Nebobites Ethical Dilemma Essay Example for Free

Nebobites Ethical Dilemma Essay This case involves a small public traded company named Nebobites, which manufactures dog treats. Jenny O. , CPA, is the new Assistant Controller for the Nebobites’ company, and her job is to review and audit the financial statements for the 2012 year. While reviewing the financial statements, Jenny noticed the company’s Allowance for Doubtful Accounts balance seemed significantly higher than in the past. This increase in the Allowance account was due to the Bad Debt Expense estimation being based off 3% of net credit sales instead of the prior years’ estimate of 1. %. The increase in Bad Debts expense as a result of the increase in estimate materially affected the 2012 earnings. However, 2012 had been a great year for earnings, so the additional expense did not disturb the earnings growth trend Nebobites’ had experienced in the past. However, upon further research, Jenny could find no justification for the increase in the Bad Debt Expense estimate from 1. 5% of net credit sales to 3%. Jenny decides to approach her boss, the Controller, Maxwell Devious. He tells Jenny he is aware of the practice known as â€Å"income smoothing. Maxwell Devious says showing a steady growth in earnings was essential to keep the Nebobite stock price high as possible as the Smith family planned to sell-off a significant number of shares in early 2014. Jenny feels extremely uncomfortable with this practice, and she knows that this year’s financial statements will retain an overstated Bad Debt Expense estimate and more than likely result in an understated Bad Debt Expense estimate in 2013. 2. An ethical decision must be made by Jenny, because she is going to have to decide what is morally right or wrong. This fake presentation of increase in earnings will potentially affect every stakeholder involved with the company including their shareholders, creditors, management, employees and the customers. This faulty practice will leave an overstated Bad Debt Expense estimate for the year and more than likely result in an understated Bad Debt Expense estimate in 2013. Jenny needs to decide whether she thinks it is more important to look profitable to investors and appear to have greater wealth or is it more important to show creditors that they do not have sufficient funds to cover their debts. She also knows that Maxwell Devious, the Controller, has an employee profit sharing plan, a management bonus plan based on earnings, significant bank loans outstanding and is planning on raising funds through a bond issue in 2014; all of these are affected by the earnings for the year. 3. By deciding not to change the estimate back to the appropriate percentage of 1. 5%, it does single out individuals and the upper management group. These individuals that are Jenny’s superiors simply do not want her to make the adjustment because it is in their best interest (looking profitable amp; performance bonuses) and not in the company and its stakeholders’ best interest as a whole. It is also a legal violation because the company’s CEO and other top-level personnel should swear that all financial data for the company is relevant and accurate, and they knowingly defy corporate policies and the GAAP. 4. In this particular situation, Jenny is faced with a couple options; some of which are favorable, others not so much. Jenny can choose to abide by her scandalous boss, and decide to go along with the inappropriate change in estimate. This choice may blow over for the time being, but in the long run, Jenny and the company may be audited in the future exploiting their mistakes made in the 2012 financial statements. This could cause Jenny to be immediately terminated when the mistakes were finally found, as well as the possibility of jail time after an investigation and trial. Another possible route Jenny could take would be to report the inappropriate practices to an outsider’s attention, such as an external auditing firm. By doing so, she could save her job possibly for the time the company is being investigated, but may later be fired. Although she will eventually have to find a new job, this choice may save her from being in trouble with the law and potentially boost her chances of finding a new job due to her discovery at Nebobites. Another final option that I would see plausible in this situation would be to simply quit, if the Controller did not want to change the estimation and swear on the financial statements. The legal risk is too high in the case, and you do not want the downfall of Nebobites to be on your shoulders. 5. By deciding to go along with the inappropriate change in estimate, Jenny’s job may be safe for the time being, but in the long run, Jenny and the company may be audited in the future exploiting their mistakes made in the 2012 financial statements. This could cause Jenny to be immediately terminated when the mistakes were finally found, as well as the possibility of jail time after an investigation and trial. This is morally and legally wrong because she knowingly goes against corporate policies and the generally accepted accounting principles in order to reap the benefits. By reporting the inappropriate practices to an outsider’s attention, such as an external auditing firm, she could save her job possibly for the time the company is being investigated, but may later be fired. Although she will eventually have to find a new job, this choice may save her from being in trouble with the law and potentially boost her chances of finding a new job due to her discovery at Nebobites. By choosing this option, Jenny acts in a dignified and legal manner. She knows that she is doing what is right and is protecting stakeholders of the company. The other option of simply just resigning or quitting her position would not have much effect on the company. She is acting morally because she is not going along with the inappropriate practices of Nebobites, but she is not doing what is in the best interest for all stakeholders. The company will most likely find a new Assistant Controller for the operation who will go along with the unlawful scheme. This ultimately resulting in the downfall of the company, when Jenny could have prevented this and saved thousands of jobs by alerting an outside auditor. 6. By alerting an outside auditor to investigate this situation, Jenny does what is in the best interest for all stakeholders. This will eventually reveal the truth and allow shareholders to see the negative affect on stock prices, creditors can be informed on the debt situation of our company and be aware of the risk of dealing with us. Management will be disappointed with the actions of Jenny, in which they sacrificed their performance bonuses and will most likely fire her. The company will still have a chance to flourish, however, when the economy turns back around. By keeping the inappropriate estimate, Jenny will most likely be in the praises of her superiors for the bonuses they received; but, in the longer run, the company’s financial statements will be inaccurate and liabilities to creditors will go unpaid. Shareholders will actual lose more money and the company has the potential to go bankrupt any day if the economy does not take a sudden turn around. The top executives, as well as Jenny, should live in fear of being exploited of their misinterpretations and eventually will get caught up in severe legal trouble. If Jenny simply quit without seeking outside assistance from auditors, she is still acting in a somewhat immoral and illegal manner. This is because the stakeholders of the company will inevitably still be in serious trouble due to the deception of Jenny and the upper management of the Nebobites’ company. . I believe that it is in the best interest for Jenny to consult an outside auditing firm. Although it could potentially make her lose her job when her superiors are notified, it enlightens all stakeholders involved with the Nebobites’ company. The risk is too great if Jenny decides to leave the inappropriate estimate as is; she risks not only losing her job, bu t also risks going to jail, as well as losing her CPA license entirely. It is worth far more in life to be an honest and truthful person who looks out for others than it is to be a deceitful and uncaring.

Santiagos Character :: essays research papers

1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Describe Santiago’s character in regard to the adversity he faces. What political or historical person could you compare him to? Explain. Santiago faces many adversities in the novel but the main one that makes up the plot is Santiago being shunned as a fisherman in his village by all of the people because he can not catch one fish. A political person that compares to Santiago is Elizabeth Anne Seton. She fought for women’s right to vote and did not care what people called her and what men thought of her. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Draw three parallels between Santiago and the marlin. Choose one quality both share and discuss in detail the impact of this quality on the fate of both the man and the fish. Three parallels between Santiago and the marlin are they are both decisive about what they want. Santiago refuses to stop fishing even though the people of the village are very discouraging, and the marlin will not stop fighting Santiago when he is trying to capture him. Another parallel is that Santiago and the marlin are both old and weak. The last is that there is a lack of faith. Santiago has not caught a fish a very long time and people think the marlin is a legend and it could never exist. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Explain why Hemingway would make the game of baseball and baseball hero, Joe DiMaggio, such important components of a novel about fishing. Hemingway makes the game of baseball and the baseball hero, Joe DiMaggio such important components of the novel because DiMaggio had the attitude of a hero. Also, it was set that when DiMaggio lost his streak in baseball that Santiago set of to go fish and find the marlin. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is the role of Manolin? Why would Hemingway choose to portray this character as a child rather than an adult? The role of Manolin is one of a caretaker. He is always there for Santiago even though Santiago never asks for help. Hemingway chooses to show Manolin as a child to show how immature the people in the village are, and also to show that children of all ages can be just as respectful and responsible as adults. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  List three conflicts presented in the novel. Which one do you think is the most significant? Why? Three conflicts that are present in the novel are Santiago verses society, Santiago verses the fish and Santiago verses himself. The most important conflict though is Santiago verses society because with their lack of faith in him to fish, Santiago sets out for an adventure that tests his strength and confidence.

A Learning Experience: Lost in Translation

Ralph Waldo Emerson, a well-known American literary icon, once said that â€Å"No man should travel until he has learned the language of the country he visits. Otherwise he voluntarily makes himself a great baby – so helpless and so ridiculous.† I came upon this quote while I was looking for some passages or anecdotes that might make for a â€Å"first paragraph with a good hook.†Emerson’s take on the issue of language learning was somehow brutal and unconstructive, instantly attracting my attention since I am an international student acknowledging some limitations in my knowledge and skills in the use of the English language.Although Emerson was, and is still, highly-revered for his ingenuity in literature, I would have to express my disagreement about what he said about the helplessness and ridiculousness of people who visit countries without obtaining knowledge and practical skills on each country’s native language.My experiences in this country h as taught me that being at a disadvantage in terms of one’s lack of knowledge and skills in language and communication do not bring down a person to helplessness and nonsensicality. For I have discovered that being â€Å"lost in translation† is not a hopeless situation but an opportunity to sensibly and realistically learn the language.When arrived here one year ago, my limitations pertaining to the English language has made my life adjustments worse since it was difficult to openly communicate and relate to other people. Being in an unfamiliar place was stressful enough, having to deal with not being able to conveniently visit places, dealing with the changes in the weather, learning the culture, and such.Not being able to communicate well enough made it much worse, since it became a barrier in smoothing the progress of adjustment and adaptation. At first, I was deeply uncomfortable with having to talk to other people who are native speakers of English for fear of bei ng criticized or made of as a joke. However, my everyday experiences has taught me that gradual openness to socialization, interaction, and communication is a opportunity for me to learn not only the language, but the cultural practices and traditions that are unfamiliar to me.I found out how talking to other people often about anything helped in developing my knowledge and skills of the English language. But perhaps the most important skill that I have learned is how to use theEnglish language in practical, everyday conversations in order to avoid or prevent confusion that is rooted from misunderstandings or miscommunications. There was this one time when I was watching the evening news with a friend of mine. The news show televised a case wherein two individuals claiming to be insurance handlers fooled other people into subscribing for insurance plans.They ran away after obtaining the initial payments made by their clients. I remember my friend telling me initially how it was a â €Å"rip off.† I did not understand what he meant by the situation being a rip-off since the act of ripping to me, as I understood it, is the act of tearing or cutting a thing or an object. Out of pure curiosity, I asked him what he meant and he explained to me how the word â€Å"rip-off† means a form of cheating or conning.I especially value learning practical English language through my daily encounters with other people because it has greatly helped in my being able to adjust to my life here in a foreign country.However, I am not disregarding the fact that learning the formal grammar rules of the English language is all too important, my learning of practical English language for everyday use has contributed to my getting used to living in this country as I feel that I understand people more when I talk to them leaving out confusion or awkwardness in misunderstandings or miscommunications.I can relate to my friends when they say they are â€Å"having dibs† on or going â€Å"bonkers† over some girls they see in the campus or on the street, or when they say that we need to â€Å"pull an all-nighter† before the day of the examinations, and such.Learning words or phrases that are commonly used in this country has made it easier for me to understand what other people mean, making it also easy to respond, make judgments, state opinions, and such. Moreover, it has boosted my self-confidence in opening conversations with other people creating more opportunities for me to learn the English language effectively.

Karl Marx s Theory Of Capitalism And Communism - 2258 Words

Anyone who is anyone can easily state that Karl Marx, born in 1818 and died in 1883, is one of the founders of sociology, seeing as Marxism was named after his theories and thinking. (Biography) However he also developed and constructed many theories when talking about the economy, philosophy and history and is best known as a communist (Biography). A great part of his life was used writing two of his well-known books, Das Kapital, written in 1867 (Marx, 2012: xii), and The Communist Manifesto, written in 1848 (Marx and Engels, 2013: 8). Where these works of art surround the topics and Karl Marx’s notion of capitalism and communism. To answer the questions at hand, why does Marx believe that capitalism is set to destroy itself, and, are his predictions believable in light of the sociological evidence available to us, one must first define capitalism. According to the Oxford Dictionary, capitalism is â€Å"an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state† (Oxford Dictionary). On the other hand, in more sociological terms it is more complicated than that. Capitalism according to the Dictionary of Sociology is â€Å"a system of wage-labor and commodity production for sale, exchange, and profit, rather than for the immediate need of the producers† (Dictionary of Sociology, 2009: 59). And according to Marx, capitalism is â€Å"the socio-economic system where social relations are based on commoditiesShow MoreRelatedKarl Marx And The Great Philosopher Essay988 Words   |  4 PagesKarl Marx was born in Trier, Prussia in 1818 to a Jewish family, but despite his baptism at age 6, he later became an atheist. 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