Blog Archive Beyond the MBA Classroom 100 Case Party at Darden

Blog Archive Beyond the MBA Classroom 100 Case Party at Darden When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment but are also committing to becoming part of a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school. The celebration of the first-year class’s completion of its first 100 cases at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business Administration, appropriately called the 100-Case Party, typically takes place in mid-October. Over the two years they spend at Darden, students will study approximately 500â€"600 cases. The 100-Case Party is typically held off campus at a Charlottesville club. Said one alumnus we interviewed, it is “a huge party; people go wild,” while another told us that the party is significant because “it celebrates a huge milestone.” In October 2011, a first year wrote about the party in her blog about MBA life at Darden, saying, “I’m not sure if the plan is to drink 100 cases, but anything is fair game!” For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at UVA Darden and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. Share ThisTweet Beyond the MBA Classroom University of Virginia (Darden) Blog Archive Beyond the MBA Classroom 100 Case Party at Darden When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment, but are also committing to becoming part of a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school. The celebration of the first-year class’s completion of its first 100 cases at the University of Virginias Darden School of Business Administration, appropriately called the 100-Case Party, typically takes place in mid-October. Over the two years they spend at Darden, students will study approximately 600 cases, so this party recognizes the first sixth of that. The 100-Case Party is typically held off campus at a Charlottesville club. Said one alumnus we interviewed, it is “a huge party; people go wild,” while another told us that the party is significant because “it celebrates a huge milestone.” In October 2011, a first year wrote about the party in her blog about MBA life at Darden, saying, “I’m not sure if the plan is to drink 100 cases, but anything is fair game!” For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at UVA Darden and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. Share ThisTweet Beyond the MBA Classroom University of Virginia (Darden)

Lowering the Drinking Age from 21 Would be Irresponsible...

Lowering the drinking age from 21 would be irresponsible. People argue that lowering the drinking age is not smart because most youths still have not yet reached a mature age to handle alcohol. Teens that include themselves in an unsafe environment are likely to endure in self-harm and encounter in binge drinking. The Alcohol Policy Information System says, â€Å"Annually, about 5,000 youth under the age of 21 die in incidents due to underage drinking† (â€Å"Drinking†). I believe the drinking age should not be lowered because of the major hazards that could occur, an increase in traffic accidents, and the age maturity to handle alcohol responsibly. Many risks and hazards can be caused from the use of alcohol. Binge drinking is extremely†¦show more content†¦al). Drinking is dangerous as it is, but underage drinking just upsurges the risk of wrecks, the health problems, and dependence on alcohol through adulthood (â€Å"Underage†). Age maturity is a big when dealing with alcohol. It’s obvious that teenagers under 21 are not yet mature, and are still trying to figure out their life. Even at the age of 18 they are entering a new phase with work, college, and a stage of independence. Nowadays parents allow their teens to consume alcohol as long as it is at their home, so they are sure they have a place to stay and can be in control. Some parents introduce alcohol to their teen in a responsible way to teach them and ensure they are safe when they become independent. In this case, teens think drinking is okay. Handling alcohol irresponsibly like this increases the teens killing themselves due to high alcohol content. Research states that if a child under 18 is drinking, they are also getting drunk. They report that 65 % of teens who drink monthly show that they are getting drunk at least once a month (â€Å"Underage†). Anything lowered from Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) 21 would be medically irresponsible. The early adult brain can be easily affected and when alcohol interferes it can cause addiction, memory loss, and violence (â€Å"Underage†). Teenagers are not responsible enough for MLDA to be lowered. There are many risks to what could happen if the drinking ageShow MoreRelatedThe Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered Essay1548 Words   |  7 PagesIn the United States, the legal drinking age is twenty-one. In all fifty states, however, there are exceptions for underaged drinking at home, under adult supervision, or for medical purposes (â€Å"Drinking Age†). Overall, the legal opportunities for any person under twenty-one to legally drink alcohol are very scarce. There are many different points, made by people from both sides of the issue about whether or not to lower the drinking age to eighteen, or leave it where it currently stands at twenty-oneRead MoreShould The Drinking Age Be Lowered?995 Words   |  4 Pageslegal drinking age be lowered to age 18? Recently people have been debating whether If the drinking age should be lowered to 18. Some people think 18 is a better age but others think it’s outr ageous to lower the drinking age to 18. After much reading and observing, I myself think the drinking age should be kept at 21 years old,because young adults who drink while they re underage make poor decisions and majority of the young adults are in college lacking in classes. The legal drinking age shouldRead MoreShould The Drinking Age Be Lowered?875 Words   |  4 Pages Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered? Should the legal drinking age be lowered to age 18? Recently people have been debating whether If the drinking age should be lowered to 18. Some people think 18 is a better age but others think it’s outrageous to lower the drinking age to 18. After much reading and observing, I myself think the drinking age should be kept at 21 years old,because young adults who drink while they re underage make poor decisions and majority of the young adults are in collegeRead MoreChallenging The Legal Drinking Age1689 Words   |  7 PagesMackenzie Schultz Mrs. Hamilton AP English Language 25 July 2014 Challenging the Legal Drinking Age The Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) has been challenged since the passing of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 that raised the drinking age to twenty-one in all fifty states (Ogilvie). Advocates for lowering the MLDA to eighteen years of age argue that this change will eliminate the thrill of breaking the law for young adults entering college and boost the national economy. SupportersRead MoreMandatory Legal Drinking Age Should Be Banned982 Words   |  4 Pagesused to be set at 21. In the late 60s states began to lower their MLDA, although this resulted in many deaths alcohol related. President Reagan signed off a law saying that the MLDA (Minimum legal drinking age) must be at 21. This was proven to be safer and reduced number of alcohol related deaths. There are many debates that argue whether or not we should lower our MLDA in the US. The MLDA should stay at 21. There are many reasons supporting this such as, lowering the MLDA would increase our alcoholRead MoreLowering The Minimum Drinking Age1380 Words   |  6 Pagesreaches the age of 18, they are allowed to tattoo their bodies, smoke tobacco, gamble and even enlist if they wanted to! As an adult, they want to be treated as one but how can they feel like an adult if hanging around with their friends and drinking beer while watching TV is illegal? Of course, that does not stop them, though. The United States is one of the few countries in which still have such a high minimum drinking age. Although most people think young adults (18-year olds) are irresponsible, theRead MoreWhy The Drinking Age During The U.s. Should Be Lowered1300 Words   |  6 PagesInsert name Professor’s name Course/class Date Why the drinking age in the U.S. should be lowered to 18 Getting to 18 years of age is an important milestone for a US resident because it is the legal age for independence, allowing the individual to make his or her decisions regarding tobacco smoking, driving and even joining the armed forces while being treated as an adult by the justice system. While this statement is essentially accurate, it is untrue concerning the ability to purchase and drinkRead MoreThe Drinking Age Should Be Lowered1542 Words   |  7 Pagesplaced on drinking alcohol and some are controversial. With the majority of the world having a drinking age of 18 years old many often wonder why does the United States have their own at 21 years of age. This has been a topic of much discussion and drama ever since the law was put in place by the US government. There are many people who agree with the law the US have placed on alcohol but there are even more people who have a problem with it. Not only do these people have a problem with the age but theyRead MoreThe Legal Drin king Age Should Be Lowered From The Age Of 21 Essay980 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"adults† cannot even make their own decisions? The drinking age on alcohol is a controversial social and cultural issue in today’s society; all fifty states have a minimum drinking age of 21. The legal drinking age should be lowered from the age of 21 to 18 allowing young adults to be granted the right to drink in restaurants, bars, at social events, in the comfort of their own home, and so on. If anything, lowering the legal drinking age would have a positive impact on the United Sates economy,Read Moreshould the drinking age be lowered to 18?948 Words   |  4 PagesIn 2009, about 10.4 million young people between ages 12 and 20 drank more than â€Å"just a few sips† of alcohol (Underage). The drinking age should be lowered to age 18 because teens are considered adults at this age, less people in jail for hosting underage drinking, and teens can be taught responsible drinking. A lthough there is a negative side to lowering the drinking age because it can cause more motor-vehicle accidents, greater chance for alcohol problems, and the health risk it can cause. There

Mass Medias Effects on Sterotyping - 992 Words

Since racial stereotyping in the media serves to justify, emphasize, and perpetuate antagonistic and munificent racism, there is need for focused study efforts on practical strategies to challenge and ultimately eradicate stereotypes. Stereotypes are generated and altered on the basis of first-hand encounters with stigmatized groups, as well as recycled information from mass media, acquaintances, as well as family. While both express and circumlocutory sources of stereotype lessening are acknowledged, the mass of the research on inter-group relationships has concentrated on direct examination of stereotyping conduct in an interpersonal background (Tator Frances, 2006). On the other hand, taking into consideration that people generate†¦show more content†¦It may be factual that the African immigrant may have misinterpreted the police order, or possibly he intended to confirm his identification by showing his identification papers. In a split-second, the police opened fire, a nd only after the shooting was it evident that Diallo had reached for his wallet. The defense argued that at the instance of the split-second decision, the police officers assumed their lives were at risk, and that they consequently did not hold the conscious objective to commit a crime. Although the court failed to take into consideration the mechanisms that may inform such a position, it is appropriate to reflect on the premise that racism is increasingly woven into identity formation in the contemporary media. Moreover, that race as a constructed social grouping derives its influence partly from the social psychological understanding of social categorization, and also from the influential underrated legitimacy that race categories have obtained in their formulation. This is exemplified by the earlier position in this paper that, a media report concerning a criminal suspect of African American descent may automatically trigger stereotypes of aggression (Govorun Payne, 2006). The death of Diallo brought into the limelight a number of alarming issues that run in implicit social cognition studies. It is in this context that the question arises as to whether media stereotypesShow MoreRelatedEffects Of Mass Media And Gender889 Words   |  4 PagesSocialization In today’s society, we see the effects of mass media and media imaging more than we have in any era before. Whether it be the large amount of new social media apps, the access to growing technology and communication throughout the world, or simply the millions of viewers and users, social media has become one, if not the most influential source in the world. This gives mass media the power to create, destroy, and spread any image or idea having a large effect on the audience that sees it. AndRead MoreContent Analysis - Stereotypes in Music3345 Words   |  14 Pagesï » ¿INTRODUCTION TO REPORT We are a group of 4 Second Year students pursuing a Diploma in Mass Communication. For our Communication Issues Group Project, we have decided to investigate the effects of Rhythm Blues (RB)/ Hip Hop music on our present day Society. RB/Hip Hop is one of the more popular genres of music that our Youth listen to and with dedicated television channels such as Music Television (MTV) and Channel V telecasting music videos most of the time that they are in transmission

My Family s Foundation Roll Your Own Paper 1st Draft

Bianca Hall Roll Your Own Paper 1st Draft History 10400-05 Professor Dan Buche Due: November 6, 2014 General Winfield Scott: Success, Free Soil, and an Indication of War My family’s foundation has always been rooted in knowing about our ancestry. From a very young age my mother always told me stories about my grandparents, great grandparents, and so on. About one year ago, at a family reunion, booklets were given to all of the patriarchs of the family; and inside held an abundance of information regarding our ancestry. It was a visual manifesto of exactly where we came from as a family. Naturally, I wanted to know how far into the past my own lineage could be tracked, and the man that stood out the most was that of my great great grandfather, General Winfield Scott. Now, it didn’t surprise me that such a hard working individual existed within the realms of my ancestry it was just that if I were to label my family culturally, the majority would be seen as African American. Yet, Scott is a Caucasian American male, so that was what truly surprised me in addition to his extensive resume. General Winfield Scott was a successful United States Army general who holds the record for serving this country as the longest active general in history. His career spans over 53 years of service within the military, and he held a reputation for being rather stern with his troops. Earning the nicknames of â€Å"Old Fuss and Feathers† and â€Å"The Grand Old Man of the Army.† InterestinglyShow MoreRelatedInternship Report on Citi Bank11361 Words   |  46 PagesBBA(Hons.) 6th semester Roll no: BBS-06 Department Of Business Administration Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan Sub Campus Sahiwal PREFACE Banking sector owes a pivotal importance in the economy of any country through its vibrant functions. 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Submitted by BIBHUTI JHA Roll No: PGS20090080 Batch: 2009-2011 IILM Institute for Higher Education Under The guidance of Mr. Sunil Sharma Branch Manager Aditya Birla Money Mart Ltd, Faridabad TABLE OF CONTENTS S. NO | PARTICULARS | PAGE NO | 1 | ACKNOWLEDGEMENT | 3 | 2 | DECLARATION | 4 | 3 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | 5 | 4 | OBJECTIVES |Read MoreCommercial Liens - a Potent Weapon Essay32374 Words   |  130 Pagesreading this as a sort of adventure novel. You can learn of some of the actual documents and procedures being used by many freedom fighters. If you were to actually use these documents and procedures you would probably be at substantial risk to change your life in very major ways, some of which may be very unpleasant. The use of Commercial Liens as described in this manual is EXTREMELY high-profile. 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For meRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 Pagesbuilt-in pretests and posttests, focus on what you need to learn and to review in order to succeed. Visit www.mymanagementlab.com to learn more. DEVELOPING MANAGEMENT SKILLS EIGHTH EDITION David A. Whetten BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY Kim S. Cameron UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Prentice Hall Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montreal Toronto Delhi Mexico City Sao Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul SingaporeRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pagesstorage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission(s) to use material from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions Department, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458, or you may fax your request to 201-236-3290. Many of the designations by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations

The Ideal Female Body free essay sample

The topic of the â€Å"ideal† female body is really important to me because not only does it affect me and could potentially affect me as a model, it affects all women, and has been affecting women for thousands of years. Opinions on what the female body should look like have existed since men and women were first created thousands of years ago. People’s opinions on the â€Å"perfect† female body have evolved and changed more in the last few hundred years than in the thousands of years humanity has existed. Lesley Hornby, or more commonly known as Twiggy, was the first underweight woman to be a representation of the â€Å"ideal† female body (Meredith). Although the â€Å"ideal† female body size has gradually become skinnier, especially over the past thousand years, Twiggy’s famous era was the first time in history where the â€Å"ideal† female body size was/was near the Body Mass Index physical criteria for anorexia (Abraham). We will write a custom essay sample on The Ideal Female Body or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Today, the average fashion model is 5’ 10† and weighs 110 pounds (Hesse-Biber). According to â€Å"The 50 Best Female Bodies in Sports†, â€Å"the ideal body is both sexy and muscular, and appealing and chiseled† (Rapp). It’s also commonly known that the â€Å"hourglass† shape is the â€Å"perfect† female body type, which requires a 36† bust, a 26† waist, and 36† hips. Obviously, everyone’s idea of the â€Å"perfect† female body is definitely not the same. To be a fashion model today, however, as mentioned earlier, you must be a certain height and figure for the area you model for. (For example, most runway models are at least 5’ 8† or 9† and have very strict weight equirements. ) Despite the requirements, many women today no longer feel that they can identify with or relate to models, when twenty years ago, the average fashion model weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today, she weighs 23% less (Abraham). Some women even feel that many retailers today are catering to small er sized women and not to women that are larger sizes, when 50% of women are size 14 or larger, but most clothing stores sell clothes that are size 14 or smaller (Abraham). PLUS Model Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Madeline Figueroa-Jones said that â€Å"the fashion and beauty industry continues to endorse a skinny ideal that is not always healthy and alienates a huge percentage of the market. We are bombarded with weight-loss ads [advertisements] every single day, multiple times a day because it’s a multi-billion dollar industry that preys on the fear of being fat. Small sized women cannot be marketed to with pictures of plus-sized women. Why are we [plus-sized women] expected to respond to pictures of small sized women? (Abraham) While some people have praised Madeline’s statements, others believe that positively endorsing a larger sized figure is as dangerous as endorsing a skinny one (Abraham). One person on the magazine’s website commented â€Å"I don’t think the fashion world should support obesity, just as I don’t think it should support anorexia. † (Abraham) As a response, Vogue magazine, one of the world’s most popular fashion magazines, agreed to â€Å"not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have an eating disorder†. Vogue also said that they will be asking casting directors to check IDs at fashion shows and photo shoots (Critchell). â€Å"The move is an important one for the fashion world,† said Sara Ziff, a former model and the founder of The Model Alliance, which is dedicated to improving the working conditions of models and persuading the industry to take better care of their younger models. She also said, Most editors of Vogue regularly hire models who are minors, so for Vogue to commit to no longer using models under the age of 16 marks an evolution in the industry. We hope other magazines and fashion brands will follow Vogues impressive lead. (Critchell) After conducting all this research, I’ve definitely learned a lot about not only the â€Å"ideal† female body, but modeling and the modeling industry as well. I’ve specifically learned a lot about the history of the â€Å"perfect† female body. The research I’ve done has definitely convinced me not to be so concerned with my height and weight. At the end of the day, I’d much rather just be healthy and happy to eat what I want, â€Å"perfect† or not.

corporate and business law Essay Example

corporate and business law Paper corporate and business law BY etu20110952 GASPARD vjrgile LAFITTE Pierre AC504E External auditing Take home case Pacific Sunwear of California Inc Executive summary † 3 The Sarbanes Oxley act: a compliance plan 4 Overview: 4 Summary of the Sarbanes-Oxley 4 The Sarbanes-Oxley act: † 404: Checklist: 5 Auditing standards n05: description of the procedures to comply with the section 5 International standards of auditing in reference with the 6 Processes to comply with the Section case How to comply with the 7 Procedures section 404? mplemented by Pacific Sunwear.. 8 Evaluation of the effectiveness of the process implemented by 9 Impact of the information disclosed on the stock PacSun † 10 Costs and benefits of Sarbanes- Oxley † 13 Recommendations for 15 References. 16 Appendix A : Deadline for the compliance with the different sections of internal the act.. † . 17 Appendix B: Certification required by the SEC about . 9 Appendix C: Certification required by 2 0 the SEC about disclosure controls Executive summary Pacific Sunwear of California entered in the stock market on Nasdaq in 1993. The Sarbanes Oxley act redacted in 2002, established new or enhanced standards for listing companies in the US markets and in particular the section 404 about the creation of an internal report each year, in response to a number of major corporate In this report, we will establish the impact of this United States federal law on PacSun by analyzing the process engendered, influence of the disclosures on the stock price, and the cost/benefits relation. The Sarbanes Oxley act: a compliance plan The Sarbanes-Oxley act enacted in 2002 is a United States federal law to respond to some major corporate and accounting scandals such as Enron, Tyco international or World com. These scandals cost billions of dollars to investors when stock prices collapsed and decreased the public confidence about nations securities markets and auditing standards. So, this standard established new or improved standards and regulations, for all US public company and all foreign companies listed in the US stock markets. This act contains 11 sections and required the Securities and Exchange Commission (US regulator which regulates the securities industry and the stocks and options markets) to implement the rules and comply with the new law. The deadlines to implement SOX are exposed in Appendix 1 . Summary of the Sarbanes-Oxley act: Then, we are going to describe quickly the different sections of the SOX act (except the section 4 explained below): 1 Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB): the objective of this board is to register and regulate all public accounting firms to implement compliance standards 2 Auditor independence: creation of standards for external auditor ndependence to reduce conflicts of interest 3 Corporate responsibility: defines the relation between external auditors and corporate audit committees 5 Analyst conflicts of interest: evokes practice to create a new public confidence in the reporting 6 Commission resources and authority: highlights practice to create a new public confidence in the financial analysts 7 Studies and reports: SEC has to make various studies and explain their findings 8 Corporate and criminal fraud accountability: describes criminal penalties for fraud 9 White collar crime penalty enhancements 0 Corporate tax returns requir ed to be signed by the Chief Executive Officer 1 1 Corporate fraud accountability: identified corporate fraud and records classified as criminal offenses The Sarbanes-Oxley 404: Checklist: The section 4 is about enhanced financial disclosures and increases requirements for financial reporting like off-balance sheet transactions. It requires internal controls to offer the accuracy of financial reports and disclosures. An internal control system is failures, or weaknesses in the system that must occur. The section 404 is the cornerstone of the section 4 and demands that each annual eport contain an internal control report. We will write a custom essay sample on corporate and business law specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on corporate and business law specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on corporate and business law specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This additional report assesses the responsibility of management for establishing and implementing adequate procedures for financial reporting. This report must include: assessment of effectiveness of internal control structure and procedures, any code of ethics and contents of that code. Consequently, this section is really decisive because it implies extra costs to comply with this requirement for registered public companies in the US stock markets. The Appendix 2 and 3 sum up the certifications required by the SEC. Auditing standards 05: description of the procedures to comply with the section 404 Issued the 24th may 2007, the Auditing standards n05 substitutes the Auditing standards n02. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board releases the AS n05 to describe the procedures to comply with the section 404: o Highlights a top-down risk based approach (financial risk assessment) o Places greater reliance on entity-level controls o Focuses on understanding and testing controls related to risks for significant accounts and disclosures o Allows for greater ability to rely on work of others o Changes definition of material weakness and significant deficiency: Material weakness: a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the companys annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Significant deficiency: A deficiency or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting that is less severe than a material weakness, yet important to merit the attention by those responsible for ove rsight of the companys financial reporting. o Simplifies the auditors opinion by eliminating opinion on managements ssessment of internal control 5 International standards of auditing in reference with the case The section 404 referred to some ISA standards: ISA 230 about audit documentation ISA 300 about planning an audit of financial statements ISA 330 about the auditors procedures in response to assessed risks ISA 500 about audit evidence ISA 600 about using the Work of Another Auditor 6 Processes to comply with the Section 404 After evoking the requirements of the section 404, we will describe the processes implemented by Pacific Sunwear first and by the other listed companies in general. Complying with Sarbanes-Oxley is complex; compliance requires a multiple approach involving many departments and many people which will be detailed below. How to comply with the Section 404? Generally, according to Sanjay Anand an internal control in accordance with Sarbanes-Oxley is following an eight-step process: 1 Establish a compliance committee which is specialist of the compliance with Sarbanesoxley and can have a general overview of the company about the risk and the solutions. The objective of this committee is to commit the various departments, to provide training and to communication about the objectives. Assess risk in order to identify the magnitude and potential impact of each risk in order to create a risk portfolio. 3 Set reporting objectives by determining the probability of risks and errors to define decision rules and reporting objectives. For ensuring internal control compliance, these areas need to be created: personnel control, system and resource controls, strategic planning controls and business service controls. 4 Prepare a formal implementation plan, which is a transition plan to move from project step to a day-to-day operation for an internal control system. Communicate the ongoing procedures by presenting clearly and effectively with the focusing on understanding, acceptance and observance. 6 Provide training implemented by the compliance committee in internal policies, practices and procedures. 7 Document processes and risk management certified by the Chief Executing Officer and the Chief Financial Officer so as to demonstrate the efficiency of the internal control system. Perform continuous evaluation performed by the manager in order to establish and maintain controls and to ensure the appropriate compliance. 7 Procedures implemented by Pacific Sunwear The most expensive costs of compliance were those linke d with the section 404: costs about internal controls over financial reporting. The procedures of compliance are only described for the two first years in the case study: 2004 and 2005. Before the compliance, PacSun had not internal control system. They only created it in mid 2003 and they paid the services of a Big-4 auditing firms as required by the section 404. They expanded the internal control department at the end of 2004. About the procedures they implemented in 2004, PacSun followed a process in five steps: 1) Scope and plan the evaluation 2) Document the controls nd correct deficiencies 5) Reports on internal control They identified also 21 major business processes assigned to an owner with the objective to develop detailed process narratives. These major business processes were divided into sub processes with the detail of the business objectives and the risks. At the end of 2004, they had identified a total of 238 key controls and they managed to highlight a significant deficiency about the revaluation of deferred leases which can affect by definition the reliability of external auditing data. Then, all public officers had to certify in their area that the control was effective. The CEO and CFO certified then of the fairness and reliability of the financial statements. In 2005, the process became easier because all the information had already been created. They reduced the number of key controls to 222, only a 7% decrease, in comparison with larger companies (19% of decrease). They discovered a new significant deficiency because they didnt recognize liabilities about the companys loyalty program. 8 Evaluation of the effectiveness of the process implemented by PacSun Strengths: Enables to discover two significant deficiencies which misstate the financial statements Enable to create an efficient internal control system, which reduces the risks and increases the efficiency of the global system Implementation of a double control : internal control and Big-4 auditing firms control Better assessment of risks implied Significant reduction of the costs after the first year of implementation of about 40%, comparable to the other companies Commitment of all the employees which can increase the motivation and the corporate culture Better disclosure of financial information for financial analysts and investors Weaknesses: Compliance costs of $2 million in 2004 and $1. million in 2005 Additional costs associated with the training of the staff with the necessary creation of a SOX program training The compliance is very time-consuming with an increase of the formalization Competitive disadvantage in comparison with the other competitors not listed Overall, PacSun had efficiently implemented the compliance and the weaknesses will tend to reduce over the long term. However, PacSun management believed that the costs are greater than the benefits engendered. The costs implied and generally the time spent to respect the compliance rules, can Justify this opinion. Impact of the information disclosed on the stock prices In 2005, PacSun need to restate his prior two years financial statements, which resulted in no material change to net income. Auditors Judge restatement like deficiencies but they dont agree about the type of deficiency: two of the Big-4 firms judge this particular type of restatement as only a significant deficiency, i. e. a control deficiency, or combination of control deficiencies, that adversely affects the companys ability to be in accordance with GAAP. The others two Judge it to be a material weakness, i. e. significant deficiency, or combination of significant deficiencies, that result in more than remote likelihood that a material misstatement of financial statements will not be prevented or detected. by the PacSun loyalty program called Pac Bucks. In fact, the liabilities and expenses of this program were not recognizing in the proper quarter. This accounting problem was considered by external auditors like a significant deficiency, but not a material weakness. Thus, in FY 2005, PacSun received clean financial statement and 404 opinions. What is the impact of Information Disclosure provided by these deficiencies n PacSuns stock price? In this graph, we can see that the PacSuns stock price is very volatile between 2005 to 2007 (Beta higher than 1) when the NASDAQ is regularly up. This volatility can be explained by 10 the convergence of PacSun to SOX and the substantial increase of information provided on the firm. But it is very hard to have a real opinion of the impact of Information Disclosure on stock Market Returns with a unique firm. Thus we will answer with papers which study this impact on a large sample of US Company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is one of the , if not the, most important pieces of egislation affecting corporations traded on the US stock exchanges, since the Securities Act of 1932 and Securities Exchange Act of A934 were enacted (Gordon et al. 2007). The SOX act introduced significant changes to financial practice and corporate governance regulation, including new rules designed to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures made pursuant to the securities laws. And the part of the Act having the most impact must be Section 404, which requires management to submit to the SEC with the companys annually filed financial statements, an internal control report, an assessment of the ffectiveness of the internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting, and finally an audit report which include a description of material weakness in such internal controls and of any material noncompliance. Furthermore, where significant deficiencies exist, they need to be identified as required under SOX like we saw in the PacSun case. Many studies demonstrate that the passage of mandatory government regulation like SOX may be altering the operation of capital market by affecting the stock performance of firms. In 2007, Balakrishnan et Al. , examine, by a dataset on stock arket abnormal returns and consists of 300 firms, how the stock market reaction varies for 8-K filling and how this reaction have changed since the passage of the SOX act. The result is that the SOX have the particularity to increase the information flow of a firm. Thus when a disclosure of a deficiency is promulgated, the information is quickly announced by media and have a direct negative impact on the stock market price. Inversely, when a firm received clean financial statement and 404 opinions, we can think that stock price is positively impacted because its an evidence of a very ood internal control of the firm. Another interesting dimension to consider would be the size of the firm. The effect of Sarbanes-Oxley on the firms information environment is expected to vary with the size of the firm (Ghose et al. 2006). In fact, international firm, but in the US sportswear market, this size is important. In a stock market where diversification is one of the solutions to leverage the risk, PacSun can be a blue chip. Thus, a special attention is paid to it by media. 1 Finally, we can say that disclosure of these deficiencies have had a negative effect on irms stock price but, on the contrary, clean financial statement certification and Good 404 opinion have a positive impact on stock price. In addition, a firm can decide to increase the speed with which information reaches investors by publicizing it in me dia articles. Its a good way to build a loyal firms brand image i. e. increase the investor recognition and limited the impact of bad news on the stock price. 12 Costs and benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley PacSun executives seem convinced that the costs of complying with SOX were greater than the benefits to the company. Though, according to a survey entitled Oversight Systems financials Executive Report conducted with 222 corporate finance leaders, 74 percent said their company benefited from SOX, 79 percent reported significantly stronger or somewhat stronger internal controls as a result of SOX, 46 percent said SOX compliance benefits the company by ensuring accountability and 75 percent said they would vote to keep Section 404 if they were members of Congress. In fact, the benefits of SOX Compliance are multiple: There is a positive influence on maintaining investor confidence (and long-term share price) through increased ransparency and fewer surprises. Financial reporting is more timely and reliable. Overall control culture and corporate governance process are improved. Outdated, redundant and inflective processes and controls are eliminated. Employee on- boarding process is easier Then, why did PacSun not benefit from the compliance process to the same extent as some other companies? Or were their compliance costs too high? The main issue of PacSun is this medium size ($1 billon in market capitalization). The high cost of SOX implementation is financially draining many firms. The SOX doesnt ake a distinction between large-cap billion-dollar companies and small-cap; $75- millon companies (the minimum cap to be obliged to apply SOX). Therefore, the Act requires all public companies to comply with the same regulations; it doesnt take into consideration that small companies arent as complex in organizational structure as large companies. Because large corporations have complex business models, more complicated accounting practices, they already have a lot of controls in place to ensure the efficiency of their operations that are required by SOX. In other hand, maller companies have simpler organizational structures and, thus, have slighter accounting practices, which generate simpler financial statements. These small firms require less internal controls. Therefore, since small companies have simpler subject to the same internal control and external auditing requirement of large companies. In the case of PacSun, this business model and accounting practice are closer from a small firm as shown this number of key controls (222 versus an average of 540 for the large companies). In addition, the SOX were created to fight against corporate scandals like Enron. But the majority of these scandals have occurred in large corporations with thousand of shareholders by the intermediary of retirement/pension fund. PacSun doesnt have the same type of shareholders and doesnt require the same level of protection for the shareholder interests. Therefore, although shareholder interests should be protected, SOX regulations arent needed for smaller firms that have simple business structures and a small number of shareholders that are unlikely to fraud themselves (entrepreneurs who start the company, their families, and public shareholders without any link between them). Implanting SOX is a long and costly process for companies. In the case of PacSun where his market is not occupied by large companies but especially by little firms (under the $75-million cap) which dont apply SOX, this implantation creates for PacSun a competitive disadvantage and stumps their growth by requiring them to spend excessive amounts of money and time to implement regulation. As example of costs, we have the cost of training, the implementation of a strong internal control, an increase of the size of finance/accounting departments, the fees of the audit firms ; he required amount of money is disproportionately larger in comparison with the largest firms. Thus in conclusion, we can say that SOX were designed in priority for large and complex companies. These costs are too high in relation with the engendered benefits for small caps. 4 Recommendations for PacSun Continue the work to reduce the number of key controls and try to improve a large part of them (better define it and really find an utility) Check the conformity between all marketing projects and internal control before a launching Optimize the balance between internal and external auditors to reduce the work of he external auditors Change your mind: SOX is an advantage to improve internal control Create a training and development program with an e learning module for example References Anand, S. (2006), Sarbanes-Oxley guide for finance and information technology professionals, John Wiley and Sons, 2nd edition Balakrishnan, K. , Ghose, A. and Ipeirotis, P. 2007), the Impact of Information Disclosure on Stock Market Returns: The Sarbanes- Oxley Act and the Role of Media as an Information Intermediary, University of Cambridge Bowling, D. Julien, R. and Rieger, L. (2003), Implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley S 404: Ensuring Compliance, Leveraging Opportunities Ghose, A. and RaJan. U. (2006) The Economic Impact of Regulatory Information Disclosure on Information Security Investments, Competition, and Social Welfare Proceedings of the Workshop on Economics of Information Security, University of Cambridge Gordon, L. , Loeb, M. , Lucyshyn, W. and Sohail, T. (2006), The Impact of the Sarbanesoxley Act on the Corporate Disclosures of Information Security Activities. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 25(5) pp. 503-530. Grinberg, E. 2007), The impact of Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 on Small Firms, Pace University Ramos, M. (2004), How to comply with Sarbanes-Owley Section 404. Assessing the Effectiveness of Internal Control, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Available on: http:// books. google. fr/books? id=GAMR23qTQUC=process+to+comply+with+section +404=frontcover=bl= LaTJJAf1 e 1 16 Appendix A : Deadline for the compliance with the different sections of the actl professionals, John Wiley and Sons, 2nd edition, page 63/64 17 18 Appendix B: Certification required by the SEC about internal controls2 professionals, John Wiley and Sons, 2nd edition, page 68

I wish I were…

I wish I were†¦ I wish I were I wish I were By Maeve Maddox A reader wonders whether to use was or were in the following examples: I wish I wereorI wish I was If only it wasor If only it were What is the rule?   With these examples, the choice is obvous because the words wish and if only make it clear that the speaker is talking about something that is not so. In such a case the subjunctive is called for: I wish I were If only it were Sometimes the choice whether to use the subjunctive or the indicative is not so clear. To a large extent, English speakers dont pay much attention to the subjunctive. As long ago as 1926 H.W. Fowler called the subjunctive in English moribund. He went further and suggested that it never was possible to draw up a consistent table of uses of the subjunctive in English that would correspond to such tables for Latin. Although the subjunctive is not a big deal in English, some uses of it are still alive and not difficult to master. Depending on context, the choice between indicative and subjunctive can be as obvious as the examples with wish and if only. If I were/if he were/if she were These forms are called for when the statement refers to a state outside reality: If he were Governor he could pardon you. (Hes not the Governor.) If I were you, Id fix that leaky roof. (Im not you.) If she were an animal, shed be an armadillo. (Shes not an animal.) If I was/if he was/if she was These forms are called for when the statement refers to a state of being that existed, or could have existed in actual time: If he was ill, no wonder he left the oysters untouched. If I was unkind to you in those days, please forgive me. If she was lost in the woods, no one can blame her for being late. Sometimes the speaker must decide according to intended meaning: If she were sensible, shed order a background check on him. (I know her and shes not sensible.) If she was sensible, shed order a background check on him. (I dont know if shes sensible or not. She may be.) In his DCBLOG, David Crystal gives this example overheard in conversation: A If Jane was right for the part, Id cast her. B But thats the point. Is she right? A Well if she were, Id cast her, thats all Im saying This example shows an intermingling of indicative and subjunctive to achieve nuances of meaning. Stated rule at OWL DWT article on Mood Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:75 Synonyms for â€Å"Angry†Five Spelling Rules for "Silent Final E"A Yes-and-No Answer About Hyphenating Phrases