write one page Concise Paper with single-space

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Attend Ethics even (California time 4/18 5:00PM-6:15PM)

Event Link here: https://cob.sfsu.edu/sustainable-center/event/accountant-who-beat-halliburton

**And write one page Concise Paper with single-space

The contents of a paper reflecting viewpoints of yours are neither debated nor deducted. Your opinions and judgements are fully respected. When I read your paper, I intently listen to your talk, and enjoy it, but I grade your paper as objectively as possible, using my Instructor’s Checklist in the course SYLLABUS that is reproduced below. The format, style, and length limit must follow the Writing a Concise Paper guidelines, below listed.

Papers get DEDUCTIONS most frequently for NOT following the Checklist number 1 below. When your paper does not use “I”, “my” often, you certainly get deducted. Not following other items [2 -7] also get deducted. My grading comments often include a ? mark or a Letter X followed by the Checklist number not  followed, for example, X1 or ?1 tells your paper is devoid of using “I” and “my”.

1.   Use Active Voice.  Use “I” often.  Cite sources at least 1 or more, while letting them speak.

2.   Cite sources fully, integrating them in your writing.  Avoid: It is said . . . .  Instead let the speaker come alive: Mr. Menedez said, “ .  .  .  . ”  I am interested in what he said.

3.  Include:  The paper’s TITLE that tells the specific, concrete focus of your interest. Avoid a general, broad topic.

1st paragraph.  Describe, first, the event that you attended, saying: “I attended . . . ” to introduce the paper.

2nd paragraph. The data gathered, citing the presenter(s) and discussant(s). Analysis, discussion, and findings in your own words, using “I” or “My” here.

3rd paragraph.  A concise, yet concrete summary of your paper and your conclusions, again using “I” or “My” here.

4.   Your paper must be single spaced, up to 1 page, Do not exceed 1 page, single-spaced.

Provide general discussion on predetermined variable overhead criterion and its possible dependence on the activity for which it is used.

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Provide general discussion on predetermined variable overhead criterion and its possible dependence on the activity for which it is used. Provide a variable costing income statement in which variable overhead is divided among different activities, and that each activity has its own predetermined variable overhead criterion.

The following is a partially completed lower section of a departmental expense allocation for Cozy Bookstore. It reports the total amounts of direct and indirect expenses allocated to its five (5) departments. Allocate the expenses of the two service departments (advertising and purchasing) to the three operating departments and provide the complete income statement.

Advertising and purchasing department expenses are allocated to operating departments on the basis of dollar sales and purchase orders, respectively. Information about the allocation bases for the three operating departments follows.

Phoenix Company’s 2019 master budget included the following fixed budget report. It is based on an expected production and sales volume of 15,000 units.

  • Classify all items listed in the fixed budget as variable or fixed.
  • Also determine their amounts per unit or their amounts for the year, as appropriate.
  • Identify the unit variable costs in the format of variable costing, according to your findings in part a
  • Organize a template for variable costing income statements in which the sales volume is a variable.
  • Test your template for 15,000 units sales volume to see if you get the same income as stated above
  • Find the breakeven point and provide the income statement at break even
  • Provide income statement at sales volume 12,000, 14,000, 16,000, and 18,000

We explored the GSK case and briefly looked into the whistleblower program.  This “collab homework” will look further into the whistleblower program and the roles of governance and internal control in it.

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We explored the GSK case and briefly looked into the whistleblower program.  This “collab homework” will look further into the whistleblower program and the roles of governance and internal control in it.

You may use the following questions as a guide for your work:

What is a whistle blower program?

What protections are available to whistle blowers? (Federal level? State level?)

Required:

– Write a short report (2 pages, single space) that address all the points above.

Complete the Challenge Phase Simulation Assignment 

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Complete the Challenge Phase Simulation Assignment

I wanted to give you a few additional tips when starting the Challenge Phase Assignment.

When you open the Monthly Profit Report change the month to August so that you are using a full month of data to do the benchmarking.

A note that in August the Sales both in Rooms and Restaurant were almost 50% below budget so you will have to make fairly extensive cuts to wages to achieve the required result.

Make sure when you are copying your change forward that you copy for 5 weeks to impact the whole month of September and when you rerun the sim that you run it until September 30th.

I apologize for the confusion of the $210,000 corporate credit! I have no clue why they included this; it just makes the sim unclear

What was the corporate fraud?

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A) 1 page duble-space

In addition to your corporate scandal research, use the internet to research corporate fraud and report to the discussion board of the following:

1. What was the corporate fraud?

2. What kind of fraud is it? (corporate fraud against customer? against employees?)

3. What was the management action after the fraud was discovered?

B) Use the module 1 answer the question (1 page duble-space)

Senior management and board considerations of what happened

COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN

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P r e p a r e d F o r : D i c k G r e g e r s o n “ U n i v e r s e 1 , C o m p a n y 4 ”

B U S 4 9 7 0 C a l i f o r n i a S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y , L o s A n g e l e s

2 YEAR PLAN C O M P A N Y 4

 

 

Table of Contents

COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN

Introduction………………………………………………………………………. 2 Overview Company History Vision Mission

Organization…………………………………………………………………….. 3 Our Team

Industry Analysis ……………………………………………………………….. 5 External Analysis………………………………………………………………. 7

Company Analysis: Strategy, Resources, and Financial Statement Analysis. Market Outlook…………………………………………………………………… 11 SWOT Analysis ……………………………………………………………. 12

Strengths Market Share Prices Getting into the Opponent’s Mind

Weaknesses……………………………………………………………. 14 Expenditures COGS vs. Revenue

Opportunities………………………………………………………… 15 Meet Customers Preferences Attracting New Investors

Threats ……………………………………………………………. 15 New Entrants Inflation

Strategies For Years 5 and 6 ………………………………………………………. 16 Mission Strategy and Objectives

Strategy Implementation. How Are We Going to Get there? ………………….. 17 Financial Statement Projections ……………………………………………………… 17 Analysis of Financial Statement Projections ……………………………………………… 19

1

 

 

Introduction Overview

The following two-year plan was created with the goal of providing an overview of our company

to our shareholders and potential investors. This two-year plan was created with the objective of

giving an outline of what Company 4 expects to accomplish over the following two years, year five

and year six. This plan will include a summary of the company’s organizational structure as well as

the individual profiles and duties of the teams. Along with our goals and objectives, we will also

present an industry analysis. The industry analysis will explain how Company 4 trends and

performance compare to industry averages for revenue, net income, return on assets, return on

equity, and stock price.

Company History

After a few long semesters of online learning, Company 4 was established, in this process other

companies were established as well, creating competition in the market. The company slowly

started to rise, both in customers and profits, along with its technology. Company 4 has the ability

of having business across some nations, including Europe, Asia and the U.S. Year after year the

company has been evolving, adding more features to it’s technology and expanding its

manufacturing process. Having a great team, the company expects to grow even more, creating

more profit for its shareholders.

Vision

The main objective of this report is to show our current shareholders and potential investors our

progress in the past 4 years, and our future goals and predictions for the years to come. Our main

goal is to provide our customers the latest technology and to deliver the best customer service.

Mission

From the beginning our main goal has been to provide a product across nations that is both

accessible and keeps up with the latest technology. Our company is centralized on the customer’s

demands and to dispense out products at a convenient cost.

COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN 2

 

 

ORGANIZATION O U R T E A M

KATHERINE VIELMAN

JASMINE MONCADA

My name is Katherine Vielman, this is my last semester at CSULA and I will be majoring in

Business Administration with an emphasis in Human Resources. It is a great honor to be a first

generation Latina to graduate. My goal is to become an HR coordinator for a company. According

to the Gallup institute one of my main strengths is discipline, and I hope this asset will help me

achieve my future goals.

My name is Jasmine Moncada and I’m in my senior year. My major is in Business

Administration with an emphasis in Human Resources. The reason why I picked Human Resources

is because I love to help people and I feel that that’s what the Human Resources department does.

Help employees with anything they need. My main goal in my career is to grow in my HR career. I

am currently working as a Human Resources Coordinator and want to grow and learn from all the

departments in my organization. For instance, I would like to work on Employee Relations, Leaves,

and just anything that can help me grow in my career.

CLAUDIA A. GARCIA Hello I am Claudia Alejandra Garcia. I am currently completing my last semester of undergrad

here at California State University, Los Angeles. My major has been Business Administration with

an emphasis in Statistics and Economics. Once I complete this semester I plan to continue on and

complete a MBA degree. I would like to work in Venture Capitals and Social Ventures, so I will

likely complete an extension program in NonProfit Management. I plan to work with marginalized

communities and help them take advantage of the opportunities Venture Capitals can offer, since

such a small percentage of these funds go to marginalized communities. I contributed to our future

Mission, Strategy and Objectives, as well as working on the appearance of the document.

COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN 3

 

 

My name is Sandra Sevilla and I am a senior at Cal State LA. I am majoring in business

management with an emphasis in healthcare administration. One day I would like to work as an

administrator at a children’s hospital or clinic. I currently spend a lot of my free time working on

flyers and instagram posts for a small dessert business. I believe that the skills I’ve acquired at this

job would lead me to be successful as a marketing manager as well. I’m not sure what job I’ll end

up having but I hope to be happy with whatever it is.

My name is Suren Maroutian and my major is Business Administration with an emphasis in

Marketing. I am currently a Senior at Cal State LA. My last semester will be Summer of 2022. My

goal is to find an internship for next semester and grow with that company. I would like to work

for a company like Walt Disney where I can find a marketing-entry position, and end up traveling

around the country. I am the youngest of 3 siblings, and the first one in my family to graduate

from a university.

Our team tries to work in a collective way. We meet twice a week, and before our meetings we

have reviewed the market for the forecast, revise our data compared to the other competitors, and

are ready to discuss our ideas and opinions. Our group tried this method from the beginning, and

we decided that it was the best approach for the decision making. The reason we liked this method

is because we are able to see the problems as a whole group, if someone brings up a new idea

everyone can share their opinion and point out possible problems. It also works for us because it

brings a broader perspective in terms of diversity of knowledge, considering that everyone has

different majors, we are able to explain to our team members information that is not generally

known.

OLIVIA WILSON

My name is Qiwen(Rita) Luo, my major is accounting. I am expected to graduate in Spring

2023. After graduation, I would like to be a commercial loan officer in the banking industry. I like

learning new things and working at a fast pace. Being an underwriter is a key person in the

process, the underwriter has to make an important decision which impacts many different people. I

want to be the person who can help people make their dreams come true.

QIWEN(RITA) LUO

SANDRA SEVILLA

SUREN MAROUTIAN

 

COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN 4

O U R T E A M

 

 

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Technology has been advancing over the years, the cellular market is one of them, and cellular

networks have been very competitive from the start. Our company is competing with five other firms

in the industry of cellular mobile network with different sales, marketing, and features from our

products. Technology has advanced so quickly that cellular phones started off by being a huge phone

that would only make phone calls. Currently cellular phones are touch screens, smaller, faster, and

there is so much you can do with them. This depicts how fast technology can grow, and our company

has the vision of advancing even further.

By definition bargaining power refers to suppliers who can put pressure on an organization by

raising their prices, lowering their quality or reducing the availability of their products. The

bargaining power is high when switching costs of buyers is high, threat of forward integration is

high, and switching costs of suppliers are low. On the other hand, the bargaining power is low when

switching costs of buyers are low, threat of forward integration is low, and switching costs of

suppliers are high. There are many different types of suppliers such as manufacturers and vendors,

distributors and wholesalers, independent suppliers, importers and exporters, and drop shippers. Our

company has faced some issues with our suppliers, specially during the war in Oilistan, where prices

increased due to the shortage of oil.

The main markets Company 4 focuses on is the U.S, Asia, and Europe. One thing our company

came to realize is that there are many factors that can produce changes in the market. At the

beginning we had the same strategy for all 3 markets, but once we got the results for Y1 and Y2 we

noticed that we needed to change our strategy and put our focus in each market individually rather

than all 3 markets as a whole. There has been up and downs in demand for our product. The

following chart depicts the percentages our company has estimated each year for each market.

COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN 5

 

 

At the moment, the demand is not doing so well due to news about the headsets exploding in an

airplane. We are predicting that for this coming year (Y5) the demand will be much improved. We

predicted for the demand in the U.S to be at 20%, Since Asia is one of the markets that has the

highest demand, we predicted it to be at 40%, finally, we predicted Europe’s demand to be at 15%.

There are many events that can happen in each country that we don’t have control over and those

events can and will stop the manufacturing and distribution temporarily or permanently. For

example, another event like the Civil war can occur, causing manufacturing and distribution to stop.

These estimates play a big role because it is very important for the company to produce enough

products and have the newest technologies and features to keep competing in the market.

Analyzing and understanding how the industry is doing in each region and globally is crucial for

success. In Y3, the total sales revenue for the company was $1,763,276. Between the United States,

Asia, and Europe, Asia did the best with a sales revenue of $849,699. The total amount of units sold

was 20,217 with tech 1 consisting of 70.8% and tech 2 of 29.2%. Europe did the worst with only

$511,064; there were 10,265 units sold with tech one consisting of 38.63% and tech 2 with 61.37%.

The average unit production cost was 64 USD for tech 1 and 122 USD for tech 2. The total profit for

the company in Y3 was $255,792. The return on equity (ROE) was 6.34%., higher than some

competitors but significantly lower than others’. The company had 46,000 shares and the share price

was $203.19.

 

6COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

 

 

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

COMPANY ANALYSIS: STRATEGY, RESOURCES AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS.

In Y4, the company’s total sales revenue was $1,752,084, about $11,000 less than the year prior.

Higher production costs and expenses were some of the contributors that led to this decrease. Asia

again sold the most units, with a total of 18,992. Tech 1 made up 68.54% or about 13,017 units, tech

2 made up 29.41% or about 5585 units, and tech 3 only 2.06%, or 391 units. The United States and

Europe struggled, only selling about 10,000 units each. The average production cost for tech 1 was

$61, down $3 from Y3, $121 for tech 2, down $1 from Y3, and $125 for tech 3. The total profit for

the year was $161,047, down $94,745 from the prior year. The ROE was 4.34%, down 2% from Y3.

There were 45,700 shares, down 300 from Y3, and the ending share price was $231.94, up $28.75

from the year prior.

EXTERNAL ANALYSIS

As can be seen in the below table, all companies have similar technologies sold in the market,

only Technology 1 and Technology 2 in the whole market in Y3. Asia Market had the highest

number of units sold among the three major market areas in Y3 and Y4; however, the total number

of units sold decreased from 20,217 units to 18,992 units in Y3 and Y4 because of a suspicious case

regarding an airplane crash in southern China may cause by headset explosion. This event caused

the most negative impact on the demand for new headsets in Asia market. In Y4, People in USA and

Europe markets were more interested in Technology 2, USA market had 52.83% of total units sold,

and Europe Market had 57.87% of total units sold; in addition, new technology 3 had been launched

in Asia and Europe market by company 5.

7COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN

 

 

Competition is intense among existing companies. Although there is not much difference in

their products, companies try to occupy more market shares by changing the number of features and

selling prices. One of the competitors that has the stablest global market shares is Company 1, they

have been occupied by 20.47%% market shares in Y3 and 20.95% in Y4. Our company’s global

market share grew from 15.46% to 17.08% in Y3 and Y4.

8COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN

 

 

Internal Analysis

In order to expand the company business, our company pursued to increase internal capacity

allocation for product 1 and product 2 in the Asia and USA market by installing new plants in the

USA and Asia. With increasing popularity of Technology 1 and Technology 2, companies that have

lower selling price and more features would occupy more market shares. We still need to work on

gaining larger market share and providing better return to stakeholders.

Global market share of three market areas’ had been increased from Y3 to Y4. Especially

in Asia and European markets. Company 4 managed to expand the US market share from

13.94% to 13.98% in Y3 and in Y4. In the Asia market, market share increased by 2.13%

from 14.73%. Europe market share had the highest percentage at 20.49% in Y4.

9COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN

 

 

10COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN

 

 

An overview of Company 4’s sales revenue in Y3 and Y 4, we had stable results ( Y3

$1,763,276, Y4 $1,752,084). The main sales that contributed to this result took place in Asia,

where there were 6,179 units sold. During Y3 and Y4, the Tec 1 sales in the US market decreased

from $707k units to 683k units. We decreased our price by $35 dollars per unit in Y4 while

retaining the same number of features, on the other hand, our competitors increased features and

decreased prices, which is why they took sales away from us. There was a downtrend profit

performance from $255,792 to $161,047 in Y3 and Y4. There were two main challenges that

caused the loss in Y4: Firstly, the decrease in sales revenue, secondly, the high R&D costs,

promotion and administration cost.

Market Outlook

The market has been a bit of a roller coaster for our product. The market outlook has been

extremely helpful to determine our decisions in each round, and has helped us to have an idea of

how the environment is doing, and shape our decisions. Our group spends a reasonable amount of

time going over the market outlook, and discussing possible outcomes of the events happening and

possible scenarios that might happen. We believe that this portion of the platform is very

interesting because it sets the rules for our decisions and how they will be determined. For

instance, during round 3, our group was divided on the strategy that we were going to take, some

group members predicted that the market growth was going to increase because other companies

were not going to invest in new technology since the war erupted in Oilistan. The other team

members wanted to invest in new technologies because they thought the competition was going to

hold on to new technology because of the war. We predicted that the demand in market for Y5 and

Y6 is going to increase, because the other companies will increase competition.

11COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN

 

 

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

SWOT ANALYSIS 12

Strengths

Market share

Market share is one of the key measures used by companies to evaluate how well they are

performing in comparison to competitors. It is a percentage of all sales by all competitors’ in any

particular market. Company 4, we weighed market share as one of the top factors at 17% because

we anticipate that our low cost will allow us to gain a firm position in the market. We conducted

market research in order to continue to satisfy our customers and change our product as demand

changes. For instance, it is critical to be able to give the quality and features that consumers are

looking for in order to have the largest market share. To maximize sales, we analyzed our

competitors’ pricing and features and reduced our costs while increasing our features. And, we are

continually striving to increase our market share by satisfying the needs of our customers. We

expect our market share to grow as we release new features and keep our costs lower than our

competitors. Importantly, in year four, we had the highest market share of 17.08 percent, and in

year one, we had the fourth largest market share. Our market share steadily grows year after year.

Furthermore, we anticipate that our consumers will desire the most features at the lowest

possible cost. We intend for our product to be less expensive than that of our competitors. Every

round, we introduced more and more features in order to distinguish our company. In year two,

our sales were at an all time higher than our other years. Also, we expect that our customers will

want more, and by providing more features, we keep them loyal to our company because they

know we will bring the next big thing at a lower cost.

COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN

 

 

13

Our goal at Company 4 was to focus on price to sell because it has a direct impact on the

company’s success. For example, Company 4 analyzed prices quarterly to ensure that they

reflected cost dynamics, market demand, response to the competition, and profitability goals to

ensure sales. Our price was determined by analyzing the competition and remaining competitive in

the market by offering more features at a lower cost. Based on the findings, our company will be

50 dollars to 100 dollars less affordable than the market average. Our cash flow was cumulatively

positive, and the market reacted positively to the low pricing we maintained throughout the sixth

year. Although we purposefully had lower prices than our competitors throughout the business

cycle, our increments, as applicable, have allowed us to have financial flexibility as well as

business success.

COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN

Prices

 

 

14

Getting into the Opponent’s Mind

Anticipating our competitors’ next move is a method of making future predictions based on

previous and present facts, most commonly through trend analysis. Company 4 spent time

analyzing patterns in pricing, marketing, spending, unit production, and units sold. As a result, we

were able to correctly forecast our competitors’ next move, such as the amount of features our

competitors will have in the following year, and we were able to add a feature while lowering our

costs. In addition, the precision of this form of forecasting was quite beneficial to our organization

in terms of determined sales data. The market is determined by the availability of the thing you

wish to sell. Our forecasting was good enough that we did not overproduce or run out of product

while producing the correct amount. This strategy, taken as a whole, enables us to sell products to

consumers and acquire market share. Our experts double-checked the data to eliminate space for

error and achieve a competitive advantage in the company as a whole.

Weakness

Expenditures

Expenditures are the amounts of money spent to keep Company 4 operating efficiently. Although

many businesses attempt to keep costs low, at Company 4 we recognize that investing in certain

areas will provide positive outcomes. For example, we invested extensively in R&D, advertising,

and production as examples of recurring high expenditures. We experienced significantly higher

expenses in those areas as we addressed market needs, resulting in decreased net income in year

1.Expenses are perceived as a liability since we believed we must invest in particular areas to

achieve financial success, despite the fact that our revenue could be larger if we priced our

products competitively.

COGS vs. Revenue

Company 4, maintains committed to keeping our products at a lower price than the competitors.

However, this is a weakness because the incoming revenue could be significantly higher. Despite

the fact that we have gained market share, we believe that this will provide us an advantage in

selling more products in the long term. Our revenue vs. CoGs ratio may be more significant. For

instance, our price increases will be determined by the competition. The more they price their

products, the greater the chance for Company 4. to raise while being slightly below their amounts.

COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN

 

 

15

Opportunities

Meet consumers preferences

A consumer preference indicates how a customer rates or prefers one technology over another.

Company 4 invests in raw data in order to better understand our consumers’ preferences. For

example, in Asia, we invest more on Tech 1 since our revenues are significantly larger.

Furthermore, in Europe, we focused on Tech 2 because it demonstrated that our consumers were

engaged. Meeting the needs of our Asian and European customers gave us an advantage because

our competitors loved it and we are the only company giving such high-end features.

Attracting new investors

Company 4 focuses on raising capital to demonstrate to potential new investors that we are worth

investing in. Despite the fact that we distinguish ourselves by offering lower prices, we were able

to capture greater market share by the end of the year 4. As previously stated, our net income

fluctuates as we invest in expanding our business. If our company maintains its current uniqueness

trend and expands, we will be able to attract a large number of investors, allowing us to develop

even further.

Threats

New Entrants

New entrants to the market may represent a threat to Company 4. As a low-cost company, a

company may find it easy to follow our business strategy and immediately adopt an aggressive

growth model. New entries will increase the industry’s competitive rivalry. For instance, as new

entrants begin to gain customers in order to acquire market share, existing competitors such as

Company 4 will be put at risk because margins will be reduced across the industry.

Inflation

Inflation is a significant factor to consider for any company because changes are unpredictable.

For example, it varied dramatically between years 3 and 4. Cash flow is influenced by price

discrepancies. Because our plants are located in different places, our production costs, labor costs,

and overall operations vary. Company 4 will avoid making pricing modifications purely due to

inflation, despite the fact that this is a danger because we must fulfill production needs as well as

other expenses without negatively impacting our market share.

COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN

 

 

STRATEGIES FOR YEARS 5 AND 6

MISSION, STRATEGY AND OBJECTIVES.

16

MISSION STATEMENT

We aim to create a technologically advanced phone that will keep people around the world

connected in a sustainable and accessible way in the United States, Asia, and in Europe. We will

continue to be a competitor in the affordable phone market.

STRATEGY

We will continue striving for the lowest cost phones, making advanced technology accessible

to all. Our strategy for the years to come will include raising our market shares through expansion

into new technologies introducing tech 3 into the Asian and European markets to begin with because

of the increased forecast coverage. We will do our best to maximize our in-house manufacturing to

ensure our productions are low, we will also increase our plants overseas for the same reason.

OBJECTIVES

Market Standing Market Shares, Customer Satisfaction, Product range

Innovation New Products and features, better processing, technology

Productivity Optimize our resources and focus on keeping selling price low while maximizing

shareholder return

Our expectations for the upcoming year is to be even more competitive in how accessible we

make our phones to all. We want to lead in placing prices lower than others.

We will use our high equity in cash to develop better infrastructure to maximize our in house

manufacturing and lower the prices of our products by doing this. Our strategy for the years to come

will include raising our market shares through expansion into new technologies introducing tech 3

into the Asian and European markets to begin with because of the increased forecast coverage. We

will do our best to maximize our in-house manufacturing to ensure our productions are low, we will

also increase our plants overseas for the same reason.

COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN

 

 

STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION. HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET THERE?

COMPANY : 2 YEAR PLAN 17

While brainstorming, our group came to the realization that we have been making some

mistakes. One of our strategies was to compare the results of other companies, we would compare

the numbers from the company that had the lowest earnings and the one with the highest earnings,

and our decisions would fall somewhat in the middle. However, we are ready to change our strategy.

As a group we decided that we will try to set up the prices in the market, so we don’t have to adapt

to the prices set by other companies in order to stay in competition. For these coming years, our

main goal as a company is to develop products with more features and launch them into the market

before the other teams. The reason for this is that we want to obtain market share before the

competition. Previously we have been setting the prices accordingly to what they have, but we are

aiming at setting the prices first ourselves.

Another plan we would like to implement is to get rid of Tech 1 for this coming round, because

the production costs are actually affecting us more than helping. With this capital we plan to invest

more on Tech 4, to have a headstart in the market. We are yet to decide if we will be bringing back

Tech 1 once the demand increases for it.

STRATEGIES FOR YEARS 5 AND 6

FINANCIAL STATEMENT PROJECTIONS Our company mainly utilized the defensive strategy; this reduced the risk and thus the potential

for losses. This approach offered better alternatives to capture a wider market. In the first three

years, Our company performed steadily, gaining a small percentage of market share compared to our

competitors because our prices are higher compared to other competitors’ prices. Basically, there

were two production facilities, one in the USA and the other in Asia. We have been investing in

more plants in a market base in the Asian market, which has favorably low payments to workers.

New technologies are emerging in the market, such as Technology 3 and Technology 4. These

indicate that customer preferences are shifting towards newer technology-based phones. Starting

from Y5 the forecast market growth in Asia appears to be higher than the growth of the same

products in the US and Europe. With advanced technology, it provides a better competitive

advantage against other businesses.

STRATEGIES FOR YEARS 5 AND 6

 

 

We are planning to expand our business and build a new strategy to meet the needs of our

customers, which validates depending on the market segments they are in. In Europe, people there

are more likely to be attracted to phones which have more features and new technology. Thus

adding more features and developing Tec 4 will build up customers’ loyalty, we will provide the

most developed technology at a relatively high price. In Asia, we are still using a low-cost strategy

because customers in Asia market are very careful about paying high amounts of money on

technologies, we are planning to build new plants in Asia for the Y5 and Y6. These will help us in

expanding the production lines and increasing our sales capacity. In the US market, we will

provide the latest technologie

Cambridge Analytica and Facebook Scandal

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Acct 551- Group 3 Modul 1

Cambridge Analytica and Facebook Scandal

Maria Bonilla, Voratitt Chunharuckchot, Si Yu Wang,

Peiqi Zhang, Bayisa Feye

 

 

Q1 Background on Cambridge Analytica

Cambrian Analytica was a London, England based marketing firm that was founded in 2013. Cambridge Analytica was an affiliate of the SCL Group, which is a research and strategic communication company. With five locations all over, including New York, Washington, London, Brazil, and Malaysia. Their focus is on providing research and data analytics to create advertisements to their clients, more specifically “data-driven campaigning and marketing services” for political campaigns (Bloomberg.com). On their website it even says:

“At Cambridge Analytica we use data modeling and psychographic profiling to grow audiences, identify key influencers, and connect with people in ways that move them to action. Our unique data sets and unparalleled modeling techniques help organizations across America build better relationships with their target audience across all media platforms.” (cambridgeanalytica.org)

It was originally created to focus on the U.S. election. One of the key investors in the company was Robert Mercer and Steve Bannon. Both who were republican and key players in President Donald Trump. It gained quick success with 25 years of expertise in the area. However, their success was short-lived after their scandal with Facebook. The company was defunct as of May 1, 2018. Before the downfall of the company however, Emerdata was formed in 2017 to be successor to Cambridge Analytica. This is where most people moved to work following the scandal.

Q2 What happened? (Facts of the case and the scandal)

In 2018, the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal was exposed. The scandal spans many years with the British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica was able to collect personal data belonging to millions of Facebook users without their permission and the data was then used for political advertising by Donald Trump’s campaign.

The data was collected with the use of a Facebook app called “This Is Your Digital Life”, developed in 2013, by data scientist Aleksandr Kogan and his company Global Science Research. The app contains a series of quiz questions, and the users were required to log in or sign up for Facebook, giving Kogan access to the user’s personal data such as profile, birth date, and location. With the access, Kogan was able to build psychological profiles on users, and collected not only the personal data of the Facebook users, but also the data of the Facebook friends of anyone who took the quiz via Facebook’s loophole as well. In the end, Kogan’s app was able to collect up to 87 million Facebook user profiles. After that, Cambridge Analytica used and sold the data to provide analytical assistance to the 2016 presidential campaigns of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.

 

 

In 2018, information about the scandal was exposed by Christopher Wylie, a former Cambridge Analytica employee, in interviews with The Guardian and The New York Times. As a result, the Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg was questioned, and the Facebook stock price dropped by 17%. Furthermore, in response to the violation, Zuckerberg said that the data of the app Facebook was not breached, as no passwords were stolen, or any systems were infiltrated. Rather, it was a violation of the terms of service as Facebook’s policy clearly prohibited the selling of data collected with this method, but Cambridge Analytica still sold the data anyway. Moreover, Mark Zuckerberg also wrote in a response to this scandal, “I’ve been working to understand exactly what happened and how to make sure this doesn’t happen again. The good news is that the most important actions to prevent this from happening again today we have already taken years ago. But we also made mistakes, there’s more to do, and we need to step up and do it.”

After Facebook apologized for their role in the data harvesting and their CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of Congress. In July 2019, it was announced that Facebook was to be fined $5 billion by the Federal Trade Commission due to its privacy violations. In October 2019, Facebook agreed to pay a £500,000 (approximately $643,000) fine to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office for exposing the data of its users to a “serious risk of harm”. The fine was originally issued in October 2018, as part of the ICO’s investigation into the use of social media data for political purposes. In May 2018, Cambridge Analytica filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Q3 – Impact on Employees

The Facebook scandal involving the data mining firm Cambridge Analytica has significantly impacted Facebook’s employees, both directly and indirectly. The scandal, which broke out in 2018, exposed how Cambridge Analytica had collected information on tens of millions of Facebook users without their knowledge and exploited it to sway the 2016 US Presidential election (Confessore, 2018). Many negative effects, including investigations, penalties, and adjustments to Facebook’s privacy policy, have resulted from the scandal. However, losing faith in the company’s leadership has been one of the scandal’s most profound effects on Facebook’s workforce. The company’s decision to collect millions of users’ data without their knowledge or consent upset many staff. Many employees at Facebook now believe they can’t trust their managers to act in their users’ best interests because of the company’s lack of accountability and transparency. The scandal has also affected Facebook by drawing unfavorable media attention and negative press attention. The firm’s staff have been under a lot of stress due to having to cope with continual criticism and bad press. The criticism has also hampered the company’s ability to attract and keep top personnel, as many candidates are leery of joining an organization regarded as dishonest or unreliable. Moreover, the scandal has made it clear that Facebook has to strengthen its internal controls and compliance procedures (Rodriguez, 2019). Facebook has adopted several measures to safeguard user data and avert other security breaches in reaction to the crisis. This has necessitated a substantial investment in new employees and technology, which has affected the company’s bottom line. The increased effort and strain many Facebook employees have experienced are one of the scandal’s most significant effects. The scandal put employees under stress because the corporation had to devote a substantial amount of

 

 

resources to dealing with the crisis. Also, the increasing focus on compliance and risk management that has resulted from increased public and regulatory scrutiny has increased staff workloads.

The scandal’s consequence has been to lower employee morale at Facebook. With the company’s management and the unfavorable news, many employees have lost faith. Several employees feel that the company’s activities are undermining their efforts to positively affect the world, which has caused them to become cynical and apathetic. However, regarding solving employee issues and enhancing the company’s culture and reputation, creating an independent oversight board has been a significant step forward for Facebook. The board, composed of professionals from various industries, assesses Facebook’s content moderation standards and suggests enhancements. Employees now have more faith in the business’s dedication to moral behavior, which has also helped rebuild public confidence in the platform. Facebook has expanded its spending on privacy and security in addition to the oversight board. The corporation has introduced several programs to foster openness and moral conductFor instance, Facebook launched a “Transparency Report” to offer regular updates on the volume of requests for user data that the company received from governments all over the world and established a “Data Transparency Lab” to assist researchers in better understanding how user data is collected and used (Sonderby, 2019). Facebook has focused on enhancing the company’s culture and image, a significant step towards addressing employee concerns. This has involved several initiatives, such as the creation of a new team devoted to diversity and inclusion, the opening of a “Wellness Center” to support staff members’ mental health and the adoption of a new code of conduct that outlines the company’s principles and expectations for ethical conduct. Therefore, the Facebook scandal impacted workers, but the corporation has moved to ease these worries and enhance its culture and reputation.

Q3 – Impact on Customers

In 2018, Zuckerberg acknowledged that he had not given enough consideration to Facebook’s global responsibility and had made a significant mistake. He stressed that relying solely on app developers’ claims to follow the rules was not enough for Facebook, and that the company must take action to ensure that developers are actually complying with the guidelines.

Facebook has disclosed that the number of individuals who may have had their data compromised is potentially as high as 87 million, exceeding the previously reported figure of 50 million. This estimate was based on the number of friends that each user may have had. In contrast, Cambridge Analytica claimed to have obtained data for only 30 million individuals. Facebook will inform all users of the apps they have used and the information they shared with those apps through a notification on their Facebook feed. Users will have the option to remove any apps they no longer wish to use. Those who may have had their data shared with Cambridge Analytica will be notified. The majority of affected users, according to Facebook, are based in the United States.

A recent survey by Consumer Reports indicates that the Cambridge Analytica controversy has led to 70% of Facebook users changing their behavior. More than 33% of the respondents have taken actions like being more cautious about their posts, modifying their

 

 

privacy settings, and turning off location tracking. This scandal seems to have impacted people’s willingness to share personal information with other technology companies. A recent survey shows that almost 74% of the respondents are now more careful about sharing data with companies like Twitter, Instagram, and Google.

Zuckerberg has indicated that it would take several years to address the problems Facebook is facing. Recent information suggests that the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal may have had a larger impact than previously reported, with up to 87 million people potentially affected. Even though the scandal has occurred, Facebook’s policy on data collection and sharing remains the same. Zuckerberg acknowledged that the company had not fully recognized its responsibilities and pledged to take a more proactive stance in ensuring that app developers adhere to regulations.

In conclusion??, consumers were significantly impacted by the Facebook scandal, which resulted in concerns about the safety and confidentiality of their personal information on the platform. As a result, many users became more careful about sharing personal information and modified their privacy settings. The scandal also made many users question their trust in Facebook and other tech firms, with most showing greater hesitance to share information with other platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Google. Furthermore, the scandal emphasized the necessity for increased accountability and transparency in how companies acquire and manage personal data, resulting in regulatory and legislative attempts to strengthen consumer safeguards.

Conclusion should be at the end of the paper. Q3 – Impact on Regulators

At the start of 2018, there was a noteworthy data breach or information leakage & data spill called Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal. Without their authorization, Cambridge Analytica, a political advising expert business, got millions of Facebook users’ personal information. As a result of that, these data were employed to influence or attack the outcome of the 2016 United States presidential election. The software harvests data on Facebook friends of users, in conjunction with their name, gender, date of birth, zip code or habitation, and hobbies. At that time, by using this personal information, it was able to complete Facebook users’ profiles and their mutual friends were made. Then, these profiles’ personal information have been used by Cambridge Analytica to target single Facebook users along with political satisfaction and advertisement deliberated to affect their voting decisions.

The time when Facebook Cambridge Analytica disclosures turned up the impact the scandal had in the works regulations. Facebook’s information data gathering scandal shook the privacy of Facebook user individuals all over the world in 2018, in part as a result of the incident happened at a time of elevated critical observation or examination and special attention on world privacy and regulatory view.

Because of the controversy or disagreement, Facebook incorporation came under enormous inspection from the regulators, investors and public. Facebook is now dealing with many issues due to the controversy, including securing regulations, a decrease in Facebook users’ trust and reputational harm. Facebook was notably impacted by the data privacy scandal.

 

 

Facebook’s business was under close observation or inspection by authorities, investors, and the public. The stock market benefit of Facebook was reduced by many billion dollars because of the considerable decline in Facebook stock market price.

One of the main hindrances of Facebook is increased regulation. After the Facebook scandal incident, many governments have suggested new rules that could regulate or control the number of data that a Facebook incorporation and other company can harvest and use. The business of Facebook incorporation noticeably impacted by these regulations; thus, the incorporation is actively crusading against them.

The decrease in user trust that Facebook incorporation is experiencing is another issue. Numerous people have lost trust in Facebook incorporation because of the controversy and are presently unconfident whether they believe the Facebook with their autobiography or personal information and moving forward because of this users’ deletion of their Facebook accounts. The Facebook data scandal created how momentous data privacy is & exemplifies the need for businesses to be unfasten or open regarding how they harvest and use data. Facebook received unkind censure for its inattentive handling of Facebook user personal information and dearth of frankness with respect to its purposes.

 

 

References:

1. https://www.easyllama.com/blog/facebook-data-privacy-scandal/ 2. https://www.cmswire.com/information-management/how-facebooks-cambridge-analytica

-scandal-impacted-the-intersection-of-privacy-and-regulation/ 3. https://abc7news.com/consumer-reports-facebook-use-crtv-tv-cambridge-analytica/42481

86/ 4. https://www.weblite.com.my/blog/what-the-facebook-scandal-means-to-your-customers 5. https://apnews.com/article/north-america-technology-business-mark-zuckerberg-faceboo

k-privacy-scandal–e0e0df2083fe40c0b0ad10ff1946f041 6. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/23/17151916/facebook-cambridge-anal

ytica-trump-diagram 7. https://www.npr.org/2019/10/30/774749376/facebook-pays-643-000-fine-for-role-in-cam

bridge-analytica-scandal 8. https://fotislaw.com/lawtify/case-study-on-facebooks-data-breach/ 9. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-cambridge-analytica-factbox/factbox-who-is

-cambridge-analytica-and-what-did-it-do-idUSKBN1GW07F 10. https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/1584842D:LN?leadSource=uverify%20wa

ll 11. https://www.cambridgeanalytica.org/ 12. Confessore, N. (2018, April 4). Cambridge Analytica and Facebook: The Scandal and the

Fallout So Far. The New York Times. 13. Rodriguez, S. (2019, May 16). Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge

Analytica scandal, according to recruiters who worked there. CNBC; CNBC. 14. Sonderby, C. (2019, May 23). Sharing Our Latest Transparency Report. Meta.

 

Respond to two or more of your colleagues’ postings in one or more of the following ways:

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BY DAY 5

Respond to two or more of your colleagues’ postings in one or more of the following ways:

  • Ask a probing question.
  • Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
  • Offer and support an opinion.
  • Validate an idea with your own experience.
  • Make a suggestion.
  • Expand on your colleague’s posting.

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you learned and the insights you gained as a result of your colleagues’ comments.

Be sure to support your work with specific citations from the Learning Resources and any additional sources.

Refer back to the public company you selected earlier in the course. (If the company does not report investments in the securities of other companies, choose another company.)

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Alexa Robinson

Discussion:

Refer back to the public company you selected earlier in the course. (If the company does not report investments in the securities of other companies, choose another company.)

Required:

Answer the following questions:

1. What is the amount and classification of any investment securities reported in the balance sheet? Are unrealized gains or losses reported in the shareholders’ equity section?

Target classifies its investment securities under the current asset section of the balance sheet as cash and cash equivalents including short-term investments of $130 million and $194 million. They also classify long-term securities as receivables held-for-sale. Target reported $5,841 billion for 2013 in held-for-sale receivables and non in 2012 (Target SEC, n.d.). For that year everything was categorized as receivables net-of-allowance. There are no unrealized gains or losses on securities reported in the shareholders equity section, these are reported in the consolidated statement of operations under gains on receivables held-for-sale and in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income as other comprehensive income/(loss). In 2012 gains were $160 million in receivables held for sale and $105 million in other comprehensive income (Target SEC, n.d.).. In 2011 there were no gains from receivables held-for-sale and there was a loss of $100 million in other comprehensive income (Target SEC, n.d.).

2. Are any investments reported by the equity method?

Target did not have any significant reporting using the equity method. Target owns 100% of its subsidiaries and eliminates any intercompany securities. According to Target “Equity securities are valued at that closing price reported on the major market on which individual securities are traded” (Target SEC, n.d.). Cash and cash equivalents are valued using the Net Asset Value (Target SEC, n.d.). government securities are valued using matric pricing and quoted prices of similar securities (Target SEC, n.d.). Private equity is valued by finding Target’s proportionate share of the equity investments (Target SEC, n.d.). Target does perform intercompany eliminations prior to consolidated financial reporting, and they make no mention of the method they use for this unlike Coca-Cola who lists their equity method investees (Coca-Cola SEC, n.d.).

3. What amounts from these investments are reported in the comparative income statements? Has that income increased or decreased over the years reported?

In 2012 gains were $160 million in receivables held for sale and $105 million in other comprehensive income (Target SEC, n.d.).. In 2011 there were no gains from receivables held-for-sale and there was a loss of $100 million in other comprehensive income (Target SEC, n.d.). There was nothing reported in 2010. Income has increased from these investments over the years, though it was decreasing before 2012. In 2012, Target agreed to an intercompany sale of its credit card receivables, which included its receivables held-for-sale to TD Bank Group, reducing its loss from those held-for-sale securities (Target SEC, n.d.).

4. Are any acquisitions or disposals of investments reported in the statement of cash flows?

Yes, Target reports proceeds from disposal of property and equipment under investing activities on the consolidated statement of cash flows. For 2012, that amounted to$66 million, for 2011 that amounted to $37 million, and for 2010 that amounted to $69 million (Target SEC, n.d.).

Peaches Patchette Evette Ealy

Week 6: Investment

Discussion: Investments

In fiscal 2021, Home Depot Inc. invested $2.6 billion in capital expenditures to support an interconnected customer experience. They also focused on driving productivity throughout the business to lower costs. The combination of reinvesting in the business to drive higher sales and driving productivity to lower costs creates a virtuous cycle. This has allowed Home Depot to improve the customer experience, increase their competitiveness in the market, and deliver shareholder value. In fiscal 2021, they returned approximately $22 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. Home Depot paid $7.0 billion in cash dividends and returned approximately $15.0 billion to our shareholders in the form of share repurchases in fiscal 2021.

Home Depo’s cash used in investing activities decreased by $7.2 billion in fiscal 2021 compared to fiscal 2020, primarily due to $7.8 billion of net consideration paid to acquire HD Supply in fiscal 2020, partially offset by increased capital expenditures. They had outstanding foreign currency forward contracts as well as certain nonderivative instruments accounted for as net investment hedges, which were immaterial on January 31, 2021. These agreements hedged against foreign currency exposure on the net investment in certain subsidiaries. During fiscal 2021, they settled all outstanding net investment hedges and the related foreign currency translation adjustment amounts recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss upon settlement were immaterial. There were no arrangements accounted for as net investment hedges outstanding as of January 30, 2022.

Company is BURLINGTON STORES COMPANY

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Discussion:

Refer back to the public company you selected earlier in the course.  (If the company does not report investments in the securities of other companies, choose another company.)

Company is BURLINGTON STORES COMPANY

Required:

Answer the following questions:

A.      What is the amount and classification of any investment securities reported in the balance sheet?  Are unrealized gains or losses reported in the shareholders’ equity section?

B.     Are any investments reported by the equity method?

C.      What amounts from these investments are reported in the comparative income statements?  Has that income increased or decreased over the years reported?

D.     Are any acquisitions or disposals of investments reported in the statement of cash flows?