Candys Dog being shot dead Essay Example for Free

Candys Dog being shot dead Essay I believe that Candys dog being shot dead is one of the most important parts of the novel and should definitely be included in a film version. In this scene Carlson starts moaning about how much Candys old dog smells. He then suggests that Candy should shoot him and even offers to do it himself. But it is the things that Carlson says in order to justify himself that are important for the readers because it helps us to see why George decided to do what he did at the end of the book. For example, when Carlson says, This old dog, just suffers hisself all the time, and you aint been kind to him, keeping him alive, when he is trying to convince Candy that it is almost cruel to make him live life any longer. Carlson also describes how Candy could kill the dog in a quick, humane way. He says, shoot him right in the back of the head hed never know what hit him. This is particularly important because George kills Lennie in this exact way. It is where he got the idea that mercy killing was even an option. Slim is then asked to give his opinion and he agrees with Carlson saying, That dog aint no good to himself. As Slim is the only person on the ranch to have natural authority, and his opinions were law. Candy reluctantly agrees to let Carlson shoot his dog. If this scene was left out we would not understand why George would even consider killing Lennie and we would get the impression that George carried it out in cold blood and did not care. The scene should be set in a dimly lit, dark setting. The darkness would help to emphasize the end of life. Carlson should be talking abruptly and quickly showing that he is not thinking about Candys feelings and is unaware of how much the dog means to Candy. Slim in contrast should be taking is time over his speech, showing that he wants this to be as painless as it can be for Candy. He shows that he cares when he instructs Carlson to take a shovel, so that he can bury the dog so Candy wont have to see his dog in the morning. The Fight Scene Another important scene is the fight between Curley and Lennie. In this scene Curley has just accused Slim of being with his wife and in return Slim shouts back at him. Carlson and Candy take advantage of the situation by insulting Curley. Curley feels degraded and wants to take it out on someone. Lennie is there and is the perfect person because Curley being small always feels as though he has something to prove and a real chip on his shoulder towards bigger guys. Lennie is smiling at the thought of the dream of living off the fat of the land and Curley uses it as an opportunity to pick a fight. He says, What the hell you laughin at? and punches Lennies face making his nose bleed. Lennie is described as being too frightened to defend himself. But under the instruction of George, Lennie grabs Curleys hand and cannot let go, even with George slapping him round the face telling him to. Lennie feels guilty afterwards and he shows it when he says, I didnt wanta hurt him, and I didnt mean no harm. It is this scene that enables us to see the extent of Lennies strength and how dangerous it can be when combined with such a simple mind. The scene gives us a clue towards the main plot. Without this scene we would not realise what a true accident Curleys wifes death was and the reader would not feel as sorry for Lennie as they do. It would make the ending much less effective.

Occupational Hazards among Sanitary Staff in Hospital

Occupational Hazards among Sanitary Staff in Hospital Occupational Hazards among Sanitary Staff Working at Tertiary Care Hospitals of Karachi Abstract Improper waste management increases the risk of occupational hazard among staff working in hospital. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to identify awareness and practices associated with occupational hazards among the sanitary staff working at tertiary care hospitals. The study was conducted at 2 government hospitals in Karachi, from October 2012 to January 2013. An anonymous, self-descriptive questionnaire was used to collect data. Among 106 participants, only 39% (n=41) received training on managing hazardous waste. Moreover, only 51% (n=54) were able to differentiate between hazardous and non-hazardous waste. Around, 69% (n=73) respondents had provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) whereas; only 36% (n=38) were compliant with it. Two third of the participants reported that they have encountered injury from hospital waste. Fisher’s Exact Test revealed that use of PPE is associated with education, experience, training and awareness. The study revealed great need of awareness about health hazards among sanitary staff working at hospitals along with provision of facilities. Keywords: Occupational Hazards, Personal Protective Equipment, Waste Management, Sanitary Staff. Hospital waste serves to be the most hazardous waste material which can lead to life threatening infectious diseases. Poor and improper handling of waste increases the risk of exposure to pathogenic organisms.1 Waste material generated from hospitals are considered as hazardous hence, it needs to be treated cautiously.2 In developing countries, there is scarce awareness and knowledge about proper management of hospital waste.3 All staff working at hospital is prone to acquire infections. However, sanitary staffs are at greater risk.4 A number of diseases can be transmitted via contact with hazardous hospital waste including Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.5 Therefore, training of sanitary staff working at healthcare facilities is essential.4 All healthcare facilities needs to prepare their own policies to ensure proper management of hospital waste and provision of staff safety.6 Appropriate management of hospital waste is based upon hospital administration, policies, finance, staff training, and active participation of staff.7 The staff responsible for handling hospital waste needs to be provided with all essential PPE.8 This study focuses on awareness of occupational hazards among sanitary staff working at government hospitals in Karachi. The study was conducted at two tertiary care government hospitals of Karachi from October 2012 till January 2013. It was a cross sectional survey conducted on 106 participants that had given consent and who had minimum of 3 months of experience. The survey was conducted through a structured questionnaire and data was analyzed through SPSS. Among 106 participants 71% (n=75) were male and 29% (n=31) were females. Mean age of participants was 40.23 (+ 9.5 SD). As displayed in Table 1, among all participants 62% had work experience of more than 5 years. Majority (n=36, 34%) of the participants had received secondary education. Participants who had done intermediate (n=23, 22%) were working as shift supervisors. Job responsibility of participants included dusting and cleaning wards (n=41, 39%), collection of hospital waste (n=32, 30%), segregation of hospital waste (n=18, 17%), and disposal of waste material (n=15, 14%). Table 1 Demographic Profile of Study Participants 15 25 32 34 24 23 36 23 41 32 18 15 14 24 30 32 23 22 34 22 39 30 17 14 During job tenure, only 41 (39%) staff received formal training on handling hospital waste and preventing health hazards by following standard precautions. However, 54 (51%) of the respondents were aware about hazardous and non-hazardous waste products. Among all participants, only 19 (18%) underwent medical inspection and 67 (63%) of them received Hepatitis-B vaccination. However, among recipients of Hepatitis-B vaccine, only 37 (35%) received complete vaccination i.e. all 3 doses of Hepatitis-B. On inquiring about availability of PPE, 73 (69%) responded that PPE are provided by hospital whereas, only 38 (36%) of the respondents were using PPE. Among all participants, 87 (82%) were compliant with hand washing. With regard to separate collection of hazardous waste from non-hazardous waste, 47 (44%) of the respondents said that they collect waste separately. However, only 21 (20%) of the participants reported that they carry hazardous and non-hazardous waste separately. Majority (n=88, 83%) were using open containers for carrying waste material. Around 69 (65%) of the participants responded that they have encountered injury from hospital waste. Among them, 2 (2%) encountered needle stick injury, 30 (28%) experienced sharp injuries, 24 (23%) came in contact with blood and body fluids, and 14 (13%) got other types of injury. Only 18 (17%) of the participants didn’t experienced any illness, however 21 (20%) experienced gastrointestinal tract problems, 28 (27%) suffered from respiratory disorders, 14 (13%) got eye infections, 11 (10%) came in contact with skin diseases, and 14 (13%) encountered blood borne diseases. With regard to compliance of using standard precaution 34 (32%) of the participants always use gloves, only 7.5% of the participants always use apron, and 31 (29%) always use masks. The Fisher’s Exact test revealed a significant association between experience and use of PPE (P=0.027). Similarly, highly significant association has been identified between training and compliance with use of PPE (PPPP=0.078), was found to be insignificant (see Table 2). Table 2 Association between Compliance with Use of PPE and Demographic Characteristics * Significant ** Fisher’s Exact Test applied due to low cell count Generation of waste at hospitals demands for it proper disposal to avoid hazardous consequences associated with it. It is the prime responsibility of hospital to maintain clean and healthy environment to reduce infections associated with hospital wastes.6 Therefore, it is essential to provide appropriate training to ensure staff safety.9 In current study, less than half of the respondents received training and around half of the respondents displayed awareness about hazardous waste material. The study also displayed an association between training as well as awareness about hazardous waste with compliance to PPE use. Similarly, available evidences in the field also suggests that training of staff along with regular follow-ups can foster compliance with appropriate waste management practices.10 Available literature also suggests that for appropriate management of hospital waste and safety of hospital staff, continuous training programs needs to be organized.8 Current study revealed that only 18% of the sanitary staff went through medical inspection and around 35% of the staff received complete doses of hepatitis B vaccination. In contrast, previous study on sanitary staff working in tertiary care hospital of Rawalpindi reported that none of the sanitary staff went through medical checkup or received any vaccination before or during job tenure.4 The findings of current study revealed that availability of PPE was inadequate. However, it is essential to provide continuous supply of PPE and to bring change in attitude of staff towards use of PPE. The efforts of providing training, creating awareness, and providing personal protective equipment will not be of worth if staff will not comply with the appropriate waste handling and management strategies. Our study also demonstrated that only one third of the respondents were using available PPE. However, non-compliance with appropriate management of hospital waste makes sanitary staff prone to infections.10 Hence, efforts need to be made for providing training and creating awareness among sanitary staff for handling hazardous hospital waste. Moreover, organization should develop relevant policies and protocols to ensure appropriate handling and disposal of hospital waste. Organizations should also take initiatives for conducting medical inspection and vaccinating all hospital staff including sanitary staff. Availability of PPE should be adequate and staff needs to be encouraged to use PPE. Evidence based interventional research can be conducted to ensure appropriate handling of hazardous hospital waste for preventing sanitary staff from infectious diseases. References Hossain MS, Santhanam A, Nik Norulaini NA, Omar AK. Clinical solid waste management practices and its impact on human health and environment-A review. Waste Manag 2011; 31:754–6. Ross DE. Safeguarding public health, the core reason for solid waste management. Waste Manag Res 2011; 29:779–80. Janjua NZ, Khan MI, Mahmood B. Sharp injuries and their determinants among health care workers at first-level care facilities in Sindh Province, Pakistan. Trop Med Int Health 2010; 15:1244–51. Ahmed I, Farooq U, Rabia M, Naheed A, Maryum A, Asia A. Awareness among sanitary workers regarding their job: A survey at tertiary care hospital. Medical Forum Monthly: A Journal for all Specialties. Retrieved from http://www.medforum.pk/index.php?option=com_contentview=articleid=467:awareness-among-sanitary-workers-regarding-their-job-a-survey-at-tertiary-care-hospital. Hayashi Y. Proper disposal of medical wastes infection prevention and waste management at Hiroshima city, Asa Hospital. Rinsho Byori, 2000 (Suppl 112):26-31. Hashmi SK, Shahab S. Hospital and biomedical waste management. In: Iliyas M, Editor, Community medicine and public health. 4th ed. Karachi: Time Publishers, 2003, pp. 426-37. Yadav M. Hospital waste-A Major Problem. Hospital Today 2011; 8: 276-282. Pandit NB, Mehta HK, Kartha GP, Choudhary SK. Management of biomedical waste: Awareness and practices in a district of Gujarat. Indian J Public Health 2005; 49:245-7. Al-Khatib IA, Al-Qaroot YS, Ali-Shtayeh MS. Management of healthcare waste in circumstances of limited resources: a case study in the hospitals of Nablus city, Palestine. Waste Manag Res 2009; 27:305–12. Ikram A, Hussain Shah SI, Naseem S, Absar SF, Ullah S, Ambreen T, et al. Status of hospital infection control measures at seven major tertiary care hospitals of northern punjab. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak 2010; 20:266–70.

Loss of Faith in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay -- Young Goodma

Loss of Faith in Young Goodman Brown      Ã‚   In the Bible, God commands Moses to go up Mount Sinai to receive divine instruction.  Ã‚  Ã‚   When he comes back, his people, the Israelites, have gone crazy.   They have forgotten Moses, and forgotten their God.   They form their own god, a golden calf, and build an altar.   They even had a festival for the golden calf.   "Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and sat down to indulge in revelry" (Exodus 32:6).   Moses then went down the mountain and got so angry that he smashed the tablets with the Ten Commandments on them.  Ã‚   The Israelites lost faith because they could not see the God they were worshipping, so they forgot him and began worshipping a false idol.   The Israelites are not very different from modern man.   In his short story, "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne shows why man loses faith.   Man loses faith because of pride, weakness, and erroneous values.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pride causes man to lose faith.   Often man tries to handle situations on his own.   He seeks to contend with evil by himself.  Ã‚   In "Young Goodman Brown," the title character becomes crazy and confronts evil, "Come witch, come wizard, come Indian powwow, come devil himself! And here comes Goodman Brown.   You may as well fear him as he fear you!" (Hawthorne   324). Goodman Brown feels that he will be the demise of sin.   He assumes that he is strong enough to conquer it all single-handedly.   Pride also prevents man from realizing his own imperfections.   When wandering in the wilderness, Young Goodman Brown says, "A marvel, truly, that Goody Cloyse should be so far in the wilderness at nightfall" (Hawthorne   320).   The wilderness symbolizes any sinful place.   Young Goodman Brown fails to realize that the only reason... ...ke Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, who cast off the beliefs of post World War I America.   Many of these thinkers moved to Paris and try to make find meaning in their meaningless lives.   They would throw wild parties, "drink excessively, and have scandalous love affairs (Kaiser)."   They gained prominent places in the twentieth century because of their spiritual alienation.   Loss of faith may cause fame and fortune, as it did for the lost generation, but with this loss came inescapable emptiness.    Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel.   "Young Goodman Brown."   Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense.   Ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson.   Harcourt College Publishers: Fort Worth, 2002.   316-328. Kaiser, Nancy.   "The Lost Generation."   University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.   29 October 2001.   <   http://ils.unc.edu/~kaisn/pathfind.html>

Essay --

Introduction From 1692 to 1693 in Boston Massachusetts many people were accused of practicing witchcraft. In this year close to 200 people were accused of practicing the â€Å"devils magic† and they were put on trial with the possibility of the final verdict of either life or death. This dark magic was commonly associated with random outburst, screaming, and certain positions foreign to those around them, and other things people found were out of the norm and unnatural. During this time people lived a puritan lifestyle, the devil was made very real, and this conservative and rigid lifestyle gave way to a strong belief in the devil. A total of nineteen people were hung During the Salem Witch Trials because of their conformation with the devil and their practice of witchcraft.† June 10th; Bidget Bishop, July 19th; Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Wildes, August 19th; George Burroughs, Martha Carrier, John Willard, George Jacobs, Sr, John Proctor, September 22nd; Martha Corey, Mary Eastey, Ann Pudeator, Alice Parker Wilmott Redd, Margaret Scott, Samuel Wardwell.† Those accuses in Salem, Boston Massachusetts, were believed to be seduced by the devils magic. Those accused, regardless of being guilty or not were brought into court and were pushed through the legal process. The court held each person to the same accountability, guilty until proven innocent. Each person was taken to jail, later to be asked series of questions by the magistrate to determine their confrontation with the devil and the many things that the devil influenced. In the government of today’s s ociety the same process is given to those that are accused of a crime, then having the evidence go to a grand jury, there deciding whether there ... ... the town of its evil, or the guilty, those that disturb the peace of our society, but in doing so they have not protected the innocent. During the Salem witch trials there were three things that were vital during the trail of finding a witch or wizard, â€Å"confession, testimony of two eye witnesses to acts of witches, and spectral evidence.† The process in which people are out on trial today are based upon five pieces of evidence; faulty eye witness of identification, false confessions, jail house informant testimony, perjury, prosecutorial misconduct. The Salem Witch trials had faith in this system believing all it took to find the guilty was were solely these pieces of evidence. Society and the citizens of today have the same trust in the judicial system today that it will protect. The system of the United States, aims to protect the innocent and lock up the guilty,

Symbols, Symbolism and Irony in Thomas Manns Death in Venice Essay

Symbols, Symbolism and Irony in Thomas Mann's Death in Venice      Ã‚  Ã‚   In the novel Death in Venice, by Thomas Mann, an observer compliments the main character Gustave von Aschenbach by saying, " 'You see, Aschenbach has always lived like this '-here the speaker closed the fingers of his left hand to a fist-'never like this '-and he let his hand hang relaxed from the back of his chair" (p. 1069).   This is a perfect description of Aschenbach, a man set in convention, driven to succeed from an early age, quite dull really.   After all, his favorite motto was "hold fast" (p. 1070).   He has always kept his feelings in check, and never allowed himself to lose control of any aspect of his life.   As the story progresses, however, the fist that is Aschenbach slowly opens up until it finally releases all the pent-up emotion and desire.   Wrought with symbolism and irony, Death in Venice tells a tragic tale of unbridled lust, misspent youth, and the undoing of a man, once so firmly in control his life, as he ultimately surrenders to a pa ssion that overcomes him. Gustave von Aschenbach is a renowned and successful writer, yet he is losing any passion he might have once had for his craft.   He has always been driven to achieve, and thus has spent no time in the pursuit of happiness or even simple pleasures.   His life is entirely predictable. "Too busy with the tasks imposed upon him by his own ego and the European soul, too laden with the care and duty to create, too preoccupied to be an amateur of the gay outer world, he had been content to know as much of the worlds surface as he could without leaving his own sphere-had, indeed, never been tempted to leave Europe" (p. 1067).   But he becomes tired of his day-to-day existence, growing di... ...t in Othello, "If it were now to die, 'Twere now to be most happy."i[2]   Never again would Aschenbach experience such a moment of utter bliss and perfection; following this instant there was nothing left to live for.      Notes: 1 Mythology summaries taken from www.greekmythology.com 2 Othello, Act 2, Scene 1, lines 189-190 www.geocities.com/~spanoudi/quote-19c.html Works Cited: "Death in Venice," Thomas Mann, Michael Henry Heim (Translator) Publisher: Harper Perennial (May 31, 2005) Othello, Act 2, Scene 1, lines 189-190 www.geocities.com/~spanoudi/quote-19c.html Greek Mythology For Dummies www.greekmythology.com

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Acc 403- Auditing

SARBANES-OXLEY ACT ACC 403- AUDITING PROFESSOR August 19, 2012 The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was placed into effect July 2002; the act introduced major changes to the regulation of corporate governance and financial practice. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was named after Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley, who were the main architects that set a number of non-negotiable deadlines for compliance. The organization for Economic Cooperation and Development was one of the first non- government organizations to spell out the principles that should govern the corporate and issued the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance.The Sarbanes Oxley Act also known as Public Company Accounting Reform and Information Protection Act and Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act. It is a federal law that set various principles for all the U. S. companies to detect and evade fraud. It detects the scandals in the securities markets when the share prices of securities are affected . The act requires the Securities and Exchange Commission to implement rulings on requirements to comply with the law. It created a new agency called Public Company Accounting Oversight Board which regulates, oversees and inspects the role of auditors of public companies.The act covers auditor’s independence, corporate governance, internal control assessment and financial disclosures. The Sarbanes–Oxley contains 11 titles that describe specific mandates and requirements for financial reporting. Each title consists of several sections, which are the following below: I. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB): provides independent oversight of public accounting firms providing audit services and creates a central oversight board tasked with registering auditors. II.Auditors Independence: establishes standards for external auditor independence to limit conflicts of interest and states new auditor approval requirements, audit partner rotation, and auditor reporti ng requirements. III. Corporate Responsibility: mandates that senior executives take  individual responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of corporate financial reports. It defines the interaction of external auditors and corporate audit committees, and specifies the responsibility of corporate officers for the accuracy and validity of corporate financial reports. IV.Enhanced Financial Disclosure: describes enhanced reporting requirements for financial transactions, including off-balance-sheet transactions, pro-forma figures and stock transactions of corporate officers. It requires internal controls for assuring the accuracy of financial reports and disclosures, and mandates both audits and reports on those controls. V. Analyst Conflict of Interest: includes measures designed to help restore investor confidence in the reporting of securities analysts. It defines the codes of conduct for securities analysts and requires disclosure of knowable conflicts of interest. VI.Commi ssion Resources and Authority: defines practices to restore investor confidence in securities analysts, and defines the SEC’s authority to censure or bar securities professionals from practice and defines conditions under which a person can be barred from practicing as a broker, advisor, or dealer. VII. Studies and Reports: requires the Comptroller General and the SEC to perform various studies and report their findings. Studies and reports include the effects of consolidation of public accounting firms, the role of credit rating agencies in the operation of securities markets, securities violations and enforcement actions.VIII. Corporate and Criminal Fraud Responsibility: It describes specific criminal penalties for manipulation, destruction or alteration of financial records or other interference with investigations, while providing certain protections for whistle-blowers. IX. White Collar Crime Penalty Enhancement: It recommends stronger sentencing guidelines and specifica lly adds failure to certify corporate financial reports as a criminal offense. X. Corporate Tax Returns: Section 1001 states that the Chief Executive Officer should sign the company tax return. XI.Corporate Fraud Responsibility: It identifies corporate fraud and records tampering as criminal offenses and joins those offenses to specific penalties. It also revises sentencing guidelines and strengthens their penalties. Prior to Sarbanes Oxley act, auditing firms were self regulatory. It may happen several times that challenging the counts of the companies damage the relationship with the clients. The frauds of the companies cannot be detected easily. There are many risks associated with the auditing report since it will not be able to report the actual position of the companies.The Sarbanes Oxley act states that it shall be unlawful to contravenes the provisions of the commission because it is not in the public interest or it is unprotected for investors, for any other person to take any action to fraudulently influence, manipulate, coerce and mislead any independent person in the performance of preparing the audit report of the financial statements of any concern. The most important aspect in the financial statement is to follow and regulate the internal control system of the organization.This is the most important point in this act as it detects that the internal control system of the corporations is sound or not. It wants to report about the internal control system of the organization so that the actual picture of the organization can be reflected easily in front of the members of the companies and the investors. Since the main motto of Sarbanes Oxley act is to protect the investors it has to report about the internal weakness and strengths of the companies to give a true picture of the company. It requires management to report the following points: * The operating effectiveness of internal control related to the significant accounts which affects the materia lity of the account or from which the material misstatement risks can be occurred. * The flow of transactions so that it should be understood that whether there is any material misstatement could arise or not. * Evaluate the control of the company to record the components of COSO framework. * Perform the fraud risk assessment of the organizations. * Evaluate the control performance to detect and evade the errors. * Evaluate the control performance to detect and evade the fraud. Evaluate the work of the management to ensure that whether they consider the basic elements like objectivity, competency and risks. * Evaluate the internal control over financial reporting. * Evaluate the size and complexity of the company. The findings of Sarbanes Oxley act incorporate a code of Best Practices on Director’s Remuneration. The four main issues which were dealt with as follows: * The role of Remuneration Committee in setting the remuneration packages for the CEO and other directors. * Th e required level of isclosure needed to shareholders regarding details of director’s remuneration and whether there is the need to obtain shareholder approval. * Specific guidelines for determining a remuneration policy for directors and * Service contracts and provisions binding the Company to pay compensation to a director, particularly in the event of dismissal for unsatisfactory performance. The important recommendation was the establishment of Remuneration Committee of Non- Executive Directors which would be responsible for deciding the remuneration of executive directors.The majority of the recommendations of the committee were incorporated in the Listing Rules of the London Stock Exchange. The principles of corporate governance are evolved as under: * Sustainable development of all the stakeholders- it ensures the growth of all the individuals associated with or effected by the enterprise on sustainable basis. * Effective management and distribution of wealth- it ensur es that enterprise creates maximum wealth and judiciously uses the wealth so created for providing maximum benefits to all the stakeholders and enhancing its wealth creation capabilities to maintain sustainability. Discharge of social responsibility- it ensures that enterprise is acceptable to the society in which it is functioning. * Application of best management practices- it ensures excellence in functioning of enterprise and optimum creation of wealth on sustainable basis. * Compliance of law in letter and spirit- it ensures value enhancement for all stakeholders guaranteed by the law for maintaining socio-economic balance. * Adherence to ethical standards—it ensures integrity, transparency, independence and accountability in dealings with all stakeholders.The Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Department of Public Enterprises has issued Guidelines on Corporate Governance for Central Public Sector Enterprises. For the purpose of evolving Guidelines on c orporate governance, Central Public Sector Enterprises have been categorized into two groups, namely – 1. Those listed in the stock exchange and 2. Those not listed in the stock exchange. Some claim that the financial activities of publicly traded companies are still severely nder-regulated while others hold that SOX was necessary, but that some of its requirements are not cost-effective which I believe will change over time. Reference * Arens, A. , Elder, R. J. , & Beasley, M. (2010). ACCT 403: Auditing and assurance services: 2010 custom edition (14th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. * http://www. soxlaw. com/ * http://searchcio. techtarget. com/definition/Sarbanes-Oxley-Act * http://www. sec. gov/about/laws. shtml * http://www. sec. gov/news/testimony/090903tswhd. htm * http://www. sox-online. com/basics. html

Individual Learning Project Essay

The organization selected for analysis and evaluation is American Lake Credit Union. This organization is composed of two main branches, both located in Tacoma, Washington. In contrast to banks, Credit Unions are smaller organizations and are directed by members who are selected via a vote to serve in an all-volunteer board of directors for the organization (Scott, and Johnston, p.2, 2011). Specifically, this credit union was founded in 1948 and has grown since then. (C. Fitzer, personal communication April 7, 2014). For instance, although the organization is small in size through a partnership with a credit union network, it is able to provide general financial services at diverse locations throughout the country (CO-OP Financial Services, 2013). In addition, the active CEO Fantz (2013) asserted that the organization’s mission is to â€Å"provide a variety of quality services to a diversified membership while maintaining financial soundness†; additionally, they current ly reported close to 50 billion dollars in assets on organization’s balance sheet. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis Arumugam, Chang, Ooi, and The (2008), emphasized that in order to facilitate the drive towards high performance, many companies are using self-assessment tools to measure their current position and develop strategy in order to asses where they are and where they want to be within their industry. (p.141). SWOT analysis is one of this tools or processes. Boone and Kurtz (2006) defined the concept of SWOT analysis as a methodical approach to develop strategy as it compels managers to do an internal reality check, and an analysis of the external environment (p.274-275). This assertion is echoed by Blocher, Stout, Juras, and Cokins (2013) in which the scholars lectured the process of SWOT analysis as a process that provides the opportunity to methodologically examine internal and external factors in order to complete a self-assessment of the organization, and examine the environment in order to create a solid foundation for sound strategy for the organization (p. 36-38). The general quadrants of a complete SWOT analysis are strengths, weakness,  opportunities, and threats. These are listed in Table 1 for American Lake Credit Union. Table 1 Strengths -High quality aggressive employee training programs parallel with organization high audit and regulatory compliance rates -Membership to CO-OP Shared Branch Network 1 -Local Market Position/Community Relations Program -Cost Advantage and Pricing compared to banks -Physical Locations -Strong and Experienced Managers Weaknesses -Employee Turn-Over -Requirements to become a member -Lack of Market Differentiation as it relate to financial Services2 -Only two physical branches -Lack of a business/Market Development Section -Technology, bad turn around in communications equipment repair, need to redo contract for local IT Support Opportunities -Online Market -Branch Expansion -External Training Program -Rotating Customer Base in the local installation -College population in nearby universities -Available location for Branch at Air Force Location Threats -Military drawdown (long term), affect main target market -More exposed to economic issues (recessions) than bigger organizations due to limited size -Loss of one segment of the market with the deactivation of 4-2 Brigade Combat Team -Columbia Bank Plans to Open Facility in the immediate area 2 -Cyber Crimes External Note. Lists Adapted from (C. Fitzer, personal communication April 7, 2014) with the exception of: 1. CO-OP Financial Services. (2013). What is CO-OP ATM and CO-OP Shared Branch?. Retrieved from http://co-opsharedbranch.org/participating-cus/ 2. (C.H. Chapman, personal Communication April 8, 2014) This source is a marketing consultant for non-profit organizations, has worked closely with the American Lake Credit Union, and provided fresh feed back into the credit union during the interviews. A brief discussion of Table 1 is provided below: In the area of strengths the one of the most important strengths provided during the interview was their current training program for federal  regulatory compliance, this put the organization at an advantage even with more developed organizations In the area of weaknesses, the biggest challenge was employee turnover. Even with the recession and the current job market good talent could and can be found, but it is hard to retain with the current compensation and benefit plans offered In the area of opportunities, the online market presents a strong market that the organization has not exploited as much as they could In the area of threats, the main target market of the American Lake Credit Union is the current drawdown within the Department of Defense structure, in the short term, the population have currently lost 1400 service members and their families, in the long term more loses in market are expected (C. Fitzer, personal communication April 7, 2014) American Lake Credit Union Balanced Scorecard Soderberg, Kalagnanam, Sheehan, and Vaidyanathan (2011) presented the balance scorecard as a strategic planning procedural tool used by organizations to balance financial concerns, customer concerns, process concerns, and innovation concerns with the main purpose of developing appropriate strategy in favor of a more favorable market position (p. 689-690). Similarly, Lawrence and Webber (2008) illustrated the process as a concoction of focused key quadrants, people and knowledge, internal, customer, and financial indicators with the main purpose of developing metrics to measure all areas of performance (p.79). In the case of American Lake Credit Union, interview and analysis with C. Fitzer and C.H. Chapman provided enough data to produce the balanced scorecard depicted in Table 2 below. -Reduce Exposure to default Loans -Cash Flow/Balance Sheet -Selected cost savings in utilities and materials -Reduction in days for accounts receivable -Customer Service/Satisfaction -Customer Loyalty -Trend in Customers that transferred direct deposit accounts -Customer Surveys (Measured Quarterly (QTLY)) -Mystery Shopper feedback to manager -Trend in returning customers – Number of Customer complaints -10 new customers a week (Account Holding) -10% increase in market share by end of fiscal year 2015 -95% Satisfaction on surveys per quarter -100% satisfaction in mystery shopper experience -Less than eight percent customer complaint rate quarterly -Participate in community awareness events -Sponsor small activities for customers -Provide Western Union Services at discount to customers with direct deposit to the institution -Open new Branch at local AF Base -Implement Secret Shopper Program -Implement Customer Service Training Table 2 (continued) General Quadrants Critical Success Factors/Goals Metrics/Measured Trends Towards Goals Goal Initiative Internal Process -Processes Efficiency and Quality -Productivity when doing direct customer interactions -Number of errors in financial processes -Cycle time/customer wait time -Time spent doing internal tasks -Less than 5 errors per shift -Less than 10 minutes from check in to check out for customers regarding of the time of the day -Decrease time doing internal tasks by 25% without loss of quality -Implement lean six sigma principles -Sustain compliance Training Program -Integrate yearly refresher for all employees (training will be employee led) Learning and Growth -Skill Development and Sustainment -Competitive Benefits/Compensation -Employee Access and Input in Strategic Planning -Number of errors in financial processes -Employee Surveys -Employee Turn-over rates -90% employee satisfaction rate in surveys -Minimize employee turnover rate by % by 50% FY 15 -Integrate yearly refresher for all employees (training will be employee led) -Implement a more comprehensive benefit package for employees, main target is well performing and those with longevity -Involved Employees in strategy development and asked for feedback on current decision Note. Lists Adapted from (C. Fitzer, personal communication, April 7, 2014) with the exception of: 1. CO-OP Financial Services. (2013). What is CO-OP ATM and CO-OP Shared Branch?. Retrieved from http://co-opsharedbranch.org/participating-cus/ 2. (C.H. Chapman, personal communication, April 8, 2014) This source is a marketing consultant for non-profit organizations, has worked closely with the American Lake Credit Union, and provided fresh feed back into the credit union during the interviews. Discussion of Critical Success Factors (CSFs) Blocher et al. (2013) defined critical success factors as â€Å"measures of the aspects of the firm’s performance that are essential to its competitive advantage and therefore to its success† (p. 898). Tables 2 depicted the selected CSFs within the standard four quadrants of the balance score card, and these are discussed in detail below. Financial The financial success factors are important because these defined the aspect of the main purpose of a business, to make a profit. The specific CSFs within the financial quadrant and the rational for their selection are explained below. Increase Gross Profit. This was selected by the interviewed organization representative because in her professional opinion it was the best way to determine the effectiveness and financial health of the organization (C. Fitzer, personal communication, April 7, 2014). Furthermore, in accordance to Bloomsbury Information (2009), this an important factor to consider because a high gross profit margin ratio, high gross profit margin ratio indicates that a business can make a reasonable profit on sales, as long as overheads do not increase. Investors pay attention to the gross profit margin ratio because it tells them how efficient your business is compared to competitors. It is sensible to track gross profit margin ratios over a number of years to see if company earnings are consistent, growing, or declining. For businesses, knowing your gross profit margin ratio is important because it tells you whether your business is pricing goods and services effectively. Reduce exposure to default loans. The concept implies reduction of credit risk. The term credit risk is illustrated by He and Xiong (2012), as the risk the organization takes when issuing a loan; furthermore, if the organization’s loan or debt market deteriorates, and loans go into default the organization would take loses in its investment (p. 391). This is important because if this risk is identified and mitigated in an effective way the organization will not be as exposed to financial loses. Customer Factors This specific quadrant addresses the customer and objectives to increase or develop value and differentiation from the point of view of the customer (Beard, 2009, p. 279). Specific CSFs for the organization in this specific quadrant are as follows. Prospective customer perspective towards the organization- This refers specifically for that segment of the market that are not customers of the organization yet. Lautenslager (2003) reported that aachieving a good perspective from this outer segment will allow the organization to attract new customers, expand its market, and build the  organization as an attractive brand which can translate in to new business and profits. Customer Service/Satisfaction- This term refers to the extent that the clientele is pleased with the product line or service provided by the organization. As a general concept this is important because if the customer is unhappy is likely that he would not comeback; furthermore, it is likely that he will walk away, repel other prospective customers, or even existing customers (Naik, 2011). Customer Loyalty- This objective is one of the fundaments of many business organizations. This is extremely important for any organization because once customer loyalty is achieved, these customers will purchase the organization’s products and services repetitively, the more loyal the customer, the harder it will be for a competitor to draw him, and they can provide a good source of advertising and new customers by word of mouth. (C.H. Chapman, personal Communication April 8, 2014). Internal Process Internal processes are another part of the quadrant that when disregarded can cost the organization in terms of effectives, quality, gross margin, and revenue. It refers to those processes that are internal to the organization, like appraisals, self-audits, customer interactions, and quality checks for example. Processes Efficiency and Quality- This area refers to the internal processes of the organization, for example, it was mentioned during the interviews that that one employee on the organization creates a weekly balance sheet, and that job usually takes about one hour. Streamlining this and similar other processes save the organization on employee hours that could be used for customer care or employee training (C. Fitzer, personal communication, April 8, 2014). Productivity when doing direct customer interactions- This refers to the amount of time that it takes to do a customer transaction from the moment that they enter the facility until they are complete. It may take a customer about 20 minutes during the busy time of the day to perform the transaction due to crowding. Altering the way the organization conduct some of this processes will allow for the â€Å"line† to move faster, and affecting the customer satisfaction factor. Learning and Growth The quadrant of learning and growth is fundamental to the American Lake Credit Union because of the environment in which financial organizations operate in our time. Constant changes to the financial regulations at the state, and federal levels, added to the technological advances call for continuous organizational development in order to remain relevant with the environment. Therefore, developing a learning collective workforce and retaining this work force is fundamental to any business organization today. The specific CSFs on this quadrant are discussed below. Skill Development and Sustainment- Currently, the organization has a very strong training program in the areas of federal compliance. The intent is to sustain this strong program, and enhanced it by adding employee training in new technologies, internal processes, and customer service; moreover, ensuring the program is employee led and centric, thus, giving a sense of ownership to the workforce (C. Fitzer, personal communica tion, April 8, 2014). Competitive Benefits/Compensation- C. Fitzer (personal communication, April 8, 2014) mentioned that this was one of the main employee complaints in regards to the employee programs within the organization. Implementing, a more comprehensive benefits/compensation plan will ensure that employee turnover rate is minimized and allow the organization to retain the experienced employees. Employee Access and Input in Strategic Planning- Allowing employees to have more impute on the decision making process for the organization will give management a fresher perspective that can be valuable when making those decisions. Plus, it will give sense of ownership to the workforce constraining any resistance to strategic changes. Evaluation of American Lake Credit Union in Achieving its CSFs Financial Any for profit organization is always on the look to increase its profit and solidify or expand its market position. Firstly, the risk reduction initiatives of education and member involvement combined with market expansion should facilitate the current goal of 10% increase in gross profit margin by the end of FY 15 (personal communication, April 8, 2014). Examining the balance Sheet quarterly will allow the organization to follow up and address trends that would constrain this goal. Currently, on the last quarter they were down by 2% from the quarter before, but on this quarter they are up 4% (personal communication, April 8, 2014). This may sound like a wave of percentages, but taking other factors into consideration as the  proposed expansion to the local AFB, cutting unnecessary costs on internal processes and supplies, initiatives to reduce cycle time for accounts receivable, and other initiatives within Table 2 an increase of 10% gross margin by the end of FY 15 is a realisti c and achievable goal for this organization. Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction will be measured monthly, analyzed and evaluated quarterly, taking in to consideration trends in customers that transferred direct deposit accounts, customer surveys, mystery shopper feedback, and trends in returning customers (C. Fitzer, personal communication, April 8, 2014). Currently’ the organization have a high customer satisfaction rate with survey results depicting up to 88% on all customer surveys and only three formal complaints last quarter (C. H. Chapman, personal communication, April 8, 2014). This fact combined with the implementation of the secret shopper program on the first quarter of FY 15, and the customer care training program initiatives will give a customer care advantage to the organization over other local competitors (C. Fitzer, personal communication, April 8, 2014). On the other hand, although the process for customer complaints seemed to be effective at the collection and solving states, there was no current intent on adding these as part of the customer care training program. This was recommended by this author to the manager under interview. Using an objective approach, after taking into consideration the current customer satisfaction trends and rates, the upcoming initiatives, it can be assessed that the goal of 95% customer satisfaction rate will be achieved and likely surpassed by the end of FY 15. Internal Process American Credit Union is looking to reduce errors in internal processes, increase effectiveness in customer processes, and decrease the time doing internal tasks. The current goals of less than five errors per shift, less than 10 minutes from check in to check out for customers regarding of the time of the day, decrease time doing internal tasks by 25% without loss of quality are achievable, but will require commitment of the leadership and the workforce. For instance, sustaining the current regulatory compliance training program, and implementing lean six sigma principles should provide  the tools to succeed in this area. However, with all the other initiatives on the horizon, and the plans for expansion in to the local AFB it will require extra effort for the organization as a collective to achieve those goals without de-prioritizing other initiatives. Learning and Growth In the case of American Lake Credit Union a robust education and training program, a more comprehensive concoction of compensation and benefits will translate into the development of a better and brighter workforce, and the retaining of this work force. This will be measure by taking into consideration the number of errors in financial processes, employee Surveys, and employee turn-over rates. Some of the initiatives on this area such as consider input from employees in strategic decisions and sustainment training will sharply motivate employees within this area. Moreover, the current goal of 90% employee satisfaction rate in surveys and to minimize employee turnover rate by 50% by FY 15 is very achievable if this area is somewhat prioritized by management. However, as reported in the article Putting People First (2011), management must keep in mind that newly trained and educated employees will take their knowledge and new skill sets somewhere else for better pay and or benefits, if the proposed compensation and benefit packets are implemented (p.25-26). Final Thoughts The purpose of this document was to provide a short description of American Credit Union along with a SWOT Analysis, Balanced Score card, and discussion of these. It can be assessed with the information provided that although there are challenges ahead, the current financial status of the organization selected is healthy and the ambitions for the future achievable as they exploit their strengths, their environment, and address their weaknesses. Lastly, as long as the management remained focused, committed, and is able to maintain the workforce motivated it is likely that the organization will achieve its goals. References Arumugam, V., Chang, H., Ooi, K., and Teh, P. (2009). â€Å"Self-assessment of TQM practices: a case analysis†, The TQM Journal, 21(1), 46 – 58. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/journals.htm?articleid =1766744&show=abstract#sthash.TkDGZoZ7.dpuf Beard, D. F. (2009.). Successful applications of the balanced scorecard in higher education. Journal of Education for Business, 84(5), 275-282. 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(2003), Why You Need PR: Getting the word out about your product or service should always be a priority. Retrieved form http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/65672# Lawrence, A.T., and Weber, J. (2008).Business & Society Stakeholders, Ethics, Public Policy (12th ed). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Naik, A. (2011). Why is Customer Satisfaction Important. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/why-is-customer-satisfaction-important.html Putting people first. (2011). Devel opment and Learning in Organizations, 25(1), 25-27. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14777281111096816 Scott, K., and Johnston, C. R. (2011). Factors affecting the adoption of consumer oriented information technology biometrics solutions by the credit union industry. Journal of Technology Research, 2, 1-13. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/887909140?accountid=12085 Soderberg, M., Kalagnanam, S., Sheehan, N., and Vaidyanathan, G. (2011) â€Å"When is a balanced scorecard a balanced scorecard?, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 60(7) 688-708