Software Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Software Engineering - Essay Example In this regard, as the year changed from 1999 to 2000, the day became 01-01-00, and the machine considered it as January 1, 1900. Hence Y2K millennium bug proved itself just like a clicking time bomb that affected all the major computer applications (YourDictionary; Halpern). Dates are much Critical A lot of transactions related to various economy circumstances match their dates with database account having a future date or today's date. Thus, if the machine fails to grip the dates in the approved manner, bills do not get compensated, notices do not deliver and also results in date driven computations toward failure. Moreover, after 2000, all the systems those were not familiar with the change in millennium caused mistaken output with those applications that dealt directly or indirectly with future dates (YourDictionary; Halpern). Precautions In this regard, if the problems like Y2K or millennium bug are not remedied in a well mannered way, this could result in disruptions that may c ause delays in air flights and also towards the interruptions of landline services to trade bankruptcies to power fluctuations, and it might also cause in civil disturbances and global decline (YourDictionary; Halpern). ... However, in simple words we can say that a software process model is a simple description of those software related processes which are useful in presentation from diverse perspective. In this scenario, a considerable fraction of the active software manufacturing is obliged to construct software that follows documentation either partially or fully. In addition, it is proposed to guarantee this factor though which delivered software product meets the requirements that are defined properly in documentation (Nutt; Sommerville; Pressman; Acuna and Ferre). Software process models are very useful for giving an inspiration about the development of a product, tool or application that meets the challenges of global economy as much as possible. In addition, by adopting software modeling techniques software developers could be able to characterize new horizons in which they must keep strong view on changing trends of market that could affect our software product a lot. Moreover, a software proc ess model could be helpful for define a process for implementing and designing a software invention/product that complies with the documentation necessities or requirements. Thus, there is a link between business and software process development that’s why they both affect each other. In this regard we can relate business process modeling expertise to the domain of software engineering, which results in exploring weaknesses along with strengths of our developing models of cluster collaboration. On the other hand, if we analyze the basics of software process models no doubt it provides us with an unconventional technique to analyze, design, and track the software production processes. Additionally, it also creates easiness for us to attempt to demonstrate how the replica or model can

Renaissance Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Renaissance Europe - Essay Example And can this hypothetical scenario ever be materialized. An etymology for this word say a lot about the possibility of such existence, it was originated by Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 - 6 July 1535), and used for the first time in his Latin book "Concerning the highest state of the republic and the new island Utopia" published in 1516. Interestingly his conviction in this state could be inferred from the fact that he conjoined two Greek words 'ou' for NOT and 'topos' for PLACE to form a word that literally means "nowhere." Sir Thomas More or Saint Thomas More as he is also refered to was an English lawyer, author, and statesman. He was highly regarded as a humanist scholar, he was bearer of many important public posts including that of Lord Chancellor from 1529 to 1532 in his illustrious career (Roper, 1626). Another cause clbre for which he is remembered is his refusal to accept King Henry VIII as the supreme head of the Church of England. It was his this bold stance that elevated him to the level of great people and his courage and conviction to remain steadfast at the face of adversity earned him the sainthood from the Catholic Church by Pope Pius XI in 1935 about four hundred years after his death. Apart from his principled defiance to the authority he is best known for his most famous and controversial book that was published in 1516 in which he for the first time used the word utopia. In this book he tells of a imaginary character Raphael Hythloday who is a traveler, extensive allegory is used to make the story more powerful and appealing; like the first name is ingeniously used to allude to the archangel Raphael, who is the messenger of truth. And surname in Greek means "dispenser of nonsense". The book is about political set up of fictitious place Utopia, it's a place where there is no concept of private ownership and different faiths are practiced freely and inter faith tolerance is firmly in placed. It is an embodiment of perfect destination where everything is desirable politically, culturally, socially, education wise and economically. With specific consideration to exceptional tolernce to varied forms of opinion and diversity. The purpose of presenting this unique and perfect state was to provide some form of imaginative yard stick at least to measure or correlate the certain dynamics of state affairs that eventually are pivotal for smooth functioning of a state. More very intelligently presented religio-political design of the imaginary state as an epitome of perfection and then compared and contrasted the real life affairs of European states with the ideal standards of utopian state. Thus he was able to devise a mechanism whereby the efficacy and inefficacy of a state could be measured on an arbitrary scale. One very interesting development that was observed from his argument in search of perfect state was that though he had maintained complete religious tolerence for every faith he was also adament in establishing the fact that there was no room for atheism in the utopian society. It was the marriage of convenience since he was catholic in faith and being minority in England needed tolerance of faith but his devout Catholicism did not allow h im have anything to do with godless society. The ostensible reason given by him for this eerie prejudism was because an atheist does not accept any superior power he is

A Taste of Honey Essay Example for Free

A Taste of Honey Essay A Taste of Honey is a kitchen sink drama, set in the late 1950s. It follows the volatile relationship of a mother and daughter, and the problems that they have to overcome. A Taste of Honey presents the harsh reality of what life was like for the working classes. The play explores a variety of controversial issues, which especially in the 1950s, only happened behind closed doors, and would have raised serious questions in society. In A Taste of Honey Helen is portrayed as a bad mother, she cares more about drink and men than her own child and there are several preferences to Helens alcoholism throughout the play. In a strict and traditional society, it would have been almost unforgivable for a teenage girl to have a child and raise it on her own as Jo ends up doing and Helen did before her. Racism also plays a factor in the play as the father of Jos unborn child was black and people felt very strongly about this sort of thing at this time, including Jos mother. A Taste of Honey shows an insight to the problems and strains that can be brought on by the above issues and those that the working class suffered. In the opening scene of A Taste of Honey you are introduced to Jo and Helens new flat. It is a run down, dingy, old place and is all that Helen can afford. The optimism that Helen carries is shown right away as when Helen first walks in she is optimistic about the situation by saying, Well! This is the place. Which shows she has quite an easy-going approach to life as long as she has the necessities in life. Jo then replies with, I dont like it, which straight away shows the conflict between the pair and how different their personalities are from one another. You can clearly see form the dialogue between the pair that Helen has never taken care of Jo properly, Jo: I dont owe you a thing, and Helen: Do you want me to carry you about? which is basically saying look after yourself. At this point Helen is already drinking and Jo says, You make me sick, in reference to her drinking, which shows that, she disapproves and that it sickens her. It also makes you ask the question, why does Helen drink? Jo also addresses her mum as Helen, this shows us that there is nothing maternal between the two and Jo obviously doesnt see her as a motherly figure. They also both talk to the audience in third person about one another saying things such as, Helen: Wouldnt she get on your nerves and Jo: Shed lose her head if it was loose, you cannot see an inch of respect between them and although some people dont always have a very good mother and daughter relationship there isnt a trace of any bonding or caring between them. However you do see Helen show a genuine interest in Jo when she sees how good her art work is, although as she stumbles upon it by mistake it shows the distance they have from one another as Jo has never shown her the work before and Jo is quite taken aback by the interest from her mother and says, Why are you so suddenly interested in me anyway? which reflects the lack of support that Jo has received. Though language, humor and sarcasm used between them you can see the lack of respect and their clear differences such as Helen being a lot more optimistic and wild to Jos more realistic and practical approach to life. You can see Helens wild side through her drinking problem, references to men, Handsome, long-legged creature just the way I like em, her outbursts of singing and the basic fact that she was obviously out doing her own thing when she should have been taking care of her daughter and not kicking her out of bed when she had male company! Also when Helen finds out that her daughter stole the bulbs she is happy and approves, this shows Helens true colours and how she goes about life; she doesnt mind taking things that arent hers as long as she gets what she wants. Helens life runs along the same lines as you only live once, as she lets nothing set her back and she also makes regular comments about death and doesnt look upon it as a big thing really. This contrasts to Jos comment in Act 2, scene 2 where she says, We dont ask for life, we have it thrust upon us. I think that Jos out look on life is that it is hard and unfair; she has always had to fight for her self as Helen has never been there for her, and so she doesnt expect the good things to happen in her life. Jo and Helens relationship about men in Act 1, scene 1 is also very strange, as Helen has clearly had many men in her life as when Peter is introduced Jo says in a very matter of fact way, Whats this one called? Jo doesnt seem to think of men as a necessary object in life and seems to think of men in a more romantic way than Helen and mentions love as well. However in Act 2, scene 2 she has Geoff and although she isnt linked to him in a romantic way at all she still likes the stability of a man looking after her in her life and would rather have a man than a woman present at the birth of her child. In Act 2, scene 2 where the birth of Jos child is looming, Helen isnt there but comes back before she has it and she shows a different approach towards Jo. Although she shows her true side by being nasty to Geof for no reason when she owes it to him to be nice as he has been taking care of her daughter, she does show genuine concern for Jo, How are you, love? and makes enquires about the birth and her pregnancy. She has also made an effort to buy things for the baby and seems to be a lot more motherly towards Jo now. This time round it is Helen making the effort to make the place look nice, and Jo doesnt seem to care about her living arrangements which is a mirror to the attitude of Helen in Act 1, scene 1. Helens effort that she puts into her relationship with Jo is much more motherly and dong things such as, stroking her hair, caring for her, also by saying things such as, well get morbid, this is showing a different side to Helen as in Act 1, scene 1, she is very open about death and talks about it on a regular basis. This is also ironic as she is usually the one that is being morbid, not Jo. Also by talking about the children outside shows a total change in character and you see the nice side of Helen. Whereas Jo seems to have turned more like her mum, by not really caring and expecting others to do things for her, such as Geof; although Jo is never nasty towards him. Although Jo and Helen dont get on with one another in Act 1, scene 1 and Act 2, scene 2 you can see the differences between them. In Act1, scene 1, Helen is very distant from Jo, which Delaney shows through the dialogue and language used between them. She also shows this through the use of talking in the third person, wouldnt she get on your nerves? However in Act 2, scene 2 she seems to be trying to come closer to her daughter, by taking an interest in her and just genuinely being more caring. You also see a change in character with Jo, who in Act 1, scene 1 Delaney portrays her as the parent, with her doing things such as cleaning, but by Act 2, scene 2 when she is about to become a mother herself she is more childlike, this can be shown through the stage directions of Jo throwing the pretend doll that Geof gets her because its the wrong colour. She acts like a spoilt child who comes across as ungrateful and shows no maturity in her at all. I think that in Act 2, scene 2 their relationship has progressed form Act 1, scene 1 as Helen is more of a mother figure towards Jo. However I dont think that they will have a good relationship, as Helen isnt very supporting when she finds out about the colour of the baby. When she is asked what shell do she replies, drown it, and she goes back to her old ways of drinking. This also suggests that she drinks to drown her sorrows. Also she leaves Jo on her own at a time that she needs her and there is some uncertainty about whether or not she is coming back. This sums up their relationship as one that is rocky and that there is no stability at all.

19th and 20th Century Feminism Culture

19th and 20th Century Feminism Culture All throughout history women have been degraded and suppressed for not being a man. Starting in the roman days, women had to be reliant on the men and only them. Their husband was in control of them and what they did and if they werent married, they were under their fathers control. For instance, women were unable to teach due to the fact it gave them too much authority and leadership (Mountjoy 14). It was expected in the nineteenth century society that men were able to go to work and be able to socialize with others, while women were expected to watch the kids and make dinner. Throughout the 19th to the 20th century, women, as a group, fought for equality and the right to vote. They also wanted to have more laws about rape and abortion. Especially since sometimes in trials, men never get enough time in prison while women dont get enough closure. In the nineteenth century women right became more accounted for once they realized how males had much more choices than females. (Sailus). Literature was a major way that womens feelings and thoughts towards men were brought up. From then on women became more educated on the topic and women were able to grasp how they needed greater equality. This is when womens right activist started to share their opinions and used their voice as a way to connect with others. For example, in 1972 Mary Wollstonecraft published a book called, A Vindication on the Rights of Women. In this book she promoted the idea of sexual equality. Wollstonecraft inspired many others girl to become feminist. Feminist are people who believe in sexual equality, they could be women or men. Usually feminist are women mostly though. Some of the key feminist of the womens right movement are Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady (Mountjoy 46). Susan B. Anthony was one of the most famous woman involved in the womens right movement because she helped add the nineteenth amendment in the U.S constitution in August,26, 1920. The nineteenth amendment allowed any sex to have the right to vote without being denied by the United States or by any state. This amendment symbolled victory for women for the most part, but still things needed to be done (DeLuzio 93). Elizabeth Cady was another social activist that had a huge contribution to creating equal rights for women. She helped create the first womens right convention that was held in Seneca Fall, New York, in 1848. Cady also created the declaration of sentiments to inspire for womens suffrage (Mountjoy 42). Sociological perspective is a viewing of the behavior of groups in a systematic way (Thomas 4). Feminist can be looked at from a sociological perspective since you can look behind a common thought about this and see the hidden meaning. For example, people thought Feminist were stuck up girls who just wanted to be dramatic but when looked deeper into it, it is about women who want equality and to have the same rights as men. With this social perspective, it allowed more people to care about the topic and want to join into being a feminist. Sociological imagination is the ability to see the connection between the larger world and our personal lives (Thomas 5). Feminist can be seen by sociological imagination because in society women are thought to be not as smart and are less able to get jobs than men. This can be connected to someones personal life because every day a girl can say in school most teachers expect the boys to do better in a math test than a girl. This affected the world by people being able to relate to these situations and understanding how women felt. In chapter two we learn about ethnocentrism, which is the tendency to view ones own group or culture as superior to others (Thomas 35). The feminist in the nineteenth century demonstrate this by seeming more important than African Americans. During the nineteenth and twentieth century African Americans werent treated with respect and were thought of less than Caucasian people. Women acted as if they needed their rights more than African Americans, when in reality African Americans were treated worse. Although African Americans were having trouble, African American women still joined the feminist movement and protested equality with them (DeLuzio 29). Feminist also demonstrate ethnocentrism by making them seem better than men. With all of these protest, conventions and books being created, it made women seem as if men were horrible and didnt do anything for them. The power women were able to gain through this movement, allowed others to see how much better women were and that they wer ent getting credited and awarded. When women were acknowledged they were able to gain more freedom and rights, which changed the world (DeLuzio 133). A counterculture is a group that rejects the values, norms, and practices of the larger society and replace them with their own cultural pattern (Thomas 39). Feminist in the nineteenth century and twentieth century represent a counterculture because they reject norms and values of society. The group rejects the shared rules of conduct by taking actions in a situation and being the leader, when the usual norm was to lay back and let the men do everything (Mountjoy 14). For example, Carrie Chapman Catt took leadership into her own hands and created League Women voters, this promoted social welfare bills, protected legislative for women and eliminated discriminatory laws (DeLuzio 134).Feminist reject values by believing women sticking up for themselves were a good thing and letting men have more rights than them were bad. Back then, women sticking up for themselves was unusual and unheard of and wouldnt be taken seriously. For instance, creating confrontation and fighting back was thoug ht as not lady like but in the counterculture women saying things back was thought as empowering and heroic (Sailus). When Pauli Murray decided to speak up and use her voice to talk about how she was denied from Harvard University for being a girl, it expanded the meaning of freedom and justice for women but also surprised the world because most African American women wouldnt talk about that (DeLuzio 194). Cultural relativism is the belief that a group or culture should be judged by their own standards and not by others. Feminist behaved in the manner because of cultural relativism. They are justified because they were just looking to have rights and make people see gender relations. If they were judged by other standards, people would think that it was strange and stupid to expect equality. In a male dominated society, especially in different countries, they would look at this counterculture and be surprised. For instance, the Arapesh women were always given husband at a young age and then given at home jobs. Since this was the Arapesh tradition, people in America would judge Feminist because they want to have gender equality (Thomas 32). This is why cultural relativism is a good thing because women in the United States were able to earn equality without having to worry about being compared to other cultures. In my own opinion, I agree with my countercultures philosophy. I agree mostly because I am a female and I think women should have the same rights as men. I disagree on how useless women were treated back then. For example, when I learned women were never able to do certain careers because of men being worried women would be given leadership. I am actually very thankful for this group. Without them I wouldnt have been able to vote or get the education I am able to obtain now. I would have to stay at home and deal with cooking and taking care of kids. This counterculture allowed me to aspire to go into the engineering field because I realized I could do it, although most men overpopulate the engineering field. Work Cited DeLuzio, Crista. Womens Rights . ABC-CLIO, 2010. Mountjoy, Shane. The Womens Right Movement. New York City: Infobase Publishing, 2008. Sailus, Christopher. Study.com. n.d. 9 March 2017. Thomas, W. LaVerbe. Holt Sociology. Holt,Rineheart and Winston, 2003. textbook.

Outline of Lamentations Essay -- essays research papers fc

Outline of Lamentations1 I. LAMENTATIONS 1 A. Complaint made to God and request for his mercy 1:1-11 B. Complaint made to friends 1:12-17 C. Appeal to God 1:18-22 II. LAMENTATIONS 2 A. Anger of God as the cause 2:1-9 B. Sorrow of Zion’s children 2: 10-19 C. Complaint is made to God 2: 20-22 III. LAMENTATIONS 3 A. God’s displeasure and the fruits of it 3:1-20 B. Words of comfort to God’s people 3:21-36 C. Duty prescribed in this afflicted state 3:37-41 D. The complaint renewed 3:42-54 E. Hope in God and to wait for his salvation 3:55-66 IV. LAMENTATIONS 4 A. Injuries and indignities done to those who used to be respected 4:1, 2 B. Effects of the famine by the siege 4:3-10 C. Sacking of Jerusalem 4:11, 12 D. Acknowledges the sins 4:13-16 E. Gives up all as doomed to utter ruin 4:17-20 F. Foretells the destruction of Edomites 4:21, 22 V. LAMENTATIONS 5 A. Representation of the present calamitous state of God’s people in their captivity 5:1-16 B. Protestation of their concern for God’s sanctuary 5:17, 18 C. Supplication to God and expostulation with him for return of mercy 5:19-22. Lamentations, written by the prophet Jeremiah, is a poem mourning the passing of Judah by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. (Bailey, 82) through siege and battle. Prior to the destruction, Jeremiah had warned or rather prophesized that Judah must change its ways or suffer the consequence of the Lords wrath. Before the Babylonians destroy the city of Jerusalem, Jeremiah warns the people to live by the laws of Babylon and even wrote the warning down to be presented to the people and even to the King. The King, who was placed on the throne by Egypt, in anger, burns the paper and has Jeremiah thrown in jail. While in Jail, Jeremiah conti... ...usalem that they sought prophets who would tell them that they were doing good, and to ignore the wrongs that they were committing. He tells them in a blunt manner as one who had the authority to, which leaves one to believe that this man was not above lecturing and berating his people when they did wrong. Instead he let them have it sort of like a father who doesn’t just punish but teaches by pointing out the mistakes made. In this verse I saw Jeremiah as a stern father figure as well as a prophet. Bibliography Bailey Lloyd. Jeremiah, The New Book of Knowledge, Grolier Incorporated, 1998. Beza, Theodore. Commentary on Lamentations, The 1599 Geneva Study Bible. www.biblestudytools.net Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry, A Commentary on The Whole Bible Volume 4 Isaiah to Malachi, Old Tappan New Jersey, Flemming H. Revell Publishers 1981. Scofield, C.I. The New Scofield Study Bible, New York, Oxford University Press, 1967 Mears, Henretta C. What the Bible is All About, Minneapolis, MN, World Wide Publications Carol L. Meyers, "Lamentations," World Book Online Americas Edition, www.aolsvc.worldbook.aol.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/310820, January 1, 2002.

Human Resourse Management :: Personnel Management

Human Resourse Management There are many different ways to train someone for a new job. You can use any of the following methods; hands on, computer simulation, apprenticeship, and teletraining. From hands on training on the production line, to a series of written tests, we use a variety of training techniques at Taco Bell. Upon being hired at Taco Bell, you are given a series of menu item sheets which list all 37 menu items, and the ingredients that makes up each one. It is imperitive that they study these sheets before coming to work for the first time for they will be tested. The first day on the job at Taco Bell is jam packed with information. The moment a trainee punches in, he is taken on a tour of the store that lasts almost an hour. The manager in charge (MIC) walks with the trainee pointing out various things including the dish area, the food prep area, the food storage areas, and the production line. The trainee is shown how to cook food, and how to get it ready to be used on line. After the tour the trainee is placed in the stuffing position on line. Let me take a minute to explain how the line is set up. One person, the steamer, begins the production of the food by grabbing the shell, and placing all the necessary hot items into the product. He then passes this to the stuffer, who puts in all the cold ingredients, and then passes it to the wrapper. The wrapper does just that, he wraps the food, and then takes it out to the customer. A trainee is placed in the stuffing position with two experienced crew members on either side. This way someone can always be there if the employee can’t remember all the ingredients for a particular menu item. If business picks up when a new employee is on line, they are asked to step back and let the more experienced employees, or aces, handle the situation. This way, the trainee can watch as the food is being made and can learn from the way the aces do it. This goes on for the first week of employment. The new employee spends most of his time stuffing. The only times they are permitted to leave the line is when more food needs to be prepared.

Case 1.1 – Enron Corporation

Case 1. 1 – Enron Corporation ————————————————- Discussion 1 The parties we believe to be most at fault for the crisis in this case are a) the Audit Firm engaged in the Enron audit (Arthur Andersen); b) Enron Management (Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Andrew Fastow; and c) the SEC. The Public Accounting Firm: Arthur Andersen The auditor has the responsibility to evaluate the risk of material fraud, including: * Incentives and motives for fraud : Enron was a fast growing company with many start-ups projects, such as the Energy Wholesale Services (a B2B electronic marketplace for the energy industries) or the Enron Broadband Services (an operating unit serving as intermediary between users and suppliers of broadband services,) that constantly needed huge amount of money to succeed. * The opportunity to commit fraud: Enron internal controls were weak and the management was promoting a culture that encouraged fraud rather than honesty. Rationalizations that might allow someone to commit fraud: the management at Enron believed that they were only trying to grow the company and increase their stock price by misrepresenting their financial statements. Once their new ventures would succeed, they would be able to cover the losses previously incurred. All the ingredients were present for Anderson to uncover the fr aud. Moreover, the auditors have a responsibility to disclose material fraud and illegal client acts to the audit committee and the Board of Directors. If the financial statements are not restated, the auditor should issue a qualified, an adverse opinion or consider withdrawing from the engagement. The team auditing Enron should have followed the guidance when the management acted with scienter. As mentioned in the case, Arthur Andersen was being paid exorbitant amounts of money to audit Enron and attest to the validity of its financial statements. The firm failed on every front to catch any of the fraudulent accounting transpiring and many critics questioned whether Anderson was involved with â€Å"cooking the books†. Given the scale of the compensation and how entrenched the firm was in Enron’s financial operations, it is hard to believe that the Andersen auditors, CPAs, failed to notice such obviously illegal accounting treatments of transactions. As so well said by the auditor of Accounting Today, â€Å"if a firm accepts and collects the audit fee, then it should be prepared to accept the blame, otherwise it is not part of the solution, but part of the problem†. The fault not only goes to the auditors, but to the company’s management as well. Enron’s management Kenneth Lay turned a blind eye to anything that could obstruct Enron’s growth. He said that his ultimate goal was to make Enron â€Å"the world’s greatest company. † This is a great goal for any CEO to have; however, in his attempts to reach this goal, he developed a case of tunnel vision that led to unexpected consequences. When Sherron Watkins wrote him a letter questioning the treatment of certain accounting transactions and puzzled disclosures, he ignored her and stated that â€Å"he’d rather not see it†. Kenneth Lay even failed to acknowledge or address the issues after most of the Enron scandal had fully unraveled by refusing to testify before Congress in 2002. Jeffrey Skilling basically followed in the footsteps of Kenneth Lay and brought with him a similar approach to running a business. Skilling shared the same tunnel vision approach as Lay as evidenced by their â€Å"laser-focus on earnings per share†. They both were willing to ignore any wrongdoing in the company as long as earnings per share continued to increase. Skilling also developed a certain level of arrogance after being singled out as the number one CEO in the country. He would make â€Å"brassy and tacky† comments regarding Enron’s competitors and critics. This arrogance likely aided in his ability to shield out the negative aspects of Enron’s operations and to only see the positives. He was the â€Å"best CEO in America†, so Enron couldn’t possibly do anything terribly wrong under his watch. When being questioned by Congressional investigators regarding the scandal, he simply passed the blame by stating that â€Å"he is not an accountant. Andrew Fastow was the CFO and created the financial infrastructure for Enron. He, like Skilling, was hailed as one of the top executives in the country as evidenced by his Excellence in Capital Structure Management award presented to him by CFO Magazine. As the CFO of Enron, Fastow should have known better than to do what he did with the creation and operation of the SPEs. His brass was at such a high level that he even named several of them after his children. He, like Kenneth Lay, refused to take any accountability by refusing to testify before Congress in 2002. SEC and FASB The SEC and FASB also share the responsibility for the fraud scandal that took place. The organisms should have passed stronger accounting standards to regulate auditing. Both organizations were in favor of the 3% rule for SPEs. This rule stated that a SPE needed only a 3% investment from an outside investor to be considered independent. This rule allowed Enron to discharge all its unprofitable businesses in SPEs to avoid consolidating losses. That is, the SEC and FASB endorsed a law that allowed companies to dump considerable losses in off-balance entities. A case of fraud was bound to happen. The Auditors, the SEC, and the FASB made it easy for Enron’s management to commit one of the biggest frauds in the history of accounting. ————————————————- Discussion 3 Andersen’s involvement in Enron’s accounting and financial reporting decisions violated the following professional auditing standards: AU 220, Independence, SAS 1) – this standard requires the auditor to be independent. Auditors issue an audit opinion that will serve as a reliable source of information on the company to external parties (investors). Thus, it is necessary for the auditor to be unbiased when reporting his findings to the public. The lack of independence of the team auditing Enron can be derived from the fact that Andersen was providing consulting services as well as auditing services to Enron, with consulting work accounting for more than 50% of the total yearly revenue received from Enron. This situation led Andersen to be at the same time external auditor and internal auditor to Enron. AU 316, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit (SAS 99) – this standard concerns â€Å"fraudulent acts that cause a material misstatement of the financial statements. † Andersen helped Enron misrepresent significant information in the financial statements. The team auditing Enron intentional misapplied accounting principles relating to the classification, the manner of presentation, and the disclosure of the financial statements. To clarify, Enron would use the mark-to-market ccounting method on long-term accounting contract, which immediately recognizes earnings when contracts are secured rather than when services are rendered. That accounting method results in financial statements being materially misstated and at the same time, it considerably increased the compensation of Executives at Enron that was based on earnings. AU 317. 05, Illegal Acts by Clients (SAS 54) – this standard indicates that the auditor’s responsibility for misstatements resulting from â€Å"illegal acts having a direct and material effect on the determination of financial statement amounts† is the same as that for errors or fraud. Enron would issue stocks to different SPEs in exchange for notes receivable; however, US GAAP does not allow for the recording of receivables in exchange of stocks issued. These misstatements led to a reduction of $1. 2 billion in Owners’ Equity after the reversal of previously recorded transactions as assets. In addition, Enron had investments in companies (not SPEs) that it consolidated, but when the investments began to show losses, they were transferred to SPEs so that it would not have to reflect these losses on the financial statements. AU 334, Related Party Transactions, SAS 45 – this standard requires auditors to follow GAAS established procedures when auditing financial statements in order â€Å"to identify related party relationships and transactions† and to estimate whether or not the required financial statement accounting and disclosure had been followed. This standard was also violated as Executives of Enron were managing some SPEs (p. 13. ) Andrew Fastow, Enron’s CFO, earned a profit amounting to $30 million on one of his investment in an SPE that he was managing. Furthermore, â€Å"Fastow’s friends realized a profit $1 million on investment of $5,800 in 60 days in the same SPE. † AU 319, Consideration of Internal Controls in a Financial Statement audits – The auditor’s report on internal control over financial reporting that goes to the public must report material weaknesses in internal control. Andersen audit team in charge of Enron auditing failed to provide an unbiased opinion on the effectiveness of the system of internal control over financial reporting. ————————————————- Discussion 6 After Enron and other fraud scandals, we see a shift from the self-oversight of public accounting firms to an independent oversight of accounting firms auditing public companies by government bodies such as the PCAOB. Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in 2002 which goal was to strengthen the financial reporting rules for public companies. It also forced public companies to prepare reports on the quality of their internal controls as well as limit the types of consulting services that an accounting firm is allowed to provide to its clients in concurrence with audit services provided. Fraud scandals also led to the establishment of the regulation requiring management of public companies to provide a letter asserting that the financial statements are fairly stated. Most recently, the SEC voted to adopt whistleblower rules mandated by Section 922 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act). â€Å"The rules implement the Act’s requirement that the Commission pay an award to whistleblowers who voluntarily provide original information to the SEC that leads to a successful enforcement action with sanctions of over $1 million. Professionalism in public accounting has changed over the past decades for a variety of reasons from the advances in technology to the globalization of the economy. One of the ways professionalism has changed is that independence has become a major component for public accountants. Independence confirmations before the audit and during the audit are major parts of being professional in today’ s definition. Ethics are another major part of professionalism. Being ethical in your decisions is stressed more now than ever before. Being courteous of others cultures, beliefs, and religions are a new addition to being professional. With everything becoming global and information quickly being spread by technology, being conscientious of what is said and done is very important for accountants for one bad thing can have severe implications. Being professional is more than just how you act in the business place for since you represent the company, your actions are watched on and off the job. With the increasing numbers of investors in the market it becomes more pressing to have reforms to regulate the circulation of information and assure investors that they are using the highest quality of financial statements. ———————————————— Discussion 7 The SEC has required public companies to have their quarterly financial statements audited before filing of theirs quarterly report on Form 10-Q. Therefore, audit firms will need to follow all the audit standards set out, from establishing an understanding with the c lient to performing analytical procedures, inquiries and other review procedures to prepare an audit report on the review of interim financial information. It is our opinion that quarterly financial statements should be audited because they will be more reliable and credible to the investors. Auditing quarterly financial statements will also shade lights on questionable management’s earnings. At the same time, a continuous (quarterly) audit will allow for less restatement at the end of the year; that is less surprise for investors. The auditor will be required to follow the clients’ financial situation more closely and address any material issues sooner. Quarterly audited financial statements will give investors confidence in relying on the company’s financial information.