Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues - Gay Teenagers and the Internet Essay

Gay Teenagers Need the Internet      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Internet serves as a platform for gay teens to express their feelings and concerns about being gay. Beyond the pornography on the Net there are also valuable and useful resources that gay teens can take advantage of. But why are these teens t using to the Internet for support? Most of the teenagers questionned for this discussion indicated that parents are not supportive of a homosexual way of life.    Most people would agree that adolescent years are some of the toughest in a persons' life. Teens are getting to know themselves sexually and learning about the world around them. While participating in a gay teen chat room, it was obvious that many g ays teens felt isolated and confused about their sexuality and turned to the Internet for advice. Unfortunately, most of the information on the Net pertaining to the gay community consists of pornographic pictures and chat rooms with dialogue full of gra phic sexual detail. Just type the word "gay" in any search on the Net it hundreds of links to x-rated sites will appear. This, of course, is not suitable for a young gay teenager in need of support. Fortunately, amongst all the porn there are wonderful sites that provide support, answer questions, and provide links to other helpful resources.    Many organizations and support groups use the Internet as their main source for posting information about gay and lesbian issues. Organizations like PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesb ians and Gays) provide education and support for gay teens, as well as gay adults. Branches of PFLAG can be found all over the United States. Each of these branches can be accessed through the PFLAG Web site. The site is full helpful links ... ...y to turn to for support.    Works Cited Bell, A.P. and Weinberg, M.S. "Homosexualities: A Study of Human Diversity". New York: Simon & Schuster, 1978. Conroy, Theresa. "Gay Teen Fights to Educate Tormenters." Philadelphia Daily News. 2 Jan. 1996. http://www.critpath.org/rhea/bmurray.htm (23 Apr. 1998). Gibson, P. "Gay Male and Lesbian Youth Suicide, Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide", U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1989. Parents, Families, and Freinds of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Home page. http://www.pflag.org/ (22 Apr. 1998). Remafedi G. "Male Homosexuality: The Adolescent's Perspective." Pediatrics, 79: 326-330, 1987. We Are Family (WAF). Home Page. http://www.waf.org/ (22 Apr. 1998). Youth Assistance Organization (YAO). Home page. http://www.youth.org/ (27 Nov. 1996).         

Online Gaming and Academic Performance Essay

Students love to play computer games, and the West Virginia Department of Education is tapping into that love through a website called Learn21. The site offers all kinds of games that help students in every grade level brush up on their studies. Fifth grade students in Dottie Pownall’s classroom at Orchard View Elementary in Martinsburg have played Probability Pond, a math game offered on the Learn21 website that features a big green frog. The frog can eat fireflies in colors of blue, yellow, purple, and red. The students have to determine what the probability is that the frog will eat a particular color. The students take turns guessing the answer and entering it on a large smart board in front of the room. Special education teacher Sharon Collins led some lessons this year, incorporating as much technology as possible. â€Å"Almost every day, we find something online through Learn21 or other resources and incorporate it into our classroom,† Collins says. â€Å"With having an inclusion classroom, we have students who have vision problems. We have students who have speech problems, learning problems. We have an autistic student in our class, and then we also have regular ed. students, and it really appeals to their different types of learning styles.† The state education department started Learn21 two years ago. The website offers online games that go along with the curriculum. Teachers can use the games in class, and students can access the website from home if they want to practice some more. Donna Landin, the department’s e-learning coordinator, says Learn21 is meant to help students in a variety of ways. â€Å"They could find content on the website, go into that content, complete a game or an interactivity that went right along with what they were learning in their classroom, so it was either supplemental, or it helped them get at areas where they were having some problems, or it could accelerate their learning,† Landin says. Learn21 also offers the opportunity to review material. â€Å"They can go back and pick up concepts that they had gone over formerly, maybe in previous grades or earlier in the year,† Landin says. Vol. 05, Issue 03, Page 11 (www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2012/06/13/03bits_games.h05.html) Can first-person shooter skills really be taught? A development studio in Scotland thinks they can – and it has the browser-based instructional game to prove it FPS Trainer †¦ you too can shoot people with ease Some gamers are just naturally good at killing people. They have the fast responses, the pinpoint hand-eye coordination, the Rain man-like ability to memorize maps and power-up locations. Meanwhile, the rest of us bumble around in the darkness hoping to achieve a kills-to-deaths ratio that doesn’t utterly shame our entire ancestral line. Now Play2Improve, a fresh-faced development studio based in Scotland’s games industry capital Dundee, thinks it can help players in the latter camp. Launched recently as a free-to-play browser game, FPS Trainer is essentially a coaching aid for would-be virtual assassins. With simplified visuals that separate maps into different strategic zones, the idea is to help players develop the tactical base necessary to start dishing out effective slaughter. â€Å"FPS Trainer provides you with the necessary knowledge for playing online,† says designer Paul â€Å"acts!† McGarrity, himself a professional gamer who has triumphed in several major LAN and online events over the past decade. â€Å"It cuts out months of laborious practice time in FPS games by teaching the core skills and methods which experienced and professional players use when competing at the highest levels. â€Å"We do this by introducing the strategies for managing resources, controlling your opponents, positioning yourself, using the terrain or level features and setting up shots to maximize damage – all in a highly visual and intuitive manner. There are many levels of strategy in competitive FPS titles that can take years to even become aware of; FPS Trainer will introduce these at an early stage to take you up the ladder more easily.† With its stylized visuals and emphasis on quickly picking up weapons and health packs, the game most closely resembles twitchy arena shooters such as Quake and Unreal Tournament, but the studio, Play2Improve, reckons the strategies it teaches will help with all kinds of FPS title. â€Å"We don’t really see a distinction between an arena-based FPS and more ranged, free-roaming combat – with the exception of vehicles to traverse larger maps,† says founder Matt Sweeney. â€Å"Our premise is that first-person shooters are fundamentally strategic in nature, rather than purely twitch-based; therefore, we are focusing on the mental side of the game; including timing, positioning and appropriate weapon selection. This is what differentiates a good player from a bad one – not just blindly rushing in and shooting, but making sure you are fully prepared and taking a far more measured approach.† Set up in 2009 and based within the University of Alberta, Play2Improve has an interesting background. Although several of its staff has traditional games industry experience, Sweeney comes from the serious games sector, where simulations are developed to train workers in various professions. With his previous company, TPLD set up when he was a student at Alberta, he created games for the Scottish schools system and for corporations looking for assessed cooperation exercises – it’s probably a natural progression from Apprentice-style team challenges to the dog-frog-dog world of the first-person shooter. One of the key elements of FPS Trainer is the monitoring of player behaviors and the provision of post-game feedback – and apparently this extends to more than just hit percentages. â€Å"Basic accuracy stats can be misleading,† says McGarrity. â€Å"We will be providing information not just on whether you scored a hit or not, but on whether you maximized the damage with each shot. Along with this there will be information about which areas of a level you are most active in, which areas you have neglected and also indicators to show where you should ideally be positioned in key situations, along with your actual location at the time. The stats will also cover things such as item pickups, including the amount and frequency. They will show how long items have been left unclaimed, which will tie in with the positioning tips.† What’s really interesting is the way the game sounds like one of the fitness titles currently dominating the kindest software line-up. As Sweeney says: â€Å"There are detailed stats for debriefing, with intuitive graphs and visualizations to identify strengths and weaknesses; you can track your performance over time and compare stats with your friends and peers, and everything can be easily shared with friends via Face book.† It’s the same approach as Your Shape or EA Sports Active 2, but it’s about shooting at people; it represents the appropriation of mainstream coaching techniques for a hardcore gaming genre. I like that. At the moment, the game can only be played on PC and Mac (it runs on Unity so you’ll need the correct plug-in), and the next step will be the addition of premium paid-for features. But Play2Improve is also planning to create Xbox Live and PSN versions once they’ve achieved a benchmark of 100,000 users online. If it does make it too console, I’ll be near the front of the queue – though I’ll probably be shot in the back of the head by a sniper I failed to spot on my way in. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2010/dec/23/first-person-shooter-skills-training.) China’s Shanda Games takes majority ownership of eFusion MMOG By James Bright man The online games publisher is looking to boost its overseas strategy Eschborn, Germany-based eFusion MMOG GmbH announced today that Chinese online games publisher Shanda Games has purchased a majority stake in the company (financial terms were not disclosed). At the same time, eFusion just announced that its entered into an agreement with Eyed entity Games, a Korean online game development studio for the exclusive license to operate its action MMORPG Dragon Nest in Europe. Shanda views the move as an important step in shoring up its overseas business. The company said it â€Å"has a strong intention to enhance its presence in the European market, where its influence remains relatively modest compared to other regions of the world.† With the Shanda investment, eFusion noted that it will now â€Å"have all of the capital it needs in order to level up its position in the MMO games market.† The next step for the publisher will be to launch Dragon Nest across Europe. Michael Lim, founder and CEO of eFusion MMOG GmbH, commented, â€Å"We are really delighted to become part of Shanda Games and are also excited about the tremendous opportunity to offer Dragon Nest, a skill based high-quality MMORPG, to European gamers. Launching Dragon Nest in Europe will be a huge milestone for us, but most of all, we’re looking forward to Dragon Nest attracting lots of fans among European gamers. The online game market in Europe is growing very fast but the competition is becoming tougher. We are ready to face the challenge and to build on eFusion MMOG’s success in this market.† (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-07-25-chinas-shanda-games-takes-m ajority-ownership-of-efusion-mmog-gmbh.) Definition of terms 1. MMOG- refers to role-playing games where thousands of gamers play online in a virtual and persistent environment on the Internet. (http://geekdictionary.computing.net/define/mmog.) 2. First Person Shooter Game- A first person shooter, commonly called FPS in the gaming arena, is a game in which the player sees the action on the screen as if he or she were looking through the eyes of the main character he or she is playing. (http://vgstrategies.about.com/od/basicgamingtipstricks/g/fps.htm.) 3. Simulation game- By definition a simulation is an imitation. So computer simulation games are games that imitate a real-life situation. Another way to think about it is that sim games attempt to recreate a past event. (http://compsimgames.about.com/cs/gamingtips/g/simulation.htm.) 4. Educational game- An educational game is a game designed to teach humans about a specific subject and to teach them a skill. As educators, governments, and parents realize the psychological need and benefits of gaming have on learning, this educational tool has become mainstream. (http://teachinglearningresources.pbworks.com/w/page/35130965/Educational%20Games.) 5. DOTA- is an action real-time strategy mod for the video game War craft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion, War craft III: The Frozen Throne, based on the â€Å"Aeon of Strife† map for Star Craft. The objective of the scenario is for each team to destroy the opponents’ Ancients, heavily guarded structures at opposing corners of the map. (http://dictionary.babylon.com/dota/.) 6. Diablo- is a word in Spanish meaning â€Å"devil†. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo.) 7. Dragon nest- A free-to-play Korean MMORPG playable in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, North America, SEA, Australia, and New Zealand. In North America, Nexon runs and operates the game on their servers. (http://www.soslang.com/term/dragon-nest.) 8. Ran online- is a free to play, 3D MMORPG developed by Min Communications, Inc. located in Daegu, Republic of Korea. The game is set in the modern world built around 3 schools. Players will belong one of these three distinctive schools and enjoy the game. Plus, one of the six special clubs in each school can be selected as the class of a character.

Religion in the Sun Also Rises Essay - 926 Words

Participation in the war can alter ones views of the world. For Hemingway and the characters of The Sun Also Rises it meant the world had lost its innocence, and that traditional Christian morality no longer had any relevance. The expatriates lack religion as a whole and although they may know the concept they simply have no hope or faith. In The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, the difficulties of Brett, Jake and Bill can be directly attributed to the lack of religious faith that stems from their involvement in the war. Brett faced a tragic loss during her involvement in the war and as a result, she experienced great difficulty being religious. - Since the death of her love, Brett constantly threw herself at different men to try†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"There is no reason why because it is dark you should look at things differently from when it is light...for six months I never slept with the electric light off†. Jake’s lack of faith - Jake appreciates religion, however he cannot devote himself to god because of his war wound, since it is the cause of all his miseries throughout the novel. â€Å"I was a little ashamed, and regretted that I was such a rotten Catholic, but realized there was nothing I could do about it, at least for a while, and maybe never, but that anyway it was a grand religion, and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next time....† This outlines Jakes unwillingness to accept his disconnection from God. Although he says he may be religious next time, it is evident he cannot devout himself to God because of his war wound which is the only thing that separates him from being with Brett. Despite the fact that Jake enjoys seeing Cohn being hurt, he also feels guilty for it. These contradicting feelings Jakes having proved his confusion between good and bad. That was morality; things that made you disgusted afterward. No, that must be immorality. Bill’s involvement in the war left him hard, cynical and pessimistic. Bill believes in nothing at all, and he deals with life by mocking it. - Bill cannot grasp the concept of religion or faith. ThoseShow MoreRelatedThe Sun Also Rises : The Loss Of God And Religion Essay1671 Words   |  7 PagesThe Sun Also Rises: The Loss of God and Religion It has been called one of Hemingway’s greatest literary works as it is the â€Å"quintessential novel of the Lost Generation.† Its strong language and subject matter portray a powerful image of the state of disenchantment felt in the 1920’s after the war. The interactions between the characters in this novel display a society living without convictions, affirming Gertrude Stein’s quotation at the beginning of the novel, â€Å"You are all a lost generation.†Read MoreJake Barnes As A Hemingway Code Hero1229 Words   |  5 Pagesin The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway developed the Hemingway code hero after World War I as a representation of those who suffered after the brutality of war. Featured in many of Hemingway’s novels, the Hemingway Code Hero adheres to an unwritten, tacit set of self-established values and guidelines throughout all venues of life. He is a man characterized with a severe amount of drinking, enjoys an unusual sport, and an extravagant. 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It was the ultimate goal. People s lives were rotating around religion, and everything that was tangent to it. The peculiarity of religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians developed because of the geographical location of the state. Around 3000Read MoreA Basic Overview of Paganism Essay examples1716 Words   |  7 PagesReligion is about creation, and for that reason religion should be about the earth. - Laurie Cabot. One might see hundreds of faces from different races, gender, and pop cultures. But behind each face is a brain, with spirit and personal beliefs, like religion. When many Americans believe that everyone is Christian or Catholic, some people practice an ancient religion. This religion, commonly known as the umbrella-term â€Å"Paganism† is back on the move with a contemporary feel. Paganism is an earth-basedRead More Ernest Hemingway: Allegorical Figures In The Sun Also Rises1227 Words   |  5 Pages Ernest Hemingway: Allegorical Figures in The Sun Also Rises Thesis: Hemingway deliberately shaped the protagonists in The Sun Also Rises as allegorical figures. OUTLINE I. The Sun Also Rises A. Hemingways novel. B. Hemingways protagonists are deliberately shaped as allegorical figures. C. Novel symbolizing the impotence after W.W.I. II. Jake Barnes. A. Wound. 1. Damaged genitalia. 2. Cant make love. 3. Feels desire. B. Wound is symbol of life in years after W.W.I. C. Wound from accident. 1Read MoreThe Egyptian Religion And Religion911 Words   |  4 PagesThe ancient Egyptian religion is centered on deities and overtime, their religious belief which influenced their whole existence changed based on the rise and fall of important gods in control of the forces and elements of nature. The Egyptian religion was shaped by the polytheistic view of the universe. A belief in polytheism determined the belief in gods, death and magic. This essay focuses on the religious practices while also drawing a comparison with the Christian religion which has monotheisticRead MoreAncient Egyptian Culture and Its Influence on Poetry Essay1012 Words   |  5 Pages practiced religion, and even had festivals with food, beer, music and dancing. All that is known about ancient Egypt is a result of the hieroglyphic carvings of the Great Pyramid walls and on tombs of dead. Originally from the Book of The Dead, â€Å"The Chapter Of Changing Into Ptah† was and remains a significant poe m in the culture and traditions of Ancient Egypt. Religion in Ancient Egyptian society was often used to explain cosmic phenomena and unexplainable events. Their religion used metaphorsRead MoreHemingway Code Hero Essay1172 Words   |  5 Pagesauthor of The Sun Also Rises, brands his main character Jake Barnes, a Hemingway code hero. 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David and Goliath World Trade Organization Case Study Essay

David and Goliath World Trade Organization Case Study Assignment 4-3 Prepared for Prof. Stephen Millett MBA 711, H4FF Fall 2010 Prepared by Gary Cooper December 2, 2010 David and Goliath World Trade Organization Case Study Jay Cohen and two friends established an online gaming site on the islands of Antigua and Barbuda; they named the organization World Sports Exchange (WSE). Mr. Cohen was prosecuted by the U.S. government; his conviction resulted in a battle between the U.S. and the two small Caribbean islands of Barbuda and Antigua. The epic battle of David and Goliath was mediated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and raised a lot of interesting questions about international trade and internet gaming (Steiner,†¦show more content†¦In regards to online gaming, horse racing is a legal sporting event where betting is allowed to take place online and across state lines. That fact alone makes the U.S. government’s argument of morality null and void. There is no difference between gambling on a horse race and betting on a sporting event. Legislation that attempts to control individual choice is an infringement on civil liberties and has not proven successful in the past, particularly w ith prohibition on gambling and alcohol. Mr. Cohen lost a significant amount of his life because he was convicted on a ridiculous charge. Where is the morality in that? Gambling continues to gain in popularity and many states are embracing the industry in order to boost tourism, increase revenue, and create jobs. This trend will probably continue as people begin to realize that the government should not decide whether or not a person can gamble. This is a prime example of too much government; the country has more pressing issues to deal with and should focus on problems that truly affect the American people. Technological Environment Technology is a huge factor in this case because all WSE’s transactions where conducted online, telephonic, or via wire transfer. The online forum is specifically the issue that the U.S. government had with WSE’s profits generated from U.S. consumers. The country’s position was that Mr. Cohen was in violation of the WireShow MoreRelatedOrg Behaviou3091 Words   |  13 PagesTable of Contents 1.0 Introduction 2 2.0 Initial Situation – Case Analysis 2 2.1 The History of Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) 2 2.2 Peter R. Dolan 3 2.3 What is Plavix? 3 2.4 Plavix Generic Drug Agreements 4 2.5 Dolan’s Fate 5 3.0 Questions and Answers 6 3.1 Q1) What principles of distributive Negotiation did Sherman use to gain his advantage? 6 3.2 Q2 ) Do you think Sherman behaved ethically? 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This storyRead MoreKomatsu Case Study Analysis3499 Words   |  14 PagesKomatsu Case Study Contents Executive Summary 2 Evolution and Strategic Drivers of Komatsu (EME) 3 Organizational Culture 4 Five-Force Analysis: The EME Industry: 5 SWOT Analysis 8 Resource Based Competitive Advantage 8 Financials Future Course 9 Company on The Right Path 11 References 12 Executive Summary Komatsu, the Japan based earth moving equipment taking on Caterpillar manufacturer has been studied by management students around the globe for years now. This story of David vs GoliathRead MoreThe Starbucks Brandscape and Consumers10413 Words   |  42 PagesThe Starbucks Brandscape and Consumers (Anticorporate) Experiences of Glocalization CRAIG J. THOMPSON ZEYNEP ARSEL* Prior studies strongly suggest that the intersection of global brands and iocal cultures produces cultural heterogeneity. 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How Jah Should Expand Between Now And 2017 - 985 Words

JAH should expand between now and 2017. With the current state of the U.S. economy and the housing market’s predictions, JAH can make an abnormal profit. Currently, the unemployment rate, inflation rate, and GDP growth rate are 5.8%, 1.88%, and 3.9%, respectively (Fred). The unemployment rate is higher than the full employment rate and the inflation rate is lower than the targeted 2% inflation. However, the positive GDP growth rate indicates that the economy is recovering. The current recovery is different from any other recoveries. The current recovery is a â€Å"lackluster recovery.† According to Joel Naroff, there are two reasons. The first reason is â€Å"the collapse of the housing and finance sectors† and the second reason is â€Å"domestic hiring did not occur as it had previously† (Naroff). Even though the economy recovered, â€Å"the unemployment rate was always going to fall slower,† because of the globalization of the labor supply (Naroff ). During the early-1980s recovery, payrolls rose by 1.1 million and the manufacturing added 137,000 workers, in September 1983 alone (Naroff). However, this would never happen in current recovery because jobs go to both domestic and global workers (Naroff). Therefore, Fed continued expansionary monetary policy. With the low interest rate, more projects will initiate, thus, investments will increase. Simultaneously, lower interest rate is discouraging the foreign investments for U.S. bonds, encouraging the U.S. investment for foreign bonds,

The Enron and Worldcom Scandals Free Essays

E. Boos – Week 2 – Assignment February 17, 2013 The Enron and WoldCom Scandals ENRON 1. The segment of Enron’s operations that got them into difficulties had several parts. We will write a custom essay sample on The Enron and Worldcom Scandals or any similar topic only for you Order Now They published misleading financial reports. They could not meet their bridge financing commitment with Barclay Bank because outside investors were not found. Because of this, they restated activities of JEDI and Chewco SPEs so they could be retroactively consolidated into Enron’s accounts. The SPEs helped to hide the inaccurate accounting records. Enron’s legal department wrote contracts that helped provide a cover for misuse of funds regarding the SPEs. Future revenue was reported as current revenue. Stocks were paid with promissory notes instead of cash. They also engaged in off-the-books activities and excessive executive compensation. Enron’s board of directors allowed the executives, accountants and legal department to use Special Purpose Entities (SPEs), a type of partnership, in an attempt to camouflage their debt and create a facade of financial stability (Brooks, 2007). 3. Enron’s directors understood how profits were made. They also knew management’s activities were dishonest. Andrew Fastow was active in forming the SPE partnerships and his affiliation with LJM2 was a conflict of interest. When Enron began experiencing financial problems in October 2001, the board of directors began holding special meetings. They were paid with cash, restricted stock, phantom stock units and stock options. The Senate Subcommittee Report, dated July 8, 2002, found that the Enron board of directors was aware that employees participated in management of the SPEs which was a conflict of interest. The directors ignored the inaccurate accounting, extensive unrecorded activities and excessive executive compensation. The Senate report discovered that the board of directors knew of financial activities between Enron and some of the board’s members. The board permitted consulting services, internal audits, and external audits to be performed by the same company, namely, Arthur Andersen (Brooks, 2007). 5. Ken Lay was chairperson of the board. He reassumed the position of CEO after Skilling resigned. As CEO he oversaw all of Enron’s activities. Lay and Whaley directed Causey to sell the Raptor SPEs. The sale price of was privately negotiated between Fastor, on behalf of Enron, and Kopper on behalf of LJM2. Lay did not interfere when Arthur Andersen directed Enron to record the buyout excess money as income. He knowingly allowed fraudulent activities and false information to be included in the financial reports. This was unethical. The Powers Report identifies seven questionable accounting issues concerning the sale of the Raptors (Brooks, 2007). 6. The board of directors did not insist that full disclosure of Enron’s earning be made available to the public and the shareholders. They allowed inaccurate reports to be published. Since they did not challenge management involvement in fraudulent activities, this meant the shareholders interests were not protected (Brooks, 2007). 9. Conflict of interest concerning SPE activities occurred because Enron employees were active in managing certain SPEs. Losses were not reported in end of year reports to offset other nonprofitable dealings. Arthur Andersen did not report all of the earnings and helped Enron cover up losses. When Andrew Fastow, wanted to manage the SPE, Chewco, he was advised by Jeffrey Skilling who was on the board of directors, that he should not manage Chewco because it would be a conflict of interest. Instead, Fastow appointed Michael Kopper who worked for him at Enron, to manage Chewco (Brooks, 2007). WORLDCOM 1. To inflate their profit in the current period, WorldCom created overstatements of cash flow and income by inaccurately reporting line costs. Line costs were a major expense to WorldCom. They were payments WorldCom made to third party telecommunicator network providers for the right to access their networks. These costs should have been shown as an expense rather than appearing on the income statement (Brooks, 2007). 2. WorldCom’s board of directors could have prevented the manipulation of revenue that management used if they had not been intimidated by Bernie Ebbers. They allowed themselves to be intimidated by Bernie Ebbers when he did not want their questions answered or give them more definitive explanations. Eventually, they demanded Bernie Ebber’s resignation and he resigned. The board of directors scheduled periodic meetings with WorldCom. The directors should have been more involved and familiar with WorldCom’s activities and efforts to manipulate expenses and decreased income (Brooks, 2007). 4. Bernie Ebbers was the CEO of WorldCom, the CFO was Scott Sullivan and David Myers was the Controller. Prior to working for WorldCom they had worked for Arthur Andersen. Arthur Andersen was the auditor for WorldCom. That is why the accountants did not say or do anything to prevent Ebbers’ manipulation of WorldCom’s financial reports (Brooks, 2007). . Ebbers received $408. 2 million dollars as a loan to buy WorldCom stock or for margin calls as the stock price fell. Instead of using the money for the purpose he received it, he used it to buy a cattle ranch in Canada, build a new home, pay for personal expenses of a family member, and provide loans to family and friends (Brooks, 2007). Reference: Brooks, L. J. (2007). Business professional eth ics for directors, executives, accountants (4th ed. ). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database. How to cite The Enron and Worldcom Scandals, Papers

Wartsila Supply Chain Management Essay Example For Students

Wartsila Supply Chain Management Essay A global leader and a provider of lifestyle power solutions in the energy and marine market. They began their operations in the year 1834 With the manufacturing Of large combustion engines. As the company started progressing they diversified their portfolio by including power plants that range up to 500 Maws, oil and gas industry solutions and support services to better serve their customers. The company has spread their operations across 70 countries and has employed more than 18900 workers with annual revenue of ? 4. 72 billion. Wrists main aim is to improve the environmental and economic performance of its power plant by focusing on the latest technological innovation and incorporating them to attain efficiency in their operations. It wants to provide its customers with products that are highly efficient and are reliable tort long-term usage, To manufacture products those are low on emission and suitable for grid stability and effective services. Its environmental solutions cover scrubber, selective catalytic reduction, oxidation catalyst, water treatment system and condition monitoring which proves that the company is echo-friendly. They have now started to focus a lot on the services industry by building a service network Of over 5000 professionals to improve the performance Of their and based power plants and ship installations. It provides services, spare parts, maintenance, upgrade and fuel conversion solutions for medium and low speed gas and diesel engines. Inventory Management It is common knowledge in all organizations around the world that if you want to form a successful supply chain management networks then the companies should mainly focus on inventory and inventory control. Wrists was facing a similar problem with regards to the inventory management so they were now focusing on reducing the logistic cost along with examining the supply chain cuisines of their archival in the market. They emphasized a lot on the customer service, as they wanted to be differentiated from their competitors so they withheld inventory for two main reasons i. E. To reduce cost and improve customer service. Now the company had to balance the problem of having too much inventory that could lead to high cost v/s too little inventory which could lead to losing a current customer or sale. The shared perception and experience offertories upper management formulated a belief that the company was able to save a lot when they ever able o manage their inventory efficiently. They had an effective transport system to support their goals of managing inventory and satisfying their end customers. The deregulation also lead to further reducing the inventory cost and transportation cost. The company also came up with a strategy were they tried to understand the nature Of the product and supply chain capabilities to bring down their inventory cost. In addition they were also concerned with production scheduling and used flow management, which increases their responsiveness to changes and helps in reducing the inventory on hand. Flow Management helps n getting the inbound inventory associated with the changes in demand, supply and inventory policies. It manages the ever-changing inventory policies and aligns it with allocation and warehouse execution process. The advantages of using flow management within your supply chain are: k Demand Forecasting: Optimizes the demand prediction of a product and helps in better managing the inventory across all the channels. It eliminates the product proliferation which makes it easier for Wrists to predict the demand for their products. * Replenishment: There is collaborative planning and strategy ruination in the company which certifies that you have the right amount of inventory at all levels thus depleting any cost with regards to additional inventory. It ensures there is faster flow of inventory during the product lifestyle. Supply Chain Visibility: A single and real time view of the entire global supply chain improves inventory control, optimizes the fulfillment channels and reduces variability in the time of the product lifestyle hence encourages lower safety stocks. Warehouse Cost: As inventory is efficiently managed the cost Of storing it reduces which increases the profitability Of the company . In he year 2008 Wrists came up with their most expensive project till date that was to centralist their distribution and storage centre to improve their flow management process. This reduced their cost and gave them an edge over other competitors Who were not focusing on the warehouse management. Demand Forecasting Demand forecasting is the activity of estimating the quantity of a product or service that consumers will purchase. Demand forecasting involves techniques including hot informal methods, such as educated guesses, and quantitative methods, such as the use of historical sales data or current data from test arrests. Demand forecasting may be used in making pricing decisions, in assessing future capacity requirements, or in making decisions on whether to enter a new market. Few points on Writers demand forecasting: for Wrists when it comes to demand, forecasts are made based on the past trends and accordingly growth projections are made to meet the expected demand. An example of efficient forecasting by Wrists: India had been one of the global economic best performers: in 2006, GAP growth was 9. 6%, in 2007 it was 9. 2% in 2008 it was 6. 6%, in 2009 it was 9. 2%, in 2010 it was 10% and in 2011 12%. The forecast for 2012 was more than 7%. To maintain such a rate of increase, India had to invest heavily in infrastructure especially power generation. Electricity is certainly one measure of todays quality of life. Modern society simply cant function Without it, and a solid foundation is essential. Growth in power generation was a record 2. 68% in India last year. But thats nowhere near sufficient to satisfy the voracious appetite for power. The majority of the electrical power generated in India (153 GO on 31 July 2012) is produced using coal (53%), followed by hydrophone (24%), gas (1 1 and renewable (10%). And while India is the worlds fifth largest electricity producer, the energy shortfall recorded in 2008 was 85 billion kHz and it keeps increasing every year. The value associated with so many lost opportunities is enormous. To eradicate poverty, Indians GAP has to grow at an annual rate tot 8-10% for the next 25 years. And electricity generation capacity will have to increase by five or six times to almost 800 GO by 2031. Until now, Wrists has been a fairly small player in the oil and gas sector, focusing mainly on electricity generation and occasionally participating in pipeline and storage projects. The forecasts indicating growth in investments in oil and gas distribution facilities have led Wrists to the conclusion that there is a substantial growth opportunity in pumping and compression applications. So without losing its hold on power generation it has now decided to expand its operations to oil and gas sector as well. And looking at their efficient forecasting in the past, the probability of this decision of expansion might work in the companys favor. Procurement: Supply Chain Management Wrists has pre-defined criteria for selecting its suppliers, determining their acquirement and developing supply relationship. It Offers mutually beneficial partnership to its suppliers, which strengthen the market standing of both parties. Wrists believes in maintaining an open and transparent dialogue With its suppliers to ensure fair business dealings. The company also collaborates with universities for its research and development activities. As a supplier it is important to meet the requirements set by Wrists in order to get a supplier status. These requirements include general features and issues related to environment management, occupation health and safety, quality, product pacific requirement. Wrists makes sure that the suppliers abide by these requirements by monitoring their performance on a regular basis. The company also uses its Supplier Management System to manage and assess its suppliers wherein it evaluates the supplier based on three parameters: pre assessment is done for new suppliers before supplier relationship begins, Audits are carried out for new suppliers and for those whose performance is not up to the companys standards and lastly, performance reviews are done in order to find out and solve any deviations from the set requirements. In 2012, three suppliers were banned due to non-compliance vivid Writers requirement for occupational health and safety, environment and legislation. The company has more than 3,700 active suppliers most of which are located in Europe where they have their main production unit. Supply Chain Collaboration In order to widen its global capabilities, Wrists entered into a joint venture with Handy to produce and assemble engines in South Korea. Mentors EssayOne of the worlds leading logistics company, CAVE manages the storage floor operations. Even though many operations are managed by CAVE Wrists personnel have frequent quality checks of the parts and also manage the handling of the more restricted goods. Due to the enormous expanse of the inventory, having an outsider manage the quality checks and control would not he feasible. Not to forget, that because of the CO, and having the entire inventory at one place, quality control is all the more important. A few facts about the Central Distribution Centre at Sampan k Built-up area of 37,000 mm * Possibility to expand k Warehouse for all parts from very small to extremely large, such as engine arts over keg * Partly automatic and partly manually operated k Over 60,000 pallet locations and over 60,000 totes in mini-load *Wrists has its own quay at the Extraordinaire, with sea transport possibility * Next to NON highway and the river Sessile, for road transport k Total Investment of approximately RUE 70 million k Good logistics connections to Rotterdam, Hamburg and to Siphon (Amsterdam) airport * Location Will reduce emissions from transportation Customer Service The key element indicating Writers performance is customer satisfaction. It customizes it services according to the customer preferences and needs when t comes to designing, Start up and operation Of the equipment and systems it delivers. Engaging with customers is of prime importance when developing its products and services. Wr ists aims at maintaining and strengthening relations with its customers. It customizes it services according to the customer preferences and needs when it comes to designing, start up and operation of the equipment and systems it delivers. Engaging with customers is of prime importance when developing its products and services. Their customer initiatives include organizing Customer Days (performance-management-SCM)existing and attention customers. In order to strengthen their customer-focused mindset Warts use an integrated customer feedback process (CROP), It aims at achieving an excellent long-term relationship by listening to the customers and acting upon their feedback, Also, they have a program called Voice of the customer in which they conduct in depth analysis of customers need and expectation. Every year they receive almost 3000 feedback forms during various interfaces and out of those suggestions are sorted out and directly sent to front line personnel. Wrists measures customer satisfaction by maintaining regular contact with he customers, providing after sales services throughout the life Of a product. In order to stay updated with the changing customer needs, they organize seminars and conferences where they get an opportunity to interact With their customers in person. They have customer interaction forum on their website where the customer can be in touch with the company regarding all the updates and issues regarding the product. Performance Management Planning and target setting forms an integral part of performance management in Wrists. The achievement of targets and related activities are continuously viewed every month by board of management. With an integrated reporting tool called International financial reporting standards (IF-RSI) they have ensured the reliability and accuracy totalitarian reports through a centralized system. Writers offers a distinct method of supply chain management for its suppliers in order to develop a vigorous relationship. They offer an open dialogue partnership to suppliers, which help them in research and development, With the inclusion of an ERP i. E. Supplier Management System it is much easier for them to conduct supplier assessment. In this program, audit is conducted for ewe supplier so as to match the suppliers performance with Writers requirement Later, performance reviews are conveyed to recognize and resolve deviations, if any. Ultimately, these all factor contribute in Writers high performance and quality standards with respect to health and safety, environmental, quality plans and social performance. The responsibility of sustaining the performance lies on the shoulders Of board Of management Who issue the basic guidelines of principles and review them on regular basis. Their basic role is to set targets and invigilate the performance. However, coordination teen different levels of organization is also essential. As human resource, legal, quality, compliance, supply management also plays in supporting functions while forming the guidelines. Technology Technology plays a very vital role in Writers operations, from marine engine deployments to power plant management and even in their service solutions in energy sector. With experience in the industry and technical know it has become technological leader in energy industry, However, when it comes to Supply Chain Management even technologically advanced Wrists face few challenges, especially in their Italian plant. As companys operations were continuously growing in 2005 at rapid pace, it was unable to meet the increasing demand for their products. This resulted in supply chain shortcomings due to inconsistent production planning internally and erratic performance externally by their suppliers. Ultimately due to all these factors, the shipments were delayed and Writers reputation was at stake due to decreasing market share. At this point Wrists used their in house developed SAP solutions for supply chain management along vivid other Legacy tools, which were not integrated into Collaboration of Technology for better SCM After seeing the shortcomings at Italian plant the executive team decided to team up With Accentuate in management Of Supply Chain Technology at Wrists in late 2005. Accentuate focused primarily on Writers key areas to develop their IT solutions, they concentrated on production, planning procurement and material management. Accentuate was able to determine the root cause, which was lack of collaboration and communication between internal departments for which resulted in repetitive work at different levels. Accentuate created one forecasting tool, which was interconnected with all departments and later integrated with SAP system of Wrists. Accentuate also assisted Wrists IT department in making various other cross-functional collaboration tools for better production planning, scheduling, internal communication, which again were later integrated into companies ERP system. This resulted in cross-attitudinal involvement in every important area of business including Planning, purchasing, Strategic- Sourcing Accounts Receivables, Payable and Marketing as well. This technological advancement tremendously helped Wrists in boosting their productivity along with being efficient. 2008 numbers shows double production f engines in Italian plant compared vivid 2005. How Supply Chain Practice Changed Poor Wrists Services, the major change in their supply chain management in the last few years has undoubtedly been the transition from having eight different localized spare parts warehouses to one centralized distribution Center for most of their spare parts. The project has not just been Writers biggest investment project (Of 70 million ELLS), it has also been a gigantic task for the consolidation Of the processes, inventory and data. Thanks to the new CDC at Sampan, Netherlands, the company can now manage he entire flow of spare part materials right from order confirmation, sourcing to delivery to customers doorstep from one point. It is not just much more efficient for the company, it also shortens the transport distances for the materials and thus, in the end, a value add for the end customer as well, The company accepts that delivery times have reduced considerably as theres no problem spare parts traffic between different warehouses now, From the quality control aspect as well, the company can have a uniform quality assurance ranging trot very small parts like special screws to huge pistons for the combustion engines in the ships. Further Improvement Writers target is to be the leader in complete lifestyle power solutions for the global marine markets and energy markets. It does have that potential to achieve these targets considering their existence in over 60 countries as of today. As company expands its market, supply chain management becomes more complex and also crucial with increasing demand. Thus it has to look out for continuous improvements not only in their product and service lines but also in their supply chain management System, so that goods and services are delivered at right place and on right time. Extensive use of RIFF in Supply Chain Radio Frequency Identification also known, as RIFF is an automated tag identifying technology can benefit a lot in SCM. It can create real-time automation of reincarnating process through sensors-connected in manufacturing plant. By adding RIFF tags to every spare part, tools, resource and item of materials handling equipment, manufacturers are able to get better demand signals from customers and the market.