Midnight Journal Entry

The Midnight Journal Entry Anne T. Lawrence, San Jose State University On an overcast afternoon in Portland, Oregon, on Friday, March 28, 2003, Richard Okumoto intently studied a set of hard-copy accounting documents called â€Å"adjusting journal entries† spread out on his desk. He had been appointed chief financial officer (CFO) of Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (ESI), a multi-million dollar equipment manufacturer, just a few weeks earlier. Okumoto was in the midst of closing the company’s books for the third quarter of fiscal year 2003, which ended February 28.An experienced executive who had served as CFO for several other technology firms, Okumoto was familiar with the task, which normally would be routine. But this time, he felt that something was seriously amiss. When reviewing the company’s recent results, he had noticed a sharp dip in accrued liabilities between the two quarters ending May 31 (the last quarter of the 2002 fiscal year) and August 31 (the first quarter of the current fiscal year).Now, looking at the detailed journal entries his staff had provided, he noticed that several significant accounting entries had been made around midnight on September 12, 2002. The entries made that September evening had significantly changed the company’s results for the quarter ending August 31, 2002, a few days before they were reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission. He later recalled: The fact that the time stamps [on the journal entries] were midnight through one o’clock in the morning made me believe they were having difficulties closing the quarter.Not just because of accounting difficulties, but because they were having difficulties finding the right answers. My initial reaction was, even given a difficult quarterly close, if the team was working that late at night, that wasn’t typical. From the pass codes required by the accounting software, Okumoto could see who had made the entries. They inclu ded James Dooley, then the company’s acting chief operating officer and now the CEO, the corporate controller, and several senior members of the finance team. One midnight journal entry in particular drew the new CFO’s attention.The late-night team had wiped out an accrued liability of $977,000 associated with the anticipated cost of retirement and severance benefits to company employees in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. That entry, and several smaller ones, all of which were favorable to net income, had the cumulative effect of permitting the company to report earnings of $0. 01 per share for the quarter ending August 31, 2002, rather than a loss. When he realized that, Okumoto recalled, he felt â€Å"a sinking feeling in my gut. † He asked himself, â€Å"What happened here? At that time of night?All of the changes in a single direction? What’s going on? † He was sure something was not right. RICHARD OKUMOTO Born in 1952, Richard Okumoto was raised wit h his four siblings in a Japanese-American family in a low-income, African-American neighborhood that bordered the Pepper Street Projects of Pasadena, California. He explained how his parents’ experiences had shaped their outlook: My parents grew up during the depression years. Dad farmed with relatives, and Mom grew up tending 3,000 chickens on a three-acre ranch in Gardena, California.Shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese, my parents were relocated under Executive Order 9066 [under which persons of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast were sent to relocation camps during World War II]. They met and married in a relocation camp. During their incarceration, their families could not make their payments. Dad and his relatives lost their land, and Mom’s parents lost their chicken ranch. After those experiences, my father was committed to having no debt. He built our family home in 1955, with the idea of paying off the loan in eight years.In 1962, Okumotoâ⠂¬â„¢s father, who worked as a gardener, landscaper, and salesman of Japanese mutual funds, was disabled in a serious auto accident. Fortunately, by then, he had almost paid off the loan on their home, so the family was able to survive financially. After the accident, Okumoto’s mother took a job cleaning homes to help support her five children. Okumoto described his relationship with his mother: She and I had an especially close bond. Shortly before my dad’s accident, both her parents had died. I was the one who supported her through a very difficult year.As a result, she always treated me differently from the other kids—almost like an adult. The Okumoto family’s financial situation after the accident was difficult. Okumoto had vivid memories of how they coped: Money was very short. We had to account for every penny. Every week, my mother wrote down in a leather-bound journal everything she earned and everything we spent in the household, down to the penn y. Every week, from the time I was ten years old, she went through that with me. We lived on a cash basis. There was no credit card, no second mortgage.In that situation, budgeting became extremely important. Her comment to me was, â€Å"You can’t complain [about what you don’t have] unless you understand what’s happening. † Those were her ground rules. He added this comment about his mother’s values: The ethics of doing the right thing become very important, because that’s really all you have. [My mother] instilled in me at an early age, regardless of what else you do, always take the high road, always do the right thing. That has influenced me throughout my career.After high school, Okumoto attended San Jose State University, where he completed an undergraduate degree in accounting in 1974 and attended the MBA program from1975 to 1978. He soon embarked on a highly successful career in finance. Over the next two-and-a-half decades, he held increasingly responsible roles at a number of high-technology companies in the Silicon Valley, including Fairchild Semiconductor, Novellus Systems, Measurex, Credence Systems, and Photon Dynamics. Okumoto admired a number of managers he had worked for, who had set high professional and ethical standards for him and his co-workers.He felt fortunate to have had three exceptional mentors: Woody Spedden, the CEO of Credence Systems; Jim Hefferman, his boss at Fairchild and later at Measurex; and Don Waite, the CFO at Measurex who later took over that position at Seagate Technologies. â€Å"All three individuals upheld the highest integrity,† Okumoto recalled. â€Å"Aside from the technical training I received from them, I got a strong ethical grounding. They would always tell me to ask myself—what are your obligations to others? † ELECTRO SCIENTIFIC INDUSTRIES, INC. Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. ESI), the company that Okumoto joined as CFO in early 2003, was t he second-largest technology company in Oregon, trailing only Tektronix in size. Based in Portland, the company was founded in 1944 as Brown Engineering to make test and measurement equipment. As technology evolved, so did the company’s products. In the 1960s, the firm—by then called ESI—moved into lasers, and later developed applications of laser technology for the emerging semiconductor industry. ESI went public on the NASDAQ exchange in 1983. In 2003, ESI’s core business was providing precision production equipment to electronics firms.The company manufactured equipment that was used in the production of a wide range of electronics products, such as computers, cellular phones, home entertainment systems, automotive electronics, electronic games, and personal digital devices. Its products included advanced laser systems, test equipment, and packaging systems, among others. The company’s customers included many leading electronics firms, including AMD, Ericsson, IBM, Samsung, Hitachi, Flextronics, Honeywell, and Lucent. Seventy percent of ESI’s sales were outside the United States, mainly in Asia and Europe.The company owned and operated manufacturing facilities in Portland and Klamath Falls, Oregon, and in Escondido, California, and operated sales offices in many countries. In 2002, it employed 875 people and reported sales revenue of $167 million (down from $472 million the prior year). Like many firms in the electronics industry, ESI was badly battered by the economic downturn that began in 2001. After achieving record sales and income in the fiscal year ending May 31, 2001, the company’s financial results declined precipitously in FY 2002, as shown in Exhibit A.Sales and profits had continued to decline in the first half of FY 2003. Exhibit A: Electro Scientific Industries, Selected Sales and Income Data, 1998-2002 | 1998| 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| Net sales| 252,134| 197,118| 299,419| 471,853| 166,545| Net i ncome (loss)| 22,347| 7,528| 40,860| 99,933| (15,961)| Net income (loss) per share| 0. 89| 0. 29| 1. 55| 3. 71| (0. 58)| Data refer to fiscal years ending May 31. All data are given in thousands of dollars, except per share data. Source: ESI 2002 Annual Report. The company noted in its 2002 annual report:In fiscal year 2002, ESI weathered the worst downturn in the electronics industry in over 30 years†¦We are conducting a thorough review of our overall market strategy as well as product line strategies to assure that they will generate significant shareholder returns over the inevitable cycles in our industry. To cut costs, the company initiated a shutdown of its Escondido facility, consolidating its operations in Portland. It divested several underperforming lines of business and sought to invest in areas it saw as promising through partnerships and, potentially, acquisitions.It also informally explored a merger with another firm in southern California. In early 2002, Don VanL uvanee, the company’s long-time CEO, suffered a stroke and was no longer able to serve. The board appointed David Bolender, the former CEO of Protocol Systems and a director since 1988, to step in as acting CEO until it could find a permanent replacement. At that time, the board also elevated James Dooley, who had been serving as the firm’s chief financial officer, to the role of acting chief operating officer to run the company’s day-to-day affairs.In December 2002, the board promoted Dooley to the position of chief executive officer, and Bolender became chairman of the board. (Executives and directors of ESI named in the case, and their positions, are summarized in Exhibit B. ) [Exhibit B should appear about here; it is at the end of the file. ] CLOSING THE QUARTER Shortly after Dooley became CEO, Okumoto was recruited as chief financial officer. He started work on February 17, 2003. I was excited about the job. I thought it might be my last one in the industr y. The company, management, and employees—all had a long history of stability.To me, it was another walk down the path of hard work, a fresh chance to apply my skills in strategic planning and execution as well as to implement the new Sarbanes-Oxley compliance rules. His first task was to prepare for the FY 2003 third quarter close. In reviewing the company’s books for the past several quarters, he soon noticed a sharp downward spike in the balance of accrued liabilities. He noted that fact for further investigation. In addition to closing the quarter, several other items required Okumoto’s attention.Just one week into his new job, on February 24, he got an email from John (â€Å"Jack†) Isselmann, Jr. , the general counsel, asking him to forward to the manager of the Japanese office, Mike Tetsui, a set of revised work rules (terms of employment) for ESI’s Japanese employees. As a newcomer, Okumoto knew little of the background or why he had been as ked to do this, but complied with the general counsel’s request, sending on to the Japanese office manager the revised work rules. Okumoto received the following reply from Tetsui on March 2: I have read the proposed work rule and found no section of [sic] retirement fund.I do not know what is the intention of removing that section, but it is a huge impact on each employee we have†¦I do not think I can get concents [sic] from [ESI’s Japanese] employees without reasonable change in retirement benefit. Please let me know how you would like me to proceed. Okumoto recalled: My first response was, â€Å"uh-oh. † There was a big disconnect between what I had been told and Mike’s reply. I had assumed that the Japanese had already been informed of the cancellation of their retirement benefits and agreed to the changes. It was clear they had not.In a prior job at Novellus Systems, Okumoto had set up that company’s Japanese operations, and he was aware that Japanese work rules were normally filed with the government. Regulators were very strict about altering any documented benefits. Accordingly, Okumoto believed that ESI was obligated to pay benefits that had been promised to employees, and he told Isselmann this. Okumoto also expressed the opinion that employees, if dissatisfied with the revised rules, could take the matter before the Japanese labor board, and that this would be a â€Å"quantifiable event† that would have to be recorded on the books as a liability.Isselmann responded that he was unfamiliar with Japanese law. On March 4, Okumoto spoke with CEO James Dooley about his concerns that the reversal of benefits for Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese employees might expose ESI to litigation, and this could affect the accounting treatment of the event. Dooley strongly disagreed. Okumoto recalled: He told me that everything had been cleared with everyone. He said there was full information. There was full disclosure. H e emphasized that KPMG [ESI’s external auditor], the company’s own legal staff, and the board had all signed off on it. He said I should â€Å"just get past it. Okumoto was concerned about this conversation, particularly because the CEO seemed so defensive. On March 11, Okumoto met again with Dooley, this time to discuss Okumoto’s upcoming presentation to the audit committee. The new CFO recommended that the company delay announcing its third quarter earnings and restate its first and second quarter earnings to report correctly the $977,000 in liabilities associated with the anticipated cost of retirement benefits for its Asian employees. Okumoto explained his view that not reporting these liabilities had violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.At that point, Okumoto recalled, Dooley became visibly upset. The CEO—all six feet-six inches and 280 pounds of him—turned an angry red and told me again to just get past this. That’s when I knew that this was going to be swept under the rug. It was clear I was not part of the club. Then Jim said, â€Å"If I’ve got to reverse this entry, I’ll quit. † THE â€Å"MOFO† MEMORANDUM On March 13, Okumoto attended a meeting of the board of directors’ audit committee. Also present at that meeting, in addition to the audit committee members, were Dooley, Isselmann, and several senior managers.At the meeting, Okumoto recommended that the company’s financial statements for the previous two quarters be restated, and that it hire an independent accounting firm to conduct an audit of the Asian benefits issue. Dooley countered that everyone had been fully informed of the reversal and had â€Å"bought off† on it. The audit committee declined Okumoto’s suggestion that an independent accounting firm be brought in, but it did direct Barry Harmon (formerly ESI’s CFO and a member of the audit committee), Okumoto, and Isselmann to lead an internal investigation into the matter.After the audit committee meeting, Isselmann came into the CFO’s office. Okumoto recalled: He closed the door and just broke down. He told me that after the benefits reversal in September he had asked MoFo [Morrison Foerster, an outside law firm on retainer to ESI] to review its legality. MoFo had advised it was illegal to cancel the retirement benefits without employee consent. He said he had immediately shown the memo to Dooley, who had brow-beat him, intimidated him, and essentially boxed him into a corner. I believed this, because in one meeting I actually saw Jim stand up and tower over Jack, who was only 5 feet-6.I watched Jim almost physically overtake him. Jack was a young guy, pretty inexperienced, and his job at ESI was his first in the industry. On his way out, Isselmann handed Okumoto some documents. From the documents, Okumoto learned that on October 3, 2002, Isselmann had written MoFo, asking for an opinion on wh ether or not it would be legal for the company to terminate the Asian employees’ retirement benefits unilaterally. In his letter, Isselmann had pointed out that the rules had been distributed to employees but had not been submitted to the relevant government agency.On October 7, Toshihiro So, a Japanese labor and employment attorney affiliated with Morrison Foerster, responded to Isselmann’s request. The MoFo memo, now in Okumoto’s hands, read in part: Retirement allowances are not a legal requirement [in Japan]. However, once the company agrees to pay retirement allowances in Rules of Employment (even though they have not been submitted to the relevant government agency), the company is obliged to pay them in accordance with the Rules and cannot remove them at the company’s discretion.According to Japanese case laws, as a general rule, †¦the deprivation of previously acquired rights by newly drawn up or changed work rules are [sic] not permittedâ₠¬ ¦[It] is required that before changing the work rules, the company should hear and consider the opinion of the related employees. Okumoto was shocked. â€Å"This is the smoking gun,† he thought. Investigating further, Okumoto learned that although private employers in Japan were not obligated to pay retirement benefits, doing so was considered a good industry practice, and since 1981 ESI had offered such a benefit to its employees there.Under the rules of employment established for ESI’s employees in Japan, any employee (except executives) who chose to retire after reaching the voluntary retirement age of 60 would be entitled to a â€Å"retirement allowance† of one month’s pay per year of service—in effect, a one-time severance payment. Workers who were involuntarily terminated and the estates of any workers who died before reaching the age of 60 were also entitled to this benefit. Similar rules were in effect for the company’s workers in Korea and Taiwan. At the time, ESI had 18 employees in Japan, 13 in Korea, and 23 in Taiwan, mostly in sales and customer support roles.On March 14, Okumoto called an â€Å"all hands† meeting to disclose his initial findings and discuss a path forward. Present at the meeting were Dooley, Isselmann, Harmon, and several other senior managers. The CFO asked directly if there had been full disclosure and review of all material facts with respect to the accrual reversal. Dooley confirmed that everything had been disclosed. Okumoto did not mention the MoFo memo, thinking that Dooley’s response indicated that he must have already disclosed it to KPMG and the audit committee. On March 20, Okumoto spoke by telephone with Mike Tetsui.The Japanese manager told the CFO that the employees had not yet been told that their retirement benefits had been terminated, and he—Tetsui—would resign before he would tell them that news, which he expected would be devastating. â₠¬Å"As head of the group,† Tetsui told Okumoto, â€Å"I will fall on my sword. † On March 21, Okumoto met again with Dooley to press him on how the reversal had happened. Dooley was initially â€Å"combative. † As the conversation went on, however, he â€Å"let his guard down† and began talking about what had happened on the night of September 12.As Okumoto recalled the conversation: Jim told me that he had sent a financial packet to the board of directors prior to their meeting on September 13. After he had distributed the packet, but before the meeting, he was contacted by KPMG, who told him there had been an error in the company’s calculations of its overhead costs, so the financial statements distributed to the board were incorrect. ESI’s reportable earnings were suddenly much less than they thought, by as much as a million dollars.Jim said this was particularly important because the company was in informal merger discussions with a compan y in southern California. Then he said, â€Å"No one was helping me, so I had to help myself. † When Jim made that comment, my first thought was, he was looking for revenue. He was hunting for credits. He was looking to manipulate earnings. That was a definite red flag. Okumoto walked out of Dooley’s office stunned. He called his staff together and asked them to assemble any documentation they had on accounting entries on or around September 12.He also began talking with the members of the finance team who had participated in the late-night meeting with Dooley and learned that a number of people on the finance staff had questioned the benefits reversal, but had not brought it forward. This was consistent with a negative tone at the top. I would almost characterize it as bullying. That’s one reason why no one stepped forward. That tone at the top created an environment where people really couldn’t speak out. It’s important to look at the people. Ità ¢â‚¬â„¢s similar to qualitative research. We all do that intuitively.When I looked at the body language of a lot of the people involved—the cost accountants, the financial analysts—it became apparent to me that they were scared. They knew something was wrong, and they wanted to say something, but something held them back. They reminded me of beaten animals. Growing up in the neighborhood I did, I knew what fear looked like. As part of his further investigation, Okumoto independently approached the audit team from KPMG. They told him Dooley had informed them that the company had received a legal opinion that the reversal was appropriate, and they had deemed that information sufficient.Okumoto observed: KPMG was new on the account, which they picked up after the collapse of Arthur Andersen. They didn’t have deep familiarity with it. They did not have all the information. Some of the partners were new. On March 28, a week after he had requested the relevant account ing entries for September 12, his staff finally produced the complete documentation for that date. Now, drilling down into the details, he saw the full scope of the midnight journal entries—and who had made them. WEIGHING THE RISKS Over the weekend, Okumoto considered his next moves. None of the ndividuals and groups from whom he had sought support—the CEO, the general counsel, or the auditors—seemed to share his concern about the seriousness of the issue. The audit committee had shown some interest, but had turned down his recommendation to bring in independent auditors and seemed to believe the matter could be handled internally. Okumoto was losing sleep, worrying constantly about what—if any—additional steps he should take. He had tried to warn the key players. From all, he had received the same message: We don’t see this as a serious problem. Let it go.Okumoto realized the risks of escalating the issue further. He was earning a base sala ry of $250,000, with the possibility of a 100 percent performance bonus. He reflected: I certainly realized the risks. I knew that if I brought this forward, there was a strong likelihood that I would either lose my job, or I would be in an environment where it would be difficult to operate, so I would have to leave. The idea also occurred to him that â€Å"I can leverage this for more money and stock if I look the other way. Plus, I can become invaluable to the company with this dirt.I can immediately become part of the established inside club. † He had also recently signed a contract to purchase a home in the nearby community of Lake Oswego, and wondered how he would make good on that commitment if he lost his job. However, he felt reasonably secure financially. Following the example of his parents, Okumoto had worked hard to avoid debt and to save for adverse times. He reflected: One of the first things I ask friends who are or would like to be CFOs or general managers, wh ere risks such as this can jeopardize their careers, is: Are you financially secure enough to make good decisions?Because if you aren’t, I can count on the fact that you will make bad decisions when times of adversity hit. We all talk about the value of making good decisions, but as we all know, life creeps in. There are economic commitments, family commitments, and people are sometimes moved to do the wrong thing. As the old adage goes, hire your sales people so they are hungry enough to get the deal done. Hire your finance people so they are not hungry enough to do the wrong thing. He added: Fortunately, I was financially in a position where I could afford to leave if t came to that. I was single, so I figured the only person I had to protect was myself. He also had a network of friends in the area he felt he could turn to for support. I had a number of friends in the Portland area, having worked there earlier. My prior company had a division of about 1000 employees in the area. Of these, 500 had worked directly for me. It might have been a false sense of security, but I felt I had a pretty good infrastructure of people that I knew. By this time, Okumoto was also becoming concerned about his personal safety.Several times, he received anonymous messages on his home answering machine. At the time, he was living temporarily in corporate housing while he shopped for a home, and he felt he was particularly visible there. But, he added that he was not easily intimidated. I felt that I could take care of myself. I had faced a lot worse threats than this one. As a teenager, I was robbed at gunpoint. I was stabbed in the back and left for dead. I was beaten so badly that my eyes were swollen shut. I grew up around a lot of physical violence. Although Okumoto saw risks in taking action, he also saw risks in inaction.He commented: I was concerned about my own legal liability if I did not take action. From the point of view of the DOJ [Department of Justice] and SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission], if you don’t fix the problem, you become the problem. I had potential legal risk. As Okumoto pondered the risks of both action and inaction, he reflected on the board of directors and what kind of response he might expect if he approached them directly. (See Exhibit C for a list of members of the board. ) [Exhibit C should appear about here; it is at the end of the file. ] Dooley was the only insider on the board.There were some old timers on the board—like Barry Harmon, who had earlier been CFO at ESI. But there were also a fair number of independents. Even though I was new at the company, I had a prior relationship with two of the directors. Jerry Taylor, the former CFO at Applied Materials, was a member of the audit committee. Jerry and I had worked together 25 years earlier at Fairchild. So, I had a long-standing relationship with him. Jon Tompkins, the former CEO of KLA-Tencor, was also on the board. I had known Jon from T encor days, where he had interviewed me for the CFO position.As he contemplated his next move, Okumoto thought back to an experience earlier in his career. As he told the story: I had been in a situation before where I hadn’t spoken up. I had been a CFO for another public company. I was in a situation in which I had questions on some of the accounting. But it was close enough, and I was concerned that I didn’t have enough evidence to support my reservations. I had only been with the company three months. Within four months, we had a major revenue shortfall. At that time, I made the decision not to try to cover up the revenue shortfall.But, because we had not called it to the attention of analysts earlier, we lost the confidence of the Street. At that point, the CEO and I both resigned. I made a decision then that if I ever again saw something that was close, I would act much faster. He also thought about his mother’s admonition always to do the right thing, and the advice of his mentors, who had counseled him always to ask the question—what are your obligations to others? Exhibit B: Executives and Directors of Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. Named in the Case and Their Positions (Listed in Order of Mention)Richard OkumotoChief Financial Officer (CFO) James T. â€Å"Jim† DooleyActing Chief Operating Officer (COO), early 2002 – December 2002 Chief Executive Officer (CEO), December 2002 – Don VanLuvaneeFormer CEO David F. BolenderActing CEO, early 2002 – December 2002 Chairman of the Board, December 2002 – John â€Å"Jack† Isselmann, Jr. General Counsel Mike TetsuiManager, Japanese Office Barry L. Harmon Former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Director and Member of the Audit Committee Gerald F. â€Å"Jerry† TaylorDirector and Member of the Audit Committee Jon D. TompkinsDirectorExhibit C: Members of the Board of Directors, ESI Inc. , March 2003 David F. Bolender, Chairman of the Board Chairman of the Board and CEO (retired), Protocol Systems, Inc. ; President of Pacific Power and Light Co. (retired) James T. Dooley, Chief Executive Officer Barry L. Harmon (member of the Audit Committee) Senior Vice President (retired), Avocet Corp. ; formerly, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ESI Keith L. Thomson Vice President (retired), Intel Corp. ; Chair of the Board of Trustees, University of Oregon Foundation Jon D. TompkinsCEO and Chairman of the Board (retired), KLA-Tencor Corp. ; President and CEO of Spectra-Physics (retired) Vernon B. Ryles, Jr. President and CEO (retired), Poppers Supply Co. Gerald F. Taylor (member of the Audit Committee) Chief Financial Officer (retired), Applied Materials W. Arthur Porter (Chairman of the Audit Committee) Dean of the College of Engineering, University of Oklahoma Larry L. Hansen Executive Vice President (retired), Tylan General, Inc. —————————— ————– [ 2 ]. Copyright  © 2012 by the Case Research Journal and Anne T. Lawrence.The author developed this case to provide a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either the effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. An earlier version of this case was presented at NACRA’s annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, October 2011. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Richard Okumoto and the thoughtful comments of the editor, Deborah Ettington, and three anonymous reviewers. [ 3 ]. In 2002, average annual salaries for ESI employees were $68,000 in Japan, $27,000 in Korea, and $38,000 in Taiwan (in U. S. dollars).

Child Abuse and Porn essays

Child Abuse and Porn essays Child sexual abuse can be defined as any form of sexual activity with a child. It may include showing a child pornographic materials, placing the childs hand on another persons genitals, touching a childs genitals and to the more extreme form of penetration. (Kali Munro) It is essential to understand what child abuse through pornography is, what it can do to a child and why this kind of abuse continues. Someone who knows what pornography can do to a child is a thirty-one year old, mother of two named Bonnie. Bonnie spoke to the Attorney Generals Commission on Pornography about her experience with pornography and child abuse. Both of Bonnies husbands were into pornography and abused her and her two daughters, Michelle and Debbie. The account of the abuse that took place between Bonnies second husband, Paul and her daughters are as follows: He seemed to enjoy showing them pornographic material. The girls remember specifically a time when Paul showed them a picture of a naked lady dressed in the bottom of a leopard skin outfit and holding a whip. He asked them what they thought of it. Both children said they were disgusted at viewing the picture. My daughters told me . . . that Paul asked them if they wanted to be photographed like the girls in the magazines. The girls also told me that Paul sometimes played a game with them in which their feet were tied up tightly with a rope. The molestations included bad touching and exhibitionism by Paul . . . . If I ever questioned either her (Michelle) or Paul about what was the matter, Michelle would look scared at Paul and say, Nothings wrong, Mommy. After I left Paul, Michelle told me why she never said what was wrong. If she had told, Paul threatened to put her in a large garbage bag and dump her in a lake. Even after I filed for divorce and Paul was put on probat ion, the damage ha...

Profile of the 2003 War in Iraq

Profile of the 2003 War in Iraq Saddam Hussein led a brutal dictatorship of Iraq from 1979 to 2003. In 1990, he invaded and occupied the nation of Kuwait for six months until being expelled by an international coalition. For the next several years Hussein showed varying degrees of contempt for the international terms agreed to at the end of the war, namely a no-fly zone over much of the country, international inspections of suspected arms sites, and sanctions. In 2003, an American-led coalition invaded Iraq and overthrew Husseins government. Building the Coalition President Bush put forward some rationales for invading Iraq. These included: violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions, atrocities committed by Hussein against his people, and the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) which posed an immediate threat to the U.S. and the world. The U.S. claimed to have intelligence which proved the existence of the WMD and asked the U.N. Security Council to authorize an attack. The council did not. Instead, the U.S. and the United Kingdom enlisted 29 other countries in a coalition of the willing to support and carry out the invasion launched in March 2003. Post-Invasion Troubles Although the initial phase of the war went as planned (the Iraqi government fell in a matter of days), the occupation and the rebuilding has proven quite difficult. The United Nations held elections leading to a new constitution and government. But violent efforts by insurgents has led the country to civil war, destabilized the new government, made Iraq a hotbed for terrorist recruitment, and dramatically raised the cost of the war. No substantial stockpiles of WMD were found in Iraq, which damaged the credibility of the U.S., tarnished the reputation of American leaders, and undermined the rationale for the war. Divisions Within Iraq Understanding the various groups and loyalties inside Iraq is difficult. Religious fault lines between Sunni and Shiite Muslims are explored here. Although religion is a dominant force in the Iraq conflict, secular influences, including Saddam Husseins Baath Party, must also be considered to understand Iraq better. The BBC offers a guide to the armed groups operating inside Iraq. Cost of The Iraq War More than 3,600 American troops have been killed in the Iraq War and over 26,000 wounded. Nearly 300 troops from other allied forces have been killed. Sources say more than 50,000 Iraqi insurgents have been killed in the war and estimates of Iraqi civilians dead range from 50,000 to 600,000. The United States has spent over $600 billion on the war and may ultimately spend a trillion or more dollars. The National Priorities Project set up this online counter to track the moment-by-moment cost of the war. Foreign Policy Implications The war in Iraq and its fallout have been at the center of U.S. foreign policy since the overt march to war began in 2002. The war and surrounding issues (like Iran) occupy the attention of nearly all those in leadership at the White House, State Department, and Pentagon. And the war has fueled anti-American sentiment around the world, making global diplomacy all the more difficult. Our relations with almost every country in the world are in some form colored by the war. Foreign Policy Political Casualties In the United States (and among leading allies) the steep cost and on-going nature of the Iraq War have caused considerable damage to top political leaders and political movements. These include former Secretary of State Colin Powell, President George Bush, Senator John McCain, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and others.

HR & Development Essay (Unit III) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HR & Development (Unit III) - Essay Example ppropriate guideline for an effective brainstorming process includes making a clear and simple introduction of the idea or problem that needs to be brainstormed (Rothwell & Kazanas 1999). Introduction of the problem creates an avenue for conducting a thorough review on the rules governing the entire brainstorming process. This means that each participant gets an equal chance of presenting his or her idea. In other terms, the process should be welcoming to everyone by avoiding commenting during the proceeding of the brainstorming process. It thus discourages any evaluation hence allows room for duplicate ideas. The next step should be communicated after members contributions. That is, explaining what is required to be done then offer all the members of the group or team some private time to think over the brainstormed question or problem (Sharma, 2008). Finally, open the discussion for the member of that group to devise and come up with a suitable solution. In an on job scenario, the brainstorming process would be applied in solving leadership wrangle within the organization. The companys management team would come up with diverse ideas concerning the problem facing the management and tries to come with a suitable solution. That is, in matters concerning the top most position in the management hierarchy all the concern parties should contribute their points of view on regard to the qualities that need to be consider while selecting the suitable person for the post (Sinha and Sinha 2009). Another common problem that arises in an on the job situation is the issue on the process of performance appraisal. For instance, it requires a team or panel to determine or decides suitable criteria to be adapted while appraising the employees. In other terms, they devise and determine the demerit on which an employee should be accorded or subjected to any form of appraisal or appreciation for high performance (Dubrin, 2009). Group work and teamwork has a disadvantage of

Harlem Renaissance Poets Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Harlem Renaissance Poets - Research Paper Example On the one hand, Johnson poem â€Å"Let Me Not Lose My Dream† features her seminal background in Rome, Georgia. The poem carries well recitations of the ancient culture and the need for blacks to take on the challenges of the community, while embracing stoicism. The inclusion of entertaining humor in the literary content was largely impacted by her skills of playing musical instruments and natural history. The creation of the poem was largely influenced by William Starkey Braithwaite work, an author who highlighted the socio-economic and political challenges that minority communities faced in the United States, and the need to remain steadfast in the quest for a free America. Considered to be one of the founding women poets, who based their literature on the new role of African Americans, Johnson’s poem â€Å"Let Me Not Lose My Dream† was laced with a feeling of sadness and optimism that blacks faced in their effort to assume prominence in the society. On the oth er hand, Gwendolyn Bennett was another significant poet of this period. The poet was born in July 1902 in Giddings, Texas. Her parents were Joshua and Maime Bennett. Bennet’s poem â€Å"Heritage† features her life as a young woman in Brooklyn’s Girls High, through her adulthood. The nature of treatment she received was characterized by benignly cold reception from the mainstream white community. Through the poem â€Å"Heritage,† particular practices such as the intellectual capabilities of the blacks during Harlem Renaissance were tolerated without question, and without meticulous thought. The poem highlighted the future role of the blacks, in social and political circles. â€Å"Heritage† is illustrative of a keen intellectual mind, which Bennet summoned during the Harlem Renaissance period to articulate the social change in the American society; that democratic transformation in the society was inevitable, and that art and literary genre had becom e a significant avenue used to communicate the much needed change in the society (Hull 13-15). Despite the significant, but the largely different titles of the two poems, Johnson’s â€Å"Let Me Not Lose My Dream† and Bennet’s â€Å"Heritage,† are two literary works that indicate the need to conserve fruitful society norms of the blacks such as social democracy, fair representation in all aspects of the society and justice for all. Whereas the former poem served to motivate the rising blacks not to be cowed in their effort to assume socio-economic and political significance in the society; the latter holds that not all new developments may yield positive outcomes. The poems by Georgia Douglas Johnson and Gwendolyn Bennett are, thus, illustrative of the enormous skills and resourcefulness that inspired the change empowerment of blacks during the Black Arts Movement. By reexamining the contribution of these poets, one can have a glimpse of delight of the bla cks during Harlem Renaissance, despite the enormous social challenges they faced . Themes present in the two poems Ethnic Pride Featuring the historical Black Arts Movement was an explicit ethnic delight that was captured in the philosophy of the empowerment of the community, who through scholarly work and creation of literature could reverse the pervading ethnic bigotry and traditions to enhance

Multinational Companies Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Multinational Companies Management - Essay Example This is the same in the case of employee retention. However it is very difficult for any organisation to take the necessary steps to retain its workforce and ensure that they remain loyal and engaged, and when this has to be carried out by an organisation with many different cultural dimensions the strategies that need to be adopted become even more difficult and complex. The author believes that through this study, she will be able to gain sufficient information on the specific steps that can be taken by a transnational organisations with regard to managing and retaining employees while remaining profitable and ensuring that they remain loyal and engaged and highly productive, thus making the organisation even more profitable. THE DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES THAT CAN BE ADOPTED BY AN ORGANISATION WITH A DIVERSE WORKFORCE TO RETAIN ITS WORKFORCE, ENSURE EMPLOYEE LOYALTY AND ENGAGEMENT AND CONTINUE TO STAY PROFITABLE IN BOOM AND BUST CONDITIONS In this document the author proposes the methods and the type of research study that she will undertake in fulfillment of her degree requirement. The author is currently interested in studying how Multinational Companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Toyota, Honda, General Electric, Coke Cola, Unilevers, General Motors, Hewlett Packard and Sony can do to retain its employees, keep them engaged and loyal to the organisation, while ensuring that the organisation remains profitable through boom and bust conditions. In this proposal the author discusses the research objectives, the research topic, the methodology that she wishes to adopt, the limitations of the study, and finally the dissertation structure and the time line for the study. The author has carried out a brief literature review into the subject area and has presented it in this research to give the proposal more background and to justify the reason for the choice. Research Objectives Here the author will give a brief overview of the objectives of the research study that she will evaluate for completion at the end of the research. Gain an in-depth understanding of the importance of employee retention for a multi-national organisation. Gain an in-depth understanding of the importance of employee engagement for a multi-national organisation. Gain an understanding of the co-relationship between the profitability of the organisation, employee retention, employee engageme

Greenland Rail Company: Strategic Planning and Management

Greenland Rail Company: Strategic Planning and Management Section One In activity 1, we have discussed the initial parts of the strategic planning and analyzed in depth the current scenario of The Greenland Rail Company. To continue further into the affairs of The Greenland Rail Company, here we shall apply the business assessment tools to arrive at a viable solution and evolve a healthy strategy for it or mend where necessary. The strategic planning determines the core idea, modus operandi allocation of resources to achieve the objectives or goals set in the strategic planning. Every business has its core idea and the strategy to achieve the objectives through operational plans. However to keep the operations on track, we need to have some analytical and monitoring measures. We can call them the business (assessment) tools. The idea of having these tools is minute to minute monitoring of the operations and to see if any action is harming the business or going against the strategy laid down. Here is the list of such tools: Is the strategic planning checked or analyzed on the concept of ‘SWOT’ analysis? Are the strategy and the strategic planning documented? Is there any internal audit or the check list for the cross check of actions with the planning? Is there any effective policy and method of remedial measures stipulated? SOPs are an effective tool to keep every action on line with the planning. All above are absolutely necessary for successful running of a business and more particularly for a business of the magnitude of The Greenland Rail Company spread countrywide by its services and utility to the nation. SWOT Analysis SWOT is abbreviation of four words which in fact gives four dimensional view of any issue or idea. There is nothing new in this. Everybody thinks on the pros and cons of an idea before putting it into practical shape or taking practical step. It consists of: Strengths: Under this heading, we see what makes an idea viable if put in practical shape. It starts from the biggest advantageous point to the smallest strength that the idea may have. Weaknesses: This heading covers the flaws in the idea and whether the flaws can be covered or they will make and prove the idea not viable. Opportunities: Having seen the strengths and weaknesses, does the idea still provide us the desired opportunities or any opportunities. This may also mean whether those opportunities that we had in mind, still exist and it is worth committing the valuable resources. Threats: the last part of the analysis is to evaluate threats to the business idea or the envisaged strategy. It is to see if threats are manageable and can be neutralized with some amendment in the strategy or they are big enough to be really called threats and give strong indications of not committing the resources. Documentation Of The Strategic Planning This is an extremely important tool that will go lifelong and will keep reminding the central idea and the principles on which the business is to be run. This provides the base for generating the operational plans for any new ventures within the existing business. The need for documenting the strategic planning cannot be over emphasized. Internal Audit Or The Check List To Cross Check The Actions With The Planning Internal audit and the checklist are two different things but serve the same purpose. The internal audit is carried out by another official of the organization whether the operators are performing correct actions. The checklist provides correct sequence of actions to be done by the operator. The checklist is guiding method whereas internal audit is pointing out the mistakes. However, both have their utility and should always exist. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) SOPs are an effective tool to keep every action on line with the planning and in fact operational plan translated in simpler form so that everybody at every level can understand the right way of doing an action. SOPs tell the only way an action has to be done and thatg is the desired action according to the operational plan. Method Of Remedial Measures We can say the last in the series is description of remedial measures. If the SOPs are being followed, no remedial measures are required. They are only for emergencies and accidents. However accidents and emergencies do not occur frequently but remedies should be well thought and well planned. They should be a part of SOPs and be documented properly. In this section we shall see the competitive strengths and weaknesses of the current business strategies. The Greenland Rail Company has: Clear philosophy to provide efficient travel service to the passenger, and, To provide efficient safe and timely transportation of commercial goods. Its strategy is based on the following elements: To schedule its services on the needs of the customers To provide sufficient number of trains To provide sufficient trained staff for operating these trains To allocate sufficient resources for the above To maintain a good standard of its services to attract the major market share. Effective marketing and good customer care service All above have all the strengths and bright chances of success. Despite these strengths it has weaknesses that it lacks locomotive production facilities and expertise, both. This is one weakness that can put the entire plan at stake of failure. However this weakness can be overcome by importing the locomotives in time and by having a good repair and maintenance workshop of its own. Its strengths can be enlisted as under: It can schedule the trains on the needs of the customers It can provide sufficient number of trains It can employ sufficient staff and can train them at its own training facilities It can allocate sufficient resources It can maintain good service standard It can have effective marketing and customers care Its weaknesses can be visualized and enlisted as under: Any breakdown of locomotives can adversely affect the schedule Motivation of the staff can be doubtful and may not prove to be as efficient as ideally required. The competitors, the road transporters can also provide the same facilities with good standard and efficiency. Track needs to be maintained continuously and may not be possible to do it. It is susceptible to miscreant actions and any defect in the track can stop the movement of trains and affect the schedule very badly. The company has single track and lacks the double track facility causing unnecessary delay in allowing the crossing of other train. There can be human error that can cause severe hindrances and even accidents. Despite these weaknesses the company has been running the trains by making an intelligent time table. However the efficiency of double track cannot be achieved by single track. The major problem faced by the company has been shortage of locomotives and making no provision for timely actions. Frustration in employees has been another factor. Core Business Values And Current Objectives Core business values are efficient service for passengers and goods transportation. Safety of passengers, comfortable travel and adhering to strict time schedule are the core values in case of passenger travel service. On the other side, transportation of goods in safe and timely manner are the core values for the cargo service. Its current business objectives are still the same, I e: To operate the trains and make the company a profitable organisation. The costs have to be met under all circumstances otherwise it would not be possible to run the trains under the conditions of continuous loss. The business objectives can only be achieved if there is efficiency in service. It is a circle; efficiency will capture the market and increase the customers and volume of goods to be transported. Low efficiency will cause losses on every side. The market will slip over in the hands of competitors and there will be sharp decline in the health of the company The comparison between the values and the objectives in now lopsided and in unfavorable balance. Values alone can do nothing if not supported by the efficient service. Loss of efficiency will result in loss of customers and cargo and that will push the company towards a sad catastrophe. Presently it is not meeting its objectives and core values are left unsatisfied. Section Two Now there is a need to compare the strengths and weaknesses and develop measures to bring the company back in good health. It may need very critical decisions. It has to do thorough audit and take stock of things. It has to eliminate all negative elements, may be manpower, some trains and some services which are not allowing the company to meet its expenses. Golden handshake, laying off or compulsory retirement may have to be resorted to foe labour turnover and replacing the inefficient and dishonest with better educated, young and enthusiastic manpower. Some sections of the rail service will have to be closed temporarily till the financial conditions improve and expense of less productive trains can be borne. The goods transport service is more yielding, therefore, has to be specially taken care of. Goods trains should be given equal priority and more cargo handling services can be installed for efficient booking, transportation and delivery of the goods. There is a need of job description of each employee and then he has to be supervised appropriately for efficiency and honesty. Options For Future Strategy The Greenland Rail Company has two issues at hand: Future strategy and, Options for the future strategy. Future Strategy Basically it remains the same with slight variation. Its strategy would be: To provide good travel service to the passengers To provide good transportation for the cargo To eliminate all elements causing losses and working against the interest of the company. To evolve efficient check and balance system. To maintain technical efficiency to the state of the art level for mai8ntaining the schedule. There has to be a ruthless accountability of every employee and every system. A very system of accounting has to be implemented. Future Options The long past history of the company has a lot to teach and draw the lessons. It has been running successfully 50 years back and even 30 years back. It started deteriorating in mid 80’s. the reasons could be traced as under: In 1950 it was not in good shape and faced scarcity of resources in all directions. In 1960 it improved its service, by induction of new rolling stock and new generation of diesel electric locomotives. Till 1980 it kept progressing and introduced new services and had better arrangements. However there were major political changes in the country and affected this company also. There is another dimension to the problem as well. It had following factor to affect: In 1950 it had to cater for the needs of population of 20 million people and number of passengers was relatively small. The volume of trade was also not much; therefore it did not have that much stress on any side. In 1960, the need for goods trains increased and population had also risen to 40 million relatively increasing the number of people traveling. Still the company handled the situation in fairly good manner and situation was not that bad. By 1975, the country gone through major political disasters, many resources were lost and the political scenario changed the whole situation in sphere of life. Besides political changes, the population had increased to around 75 million and stress was felt on the rail company. The oil prices escalated and number of passengers had sizably increased and number of industries and industrial unit had also increased. The company had to run the trains under political pressure and losses started showing. Now when the population has risen to 180 million and following g major changes have taken place and all of them have hit the company very badly, sinking it day by day: Oil prices increased tremendously Wages also increased and number of employees increase under the pressure of political govt to provide employment to the people. The operation cost increased tremendously. The balance between income and expense was also lost Company’s debts also increased The condition of rolling stock deteriorated and became unserviceable. The locomotives started breaking down enroute which not only caused the delays and upset the entire schedule but also added to the cost in recovery of stuck up trains. Track needed to be maintained, doubled and new trains needed to be introduced. Cargo handling facilities also needed to be installed at prominent destinations. Nothing was and has been done. Emergence and development of road transport companies has also created lot of competition and snatched a big share of the market reducing the4 business and revenue of the rail company There is a catastrophic scenario everywhere. Some miracle or very drastic measures can only save the organization. In view of the above situation still there is a hope to rescue this great enterprise and restore it to its previous glory. It has following options for the future: Enter into a joint venture with some rail company of another country who is running the railway successfully; or else, Seek the help of govt in paying off the debts. Procure new locomotives, improve rolling stock and suspend service on all unproductive or less productive sections. Accounting system needs to be changed. No collective accounting of all the trains should be done. Each train should be treated as a separate subsidiary company and revenue and expense of each train should be accounted for separately. No loss or decrease of revenue should be shared by other trains. Separate accounting system will exactly pin point the source of loss and reason there of. Criteria For Reviewing The Options Once the options have been analyzed and selected to be implemented, they are to be monitored for strict compliance. A set of rules, and checklist points will have to be framed and made mendatory for compliance. The automatic and most obvious criteria would be results in multi directions. They can be: An increase in revenue Less reports of pilferage and misappropriations Increase in customers and volume of goods transportation. Balance in revenue and expense. The ultimate criteria for the validity of options is volume of profit earned because of the options. Section Three Now we have fair amount of information to evolve a strategic plan for The Greenland Rail Company. It should restructure its strategy on the basis of above analysis. The changes are to be made as under: The basic or the core idea remains same. New rolling stock and locomotives should be procured; or number of trains should be reduced proportionate to resources but the service should be more efficient. All stakeholders should be made aware through wide publicity ensuring a better service The difference should be visible in practical shape rather than announcements only. The increasing costs should not always be passed on to the customers. They should be absorbed by the organisation by improvement in efficiency of systems and plugging the pilferage. Resource Allocation Resource allocation should be in priority as under: In all those areas which are absolutely necessary for provision of service and increasing the clientage. All assets, particularly the rolling stock, locomotives, administrative services get the first priority. The administrative and office expenses should be the minimum. Stores inventory should be maintained at the minimum level or may even be on the principle of ‘Just In Time’ (JIT) No over staffing be allowed under any circumstances. This practice not only increases unproductive costs but also the political inductees cause frustration among the efficient employees. Initially some part of the revenue will go in paying off the debts. Strategic Plan The Greenland Rail Company has the following strategic plan: To revive the company to its previous prestigious position. To provide efficient means of travel to all the citizens with safety speed and in time. To provide efficient goods transport system to the business community. To compete with the road transport industry by efficient services and economical cast to the customers. Vision Statement The Greenland Rail Company is determined to be the market leader in transport industry by providing the best services to the customers at economical costs. We visualize satisfied clientele and satisfied employees to contribute towards betterment of the company and the nation. Our vision is on practical footing and honest effort. Schedule Of Implementation The new strategic plan needs be implemented in the following manner: All operational plans must be reviewed in the light of analysis and new strategy formulated. Overstaffing must be reduced to the right size Trains must be rescheduled keeping in view the company’s present potential and the customers’ needs. Separate accounting for each train be implemented immediately. Monitoring system should be introduced and made more effective. All excess inventory should be first segregated and noted particularly to avoid more purchase and blocking the valuable and limited resources. Start the operation on above outline with a new zeal of efficient service. Conclusion The Greenland Rail Company scenario is worst possible which has dropped from magnificent position to depth of destruction and still striving to regain its position. An analysis has been carried out giving all details and possible way out for the company. Although the difficulties seem very big but remedies are quite simple but need stern action on the part of management. Tough decisions, clear vision and honest effort are the only means available to The Greenland Rail Company. The strongest point in favour of the company is the strong base of business and need for its services. Hopefully it will survive.