Accounting
On September 28, 1998, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Arthur Levitt sounded the call to arms in the financial community. Levitt asked for, "immediate and coordinated action… to assure credibility and transparency" of financial reporting. Levitt’s speech emphasized the importance of clear financial reporting to those gathered at New York University. Reporting which has bowed to the pressures and tricks of earnings management. Levitt specifically addresses five of the most popular tricks used by firms to smooth earnings. Secondly, Levitt outlines an eight part action plan to recover the integrity of financial reporting in the U.S. market place. What are the basic objectives of financial reporting? Generally accepted accounting principles provide information that identifies, measures, and communicates financial information about economic entities to reasonably knowledgeable users. Information that is a source of decision making for a wide array of users, most importantly, by investors and creditors. Investors and creditors who are responsible for effective allocation of capital in our economy. If financial reporting becomes obscure and indecipherable, society loses the benefits of effective capital allocation. Nothing illustrates the importance of transparent information better than the pre-1930’s era of anything goes accounting. An era that left a chasm of misinformation in the market. A chasm that was a contributing factor to the market collapse of 1929 and the years of economic depression. An entire society suffered the repercussions of misinformation. Families, and retirees depend on the credibility of financial reporting for their futures and livelihoods. Levitt describes financial reporting as, a bond between the company and the investor which if damaged can have disastrous, long-lasting consequences. Once again, the bond is being tested. Tested by a financial community fixated on consensus earnings estimates. The pressure to achieve consensus estimates has never been so intense. The market demands consistency and punishes those who come up short. Eric Benhamou, former CEO of 3COM Corporation, learned this hard lesson over a few short weeks in 1996. Benhamou and shareholders lost $7 billion in market value when 3COM failed to achieve expectations. The pressures are a tangled web of expectations, and conflicts of interest which Levitt describes as "almost self-perpetuating." With pressures mounting, the answer from U.S. managers has been earnings management with a mix of managed expectations. March of 1997 Fortune magazine reported that for an unprecedented sixteen consecutive quarters, more S&P 500 companies have beat the consensus earnings estimate than missed them.
It began with a written press release of the preliminary financial results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 1999. According to the release, the quarterly revenue was $6.4 billion, which was later discovered to be false. Hawkins himself approved the release, knowing that the numbers were materially overstated due to the inclusion of an alleged sale contract with Data General. For the purpose of meeting the expectations of the analysts, the software sales growth was exaggerated by 20%. The revenue goals for the March 31 quarter were $120 million, which both Hawkins and Albert Bergonzi, HBOC's Chief Operation Officer knew were very hard to be met.
As he recounts in "Doing What Matters," Mr. Kilts was fortunate to have a wise board that included Warren Buffett and Henry Kravis. Mr. Kilts says that in Mr. Buffett's view, unrealistic earnings estimates were the problem. Mr. Buffett made his opinion known "both at Gillette board meetings and in public comments," Mr. Kilts writes, quoting him saying: "For a major corporation to predict that its per share earnings will grow over the long term at, say, 15 percent annually, is to court trouble." And: "Managers that always promise to 'make the numbers' will at some point be tempted to 'make up' the numbers.
Throughout the past several years major corporate scandals have rocked the economy and hurt investor confidence. The largest bankruptcies in history have resulted from greedy executives that “cook the books” to gain the numbers they want. These scandals typically involve complex methods for misusing or misdirecting funds, overstating revenues, understating expenses, overstating the value of assets or underreporting of liabilities, sometimes with the cooperation of officials in other corporations (Medura 1-3). In response to the increasing number of scandals the US government amended the Sarbanes Oxley act of 2002 to mitigate these problems. Sarbanes Oxley has extensive regulations that hold the CEO and top executives responsible for the numbers they report but problems still occur. To ensure proper accounting standards have been used Sarbanes Oxley also requires that public companies be audited by accounting firms (Livingstone). The problem is that the accounting firms are also public companies that also have to look after their bottom line while still remaining objective with the corporations they audit. When an accounting firm is hired the company that hired them has the power in the relationship. When the company has the power they can bully the firm into doing what they tell them to do. The accounting firm then loses its objectivity and independence making their job ineffective and not accomplishing their goal of honest accounting (Gerard). Their have been 379 convictions of fraud to date, and 3 to 6 new cases opening per month. The problem has clearly not been solved (Ulinski).
6. "Organic Farming." US Environmental Protection Agency. 29 July 2009. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. .
“He’s a nice fella,’ said Slim. “Guy don’t need no sense to be a nice fella. Seems to me sometimes it jus’ works the other way around. Take a real smart guy and he ain’t hardly ever a nice fella.” (Steinbeck 40) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck takes place in Soledad, California. It is about two men, George Milton and Lennie Small, who try to make peace and a living on a ranch. Not only does Lennie have an impairment, most of the characters do. It might not be a mental impairment, such as Lennie’s, though. It could be a physical impairment too. A few examples of characters with physical impairments are George, Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks.
In India and World Civilizations by D.P. Singhal, the theme is “the cross-fertilization of cultures and the resultig new development” (Embree 451). The author uses artifacts from Mohejodaro and Yucatan, theories of Parmenides, and the revenue system of Ptolemaic Egypt (Embree 451). Singhal discusses the Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire and how it influenced artistic creativity in India. Singhal rejects the idea of Hellenistic and Roman art having any influence on Indian art. Despite having easy access to Christian sources, there isn’t any evidence of India being influenced by Christian thought, according to Singhal.
Many of us are familiar with the country of Rwanda. When the Rwandan country is brought up, the Rwandan genocides are the first thing that come to many people’s minds. However, the country had to start somewhere to lead up to this horrible event. The main reason why this was happening was due to poverty. Poverty is a significant issue in developing countries. Rwanda is a country that struggles with hunger and poverty.
Some teachers only think of summative assessments that are used for reporting grades. When used this way, assessments do not lead to learning. If teachers will effectively use formative assessments to provide students with timely feedback and individualize instruction based on assessment feedback, it will result in enhanced learning (Brink & Bartz, 2017). In order for this to happen schools need to develop a culture of formative assessment. Teachers need to be trained in the use of formative assessments and administration will need to cultivate this change in culture (Brink & Bartz,
When it comes to immigrants, it is clear to distinguish that they can be portrayed in a wrongful way. Immigrants can be detected to be criminals, rapist, having low income, and etc. Immigrants are also viewed as individuals that are taking jobs away from U.S. Citizens, which is not the case. I believe that immigrants work just as hard or even harder to acquire these jobs so that they can support their families. Therefore, countless immigrants risk their life coming to America so that they can have that better life for their families. “Illegal aliens come to the United States to take jobs that offer them greater opportunity, and they are often welcomed by U.S. employers who are able to hire them for wages lower than they would have to pay to
Schofield (2014) researches the difference between public and private company financial reporting. For instance, a private company has fewer consumers reviewing their financial statements, whereas public companies could have multiple consumers reviewing financial statements. In addition, private companies typically have less specialized accounting personnel, whereas public companies will have several. Lastly, Schofield (2014), reviewed the number of amendments proposed and finalized to help benefit private companies financial reporting.
Summative assessments are used to evaluate students learning at the completion of a specific instructional period, usually at the end of a unit, course, semester, program, or school year. Formative assessment(FA) is generally carried out throughout the learning process. In an educational system, formative assessment might be a teacher (or peer) or the learner, providing feedback on a student's work and would not necessarily be used for grading purposes. Formative assessments can take the form of diagnostic, standardized tests, quizzes, oral question, or draft work. Formative assessments are carried out concurrently with instructions and the result may count. In the learning process formative assessment is exceptional than summative assessment and it helps the students to identify their understanding about the subject and it gives chance to improve. In my view FA is ineluctable in the learning process, that allow the student and educator to form a more detailed understanding of the student’s abilities, which can be used to inform remediation, reteaching and instructional strategy. ( http://www.nctm.org/Research-and-Advocacy/research-brief-and-clips/Benefits-of-Formative-Assessment/
Formative assessment is a collection of practices that lead to some action that improves learning. It is the use of the information gathered, and how it is used to adjust teaching and learning that makes it formative. A study by Black and William (1998a, 1998b) revealed that the largest achievement gains used classroom discussions, classroom tasks, and homework to determine student learning and the action that would be taken to improve learning and/or correct misunderstandings, descriptive feedback with guidance, and students developing self- and peer-assessment skills. Formative assessments are a powerful tool for teachers and students alike. Some examples of formative assessment include summarizing activities, questioning, conferences, and response journals (Chappuis, 2009). Another type of assessment is summative assessment. Summative assessment provides evidence of student achievement for the purpose of making a judgment about student competence or program effectiveness. It is also used to determine how much students have learned at a particular time such as at the end of a nine
Organic agriculture would be capable of maintaining a growing population if climate change was not an issue. Changes to the human diet and the use of legumes in fertilization would improve organic agriculture’s capacity to feed the growing food population. Organic agriculture is more sustainable and can effectively feed a growing population for years to come. The problem that lies in the way of organic agriculture's success is man’s desire for more food and greenhouse gas emissions as a result of people. To sustain more people it is not so much that agriculture must be changed to a growing population, but it is people who must adapt.
Consumers purchase organically labeled produce, and steer away from produce that is sprayed with pesticides. We do this because we are led to believe that buying organic is the healthiest, and the safest food option, for the environment and us. Although it is true that organic produce is good, the nutrient content is no better than the one sprayed with pesticides. What people don’t know is that organic produce is sprayed with natural pesticides that are just as toxic as synthetic ones and the natural pesticides used are still bad for the environment. Organic labeled products are not fitting for the consumer because of these reasons; its residue is just as toxic as its synthetic counterparts, and it has harmful
In their 1998(a) paper, Black and Wiliam refer to assessment as any activity undertaken by teachers or students to provide evidence of the progress in learning. There are two types of assessment, summative and formative. Summative assessment is a clear method in which to record a pupil’s progress. This form of assessment is usually carried out after a certain period of time, usually in the form of an exam, to determine how well a pupil has understood the required information and they are then assigned a grade. Formative assessment, on the other hand, focuses on assessing pupils throughout the learning process so that teachers can make any possible changes to the teaching methods being used and can provide pupils with the necessary feedback