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Enron Case - 2186 Words

Part B: What role did the CFO play in creating the problems that led to Enron’s financial problems? In order to prevent the losses from appearing on its financial statements, Enron used questionable accounting practices. To misrepresent its true financial condition, Andrew Fastow, the Enron’s CFO, takes his role involving unconsolidated partnerships and â€Å"special purpose entities†, which would later become known as the LJM partnership. Taking advantage from the SPEs’s main purpose, which provided the companies with a mechanism to raise money for various needs without having to report the debt in their balance sheets, Enron’s CFO directly ran these partnerships and designed them to purchase the underperforming assets (such as Enrons poorly†¦show more content†¦The employees tend to view themselves as individuals, focus upon their own needs and without putting extra effort on behalf of the overall company business. The culture was all about how m uch money could be made for many executive through the stock option incentive program. Finally, the culture makes it hard for creating an ethical environment and fraud is almost inevitable. The reason was Enron’s management has less focus to create a relationship of openness and trust with employees. Staff members who saw wrongdoing were either ignored or silenced. As such, it is an essential component in any businesss ultimate success or failure. Part A It is hard to believe Enron, the seventh largest leading corporation in electricity, natural gas and communications based in United Stated filled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2001. The company with claimed revenues of $101 Billion in 2000 finally ended up when investigations revealed that it had inflated its earnings by â€Å"hiding its debt, committing institutionalized, systematic and well-planned accounting fraud†. The scandal is the most significant corporate collapse in the United States since the failure of many savings and loan banks during the 1980s. (1) Enron Corporation was born in 1985, a resulting company of Houston Natural Gas and Omaha-based InterNorth. Ken Lay, who had been CEO of Houston Natural Gas, becomes chairman and CEO of the following year. Enron won Fortune Magazines award ofShow MoreRelatedEnron Case1075 Words   |  5 PagesMINI CASE: THE FILURE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AT ENRON 1.Which parts of the corporate governance system, internal and external, do you believe failed Enron the most? In the evaluation of the Enron’s case; by trying to see the very big picture, it is not only about that the internal part of the corporate governance system was failed or but also the external part of the corporate governance system was also failed. As noted on the last paragraph of the mini case, many people from different positionsRead MoreEnron Case1899 Words   |  8 PagesENRON CASE Please read the Enron cases posted on blackboard and the one in your book then answer the following questions based upon the case and Chapter 9. Make sure that your answers are supported by the facts of the case and the concepts you learned from Chapter 5. Please rely only on the case/chapter 9 to answer the questions except for question # 12—requires outside search. Make sure your answers are sufficiently brief, concise, and relevant to the question. Please avoid generalRead MoreEnron Case2402 Words   |  10 Pages Imane Malihi Prof. Fred Friend BLW411/511 March 27, 2014 The Downfall of Enron Corporation â€Å"Ethics and integrity are at the core of sustainable long term success †¦ Without them, no strategy can work and, as Enron has demonstrated, enterprises will fail. That’s despite having some of the ‘smartest’ guys in the room.† by Richard Rudden. As the quotation states, ethics and integrity play a key role in the success of any corporation; through these principles, companies can ensure their complianceRead MoreThe Case Of The Enron Case Essay1197 Words   |  5 Pages1.1. One of the most important fraud cases in the USA was The Enron case because of his criminal activity which involved a big part of USA. Let me give a short introduce about it, â€Å"In 1974, Kenneth Lay joined the Florida Gas Company, eventually serving as president of its successor company, Continental Resources Company. In 1981, he left Continental to join Transco Energy Company in Houston, Texas. Three years later, Lay joined Houston Natural Gas Co. as chairman and CEO. The company merged withRead MoreENRON Case Study1572 Words   |  7 Pages1. The Enron debacle created what one public official reported was a â€Å"crisis of confidence† on the part of the public in the accounting profession. List the parties who you believe are most responsible for that crisis. Briefly justify each of your choices. Following parties are believed to be the most responsible for the crisis. With any big organization going so bad, the blame starts with the top level executives, there was no different in this case. For Enron the blame started with Enron’sRead MoreEnron Case2918 Words   |  12 Pagesseemed eliminate confidence by the business world about the practice of good corporate governance in the United States. Enron was a company that was ranked as seventh out of the five hundred leading companies in the United States and is the largest U.S. energy company that went bankrupt leaving debts amounting to nearly U.S. $ 31.2 billion. In instance with the case of Enron known occurrence of moral threat behavior such as manipulation of financial statements with a record 600 million dollar profitRead MoreCase: 9 Enron928 Words   |  4 PagesCase 9: Enron; Questionable Accounting Leads to Collapse Bruce Smith Minnesota School of Business BS430 Business Ethics MR. Morris November 25, 2012 1. 2. 1. How did the corporate culture of Enron contribute to its bankruptcy? Effective leaders are good at getting followers to their common goals or objectives in the most effective and efficient way; unfortunately for Enron, in the end Ken Lay and Jeffery skilling were too focused on profits that nothing else mattered. In theRead MoreEnron Case Study5921 Words   |  24 PagesEnron Case Study [pic] Part A: Problem Focused Analysis and Recommendations. 1. Brief Case Background. List key events, use timeline. Case Background At one time Enron was one of the world’s largest producers of natural gas, oil, and electricity. It also appeared to be one of the most profitable companies, taking shareholders from $19.10 in 1999 to $90.80 by the end of 2000. Enron’s top management answered to a Board of Directors whose responsibility was to question and challenge new partnershipsRead MoreThe Ethics Of The Enron Case1407 Words   |  6 PagesThe Enron case is a very popular case to show how the profession of accounting is vital to make the corporate world of business flow reliably. Enron was recognized as one of the world’s major electricity, natural gas, communications and pulp and paper’s company. However Enron was found to record assets and profits at inflated, fraudulent and non-existent amounts. Debts and losses were found to be excluded from financial statements along with other major transactions between Enron and other companiesRead MoreEnron Case Study Analysis1699 Words    |  7 PagesBusiness Strategy Enron Case Study 09/08/12 Enron Case Study: From Company to Conspiracy 1. What is the History of Enron, and what current situation does it find itself in? Enron was created by a combination of companies. These companies were Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth. These companies were merged together in July 1985. CEO of Houston Natural Gas, Kenneth Lay became chairman and CEO of the combined company. This happened in February 1986. The company changed its name to Enron on April 10th

Rhetoric Analysis Free Essays

English 103 Rhetorical Analysis Authors Becky Herz, and Kim Phuc wrote essays that not only touched hearts, but also made people take a different look at life and those around them. â€Å"The Long Road to Forgiveness† and â€Å"My Husband Will Call Me Tomorrow† are two essays that use literary devices such as pathos, imagery, ethos, and repetition to effectively tell their stories. By using different rhetorical and literary devices in their writing they were able to make an impact with their words. We will write a custom essay sample on Rhetoric Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now Words are very powerful weapons in the battle of making a point and trying to make sure that people actually understand that same point. In Herz’s â€Å"My Husband Will Call Tomorrow† she was able to use repetition as well as visual devices to effectively tell her story. Her use of these devices allows the reader to be able to connect and see things from her level. Phuc’s essay on the other hand, was able to evoke gut-wrenching emotion, just using devices such as imagery and details about to make her story credible. Becky Herz’s essay, â€Å"My Husband Will Call Me Tomorrow† contains credibility in her use of certain details about how her life is laid out now that her husband is not at home. Her use of repetition through the essay, stating that, â€Å"I believe my husband is going to call me tomorrow† is very effective. The author states this through the essay multiple times. This can be interpreted in a way where one can come to believe that she is just stating a fact. Over and over she states that her husband is going to call her; this shows that she has hope, faith, and is determined that her husband will indeed call her tomorrow. Herz gives detail about how she puts the baby to bed, walks the dogs, checks on her employees; this expresses how she does indeed â€Å"have her hands full† and establishes her credibility. By going through her everyday life, this reveals that hope and belief that nothing is out of the ordinary. Through detailing the actions and evoking the emotion behind it, she makes her story more credible and emotional. The reader can actually believe that she does have hope and believe her husband will call her. If she really did not believe that her husband would call, would she keep her usual routine? Or would she just wallow in the idea that she will never see him again? Her use of repetition helped make her essay touching and believable. In Kim Phuc’s essay, â€Å"The Long Road to Forgiveness† she does not tell a story. She states the facts about everything that happened to her when she was younger giving the story an emotional effect. She described in intricate detail about how she saw everything around her in flames. â€Å"I saw fire everywhere around me. Then I saw fire over my body, especially on my left arm. My clothes had been burned off my body† (Phuc 179). Not only did this statement help provoke the emotion in her story, but it also created imagery for the audience. Her word choice allows the audience to visualize the fire everywhere around her, burning off her clothes and everything around her. Also you can read Rhetorical Devices in Night Walker by Brent Staples Her words further on in the essay help form her credibility in the forgiveness that she is trying to provoke upon the reader. Still, her story is so detailed and thought provoking to feel some time of emotion for what has happened to her is unavoidable. As her essay goes on, never in the beginning or the middle does she state exactly what caused all the damage around her; Phuc saves the fact that she was burned by napalm until the very end of the essay. By just giving details about what happened instead of stating that fact first and then elaborating on it, allowed the essay to have a more emotional impact on the reader. By finalizing what exactly caused all this damage to her physical being, stating how â€Å"Napalm is very powerful, but faith, forgiveness, and love are much more powerful† (Phuc 180), she made her story that much more credible. Especially when she reiterates how is â€Å"If that little girl in the picture can do it (forgive), ask yourself: Can you? † (Phuc 181). Both Becky Herz and Kim Phuc were able to use emotion in their writing and make their essays credible by using details that forced the reader to actually sit back and think about what they were reading. For instance, in Herz’s essay, just how she wrote about how she went through her day waiting for her husband to call her, it was almost as if she was just writing a note to a friend. Her diction created a relaxed tone though she was talking about something that was anything but that. She didn’t write it like she was trying to make the reader feel sorry for her; she was just revealing that she had hope by going through her everyday routine. â€Å"When people say, ‘Looks like you have your hands full,’ I’ll smile and acknowledge that its true, but I make the nest of it because I believe my husband will call me tomorrow† (Herz 110). Phuc organized her essay the same way. She did not ask for any type of pity in her writing in how she wrote it; the facts about what happened were simply stated. From the very first sentence, â€Å"On June 8, 1972, I ran out from Cao Dai temple in my village, Trang Bang, South Vietnam, I saw an airplane getting lower and then four bombs falling down† (Phuc 179), information was given but pity was not requested. She told what happened, and how from it, her life changed drastically; this unknowingly pulls emotion from the reader, and helps establish even more credibility. The Long Road to Forgiveness† and â€Å"My Husband Will Call Me Tomorrow† are two essays that use literary devices such as pathos, imagery, ethos, and repetition to effectively tell their stories and create an essay where the audience can establish understandings and connections. From Phuc’s essay the reader can visualize almost every single detail that she writes about because the words the mselves are so vivid. The reader can see the bombs falling out of the sky as they skim over the words. Becky Herz and Kim Phuc’s essays in This I Believe II are two perfect examples of these literary devices fundamentally being put to use. How to cite Rhetoric Analysis, Essay examples

Financial Cycle and Macroeconomics

Question: Discuss about the Financial Cycle and Macroeconomics. Answer: Introduction Singapore is a potent Asian superpower despite its small size. Its economy is open and is highly conducive for trade and attracting foreign investors. The macroeconomic indicators of the country are also stable which augers well for economic growth. The per-capita GDP is the third highest in the world at $85,127 (taking PPP into consideration) in 2015. In 2015, the real GDP of the nation was $ 470.55 billion. On June 30, 2015, the total labour force in the nation is estimated to be 3.63 million. The unemployment levels are also stable at around 2% while the inflation continues to be near zero. Nearly (3/4)th of the GDP comes from the service sector while the manufacturing sector contributed for the rest. The exports are significantly greater than the imports resulting in a positive balance of payments. Due to its stable policy regime and investor friendly policies, Singapore attracted a FDI of $ 900 billion in 2015 while the investment from Singapore to outside nations stood at $ 518 billion (Tan, 2015). The present report aims to review the production output performance, labour market performance and price performance during the period 2005-2014. The various indicators used in this quest would be explained and also the fluctuations in the same during the period along with government intervention would be interpreted and explained. Production Output Performance Trend Analysis The following graph summarizes Singapores real GDP during 2005-2014 (TradingEconomics, 2016). From the graph again, it can be observed that the country has attained the highest GDP level in the year 2014 amounting to USD 306.34 billion. Also, the country has shown a constant uptrend in terms of GDP which was adversely impacted in 2009 when the GDP remained flat. Further, the economy has witnessed a comeback from 2010 when the GDP growth returned and has been continuing ever since albeit at a lower rate. The following graph summarizes Singapores real GDP growth rate during 2005-2014 (TradingEconomics, 2016). From the graph, it can be observed that both the highest and lowest growth rate in GDP can be attributed to the global financial crisis. This is primarily because, the lowest quarterly growth rate i.e. 13.5% coincided with the peak of the crisis and the highest quarterly growth rate i.e. 37.2% was observed at the time of recovery in the year 2010. These fluctuations in the growth may be attributed to the fact that Singapore is an open economy whose fortunes are driven by trade and financial services. Thus, global swings tend to have a profound impact on performance of economy. The following graph summarizes Singapores per capita GDP during 2005-2014 (TradingEconomics, 2016). It is evident that there has been a continuous uptrend in the per capita GDP. However, at the onset of the crisis i.e. 2008 and 2009, there has been a decline in the per capita GDP. The highest level of USD 51,440.82 has been attained in 2014 while the lowest level of USD 40,020.26 has been witnessed in 2005. This clearly depicts that the growth in GDP for most of the period has surpassed the growth rate in population which augers well for the improvement of living standards of people. Production Output Performance Definition of Indicators The dollar value of the various goods and services that are produced within the country during a given time period is referred to as GDP. Real GDP unlike nominal GDP aims to determine GDP at the base price and not at the current market price. As a result, the real GDP captures a true representation of economic growth that is unperturbed by inflation. The percentage change in the real GDP on a periodic basis is referred to as real GDP growth rate. This is highly useful in acting as a reliable measure of national economic growth. Further, the GDP per capital is derived by taking GDP and dividing the same by the national population at a given point of time and is reflective of the living standards (Mankiw, 2012). Production Output Performance Explanation From the above, it is clear that Singapore has witnessed a stable GDP growth barring the turmoil causes due to the onset of the global financial crisis. Besides, the rising levels of real GDP growth are a healthy sigh for the economy particularly in the post financial crisis era. Besides, the GDP growth rate exceeds the population growth rate which is leading to a rise in the per capita GDP and hence increasing living standards of residents (Mankiw, 2012). This trend in the long term paves way for a stable economy and prosperous nation Production Output Performance Measures taken by government The stellar performance during the last decade and the recovery from the global financial crisis can be attributed to the host of steps undertaken by the Singapore government. The ease of doing business in Singapore is one of the highest not only in Asia but also the world and hence the nation has continuously attracted significant FDI despite its small size. Using fiscal policy as an enabler, the government has provided encouragement and requisite support to the use of advanced technology. Also, the productivity of people is on the increase through government skill building programs and relentless focus on access to quality and affordable education and health services. Low corruption coupled with planned city and land development has enabled the launch of Singapore as a global financial hub and thereby contributes to its sustained exemplary performance (Waring Lewer, 2013). Labor Market Analysis Trend Analysis The following graph summarizes Singapores unemployment rate during 2005-2014 (TradingEconomics, 2016). The graph above indicates that the highest unemployment rate was witnessed in the third quarter of 2009 along with third quarter of 2005 and was estimated at 3.4%. The lowest level in unemployment was witnessed just before financial crisis started in 2008. Hence, the third and fourth quarter in 2007 had lowest levels of unemployment. In the recent times, the unemployment levels have stabilized around 2% which augers well for the economy. Unemployment Definition Unemployment refers to circumstance when individual belonging to labour force is without work. Based on the underlying reasons that dictate the unemployment, there are three types i.e. cyclical, structural and frictional. Cyclical unemployment occurs due to fluctuations of the business cycle which in turn impacts the demand for labour (Weale Christodoulakis, 2015). Structural unemployment occurs due to alterations in the underlying technology and structure of industry which fundamentally alters the skillsets required and hence the labour with these skillsets is not available, there is shortage of labour and simultaneously there is unemployment since the desired skill are lacking amongst the labour force (Goodwin et al., 2013). The time required for an employee to shift from one job to another leads to frictional unemployment (Mankiw, 2012). Types of Unemployment - Singapore All the above mentioned unemployment types occur in Singapore as explained below. Cyclical unemployment continues to exist as labour in Singapore primarily comes from outside the country and especially neighbouring Asian countries. Thus, fluctuations in the business cycle tend to alter the aggregate demand which has a profound impact on the labour demand and hence causes cyclical unemployment in times of recession (Tan, 2015). Structural unemployment exists as the nation continues to place emphasis on high technology and capital intensive practices in various sectors. As a result, the labour force needs to be highly agile and adapt to these new technologies used in various processes. Since skill up-gradation is a gradual process, hence there is some structural employment that exists (Pigou, 2013). As there are members of the work force who are looking for better jobs, thus they leave their jobs and thus are temporarily unemployed which gives rise to frictional unemployment (McTaggart, 2012). Unemployment Measures taken by the government In a bid to stabilize unemployment at an optimum level, a number of steps have been taken by the government. He government uses fiscal policy in a prudent manner which enhances the overall productivity and provides incentive to various businesses to set up shop in Singapore which ensures that cyclical employment is low (Borio, 2014). Further, in the form of innovative programs like Workfare Income Supplement (WIS), the government supports the unemployed so that they can successfully invest in skill building.(Wagner, 2014). Also, there are dedicated programs for enhancing skills such as SPUR (Skill Program for Upgrading and Resilience) where individual can both learn new skills and simultaneously get paid. These measures are highly helpful in minimizing the incidence of structural unemployment (Cho Newhouse, 2013). Price Level Analysis Trend Analysis The following graph summarizes Singapores inflation rate movements during 2005-2014 (TradingEconomics, 2016). It can be observed that then during the given period, a high inflation of 7% was clocked before the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008. In the aftermath of this crisis, there was deflation which reached a maximum level of -1% in 2010. The inflation rate has not been stable and is following patterns of rise and fall. The first inflation peak is visible just before the crisis while trough is visible at the height of the crisis in 2010. Again, owing to recovery in growth, inflation peaked in 2012 after which it has dropped to almost zero in 2014. Inflation Definition Inflation is referred to the general price rise and is detrimental if high as it erodes moneys purchasing power (Simpson, 2014). Inflation is the result of the interactions between the demand and supply forces. The two major reasons are inflation are the rise in demand and the shortage in supply or rise in the input costs. The inflation caused due to the demand exceeding the supply is referred to as demand pull inflation (Ghosh, 2013). However, the inflation which is caused due to rise in input costs which are then passed on to the consumers is referred to as cost inflation (Gandolfo, 2013). Types of Inflation and Causes - SingaporeBoth the demand and cost inflation exist in Singapore. The demand pull inflation is caused due to increase in population and their disposable income which leads to a higher demand for certain products and services. In the short run, since the supply cannot adjust to these, hence the price rises. Also, there are supply shocks especially in imported items which causes a decrease in the supply and simultaneously leads to cost inflation as these becomes expensive in the international market and the consumers in Singapore have to bear the brunt (Ghosh Yu, 2013). Inflation Measures taken by the government In order to reduce the dependence of nation on imports, the monetary authority of Singapore regulates the currency exchange rate. Besides, due to high amount of foreign funds inflow and outflow, interventions by the monetary authority becomes imperative so that these excess funds brought into the country do not fuel inflation (Bhaskaran, 2014). Besides, the government also uses various fiscal measures which include providing subsidies and tax rebates to those imported items which are integral to the life of the people particularly basic food products. This helps keeping inflation in check. Further, self reliance thorough long term negotiated contracts is also being worked out by the government to combat inflation (Das, 2014). Conclusion It can be derived on the back of the arguments that the macroeconomic indicators of Singapore during 2005-2014 have remained stable despite being briefly disrupted by the global financial crisis. This is commendable for an open economy which operates in a dynamic global environment where global shocks are so common. Despite that Singapore has been able to maintain a robust GDP growth while keeping unemployment and inflation in check. Also, a stable regime has been provided to the investors due to the stability in the above parameters. A huge credit for this environment goes to the government which has taken timely measures to ensure that the macroeconomic health of Singapore is not compromised. Reference Borio, C. (2014). The financial cycle and macroeconomics: What have we learnt?, Journal of Banking Finance, 45, 182-198. Bhaskaran, M., (2014). Challenges Facing the Singapore Economy, Southeast Asian Affairs,2014(1), pp.290-302. Cho, Y., Newhouse, D. (2013). How did the great recession affect different types of workers? Evidence from 17 middle-income countries,World Development,41, 31-50. Gandolfo, G., (2013). International Economics II: International Monetary Theory and Open-Economy Macroeconomics, Springer Science Business Media. Ghosh, A. and Yu, J., (2013).Singapore Inflation Expectations: Expecting the Unexpected, Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University. Goodwin, N., Nelson, J., Harris, J., Torras, M. and Roach, B., (2013). Macroeconomics in context, New York : ME Sharpe. Mankiw, N. (2012).Macroeconomics, New York: Worth Publishers McTaggart, D., Findlay, C., Parkin, M. (2012).Macroeconomics, French Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Pigou, A. C. (2013).Theory of unemployment, New York: Routledge Simpson, B. (2014).Money, Banking, and the Business Cycle, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Tan, K. P. (2015). Singapore in 2015.Asian Survey,55(1), 157-164. Trading Economics (2016), 300,000 Indicators from 196 countries, Retrieved 7 August 2016, from https://www.tradingeconomics.com/ Waring, P., Lewer, J. (2013). The global financial crisis, employment relations and the labour market in Singapore and Australia, Asia Pacific Business Review,19(2), 217-229. Weale, M., Blake, A., Christodoulakis, N. (2015).Macroeconomic Policy, Florence: Taylor and Francis.