Advanced Accounting free essay sample

Advanced Accounting Assignment Week 7 1. Which of the following combinations correctly describes the relationship between foreign currency transactions, exchange rate changes, and foreign exchange gains and losses? Answer: c. Import purchase, Depreciates and Gain 3. On October 1, 2013, Mud Co. , a U. S. company, purchased parts from Terra, a Portuguese company, with payment due on December 1, 2013. If Mud’s 2013 operating income included no foreign exchange gain or loss, the transaction could have Answer: b. Been denominated in U. S. dollars. 4. In Post’s 2014 consolidated income statement, how much should it report as a foreign exchange loss? Answer: c. $15,000. 5. In its 2014 income statement, what amount should Houghton include as a foreign exchange gain or loss on the note? Answer: d. $10,000 loss. 6. Did the foreign currencies increase or decrease in dollar value from the date of the transaction to the settlement date? Answer: d. Increase, Decrease 10. Which of the following correctly describes the manner in which Barnum Company will report the forward contract on its December 31, 2013, balance sheet? Answer: d. As a liability in the amount of $4,901. 50. 11. Assuming that MNC did not enter into a forward contract, how much foreign exchange gain or loss should it report on its 2013 income statement with regard to this transaction? Answer: c. $2,000 loss. 12. Assuming that MNC entered into a forward contract to sell 10 million South Korean won on December 1, 2013, as a fair value hedge of a foreign currency receivable, what is the net impact on its net income in 2013 resulting from a fluctuation in the value of the won? Answer: b. $58. 80 decrease in net income. Advanced Accounting free essay sample FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic 280, Segment Reporting (FASB ASC 280), provides current guidance on segment reporting. A. ASC 280 follows a management approach in which segments are based on the way that management disaggregates the enterprise for making operating decisions; these are referred to as operating segments. B. Operating segments are components of an enterprise which meet three criteria. 1. Engage in business activities and earn revenues and incur expenses. 2. Operating results are regularly reviewed by the chief operating decision-maker to assess performance and make resource allocation decisions. Discrete financial information is available from the internal reporting system. C. Once operating segments have been identified, three quantitative threshold tests are then applied to identify segments of sufficient size to warrant separate disclosure. Any segment meeting even one of these tests is separately reportable. 1. Revenue test—segment revenues, both external and intersegment, are 10 percent or more of the combined revenue, external and intersegment, of all reported operating segments. We will write a custom essay sample on Advanced Accounting or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 2. Profit or loss test—segment profit or loss is 10 percent or more of the greater (in absolute terms) of the combined reported profit of all profitable segments or the combined reported loss of all segments incurring a loss. 3. Asset test—segment assets are 10 percent or more of the combined assets of all operating segments. D. Several general restrictions on the presentation of operating segments exist. 1. Separately reported operating segments must generate at least 75 percent of total sales made by the company to outside parties. 2. Ten is suggested as the maximum number of operating segments that should be separately disclosed. If more than ten are reportable, the company should consider combining some operating segments. E. Information to be disclosed by operating segment. 1. General information about the operating segment including factors used to identify operating segments and the types of products and services from which each segment derives its revenues. 2. Segment profit or loss and the following components of profit or loss. a. Revenues from external customers. b. Revenues from transactions with other operating segments. c. Interest revenue and interest expense (reported separately). d. Depreciation, depletion, and amortization expense. e. Other significant noncash items included in segment profit or loss. f. Unusual items and extraordinary items. g. Income tax expense or benefit. 3. Total segment assets and the following related items. a. Investment in equity method affiliates. b. Expenditures for additions to long-lived assets. II. Enterprise-wide disclosures. A. Information about products and services. 1. Additional information must be provided if operating segments have not been determined based on differences in products and services, or if the enterprise has only one operating segment. In those situations, revenues derived from transactions with external customers must be disclosed by product or service. B. Information about geographic areas. 1. Revenues from external customers and long-lived assets must be reported for (a) the domestic country, (b) all foreign countries in which the enterprise has assets or derives revenues, and (c) each individual foreign country in which the enterprise has material revenues or material long-lived assets. 2. U. S. GAAP does not provide any specific guidance with regard to determining materiality of revenues or long-lived assets; this is left to management’s judgment. C. Information about major customers. 1. The volume of sales to a single customer must be disclosed if it constitutes 10 percent or more of total sales to unaffiliated customers. 2. The identity of the major customer need not be disclosed. III. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) also provide guidance with respect to segment reporting. A. IFRS 8, â€Å"Operating Segments,† is based on U. S. GAAP. Major differences between IFRS 8 and U. S. GAAP are: 1. IFRS 8 requires disclosure of total assets and total liabilities by operating segment if these are regularly reported to the chief operating decision maker. U. S. GAAP requires disclosure of segment assets but does not require disclosure of segment liabilities. 2. IFRS 8 specifically includes intangibles in the scope of â€Å"non-current assets† to be disclosed by geographic area. Authoritative accounting literature (FASB ASC) indicates that â€Å"long-lived assets† to be disclosed by geographic area excludes intangibles. U. S. GAAP requires an entity with a matrix form of organization to determine operating segments based on products and services. IFRS 8 allows such an entity to determine operating segments based on either products and services or geographic areas. IV. To provide investors and creditors with more timely information than is provided by an annual report, the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires publicly traded companies to provide financial statements on an interim (quarterly) basis. A.Quarterly statements need not be audited. V. FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic 270, Interim Reporting (FASB ASC 270) requires companies to treat interim periods as integral parts of an annual period rather than as discrete accounting periods in their own right. A. Generally, interim statements should be prepared following the same accounting principles and practices used in the annual statements. B. However, several items require special treatment for the interim statements to better reflect the expected annual amounts. Revenues are recognized for interim periods in the same way as they are on an annual basis. 2. Interim statements should not reflect the effect of a LIFO liquidation if the units of beginning inventory sold are expected to be replaced by year-end; inventory should not be written down to a lower market value if the market value is expected to recover above the inventorys cost by year-end; and planned variances under a standard cost system should not be reflected in interim statements if they are expected to be absorbed by year-end. 3. Costs incurred in one interim period but associated with activities or benefits of multiple interim periods (such as advertising and executive bonuses) should be allocated across interim periods on a reasonable basis through accruals and deferrals. 4. The materiality of an extraordinary item should be assessed by comparing its amount against the expected income for the full year. 5. Income tax related to ordinary income should be computed at an estimated annual effective tax rate; income tax related to an extraordinary item should be calculated at the margin. VI. FASB ASC 270 provides guidance for reporting changes in accounting principles made in interim periods. A. Unless impracticable to do so, an accounting change is applied retrospectively, that is, prior period financial statements are restated as if the new accounting principle had always been used. B. When an accounting change is made in other than the first interim period, information for the interim periods prior to the change should be reported by retrospectively applying the new accounting principle to these pre-change interim periods. C. If retrospective application of the new accounting principle to interim periods prior to the change of change is impracticable, the accounting change is not allowed to be made in an interim period but may be made only at the beginning of the next fiscal year. VII. Many companies provide summary financial statements and notes in their interim reports. A. U. S. GAAP imposes minimum disclosure requirements for interim reports. 1. Sales, income tax, extraordinary items, cumulative effect of accounting change, and net income. 2. Earnings per share. Seasonal revenues and expenses. 4. Significant changes in estimates or provisions for income taxes. 5. Disposal of a business segment and unusual items. 6. Contingent items. 7. Changes in accounting principles or estimates. 8. Significant changes in financial position. B. Disclosure of balance sheet and cash flow information is encouraged but not required. If not included in the interim report, significant changes in the following must be disclosed: 1. Cash and cash equivalents. 2. Net working capital. 3. Long-term liabilities. 4. Stockholders equity. VIII. Four items of information must also be disclosed by operating segment in interim financial statements: revenues from external customers, intersegment revenues, segment profit or loss, and, if there has been a material change since the annual report, total assets. IX. IAS 34, â€Å"Interim Financial Reporting,† provides guidance in IFRS with respect to interim financial statements. A. Unlike U. S. GAAP, IAS 34 requires each interim period to be treated as a discrete accounting period in terms of the amounts to be recognized. As a result, expenses that are incurred in one quarter are expensed in that quarter even though the expenditure benefits the entire year. And there is no accrual in earlier quarters for expenses expected to be incurred later in the year. Answer to Discussion Question: How Does a Company Determine Whether a Foreign Country is Material? In his well-publicized â€Å"The Numbers Game† speech delivered in September 1998, former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt cited â€Å"materiality† as one of five gimmicks used by companies to manage earnings. Although his remarks were not specifically directed toward the issue of geographic segment reporting, the intent was to warn corporate America that materiality should not be used as an excuse for inappropriate accounting. To make the point even more salient, ASC 250-10-S99 (SAB Topic 1. M, Assessing Materiality, originally issued by the SEC as Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 99, â€Å"Materiality†), warns financial statement preparers that reliance on a simple numerical rule of thumb, such as 5% of net income, is not sufficient. ASC 250-10-S99 reminds financial statement preparers that in its Concepts Statement 2, the FASB stated the essence of the concept of materiality as follows: â€Å"The omission or misstatement of an item in a financial report is material if, in the light of surrounding circumstances, the magnitude of the item is such that it is probable that the judgment of a reasonable person relying upon the report would have been changed or influenced by the  inclusion or correction of the item. † Further, ASC 250-10-S99 reminds companies that both quantitative and qualitative factors should be considered in determining materiality. With respect to segment reporting, ASC 250-10-S99 states: â€Å"The materiality of a misstatement may turn on where it appears in the financial statements. For example, a misstatement may involve a segment of the registrants operations. In that instance, in assessing materiality of a misstatement to the financial statements taken as a whole, registrants and their auditors should consider not only the size of the misstatement but also the significance of the segment information to the financial statements taken as a whole. â€Å"A misstatement of the revenue and operating profit of a relatively small segment that is represented by management to be important to the future profitability of the entity is more likely to be material to investors than a misstatement in a segment that management has not identified as especially important. In assessing the materiality of misstatements in segment information as with materiality generally situations may arise in practice where the auditor will conclude that a matter relating to segment information is qualitatively material even though, in his or her judgment, it is quantitatively immaterial to the financial statements taken as a whole. Thus, in addition to quantitative factors, such as the relative percentage of total revenues generated in an individual foreign country, companies should consider qualitative factors as well. Qualitative factors that might be relevant in assessing the materiality of a specific foreign country include: the growth prospects in that country and the level of risk associated with doing business in that country. There are competing arguments for the FASB establishing a significance test for determining material foreign countries. On one hand, such a quantitative materiality test flies in the face of the warning provided in ASC 250-10-S99. For example, a 10% of total revenue or long-lived asset test might give companies an excuse to avoid reporting individual countries  that would be material for qualitative reasons. Assume that from one year to the next a company increases its revenues in China from 2% of total revenues to 6% of total revenues. Although 6% of total revenues would not meet a 10% test, the relatively large increase in total revenues generated in China could be material in that it could affect an investor’s assessment of the company’s future prospe cts. This company might be reluctant to disclose information about its revenues in China because of potential competitive harm. On the other hand, the FASB could establish a materiality threshold low enough, for example, 5% of total revenues, that would be likely to ensure that â€Å"material† countries are disclosed regardless of whether they are material for quantitative or qualitative reasons. A bright-line materiality threshold would ensure a minimum level of disclosure and would enhance the comparability of financial disclosures provided across companies. Answers to Questions 1. Consolidation presents the account balances of a business combination without regard for the individual component companies that comprise the organization. Thus, no distinction can be drawn as to the financial position or operations of the separate enterprises that form the corporate structure. Without a method by which to identify the various individual operations, financial analysis cannot be well refined. 2. The word disaggregated refers to a whole that has been broken apart. Thus, disaggregated financial information is the data of a reporting unit that has been broken down into components so that the separate parts can be identified and studied. 3. According to the FASB, the objective of segment reporting is to provide information to help users of financial statements: a.  better understand the enterprise’s performance, b. better assess its prospects for future net cash flows, and c. make more informed judgments about the enterprise as a whole. 4. Defining segments on the basis of a company’s organizational structure removes much of the flexibility and subjectivity associated with defining industry segments under pri or standards. In addition, the incremental cost of providing segment information externally should be minimal because that information is already generated for internal use. Analysts should benefit from this approach because it reflects the risks and opportunities considered important by management and allows the analyst to see the company the way it is viewed by management. This should enhance the analyst’s ability to predict management actions that can significantly affect future cash flows. 5. An operating segment is defined as a component of an enterprise: a. that engages in business activities from which it earns revenues and incurs expenses, b. whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the chief operating decision maker to assess performance and make resource allocation decisions, and c.  for which discrete financial information is available. 6. Two criteria must be considered in this situation to determine an enterprise’s operating segment. If more than one set of organizational units exists, but there is only one set for which segment managers are held responsible, that set constitutes the operating segments. If segment ma nagers exist for two or more overlapping sets of organizational units, the organizational units based on products and services are defined as the operating segments. 7. The Revenue Test. An operating segment is separately reportable if its total revenues amount to 10 percent or more of the combined total revenues of all operating segments. The Profit or Loss Test. An operating segment is separately reportable if its profit or loss is 10 percent or more of the greater (in absolute terms) of the combined profits of all profitable segments or the combined losses of all segments reporting a loss. The Asset Test. An operating segment is separately reportable if its assets comprise 10 percent or more of combined assets of all operating segments. For reportable operating segments, the following information must be disclosed: a. Revenues from sales to unaffiliated customers. b. Revenues from intercompany transfers. c. Profit or loss. d. Interest revenue. e. Interest expense. f. Depreciation, depletion, and amortization expense. g. Other significant noncash items included in profit or loss. h. Unusual items included in profit or loss. i. Income tax expense or benefit. j. Total assets. k. Equity method investments. l. Expenditures for long-lived assets. m. Description of the types of products or services from which the segment derives its revenues. 9. If operating segments are not based upon products or services, or a company has only one operating segment, then revenues from sales to unaffiliated customers must be disclosed for each of the company’s products and services. 10. Information must be provided for the domestic country, for all foreign countries in which the company generates revenue or holds assets, and for each foreign country in which the company generates a material amount of revenues or has a material amount of assets. Two items of information must be reported for the domestic country, for all foreign countries in total, and for each foreign country in which the company has material operations: (1) revenues from external customers, and (2) long-lived assets. 12. The minimum number of countries to be reported separately is one: the domestic country. If no single foreign country is material, then all foreign countries would be combined and two lines of information would be reported; one for the United States and one for all foreign countries. U. S.  GAAP does not provide any guidelines related to the maximum number of countries to be reported. 13. The existence of a major customer and the related amount of revenues must be disclosed when sales to a single customer are 10 percent or more of consolidated sales. 14. U. S. GAAP requires disclosure of a measure of segment assets, but does not require disclosure of a measure of segment liabilities. IFRS 8 requires disclosure of total assets and total lia bilities by segment if such a measure is regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker 15. U. S.  publicly traded companies are required to prepare quarterly financial reports to provide investors and creditors with relevant information on a more timely basis than is provided by an annual report. 16. Companies are required to follow an integral approach in which each interim period is considered to be an integral part of an annual accounting period, rather than a discrete accounting period in its own right. For several items, the integral approach requires deviation from the general rule that the same accounting principles used in preparing annual statements should also be used in preparing interim statements. 17. Cost-of-goods-sold should be adjusted in the interim period to reflect the cost at which the liquidated inventory is expected to be replaced, thus avoiding the effect of the LIFO liquidation on interim period income. 18. Income tax expense related to interim period income is determined by estimating the effective tax rate for the entire year. That rate is then applied to the cumulative pre-tax income earned to date to determine the cumulative income tax to be recognized to date. The amount of income tax recognized in the current interim period is the difference between the cumulative income tax to be recognized to date and the income tax recognized in prior interim periods. 19. When an accounting change occurs in other than the first interim period, information for the pre-change interim periods should be reported based on retrospective application of the new accounting principle. If retrospective application of the new accounting principle to pre-change interim periods is not practicable, the accounting change may be made only at the beginning of the next fiscal year. The following minimum information must be disclosed in an interim report: a. Sales, income tax, extraordinary items, cumulative effect of accounting change, and net income. b. Earnings per share. c. Seasonal revenues and expenses. d. Significant changes in estimates or provisions for income taxes. e. Disposal of a business segment and unusual items. f. Contingent items. g. Changes in accounting principles or estimates. h. Significant changes in the following items of financial position: 1. Cash and cash equivalents. 2. Net working capital. 3. Long-term liabilities. 4. Stockholders equity.

History of British Newspapers Essay Example

History of British Newspapers Essay Example History of British Newspapers Essay History of British Newspapers Essay History of British Newspapers Britains press can trace its history back more than 300 years, to the time of William of Orange. Berrows Worcester Journal, which started life as the Worcester Postman in 1690 and was published regularly from 1709, is believed to be the oldest surviving English newspaper. William Caxton had introduced the first English printing press in 1476 and, by the early 16th century, the first news papers were seen in Britain. They were, however, slow to evolve, with the largely illiterate population relying on town criers for news. Between 1640 and the Restoration, around 30,000 news letters and news papers were printed, many of which can be seen today in the British Museum. The first regular English daily newspaper, the Daily Courant, was launched with the reign of Queen Anne in 1702. Timeline 1476William Caxton sets up the first English printing press in Westminster. 1549First known English newsletter: Requests of the Devonshyre and Cornyshe Rebelles. 1621First titled newspaper, Corante, published in London. 1649Cromwell suppressed all newsbooks on the eve of Charles Is execution. 1690Worcester Postman launched. In 1709 it starts regular publication as Berrows Worcester Journal, considered to be the oldest surviving English newspaper). 1702Launch of the first regular daily newspaper: The Daily Courant. 1709First Copyright Act; Berrows Worcester Journal, considered the oldest surviving English newspaper, started regular publication. 1712First Stamp Act; advertisement, paper and stamp duties condemned as taxes on knowledge. Stamford Mercury believed to have been launched. 1718Leeds Mercury started (later merged into Yorkshire Post). 1737Belfast News Letter founded (worlds oldest surviving daily newspaper). 748Aberdeen Journal began (Scotlands oldest newspaper now the Press Journal). 1772Hampshire Chronicle launched, Hampshires oldest paper. 1788Daily Universal Register (est. 1785) became The Times. 1791The Observer launched. 1835Libel Act; truth allowed as defence for first time in Britain. 1836The Newspaper Society founded. 1844The Southport Visiter first published. 1848The first issue of the Brechin Advertiser was published on Tuesday 3 October 1848. 1853Ormskirk Advertiser and Birkenhead News first published. 1855Stamp duty abolished. Daily Telegraph started as first penny national. Manchester Guardian, The Scotsman and Liverpool Post became daily. Shields Gazette is the first of 17 regional evenings founded this year. 1868Press Association set up as a national news agency. 1889First Official Secrets Act. 1905Harmsworth (then Northcliffe) bought The Observer. 1906Newspaper Proprietors Association founded for national dailies. 1907National Union of Journalists founded as a wage-earners union. 1915Rothermere launched Sunday Pictorial (later Sunday Mirror). 1922Death of Northcliffe. Control of Associated Newspapers passed to Rothermere. 1928Northcliffe Newspapers set up as a subsidiary of Associated Newspapers. Provincial Newspapers set up as a subsidiary of United Newspapers. 1931Audit Bureau of Circulations formed. 1936Britains first colour advertisement appears (in Glasgows Daily Record). 1944Iliffe took over BPM Holdings (including Birmingham Post). 1946Guild of British Newspaper Editors formed (now the Society of Editors). 1953General Council of the Press established. 1955Month-long national press strike. Daily Record acquired by Mirror Group. 1959Manchester Guardian becomes The Guardian. Six-week regional press printing strike. 1960sPhotocomposition and web-offset printing progressively introduced. 964The Sun launched, replacing Daily Herald. Death of Beaverbrook. General Council of the Press reformed as the Press Council. 1969Murdochs News International acquired The Sun and News of the World. 1976Nottingham Evening Post is Britains first newspaper to start direct input by journalists. 1978The Times and The Sunday Times ceased publication for 11 months. 1980Association of Free Newspap er founded (folded 1991). Regional Newspaper Advertising Bureau formed. 1981News International acquired The Times and the Sunday Times. 1983Industrial dispute at Eddie Shahs Messenger group plant at Warrington. 984Mirror Group sold by Reed to Maxwell (Pergamon). First free daily newspaper, the (Birmingham) Daily News, launched by husband wife team Chris Pat Bullivant. 1986News International moved titles to a new plant at Wapping. Eddie Shah launched Today, first colour national daily launched. The Independent launched. 1987News International took over Today. 1988RNAB folded. Newspaper Society launched PressAd as its commercial arm. Thomson launched Scotland on Sunday and Sunday Life. 1989Last Fleet Streetpaper produced by Sunday Express. 1990First Calcutt report on Privacy and Related Matters. Launch of The European (by Maxwell) and Independent on Sunday. 1991Press Complaints Commission replaced the Press Council. AFN folded. Death of Robert Maxwell (November). Management buy-out of Birmingham Post and sister titles. Midland Independent Newspapers established. 1992Management buy-out by Caledonian Newspapers of Lonrhos Glasgow titles, The Herald and Evening Times. 1993Guardian Media Group bought The Observer. UK News set up by Northcliffe and Westminster Press as rival news agency to the Press Association. Second Calcutt report into self-regulation of the press. 994Northcliffe Newspapers bought Nottingham Evening Post for ? 93m. News International price-cutting sparked off new national cover-price war. 1995Lord Wakeham succeeded Lord McGregor as chairman of the PCC. Privacy white paper rejected statutory press controls. Most of Thomsons regional titles sold to Trinity. Newsquest formed out of a Reed MBO. Murdoch closes Today (November). 1996A year of buyouts, mergers and re structuring in the regional press. Regionals win the battle over cross-media ownership (Broadcasting Act). Newspaper Society launches NS Marketing, replacing PressAd. 997Midland Independent Newspapers is bought by Mirror Group for ? 297 million. Human Rights and Data Protection bills are introduced. 1998Fourth largest regional press publisher, United Provincial Newspapers, is sold in two deals: UPN Yorkshire and Lancashire newspapers sold to Regional Independent Media for ? 360m and United Southern Publications sold to Southnews for ? 47. 5m. Southern Newspapers changes its name to Newscom, following acquisitions in Wales and the West (including UPN Wales in 1996). Death of Lord Rothermere. Chairmanship of Associated Newspapers passes to his son Jonathan Harmsworth. Death of David English, editor-in-chief of Daily Mail and chairman of the editors code committee. 1999Trinity merges with Mirror Group Newspapers in a deal worth ? 1. 3 billion. Newsquest is bought by US publisher Gannett for ? 904 million. Portsmouth Sunderland Newspapers is bought by Johnston Press for ? 266m. Major regional press groups launch electronic media alliances (eg, This is Britain, Fish4 sites. ) Freedom of Information bill introduced. Associated launches Londons free commuter daily, Metro. 2000Newscom is sold to Newsquest Media Group for ? 44m, Adscene titles are sold to Southnews (? 52m)and Northcliffe Newspapers, Belfast Telegraph Newspapers are sold by Trinity Mirror to Independent News Media for ? 300m, Bristol United Press is sold to Northcliffe Newspapers Group, and Southnews is sold to Trinity Mirror for ? 285m. Daily Express and Daily Star are sold by Lord Hollicks United News Media to Richard Desmonds Northern Shell. Launch of Scottish business daily Busine ss a. m. and more Metro daily frees. Newspaper Society launches internet artwork delivery system AdFast. Communications white paper published. 001RIM buys six Galloway and Stornaway Gazette titles, Newsquest buys Dimbleby Newspaper Group and Johnston Press buys four titles from Morton Media Group. UK Publishing Media formed. Sunday Business changes name to The Business and publishes on Sunday and Monday. 2002Johnston Press acquires Regional Independent Medias 53 regional newspaper titles in a ? 560 million deal. Northcliffe Newspapers Group Ltd acquires Hill Bros (Leek) Ltd. Queen attends Newspaper Society annual lunch. New PCC chairman, Christopher Meyer, announced. Draft Communications Bill published. The Sun and Mirror engage in a price war. 003Conrad Black resigns as chief executive of Hollinger International, owner of Telegraph group. Claverly Company, owner of Midland News Association, buys Guiton Group, publisher of regional titles in the Channel Islands. Archant buys 12 Lond on weekly titles from Independent News Media (December) and the remaining 15 the following month (January 04). Independent begins the shift to smaller format national newspapers when it launched its compact edition. Sir Christopher Meyer becomes chairman of the Press Complaints Commission. DCMS select committee chaired by Gerald Kaufman into privacy and the press. Government rejects calls for a privacy law. 2004Phillis Report on Government Communications published (January). Barclay Brothers buy Telegraph group and poach Murdoch Maclennan from Associated to run it. Kevin Beatty moves from Northcliffe Newspapers to run Associated Newspapers. Trinity Mirror sells Century Newspapers and Derry Journal in Northern Ireland to 3i. Tindle Newspapers sells Sunday Independent in Plymouth to Newsquest. The Times goes compact (November). 2005Johnston Press buys Score Press from EMAP for ? 155m. Launch of free Lite editions for London Evening Standard and Manchester Evening News. The Times puts up cover price to 60p, marking the end of the nationals’ price war. The Guardian moves to Berliner format after ? 80m investment in new presses. DMGT puts Northcliffe Newspapers up for sale; bids expected to open at ? 1. 2 billion. Johnston Press buys Scotsman Publications from Barclay Brothers for ? 160m. 2006DMGT sale of Northcliffe group aborted but DC Thomson acquires Aberdeen Press Journal. Trinity Mirror strategic review: Midlands and South East titles put up for sale. Growth of regional press digital platforms. Manchester Evening News city edition goes free. Government threat to limit Freedom of Information requests. Associated and News International both launch free evening papers in London during the autumn. 2007Archant Scotland acquired by Johnston Press. Northcliffe Media buys three regional newspaper businesses from Trinity Mirror; Kent Regional Newspapers, East Surrey and Sussex Newspapers and Blackmore Vale Publishing. Dunfermline Press Group acquires Berkshire Regional Newspapers from Trinity Mirror. Tindle Newspapers buys 27 local weekly newspapers from Trinity Mirror which retains its Midlands titles. The government abandons plans to tighten Freedom of Information laws and limit media access to coroners’ courts. Former Hollinger International chief executive Conrad Black is sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for fraud. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation buys Dow Jones, owner of the Wall Street Journal, appointing News International boss Les Hinton as chief executive. 2008The global economic downturn hit advertising revenues and shares of media companies fell sharply during the year. John Fry was announced as Tim Bowdler’s successor at Johnston Press in September. The Independent announced a plan to move to DMGT’s Kensington building to cut costs in November. The BBC Trust rejected plans for local video that would have a negative impact on regional titles in the same month following a sustained campaign by the NS. 2009Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev acquires the London Evening Standard from Daily Mail General Trust and the title is subsequently relaunched as a free newspaper. Baroness Peta Buscombe is appointed chairman of the Press Complaints Commission. 2010Britain officially emerges from the longest and deepest recession since the war. Lebedev acquires the Independent and Independent on Sunday from Independent News Media for a nominal fee of ? 1. Trinity Mirror acquires GMG Regional Media, publisher of 32 titles, from Guardian Media Group for ? 44. 8 million. News International erects paywalls around its online content for The Times and The Sunday Times. Eleven regional print titles are launched by seven publishers in the first six months of the year. Newly-elected coalition government announces it will look at the case for relaxing cross-media ownership rules and stop unfair competition from council newspapers. The Independent launches i, a digest newspaper to complement their main title, and the first daily paper to be launched in the UK in almost 25 years.

The massacre of the innocents by Francois Joseph Naves during Essay

The massacre of the innocents by Francois Joseph Naves during - Essay Example The picture has a hidden story and acts as a narrative of the whole massacre event. Firstly, the characters in the picture are in a sorrowful and worried mood. The painter has used the facial expressions to reveal sad moods that prevailed in the city after King Herod ordered the killing of all the male infants. It had happened after his appointment as King of the Jews. From the use of facial characteristics, one can also tell that the female gender suffered from most of the stress after the death of their children. The women and children are hiding from Herod’s soldiers while trying to keep the baby girls silent for their own safety. According to the background, it is because most of the men had either peacefully of forcefully joined Herod’s army after he became the king. From the window, one can also see the soldiers trying to struggle with women so that they would search the houses for male children. Joseph has also used the portrait to show that a prophecy from the O ld Testament had been fulfilled where Christian martyrs had to be executed. It also reveals the fear in the female children most of whom did not understand the whole occurrence. The work can be based on the Bible as the only source. The massacre has been highlighted in the Book of Mathew in the New Testament. He has also used knowledge from the book to reveal his characters in the painting. By analyzing the portrait, one can tell that Joseph was emotionally. Additionally, he also had a specific reason as to why he chose the massacre by King Herod. The physical positions of the characters represent what they were saying based on the Bible. From the portrait, one can tell that Elizabeth is the lay dressed in yellow because after hearing the news on the executions, she hid her child in an ox-stall. On close examination, one can tell that the painting has been worked on by an expert. The clarity of the cloth color and the texture

You have 4 choices Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

You have 4 choices - Annotated Bibliography Example Many people are suffering because they cannot access medical treatment to curb and maintain the disease because their identity brings conflict. Medical treatment of cancer has become biased since in some instance, it has become difficult to access medical treatment due to their skin color or their economic status. In this piece of literature, the author has described cancer in all its forms. He has also mentioned that cancer is an expensive disease and requires to be maintained. With the lack of finances, many people have been left out of treatment because they cannot afford to pay for chemotherapy and other related methods of treatment. In the United States of America, the racial and ethnic groups who are minorities are the most likely people to die from the development of cancer just because they cannot be able to access medical care and also because they are of a different race. Due to the disparities in cancer treatment and prevention, many people are dying on a daily basis because of their inability to access medical care. Most of the disparities are caused by factors such as low economic class, an individuals’ culture, and the most prevalent is poverty. Nancy E. Adler and Ann E.K. Page, Cancer care for the whole patient : meeting psychosocial health needs / Committee on Psychosocial Services to Cancer Patients/Families in a Community Setting, Board on Health Care Services, Washington, D.C: National Academic Press, 2008. Financial capability when it comes to the medical treatment and prevention of cancer is a factor that is considered by, sadly to say, majority of the facilities that offer cancer treatment. The purpose of the article above is to create awareness and show people that judging a person by their financial status makes the whole idea of treatment wrong. For quite a while, the people who have been regarded as poor have been excluded

Netflix and Porter's Five Forces Model Coursework

Netflix and Porter's Five Forces Model - Coursework Example The HBO subscribers are able to watch any available movie on the network at any given time. For instance, Netflix customers have the ability to order movies online at a relative lower fee of $7.99 per month (Jones and Hill 42). Supplier power in the movie rentals is also recognized to be too low. The low supplier power can be attributed to few distributors who all sell their products at the same price. The customers’ bargaining power play a crucial role in determining the pressure they put on a particular market. According to the Five Forces Model, there are threats of substitute and services and they are moderately high. Free online streaming is another source of movie rentals. Websites such as Crackle.com and Hulu.com allow their users to watch movies online free of charge. Even though this provides a free alternative, there is a switching cost for the current Netflix users. Netflix customers can stream movies to their television sets through certain video game consoles. In the process of switching to the free online streaming, customers do not incur the monthly $7.99 fee. However, this only limits them to watch the movies on an internet accessible device (Kaplan 45). The threat of new entrants is the next force. This force can similarly be recognized to be moderately high. There are only a few barriers connected to the entry into the movie rental industry. The first barrier is the need to have the legal rights that will allow the company to supply copyrighted movies to its customers. This barrier seems tricky for a company entering the industry since it will hard for the company to overcome the barrier. Use of online services is another potential barrier to entry. With the current technological advancements, it will important for a new business to include online involvement. This point greatly emphasizes the threat of new companies entering the movie rental industry. With the option of free online streaming, a new web-based company will probably

Brand Management at Uber

Brand Management at Uber Uber Case Analysis BACKGROUND Uber is a taxi service that connects users with independent car drivers by just a push of a button on an app (Exhibit 1) (Uber, 2017).Uber is known for its accessible anytime and low cost to luxury services (Uber, 2017). Ubers’ value to its drivers is that it promotes additional source of income, flexible working hours, and those who can earn money for doing their hobby. It focuses on customers who do not own a car, like to travel in style, and prefer a cost-efficient cab. Uber’s primary competitors in the United States are Lyft, traditional taxi drivers, public transportation and car owners. It earns revenue by taking 20% commission on each ride, while the rest goes to the driver. Uber has shown continuous growth, with net revenue of approximately $5.97 billion in 2016. However, they have also been incurring huge losses over the past couple of years, and had losses of $3 billion at the end of 2016 (Exhibit 2). Lyft, Ubers’ main competitor, has had a dramatic inc rease in growth in the past years, while Ubers’ growth has stagnated (Exhibit 3). Investors have been pressuring the CEO to go towards an IPO because it will be an easier way to raise cash trading in the financial market. The CEO has been delaying an IPO launch because Uber is trying to smooth out all bumps as a private company before going public. Currently, Uber raises its capital through venture capital firms and it is valued at $69 billion (Abboud, 2017).   Ã‚  Ã‚   One of Uber’s key marketing strategy for acquiring new customers is through word of mouth, which allows the company to spend virtually no money on advertisement. 95% of Uber drivers have heard about the company from another Uber riders and for every 7 Uber rides, word of mouth generates one new customer. The word of mouth strategy and the referral program allowed Uber to rise in popularity in many cities around North America and internationally. At the end of 2016, Uber was successful in expanding to approximately   81 countries and 581 cities worldwide. However, in the span of just two months, three major incidents are now resulting in the company to be viewed in a negative light. These events have been damaging people’s perception of Uber and its brand image through social media and word of mouth, the same platforms that helped Uber gain popularity in the first place. JFK Airport President Trump signed an executive order of banning refugees from seven predominantly Muslim nations, which created outrage and chaos in airports. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance showed their support for detained refugees by avoiding John F. Kennedy International Airport between 6p.m. to 7 p.m. on 28th January. Instead of standing with the Taxi drivers, Uber decided to eliminate their surge prices around the JFK region caused considerable outrage on Twitter and caused an increase of search of this topic on Google (Exhibit 4). Uber’s surge pricing is a company practice of temporary raising prices of rides because of the high demand and insufficient supply of drivers. Customers and competitors perceived this decision either as profiting off the situation and/or supporting the President’s travel ban because lowered price allowed Uber to capture higher sales. Uber quickly responded by stating that they were not in support of the Presidents executive order nor were they trying to profit from the situation. Uber’s spokesperson has said that the decision to turn-off their surge prices was due to increased demand during the protest. The Uber CEO also spoke out against the executive order through Facebook to mitigate the storm of outraged consumers. However, this did not work, which eventually resulted to Uber CEO’s resignation from his position on the Presidents’ Economic Advisory Council. Social media activists created #DeleteUber that went viral, which was tweeted 222,000 times and caused 200,000 Uber riders to delete their accounts by having screenshots of themselves deleting the app and posting it through twitter (Exhibit 5). On the other hand, Lyft responded by donating $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union, which is a civil rights group that is fighting the executive order in the US courts. This negative news reporting caused Lyft to increase its market share from 16.5% to 20.9% in the ride-hailing industry and the spending on Lyft by consumers spiked by 30% (Exhibit 6).The #DeleteUber caused 7% increase of users for Lyft, where more than half were previous Uber users before JFK incident(Exhibit 7). Furthermore, 81% of the users that joined Lyft deleted Uber permanently (Hinchlife, 2017). Following Lyfts announcement of donating $1 million to the American Civil Liberalities, it increased riders by 30%, whereas Uber had a 10% decrease in users at around the same time frame (Bhattarai, 2017). Additionally, this public relations nightmare encouraged and gave growth to new competitors in the New York City region, such as Juno. Juno has had a dramatic spike in growth at the end of January 2017, which could potentially make it a future competitor (Exhibit 8).   In addition, Uber’s rank in all app downloads   went down that day, which is valued at a $40 million loss. Lyft has surpassed Uber as the top downloaded app during the time of travel ban news report (Exhibit 9) (Williams, 2017).    Sexual Harassment Incident Following the decision for Uber to turn-off surge prices, a former engineer, Susan Fowler spoke out about her experience of sexual harassment and neglect by the HR department at Uber through her blog (Exhibit 10, 11). Susans blog was shared on Twitter 22,000 times, which encouraged more Uber users to delete the app. Marian Baldauf, former Uber user, said â€Å"When I read the woman’s blog it was just so deeply offensive and so wrong in so many ways that I just couldn’t do it anymore, so I switched to Lyft. I’ve taken two rides since and they’ve been wonderful†. CEO quickly responded that the company has hired US Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the claims of sexism, sexual harassment, and Ubers’ culture. CEO also made a statement through its website that â€Å"Ubers number one priority is creating a just workplace†. A report has shown that women accounted for 15.1% of Uber engineers, product management, and scientist teams, which is lower than Google, Twitter, and Facebook. The CEO asked for Amir Singhal, Senior Vice President of Engineering, to resign due to not disclosing his sexual harassment allegations at Google.The VP of Product and Growth Ed Baker also resigned due to allegations of sexual harassment at Uber. The timing of these new revelations gave consumers more added incentive to delete the app. According to the blog post by Susan, when she started working with Uber, women accounted for 25% of the workforce. When she resigned the number went down to as low as 6% (Thomas, 2017).   Fowlers blog boosted Lyft’s market share to increase to 21.3% and it was consistent in all the four top markets in the US (Exhibit 12) (Jones, 2017). The #DeleteUber campaign during this time again exploded and caused more Uber users to delete their app. In the meantime, Lyft launched their services to 50 more cities during this time (Moscaritolo, 2017). Video: CEO v.s. Uber Driver The CEO was caught on camera shouting and being insensitive to an Uber driver Fawzi Kamal. Kamal, who has been with the company since 2011, confronted the CEO at the end of the ride in San Francisco for lowering prices for Uber’s luxury high end chauffeur service (Exhibit 11, 13).   The CEO was caught on camera saying â€Å"Some people don’t like to take responsibility for their own s†.   The CEO was forced to issue an apology to staff members and said that â€Å"it’s clear this video reflects me and the criticism we’ve received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up†. The CEO explained and responded by claiming to attend a leadership seminar and its reported that he will hire an executive to work alongside himself. This news report adds to the bad relationship Uber has with its own drivers leading to low driver loyalty towards Uber (Exhibit 14). Many drivers continue to be with Uber for the simple fact that Uber subsidizes their pay in many areas. However, Ubers goal is to lower its prices to beat the competitors, which leads to   a reduction in drivers’ salary. An Uber driver from California has said â€Å"I think a lot of drivers feel that Uber always looked out for themselves first and foremost and relegated drivers to a second tier†. 400,000 drivers have currently left Uber to go to its competitors. Competitors have marketed to drivers about their better compensation and tip app. However, drivers have explained that they do get more business with Uber due to its reach. Uber drivers’ compensation is around $15.97 per hour compared to the $13 but it does not account for gasoline, insurance, and the cost of the vehicle (Kuo, 2016) (Exhibit 15). Market research was conducted and it showed that most drivers will pick Lyft over Uber due to its tip app. The Rideshare Guy blog conducted survey that showed that 75.8% of Lyft drivers have said that they were satisfied with their experience with Lyft, while 49.4% Uber drivers are satisfied. Lyft drivers earn $1.82 more per hour than Uber drivers.The issue that caused this was due to the lowering of prices of Uber products, while the average trip lengths are 10.2 minutes per trip for Uber drivers (Exhibit 16 ). ANALYSIS Uber is a profit oriented business that, unfortunately, has made revenue generation its main goal rather than satisfaction of its customers. Uber has not realized that having a traditional approach to revenue gaining inevitably hurts a business nowadays rather than helps it. Uber is not taking into consideration other equally important factors, such as corporate social responsibility, that makes a business successful in a world that has become so small, that with just a click of a button, any negative review of a business revolves globally, defaming a business if it has profited unethically and unfairly. As of now, Uber has been highly criticized for three incidents in a period of just two months. Taking advantage of taxicab and taxi drivers that were striking for the â€Å"Muslim Travel Ban† is one of the most unethical financial decision that Uber took, which led to a global uproar. 200,000 Uber apps were deleted within five days when #deleteUber was created on social media. Analyzing this, the very first thing it is doing wrong, is over emphasising on revenue generation. Before the decision of not surging up the prices, Uber did not realize the backfire it would face from the millennials, its main target audience, who, around 61%, want to contribute for the betterment of the world. Hence, when Uber took advantage of the taxi drivers, who are predominantly from Muslim countries, its target audience was furious, as Uber’s view and its actions did not align with the perspective of the millennials. As shown in Exhibit 2, 2016 revenue increased by 14.58% from first quarter to second quarter, and there was a massive rise of 53.55% in the third quarter. By taking the average, the last quarter increase would be about (14.58 + 53.55)/2 = 34%, which is around $2278 million. Adding all the revenue, the sum net revenue for the year of 2016 would be approximately $6038 million. The number of active users in 2016 was 15.8 million as shown in (Exhibit 17),and hence the average revenue generation from one active user per year is 6038m/15.8m = $382.15. This can lead to the conclusion that because of the deletion of Uber App after this incident, there was a loss of 200000*382.15 = -$76.43 million. Even though they might have earned quite a lot of revenue by not surging up the prices for that one hour, they have, at the end, suffered a huge loss from their action.Because 81% of the 10% Uber users deleted the app permanently, this has caused high customer attrition rate who will ask their friends and family to delete the app as well. This will further harm the brand image and improve the chances of Uber’s competitors, like Lyft, to capture the customers. Moreover, its pricing strategy was extremely wrong during such a delicate situation. Uber’s decision of not surging up the prices was perceived as purely a decision of financial gain by most people. Others also thought of Uber supporting the Travel Ban mainly because of this pricing strategy. This will further increase the number of people perceiving Uber as only revenue generators, further defaming the company. Because of the vast reach of social media, good and bad information is always streaming into social networking sites.In case of Uber, this negative information has affected consumers’ perceptions and has deteriorated brand reputation built during Uber’s years of operation, until and unless Uber changes its perception and aligns its values with the values of its target customers. There are, however, other reasons that led Uber to take this poor decision in the first place, and that is lack of corporate social responsibility. Uber has been trying to expand to as many countries as possible. Though extremely hard, it has been very successful in expanding its business, thereby operating in 81 countries worldwide. However, seeing that it started as a business in 2009, it just took Uber less than ten years to expand this much, which can lead to the conclusion that Uber might have over expanded. Instead of creating brand equity and finding creative ways to satisfy its customers, employees and the community as a whole, Uber has focused mainly on expansion rather than making strategic decisions for itself. Also, because there are excessive legal, advertisement and operational fees every time a company operates in a new country, most of Uber’s revenue goes towards these costs, and hence it does not have any money for taking social initiatives that might resonate with its target audience. Its lack of money for corporate social responsibility after these expansion costs is a huge reason for taking such poor decisions that counteracts the brand image it intends to make for itself. Its lack of taking any social initiatives firstly contradicts millennials’ views of helping the world be a better place, and it also makes it harder for people to believe that what they did was unintentional and there was no greed for financial gain. Its image of being constantly perceived as a revenue generator does not help Uber in this crisis since this goes against Uber’s value proposition. Susan J. Fowler’s blog about sexism, gender disparity, and sexual harassment was another crisis that Uber had to face. The worst part, however, was that Uber had made no attempts to help her; instead they were threatening to fire her for her complaints to HR. After this incident, there was a third increase in searches on Google Trends (Exhibit 11), which resulted in more #deleteUber tweets. With 25% women working in Uber when she joined, only 6% were left after one year when she decided to quit. This doesn’t just show the unprofessional environment for its employees, but also the unfair treatment of women in 2017, a time when companies are trying strenuously to eradicate the discriminatory practices. The uproar against the blog was hard for Uber, though not at all surprising. Even though Uber has expanded enormously, it has not taken proper measures to keep a professional environment for its employees. In today’s competitive environment, a company this big should provide a proper HR facility to its employees; where their concerns can be heard and willing to take proper action be taken if any problem arises. Instead, it seems like no proper guidelines about how to behave in a workplace are given to its employees. Even if employees are told about them, no strict action is taken against those who break the rules. Hence, it motivates people like the manager to continue their unethical and illegal behaviour as the HR is doing nothing to show its employees the consequences of their actions. For a workplace of only 6% women, no new woman would want to even apply to such an organization, especially after reading this blog that is available for everyone to see worldwide. It wont just defame Uber in America, but all around the world for practicing such sexist acts against women. Even the existing small percentage of women working there would also end up leaving, even for lower pay if they are given a comfortable environment to work in and more opportunities. Having only 3% engineers who are women is also quite disturbing as there is a huge gender disparity, leading to a discouragement of both men and women to work there. As a result, they may lose the chance of working with some of the best talent, who may end up going to work for Uber’s competitors. Moreover, not giving a promotion to employees when they are fully worthy of it, and then lying about it for manager’s personal gain of looking good as he has more female engineers working for him, shows political instability within the Uber environment, which can be demoralizing for all its employees, resulting in loss of motivation, reduced efficiency, and effectiveness. This can also highly increase the chances of lawsuits filed against them, which will not be helpful for Uber’s already weak situation. Uber is also highly likely to lose the lawsuits as many of its employees have records of what they did, just like Susan had. This will also lead to huge costs, which Uber cannot afford, with what so much going on. Furthermore, management’s failure to provide clear and concise goals will also lead to confusion among employees and a loss of commitment, not just to the task but to Uber as well. This event, hence, can also lead to the conclusion that Uber, as a team, is not working together towards improving the brand image and its brand equity; due to this, they end up making independent decisions that are not suitable for the whole company. Although keeping customers and internal employees satisfied is a pinnacle for any business success, ensuring external employee happiness has also never been a priority for Uber. In fact, Uber failed to realize that happy drivers would mean efficient employees, better work cultures that translate to happier customers. Mistreatment of its drivers and the video going viral (Exhibit 11) are some of the factors that led to the deterioration of its brand over years as the loss of drivers led to slower growth rate compared to its competitors Lyft (Exhibit 3). Hence, these negative reviews and mistreatment of drivers can be a threat for Uber by affecting future driver’s ability to drive for Uber and instead drive for competitors, which can hurt the company’s brand equity (no one wants to be involved with immoral company) as the drivers are the main channel for bringing sales and connecting with users. Due to this, Uber lost $1.27 billion in first half of 2016.   Keeping employees satisfied is important but Uber losing 400,000 drivers mean more cost of hiring new replacement drivers, which can be time consuming and will inevitably increase Uber’s expenses. This loss was due to drivers being unsatisfied because compared to the competitors like Lyft   uber drivers did not have a tip app and as a result they were required to work long extensive hours each week to make up for it due to most Uber users not having cash on hand. For instance, in order for a driver now to make $50,000, the breakeven point for the drivers to drive to reach this point is 60.21 trips each week (exhibit 15). This can put a lot of stress on the drivers and provides drivers with fewer opportunities to grow within Uber, which results in frustration for drivers. As a result, Uber’s weakness of not compensating the drivers to keep them satisfied is another reason for leaving Uber as they can get much higher pay through working with Uber’s competitors which means higher turnover rate. For Uber the opportunity to get back on a steady growth lies in their ability to further prevent losing their drivers because without drivers Uber would cease to exist in future.If consumers and drivers were to continue to share their frustrating experience with Uber, these bad information streaming in social media networks can affect the perception that people feel about the brands which can deteriorate its brand for long period of time (Exhibit 5). Through CSR, firms can build their reputation, competitiveness; drive innovation and thus leading to sustainable profits, which Uber failed to do so. By not building employee (internal & external) and customer   loyalty lead to less attraction of new investors because Uber does not have a good visibility of their sustainability and do not show transparency in their decisions that will create sustainable development of society. In conclusion, Uber needs to communicate a better image to the customers. They need to modify their value proposition, and emphasize on making social change instead of just focusing on low cost and easy access (Exhibit 18). They need to understand that social media is a very important aspect in the lives of the millennials, and they should use it to their advantage by spreading a better image of themselves. Their actions are not going to be tolerated by their core customers if its value proposition does not resonate with them. Being professional in the workplace, having a strategic management that focuses on making strategic decisions that are going to help Uber generate money not only in the short run, but in the longer run as well, and focusing on satisfying their employees and customers is going to make Uber successful in this era. Uber hence needs to seriously rebrand itself if it wants to survive in this market. RECOMMENDATIONS Firstly, Uber needs to have a public apology for their actions in the last few months before Uber rebrands on social and live press conference. In each of the three incidents discussed in analysis, never once did Uber directly apologize to the public for its mistakes. Nowadays, the general public places an extremely high value upon clarity and transparency, and hence coming clean and admitting that they have spent numerously on less important aspects when they should have tried to launch social initiatives is one step closer to rebranding itself. Also, Uber needs to explain how it is initiating changes to make up for mistakes so that it will not happen again in the future. This should stop outrage and reduce harm done to the company as a result of widespread of negative publicity. Secondly, Uber needs to replace the current CEO, Travis Kalanick. Uber can make him a part of the board of directors with most voting shares instead of keeping him as the face of Uber. This is because the CEO is directly or indirectly responsible in all three incidents. The public will very likely hold the CEO responsible for all three incidents or associate him with negative publicity since he is the face of the company. Thus, rebranding changes would not be as effective if Kalanick remains the CEO. Hence, replacing him is vital if Uber wants to make changes and want the public re-evaluate Uber based on the changes made. The new CEO should be a woman that has experience running a business, is a women’s’ activist, has experience with CSR, and has helped with rebranding. Giving an important position to female would suggest gender equality which will offset the negative effects caused by Susan’s sexism blog. A CEO with these qualifications would be able make better decisions for Uber to get it through this difficult time. Thirdly, involving Uber drivers in the decision making process by hosting a Company Town Hall meeting for all Uber drivers in each city per quarter to discuss Uber agendas, driver concerns, and new opportunities. This can improve Ubers’ turnover because more Uber drivers will understand the business decisions of the company. This meeting will also address concerns of drivers because over the years they have felt that their concerns are not being met and taken into consideration. They can do this by sending surveys and questionnaires via email related to any decision that might directly affect the drivers. Also, emails can be sent after every meeting regarding the conversation so that even those drivers who were not able to attend will have a better idea of what is happening in Uber. Moreover, Uber should create a loyalty program that encourages more drivers to stay with Uber, thereby reducing turnover. This loyalty program will judge the drivers under two criterion; number of rides and drivers’ ratings. The driver will be considered more valuable when the number of rides are high and they get consistent high ratings. There will be three levels; bronze, silver, and gold. If the driver reaches 2000 rides in one year with consistent high ratings, s/he will earn a bronze medal, which provides incentive of a $50 gift card to their favorite retail store or 3 free meals at a restaurant of their choosing. If the driver reaches 2800 rides in one year with high ratings, they will earn a silver medal where Uber provides them with a $100 gift card and 6 free meals at any restaurant of their choosing. If an Uber driver reaches 3500 rides in one year and be in the top 50 rated drivers in their city, they will have earned a Gold medal. This gold medal will give the Uber driver free gym membership (to show that Uber cares for their drivers’ health), $100 gift card, and will give them 90% of the rides hare money than the 80% for the Silver and Bronze. The Gold drivers will also be recognized in the Company’s Town Hall meeting as a recognition of their hard work and loyalty to the company. Because this program is a goal oriented approach, it will give Uber drivers more motivation to stay, as they are recognized in the decision making process and are given benefits. This will hence inevitably change the perception of the company. Also, encourage Uber drivers to have a video camera in their cars because it will bring more safety for the drivers and allow Uber to adjust their ratings due to false claims by customers because there will be proof that the driver was not at fault. Uber management should also look over the data of the rating of drivers to make sure that discrepancies are found to show that drivers’ ratings are important for the company. Uber should also start a tip feature because most of the customers do not carry cash with them as it is done through the Uber app. Therefore, creating a feature where the drivers can earn tips can provide them a way of earning more money which will further motivate them to stay with Uber. Furthermore, it should change its HR team, and hire individuals who have proper knowledge and experience in maintaining a safe and motivational environment for its employees. A good HR team that is approachable, respectful, just, motivated, and innovative will slowly but inevitably win back the confidence of its employees, who can then be more motivated and efficient, and work towards rebuilding the perception of Uber as well. The new HR team should carefully select diverse talented employees who can fit in and be successful in the new work environment of Uber. Additionally, training should be provided to the new employees, with a separate conference about sexual harassment in the workplace; which talks about what sexual harassment is, what to do and whom to go to, what must be done and the consequences of harassment. Showing that in the beginning will ensure that new employees know how important safety of its employees is to Uber. A guidebook should be provided to every new employee so that everyone has a written copy about the rules of Uber’s culture. There should also be brochures on the boards, on which clear guidelines should be provided for anyone who faces harassment. A safe and just environment will hence not just motivate men to apply, but also gain back the trust of women. Uber will be able to then increase the number of women employees in its company. On top of that, it should build a whistleblowing department where anyone can report legal or ethical concerns while being anonymous. Simultaneously, whistleblowing should not just be legal, but should be encouraged within Uber, so that employees are motivated to speak against unjust actions and Uber can maintain a company where it internalizes fair and just policies for everyone. Moreover, there should be evaluations of employees as well as managers every six months. Managers should evaluate their subordinates but the employees should also get a chance to evaluate the managers so that managers’ skills and effectiveness can be measured, and proper feedback as well as training be provided if they lack certain skills as a manager, which will help them grow within the business. When it comes to the employees, feedback should be provided, and follow-ups should be mandatory for employees to help them acquire greater skills and help them grow for more growth opportunities within the workplace. Moreover, the value proposition and the colors of the brand logo need to be changed to mark major changes that are about to occur. As mentioned in the analysis, Uber needs to modify value proposition to emphasize social changes and show that Uber cares about society too. Uber’s current value proposition is too mechanical and lacks emotional component to it, which leads to the perception of Uber being a revenue generator. Uber’s logo should be changed to purple as it represents nobility, royalty, peace, pride and dignity; all of which should represent Uber. Value proposition that focuses on social initiatives should be written and posted clearly on their website for easy access to everyone. With the right colors and the right messages, consumers’ willingness to give Uber a second chance will rise and Uber can be successful in re-branding itself.    Lastly, what Uber must do is think up of a creative way to help better the society. Hence, in our opinion, Uber should set $200,000 apart and sponsor refugee families from different countries. Because it takes on average $30,000 to sponsor a family of four, targeting for five families this year is more than enough. Uber should then have a separate team that helps them settle in, and help them with the driving licenses so that they can work for Uber to generate income. This will slowly minimize people’s perception of Uber as a revenue generator and expander, and people will start thinking of them as a company that wants social change. Pictures of the refugees and their stories should be the first thing that people should see when they open their website. Because word of mouth was the main source of advertisement before, they can change that to making visual ads for YouTube advertisement that cannot be skipped, where stories of refugees and how Uber helped them is emphasized. The campaign name should be catchy, for e.g. â€Å"We Change, They Change, Life Changes,† which will force people to see how Uber is striving to change. In the longer run, however, they can also start a women empowerment initiative in third world countries which will further improve their image. These are some of the mandatory changes that Uber must do to survive within this competitive market. However, it needs to realize that being innovative is just not enough nowadays as that does not set you apart from the competitors; a company needs to take social initiatives, be ethical, and focus on CSR to have a competitive advantage. Hence, Uber needs to realize that while these are the answers to the current problems, it needs to internalize these solutions within its environment and take continuous social actions in the longer run, to help make a difference. Bibliography Abboud, Leila. (2017, March 16). Uber’s $69 Billion Dilemma. Retrieved from March 17,2017 from https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2017-03-16/uber-needs-to-get-real-about-that-69-billion-price-tag Fowler, S. J. (2017, February 19). Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber. Retrieved March 11, 2017, from https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber Google. (n.d). Google Trends. 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Natural Born Japanese Killers :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Natural Born Japanese Killers Americans and Japanese are both fond of pointing out the difference in crime rates. To many Japanese, America is seen as an outlaw nation, bristling with guns. And for many Americans, the juxtaposition of Japan's often ultra-violent entertainment with their low crime rate is fascinating. Japanese pop culture and crime statistics are often cited to defend American entertainment when it is accused of inspiring violence. But for anyone paying attention, startling crimes have a way of popping up in Japan unexpectedly. There were the "Otaku Murders" of 1988 and 1989, where Tsutomo Miyazaki kidnapped and killed four girls of around five years of age, reenacting gruesome scenes from his hentai collection. The serin gas attack in 1995 is another notable incident in the analogs of Japanese crime history. Perpetrated by the Aum Shinrikyo cult, almost a dozen people were killed during the terrorist attack. I asked a Japanese friend of mine once, "Are there gangs in Japan?" I've since learned that Japan has a long history of gangs, including everything from high school motorcycle gangs to the Yakuza, but he shook his head. He said there were no gangs, but in Japan sometimes kids just go crazy. He told me the story of a boy who would kill people on the street, discretely, and then hide in an alley to watch the ensuing action. He was eventually caught with the murder weapon near one of his crime scenes. This was several years ago, and I wrote the story off as an urban legend. Recently, however, there have been several articles published about teenage boys committing gory crimes in Japan. Over the last year there have been multiple incidents. A 65-year old woman in Aichi prefecture was murdered on May 1, 2000. On May 3, a boy in Saga prefecture hijacked a bus with a knife. He held a six-year-old girl hostage, killed one woman, and wounded five others. There have been more crimes, including knivings in people's homes, baseball bat bludgeonings and matricide, budgeonings with hammers, and, just two weeks ago, a 15-year-old boy on Kyushu crept into a house during the night and attacked a family. All six family members were attacked, and three died. Incidents such as these have been reported in many newspapers and online news sites, but I take the examples above from two articles on the subject. Tim Larimer, a correspondent for Time wrote "Natural-Born