dutch and European policymakers to rethink their approach to corporate governance and accounting policy. The Royal Ahold scandal, along with the accounting fraud at the giant Italian firm Parmalat, caused the European Union (EU) to impose more extensive and unyielding regulation on the pecuniary report system and independent audit function within its member nations. The Royal Ahold debacle also reignited the debate regarding the need for more uniform accounting and auditing standards nigh t he globe.In the Netherlands, a committee on corporate governance was installed on March 10, 2003 (Tabaksblat Committee, 2003) to restore the lost confidence in public companies.This report aims at studying the inter-relationships between the lack of corporate governance and of accounting transparency which led to the downfall of Ahold. The subsequent policies and strategies of the firm which aimed at reviving the firm are also aptly covered in the report.2. The Growth Story Expanding BoundariesOver the years, Ahold evolved from a single grocery store in 1887 to a food company with a dominant position in the Netherlands. By the mid-1970s, Royal Aholds management realized that for the company to continue to grow it could not limit its operations to The Netherlands. Since the Netherland market was already dominated by Royal Ahold, the companys top executives, who had long been known for their conservative operating and financial policies, announced their plan to expand its operations i nto other countries.Royal Aholds expansion efforts got off to a slow start but then accelerated rapidly in the 1990s after the company chartered a new management team. Until the late 1980s, members of the Heijn family had occupied the key management positions within the firm. In 1987, two grandsons of Albert Heijn, served as Royal Aholds two top executives. Later in 1987 when the brothers retired, a professional management team was hired to replace the Heijn brothers. The team recognized that the quickest way for Royal Ahold to gain significant market share in the grocery retailing industry out post of The Netherlands was to purchase existing grocery arrange in foreign countries. To finance their growth-by-acquisition policy, Royal Aholds new executives raised large amounts of debt and equity capital during the 1990s. By 2000, Royal Ahold had purchased retail grocery chains in Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Portugal, Scandinavia, South America, and the United States. This ha rd-hitting expansion campaign made Royal Ahold the third largest grocery retailer worldwide by the turn of the century. At the time, only U.S.-based Wal-Mart and the French firm carrefour SA had larger yearly retail grocery sales than Royal Ahold. Royal Ahold completed its most ambitious acquisition in 2000 when it purchased U.S. Foodservice, a large food wholesaler headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Although Royal Ahold had previously purchased several retail grocery chains along the eastern seaboard of the United States, including new-fashioned England-based Stop Shop, U.S. Foodservice was easily the largest U.S. company it had acquired. The U.S. Foodservice acquisition was also important because it signalled the companys commitment to becoming a significant participant in the food wholesaling industry.In 2003, after purchasing two smaller U.S.-based food distributors, Royal Ahold ranked as the second largest food wholesaler in the United StatesHo uston-based Sysco Corporation was the largest. In fact, the three U.S. acquisitions caused food wholesaling to be the companys largest source of revenue, accounting for slightly more than one-half of its annual sales. The companys more than 4,000 retail grocery stores located in 27countries accounted for the remainder of its annual sales.3. Problems Due to ExpansionThe aggressive growth strategy adopted by the new professional management gave rise to a number of unexpected and unexpected problems. Among these the major problems were caused primarily due to the expansion in the global regions. The differences in the cultural norms hampered the ability of the management to manage its worldwide retail grocery operations.As the firm ventured into new markets, especially the markets outside of Western Europe and the United States, it faced new challenges in the face of wide range of laws, regulations and cultural differences. The management team also faced difficulty in dealing with hu man resource policies regarding hiring, appraisal, and other employee benefits. The policies which were successful in The Netherlands failed to live up to the expectations of the new managers and employees in the countries of Asia, Latin America and South America.Furthermore the cultural norms of grocery shopping among the consumers in global markets also exacerbated the misery of the firm. Some consumers out rightly spurned the Dutch idea and way of organizing the grocery store. The consumers also did not appreciate the idea of foreign invader replacing the local grocery stores which existed there for years.4. reaction towards the Problems and Further IssuesSince the problems were primarily the result of cultural and social issues, the management at Ahold decided upon the strategy of using the management personal of the local grocery chains and retaining them when those chains were acquired by Ahold. The new mangers were empowered with the authority to make major stopping points. The Royal Ahold ambitious plan to become a major player in the wholesaling segment of the huge food industry in the US gave rise to new problems. Most of the company officials were unfamiliar with that segment. Therefore they adopted the hands-off mind-set to the acquisition and depended primarily on the executives of U.S. Foodservice who were retained following the buyout to oversee the subsidiarys day-to-day operations. But the firm adopted a policy of following the same rigorous performance standards that were imposed on the companys domestic operations. The companys established goal of 15% annual growth rate in profits was used to decide upon the annual sales targets for each of the companys operating unit in Netherland and also at global locations.The units were pressurised to achieve their target and there were significant rewards on meeting the condition targets. But due to increased competition and the relatively lower profit margins within the food industry prevented many of those units from achieving the annual earnings goals that had been assigned to them.5. history IssuesDuring the fiscal 2002 audit of Royal Ahold, Deloitte Accountants uncovered evidence suggesting that the companys consolidated revenues had been inflated and overstated.When Royal Ahold invested in a foreign company, it often acquired exactly a 50 percent ownership interest in the given company. Nevertheless, Royal Ahold would fully consolidate the companys financial data in its annual financial statements.Dutch accounting rules at the time permitted a parent company to fully consolidate the financial data of a joint venture company if the parent could control that firms operations. much(prenominal) control could be evidenced by a more than 50 percent ownership interest in the joint venture company or by other means.Royal Ahold persuaded their Deloitte hearers by providing them with control letters officially signed by the officials of joint venture companies. This was accompl ished by taking the officials to their side by bribing them. Further in order to placate the companys executives, the Royal Aholds management team signed side letters addressed to the companys executives of the JV. These letters affirmed that the decision making was mutual rather than by Ahold exclusively. Thus for Dutch accounting purposes, the joint ventures operating results should have been proportionately consolidated in Aholds annual financial statements.Apart from such improper accounting, Royal Ahold was also accused of not sharing the full information among the stakeholders. It did not reveal its obligations to purchase the ownership interests of authorized investors in those companies. This was because of the default on the part of the joint venture companies to pay off their outstanding debt.Fraudulent Accounting at U.S. FoodserviceDeloitte Accountants U.S. affiliate, Deloitte Touche, audited the financial statements of U.S. Foodservice after that company was acquired b y Royal Ahold in 2000. Before the acquisition, KPMG was its auditor. Deloitte uncovered anomaly in the account books which distorted the consolidated net income of Ahold group. Subsequent investigation revealed that US food Service had misrepresented their financial statements for several years before the acquisition.The misrepresentation was because of improper accounting of the promotional allowances.Since the food wholesaling industry is intensely competitive, so the profit margins on their sales are relatively small. This led to the concept of promotional allowances (refund on purchases) being paid to food wholesalers by their suppliers or vendors.Another popular practice or rather malpractice was front-loading promotional allowances.This means accounting for all the allowances prior to its actual period.The absence of proper internal controls over promotional allowances provided an fortune for dishonest employees to overstate those allowances for accounting purposes.6. The Af termathIn 2003 when the company issued the restated financial statements for the preceding there years, the fraud was uncovered. The net income figures for the years 2000, 2001 and 2003 had been overstated by 17.6%, 32.6% and 88.1% respectively. The synonymic figures for the reported revenues were 20.8%, 18.6% and 13.8%.Soon after the disclosures were made the regulatory agencies, law authorities, investment companies and other stakeholders began seeking more information regarding the fraud. Following the public disclosure both(prenominal) Dutch and U.S. law enforcement authorities filed criminal charges against the company and several of its former executives. Upon investigation, the responsibilities for the fraud lay on the top executives of the firm. The so called professional management which replaced the Heijn-family management in the 1990s were the forces responsible for the crisis. They over estimated their growing potential and set unrealistic targets at the company level. These targets where passed on to the individual units which were pressurised to achieve these unrealistic targets by hook or by crook. This was further enhanced by a significant level of rewards attached to the meeting of targets.Role of the take stockorThough it was because of the Aholds auditor Deloitte that the crisis was finally ended, but it cane under severe criticism for letting this fraud flourish to the extent it had reached. There were many lawsuits filed against Deloitte for the shear reason of failure on their part which required them to prove their integrity. The loosely organized operating units under Ahold group made the auditing task a tough one.Regulatory BodiesThe following controversy also revolved around the inefficiency and loopholes of the present in the regulatory system. The Ahold case re-affirmed the need for cooperation among the different regulatory bodies across countries. This was evident in the charge up of rapid globalization which had taken place in the 1990s. Also the need for a common framework of regulations was further enhanced to maintain the comparability reflexion of the account books across globe.7. The VerdictThe fraud charges against the Royal Ahold corporate house were finally settled in September 2004. The verdict required the firm to pay a fine of 8 million Euros. Further after investigation the Royal Aholds former executives (CFO and CEO) were found guilty and were penalized as well as were sentenced to four to nine months of imprisonment8. The Road to Recovery programPress release is issued by Royal Ahold N.VOur highest priority now is to rebuild the value of our company. We will do everything in our power to create a company of which you can once again be proud.Reinforcing accountability, controls and corporate governanceAhold is replacing a decentralized system of internal controls that had many weaknesses with a one-company system with central reporting lines. Internal audit will not only report to the CEO , but also to the Audit Committee of the Supervisory Board. In addition, Ahold has nominated Peter Wakkie to the position of Chief Corporate Governance Counsel on the Executive Board, to serve as the parkway force behind improved internal governance policies and practices, for legal compliance as well as conformance to ethical and social standards.

Role of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

Role of the Asia peace-loving scotch Cooperation (APEC)For many countries in the global landscape, its sparingalal situation is perhaps one of the most important concerns which be duly given enough priority by the government. The scotch situation of a authoritative nation is highly indicative of the countrys performance as well as the state of living of its citizens. It is therefore a major concern among national governments to nurture the best interest of their domestic parsimony, as well as local business, in the objective if being suitable-bodied to establish a successful nation. With this, it is a priority for many countries to be proud of many glob onlyy operating geological formations and economicalal councils which will not only dish up them foster a correct trading and economic relationship with another(prenominal) nations but will also jockstrap them establish global presence. One of such groups would be the APEC or the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperati on.In this research paper, the researcher seeks to examine the APEC in general while being able to grant its background and what it does to be able to help improve the economic cast of its appendage countries. More importantly, the research will examine some of the issues in APEC and how such were overcome through the policies and recommendations from the said economic body. The impact of APEC on its member countries will also be examined to be able to provide evidence of its substantial susceptibility. This research would generally seek to debate the role of APEC in helping its member countries establish a more sustainable and stable economic situation.WHAT IS APEC?The Asia Pacific Economic Forum or APEC is a premiere forum which is primarily responsible for facilitating economic produce, cooperation, portion out, and investment in the part of the Asia Pacific. It was established to fire economic integration around the Pacific sass and with the goal of being able to sustai n economic growth especially among its 21 member nations. The members of APEC are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Peru, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, get together States, and Vietnam. An open trade and the judicature of closer economic relation are among the priorities of each member countries in the APEC. Being the primary vehicle in the region to be able to promote trade, investment, and economic cooperation, it is expected that APEC will be able to generate favorable circumstances and activities such as increased affair opportunities and the development of the local community. Since its inception in 1989 to this current time, APEC has initiated various economic activities which resulted into better business among local nations such as the carry outation of reduced tariffs.The APEC is very significant in the global economy primarily because its members, collectively, are acknowledged for being drivers of the growth of the global economy. The individual economic performance of the Asian countries and members of APEC are all seen to put one over made significant contributions in the success of the international economic situation. Another reason on why APEC is seen to be very significant in the global trading is because its member economies are representative of around 42% of the worlds population while it occupies 43% of the worlds total land area.APEC AND THE WTOBoth the APEC and the WTO moderate been active and demonstrated success in their goals of being able to help in the improvement of the performance of domestic economies by being able to relieve trading and other economic activities. Both have played active and significant roles in being able to liberalize trading. While the WTO is able to promote trade liberalization on a multilateral level, the same thing was done by APEC, only that it covers only the regional level. This is basically because the very spirit of the said economic cooperation is limited when it comes to membership size and economic significance.Although the two plaques both have the same goal of being able to liberalize trade, they have totally different approaches on how to achieve such goals. This makes the WTO to be considered as the locus of negotiations and rule-making while the APEC is considered as the consultative body. the rules of the WTO are absolute and applicable all the members of the group while the APEC is more open to dialogue and it is basically voluntary in terms of participation in their economic and trading provisions and other executions or strategic actions.THE STRATEGIC ROADMAPTo be able to publicationively reach its goals and to be able to help its member countries build a better domestic economy, APEC has established a framework which serves as its roadmap towards achieving success in its operations1. The following are the basic principles which are dinetified in the said roadmap non-discrimination comprehensiveness coinciding start, continuous process, and differentiated timetables comparability standstill transparency consistency with the World Trade Organization flexibility and cooperation.Based on these major principles, APEC is seen to operate establish on commitments which are assume to be non-binding, facilitates open dialogue, and practices equal respect fro the views of its member nations or participating countries. The strategic roadmap of APEC is influenced by the initiatives of its member countries like triad of the worlds most dynamic economies2, along with the tiger economies of the Asian continent.The goals of APEC are expected to be achieved through a balanced program of liberalization to be able to dismantle the barriers towards international economic transactions being able to facilitate investment and trade to effectively reduce divergences which are not fatalityed for domestic policies which are highl y influential of international trade technical cooperation which enables its members to share information as well as skills which are required to enhance the efficiency and availability of regional alkali and coordination of economic policies to be able to help reduce risks or uncertainties in the economy.TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITYThe succeeding section of this research will provide a discussion on some of the initiatives of the economic memorial tablet through the years since its inception3. During the annual conventions of the member countries, strategies and new goals are laid turn out in which the members perpetually work for its acquisition. Some of these things will be briefly discussed in the next paragraphs in the goal of the researcher to provide some of the initiatives of APEC towards the establishment of a more sustainable economy and nation.The Blake Island Economic VisionIn the year 1993, economic leaders from the member countries of APEC gathered in Seattle to be able to discuss the ongoing economic condition and measures in which such problems could be given resolution for the longer term. During this forum in Seattle, the major problems which have been determine include erosion of multilateral global trading system, rise of inward-looking regionalism, and fragmentation within the Asia Pacific. During this convention, a proposition was made to change the meaning of APEC to Asia Pacific Economic Community but it was not approved for such was not deemed appropriate. Furthermore, $2 million4was also released to fund the activities of the organization in the following year.The leaders, who attended the run into from APEC member countries, presented The Blake Island Economic Vision. The vision which they created is reflective of how they see the following years would be. The vision which the leaders created presented a call for an Asia Pacific which can be able to fully harness, utilize, and maximize its diverse economies while being able to have s trengthened cooperation and promoting prosperity. Another achievement of APEC in the same year is the initiative to compel for the creation of the Pacific Business Forum5and the APEC Education Program6.The Osaka Action AgendaThe Osaka Action Agenda presents two components of how APEC member countries seek to improve its economic condition and sustainability trade liberalization and facilitation and economic and technical co-operation. The trade liberalization and facilitation seeks to discus fifteen key areas which are seen to be vital in the economic activities of the member nations. These include tariffs, review of non-tariff measures, investment, procedural custom activities, rights regarding intellectual property, services, purchasing from the national government, policies affecting the competitive environment, conformance with standards, rules of origin, deregulation, implementation of the results of Uruguay Round, mobility of people in business, intermediation between disput es and conflicts, gathering of information and analysis. Furthermore, the economic and technical co-operation covers thirteen areas including small and medium scale enterprises, the development of human resource, industrial science and technology, transportation, tourism, energy, information and telecommunication, root of the local economy, promotion of trade, information about investment and trade, fisheries, agricultural technology, and conservation of the marine resource7.Manila Action Plan for APECA year later the Osaka Action Agenda was laid out, APEC identified the Manila Action Plan for APEC or MAPA which included individual and collective action plans which could be able to help to bring the Bogor goals8into reality. The individual action plans of the member countries were compiled to be able to help the group stipulate measures which would be necessary to be undertaken to bring into possibility the achievement of large-minded and open trading by 2010 or 2020. Moreover, i t was also during the same APEC conference were the members have identified high priority issues which need their immediate prudence for resolution to help sustain their economic conditions. These areas include developing human capital fostering safe and efficient capital markets strengthening the economic infrastructure harnessing technologies of the future promoting growth and improvement which is environmentally sustainable and encouraging the prosperity of small and medium scale enterprises which are significant in the collective growth of the member countries and of the region in general.Sustaining Growth, Connecting the RegionThe APEC Summit which was held in Singapore in 2009 marked the 20 years of the organization in pursuit of its objectives. During the summit, the member countries have acknowledged the fact that many things have changed since the inception of APEC although the organization still remains in its pursuit of supporting the growth and economic prosperity in the Asia Pacific region through various trading and economic activities such as free and open trade and investments. It ahs been identified that the robust policies of the organization have helped its member countries to recover from the financial crisis and economic downturn which hit the global economy. It ahs also been identified that responding to food security has been a top priority the year prior to the summit as evident by the calamities which struck its members. During the summit, the leaders also stressed the need to fight corruption, improve governance and implement transparency. These things are seen to be contributory to the improvement of domestic economies in the Pacific Rim.APEC CHALLENGESIn spite the contributions of APEC to the economic development and sustainability of the Pacific Rim, it is also confronted by a number of challenges. This calls for continued initiatives in order to improve the economic situation and to be able to help the organization establish a brighter economic condition in the future. One of the challenges identified to confront the organization is on how it is going to manage globalization as such is seen to have a significant effect on its member countries. The organization is also facing the challenge of how it will be able to effectively manage regional and bilateral free trade agreements which is very critical in the trading activities of member countries.Another challenge which should be overcome by APEC is its initiative to be able to create a free and open trading to its region. Until now, efforts to be able to help achieve such objective are seen to have remained ill defined. There is a need for APEC to realize that it needs modifications with regards to agenda-setting mechanism and procedures. The organization would need to set it eyes towards goals for the longer years and bring the goals into reality such as the achievement of free trade.This year, APEC faces a greater challenge as the deadline is already set for the achievement of the Bogor goals, which is the establishment of free trade. This is apart from other challenges which will confront the organization in succeeding years such as the threat from protectionism and lack of trust on financial institutions. To be able to recover from the financial crisis which hit the economy in the previous years, there is a great challenge not only to attract dynamic investments to boost the economic situation on the Pacific but also to bring back the trust into institutions of finance. By this way, it is acknowledged that a better business will be on its way. Furthermore, the member countries are also challenged to be able to improve its current standings on the World Banks Ease of Doing Business Index. Through this, it is anticipated that more investments will come in as a means of improving financial condition. Several APEC economies are already included in the top five an din the top 20 of the list which is a good indication of the fruitful years to come for the region. A challenge is also posed to address the growing disparities between the urban and rural regions especially with regards to levels of education, social inclusion, and health care provision.CONCLUSIONThis research does not disregard the importance of the WTO in the trading relationships and quest for the improvement of the economic situation in the Asia Pacific. However, it necessitates the significance of the role which was assumed by APEC to be able to help improve the condition of its member nations. Since its inception in 1989, the organization has helped identified measures on how to achieve greater economic visibility and improved domestic performance through free and open trade and investments among another factors. Nonetheless, twenty years after its establishment, the organization still remains to be challenged by the uncertainties of the economic situation. In the following years, it is expected that the increased importance of the role of the organization, along with WTO, will be more significant in the achievement of prosperity in the Asia Pacific.APEC has signaled the growth of a new political and economic order in the Asia Pacific region through the years. However, the uncertainties in the economic situation made it harder for the organization to achieve its goals and work its way towards prosperity and improvement of the status quo. The organization has also demonstrated positive effects not only on member nations but also towards non-member countries. The perpetual goal of APEC still remains to be the possibility of being able to establish a seamless market or a single economy for the benefit of the Asia Pacific9. The organization remains true to its commitment of helping countries be able to establish a more sustainable and economic condition. Through the years, the organization is left with shoes to stuff and expectations to fulfill on its ability to bring a free and open trading and attract investments in the re gion in order to trigger economic activity and condition on individual member countries and the Pacific Rim in general.

Death Of A Saleman. Is Willy L Essay -- essays research papers

According to Arthur Miller, &8220The tragic feeling is invoked whenever we are in the presence of a character, any character, who is ready to sacrifice his life, if need be, to secure ane thing, his sense of personal dignity. Willy Loman was willing to do that, no matter what the cost. That makes Willy Loman an excellent example of Aristotle&8217s tragic hero. Willy is far from a perfect man. He is a flawed human being, and his flaws are very much like our own. He wants what we want--dignity, success, respect, and a decent standard of living. He was not born in a high social class and he never lived in high society but he believed that his was in an upper class of society. He told himself so many times that his family and him were not average, that they were better that th...

College Admissions Essay: Learning from Helen Keller :: College Admissions Essays

Learning from Helen Keller   Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. -Helen Keller   Helen Keller was one of the most successful people in the world. She helped in so many ways to change many peoples lives. She was a very humble person despite her successes. I want to tell you about a boloney I read which touched me and shows what a special person Helen Keller was.   In the summer of 1950, a woman in Italy was asked by a neighbor to plunk down up two women at a nearby hotel. The reason why her friend, Margot Besozzi, couldnt pick them up is because her jeep was line upting repaired and that was the only car they could take to get up the very steep hill to her house. The women of course said that she would be delighted to pick them up. She asked Margot, whom should I ask for at the hotel? and Margot replied, Miss Helen Keller.   She could not suppose that she was going to pick up Helen Keller at the hotel. She was so excited that she started to dream about when she was a little girl and her father had given her the story of Helen Keller create verbally by Annie Sullivan. When she arrived at the hotel, she got out of her car to greet Helen Keller and Polly Thomson. She took Helens hand and placed her in the car with Mrs. Thomson. Then it came to her mind that they were going to be winning a very dangerous ride when they were to go up to the house. There were no sides to the car, so when she took very sharp turns, she was afraid that Helen might fall out of the car. So she warned them about the sharp and steep turns. When they got to this part of the journey, Helen started to sing, This is fun and then she cried out, Lovely When they reached the house, she helped the two women out of the car to greet Margot. She was invited to have lunch with Margot, Mrs. Thomson and Helen. They drove to the eating house and went to sit down at their table. When Helen sat down, she felt around her area so she knew where her fork, spoon, knife, and pl ate were, and sat patiently.   After they finished lunch, they were sitting around taking about Italy, and Helen was talking about where she wanted to visit.