...1/25/13 The rise and fall of Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen was born in Plano, Illinois in 1885. He graduated the University of Illinois in 1908 with a degree in accounting. At the age of 23, he was the youngest Certified Public Accountant in the state of Illinois. From 1907 to 1911 he served as the Senior Consultant for Price Waterhouse in Chicago. In 1913, Andersen decided to establish his own accounting firm. At the age of 28, he founded the public accounting firm of Andersen, DeLany & Company in Chicago. Licensed as accountants and auditors in many states across the country, the company grew rapidly during the 1920s. The firm opened six offices nationwide, the most important of which were located in New York (1921), Kansas City (1923), and Los Angeles (1926). During World War II Andersen himself reached the pinnacle of his success. After World War II, Andersen began training his associate, Leonard Spacek, for the company's leadership position. Spacek joined the company in 1928 and was named a partner in 1940, becoming one of Andersen's closest and most trusted confidants. Upon Andersen's death in January 1947, Spacek took over the company, remaining committed to the regimented management style of the founder. During Spacek's tenure, the firm grew from a regional operation located in Chicago with satellite offices across the United States into an international organization with one-stop, total service offices located around the world. Spacek...
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...act any auditor must perform between pleasing a client and looking out for the public investor. Seeds for Demise Although nobody knew it at the time, the seeds for Arthur Andersen's eventual demise were sown in 1950, when the firm introduced the "Glickiac" to the world. Named after its inventor, an Andersen engineer named Joseph Glickauf, the clunky device created a sensation by demonstrating that computers weren't just for scientists: Companies could use them to automate their bookkeeping. This ushered in an entirely new business. Rather than just audit the books, Andersen would set up the computers clients needed to keep the books. It wasn't long before Andersen boasted by far the largest technology practice of any accounting firm, raking in huge profits. The flood of money introduced a new element of tension into the partnership. Under rules set by the auditors who ran the firm, all of the profits from all the practice areas had to go into one big pot to be divided among partners. But since the average consultant brought in more money than the average auditor, the consulting side complained the arrangement was unfair. The week after New Year's Day in 1989, at a world-wide meeting of the firm in Dallas, the consultants finally made their break. They won an agreement to separate into two units -- Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting -- under a Geneva-based parent company known as Andersen Worldwide SC. But most importantly, the accounting side...
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...2. Arthur Andersen Contribute to the Enron Disaster AA was incapable to either spot or ignored Enron’s manipulation which allowed fraud to take place. AA did not provide opinion to Enron’s audit committee. The firm CFO and the assistants were involved in situations that resulted in a significant conflict of interest and AA have no alternatives approach to manage those conflicts. Even though AA had undertook Enron’s audit function responsibility, AA failed to advice on Enron’s internal controls and policies. As a result, Enron internal control and policies were inadequate to protect the interest of the shareholders. AA failures to bring these matters forward had permitted Enron to continuously manipulate the numbers and caused the public and stakeholders to be misled. 3. Arthur Andersen Faulty Decisions The culture of AA was changed from integrity and in technical competence towards revenue focus. This was due to the change in AA’s CEO to Joseph Berardino. Berardino was aggressive in revenue generation that changes AA culture. Hence, AA was concern with potential loss of revenues from clients. The issue in this case was the use of Special Purpose Entities (SPEs) for financial report manipulation that was approved by AA. SPE is a legal entity created for firm to isolate financial risk. The structure of Enron’s SPEs approved by AA were used for off-balance sheet financing, even though it failed to meet the required outsider 3% equity risk (Viktoriaovoian 2011)...
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...Learning Team Reflection - The Demise of Arthur Anderson Team A: Alex Raye, Chai Gallahun, Frank Hagan, and Leonard Hollomon FIN 571 December 14, 2015 Dr. Robert Mayfield Learning Team Reflection - The Demise of Arthur Anderson Business ethics set a standard for businesses to conduct their affairs with internal and external stakeholders. Corporate ethics allows individuals to scrutinize and self-correct the ethical values and morals of a business. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the mistakes detailed in the Ethics case, “The Demise of Arthur Anderson” and identify the potential actions that leadership could have taken to prevent this organizational failure. The firm committed several errors that could have been prevented through adherence to established ethics and practices. A major accounting firm since 1918, it has become a sad ending for a once powerful corporation. During the 1980’s, changes in business required many organizations to branch out and diversify their business capabilities. Arthur Anderson was no exception to this having operated an accounting practice for some time, they branched out to grow their consulting practice. Many times, these services intertwined and created a conflict of interest that affected their decisions when auditing so not to upset the delicate balance while keeping their businesses growing. At times, the choices that were made where unethical and violated guidelines put in place to prevent accounting scandals. These practices...
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...Staying On Track: How to Stay Engaged as an Adult Learner in an Online Learning Environment Advancements in technology have brought tremendous changes and reforms in the education sector. It is of interest to scholars that anytime-anywhere is a strategy used to entice students to enroll in online courses. Unlike in the recent past where traditional classes were the only way to achieve academic excellence, it is now possible to attend virtual classes.It Provides flexibility in one's schedule. However, even with this advancement in education, it becomes a challenge to students enrolled in this kind of learning to cope and maintain the high degree of academic excellence. There are several reasons that explain this, but the fundamental one is the lack of proper follow-up. You will agree with me with this kind of program there is no one to see what you are doing and how you are doing it. This system lacks monitoring tools of evaluation that are important for students. It is for this reason that that the following guideline has been developed to help in improving performance in an online assessment. Reading the syllabus is a paramount point. The curriculum provides a guide as to the expectations of a particular course. The adult will understand what is required in that particular unit. They can prepare themselves in terms of resources necessary for that group. A Syllabus is a road map, a blueprint of the real academic journey. It is in the syllabus that assignments due dates...
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...How a professional team markets itself: Anderson Silva UFC Fighter The Ultimate Fighting Championship, known as UFC, was founded in Denver, Colorado, in 1993 by Rorion Gracie, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter, and Davie Arthur, an American publicist. Gracie wanted to create a championship to prove that the Jiu-Jitsu was the most complete martial arts. At that time, in UFC events, athletes used to fight several times in one night, until only one was the winner. The main idea was to show the strength of Jiu-Jitsu, so there were no weight categories and all martial arts were allowed; a sumo wrestler could face an expert in karate athletes. There were almost no rules and, as a result, it not recognized as a sport (Correia ¶ 01). In 2001, the brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, owners of a chain of casinos in Las Vegas, bought the event. The two brothers promoted many changes in the UFC: they stipulated 31 rules, and the athletes were divided into five categories according to weight. It was also determined that each fighter would participate in only one fight per night. After buying the event, the brothers invested considerably in promoting it and the result is that today, in each edition, the event reaches 351 million homes in 130 different countries . In the U.S., over the past three years, the UFC has grown by 30% its fan base, which is estimated to be 31 million in U.S. and 61 million around the world (Esteves ¶ 04). According to CNBC, the brand Ultimate Fight acquired...
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...2015/4/7 TED Talk Takeaways: 8 Ways to Hook Your Audience TED Talk Takeaways: 8 Ways to Hook Your Audience By Gavin McMahon on July 30, 2014 | 8 Comments “You will live 7.5 minutes longer than you would have otherwise, just because you watched this talk.” This was the claim that video game designer Jane McGonigal presented to the crowd during her June 2012 TED talk. As the camera panned over the members of the audience, their faces showed universal skepticism: Was this lady serious? There was something else interesting about that crowd. Despite their doubtful visages, everyone in the audience was drawn in by McGonigal’s words. No one was checking their email, talking to their neighbor or looking at the camera circling in front of them; all eyes were fixated on the (potentially crazy) speaker. Great hooks, like McGonigal’s provocative opening statement, get audiences on the edge of their seats and give them a sense of what’s coming. They allow you to win a crowd’s attention right away and give you a legitimate chance to have a lasting impact. Consider the alternative: Have you ever witnessed a presentation where a colleague starts by saying something like, “OK, so we’re going to run through a few major takeaways from last quarter and hopefully be out of here within the hour?” Snooze! All that has you thinking about is whether you should go to the bathroom now or in 20 minutes. Starting your presentation in an unorthodox way provides your audience with...
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...It was the beginning of March when the most heart breaking thing happened to Sarah. Her boyfriend of 3 years had broken up with her with no explanation. She was devastated; crying, she tried to call him but the other line’s response was “Sorry your call cannot be completed.” He had blocked her and disappeared from her life without saying a word. She didn’t know what to do. She was so confused and she felt so low. Going into work the next day, she was still weeping over what happened. The last thing she wanted to do was face her co-workers and customers. She spent most of her shift in the bathroom crying. She tried calling other co-workers to see if they could cover her shift, but it was on a Saturday, so she knew no one would be willing to take it. When she faced people, she tried her hardest to wipe the tears away and keep a fake smile. During her shift, there was a group of friends who came in. Working at the register, she took their order. When Sarah and her co-worker Lauren brought them their food. One guy apologized to Lauren and said, “I’m sorry, I could not stop staring at your friend,” while getting up and introducing himself to Sarah. Her face turned red like a tomato when he offered his hand(*). On the other side of her, Lauren started to giggle. While walking back to the restaurant’s lobby she whispered to Sarah, “Maybe this is your time to move on.” Sarah just kept on walking with a smile creeping up on the side of her face. She looked at the guy who introduced...
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...The Vagueness of Words: The Plight of the “Grotesque” Winesburg, Ohio, a short story cycle written by the American author Sherwood Anderson depicts a rather interesting portrait of an American Midwestern small town at the beginning of the twentieth century. Within this citizenry, Anderson draws attention to the distortion of each character in the book as a result of norms and traditions that led them into becoming “grotesques” as described in the prologue (The Book of the Grotesque). Among the exemplary stories written by Anderson, “Hands” and “Mother” are great at fulfilling the intention to reveal the inability of words to capture, express and explain the kinds of truth in life - underlying the main problem within human society. In “Hands”, Anderson begins by describing explicitly Wing Biddlebaum as “a fat little old man”, which clearly captured the essence of being a grotesque. Grotesque as defined by the Oxford Dictionaries (2013) means that the object is odd and unnatural in shape, appearance or character. His grotesqueness is then amplified by the illustration of a group of youths and maidens coming home from work and one of the girls bully him by sarcastically commenting on his hair even though he was bald (9). His unconscious gesture of nervously fiddling his bare white forehead as mentioned by Anderson just shows how absurd he was in the eyes of society. This action in the beginning of the story proves that Wing Biddlebaum is an outlier, someone who is “forever frightened...
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...A Diehard fan through and through The lights dim, as a familiar song begins to blast from the stadium speakers. As an engine revs to life, you see two red headlights in the darkness. The crowd roars and jumps to their feet. The song continues on until the lyrics "Bad to the Bone" begin. At the very same moment, you see a truck hauling down a dirt alley into the arena. The crowd is roaring on their feet chanting, “Grave Digger!” Monster Jam World Finals is a hidden gem; Very few people even know about this event, or that they have been held every year since 2000. This year, they changed the event to a two-day show instead of a one day like previous years. At first, I wasn’t sure if two days was going to be a good fit for this event. The price of the tickets went up increasingly or some it seemed. Many people would say that they should have kept the event at a one day. Although I believe that even though the price might have gone up. The two-day event is actually beneficial to you and also the finer quality of the show you receive. Excitement and anticipation overwhelmed me as I stood in line to enter the stadium. The first night was the racing potion of the championship. As you enter the immense red dome, you are immediately greeted with concession stands everywhere. All the cinder-block walls were a mustard yellow with massive signs separating the different sections of the seats in the arena. I walked into the arena down a long tunnel that had the same color and textured walls...
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...Kai Theato Explore the ways disturbed characters have been presented in the texts you have studied. In this essay I am going to be exploring the ways disturbed characters have been presented in the texts I have studied. I will be referring to a range of poems by Carol Ann Duffy and Macbeth by Shakespeare. Carol Ann Duffy chooses to use emotive language in Havisham by using the words “beloved sweetheart bastard”. This is an oxymoron to show the contrast in her feelings and shows that they are very mixed. The poet is showing how she is both still in love with her husband however still angry at him for leaving her at the altar. Havisham is angry at being an old unmarried woman and uses the word “Spinster” as a sentence on its own at the start of the stanza emphasising Havishams own isolation. The short sentence shows how the word is almost spat out to show the speakers disgust with what she has been forced to become. This also shows us that she is a disturbed character since she is unclear about her own feelings but she feels them very violently. This is similar in the novel ‘Great Expectations’ by Dickens which also presents the character of Miss Havisham as disturbed by describing her dress as ‘faded and yellow’. This use of colour tells us that just like her wedding dress, Miss Havisham has become old. Dickens uses his narrator to show how he sees Havisham in his eyes. He describes her as a ‘skeleton in the ashes of a rich dress’ which shows how long she has stayed in her...
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...Casey has always been a bit of an animal nut and if she joins PETA in the future, it would not be much of a surprise. However, she is often taking medications and using beauty products just like every other girl. She has recently been trying to change the meds and beauty products she uses or stops using them altogether because of her concerns with animal testing. The benefits of the medications were very obvious as well as with the beauty products to an extent but that didn’t matter to her. Casey said that “I can’t take something that has been cruelly tested on countless animals just so I can make myself feel a little better.” The results of not taking the prescribed medications were almost immediately apparent with Casey being all but bed-ridden yet still refusing to take the “tainted meds” as she called them. There are a lot of people who feel the same way that Casey does about animal testing. The core of the issue is pure ethics and what people believe to be right and wrong. Every year there are countless numbers of animals that suffer from being used in the clinical testing with some dieing during the testing process. The majority of animals in the test are not protected by the Animal Welfare Act since it doesn’t protect mice, rats, birds, and fish which make up about 95% of the total animals used in research. Even if the product passes the animal testing stage, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is safe for humans nor do the tests reliably predict the results in human...
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...contributing to an excellent organization and helping to change students’ lives. | Employment History | Student Mentor, Western Governors University | 2010 — Present | Indianapolis, IN Facilitate new student on-boarding and orientation processes.Assist students in educational planning from initial enrollment through graduation.Evaluate learning styles, skills, goals, etc in order to help students utilize the appropriate learning resources.Meet with students on a weekly basis for coaching, accountability and encouragement.Serve as the student’s advocate in resolving matters of academic difficulty, misunderstanding or confusion.Assist students with career planning. | MBA Recruiter & Public Relations Director, Anderson University | 2005 — Present | Anderson, INOversee public relations for the program including chamber involvement, communication, media promotion, newsletters, online networking and promotion of the program through professional organizations.Developed, implemented and facilitate an effective social media campaign for student recruitment and current student/alumni relations.Work with the university Alumni Association to create quality events and opportunities to connect alumni with the university for the purpose of university promotion.Schedule and facilitate presentations to groups of potential and incoming students.Develop relationships with potential corporate partners for the purpose of promoting the MBA program.Determine which students are a suitable fit...
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...Marian Anderson was born on February 27, 1897 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of John Berkley Anderson and the former Annie Delilah Rucker. As Marian grew up she became involved in influencing the civil rights movement. Her impact is one that should never be forgotten as it gave another piece in the civil rights puzzle. During World War I and the Korean war, Marian Anderson was employed to entertain troops in the army hospital/bases. In 1943, Anderson was invited to perform in Constitution Hall. Though Anderson had a lovely voice and incredible talent, she was banned from using facilities like D.C. high school auditoriums. Sadly this treatment was not out of the norm for Marian Anderson. After high school, Anderson applied to the all-white Philadelphia Music Academy....
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...Current #1 ranked middle weight “GGG” Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin (34-0) has steamrolled the Middleweight division winning his last 21 fights by knockout. In the last 2 years he has gained a huge Fan Base at a record pace. Currently he is the most feared man in Boxing aside from Light Heavyweight Sergey Kovalev. Unlike Mayweather who was the man in the welterweight division to mention in post-fight interviews, GGG’s is a name most Middleweights stray away from. In his last fight against David Lemiux was built up to be his toughest fight yet. Every one watched the fight and saw that David Lemuix looked more like David “pepe Le Pew”. GGG tamed Lemiux with a stiff jab the whole night beating him to a bloody pulp. Who else is there left for GGG face in the Division, well Media and Fans alike are demanding the Winner of Cotto VS Canelo fight GGG next in a unification bout, which is GGG’s goal before moving up to Super Middle weight. In Cotto’s post-fight interview after stopping Daniel Geale he seemed reluctant to say yes to a mega fight with Borat’s big brother. Canelo recently said he will face GGG at a catch weight if he is victorious come November 27th. Fans and Media are highly critical of Cotto and Canelo for being hesitant agreeing to a fight with GGG. What does GGG gain from a fight with either guy? I think this is more of a riskier fight for GGG due to the fact that if he loses to either guy it won’t be good for his record. Cotto is naturally a Welterweight...
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