Drug Interaction, Its Effects, and Prevention

Drug interaction refers to an interaction between a drug and other substances that might prevent the drug from functioning effectively. According to Iacobellis, interaction might occur between drug-to-drug and drug-to-food thereby leading to unintended effects (2).  The purpose of this paper is to establish the causes of plavix interaction, its effects, and measures that can be used to prevent drug interaction.

The liver is supposed to breakdown plavix into its active form. According to Hamermesh, Aspinall, and Gordon, the liver uses the patient’s CYP2C19 to breakdown plavix into its active form (2). In other words, patients with even a single variant copy of CYP2C19 gene produce less 23.4% of the active drug. Such patients end up with a dose that is too low to produce the required anti-clotting effect. Drug interaction also occurs when two drugs that have similar or opposite effects on the body are administered together (Wolverton 817). For instance, when Plavix is administered together with prilosec, Plavix will not have the desired effects (protection against cardiac disease).

Dangers Associated with Plavix Interaction

Drug interaction might lead to under treatment. According to Hamermesh, Aspinall, and Gordon, Plavix interactions often lead to complications such as heart attack or stroke (1-2). Such diseases are very expensive to treat and might sometimes lead to death. Plavix interaction also leads to a blood clot. The blood clotting mostly occurs among patients with variant (12.1% versus 8.0%) and those with stent (2.6% versus 0.8%) (Wolverton 817-819). The fact that plavix cannot prevent cardiac attack when it is taken with prilosec implies that, those patients taking plavix and prilosec are at risk of prolonged cardiac complications.

Prevention of Plavix Interaction Complications

Patients under plavix dose should take a number of measures to prevent interactions. First, those patients should not take Prilosec while still under plavix dose (Hamermesh, Aspinall, and Gordon 4). This will enable Plavix to have control of the body once administered. Secondly, medical practitioners should confirm that, Plavix is only administered to patients with CYP2C19 genes because their liver has the capacity to breakdown Plavix into its active form.

 

Works Cited

Hamermesh, Richard G. Aspinall, Mara G. Gordon, Rachel. Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine. (2010): 1-14. Print.

Iacobellis, Gianluca. Drug-drug Interactions in the Metabolic Syndrome. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2006. Print.

Wolverton, Stephen E. Comprehensive Dermatologic Drug Therapy. Edinburgh: Saunders/Elsevier, 2013. Print.

The War of 1812

The War of 1812 was primary an armed conflict between Great Britain and the United States. Accordingly, the battle, which culminated in 1815, resulted from a variety of underlying causes that led to the involvement of other European powers on both warring sides. The instantaneous reasons for the War of 1812 comprised a succession of economic authorizations assumed by the French and the British against the United States as a segment of the Napoleonic Wars and outrage at the impressments, specifically after the 1807 Chesapeake incident. In retort to the British Orders in Council, which crippled trade in the United States, America focused on attempting a range of a variety of retaliatory restrictions. These impediments hurt the United States far harder than they posed an effect on Britain. This angered America and offered support to War Hawks within Congress such as Henry Clay. By 1812, Congress decided to declare war in opposition to the British.

Groups Involved in the War of 1812

Accordingly, the 1812 War began as the conflict between the United States and the United Kingdom. Much of the opposition that started the war commenced between the British and the Americans. In addition to this, both warring sides possessed definite allies between each other in order to attempt and shift colonial power from both countries. For the British, other allies comprised British Canada and the United Kingdom of Ireland and Great Britain. In addition to these allies, the British possessed other smaller allies. They comprised Shawnee, Chickamauga, Ojibway, Fox, Iroquois, Mingo, Kickapoo, Delaware, Wyandot, Ottawa, Wyandot, Mascouten, Potawatomi and Creek Red Sticks (Brinkley, 2011). On the opposing side, the United States possessed fewer allies. They comprised Choctaw, Creek Allies and Cherokee.

Causes of the War of 1812

Impressment

The most significant navy within the globe, the Royal Navy, was dynamically campaigning within Europe by obstructing the French ports as well as sustaining a military incidence over the widespread British Empire. In order to operate its ships, the Navy was allowed to create an impressment policy, which enabled it to enroll any British subject. Usually, captains would propel the press to review recruits from brothels and taverns within British mercantile ships or ports. Impressment also reached onto the decks of impartial commercial vessels, counting those within America. British warships completed a regular habit of restricting neutral shopping to inspect crew catalogs and eradicate British sailors for the military (Brinkley, 2011). Even though the legislation needed recruits to be of British descent, this status possessed insignificant interpretation forcing numerous Americans to undergo forced enrollment within the military.

British Support for American Indian Incursion

Accordingly, the British viewed the Indian countries as a priceless collaborator as well as a cushion to its Canadian colony and offered arms. Assaults on American colonists within the Northwest further exacerbated tensions amid the United States and the Britain. The confederation’s incursions and existence obstructed American extension into affluent farmlands within the Northwest area. By 1810 and 1811, Westerners within Congress discovered the raids to be insufferable and wanted their permanent end (Brinkley, 2011). The British possessed the long-term objective of instituting a considerable nonaligned Indian state that would cover much of Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. However, they were unable to maintain the Indian confederation, which was the central supporter of the British and discontinued communiqué with the planned neutral area.

American Expansionism

Accordingly, American extension within the Northwest terrain underwent obstruction by native leaders such as Tecumseh, who received supply and endorsement by the British. Americans within the Western border needed that interference to be stopped. Much of the main reason behind the annexation of Canada by Americans would restrict the British from carrying on with the acquisition of the land owned by the British. In addition, preventing the annexation of the land will enable the Americans to limit the supply of food for the West Indian protectorates, which belonged to the British (Brinkley, 2011).

Political Conflict in the U.S.

At that time, the United States existed within a period of considerable political dispute amid the Republican-Democratic Party, which supported a fragile central government, conservation of slavery, extension within Indian land and a stronger fissure with Britain and the Federalist Party, which supported a sturdy central government and nearer bonds to Britain (Brinkley, 2011). However, the strength of the Federalist Party decreased significantly leading to further weakening of the United Kingdom.

In conclusion, the War of 1812 resulted from the conflict between the United States and the United Kingdom. Accordingly, much of the conflict resulted from the culmination of the American Independence War of 1776. Even after the British lost the war against the Americans, the British still focused on controlling the ties that the United States possessed with other international countries. They did this by focusing on the advantages they had over such as impressment as well as the political problems that the United States possessed within its borders. Regardless of the efforts of the British towards locking out America in international trade, the War of 1812 enabled America to secure a devastating victory over the British.

References

Brinkley, A. (2011). American history: Volume II, since 1865. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

 

Organizational Change

Abstract

Organizational Change is an important concern of most modern day organizations. Through this process, an organization is able to optimize its performance as it strives to attain an ideal state. There are different triggers that drive or cause organizational change. Some triggers are external while others are internal to the organization. Change managers are tasked with the entire process of initiating, directing, and sustaining organizational change. This paper looks at the causes of organizational change, its targets, types, processes, forces, challenges, and management.

 

 

Organizational Change

The modern day organization operates in a very dynamic environment. The management must therefore appreciate the fact that organizational change is necessary and must acquaint themselves with requisite skills to manage the change. Competition is cited as being one of the greatest motivators for organizational change. In essence, competition does not only cause organizational change, but also determine the rate at which this change takes place. It is estimated that the rate of organizational change is not going to slow down anytime soon (Kotter, 1994). The essay that follows will give an in-depth discussion of the causes of organizational change, its targets, types, processes, forces, challenges, and management.

Reasons for Organizational Change

According to Jones (2004), there are many causes or triggers of organizational change. These triggers can be grouped into two categories; i.e. passive triggers and proactive triggers. Change that is caused by an ever-changing environment is an ensample of a passive trigger while a proactive trigger of change can be exemplified by a change that is initiated by a leader of an organization. Most organizations experience change when management or ownership of the organization is transferred to a more progressive executive team (Jones, 2004).

According to Van de Ven and Poole (1995), the causes of changes occurring in organizations can be explained by theories that include life cycle theory, teleological theory, and dialectic theory. The life-cycle theory believes that an organization that cycles through the states of birth, growth, maturation, and decline and that the environment in which the organization operates determines all these cycles. The teleological theory asserts that organizational change occurs in response to an organization’s drive to achieve a desired ideal state through a process of continuous goal-setting, evaluation, execution, and restructuring. The dialectical perspective theorizes that an organization is akin to a multi-cultural society that is burdened by opposing values and ideologies. When one force overwhelms the other, a new value, or goal is set, leading to organizational change.

The Major Targets of Organizational Change

Factors that influence organizational effectiveness are diverse in nature and include factors related to the improvement of internal management effectiveness and those related to external environmental changes. The management must consider the external environment, the internal conditions, and the reasons for the desired change. Leadership style, strategy, vision, structure, production technology, and culture are some of the commonest targets of organizational change (Teece, Pisano, & Shuen, 1997).

The vision of an organization captures its core values, which helps it, adapt to its external environment. Culture refers to the people in an organization, their collective norms, values, and basic assumptions. Change alters this collective values and norms. Structure denotes the official authority relations of an organization. System is the formal procedures, policies, regulations that entail reward system, goal budget system, etc used to run the organization. Production technology transforms inputs into outputs. Leadership targets to influence the led towards some direction (Lucas, & Kline, 2008).

Types of Organizational Change

Often times, managers are faced with the responsibility of determining how to respond to the forces of organizational change. Change managers are tasked with the duty of choosing the appropriate type of change that will help their organizations achieve desired results. These types of changes can be split into two broad categories; evolutionary and revolutionary change. Evolutionary change is gradual, narrow-focused, and intermittent. This aims at making gradual improvements that will help the organization adjust to the changes in its environment (Winter, 2003). On the other hand, Revolutionary change is rapid, abrupt, and broad in its focus. This is often resorted to when the organization needs to make a crucial change within a short period to keep the organization operational.

Evolutionary change takes different forms. Of these forms the socio-technical system theory, management by objective, and total quality management are some of the most common. The socio-technical system theory addresses the relationship between workers of an organization and the technology in use. Management by objective insists on regular meetings between the management and employees of the organizations. The purpose of these meetings is to evaluate work performance, discuss obstacles and challenges, and set future goals for the various work groups. Total quality management seeks ways to improve the goods and services offered by the organization.

Conversely, revolutionary change also takes three forms: reengineering, innovation, and restructuring (George, & Jones, 2002). Reengineering occurs when an organization carries out a radical redesigning of its business processes. This is done to stop inefficiencies and may be achieved by moves that include retrenching employees to cut on operation cost, elimination of departments to remove bureaucracy etc. Innovation looks at the successful application of skills and technology to develop goods and services that responds better to the needs expressed by the organization’s customers (George & Jones, 2002).

The Process of Organizational Change

Regardless of the type of change settled upon by managers, the greatest challenge often lies in the actual process of change. This section will apply Lewin’s force theory of change to understand the intricacies of organizational change. Looking at an organization undergoing change in the real world, Lewin hypothesised a three-step process that leads to successful transition or change: unfreezing, moving, and freezing (George & Jones, 2002).

The moving stage involves changing the situation from non-ideal to ideal. This stage is complex and it is action-oriented and involves tasks such as goal setting, resource finding, support seeking, planning, and execution of the plan. Moving can take of either two forms; vision orientation and problem-solving orientation. Freezing seeks to stabilize the change achieved at the moving stage. Failure to stabilize the milestones gained during the moving stage can easily cause the organization to revert to the way of thinking and doing that existed at the unfreezing stage (Lucas, & Kline, 2008). During the freezing stage, the organization must form new rules and establish regulatory framework to check on the behaviour of the members all in a bid of internalizing the new values and behaviour into the culture of the organization.

Forces of Organizational Change

Lewin looks at an organization as an open system. He argues that two opposing forces are operational within the organization. These forces are the driving force, which attempts to push the organization forward, and resisting force, which attempts to prevent the organization from moving forward. When the driving force exceeds the restraining force in intensity, organizational change occurs (Lucas, & Kline, 2008). However, when the restraining force overpowers the driving force, the organization will stagnate in its current position.

Change managers must diverse foolproof measures or mechanisms for dealing with factors that hinder organizational change. Some of the active means that are available to the management include the gaining of the members’ support via communication, involvement, education, and participation. The change managers can also employ passive measures to eliminate resistance levied by the members. Some of the passive means at the disposal of change managers include coercion, negotiation, and control. It is up to the change manager to determine the appropriate means to use in implementing change (Lucas, & Kline, 2008).

Kotter proposes another framework available for change managers. According to Kotter (1994), change managers can apply an eight-step change model to implement change in their organizations. These steps include creating urgency; forming a powerful coalition; creating a vision for change; communicating the vision to the members; removing obstacles; creating short-term wins; building on the change; anchoring the changes in corporate culture.

Reasons why Organizational Change Fail

The success or failure of organizational change depends on a myriad of factors. Factors that contribute to the failure of organizational culture include quick fix expectations; and lack of systematic plan to sustain the change. Other factors include lack of sufficient readiness for change; placing too much focus on the change event instead of focusing on the attainment of desired results; poor management of the process of change; and a mismatch between the change plan and the context of the organization (Song, 2009). A careful consideration of these factors is advised, as their proper management will determine whether organizational change will be successful or not.

Readiness for change is a situation where the members of the organization are willing to adopt the change being suggested by change managers. Higher acceptance is often recorded in organizations where the management has taken its time to ready the members for the change. The probability of a successful organizational change in such an organization is higher than compared to an organization where there is lots of resistance (Song, 2009).

Another reason for failure of organizational change rests in the organization’s failure to take a systematic viewpoint while making a holistic plan for organizational change. For instance, a firm might choose to introduce change via education and disregard the other factors that may influence their employees. Additionally, the application of an identical change plan across all departments in an organization may be unwise because the departments are not similar (Song, 2009).

Focus needs to be pegged on the goal of the change process not the actual process. This is the surest way to ensure the success of organizational change. When the members have their focus on the goal of the change, they will play their part in meeting the goal set. Finally, the organizational context and the change plan must match. It is impossible to apply a change plan to an organization if the organizational structure and plan for change do not match. The change plan must be developed with the organizational context in mind (Song, 2009).

The Application Reflection

Organizational change is an important aspect in the growth and sustainability of business entities. It is notable that business environment is always changing and thus organizational change is inevitable. The change occurs in management, operation, culture, structure or ownership of the organization. Organizational change emerge inform of evolutionary or revolutionary. Evolutionary change occurs because of changing environment and their managers of change need to be always aware of the market situation. Therefore, it is always recommendable for managers to hold regular meetings to discuss some of the challenges engulfing their organizations and ways of initiating successful changes. While initiating organizational change, some organizations fail due to over expectations, failure to sustain change, lack of readiness, poor management of the change and so forth. As a result, it is recommendable for organizations to have prior arrangement before pursuing a certain change. In future, organizations must ensure than the kind of change under implementation matches the vision, the mission, and the structure of the organization.

References

George, J. M., & Jones, G. R. (2002). Understanding and Managing Organizational Behaviour (3^rd). New York: Pearson Education Inc

Jones G. R. (2004). Organizational Theory, Design, and Change. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

Kotter, J. P. (1994). Leadership change: The eight steps to transformation. In J.A. Conger, G.M. Spreitzer and E.E. Lawler (Eds.) The leader’s change handbook: An essential guide to setting direction and taking action (p.p 87-89). San Francisco: Jossey-bass.

Lucas, C., & Kline, T. (2008). Understanding the influence of organizational culture and group dynamics on organizational change and learning. Organization, 15(3), 277-287.

Song, X. (2009). Why Do Change Management Strategies Fail? Journal of Cambridge Studies, 4(1), 6-15.

Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. (G. Dosi, R. R. Nelson, & S. G. Winter, Eds.) Strategic Management Journal, 18(7), 509-533.

Van de Ven, A. H., & Poole, M. S. (1995). Explaining development and change in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 20, 510-540

Winter, S. G. (2003). Understanding dynamic capabilities. (C. E. Helfat, S. Finkelstein, W. Mitchell, M. A. Peteraf, H. Singh, D. J. Teece, & S. G. Winter, Eds.). Strategic Management Journal, 24(10), 991-995.

Legal and Ethical Conduct

Introduction

Medical practitioners and Nurses have the responsibility of comprehending the regulations and laws involved in their practice. Some of the legal considerations identify with the State’s Nurse Practice Act, standards and scope of practice and specialty practice in standard group among others (Milstead, 2013). There are a number of ethical considerations in the practice of nursing, that shape the decision making processes; an example is the social policy statement and code of ethics in making sure medical practitioners are responsible for the profession, patients and for themselves (Milstead, 2013). Law and ethics at times conflict like in case of Lena’s sister and the HIV positive boyfriend.

Main Body

This is an ethical dilemma, the boyfriend to Lena’s sister is HIV positive, and Lena should maintain confidentiality of her patient’s status according to the law, which is critical in enhancing trust between nurses and patients. Lena is a Community Health Care Nurse, the fact that the boyfriend to Lena’s sister is sick with HIV, and there are high chances of spreading the disease to her sister presents a dilemma of either following the law or informing her sister, which is ethical, since it will protect Lena’s sister from contracting the disease.

If I was Lena, I would personally leak the information to my sister and counsel her on the way to respond on the issue since it could cost my job. In this case, I will breach confidentially which against the practice of Nursing, but on the other side I will have saved my sister, which is more ethical. My sister is more important than the job I hold.

Conclusion

Ethics and laws in nursing at time results to ethical dilemmas, in such cases, the nurse has the responsibility of enhancing patient beneficence, autonomy, justice and non-malfeasance (Gallagher, 2009). There are situations where choosing ethics and law in nursing is a hard nut to crack.

References

Gallagher, T. H. (2009). A 62-year-old woman with skin cancer who experienced wrong-site surgery: Review of medical error. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, 302(6), 669–677.

Milstead, J. A. (2013). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

 

 

 

 

Ethical issues with an aging population

Introduction

Over the years, the increase in the number of aged population has been on the rise and is expected to rise substantially in the coming years. Care provision to the group will therefore be costly and will require careful ethical adherence in the terms of service. What are some of the ethical issues that need to be taken into account? This paper seeks to provide the best answers to this question in terms of ethical guidelines.

Main body

Several ethical issues have been suggested by Ludwick & Cipriano (2003) that include home visits and medication and they are applicable in handling the aged population. As a result, several economical challenges have risen and there is a likelihood that it will hit hard in the coming years if it is not put under checks and balances. Limited resources like homes and scarcity of care providers can be ranked at the top consequences of the rise in this population. This increase in numbers has paved way for a new dimension of financial hurdles in the provision of care. Caution is therefore needed to plan and allocate funds to aid the care of the aged, as well as creating awareness to the citizens about this growing trend so that they will dedicate some efforts in support of this worthwhile course (Ensign, 2011). Little has been done to plan for such budgets and it is a personal opinion that the government must consider setting funds aside which will cater for these ever growing number of aged population.

Conclusion

The increase in the number of the aged has rung the bell for nursing association to be alert. Action must be taken to plan and prepare in advance to avoid being caught unaware.

 

 

References

Ensign, M. (2011). Ethical Issues and the Elderly: Guidance for Eldercare providers. A Journal of Ethical Issues , Vol. 3, 1-5.

Ludwick, R. (2003). Ethics: Ethical Challenges in the Care of Elderly Persons. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing , Vol. 9, 13-16.

 

Entry into Foreign Market; the Case of Cameron International Corporation entry into Myanmar

Introduction

In business, it is always important to look at new areas where more investment can be carried out. This is usually important since it opens an organization to new opportunities. Seizing business investment opportunities is always a good idea for business managers to think about. It helps in ensuring that an organization gains more profit as well as get diversified.

Foreign markets are usually a good consideration. This is because most of these markets are usually not saturated with many companies in certain industries. For example, Myanmar, formerly Burma is one place where there is an opportunity for investment. With the reversal of the strict rules regarding investment, an organization can benefit a lot from the available business opportunities. Myanmar is known to be rich in oil and gas products; thus Cameron International Corporation should get more encouraged to venture into the market. This should be carried out cautiously, bearing in mind the several barriers to international trade. The risks involved in entering into foreign markets should be well analyzed to ensure that the organization can make it in the Myanmar market. It is important to carry out a VRIO analysis on the resources of Cameron International Corporation to ensure that the best information is gathered necessary for entry into the foreign market of Myanmar. Business options such as subcontracting as well as joint ventures should be considered. This is because they give an organization an opportunity to trade or carry out business activities in the most efficient way.

Institutional and Risk factors to be considered for entry into foreign market of Myanmar

Entry into foreign market is usually subject to consideration of certain factors. These factors may be institutional and risk related. One institutional factor to consider is whether the organization has the capability to diversify into the new market. This is necessary since it determines the way forward for the organization. This is done by looking at the budget of an organization at a given point in time. This gives the management of an organization an opportunity to tell whether the organization’s books are capable of supporting the entry into new markets. In the case of Cameron International Corporation, revenues of $6,134.8 million (FY 2010), net profit of $562.9 million (FY 2010) and an operating profit of $858.5 (FY 2010), is good enough to support such plans. This places the organization in a good position to excel in its plans. With these figures for the institution, only allocation is needed for the project to kick off smoothly. The other institutional factor to consider here is whether the organization has the required experience to operate in a new market. For Cameron International Corporation, this is not something to worry about. This is because the company is already operating in 100 countries across the globe. This means that the necessary experience is available to carry out with business activities comfortably. It means that the systems for carrying out international business are well developed.

In terms of risk considerations, Cameron International Corporation has to go through a lot of analysis. There are several risk areas where the organization should be able to look at the prevailing situation. Strategic risk is one of the things that the organization should look at. This touches on the capability of an organization to come up with strategic decisions capable of bringing proper response to causes of risk. Political risk is the other consideration necessary to make.  Political risk is usually related to the political landscape in an organization. This measures the effects of political instability and decisions on the success of an organization. For Cameron International Corporation, this is an area to put more emphasis on. This is because even though the decade’s long policy of isolation imposed by the ruling military regime has been reversed, the political history is not impressive. This calls for proper planning with inclusion of contingent measures to curb any emerging instability as well as decisions (Thompson, 2001). Environmental risk is the other major consideration to make. The fact that the company operates in the oil and gas sector makes this consideration relevant. The fact that the company has ever handled a failed project in the Transocean BP rig calls for serious environmental consideration. This is because the impact on the citizens will determine the success of the company in the new foreign market. Economic risk is also worth looking at. This covers the ability of the host country to sustain healthy trade environment. This involves the consideration of the country’s economic policies. For Cameron International Corporation, it is important to bear in mind that Myanmar has not been performing well policy wise. However the changes which have taken place in recent past are capable of bring hope in the trade environment. The best thing to do is going ahead with the entry but with a solid plan on how to go about the challenges. All these risks should be managed in a way which makes the company better placed in the market. Risk management is an integral part in gaining competitive advantage in a market (Porter, 2008).

VRIO Analysis

VRIO analysis is one of the useful tools of analysis in business. VRIO analysis is usually useful in evaluating the resources of an organization (Pahl & Ritcher, 2009). This analysis tools looks at the financial resources, Human resources, Material resources and Nonmaterial resources of an organization. The non material resources include knowledge and information in an organization. VRIO stand for Value, Rareness, Imitability and Organization. All these values are usually measured in terms of the resources of an organization. Value measures how costly are the resources of the organization. Rareness addresses how rare an organization’s resource is. Imitability addresses the extent to which the resource of an organization can be imitated while organization looks at the way an organization is set with relation to the resource and whether an organization can use the resource in a good way.

 

Resources
Financial	cash items Firm’s capacity to raise capital Firm’s ability to borrow
Physical	Plant and offices Favorite places for carrying operations Equipment for exploration and processing
Technological	Business confidential information Proper creative methods of operations Patents, copyrights, trademarks
Organizational	Proper planning Proper evaluation
Intangible Resources
Human	Ability of employees Loyalty and integrity Human capital management
Innovation and Creativity	Innovation ability
Reputation	Company’s name Image in the market Corporate Social Responsibilities
Organizational Capabilities
Company’s setting Ability to bring together all resources of the company Ability to source new resources of the company Ability to come up with innovation and creativity

 

For Cameron International Limited, the resources are quite valuable. This means that there is need for proper planning to ensure that the resources of the company are able to come up with proper management of the value from the available resources. The level of imitability of the company’s resources is low. This means that the company is capable of coming up with a good plan to use the uniqueness of the resources. The resources are not rare. The fact that they are valuable and available means that the company experiences equality in competition. The best thing with the company is that it has organization. This means it has a setting which is capable of supporting the resources of the company. With the analysis, the entry is supported

Cultural issues to consider while entering Myanmar

Cultural issues are known to be very important to consider in business. Many a times, cultural differences have been found to affect international trade. It is always important to go through the cultural differences so as to put an organization on the right path towards success. Cameron International Corporation should consider the impact of family tie in Myanmar. Myanmar is known to have citizens who value their families so much. Therefore, it is important to put the value of family in the plans of the company as it enters the international market. Also the value for proper etiquette in this part of the world is quite amazing. Therefore, as the company sets itself to enter this market, it should put proper consideration in the etiquette area. This should be a major consideration in the process of planning marketing and other promotional procedures for the company. The level of men and women in the society should also be considered. In this part of the world, the men and women are not equal. Men are ranked higher than women. This means that the corporation should bear this in mind so that it may handle the society without hiccups related to the position of men and women in the society of Myanmar. It is also important for Cameron International Corporation to consider the many ethnic groups in Myanmar. The country’s government recognizes about 135 ethnic groups. The organization should be able to value all these groups equally so that it may be in good books with the market. It is also important to plan on employment in terms of the country’s culture. In Myanmar, division of labor is usually based on gender. Therefore, it is important to plan recruitment on the basis of the roles of the two sides of gender in the country.

FDI or Subcontracting

In business, it is always important to take risk. The risk takers have been identified as the most successful people in the world (Wetherly & Otter (2008). It is important for Cameron International Corporation to go for the high returns in the most risky FDI. This should be supported by the many disadvantages of subcontracting. One of the things that should make the company shun subcontracting is the fact that high costs are involved. For example labor costs are higher in subcontracts. The other reason why the company should avoid subcontracting is the aspect of indirect liability. Certain subcontractors are not able to carry out things in the required way. This may cause mistakes which might lead to liability. This is because subcontractors do not have the interest of the company at heart. The other issue concerns quality. The subcontractors may not perform to the extent which FDI would. This means that quality and customer service may not be up to the required standards.

Joint venture partners the company should approach

If the company engages in FDI, it should go into joint ventures with companies in the marketing, distribution as well as exploration. The companies in these areas will help Cameron International Corporation in growing easily in the market. This is because the experience and systems already in the companies will help Cameron International Corporation in kick starting its operations with ease. The company should issue 15% to the joint venture partners.

Conclusion

Strategic management should be applied to ensure that the organization succeeds in achieving its objectives in the foreign market of Myanmar. This should be supported by engaging in corporate social responsibility activities. This is necessary since Myanmar is known to be weak in terms of societal development. It is worth noting that corporate social responsibility engagements are good for public relation purposes of an organization (Idowu & Filho, 2013). Proper risk management should also be carried out to ensure that all is in control. The simplicity and clarity associated with the VRIO analysis should be maximized on to ensure that Cameron International limited succeeds in making a smooth entry.

 

 

References

Idowu, S. & Filho, W. (2013). Global Practices of Corporate Social Responsibility. Springer.

Pahl, N. & Ritcher, A. (2009). VRIO Analysis – Idea, Methodology and A practical Approach, Grin Verlag.

Porter, M. (2008). Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, Simon & Schuster.

Thompson, L. (2001). Understanding corporate strategy. London: Thomson Learning.

Wetherly & Otter (2008). The business environment. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

 Business name: Yum Scrum Catering Service

Location: Providence Rhode Island

Executive Summary

Yum Scrum Catering Service provides its services to the Providence population and other major towns in Rhode Island. Yum Scrum Catering Service offers lively, multihued, and diverse cuisines to provide diverse options to suite the assorted preferences of the clients. Yum Scrum Catering Service is a sole proprietorship. The owner of the catering service decided to turn his hobby and fervor of cooking into a business. Some of the benefits that realized by sole proprietor for stating  this form of business are that the establishment and management the business is relatively unsophisticated and economical, there is tax simplicity and the decision making process is uncomplicated and easy

Services

Yum Scrum Catering Service will endow Providence and other major towns in Rhode Island with reputed and authentic catering services. Yum Scrum Catering Service will offer its catering services to an assortment of festivities, which will include corporate revelries & golf excursions, weddings and interment services, private intimate banquets, baby showers, birthdays and wedding anniversaries and any other party that may need catering services. Yum Scrum Catering Service will also engage in home and company delivery of foods, sale of beverages (non-alcoholic) renting tables, chairs and glassware, on-site catering services and event planning.

Staffing plan

The sole proprietor will be the catering manager and will be accountable for the general organization and administration of the company. Two supervisors will aid him in performing his operational duties. A part-time position will also be available for a consultant to examine and give advice on the ingredients of foods that require delicate handling of ingredients. Five servers will be hired to serve the food at the events as well as help with set up and take down any event. Three chefs will be employed to set up the dishes that the owner of the business, has developed. Finally one delivery boy will be hired to deliver foods to homes and or companies

Chart of accounts specific to Yum Scrum Catering Service

Assets that will be utilized in the catering company for more than 12 months will be the company’s long-term assets and will be run down by means of a G.A.A.P. Supported straight-line depreciation technique to determine their annual depreciation. These long-term assets will include five custom stoves and dishwashers, five sets of cookware and dishware for the cooks, two vans, a PC, a printer and a variety of serving kits.

Expenses
Taxes	$475
Stationery etc.	$225
Promotional material	$250
Rent	$0
Miscellaneous	$350
Total Expenses	$1300
Assets
Cash needed	$39,550
Additional in-progress Assets	$450
Long-term Assets	$31,300
Sum total of Assets	$71,300
Total requirements(funded by investment from the investors)	$75,000
Loans	$ 0

 

 

Use of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) accounting methods

Most businesses in the US are required to use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to maintain and uphold a record of their books. However, even those businesses that are lawfully require to use GAAP use it to for bookkeeping processes. GAAP is a group of policies regulations established by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (Weygandt et al., 2009). U.S. law does not oblige joint venture partnerships, sole proprietorships or businesses that have their stock wielded in private terms to use GAAP.

IFRS

Approximately 100 nations around the globe mandate businesses operating in their soil to use IFRS standards for accounting.  The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, (2013) defines IFSR as a global accounting organization based in London, which established a set of accounting standards in a bid to let the financial realm have rules, which could consistently be used in all the nations. IFRS allows easy hoisting of capital transversely across borders and allows the comparison of the financial state of businesses in multiple countries for investors.

GAAP or IFRS

By 2011, the US was the only nation with an intricate investment market, which does not let businesses to apply the IFRS standards to account their fiscal records. The Securities and Exchange Commission stipulated that it was mulling over espousing the IFRS standards in the US though not any sooner than 2015. The nature and location of the Yum Scrum Catering Service places it in a position where it is neither bound the GAAP principles or the IFRS standards. However, despite the fact that it is not lawfully obligated to, Yum Scrum Catering Service will utilize the GAAP principles to keep their records and books. Yum Scrum Catering anticipates the lifting of the restrictions on IFRS in the US so that it can shift from BAAP to IFRS. In this scenario, the following are the considerations that the Yum Scrum Catering Service will make.

Considerations in case of change the accounting methods

IFRS is at variance in copious methodological ways with GAAP and presents a lesser amount of information for investors. A greater impediment that Yum Scrum Catering Service implementation will face is that, it is not just an issue of official formalities: The business would have to transform its tax coverage and accounting techniques, interior reviews and IT structures. However, transit to IFRS will present the catering company an opportunity to venture in outside country business prospects without changing its accounting methods.

 Pro forma balance sheet

Assumptions

The financial assumptions made are shown in the table below.

assumptions made in the formation of the balance sheet 1st year 2nd year  3rd year In-progress Interest Rate 10 % p.a. 10 % p.a. 10 % p.a. Long-term Interest Rate 10 % p.a. 10.00% p.a. 10 % p.a. Tax 30 % p.m. 30 % p.m. 30 % p.m.

It assumed that all the other non-financial factors that may affect the assets capital and liabilities would remain constant. For example, the pro forma balance sheet does not anticipate any robberies fires or any other hazard or opportunity that might improve or lessen the quality of service delivery to the customers.

Pro Forma Balance Sheet
	1st year	2nd year	3rd year
Assets
Cash	$8,750	$56,570	$113,950
Total current Assets	$8,750	$56,570	$113,950
Long-term Assets	$33,275	$33,275	$33,275
Depreciation	$6655	$13,310	$22,500
Total Long-term Assets	$26,620	$19,965	$13,310
total Assets	$35,370	$76,535	$127,260
Liabilities and Capital	1st year	2nd year	3rd year
In-progress Liabilities
Accounts owed	$9,650	$12,100	$13,000
Total in-progress Liabilities	$ 9,650	$12,100	$13,000
Long-term Liabilities	$0	$0	$0
Total Liabilities	$ 9,650	$12,100	$13,000
Paid-in Capital	$75,000	$75,000	$75,000
Earnings	$10,099	$38,715	$35,773
Total Capital	$25,720	$64,435	$112,308
Liabilities + Capital = assets	$35,370	$76,535	$127,260
Net Worth	$26,099	$63,159	$114,260

Support of the valuations assigned

The current/in-progress assets are gotten from the cash that the owner of the business will plough in to the business. The long-term assets include the vans cooking utensils and the rentable materials such as the tables and chairs and they are assigned a depreciation of 20% per year. The paid in capital is the capital that the business expects to get from the investors. The current liabilities are the borrowings from families and friends.

Income statement

 

Two internal controls that owner of the business will implement to protect the company’s assets and resources

1 Inventory and Asset Control

Inventory and asset controls will be instrumental in safeguarding the business’s intellectual and corporeal assets from maltreatment and larceny. This will be achieved by limiting the workforce’s access to a variety of the assets; the criteria that will be used to limit access will be the employees’ echelon of responsibility and function and the level of fragility of the assets. This will also go an extra mile in limiting outsiders from accessing or obliterating these assets. In order to oversee the implementation of this control the company will embrace instruments such as electronic ID tags, boundary markers, security structures, and many others. The challenges and resistances of this control might be manifested in low motivation of the employees who will be restricted from accessing the assets. This will be countered by encouraging the employees to work harder so that their rank can be raised hence allowing them to access the assets. The customers might also get afraid of visiting the company premises due to the restrictions of accessing the company’s assets by non-authorized personnel but the good quality services offered will make them keep their concerns at bay.

2 Recordkeeping and Documentation

This will ensure that financial statements and data are precise, correct and constructed on a timely basis. This will help in protecting the company’s data, which is a step forward in ensuring the viability of a business. Drawing reference from Lastovica (1999) sentiments, documentation controls will also assist in ensuring that the business’s activities are in line with any legal quality or policy guidelines. Yum Scrum Catering Service will achieve this by employing the ISO 9000 standards in a bid to meet the credential guidelines and illustrate that its internal controls can be aligned to meet certification requirements and produce excellent results in the process.

Competitive Environment

Yum Scrum Catering Service’s major competitors are full-service caterers, turnkey caterers, and general caterers who are all thriving in the Rhode Island market. The other level is full-service caterers who are involved in the organization of the event. The other low levels of competitions consist of eateries, fast food and grocery stores.

Impact of the regulatory environment

Conceivably, one of the major salient distinctions linking small and large businesses in business organizations law is determined by the intensity to, which their proprietors put up with the private liability for business threats. The regulatory environment for a business is subject to the major preferences that the business makes. In numerous scenarios, one preference has inferences for another. Unincorporated businesses like Yum Scrum Catering Service, can sustain business liability hazards that can jeopardize the assets and have different (generally sluggish) expansion courses from corporate businesses (Ribstein, 2004).

Previous studies for example Fan and White (2003) have unearthed the existence of a “chilling effect” of stringent private bankruptcy regulations on private enterprises like Yum Scrum Catering Service. There is an extensive concern that alterations to the personal bankruptcy law, that hardens the process of the individuals acquiring a “fresh start,” will aggravate the differentiation between incorporated and unincorporated businesses in terms of the stratum of fiscal threat born by the proprietors and auxiliary ‘chill’ entrepreneurship.

One may plausibly articulate in response to the annotations above that entrepreneurs can choose an organizational status for their business, and that if smaller businesses are yearning to avoid liability menaces, they can simply incorporate themselves. However, the small business owner has to consider the following two countervailing aspects before making that decision. First, the official procedures requisite to incorporate (including not only the preliminary paperwork, but also formation and administration of control organizations) engross fixed costs, which a small business like Yum Scrum Catering Service cannot bear. Second, even if a small business had the ability to bear the expenditure of incorporating, doing so does not essentially eradicate the threat of private liability for shareholders, especially for closely held businesses. As a result, the Yum Scrum Catering Service will not consider this as an option.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarb-ox”) requires business to follow extra requirements. These requirements have key inference for the control, bookkeeping, assessment, and managerial reimbursement settings of the business.

In juxtaposition with other regulatory/listing necessities, Yum Scrum Catering Service will have to correspond to the following guidelines as directed by Sarb-ox: Annual reports will comprise of, (as a supplement to the audited fiscal declarations) “an in-company control statement, which affirms the accountability of management and an evaluation of the efficiency of the internal-control organization

The reason why Yum Scrum Catering Service will have to correspond to the guidelines as directed by Sarb-ox is because Sarb-ox’s legislative lingo does not leave out “small businesses” for particular or dissimilar treatment in accordance to the Act.

 

References

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, AICPA. (2013): IFRS FAQs. Retrieved from:  http://www.ifrs.com/ifrs_faqs.html

Fan, W. and White, M. J. (2003). Personal bankruptcy and the level of entrepreneurial activity. Journal of Law and Economics, 46, 543–567.

Lastovica, A. (1999). Starting a Successful Catering Business. Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, Revised. NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Ribstein, L. (2004). Unincorporated Business Entities (Third Edition). NY: Wiley & Sons, Inc

Splaver, B. (1997). Successful Catering, 3rd Edition. NY: Wiley & Sons, Inc

Weygandt, J., Kieso, D., & Kimmel, P. (2009).Wiley Plus: Accounting Principles, 9th edition; (two-term). NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

 

Police Corruption

What, precisely, is the moral issue?

The moral issue presented in this paper is with regard to police corruption. The moral question is – To what extent should police officers accept grauities?

Possible answers to the issue as stated

There are several arguments that have been put forth in support of police officers accepting gratuities. The first argument is that gratuities are reasonable and natural ways of showing appreciation to police officers and it would be rude to refuse. Second, it is contended that gratuities are not sufficient to cultivate favor. Third, no personal feeling of obligation develops in a situation where the gratuities are offered officially by a corporation or company. The fourth argument is that gratuities are part and parcel of promoting tight connections with the community which results in a fundamental of “good policing”. Lastly, it is argued that prohibition of acceptance of gratuities means that police officers are not trustworthy in exercising discretion and are not capable of making sensible moral judgments to guide their conduct (Delattre, 2011).

There are also various arguments in opposition to acceptance of gratuities. The first argument is that a regularized gift creates a feeling of obligation, no matter how small it may be. Another argument is that gratuities result in a slippery slope in situations where the temptations become increasingly larger while refusal becomes more difficult. It is also argued that not all officers are capable of exercising appropriate judgment on what is reasonable to accept, and it would be better for the organization to remove the temptation altogether. Lastly, businesses which offer gratuities always intend to get preferential treatment in terms of favors, and this implies compromising one’s duties and public trust for personal favors (Delattre, 2011).

What considerations should be brought to bear on the issue’s possible answers, and what judgments about those answers follow from these considerations?

Barker (2011) claims that the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics is sufficient enough to guide police officers make correct choices. From this perspective, a police officer is not expected to allow his personal interests to override the principles provided under the Code. This point of view attempts to posit that corruption can be controlled if all individuals are driven by rule-following rather than wise judgment.

Delattre (2011) and Rich (2011) propose that the Code is not a sufficient guideline to the police officers in making ethical choices. As such, controlling corruption involves proper assessment of candidates, advancement in education for hired officers, good leadership, and integrity. From this point of view, the conduct of police officers is influenced by many factors in the department which are capable of hampering his wise judgment, swaying him away from the Code, and directing him towards corrupt behavior.

The first consideration in controlling corruption is with regard to recruitment. It has been recommended that higher recruitment and screening standards are relevant in gauging the ethical conduct of prospective candidates (Newburn, 1999). A 1997 Commission on Police Integrity which studied corruption in Chicago recommended that the background of all candidates must be screened. In addition, polygraph testing must be used in the initial screening of prospective police officers. Furthermore, the agencies should seek candidates having higher education levels, while those who seek further education once hired must be rewarded (Newburn, 1999).

The second consideration is the relevance of training in eradicating police corruption. Newburn (1999) notes that most law enforcement training usually avoids discussing corruption. The rationale behind this avoidance is that discussion of wrongdoing is inherently displeasing and increases the chances of individuals engaging in such behavior. In cases where training also involves discussion of ethics, Newburn remarks that the discussion is mostly conducted in a manner that fails to resonate with new recruits or make much difference to consequent behavior. This trait was also evident in the 1990s as the Wood Commission found that some recruit trainings rarely concentrated on integrity or ethics and did not have any aspect of practical guidance or application (Newburn, 1999). Furthermore, the available instruction was always inappropriate, with new recruits being mentored in department sections which were most prevalent in corruption. In this regard, though the Code might have all general guidance as to what is expected, a police officer may soon forget about the his duty to the public and get swayed by the culture in the department in case corruption is condoned by other officers.  There is a straightforward connection between corruption, competence, and training. Police agencies which sufficiently train their officers, and offer them necessary resources to achieve their goals legitimately experience less instances of corruption (Newburn, 1999).

The third consideration is the effectiveness of leadership. Leadership plays a very significant role in controlling corruption (Newburn, 1999). Consequently, police leaders hold the overall responsibility for its shortcomings. In the same way, these leaders can greatly contribute to the success of the agency. While working toward departmental goals, the police leadership plays a major role in creating the institutional climate. Leaders who keep high standards of ethical behavior are capable of serving as the key to prevention of corruption and maintenance of public trust. Fighting corruption involves great understanding of the nature, scope and organization of the existing corruption. Without such knowledge, efforts to fight it may be futile.

Another consideration is the police subculture (Newburn, 1999). The policing profession has a subculture to itself. With regard to corruption, the police subculture is capable of either preventing the existence of corruption, or providing a platform for the its spread throughout a department. The subculture may be the most difficult to tackle in case corruption has taken root in the department. This way, though the officer may have passed background screening and declared to abide by the Code, he or she is more likely to be maintaining loyalty to his peers than his integrity.

A subculture encompasses a unit of individuals who generally share beliefs, values, assumptions, perceptions, attitudes, traditions, and ways of doing things (Rich, 2011). Owing to the fact that policing usually involves numerous experiences peculiar to the field, the subculture is capable of becoming stronger that a police officer’s family bonds. In addition, work schedules away from the ordinary realm may result in feelings of isolation which further strengthens the subculture ties. Most departments allow senior officers to test new recruits on issues of corruption. For instance, they may want to gauge the amiability of the new recruits to taking gratuities. As Delattre (2011) notes, such practices are gateways to more grave corruption due to the fact that they provide opportunities for corrupt intent. Acceptance of the free cup of coffee, the example frequently used, may lead to a slippery slope where the officer is swayed into taking greater gratuities and compromising their integrity.

The theory of rotten apples also indicates that police new police recruits who are naturally deviant and would not want to follow the law may cause danger to the rest of the officers. Such people always get into the system with concealed character, and when they adapt into the subculture, they are capable of spoiling other officers by influencing them the wrong way. Their deviance character makes them have utter disrespect to the badge and their duty to the public. This accounts to many crimes being committed by police officers who are entrusted with protecting the public.

The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics provides that a police officer must recognize the badge of his office as a symbol of public trust, and that he should never engage in bribery, nor excuse such practices by other police officers. A police officer declares his cooperation with all legally authorized agencies in seeking for justice. According to Barker, the Code of Ethics starts with a sequence of mission statements which seem difficult for most mortal individuals to live up to (Barker, 2011).

Police officers, as the most visible representatives of the formal social control framework as well as well as agents of a democratic society, are granted special trust. Due to the power and authority entrusted in them by the badge, they are usually expected to engage in ethical and lawful behavior. The public expects the officers to deal appropriately with any unethical and unlawful behavior by other police officers. The special relationship that police officers have with the public is what causes their unethical conduct extremely disturbing and grave. The officer who conforms to the Code acknowledges and appreciates this special relationship (Barker, 2011).

The Code also provides two limitations on the extent to which a police officer can use his powers or authority. First, it is not right for the officer to breach the Constitution and other laws while performing his work. Second, the officer is prohibited from using his office for personal gain or profit, and accepting any favors which place his personal advantage above public welfare (Barker, 2011).

The Code also states that a police officer must be personally committed in ensuring observance of the Code and professional performance. Accordingly Barker argues that peer pressure cannot be faulted for non-conformance with the Code. The police officer must be held personally liable for unethical conduct, as well as for condoning unethical conduct by other officers (Barker, 2011).

According to Delattre (2011), though the Code is trustworthy as a general guideline which conveys the spirit of faithfulness to the public trust, it cannot assume the position of wisdom and good character. By pinning on a police badge, it implies that one has voluntarily agreed to bear the public trust. The police officer is entrusted to protect the rights and safety of other members of the public. In order to offer the protection, the police officer is granted special powers and authority. Police officers are authorized to conduct investigations on the people, apply force where necessary, and abridge ordinary liberties of the people.

Delattre (2011) points out that in some cases, citizens usually offer officers favors in the hope for preferential treatment at a later time. Police officers who take up the favors cause dishonor to themselves and the badge. Beyond this requirement, police officers are expected to use their personal qualities to their work which the badge does not offer. Major qualities include common decency and common sense.

Police officers should avoid exposing themselves vulnerably to danger. They are supposed to maintain their skillfulness and physical fitness while using their tools of work. They should be attentive to the needs of the people they serve (Delattre, 2011).

Significant progress has been made in the law enforcement profession over the past few decades (Rich, 2011). First, most police agencies have made efforts to avoid hiring prospective police officers with low ethical standards and identify employed officers early in their careers who are capable of compromising the integrity of the department. Furthermore, new discoveries have been made with regard to testing the psychological propensity of candidates to act ethically. Nonetheless, unethical conduct is persistent in police departments small and large. Police corruption undermines the general legitimacy of law enforcement. Theories on a person’s own natural vulnerability to get involved in unethical conduct, the negative influence of an officer’s department, and the place of the public in law enforcement, have been proposed as explanations of police corruption.

According to Rich (2011), the best approach for eradicating corruption should be making sure that unethical individuals are not hired. He proposes that agencies should ensure sufficient screening of candidates and hiring of most conscientious individuals due to the fact that they have a higher degree of integrity.  Rich (2011) and Delattre (1996) differ with Baker’s position that the Code is enough to eradicate police misconduct. According to Rich (2011) and Delattre (2011), ethical conduct cannot just be a matter of personal commitment; it is an issue requiring departmental commitment.

Delattre (2011) argues that the dominant system in police departments makes it difficult to effectively implement professionalism. The hierarchical nature and the tight chain of formal accountability encourage a perception that rules must be followed strictly, without considering wise judgment. This makes officers more concerned about internal consequences of their decisions rather than their appropriateness. To this extent, it is hard to attain and sustain professionalism in policing.

Conclusion

Police officers ought to be guided by both the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics and their wise judgment. In this regard, they should not accept gratuities completely because they are capable of causing them dire consequences through the slippery slope.

 References

Barker, T. (2011). Police Ethics: Crisis in Law Enforcement. Charles C. Thomas Publisher.

Delattre, E.J. (2011). Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing. AEI Press.

Newburn, T. (1999). Understanding and preventing police corruption: lessons from the literature. Research Development Statistics.

Rich, M. M. S. (2011). Police Corruption: An analytical tool into police ethics. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Retrieved on October 30, 2013 from: http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/may_2011/law_enforcement_professionalism

 

 

 

 

Assignment 2, JPMorgan Chase

(Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD))

 

Assignment 2, JPMorgan Chase

(Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD))

JP Morgan Chase is the leading bank in the United States, in 2012, the bank announced trading losses of $5.8 billion. The bank went further to assert that the CIO (Chief Investment Officer) made unwise decisions that led to the huge losses, which were hidden by presenting falsified reports to  the SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission). This an example of unethical accounting practices that are punishable by law. This paper considers Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) which was intercepted by the SEC in 2011/2013 following the Rothstein Ponzi scheme (Brinkmann, 2013).

TD Bank Group

TD bank is a multinational bank with the headquarters in Toronto, Canada; the organization offers financial services to the target customers. The bank is the second largest in Canada and also the sixth in North America (Brinkmann, 2013). The bank came into existence after Dominion Bank and Bank of Toronto formed a merger. The bank employs more than seventy nine thousand employees with more than nineteen million customers. Forbes Global 2000 according to the 2010 listing placed the bank at position eighty six. According to the Canada’s Top 100 Employers in 2008, the bank was placed among the top employers in Canada (Brinkmann, 2013).

According to the TD bank operations in the United States, the bank was intercepted by the SEC due to the Rothstein Ponzi Scheme. Federal agencies charged Frank Spinosa who was the former Vice President in the organization at TD bank with violating the laws of the securities (Brinkmann, 2013). In the same way that it happened in JP Morgan Chase. It was noted that the $1.4 billion loss was named as Ponzi scheme. Former Attorney Scott Rothstein was disbarred from the public office and sentenced to fifty years in jail (Brinkmann, 2013).

The fines directed at TD Bank amounted to 52.5 million in total, with $37.5 million by bank regulators and $15 million by the SEC. The bank was charged for failing to report the crimes committed by Rothstein, and that the bank lied to the investors.  It was argued that the bank and Rothstein conspired in giving false information to SEC. TD bank was expected by the law to file SARS (Suspicious Activity Reports). Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) are responsible in investigating cases related to SARs (Brinkmann, 2013).

SEC acts as the Wall Street watchdog in protecting the rights of investors, maintaining order, enhancing fairness, making sure that the markets are efficient and facilitating the formation of capital markets (Bothwell, 2005). The operations of SEC demands that public organizations to disclose financial reports that are meaningful to the general public. The information is believed to assist investors in making informed decisions on whether to hold, sell or buy security (Bothwell, 2005). SEC is the overseer of participants dealing with securities, with the inclusion of investment advisers, security dealers, security brokers, securities exchanges and mutual funds. SEC has been influential in actions of civil enforcements against companies and individuals that violate the laws of securities; with the inclusion of accounting fraud, insider trading, misleading information and false information on securities (Bothwell, 2005).

CFTC (United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission) is part of the American government and an independent agency regulating the option and futures markets. CFTC was created after the 1974 Community Futures Trading Commission Act in replacing United States Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Exchange Authority (Bothwell, 2005). The mission of CFTC is in protecting the public and users of the market from manipulation, fraud and abusive practices in relations to financial and commodity options and futures in fostering competitive, open and financially relevant option markets and markets of the futures. CFTC and SEC have been necessary in addressing high risk gambles that are related to the securities. Banking industry is critical in the economy of United States and beyond, regulatory authorities has been sensitive in reducing the risks associated with securities (Bothwell, 2005).

Banks and consumers have the responsibility of ensuring that the contracts are valid and characterized with fair dealing and good faith in enhancing the banking relationship. A contract between the banks and the consumers are enforceable by the courts of law. It has been noted that enforcement of the contract is critical, in making sure that the two parties in one way or another honor the contract (Plimpton, 2007). There are number of issues to consider while drafting a valid contract, identifying with: engaging an attorney, making sure that the subject matter as contained in the contract is lawful, making sure that both parties involved in the contract have mental capacity and legal capacity in engaging in contracts, making sure that consent to the contract is agreed and making sure that the contract is in writing for future references in case of clarity and disagreement (Plimpton, 2007).

Intentional torts are actions relating to battery and assaults among others while negligent torts identifies with cases of automobile accidents among others. It has been noted that intentional torts happens if the defendant acts intentionally in causing injury or harm directed at the plaintiff. Assault is subjecting an individual to possible battery in the future while battery relates to the actual beating or physical contact, hence causing harm (Plimpton, 2007). On the other side, negligent torts are caused when individual’s causes harm by not applying reasonable care. Elements in negligent torts identify with breach of duty when causing proximate harm. The plaintiff is injured as a result of the failed care in reasoning uprightly (Plimpton, 2007). There are some cases when negligent tort is committed on purpose, after the defendant fail to honor the duty.

Intentional and negligent torts are subject to the courts of law, where the defendant may face the charges, and both torts are compensable. The challenge is that in most cases, the insurance companies fail to offer the security services. Examples of intentional torts identify with trademark infringement, defamation, copyright infringement, unfair competition, false imprisonment, wrongful termination and employment discrimination among others (Plimpton, 2007). Most negligent torts are covered by insurance like automobile insurance, general liability insurance in business and homeowners insurance. Plaintiff gets paid by the defendant’s insurance.

Interference with contractual relations and participating in a breach of Fiduciary duty is considered as intentional tort. In such a case, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant’s actions resulted to damages, there existed a valid contract, the defendant must be aware of the contract, there must be a disruption of the contract  and the acts of the defendant must be intentional and intended to disrupt the mutual relationship between the defendant and the plaintiff (Plimpton, 2007).

UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) or the code is part of the uniform acts promulgated in harmonizing laws relating to commercial transactions and sales within United States. UCC has been sensitive in unifying commercial transactions and sales within the fifty states that forms United States (Bothwell, 2005). UCC deals mainly with movable and personal properties. UCC has been working closely with the common laws in making sure that the consumers are wholly protected from illegal exploitations.

In this case, TD Bank behaved in the same way as JP Morgan Chase by providing falsified information to the SEC. the parties involved were the SEC and the TD bank, in which TD bank was the defendant and SEC was the plaintiff, and the contract between TD bank and SEC was defaced by the falsified information (Brinkmann, 2013). This can be classified as intentional tort, since the TD bank was involved in unethical and illegal practices. TD bank faced fines while the employees involved in the fraudulent activities were jailed for committing the crimes.

The world is facing changes with globalization, which has diversified technological advancement and socialization. Banks in the twenty first century are offering online banking or E-banking or internet banking (Knowledge@Wharton and Ernst & Young, 2013). TD bank has produced personalized products and services directed at the target market. Online banking has allowed customers within TD bank to conduct diverse financial transactions through the secure website that the financial institution has developed.

Customers are allowed to assess the institution’s website through their personal networks, with passwords used in verifying the customer (Knowledge@Wharton and Ernst & Young, 2013). TD bank allocates specific numbers to the customers critical in accessing online banking within the system. Persons without the codes cannot access online banking unless they hack the systems, which is illegal entry to the systems according to the laws in the United States. TD Banks argues that security at the online banking is critical, and that the online banking can never operate on a breached platform. Banks use secured websites, PIN/TAN systems and signatures among other security models and devices (Knowledge@Wharton and Ernst & Young, 2013).

 

References

Bothwell, J. L. (2005). Financial market regulation benefits and risks of merging SEC and CFTC. New York: The Office The Office.

Brinkmann, P. (2013, September 23). TD Bank charged by SEC in Rothstein Ponzi scheme. Retrieved October 30, 2013, from Bizjournals.com: http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/blog/picking_up_the_pieces/2013/09/td-bank-charged-by-sec-in-rothstein.html?page=all

Knowledge@Wharton and Ernst & Young. (2013). Mobile Banking: Financial Services Meet the Electronic Wallet. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Knowledge@Wharton.

Plimpton, L. (2007). Business Contracts : Turn Any Business Contract to Your Advantage. New York: Entrepreneur Press.

 

 

 

Professional ethics

There are various ethical issue questions that arise out of the behaviors of Dr. Smith. One ethical question would be; is it right for a professional to ignore the rules and betray those whom he is supposed to protect? Another ethical issue question would be; can business interests override the ethical provisions in psychiatry such as beneficence, integrity, compassion and trustworthiness? This is because the actions of the psychiatrist go against most of the ethical practices that he should observe in his practice.

The ethical issues can be captured as; is it fair for Dr. Smith to deny child-abusing parents the opportunity to get counseling and also to deny abused children justice by refusing to report their abusers to the authorities?

The utilitarian theory says that one’s actions must promote or accord maximum benefits to the majority. This means that the value of the consequences that accrue from the actions of a person should be the sole determinant of whether the act is right or wrong (Fischer, 2010). The acts of Dr. Smith go against most of the rules that should be observed by anybody who cares about the majority. This is because his confidentiality policy is unjustifiable as it seeks to protect a few aggressors against facing justice for the benefit of the majority who are the children.

In analyzing whether the actions of Dr. Smith are morally justifiable, the possible answers that should be looked into include what are the rules governing his practice, the beneficiaries from his practice and what are the acceptable norms in society that anyone should follow.

His actions based on utilitarian theory are not morally justifiable since they ensure that the aggressors i.e. the child-abusing parents continue with their actions knowing very well that they have someone who will conceal their identity to the authorities. His actions also prevent such parents from seeking professional guidance and counseling that would inform them of the serious negative implications that their actions are having on their children. Dr. Smith abuses his moral responsibility of allowing such parents seek assistance from other therapists since their behavior is curable. This is because the lives of these children are being ruined both in the short and long run. These children may come to accept the behaviors they are seeing in their parents as the norm rather than the exception. This would negatively impact on their future parental roles as they may also behave in a similar manner towards their siblings. This would contribute to moral decadence in society and increase immorality. Such a society would be ruined and most people would suffer. The actions of the doctor ignore other better options that would have benefited the child-abusers and the entire society.

The behavior of Dr Smith can also be analyzed using deontological ethics. Deontology postulates that one’s behavior must be guided by his adherence to duty and the law (Fritz & Vaidya, 2008).

The confidentiality policy of Dr. Smith is also not morally justifiable using deontology ethics. This is because the doctor ought to have established whether the act of protecting these child abusers is right or wrong before looking at other issues like business interests or the outcome of the actions. This is because the doctor appears to perfect his behavior because most of the child abusers keep referring others to him and his business could be performing well. But according to deontology, this behavior or action is immoral since there are no laws that can support the abuse of children especially when those doing it are the same ones who should be at the frontline safeguarding their interests. The consequences of the actions of the doctor are that children’s lives will be ruined since the continued abuse will lead to physical and psychological harm. His actions also prevent these parents and the children from seeking guidance and counseling from professionals. This is because such parents need to be separated from the society in order to make children lead the normal lives that they should.

If Dr. Smith could have done the moral thing i.e. identify the reasons why such parents are behaving that way and encourage them to seek professional help, the society in which these people live could have benefited (Scott, 2009). This is because both parents and the abused children could have accessed professional help and assistance from other institutions such as children homes and counselors. It could also have facilitated the opening up of these children where those who have abused them could be apprehended by the authorities and face justice. This could have sounded a warning to those who may be thinking or attempting to abuse children. Dr. Smith therefore failed to stick to his duty of doing what morally right when he offered refuge to the child-abusers and denied them access to help from other professionals. His actions also prevented the abused children access to medical and professional help. The nature of the actions of the doctor was immoral on the face of it and ought not to have been allowed.

I would support the deontological position in proving that the doctor’s behavior is unjustifiable. This is because deontology or duty ethics emphasize on according equal value to all human beings but the doctor is totaling ignoring the plight of the abused children who he should even be according priority. This position emphasizes that human rights of everybody even if it’s a minority must be upheld simply because it is the right thing to do. The fact that the children have no voice does not imply that they are lesser human beings.

Deontology is also clear that some acts are always wrong and should never be allowed by any society. This is because there is no form of reasoning that should have allowed the doctor to act in the way he did. Regardless of whether he was protecting his business interests or his customers, this was the wrong thing to do. This theory therefore provides certainty since it mainly concentrates on the nature of the doctor’s action itself without paying much attention to consequences. Nevertheless, the action of the doctor and its consequences are not permissible anywhere. The intention and motive of the doctor cannot be said to be well intended. This is because he is a professional and understands the implications of his behavior. It can therefore be said that the doctor is acting carelessly and should be reprimanded for his actions. This is because they hinge on professional negligence and incompetence of the highest order. This is due to his failure to utilize his knowledge and failing to observe what is moral and legal in society which does not even require any professional knowledge.

 

References

Fischer, B. (2010). Utilitarian Theory and Application. New York. Oxford University Press.

Fritz, A. & Vaidya, A.(eds.) (2008). Professions in Ethical Focus: An Anthology. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press.

Scott, E. (2009). Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.