...In everyday life, many situations challenge our ethical decision-making skills. One such dilemma is clearly identified in the video vignette “Ethics: Let’s Make a 4th Quarter Deal.” The company Smith and Blackwell punched in a poor financial year and, as a result, bonus cuts and possible layoffs would be looming. Jason Powell, Director of New Accounts has really been feeling pressure since his department is largely responsible for the less-than-banner year. The situation in question begins with Gina Travelers, Assets Manager, entering into Jason’s office to discuss the potential for a big deal. This deal would be forged between Smith and Blackwell and Bestel and would be worth 4 million dollars. Gina explains that signing this deal would bring the company clearly out of the red, save co-workers jobs and preserve bonuses—most importantly hers. At this point, Gina starts to explain the details about the deal and the beginnings of an ethical dilemma start to arise. She adds that a “family friend (Jack) who she has known since she was a kid” helped put the deal together. She emphasizes her personal role in making it all happen and reassures Jason that it was all done above board, but provides no documentation with the fine print. Then, a second problem gets thrown into the mix: Timing. Gina and Jack, Chairman of the Board for Bestel, want to close immediately, but to do so (under normal circumstances) would require shareholder approval. The shareholders would not meet again for...
Words: 1340 - Pages: 6
...investments. Statement of the Problem The company is faced with layoffs and downsizing, if Fourth Quarter numbers do no improve, up to half the staff will be laid off and year-end bonuses will be eliminated. Cause of the Problem Jack, the chairmen of the board, wishes to invest 4 million dollars to the company before the shareholders can meet to approve the investment essentially bypassing them. Decision Criteria Utilitarian Model – The greatest good in this case would be to save the jobs of the employees. However, the correct steps for making a deal would be skipped and there could be problems in the future if the deal is found to be illegal or wrong. Moral Rights Model – The moral rights model would be that the employees are affected by the actions of their superiors. The superiors should follow honest business practices. Justice Model – The just thing would be to treat this deal as all other deals are treated by going through the correct pathways. Just because Gina is a friend of Jacks doesn’t mean his deal should get special treatment and pushed forward, Recommendation If the deal is to go through, it should go through the correct pathways. All parties need to work out the specifics of the deal and the issue of Jack and the stakeholders needs to be addressed before the deal can go any further. After the stakeholder issue is addressed, the deal can be made in writing and the correct paperwork...
Words: 317 - Pages: 2
...ugfgfhhjjkk hlklgfgfCreative Toys Case Creative Toys Inc. 1. If Inventory were to be written down in the 4th quarter instead of the 2nd quarter, it could cause the company to be compromised. One of the reasons that the allowance occurs in the 2nd quarter is because Browne realizes that it will make expenses appear too high, but, it will reduce the impact of the lack of future sales. However, if inventory were established in the 4th quarter, where they are expected to increase quite a bit, the transition would be easier. This is the reasoning behind Gurchick’s insistence of waiting for the 4th quarter. On the down side, if sales do not increase as expected, the company would be in substantial trouble. They will have a great deal of over stated income, which will be caught by auditors. They will make adjusting journal entries for this, which will decrease net income. If this decrease is too substantial then the books will be in the negative. Browne understands that the Chatter Chick was over produced, and is prepared to deal with the consequence. Gurchick prefers to take a gamble and hope for the best. 2. The corporate culture at Creative Toys is probably quite tense at this point. With Browne and Gurchick disagreeing over the course of action, the employees at this point are most likely wondering what the outcome of the decrease in demand will be and whether the company will be able to make it through this. I think that everyone is probably quite worried and tense at this...
Words: 355 - Pages: 2
...Creative Toys Inc. 1. If Inventory were to be written down in the 4th quarter instead of the 2nd quarter, it could cause the company to be compromised. One of the reasons that the allowance occurs in the 2nd quarter is because Browne realizes that it will make expenses appear too high, but, it will reduce the impact of the lack of future sales. However, if inventory were established in the 4th quarter, where they are expected to increase quite a bit, the transition would be easier. This is the reasoning behind Gurchick’s insistence of waiting for the 4th quarter. On the down side, if sales do not increase as expected, the company would be in substantial trouble. They will have a great deal of over stated income, which will be caught by auditors. They will make adjusting journal entries for this, which will decrease net income. If this decrease is too substantial then the books will be in the negative. Browne understands that the Chatter Chick was over produced, and is prepared to deal with the consequence. Gurchick prefers to take a gamble and hope for the best. 2. The corporate culture at Creative Toys is probably quite tense at this point. With Browne and Gurchick disagreeing over the course of action, the employees at this point are most likely wondering what the outcome of the decrease in demand will be and whether the company will be able to make it through this. I think that everyone is probably quite worried and tense at this point, and things are likely going to...
Words: 417 - Pages: 2
...The Financial District Branch James McGaran was manager of the most important of the 31 branches in the Los Angeles area. Located in Los Angeles’s financial district, James’s branch had a staff of 15 people, revenues of $6 million, and $4.3 million in profit margin. The customer base was very diverse. Individual customers ranged from people who worked in the financial district with sophisticated retail banking needs to less informed individuals banking for convenience. Business customers were sophisticated buyers who demanded high service quality and knowledgeable employees who could satisfy their financial needs. “Mom and pop” businesses, the dominant segment in other regions, were also present but to a much lesser extent. Competition was intense. Two competitors—Bank of America and Wells Fargo—had offices less than a block away from James’s branch. James joined Citibank in 1985 as assistant branch manager. He had worked in the banking industry since 1977. Within a year, in 1986, he was promoted to manager of a small branch. He progressed quickly through the ranks until 1992 when he was given the responsibility of managing the Financial District office. His performance in this office had exceeded expectations every single year. He had delivered impressive financial results for four years in a row. In 1996, when the division expanded its performance indicators to include non-financial measures, it became apparent that his branch’s customer satisfaction ratings did not follow...
Words: 4310 - Pages: 18
...life sciences sectors. Its well-established infrastructure management practice, combined with recent acquisition of Axon, provides significant cross-selling opportunity, which could help HCLT win some of the large size deals. At CMP, the stock is trading at 15.5x FY12E and 12.3x FY13E earnings. We recommend a buy with a price target of `587 i.e (15x FY13e Adj. EPS of `36.62 + value of investments per share of ` 37.5). KEY HIGHLIGHTS ■ HCLT grew faster than Industry: Indian IT exports grew at a 5-year CAGR of 23% from $18bn in FY2005 to $50bn in FY2010. HCLT revenues grew at a 5-year CAGR of 29% from $764mn in FY2005 to $2705mn in FY2010. ■ Axon acquisition adds value: Prior to the acquisition of Axon in 2008, about 11% of HCLT’s revenue came from EAS. With the acquisition of Axon, HCLT’s revenues from enterprise solutions increased to more than 20%. ■ Gaining market share in ADM & IMS space: HCLT’s performance has been particularly strong in deals with bundled ADM and IMS. With the rising traction in restructure/renewal of global outsourcing deals in ADM and IMS, we expect the company’s deal flow to remain strong giving boost to overall revenue. ■ Multiple levers for margin expansion: Falling profitability has been a concern for HCLT for past few quarters. Going forward, we believe that the margins will pick up due to SG&A leverage, improving utilisation and better profitability of BPO business. Also, the management...
Words: 3896 - Pages: 16
...This paper describes the situation at the United States (US) based company, Global Communications (GC) in the telecommunication industry. Different challenges and opportunities at GC are discussed. The paper continues by discussing the different stakeholders' perspective/ethical dilemmas and continues by framing a problem statement for the Global Communications situation. An expected end state situation is then described for GC scenario. The paper continues by analyzing different alternative solutions to the Global Communications situation , the risk for each solution is described and an optimal solution from a numbers of alternative solutions is selected. An implementation plan for the selection solution for the Global Communications situation is described and a metrics to monitor the plan is presented. This paper concludes by reviewing the selected solution to the situation and discussing the expected result. Issue and Opportunity Identification As a result of competition from cable companies, the United States based company, Global Communication (GC) is losing market share and profitability in the telecommunications market. The traded stock value has dropped from $28 to $11 in a two year period and stockholders are receiving diminishing returns (University of Phoenix, 2006). The stockholders have lost confidence in the management. Management is under pressure to renew stockholders confidence by increasing returns on the stock and the traded stock value. Senior management...
Words: 2824 - Pages: 12
...Harvard Business School 9-198-048 Rev. October 14, 1999 Citibank: Performance Evaluation Frits Seegers, President of Citibank California, was meeting with his management team to review the performance evaluation and bonus decisions for the California branch managers. James McGaran's performance evaluation was next. Frits felt uneasy about this one. McGaran was manager of the most important branch in the Los Angeles area, and his financials were impressive. A year ago he would have received "above par" rating with full bonus. But last year, the California Division of Citibank had introduced a new performance scorecard to highlight the importance of a diverse set of measures in achieving the strategic goals of the division. Among the new measures introduced was a customer satisfaction indicator. Unfortunately, James McGaran had scored "below par" on customer satisfaction. Frits looked at Lisa Johnson, the area manager supervising James McGaran. Frits had read Lisa's comments (Exhibit 1). The comments were very positive, but Lisa had not wanted to give a final recommendation until she had discussed it with Frits. She knew that James' case would be watched closely by many managers within the division. The Financial District Branch James McGaran was manager of the most important of the 31 branches in the Los Angeles area. Located in Los Angeles’s financial district, James’s branch had a staff of 15 people, revenues of $6 million, and $4.3 million in profit margin. The customer...
Words: 4615 - Pages: 19
...Priceline Case Study The core components of Priceline's business model: The core components of Priceline's business model are based on reverse auction pricing pattern. This unique pattern offers value for both consumer and vendor. Priceline also acts as an intermediary, buying blocks of airline tickets and vacation packages at a discount and selling them at a reduced retail price or matching its inventory to bidders. It is best known for its Name Your Own Price auctions, where users specify what they are willing to pay for goods or services, and multiple providers bid for their business (Kenneth & Laudon 2011). It helps consumers to find cheaper product and service. On the vendor side, it allows them to sell products they might not otherwise be able to sell. Priceline's business model also is known as brokerage. In this model Priceline creates its own market by bringing buyers and sellers together. Priceline operates as the broker or middle man to bring both parties in a systematic environment. Priceline receives its revenue based on the difference between the “Name your own price” amount entered by the customer and the amount charged by the service provider such as the airline. Will Priceline ultimately succeed or fail? Priceline has a reasonable business model which will allow them to succeed in the long term. The reverse auction model which Priceline uses to link the sellers with buyers is what has made it profitable. There will be always customers seeking...
Words: 808 - Pages: 4
...ASSESSMENT 2B: Identifying Decision Traps Decision Making Exercise 2 Introduction We all remember the hot summer(winter in Australia) when we heard the news that Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy during the terrible ‘sub-prime meltdown’(Investopedia 2009). As a giant among investment banks with a history over 150 years,Lehman Brothers suddenly collapsed in few months. How did Lehman Brothers go bankrupt? Why did it happen? Are there any methods that could have been used to avoid the doomsday? These questions will be discussed below. Case study overview In early 2007, with the stock reached $86.18(Investopedia 2009), Lehman Brothers seemed to have done a great job. Therefore ,the company underestimated the risks posed by rising ‘home delinquencies’(Terry 2008) and overestimated the risk-enduring capacity of the US housing market. One real estate investment broker described Lehman as ‘the real estate A.T.M(Terry 2008).Then Lehman’s share price went into a tailspin when the dark days came in August 2007. Dramatically, at the end of 2007, Lehman’s share price rebounded, as ‘global equity markets reached new highs and prices for fixed-income assets staged a temporary rebound’(Terry 2008).However, Lehman failed to seize the chance to ‘trim its massive mortgage portfolio’(Investopedia 2009). According to the Investpedia (2009), the news was a deathblow to Lehman, leading to a 45% plunge in the stock and a 66% spike incredit-default swaps on the company's debt. With...
Words: 1177 - Pages: 5
...Taranjot Singh When my peers were talking about the new Call of Duty game, I was looking for new startup technology companies to invest in. I grew up in a Indian family strong believers in Sikhism as a child I was always taught to serve before you eat at the temple, stand up for what was right,save money for a rainy day and spend it wisely. I was lucky for being born in a Middle class family with one of the top casts in India. My parents being teacher I was always told to stride to be on top anything lower than a 90% was considered unacceptable luckily for me in India homework did not count towards your grade you only had one big final exam which determined your grade in the class. After I completed fourth grade my family moved to...
Words: 263 - Pages: 2
...The first quarter we scored 3 touchdowns and opened up a 21-0 lead. At the start of the second quarter we scored right off the bat making it 28-0. They could not do anything we had them locked down we had them terrified scared to death of us. At the end of the second quarter we ended up scoring 3 more touchdowns bring our lead up to 49-0 going into halftime. We went into halftime feeling good like we were on top of the world cause we knew we had it thinking they couldn't come back. Thinking we had the game in the bag and had it finished over and done with. Unfortunately, that's what we thought but that isn't what happened we got a rude awakening that second half. I don't know what I was or what happened or what was said to them they must have gotten a Ray Lewis speech or something but they came out fired up ,a totally different team from the first half one. They just had a different feeling they had a spark lit in them, they came out just totally different team they were playing like us in the first half but ten times harder. At the beginning of the third quater they scored right of the bat and forced us to turn the ball over and scored again bring the score to 49-14. I don't know what it was but they were on another level that whole third quarter we didn't score at all . They ended up scoring 3 more times bringing the score to 49-35 at the end of the 3rd quarter. At the start of the 4th quarter they had the ball on there own 1 yard line and...
Words: 1144 - Pages: 5
...1960: Clint Murchison, Jr., and Bedford Wynne were awarded an expansion franchise in the NFL at the annual league meeting in Miami Beach. The Cowboys were to play as a "swing" team, playing every other team one time during the first season, although listed in the Western Division standings. On September 24th the Cowboys host the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Cotton Bowl in their first official game. The Cowboys held the lead into the 4th Quarter but watched helpless as Quarterback Bobby Lane led the Steelers to a 35-24 come from behind win. The Cowboys would go to lose their first ten games before earning a tie with Giants in New York, in the next to last game of the season. The Cowboys would go on to lose their final game of the season to close out their inaugural season winless at 0-11-1. 1961: Now in the Eastern Division, the Cowboys started their second season at the Cotton Bowl on September 17th still seeking their first win in franchise history, playing the Pittsburgh Steelers. Thanks to Kicker Allan Green's 27-yard Field Goal, the Cowboys won 27-24 win, to start the season 1-0. The Cowboys would go on to win three of their first four games, beating the expansion Minnesota Vikings twice. However, once Dallas faced the rest of the league it was back to reality as they finished with a 4-9-1 record. 1962: The Cowboys began to show some promise in year three, as their offense scored the second most points in the league at 398, on the way to a 4-3-1 start. However, the defense...
Words: 3874 - Pages: 16
...businesses including theatrical exhibition, food services, gaming, alternative programming * Headquartered in Toronto, Canada * 162 theatres with 1655 screens; serves 74 million guests annually * 79% of the entire Canadian market Recent News (Last year news that should have affected stock price) * January 20, 2015: Introduces Rec Room * February 12, 2015: Reports 4th Q results * May 8, 2015: Reports 1st Q earning results and announces dividend increase * June 11, 2015: Announces plans to launch eSports Cinema Events-live streaming of e-sport tournaments * August 13, 2015: Cineplex reports record second quarter results * September 17, 2015: Acquired assets of WorldGaming for $10 million * Also invested $5MM to create a new competitive gaming league * September 29, 2015: Announces newest location for rec room in Calgary * November 6, 2015: Cineplex and Scotiabank announce 10-year extension of SCENE loyalty program * November 10, 2015: Reports record 3rd quarter results * January 11, 2016: Cineplex, WorldGaming sign comprehensive deal with Sony Computer Entertainment Canada (Playstation) * Plans to open 10-15 “Rec Rooms” across Canada * Management expects revenue of $10MM/year from each location 2016 Notable Box Office Releases Zoolander 2: February 12 Batman v Superman: March 25 Captain America: Civil War: May 6 Neighbours 2: May 20 X-Men Apocalypse: May 27 Finding Dory: June 17 Ice Age: July...
Words: 300 - Pages: 2
...ECONOMICS 310: PUBLIC FINANCE Department of Economics Western Washington University Dr. Julia L. Hansen Fall 2013 Office: PH 339, Office Phone: 6503204 Office hours: TR 1-2 p.m. and 4-4:30 p.m. (or by appointment) Additional office hours will be scheduled prior to exams. E-mail address: julie.hansen@wwu.edu Canvas address*: http://canvas.wwu.edu *Please visit the course page on Canvas for access to course documents, additional readings and links to relevant information on the web. COURSE READINGS: Gruber, Public Finance and Public Policy, 4th edition Additional readings as listed on the course outline COURSE PREREQUISITES: Econ 206 and Econ 207 COURSE DESCRIPTION: Public Finance deals with the taxing and spending activities of government. It is alternatively called Public Sector Economics or Public Economics. The focus of the course is on the microeconomic functions of government, and in particular the way that government affects the allocation of resources and the distribution of income. The analysis of the spending activities of government will include a discussion of public goods, externalities, education, welfare programs, Social Security and health care. On the tax side, we will build a framework for tax analysis, and then apply this framework to the personal income tax, the corporation income tax, and other U.S. taxes. COURSE OBJECTIVES: 1. To understand the economic rationale...
Words: 795 - Pages: 4
