Liability and a Environmental Liability Essay

A liability is a present obligation of the enterprise arising from the past events, the settlement of which is expected to result in an outflow from the enterprise of resources embodying economic benefits whereas An environmental liability is an obligation to pay future expenditures to remedy environmental damage that has occurred because of past events or transactions, or to compensate a third party that has suffered from the damage. An environmental liability exists when there is a requirement, based on statute, regulation, or legal agreement to perform cleanup (i.e., removal, containment, disposal) from federal operations that resulted in hazardous waste. Environmental liabilities must be recognized on the financial statement for probable and measurable future outflows or expenditure of resources for environmental cleanup, closure, and/or disposal actions. Obligation based on the principle that a polluting party should pay for any and all damage caused to the environment by its activities. In some countries, this is a strict liability if the damage can be attributed to a specific party. The principle of liability applies to environmental damage and imminent threat of damage resulting from occupational activities, where it is possible to establish a causal link between the damage and the activity in question. The essential characteristic of a liability is that the enterprise has a present obligation. Therefore , an environmental liability is probable if for example : 1. A legal obligation is exists 2. The management wants to prevent, reduce or repair substantial environmental impacts 3. A company in the US has been named by the US EPA as a potential responsible party to clean up as US Superfund site.

Japanese American Concentration Camps

World War 2 was not officially initiated until German Nazi's invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. America did not get Involved in the war until December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, war was not declared on Japan until the following day. December 11, 1941 Germany declared war on the united States. The war was now In full force, with America raging war against the Japanese and the German Nazi's.Back home In America, they to were taking action to protect their homeland. In February of 1942, President Roosevelt signed an executive order to relocate all Japanese Americans. This occurred because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Many feared that the Japanese were attempting to â€Å"Remain loyal to their homeland† and were acting as spies. Even without concrete evidence, President Roosevelt signed for them to be relocated. These camps were still located on American soil and were not death camps.The camps were concentration camps, a place where they go to basically do hard labor all day. Many Japanese American families sold their homes and assets, here was no guarantee that their lives would continue as normal upon their return. Their homes sold for fractions of the price they were actually worth, even Japanese vets of WWW were forced to leave their homes and assets behind. It did not matter If the families were born and raised In America and had never been to Japan, the fear of an invasion was to great to allow a possible security issue be lose. Until the camps were finished the Japanese Americans were held in stables at local racing tracks. Ten camps were completed and the camps were built in remote areas of seven western tastes : Arkansas, California, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah. The housing was poor, Tarpaper Barracks were the housing for the Japanese. There were communal mess halls for family to dine with one another, the children had to attend school and the adults had the option to work for 5$ a day.The Japanese definitely were not living hig h class, but the camps they were located to where heaven to the Jewish In Germany. The plan for the camps was for them to be self sufficient, by farming for food. The solo was not Ideal for this plan however. The homes were not heated or lolled during seasonal changes and the food was made army grub style. The Japanese Americans were not allowed to leave because security would not hesitate to shoot one who tried to escape. There was armed security that stood round clock watch over the Japanese Americans. 27,000 Japanese Americans were wrongfully relocated into concentration camps, when challenged by Fred Sauerkraut, the Supreme Court showed little to no sympathy and said it was war time necessary for the camps. The government and the people without a Japanese bloodline agreed that it was simply for the time of war. The camps never got to be the point of the horrific f the Nazi's camps and that was greatly appreciated, but the act in itself was considered wrong and In history is labe led as a bad move In American history.January 8 1945, the first families were released from the camps. Most families had nowhere to go and nowhere to work. A lot of Americans would not hire Japanese Americans due to their own racism that grew because of the war. In 1988 the court tried to apologize for the wrong act of putting the Japanese Americans into compared to what the families had to go through during and after the camps. In hope America will stoop low enough to concentration camps again.

Facebook, Strategic Management Analysis

An environmental scanning refers to the process that systematically uses information about trends, patterns and relationships within an organization’s internal and external environment to determine the future direction of the organization. Through an understanding of the nature and speed of changes in that particular environment, an environmental scan is likely to help identify possible ventures, challenges, and developments that are important to the organization. An organization that could benefit tremendously from strategic planning and especially environmental scanning is Facebook. Facebook is a social network organization that is considered the largest online network in the world (Piskorski, Eisenmann, and Smith, 2013). According to these researchers Facebook reported $1 billion profit in revenue, with 85% of this revenue coming from advertising. However since we are living in an era where technology is constantly upgrading and competition is fierce, it is vital that the managers of Facebook stay abreast of the competition by conducting environmental scanning to determine the trend and weaknesses of the organization to prevent strategic surprises. As competition increases in a particular industry, changes become swifter in the external environment; consequently, information from the external environment contributes important elements to the effectiveness of the long-term plans. In an external analysis of Facebook, three correlated environments are relevant: Natural Physical Environment According to Wheelen and Hunger (2012) the natural environment includes physical resources, wildlife, and climate that are a fundamental part of life on earth. It is obvious that in recent years the regularity and severity of storms, tornados, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events have increased in the United States and worldwide, and this trend is likely to continue. Pine (2011) informed us that increase in natural hazards and the rising of sea-level are expected along the coastal areas, therefore it is necessary to understand the nature of coastal natural, social, and economic environments and their interactions in guaranteeing a sustainable future. In the case of Facebook, extreme weather events could result in loss of Internet service, breakdown in telecommunication infrastructure, lifestyle changes, and regional shift in population. Although the loss of Internet service and breakdown in telecommunication infrastructure due to inclement weather may be perceived as threats to the organization; lifestyle changes and regional shift in population may reveal opportunities for Facebook. A scan of the external environment may lead to the creating of more modern system that is in-tune with the needs of the population. With the movement of people, Facebook media may be used to locate missing relatives and friends. A shift in population could result in an increase in the younger more tech-savy generation who view Facebook as a way of keeping in touch with others. Since mobile phone reception system may experience overcrowding during this time, Facebook could capitalize on this situation to use its â€Å"friends and family† network to keep others informed of storms and inclement weather events. Through an environmental scan, the managers may realize that planning is needed to extend their network to accommodate the movement of the population. A scan may also reveal weaknesses in infrastructure that could be modified ahead of weather-related crises to minimize the length of time consumers are out of service where weather situations are predicted but cannot be prevented. Although these factors may present threats to the stability of the organization, there are areas that may be presented as opportunities. Societal Environment The societal environment according to Wheelen and Hunger (2012) is the social system of human that makes up those general forces that do not directly affect the short-term activities of the organization, but can, and frequently do influence its long-term decision. Wheelen et al. (2012) mentioned that the number of possible strategic factors is very high because each country can be represented by its own exclusive sets of societal forces. Some well-known strategic forces includes: economic forces, sociocultural forces, and political-legal forces. 1 The Economic Forces. The Economic Forces of the environment alludes to the combination of economic systems of the country, the structural framework of economic policies of the government and the organization of the capital market, the type of endowment, business cycles, and the socio-economic infrastructure of the organization. A drift in the economic area can have effect on social media like Facebook. For example, in 2011 Facebook reported $1 billion profit with 85% coming from advertisement. A weak economy will lead to less sales and subsequently advertising. Equally, a drop in interest rate will mean sales of electronic products and services. The economic development of countries like Brazil, Russia, India, and China is having huge effect on the rest of the world, especially in areas of computer software and telecommunications. An increase in income will also likely to lead to an increase in spending for electronic products and investments in social media services. These factors should present opportunities for Facebook. 2 Sociocultural Forces Sociocultural forces encompass a number of variables such as demographic trends. In the United States, the demographic bulge known as the â€Å"baby boomers† has affected the demands of the market in many industries. This group of people according to Wheelen et al. is now in their 50s and 60s but is the largest group in all developed countries. Wheelen et al. contended that sociological variables such as customs and conventions, cost, cultural heritage, and movement of labor have severe effects on the business. The nature of goods and services is determined by the demand of the people which in turn affect the way the business operates. In the case of Facebook, several transformations are needed to attract the baby boomers who are the largest users of advertisements on the web. Since senior are normally worried about their privacy and security, it is important that Facebook institute an environmental scan that ensure the preservation of privacy of senior Facebook page, the failure of which would be a severe threat to the stability of the company. The desire for companionship with baby boomers whose children have already grown and have left the nest have increased so Facebook could provide the type of interaction some of these seniors need. However, there is the need to make the sire more attractive and senior-friendly by step-by-step tutorial for setting up a page and navigating the network. In addition, remembering passwords have become a tremendous burden for some members of the baby boom generation. In order to continue a viable operation, Facebook should institute a system that helps baby boomers to log on to their page by correctly answering a series of questions. This system would present opportunities for the company. 3 Political-Legal Forces According to Wheelen et al. (2012) the political-legal forces are the forces that distribute power and provide constraining and protecting laws and regulations. It may also include the decision made by the courts. The political environment of a country is swayed by the philosophy of political parties, ideology of government or the ruling party; stability of the political system, foreign policy, Defense and military policy, and the image the country and its leaders project outside the country. Some of the more well-known political-legal variables include, antitrust regulation, environmental protection laws, immigration laws, tax laws, Foreign sweat shops, foreign trade regulation and stability of the government. Trends in the political-legal area have important business repercussions, not only on the level of competition within the industry but also on which strategies might be successful. Many business leaders think that there are too much stringent regulations governing businesses in order to conform to society’s environmental concerns. On the other hand, many businesses would like to see more aggressive approach to enforcing anti-trust laws. A number of research and environmental scanning has been done by Facebook to explore the dynamics of its network. An online article by Weigel (2012) described Facebook as a vehicle for organizing and expressing dissent, and one that has been proven to be an effective tool in many protests, causes, uprisings, and conflicts, but they also lead to the possibility of monitoring by the government and exposing activists to surveillance and punishment. According to Streitfeld and Hardy (2013) the Internet was established as a tool of liberation and knowledge but recently a bleak vision emerged when it was revealed that the United States government is using it as a monitoring and tracking device. In addition, threats by Federal Reserve Commission to impose greater supervision on how personal data was being used online resulted in the formation in 1998 of the Online Privacy Alliance (Streitfeld & Hardy). However, except for this factor, political technology have very little impact on the stability of Facebook. 4 Technological Forces Technological forces are described by Wheelen et al. as those forces that generate problem-solving inventions. Changes in technology can also have tremendous impact on businesses since they all depend on technology to operate. Technological environment affects the business in relations to investment in technology, regular application of technology and the effects of technology on markets. Technology is constantly providing new method for communication; therefore the use of technology in our lives is always expanding. Facebook is at the center of technology advancement because as technology advanced so will the methods we use for communicating. The birth of Facebook brought in another era of communication in our lives, and it is obvious that the society will continue to develop new ways to pass on messages to each other. Facebook’s $1 billion profit in 2011 is an indication that technology will continue to advance; therefore this advancement in technology presents opportunities for the organization. The Task (Industry) Environment The task environment according to Wheelen et al. (2012) includes those elements or groups that directly affect a corporation and, consequently are affected by it; these include governments, local communities, suppliers, competitors, customers, creditors, employees/labor unions, special interest groups, and trade associations. In doing an external environmental scan the business manager must assess various industry forces. Wheelen et al. used the Porter’s 5-Forces model to illustrate the forces that make up the Industry environment. The Porter’s 5-forces model is a tool used by corporations to provide an analysis of their competition and to help determine strategy. This five-forces model examines the strength of five specific competitive forces which work together to determine long-term profit and competition within an industry. However, Wheelen et al. (2012) mentioned that a sixth forces has been added to reflect the power of other groups, and the government over the activities of industries. In a scan of an industry, a corporation must examine the importance of each of the six forces to the success of the company: threat of new entrants, rivalry among existing firms, threat of substitute products or services, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and bargaining power of other stakeholders. 1. Threat of New Entrants It is clear that new entrant to any industry bring new capacity, competition, and aspiration to gain a position of status in that industry. Therefore new entrants are threats to organizations that are already in the industry. A new entrant to an industry is able to learn from the mistakes of his competitors and improve upon these weaknesses. In the case of Facebook, new entrants will always be considered a threat since technology by nature is subjected to metamorphosis. The position of Facebook in the industry is strong; therefore the barriers to new entrants are high based on the following: (a) Economies of scales: Even though the start-up cost incurred by Zuckerberg was small at the inception, a new entrant to the industry would not be able to enter the market on a small scale and compete against a company like Facebook, and if they enter on a large scale, there is the possibility of reaction from Facebook who would be better equipped to contend against competitors in the industry. This prevents new companies from breaking into this industry quickly. In addition, the investment of large capital presents a significant amount of risk to a new company. (b) Switching cost: Facebook is an established organization, individual have spent a significant amount of time learning to use this network, so they would be somewhat reluctant to change for another media. (c) Government policy: There are already privacy issues arising from the use of social media so the government may be reluctant to give license to another such organization. (d) Access to distribution channels: A new entrant would have to establish its distribution channel in an industry that is already captured by Facebook. According to Piskorski, Eisenmann, and Smith (2013) 85% of Facebook’s revenue came from advertising. (e) Cost disadvantages independent of size: Facebook is already established in the industry, they have access to the expertise, technology, notoriety, and government approval to keep the organization functioning. (f) Product differentiation: Facebook is well-known, and this medium has a strong customer support. In October 2012 Facebook registered its billionth user, becoming the largest online social network in the world (Piskorski, Eisenmann, and Smith, 2013). Recently, the acquisition of Instagram has solidified Facebook in the industry. Essentially, with this force it is not easy for an organization to enter the industry. 2. Threat of Substitute Products or Services Substitute products naturally present competition in the industry because as more substitutes come on the market the demand becomes more flexible since customers have more alternative. In the case of social networking medium, MySpace has been able continue operation as a type of social networking medium but has not been have to hold a position of dominance in the social networking media because Facebook is more advanced and provides more options. Therefore, this substitute does not present a threat to Facebook. According to Piskorski, Eisenmann, and Smith (2013) LinkedIn has become the leader in professional networking; again this is a professional site and not a social networking site, and the site has not been used as a substitute for Facebook. The threat from substitute services is low in this case. 3. Rivalry Among Existing Firms Competition is likely to be high if entry to the industry is easy. Since entry to the social networking industry presents many barriers, it is unlikely that there will be much rivalry in this industry. However, Piskorski, Eisenmann, and Smith (2013) contended that Twitter and Google came into existence as rivals to Facebook although they have not been able to maintain any position of dominance since Facebook has been able to present more features than the other, thus there is a large differentiation between Facebook and its competitors, their strategies are different, and the rate of growth is vastly dissimilar since Facebook has been able to maintain its market position, and has potential for greater gain than its competitors. The strength of this force is also low. 4. Bargaining Power of Buyers In the social networking industry the bargaining power of buyers is important because if users are not inspired they will lose interest. Facebook has ensured the stability of its position in the industry by creating innovative and stimulating programs to keep users enthused. However, there is a vast difference in the service provided by Facebook and its competitors, so substitution is not easily found. This force does not present a threat to Facebook. 5. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Suppliers can influence an industry significantly as they determine price increases. In the case of Facebook, its suppliers include advertisers, game developers like Zynga, Spotify, Netflix, Hulu and the networks it uses to deliver its services. However, since these products are important to the maintenance of Facebook in the position of dominance in the industry, as they offer diversity to a site that could otherwise have been uninter esting. The bargaining power of suppliers in this case is medium.

Business Letter (Position) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business Letter (Position) - Essay Example English lessons major on the sources of information and periodicals are major examples of these sources (Seglin & Coleman, 2002). It will be instrumental to English learners to have resource materials providing in-depth information on periodicals. In relation to the history of English as a discipline, The London Magazine will be a good investment in the library. The content of this resource is literature and the arts, and this forms a fundamental reading ground for the English students. The document has been through various revivals and series, updating the resource with latest information in the discipline. More so, all the volumes of the periodical are available online, which reduce the librarians work in stocking the library with the materials. The third and most resourceful periodical will be The Comic annual, which began publications in 1830, and ran through to 1842. This resource will enhance the learners’ interest in understanding the English content. Introducing something fun for learners of all levels will make learning interesting and therefore, increase discipline understanding. In as much the resource is historical; the resource will help learners to relate to the origin of the English language in a more fun and educative way. In solving the above problems of scarcity of historical English resources, the above documents will be helpful. More information on the content of the periodicals can be found online in their relevant

In the light of the challenges facing global business today, all Essay

In the light of the challenges facing global business today, all companies listed on stock exchanges should adopt the UN Global - Essay Example This paper argues that â€Å"in the light of the challenges facing global business today, all companies listed on stock exchanges should adopt the UN Global Compact on responsible management† Globalization conveys people, culture, societies together and necessity and chances for cooperation enabling more prosperity and complex understanding to boost. Accountable businesses that establish proactive corporate practices and policies involving those valued by human rights, upon ensuring decent and safe working environments protection and excellent corporate governance contribute largely towards achieving social, economic and environmental goals. They also assist in making of markets more maintainable, inclusive and stable. Forming practices and rules which boost business responsibilities may also contribute towards business competitiveness. Enforcement and adoption of regulations and laws lies with the governments thus, business guided efforts can only be maintained and scaled whe n rules of law, public institutions, predictable regulatory and transparent efforts maintain the accountable business exercises. Much more, the collaborative multi-stakeholder enhancements amidst business, institutions, labor organizations and civil society give chances to boost promote innovation and extensive sustainable progression in manners capable to extend what businesses and governments produce on their own (Creaton, 2007). There are some ways in which Governments may sustain accountable business exercises. These are: Forming enabling conditions where governments may allocate crucial conditions for corporate accountability matters for dialogue and progression. This could also involve guiding by example like by articulation maintaining for corporate accountability principles and guidelines. Raising consciousness as the governments may dynamically draw attention to usual matters, benefits and aspects of corporate responsibility and enable for public debates. On promotion gover nments may come with best practices like giving of awards likewise to endorsement or invite wider community and invite businesses support for voluntary corporate accountability activities, programs and initiatives such as UN Global Compact. Tools progression ensure recognizing that business sectors can at times require requirement facilitation or guidance help as governments could help the progression of corporate accountability guidelines, programs and realization of particular designed which encourages entrepreneurism and corporate accountability amongst the medium and small sized enterprises areas. Funding where the governments have resources and may directly add to resources to assist voluntary initiative to exploit their effects. UN Global Compact renewed the multi-stakeholder obligations, widening of business establishment, boosting of financial market incentives, added governmental maintenance and extending of wider UN-premises agenda. All the points lies with the decision th at business workings in pragmatic and principled

Cause and Effect on Gasoline Prices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cause and Effect on Gasoline Prices - Essay Example   The price of crude oil and how its effect is felt at the pumps is an issue of interest in as far as the price of gasoline gases is concerned. Gasoline is produced from crude oil through distillation process whereby crude oil is heated and fumes captured are converted to various products including gasoline. Thus the cost of extracting crude oil as well as the cost of processing it to produce gasoline will definitely affect the price of its products. For instance, the price of crude constitutes up to half or more of the price of gasoline gallon as suggested by Gupta and Demirbas (73). The rise in the price of crude oil has been driven by the increasing demand for oil globally and the political instability in most of the oil-producing countries according to Gallun (723). Therefore these factors end up directly affecting the price of gasoline. The depreciation of the US dollar when compared to other currencies of other countries contributes to the changes of gasoline gas price. This can be attributed to the fact that when the US dollar changes its value, there is a shift in the demand and costs of countries with different currencies. For instance the dollars depreciation against the Euro by half, the Countries using the Euro pay half more in dollars thus increases the demand. If the Us dollar depreciates, investors in return have to shift their capital there is the rise in price of crude oil gases hence affecting price of Gasoline gas according to Obadia (23). The world wide demand and supply for crude oil affects the price of gasoline gases in different ways. This is because demand and supply of crude oil is influenced by the organization of Petroleum Exporting countries it sets price of oil products produced by its members. This organization also holds the biggest percentage of oil supply in the world and thus it dictates the terms of supply of oil products as suggested by Boyes and Melvin (11). In terms of demand, during the summer there tends be to a lot of gasoline gas demand hence if demand exceeds supply the prices bare likely to rise. It is therefore true that imbalance in supply and demand leads to fluctuation in the price of gasoline gases according to International Monetary Fund (56). For instance if there is fast rise in demand or quick fall in supply due factors such as refinery there may occur a rapid depletion for gasoline gases. The future of oil manufacturing and the contracts made on the future date and price for selling oil in a way affect the price of gasoline gases. On one hand with increasing technology, the future may experience increased demand for gasoline gas compared to the source of this gas and thus prices may end up increasing. On the other hand the increasing alternatives of sources of energy replacing the use of gasoline in future are likely to lead to a decrease in price of the gasoline gases. The future increase in retail gas stations which will still share the market with the existing ones will lead to l ower prices in order to attract customers. Some contracts have been established to decide on the future date and price for selling oil products. For instance a Collar contract is a mini-max strategy assuring producers of oil either a minimum or maximum range of prices for the sale of oil in the future as suggested by Gallup and Frank (221).  Ã‚  

Macro Economics Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Macro Economics Paper - Essay Example The Governor additionally states that other economies around the globe will most likely have a reduction in their GDP’s as well. He also observes that the Chinese economic growth has also been moderated with the monetary conditions within the Asian continent becoming softer. Mr. Stevens also asserts that that the prices for various commodities within the globe have reduced in the recent past despite the fact that most are currently on the rise once more reaching record high values (Stevens, 2012). Therefore, in accordance to the Governor’s sentiments, this paper tries to evaluate whether the monetary decisions made by the Reserve Bank’s Board concerning the weakening economic state in the globe are appropriate to the country and within its mandate. Economic Concepts/ Theories To Be Applied Under the law on the Reserve Bank that was enacted in the year 1959, they are charged with the duty of formulating the country’s monetary policies (Graziani, 2003). This actually involves the act of taking actions so that the interest rates which affects the economic activities in the country. It can be done through ensuring that money is available in the country’s overnight cash markets because they affect other variables like the country’s GDP along with the levels of prices (Arnold, 2008). The law of 1959 additionally stipulates that the country’s goals in their monetary policies will be aimed at employment their whole labor force, ensuring the country’s currency remains stable, the prosperity in the welfare of the citizens financially (Bell, 2004). However, in order to ensure that the country’s currency remains stable their central bank has implemented policies that are aimed at controlling the rates of inflation in the country (Mankiw, 2011). The Australian central bank uses a monetary policy that is referred to as inflation targeting which involves their maintenance of stable but low rates of inflation. This policy has widely been utilized within the country with the belief that it will assist in creating a sounder basis for greater economic growth during the long run periods (Bell, 2004). The country’s Reserve Bank should adopt several policies that range from concepts monitoring their economic growths, business cycles, inflation along with monetary policies and their financial policy regulation. They should also keenly observe the trends within the international economy since they help in showing the direction that capital is currently flowing in (Knoop, 2009). In ensuring that the country’s economy grows, the Reserve Bank should utilize increases in their per capita’s to ensure that they grow in the long run periods. It is for this reason that some countries around the globe are termed as being more successful than others while others grow at similar rates (King, 2011). In evaluating the growth the country is experiencing, the board of the Reserve Bank should ex amine their investment rates, their population’s growth along with technological changes being experienced (Australia, CCH, 2011). The figures to be utilized can be found through the use of models like the neoclassical along with endogenous models for growth. In monitoring the business cycle within Australia to ensure their economic gr