Managing Information Technology Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managing Information Technology - Coursework Example An added feature of executive Information system is its support for the graphical functions representation. Unlike the predecessor solution providers that only provided data figures, this system through the help of graphs, comparison charts and other similar displays make it possible understanding the scenario in a better manner. Integration of the internal data with the external variables is another feature function of E.I.S. Creating a budget that is in line with the needs of the organization is also made possible through this utility feature system. Owing to their excellent output, their increased productivity and reduced hassle, the larger enterprises and front runner business trend setters have adopted these systems into their networks. Data mining is a modern trend that has emerged with the evolution of the information technology based support systems. As the name would imply, it is the investigation and assessment of the different variables and different data sheets and facts through a certain critical viewing and perspective. The two concepts are equally intertwined, while data mining is related to the dissected and detailed investigation and assessment of the overall facts and data at hand, the data warehouse in contrast serves as a repository of information and overall monitoring level tool and software support system. Number of techniques and strategies can be adopted with regard to the data mining process and utilization of the software. Two of the most commonly used techniques include clustering and classification techniques. Through the technique of clustering different set of variables may be brought together for a cumulative assessment of key variables. The cluster technique allows targeting and segregating two set of variables and responders in a data set collected from a survey or any other observational study undertaken. Pre determination

Comorbidity and Treatment of Mental Illnesses Research Paper

Comorbidity and Treatment of Mental Illnesses - Research Paper Example Changes in these levels can lead to abnormalities. In addition, during the interview with the parents, it was acknowledged that they tolerated this abnormal behavior such as moodiness. He was also having problems at school due to the particular cohort of students he was associating with. The increase in weight could also be attributed to either genetic factors or simply the parents feeding him an unhealthy diet. On a side note, he seemed to have some abnormally shaped facial features which could possibly be the result of trisomy-21 or another genetically linked disorder which could be used to help explain the genetic link behind the psychiatric illnesses. The suicide which followed due to bullying could have also been prompted by a couple factors. The students were making fun of him and over time this wears down a person’s defenses making them vulnerable. People who are suffering from depression and suicide also have low amounts of dopamine, which is an important neurotransmit ter in the regulation of mood. It is hard to place Alex’s problems at a specific root such as ADHD because there are so many biopsychosocial problems which could be effecting and causing many of the problems in which he is experiencing. First, in order to gather information regarding the roots of the problem, I would focus on the biology and family history as well as the parent’s lifestyle and parenting style. 1. Is there a family history of obesity and any other conditions associated with obesity such as heart disease, cancers, etc.? 2. Is there a history of ADHD or any other diagnosable psychiatric illnesses in the family? 3. Has this behavior always been displayed, or has this been something that has evolved in the past few years? 4. How would you describe your parenting style when dealing with Alex? 5. How would you describe his home life in relation to his social life at school? The questions that I would like to ask Alex would be more related to his ideas of suic ide and depression and looking his global index as far as mental health. 1. When and how many times have you considered committing suicide? 2. How does it make you feel when the kid’s bully you†¦ how do you deal with that? 3. How do you feel when you cannot concentrate in class and do your work? 4. What do you want out of life? 5. Is there anything else you want to share as far as how your family, friends, teachers, etc. treat you? Interview 1. When and how many times have you considered committing suicide? There has been a few times in which I have felt like what’s the point in living. Like its hard when you can’t find anything you’re good at, and you see kids doing good in some aspect and I’m just not good at anything. I also am fat and the kids like to make fun of me for that. I feel like what’s the point in living if I can’t be successful or do anything. I have only tried once to go through with my suicide, but I think about it as a way of me escaping from everything. 2. How does it make you feel when the kid’s bully you†¦ how do you deal with that? It makes me feel sad and angry. I feel like they are attacking me and it hurts me on the inside. Sometimes I will get angry and fight back, but then I get into trouble. I feel like I can’t talk to anyone about it because I don’t want to come off as weak to my parents or at school. Most of the time I just want to play video games and be by myself when I go home

Kirkpatricks Four-Level Training Evaluation Model Applied

Kirkpatricks Four-Level Training Evaluation Model Applied Case Scenario Sunshine Supermarket is an upcoming supermarket in Singapore. It first opened its door for business in the year 2014 at Jurong East. Sunshine Supermarkets primary aim is to serve the customer. Keeping existing customers happy is important, as they are more likely to return. This is more cost effective for the business than acquiring new ones. Sunshine Supermarkets original product range of grocery and general merchandise has diversified to include home appliances, electrical goods as well as telephone equipment. In the past two year Sunshine Supermarkets growth has been massive mainly due to its excellent customer service and quality of products. Sunshine Supermarkets market expansion strategy is to penetrate further in the Singapore market by opening the second store in Punggol. Sunshine Supermarket would be recruiting 10 more retails staffs, three for the current branch and seven for the new branch. The new recruits would be foreign nationals with no prior retail experience. They would have to be trained in customer service, merchandising, stock taking and other functions. All employees have a varied style of learning. Three retails staffs who have been exemplary employees in the first branch will be promoted to the role of Store Manager, Purchase Manager and Supervisor respectively. Currently they lack leadership skills which may impede their performance in the new store. Growth Prospects: Sunshine Supermarket is currently pursuing the market development strategy to expand its operations and they are planning to enter into UK market in 2017. Before explaining Kirkpatricks four levels of Training Evaluation it is important to understand why such evaluation is done. There are various types of evaluations techniques to understand and Kirkpatricks for levels of Training Evaluation is just one of the thousand methods of training method that is used by training organizations to determine their training program effectiveness. The reason for a new recruit, promoted employee or anyone who is sincere enough to hold a job position that they are not trained would feel he/she wants to be trained before taking up that particular responsibility that their organization is assigning them. Each person have a different thinking e.g. I want be trained because I want to be accepted by my company, I want to be trained because I want to be trusted by my company, I want my company and my fellow managers to understand that they need me, and etc (Selvaraj, 2016). On the other hand the company will also feel confident that the person who has undergo the training program will be on his/her 100% in performing the job title given, as they are trained professionally on how to handle. There will be lots of changes in the management of the company e.g. senior management listening to whatever advice you might given for the company, the company promoting you faster because of the sincere you might be showing, you will be of course given more control since you are trained, and importantly they know that your quality of work will improve (Selvaraj, 2016). Lastly and most importantlyin order for both parties above, person undergoing the course and company to be satisfied, the training organizations training programmes MUST be easily knowledgeable for anyone taking up the course to understand so that they can perform the right work performance in the companys work environment. And in order for any training organization that wants to meet their objective have to evaluate their training programmes. But there is three main reasons for a training organization to evaluate their training programmes and it is for deciding on whether to continue or discontinue a training program if its too disliked by many, and to gain information on how they can improve their training programmes for their future training programs, and lastly and importantly if the budget and training received contributes to their organizations objective and goals (Selvaraj, 2016). Apart from main reasons but common reasons for training evaluations are often known to determine the effectiveness of a program and ways in which it can be improved, usually the training programmes continue as of how they were going but minor feedbacks are also taken for consideration at times to keep up the standard of their owns training organizations, they are often know to the following below (Selvaraj, 2016): Is the trainer the best one qualified to teach? Are the schedules appropriate for the trainees? Are the facilities beyond satisfactory? Was the coordination of the program up or beyond satisfactory? What can be done to improve the program? Is the trainer providing effective methods for maintaining interest and teach the desired attitudes, knowledge, and skills? In overall training organizations do evaluation for improving future programs and at times this evaluation is the only way they can decide upon to continue or drop a programme if unsatisfied by many (Source, Google: http://www.kirkpatrickpartners.com/portals/0/Images/Optmized%20Photos/chain%20(2).jpg) If you provide training for your team or your organization, then you certainly should know how essential it is to determine its efficiency. Besides, you dont want to waste time or funds on training that does not give a good turnover (Mindtools, 2016). Here is when Kirkpatricks Four-Level Training Evaluation Model can assist you in determining the efficiency and force of your training, so that you can improve it in the future, there is four levels that represent the sequence of ways to evaluate the training program (Mindtools, 2016). Level 1 Reaction Level 2 Learning Level 3 Behaviour Level 4 Results Level 1 Reaction: As the phrase reaction implies, evaluation on this level measures how those who participate in the program respond to it. It can be also known as the measure of customer (stakeholder) satisfaction. Evaluation reaction is known to be the same thing as measuring customer satisfaction (Mindtools, 2016). If training is going to be useful, it is important that trainees respond well to it. Otherwise they will not be motivated to be trained. Also, they will tell others of their reactions. Several trainers call the forms that are used for the evaluation of reaction happiness sheets (Selvaraj, 2016). The importance of Measuring Reaction at Level 1: It gives the training organization important feedback that helps them to evaluate the program with them as well as comments and suggestions for improving future programs (Trainingindustry, 2016). The reason of this is to tell the trainees that the trainers are there to help them do their job better and that they need that feedback from them to conclude the efficiency of the program (Trainingindustry, 2016). Reaction sheets can provide quantitative information that they can give to managers and others concerned with the particular program, furthermore the, Reaction sheets can provide trainers with quantitative information that can be used to establish standards of performance for future programs (Trainingindustry, 2016). Level 2 Learning: At this level the training organization must determine what the trainees have learned. The three things that an instructor can teach the trainees are knowledge, skills, and attitudes so it is important for the training organization to determine on what knowledge was learned? What skills were developed or improved? And what attitudes were changed in them? So it is important that training organizations measure the trainees learning because no change in behaviour can be expected unless one or more of those learning objectives have been accomplished in their training programmers (Mindtools, 2016). Level 3 Behaviour: At this level the training organization have to evaluate their trainees behaviour based on the training they received, in other words this helps trainers understand how their trainees manage to apply that information they learn in the training programme. The training organization must understand this because the behaviour can only change if the conditions are favourable in the programme, for example if the training organization has skipped the first two Kirkpatricks levels, and by looking at the trainees group behaviour, they determine that no behaviour change had taken place. Perhaps they might have assumed that the trainees have not learned anything and the training was ineffective (Mindtools, 2016). On the other hand its not just about evaluating behaviour changes. Its not right to judge just based on behaviour at all times, because the trainees boss might not have let them apply any new knowledge. And maybe the trainees have actually learned everything from the training programme but they have no desire in apply that knowledge themselves, so its hard to judge because we are dealing with human beings not machine (Mindtools, 2016). Level 4 Results: At this level the training organization have to analyze the final results of their training in the programme. This also includes the findings of the trainer, the training organization have determined for good of the business, employees, and for everyone, eventually the training organization can use this result for future reference or etc (Selvaraj, 2016). Thats the end of explanation on Kirkpatricks Four Level of Training Evaluation. There are different types of training evaluation methods that can be used to evaluate any possible outcomes of different scenarios people face e.g. training evaluation, learning, and etc. But Kirkpatricks four level of training evaluation actually covers all expertise of needed data in an evaluation. NTUC Learning Hub was the training organization that trained Sunshine Supermarkets new recruits and promoted employees based on their training needs. They trained their new recruits based on their problems that were initiated by their company, Sunshine Supermarket. They actually had 10 new recruits but they were all of foreign national and with no retail experience. Sunshine Supermarket wanted all of the 10 recruits to be trained upon Basic English even before they attend courses that were related to their job. Sunshine Supermarket wanted all 10 recruits to be trained on merchandising, customer servicing, stock taking, and also with other retail related function. NTUC Learning Hub conducted all needed training on their new recruits based on Sunshine Supermarkets request. On the other hand, Sunshine Supermarket had 3 promoted employees in their first branch who were promoted to be a Store Manager, Purchase Manager, and Supervisor respectively. Sunshine Supermarket planned to deploy this three promoted employees in their new store, but before they actually take up their job position, they felt its a necessity for them to attend leadership trainings before taking up their job roles. NTUC Learning Hub trained all the three promoted employees based on Sunshine Supermarkets request. NTUC Learning Hub (Training Organization) MUST use the Kirkpatricks Four Level of Training Evaluation Model to evaluate their training on Sunshine Supermarkets (Trained Company) new recruits and promoted employees (Companys Personnel Who are Trained). It is important to understand Kirkpatricks Four Levels of Training Evaluation is just a method of evaluate. Identifying how to use will vary case to case basis. This evaluation method is an ART NOT a SCIENCE. As for Sunshine Supermarket, it will be the training organization evaluating the first two levels (level 1 level 2). The other two levels (level 3 level 4) will be evaluated by the trainees company since its them who sponsored the trainees to the training programme which in this case is Sunshine Supermarket. Level 1 of Training Evaluation on New Recruits and Promoted Employees: NTUC Learning Hub has to measure their trainees reaction at the level. But there are a couple of factors that they will have to evaluate at this point and they are known to the following below: They will have to find out if their training was worth the trainees time and was it successful in the end (Mindtools, 2016)? At which point did the new recruits or promoted employees face the most tough and easy time in their training and where was their biggest strength and weakness throughout the programme (Mindtools, 2016)? Was NTUC Learning Hubs venue suitable for learning (Mindtools, 2016)? Did this learning personally created any CHANGE in their personal life style (Mindtools, 2016)?

Exploring Traumatic Brain Injury in Children Essay -- Medicine

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability among children and adolescents (Yeates, 2005). The Center for Disease and Control (2010) reported an estimated 1.7 million individuals sustaining TBI annually with 51% of these injuries occurring during periods of cerebral development. Children (0-4 years), older adolescents (15-19 years) and older adults (65+ years) are most likely to sustain TBI (CDC, 2010). Brain injuries often lead to severe, pervasive, and potentially irreversible impairments in one’s neurological, cognitive, emotional, and social functioning (e.g., Wilde et al, 2012; Yeates, 2005). This analysis will examine the etiology, prevalence, and impact of traumatic brain injury in the developing brain of children. Classifications & Diagnosis of TBI Brain injuries can be classified into three different categories: mild, moderate, and severe TBI. Classification is mostly done using the Glasgow coma scale (GCS) which has gained broad acceptance for the assessment of the severity of brain damage (Bauer & Fritz, 2004). This scale is based on a 15 point scale which measures individual’s level of consciousness based on verbal, motor, and eye responses to stimuli, as well as the overall social dependence on others. One study scrutinized the elements of the Glasgow coma scale (GCS) from 27,625 TBI cases in Taiwan. A correlation was found between the survival rate and certain eye (E), motor (M) and verbal (V) score combinations for GCS (scores of 6, 11, 12, ) that were discerned to be statistically significant. This illustrates that the fundamental elements comprising the Glasgow coma scale (E, M, & V) are predictive of the survival of TBI patients. The researchers assert that this observation is cli... ...sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020138309005609) Wilde, Merkley, Bigler, Max, Schmidt, Ayoub, McCauley, Hunter, Hanten, Li, Chu, Levin, Longitudinal changes in cortical thickness in children after traumatic brain injury and their relation to behavioral regulation and emotional control, International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, Volume 30, Issue 3, May 2012, Pages 267-276, ISSN 0736-5748, 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2012.01.003. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0736574812000044) Yeates, Armstrong, Janusz, Taylor, Wade, Stancin, Drotar, Long-Term Attention Problems in Children With Traumatic Brain Injury, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Volume 44, Issue 6, June 2005, Pages 574-584, ISSN 0890-8567, 10.1097/01.chi.0000159947.50523.64. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890856709616336)

Marketing Audits and Its Importance to an Organisation

Marketing Audits and its importance to an organisation As of I am starting to write this essay, an historic and astonishing incident happened in US—Standard & Poors first time downgraded American Federal Bonds form AAA to AA+. Look at the messed up world economic picture–US is suffering from recession without any better signs, Europe is struggling with debt crisis, only growth engine China is also slowing down. We are facing the greatest uncertainty ever experienced before, as for economic society, walking away from this desperate situation needs to review history and find appropriate tools, from an organisation’s point of view, one of the effective tools is to seek for effective and regular marketing audits to cope with rapidly changing economic environment. Definition and Purposes of Marketing Audit The concept of marketing audit dated back to 1950s and evolved through application phase of 1960s, turbulent 1970s, growing period of 1980s and 1990s until now. The followings are several definitions of marketing audits: A comprehensive examination of an organisation’s marketing structure, programs and performance†Ã¢â‚¬â€-Peter Rix, Marketing-a practical approach â€Å"Systematic, critical, rigorous and unbiased study of efficiency of all marketing activities within an organisation extending to evaluation of each and every functional objective and their effective coordina tion†Ã¢â‚¬â€-Brian Monger, Marketing in black white â€Å"A periodic, comprehensive, systematic, and independent examination of the organisation’s marketing environment, internal marketing system and specific marketing activities†Ã¢â‚¬â€-Philip Kotler The purposes of marketing audit are to find marketing opportunities, locate marketing issues, seek right short term and long term solution, which ensure the implementation of marketing plans or the revision of unreasonable plans to improve an organisation’s overall marketing performance. Components of the Marketing Audit An effective and rounded marketing audit covers six components: 1/ Marketing Environment Audit Through auditing marketing environment in which it operates, an organisation could find if its marketing strategy is adapt to the marketing environment, and if any changes needed. The marketing environment consists of two subclasses, one is the macro environment which includes political/legal, economic, social/cultural and technological, and another one is industry and competitive environment. In short, PEST+C. 2/ Marketing Strategy Audit It mainly examine whether or not an organisation’s goals and objectives reflect market orientation, if the organisation takes right competition position, seizes market opportunities and allocates appropriate resources. 3/ Marketing Organisation Audit The marketing auditor needs to consider the decision-making ability of marketing organisation, as well as its ability of analysis, planning and execution. Other factors include its strain capacity to market, and its interaction with other function departments. 4/ Marketing Systems Audit It focuses on whether or not an organisation has well-established and effective systems for information gathering, planning and control. All these systems can be classified as internal systems, external systems, vertical and horizontal marketing systems. A vertical marketing system (VMS) is one in which the main members of a distribution channel—producer, wholesaler, and retailer—work together as a unified group in order to meet consumer needs. A horizontal marketing systems(HMS) means in which members at the same level in a channel of distribution band together in strategic alliances or joint ventures to exploit a new marketing opportunity. 5/ Marketing Productivity Audit A marketing organisation needs analyses on profits, cost-benefit, the audit covers performance examinations on sale-profit rates, costs of marketing, collection and inventory, etc. It also examines if there exists excessive cost expenditure and corresponding solutions on cost reduction. 6/ Marketing Function Audit Marketing function audit targets on marketing elements such as products, prices, places and promotions, as well as performance evaluation on marketing organisation, it consists of overall audit, sales audit, market investigation audit, and advertising audit. The auditors, through marketing function audit, may spot issues within marketing management and make relevant recommendations. Main Characteristics of the Marketing Audit Marketing Audit is a process of comprehensive, systematic and independent analysis and assessment of company's marketing environment, objectives, strategies and activities to identify problem areas and operational strengths and weaknesses and recommends the courses of action to be taken to improve company's overall marketing performance and make marketing strategies and plan more effective and result oriented. The main characteristics can be summarised as the followings, 1/ It should be comprehensive and broad in focus covering the entire marketing environment of the company. / It should be an objective exercise and independent of the managers directly involved in making the marketing decisions. 3/ It should be a systematic and orderly sequence of diagnostic steps as compared to an unstructured and random investigation. 4/ It should be carried out periodically. The marketing audit should be undertaken on a regular basis and not only when major problems arise. Main elements to be incl uded in a marketing audit The key elements of a marketing audit are: 1/ Marketing Mix For products it includes Product, Price, Place-distribution and Promotion For services it includes Product, Price, Place-distribution, Promotion, People, Processes and Physical Environment 2/ Product Life Cycle [pic] 3/ Competitive Advantage A competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices. 4/ Internal and external assessment – SWOT – PEST The Marketing Audit Process and Participants likely to be involved The marketing audit process proceeds with the following steps, Firstly, setting up the audit objectives and scope, preparing relevant documentation, deciding time period for the audit. Secondly, gathering the data, conducting interviews and inquiries. Finally, preparing the audit report, presenting conclusions and providing relevant solutions. Bearing in mind, ‘the most valuable part if the marketing audit often lies not so much in the auditor’s specific recommendations but in the process that managers begin to go through to assimilate, debate, and develop their own concept of the needed marketing action. —The Marketing Audit Comes of Age by Philip Kotler, William T. Gregor and William H. Rodgers III The participants likely to be involved cover all stakeholders including management levels, ordinary staff, suppliers, dealers, customers even shareholders and communities the organisation located in. Who of these stakeholders and to what extent get involved in the aud it depend on the organisation’s specific requirements. Times when a marketing audit should be undertaken The marketing audits could be undertaken on conventional and unconventional bases, which means on one hand an organisation needs to conduct regular and periodic audit and examine whether or not it and its each function unit achieve setting goals and objectives, if any changes needed to its strategy, on the other hand, if an organisation’s internal departments or independent units are performing poorly, it should carry a thorough marketing audit to help them find reasons and improvement methods. Various forms of a marketing audit The marketing audit must be carried independently by an inside audit, onducted by a person or group inside the company but outside the operation being evaluated, or an outside audit conducted by a management consulting firm or practitioner. Why they are considered to be one of the most practical and profitable tools available to a marketer. The marketing audits cover all major marketing areas of a business, not just a few trouble spots. It assesses the marketing environment, marketing strategy, the marketing organisation, marketing systems, the marketing mix and marketing productivity and profitability. The audit is normally conducted by an objective and experienced outside party who is independent of the marketing department. The finding can come as a surprise, and sometimes as a shock, to management. Management then decides which actions make sense and how and when to implement them. The marketing audits prompt to make marketing strategy and plan properly, are beneficial for matching a business’ internal resources with external resources, realise better and profitable operating results.

Ethics: Goldman Sachs Essay

Goldman Sachs, founded by German immigrants, began as a small humble business looking to succeed. Over time their business strategy changed and they entered into ethical and legal issues they had not encountered before. In the late 1920s Goldman Sachs began maliciously investing in companies to drive their demand. They coined this term â€Å"laddering† from overleveraging them selves and putting the market at risk. Their actions created the bubble that burst in the stock market crash of 1929. Furthermore, Goldman Sachs engaged in â€Å"trading huddles†. Only their preferred customers where chose to participate on this unethical schemes, and the same customers were shot changed on financial profit from unprofitable IPO’s shares. It was clear that Goldman Sachs business focus was not customer based but self-based by the mantras that they use to have: â€Å"long-term greedy† and â€Å"Filthy rich by forty.† In 2008 the market once again crashed equally as hard as in 1929 and Goldman Sachs was at the root of the cause. With self-fulfillment and greed in mind, Goldman Sachs used Collateralized Debt Obligations and bet against their clients to increase profitability. Goldman Sachs progressively became more unethical in their dealings, and the SEC took notice. Goldman was accused on two accounts of fraud because of one particular portfolio of securities, named ABACUS, which they dealt with. After analyzing the case and reviewing the unethical actions and alleged accusations against Goldman Sachs, it is clear that Goldman Sachs was operating unethically. They misrepresented, hid information, and engaged in conflicts of interest with their clients. Goldman Sachs took an unfair advantage with their â€Å"toes to the line mentality† on their legal and ethical issues leading the SEC to establish harsher regulations for the banking industry. Goldman Sachs can become more ethical by adopting Warren Buffet’s front page of the newspaper principles. When a firm finds that its employees needs to convince themselves that their work is adding social value, the firm should questions its ethical practices. The recommendation for a firm when they find themselves condoning unethical actions is to be honest with the regulating entity and its clients. It is likely to reward them in the long run despite the immediate consequences. Goldman Sachs Background In 1869 two German immigrants came to the US and founded Goldman Sachs with the humble purpose of being both an originator and a clearinghouse for commercial paper (Jennings, 73). However, the firm started to gradually drift from its initial business strategy set by its founders and started to provide other services and undertook investment strategies. In the late 1920’s Goldman Sachs created investment companies that it would itself invest in to drive up the market demand. As a result, investors started to invest in the company because of the perceived high demand. With the new proceeds, Goldman would borrow more money and create another investment company and repeat the process. As a result of this action, Goldman contributed to the stock market crash in 1929 and, with a similar strategy, the recent financial crisis in 2008 (Jennings, 73). During the Internet bubble in the 1990’s, Goldman engaged in an activity known as laddering. Goldman, as the underwriter of a security, would enter an agreement with its best clients to sell a portion of IPO’s shares at a predetermined price after their initial offering. This led to a misconceived demand in the secondary market of the stock due to the predetermined secondary pricing Goldman had set with some of it’s clients. Furthermore, in the 2000’s, Goldman would sell Collateralized Debt Obligations, for which it had a negative outlook, to its clients and issue trading reports, developed through the existing â€Å"trading huddles† in the firm, to certain preferred customers that was different from the analyst reports that were issued to the public. Its practices has been scrutinized and particularly its â€Å"toes to the line† on legal issues. In most cases, Goldman and its clients are the two main parties involved, and it is the clients that usually end up with the short end of the stick. Goldman’s actions are partly explained by the mantras that they use to have: â€Å"long-term greedy,† and â€Å"Filthy rich by forty.† This paper is relevant for current business leaders because it presents a case where a successful firm has come under great scrutiny due to its unethical actions and questionable practices. Bending the rules and pushing the envelope continuously to be a profitable firm has put Goldman in an unfavorable light in society. The paper will further discuss the ethical and legal issues Goldman has run into through its practices and will provide a general recommendation for how a business can avoid and deal with unethical practices. Analysis of Relevant Legal and Ethical Issues Initial Public Offerings Goldman created a synthetic demand in its IPOs through selling a portion of the IPO shares to its clients at a predetermined price higher then the initial price. This caused the price of the IPO shares to rise due to manufactured demand by Goldman (Jennings, 75). The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Goldman alleging that they had violated Rule 101 of Regulation M under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which states: â€Å"Rule 101 of Regulation M, among other things, prohibits underwriters, during a restricted period (the five-day period preceding the determinations of IPO prices and prior to the completion of distributions of IPO shares), from directly or indirectly bidding for, purchasing, or attempting to induce any person to bid for or purchase any offered security in the aftermarket† (SEC). Goldman clearly attempted to induce, or induced, certain clients to bid for or purchase offered securities in the aftermarket through its laddering practices, which clearly violates Rule 101 of Regulation M. Goldman agreed to settle with the SEC by paying a fine of $40 million without admitting or denying the allegations (SEC). Some of the unethical practices present in Goldman’s laddering activities were: * Misrepresentation- Goldman inflated the price of the IPO shares consciously through the manufactured demand and the price of the shares were misrepresented. * Lying- Goldman Sachs lied to some of its best clients and had them pay higher price than the initial price under the laddered IPOs. * Violating Rules – Clearly making money from laddering is a violation of rules and therefore Goldman paid a heavy fine when they were caught engaging in this illegal practice Collateralized Debt In order to understand Goldman’s involvement in CDO’s it is pertinent to explain the security. Collateralized debt is simply an Asset-Backed Security, which means that there is a physical asset backing the security under contract. For example, a house serves as collateral for a mortgage and the bank has the right to claim the house in the event that the borrower defaults on the loan. A security is considered any investment contract that gives the owner evidence of indebtedness or business participation. Notes, stock, bonds, debentures, warrants, subscriptions, voting trust certificates, rights to oil, gas, and minerals, and limited partnership interest are all example of securities (Jennings, 728). A Collateralized Debt Obligation is a variety of fixed-income assets that are pooled together to create one security. In 2008, many of these CDOs became completely worthless because they were filled with sub-prime mortgages that defaulted, and Goldman was a big player in the CDO market. ABACUS was one particular CDO deal in which Goldman had created and sold. Fabrice Tourre, a vice president at Goldman Sachs at the time, put together the ABACUS CDO to be sold to clients. Tourre intentionally filled ABACUS with subprime mortgages so that Goldman could take a short position on the security, which means betting against its success, in order to profit. This CDO deal became infamous because the SEC uncovered a few emails written by Tourre. In one of the emails Tourre wrote: â€Å"More and more leverage in the system. The whole building is about to collapse anytime now †¦ Only potential survivor, the fabulous Fab [rice Tourre] †¦ standing in the middle of all these complex, highly leveraged, exotic trades he created without necessarily understanding all of the implication of those monstrosities [sic]!!!† (Quinn) The SEC filed a civil action suit against Goldman and Tourre for their conduct under the ABACUS deal. The SEC’s complaint charged Goldman and Tourre with violations against Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5 (SEC). Each of the following rule of law states, among other things: â€Å"It shall be unlawful for any person in the offer or sale of any securities †¦ (2) to obtain money or property by means of any untrue statement of a material fact or any omission to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made†¦ â€Å" (SEC) â€Å" POSITION LIMITS —As a means reasonably designed to prevent fraud and manipulation, the Commission shall, by rule or regulation, as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors, establish limits (including related hedge ex ­ emption provisions) on the size of positions in any security-based swap that may be held by any person.† (SEC) â€Å"It shall be unlawful for any person †¦ (a.) To employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud,†¨(b) To make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statementsmade, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, †¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬ ¨ (Taft Law) Goldman clearly violated Section 17(a) by not including the information that their ABACUS securities were based on poor mortgages. They violated Section 10(b) by taking a large short position in the Abacus deal. Lastly, they violated Rule 10b-5 by omitting material fact of their short position in the security. Furthermore, the SEC prohibits any analyst from issuing reports on securities that run contrary to the analyst’s true beliefs about the securities. Goldman denies betting against clients in an 8 page letter to it shareholder signed by CEO Lloyd Blankfien as well as President Gary Cohn. Goldman claims that they were protecting themselves and Blankfien said, â€Å"†¦Certainly we did not know the future of the housing market† (SEC). Goldman agreed to pay a fine of $550 million and admitted that it failed to disclose vital information in their marketing of ABACUS securities. Goldman’s actions did not reflect honesty, integrity, or responsibility. Some of the ethical issues present in the ABACUS deal are: * Taking unfair advantage – Goldman consciously made poor recommendations to their clients in order to sell the Abacus CDOs so they could make a profit on their short position. * Engaging in Conflict of Interest – Goldman stated: â€Å"We may trade, and have existing position, based on trading ideas before we have discussed those ideas with you†(Jennings 80). Despite this argument, they had a significant incentive to market and sell the securities in order to profit. * Hiding or Divulging information – Goldman used another firm to create the Abacus CDOs in order to distance themselves from the trade conflicts that would arise by shorting the CDO. They also omitted crucial information about the security, which was the knowledge of the amount of high-risk mortgage securities in the Abacus CDO. * Violating Rules- Goldman was charged with securities fraud, as explained by above, and did not look out for the best interest of their clients. Trading Huddles Goldman’s first obstacle with their trading huddles activities came from their Fundamental Strategies Group of analysts. The group consisted of Goldman analysts employed by their Securities Divisions. These groups of desk analysts were not regulated by the SEC rules because they did not involve â€Å"GIR [Global Investment Research Division] equity research analysts.† The SEC have strict guidelines that, â€Å"prohibits an analyst from issuing reports on securities that run contrary to the analyst’s true beliefs about the securities.† (Craig) Goldman did not break any statutory laws with the Fundamental Strategies Group since they were not covered in the SEC ruling. From the uprising, Goldman’s executives sent an email to all their clients, explaining their â€Å"Trading Ideas† and advice. The email was meant to elucidate the firm and public’s â€Å"conflict of interest† policy. In the message, Goldman stated, â€Å"You should not consider Trading Ideas as objective or independent research or as investment advice. When we discuss Trading Ideas with you, we will not be acting as your advisor (including, without limitation, in relation to investment, accounting, tax or legal matters) and the provision of Trading Ideas to you will not give rise to any fiduciary or equitable duties on our part† (Sorkin 1). In the case of Goldman vs. Common Wealth of Massachusetts, the court ruled, â€Å"Goldman failed to reasonably supervise GIR equity analysts’ communications to prevent and detect dissemination by GIR equity analysts of certain unpublished short term trading ideas† (SEC) and were held accountable to Section 204 (a)(2)(J) of the Act, which in part states that: â€Å"The secretary may by order†¦. deny, suspend, or revoke, any registration †¦ if he finds (1) that the order is the public interest and (2) that the applicant or registrant (J) has failed reasonably to supervise agents, investment adviser representatives or other employees to assure compliance with this chapter† (SEC). Goldman failed to supervise its agents to guarantee compliance with the act. The court ruled that Goldman must have a policy that allows a GIR equity research analyst to identify an unpublished report and follow its publication through more than 14 persons. Furthermore, Goldman will be required to disclose in their Terms of Use Agreement that the amount of GIR equity research report varies from client to client (Stempel). â€Å"Goldman agreed to pay a fine of $10 million and stop giving favored clients trading ideas developed at internal gatherings known as â€Å"trading huddles†Ã¢â‚¬  (Stempel). In addition, they were charged with not dealing in with honesty with all clients and took advantage over others, known as fair dealing with clients. While all companies try to balance on the line of pursuing profits and maintaining a moral conduct, Goldman Sachs was unable to keep their balance. After the reports of intentionally avoiding regulation from SEC Regulation AC, requiring equity research analysts to certify that their issued reports represents their actual views (SEC), the company crossed ethical boundaries. With their Fundamental Strategies Group, Goldman as a whole company condoned unethical action. Instead of following the regulation of the SEC they went around it. Some of the ethical issues present in the case were: * Taking unfair advantage – one part of the firm issued equity research reports to the public and another part of the firm did also engage in equity research but came to a different conclusion. However, the latter report was only issued to certain clients. By releasing one view on a subject and taking another position themselves, thereby taking unfair advantage. * Violating rules – even though their Fundamental Strategies Group were not violating any laws or regulation, they failed to follow the SEC Regulation AC Recommendation and Conclusion The cases mentioned above are only a few of the instances where Goldman has been scrutinized by government entities and the public. Its continuous practice of â€Å"toes to the line† on legal issues has many times resulted in lawsuits against the firm. As we can see, the legal issues they are pushing are unethical, however, they are not violating those laws. Instead, they are charged with other violations that result from operating at the line of illegal practices. Their reputation took a hit due to multiple SEC allegations and fines. To avoid these ethical situations Goldman Sachs should use the ethical principles that are taught. For example, they should have used Warren Buffet’s front page of the newspaper test in the case with the IPOs. Goldman Sachs should ask itself if they would be indifferent of their actions if the public would know that they intentionally manufactured demand for their IPOs. A partial reason for their unethical conduct was due to rationalizing; when they were confronted about their actions they proceeded by rationalizing and labeling their actions in order to avoid the ethical dilemmas. In the ABACUS case, Goldman stated that their clients are â€Å"qualified† and â€Å"sophisticated† enough to make market risk decisions. They most likely rationalized their actions by saying that the system is unfair and â€Å"if we don’t do it, someone else will†. In their case with trading huddles, it was a practice carried out by other firms, however, not to the same degree as Goldman. They waited until the lawyers told them it was wrong and rationalized by thinking â€Å"It’s a gray area†. Goldman Sachs’s pushed the limit of both the letter of the law, and the spirit of the law when dealing with its clients. Goldman’s history of brushing past ethical decisions have created many problems for the firm in the past years. It is clear that pursuing this strategy has not been to their benefit. A business should not have to argue how its actions add social value; it should be clear by the actions themselves. Therefore, if a business finds itself engaging in activities that do not pass Warrant Buffet’s Front of the Newspaper test it should reconsider its actions and business model. A red flag should rise when employees convince themselves that they are adding social value, as in the case with Tourre, or if employees feel any discomfort with their actions. If a company finds itself condoning unethical actions and violating the law, the best solution is to make an action plan on how to present their violations to the regulating government entity most truthfully and inform their clients of the unethical conduct with an apology. Despite that these measures might have a negative impact on the firm, it is highly likely be a short-term effect. The longstanding trust built up from their honesty and confrontation of the unethical actions could be beneficial to the firm’s future reputation. Work Cited Craig, Susanne. â€Å"Goldman’s Trading Tips Reward Its Biggest Clients.† The Wall Street Journal. 24 Aug. 2009. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. . â€Å"Goldman Sachs & Co.: Lit. Rel. No. 19051 / JANUARY 25, 2005.† U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Home Page). Web. 28 Mar. 2012. . Quinn, James. â€Å"Goldman Sachs, Fabrice Tourre and the Complex Abacus of Toxic Mortgages.† The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 16 Apr. 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. . â€Å"Rule 10b-5 — Employment of Manipulative and Deceptive Devices.† Law School  » University of Cincinnati College of Law. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. . â€Å"SEC Charges Goldman Sachs With Fraud in Structuring and Marketing of CDO Tied to Subprime Mortgages.† ; 2010-59; April 16, 2010. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. . Sorkin, Andrew. â€Å"DealBook.† Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds. 12 Jan. 2010. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. . â€Å"Statement by SEC Chairman: Proposal of Regulation AC.† Statement by SEC Chairman: Proposal of Regulation AC (Harvey L. Pitt). Web. 28 Mar. 2012. . Stempel, Jo nathan. â€Å"Goldman Fined $10 Million, Agrees to Stop Trading Huddles.† Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 09 June 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. .