...MODULE 3, ASSIGNMENT 5 January 17, 2013 Topic: Practice Case Examination RomaCorral Foods Ltd. Overview In this post-session assignment, candidates work on a case that focuses on a Canadian public company called RomaCorral Foods Ltd. (RCFL) that owns and operates two chains of restaurants in Canada. One chain specializes in Italian cuisine (Roma Italian) and the other in mid-level steak house cuisine (Corral Steak House). This assignment provides candidates with an opportunity to use the concepts and tools learned from other assignments to resolve some key issues faced by a Canadian company that has to develop a plan for dealing with a downturn in its industry and ensure that its parent company’s requirements and the bank’s constraint are met. This assignment also provides candidates one final opportunity to practice their examinationwriting skills. Learning Outcome The candidates demonstrate the ability to apply the Steps for Approaching Business and Corporate Strategy to diagnose and resolve the business and functional strategic issues presented in a for-profit setting under simulated examination conditions. Due Date Please refer to the Schedule accessed from the left navigation menu. Required Reading There are no required readings for this case assignment. © 2013 The Society of Management Accountants of Canada. All rights reserved. ®/™ Registered Trade-Marks/Trade-Marks are owned by The Society of Management Accountants of Canada. No part of this document may be reproduced...
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...Gibson will satisfy that she had a reasonable expectation that jumping through a window would be successful in avoiding a dangerous crowd. Under Massachusetts’s law, the defendant’s must have a reasonable expectation that there would be a direct casual relationship between their actions and the alleged harm, otherwise the actions would fail to be the direct cause of abating the danger. Hood, 452 N.E.2d at 196. Thus the actions must abate the alleged danger directly. Commonwealth v. McCambridge, 690 N.E2d 470,472 (Mass. 1998). In Hood, the defendants were trespassing in order to distribute literature to try to halt the development of nuclear weapons. Id. at 196. The court found they could not have reasonably expected their actions to abate the alleged danger directly and that the trespass would automatically close down nuclear power plant, thereby stopping alleged radiation leaks. Id. In contrast in McCambridge, the court held that after accepting the defendant’s testimony...
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...a business problem is to analyze the current situation and identify the problems that need to be addressed. A major component of the situational analysis is to take a close look at the environments within which an organization finds itself. One of the methods commonly used in such an environmental analysis is “SWOT” (an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats), which considers the strengths and weaknesses in the internal environment as well as the opportunities and threats in the external environment. Candidates can refer to the required reading Situational Analysis Tools mentioned below for more information on how to go about doing a SWOT analysis. The next major step is to identify the issues and analyze various alternatives for addressing the major issues. In this case, a shortage of available cash is a major issue and needs to be addressed. Therefore, one of the main topics for this assignment is cash flow management, i.e. managing the movement of money into and out of a business. Many supervisors and/or managers who oversee functions such as accounts receivable, accounts payable, and finance are directly involved in cash flow management within their organizations. In some smaller companies, a single individual may manage...
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...conditions completely intolerable for the employee, through some form of hostility, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or humiliation (Sommerville, 2007). Said employee quit after our policy change on expanded production floor operation hours. The former employee maintains that we made working conditions intolerable because we would be forcing him or her to work on a religious holy day. The key in this particular case, of course, is that the former employee is alleging religious discrimination based on the requirement of working certain days of the week that match holy or reserved days for their faith. According to Title VII’s religious discrimination clause (eeoc.gov, 2011), we certainly have an obligation to our employees to provide reasonable accommodations, like flexible scheduling. If the employee could not work, for example, Friday evenings through Sunday in observance of the Jewish Sabbath, we certainly could have found several ways to accommodate the employee by transferring him or her to an appropriate position as one of the office staff. We could also have modified a production schedule to accommodate the employee. There are two potential accommodations that may have been able to assist the employee in continuing their career with us. With this in mind, however, we must also look to section 703.k.1.a, on disparate impact. In making accommodations, would we be seen as granting preferential treatment based on our former employee’s religion? That could also open the doors...
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...the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Constructive Discharge _________________________________________________________________________________ In light of the resent complaint filed by a former employee, I wanted to provide you with this memo. The complaint is based on Constructive Discharge, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII was established for employees in the United States to protect them from workplace discrimination based on their race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender and/or sexual harassment. Confidential Under the definition of Constructive Discharge Title VII’s religious discrimination clause (eeoc.gov, 2012), as an employer, the Company has the obligation and is required to make reasonable accommodations to the work environment for an employee, or perspective employee for their religious belief unless it would cause undue hardship to the Company. The accommodation requirements are intended to relieve the individual from having to make a decision between their work and religious beliefs and practices. Any individual who believes that their employment rights have been violated may file a claim for discrimination. In order to prove a discrimination or retaliation claim under Title VII, one of the elements the employee must show is that the employer took some adverse action against him or her. In this particular case, our former employee who resigned is alleging religious discrimination under Constructive Discharge Title...
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...Problem Formulation and Identification Every day people take decisions of varying importance. Studies have shown that most people have poorer decision-making skills than they think. Understanding what the decision-making process involves will help them make logical decisions. The first step needed in order to achieve this goal is gaining an understanding the decision-making process. Decision-making allows the identification of as many alternatives as possible for choosing the one that has the highest probability of success based on the values and preferences of the decision maker. Very few decisions are taken with absolute certainty because complete knowledge regarding all possible alternatives is unrealistic; therefore, the decision-making process helps people to reduce the uncertainty about alternatives and select the most logical and reasonable one (Harris, 2008). The most common decision-making styles are democratic, autocratic, collective-participative, and consensus. In the democratic style a decision maker gives up his or her control of a decision to a group. Autocratic style occurs when a decision maker maintains the ownership and control of a decision. Collective-participative style occurs when a decision maker encourages ideas and thoughts from others to make the best decision possible. Consensus style occurs when a decision maker gives up the ownership and control and allows the group to make the decision (Development Center Inc., 1997). Most Favorable Aspects ...
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...man was in well enough condition to walk the distance in fifteen seconds. Alternative assumption that may also be true: The old man wasn’t telling the truth because he wanted to be noticed. With his lame leg, the old man couldn’t have walked the specified distance fast enough to see the boy. Evidence or argument (if any) to support the alternative assumption: The old man juror, who could identify with the witness, affirmed a doubt that the testimony was overstated, for attentions sake. The jurors simulated the distance the man would have had to walk. Alternative inference: The witness didn’t give an honest testimony. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Inference: The boy is guilty. Evidence #3: Movie. The boy couldn’t remember what movie he saw when interrogated the night of the murder nor three months later. Assumption required to be able to use that evidence: That everyone remembers a movie that they have seen when asked about it the same night, and they can certainly remember three months later. Alternative assumption that may also be true: Under distress, the suspect couldn’t remember the name of the film. Even after months, it’s not unusual to forget to forget a movie title. Evidence or argument (if any) to support the alternative assumption: It’s reasonable to be under duress when your murdered father is in the next room. The “suit”...
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...Hindsight is wonderful, and it should be pointed out that Palmer responded in a reasonable manner. Yes, he should have contacted Sands about the problem, but students should be asked to discuss why he hesitated contacting Sands. Here the norms against “ratting on a colleague” and complaining instead of solving the problem should be explored. Some students will point out that he should have renegotiated his agreement with Crosby when the situation did not improve. Switching Olds’ schedule so that he worked for him first and then Crosby in the afternoon may have leveled the playing field. Another alternative would be to have Olds alternate days working on each project. These suggestions would all depend upon the nature of the work Olds was performing.Hindsight is wonderful, and it should be pointed out that Palmer responded in a reasonable manner. Yes, he should have contacted Sands about the problem, but students should be asked to discuss why he hesitated contacting Sands. Here the norms against “ratting on a colleague” and complaining instead of solving the problem should be explored. Some students will point out that he should have renegotiated his agreement with Crosby when the situation did not improve. Switching Olds’ schedule so that he worked for him first and then Crosby in the afternoon may have leveled the playing field. Another alternative would be to have Olds alternate days working on each project. These suggestions would all depend upon the nature of...
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...needs of auditing. 5-20 a) Lauren Yost & Co should use the defense of contributory negligence. The misstatement in inventory is a direct result of what management told the auditors to do. b) They should use the defense of non-negligent performance in a suit against First City National Bank because the firm followed auditing standards. They strongly advised against the proposed inventory counting method, but there were essentially forced to do what the company wanted because of no other alternatives. c) I think the firm is likely to succeed in their lawsuit with their client. As management directly contributed to the cause of the misstatement. It is the clients responsibility to implement stronger internal controls. As far as the First City National Bank lawsuit it is a little more up in the air. It sounds like Yost & CO followed GAAS procedures aside from the inventory counting, which they have a written document of the client saying no other alternative is plausible. It is hard to say which way this case would go, but I would lean towards Yost winning the lawsuit because they generally followed GAAS procedures. d) If the suit was brought up under rule 10b-5 then the cases would have no chance of winning for the plaintiffs because there was no intent to deceive by the firm. 6-20 a) (2) Different interests may exist between the company preparing the statements and the persons using the statement. b) (3) Professional Skepticism c) (1) Form...
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...Applying Ethical Frameworks in Practice Adetutu S. Toyin-oke Applying Ethical Frameworks in Practice Under what circumstances is one allowed to break patient-nurse confidentiality? As a nurse one may think of a few personal situations where they had to break that confidentiality. Ethical framework such as the nightingale pledge and ethical principles stated in nursing textbooks were meant to provide guidelines on how to most appropriately treat people in the healthcare field; however, when ethical framework is applied to nursing practice, a nurse may run into many implications. Ethical implications What are the implications of a breach of confidentiality? Well, the most obvious consequence is that the patient will not be able to trust her nurse or maybe even all nurses in general. In Pamela G. Nathanson’s article, Betraying Trust or Providing Good Care? When is it okay to break confidentiality?, She depicts a story of a nurse who is in an ethical dilemma. This nurse promised two teenage patients “who [were] reluctant to enter into care that no matter what they tell her, she will not divulge any information to the patient's parents or to anyone else (Nathanson, 2000).” However one of these two patients tested positive for HPV. A physician advices this nurse “that not only should she inform Andrea's parents of her diagnosis, but that she should also inform the girls' school since it has become a ‘public health issue’ (Nathanson, 2000).” According to Nathanson, “If confidentiality...
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...BBean Coffee Inc BBean Coffee Inc To: BBean’s Management From: Accounting Advisor Re: Accounting Policy Before we can assess and begin treatment of issues, it is essential that we determine a context for the recommendations that will be made. BBean Coffee Inc. is a public company, and on this basis, will have to adhere to financial statements within the constraints of GAAP. BBea Coffee Inc. initially sold larger franchises in urban locations, for which they recognized payment of $400,000 at the point of sale. They later increased their options by selling $300,000 franchises and offering a new method of payment. Franchise purchasers were now given the option to pay a deposit of $100,000 when signing the contract, and then pay annual installments of $50,000 over four years. BBean Coffee Inc. now wants to continue to recognize payment at the point of sale. This conflicts with the auditor because this method of recognizing payment will be overstating BBean Coffee Inc.’s net income. The auditor wants to alter the way your company recognizes to accurately portray the company’s economic performance. As an accounting advisor, I ask you to consider our recommendations and review the full analysis on the situation that we have provided. Users and Objectives Financial statements are utilized as a frontier for communication, and with GAAP’s set of rules and regulations, statements are made ideal for public distribution. The basis of any other decisions...
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...Liz Weldy Week 2 Essay The “Prudent Person Rule…means that the healthcare professional, usually a physician must provide information to the patient that a reasonable, prudent person would want before he or she makes a decision about or refusal of treatment”. What kind of information in general do reasonable patients want to know before making decision about treatment? What kinds of challenges occur in presenting the information to patients? What can a patient advocate (PA) do to ensure the rule is observed? Here are some examples: 1. The Diagnose: The doctor may have misdiagnosed the patient. In many cases a second opinion is an important consideration that the PA can suggest. In some cases it may not be possible to diagnose the patient’s illness, due to the limits of medical understanding. A PA can make sure to ask questions and ensure that all reasonable efforts have been made to diagnose the illness. The PA can also research the illness and provide the information to patient for their review. 2. The risks and possible consequences of treatment: One of the challenges of providing this information is that the doctor may have not covered all the possible risks (with the exclusion of unlikely outcomes) or failed to provide the success rates for of the physician and/or institution. A PA can ensure that all of the information is included in the discussion and that all the patient’s questions are answered by attending the appointment with the patient. 3. Expected...
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...to believe? Finding an author’s main point is the first step in deciding whether you will accept or reject it (p. 27). | What are the reasons? | Once you have identified the issue and the conclusion, you need to understand why an author has come to a certain conclusion. Reasons are the why. If the author provides good reasons, you might be persuaded to accept her conclusion. However, right now, we are simply concerned with identifying the reasons. Identifying reasons is the next step in deciding whether you should accept or reject the author’s conclusion (p. 36). | Which words or phrases are ambiguous? | Once you have identified the author’s argument, you need to identify key words or phrases within that reasoning that might have alternative meanings. More importantly, you need to determine whether the author explicitly uses one of those definitions. If she does not, and if one of those meanings alters your acceptance of the conclusion, you have indentified an important ambiguity. Identifying ambiguous words and phrases is the next important step in determining whether you will reject or accept the conclusion (p. 52). | What are the value and descriptive assumptions? | When you identify assumptions, you are identifying the link between a reason and the author’s conclusion as well as ideas that must be taken for granted for certain reasons to be believable. If the linkage assumptions are flawed, the reasons do not necessarily lead to the conclusion. Consequently, identifying...
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...office, from email and surfing the Internet to phone conversations. But when are you crossing the line? There are specific laws, rules, and regulations granting certain employee privacy rights. For example, there are laws that create a right to privacy for employee personnel records, medical information, and background screenings. But what about cases in which no specific law creates a right to privacy? Does one exist anyway? The answer is maybe. If no law or regulation exists, whether there is a right to privacy is determined by referring to the "reasonable expectation of privacy." If, under the circumstances, it was reasonable for the employee to expect certain conduct or communications would be considered private, then the courts might deem that a right of privacy existed. Suppose an employer searches an employee's office or cubicle, working files, or locker. Was it reasonable for the employee to believe that his or her office or cubicle is a private area that the employer cannot search without permission? What if the employer's Employee Handbook states: "The Company reserves the right to access and search all offices and work areas on company property, including but not limited to locked and unlocked desks, file cabinets, files and lockers, without prior notice, for business-related reasons as determined in its sole discretion. Employees have no expectation of privacy in this regard." Would that policy make a difference...
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...How do perceptual biases relate to judgment biases? Our eyes and related perceptual skills ordinarily are quite good at perceiving and helping us to accurately judge shape similarity. However, optical illusions can predictably and systematically fool our eyes. The judgment biases are similar to the perceptual ones, like there are times when our intuitive judgment falls prey to systematic traps and biases. What are the five steps in the judgment process? a. Clarify Issues & Objectives: To get at issues, ask “what is the problem to be solved?” To get at objectives ask “what is wanted or needed?” Ask “what” and “why” questions. b. Consider Alternatives: To identify alternatives, being creative is needed in seeking input from others and achieve our objectives. If the issue and objectives are properly clarified, the alternatives can be identified by asking, “How can we achieve our objectives?” c. Gather and Evaluate Information: the information that is gathered and considered should result in sufficient appropriate audit...
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