Why You Should Use Table Topics in Your Adult Education Classroom

Teachers of adults, whether they are corporate trainers or adult education instructors, know that adults learn differently than children and come to the classroom with lots to talk about. These students have life experience and want meaningful conversation, not superficial chit-chat. When discussion is a big part of your reason for being in the classroom, use Table TopicsTM to break the ice and help people engage. Then you can move easily into your planned topic. There are several different versions of Table TopicsTM, each with 135 questions in a four-inch acrylic cube. Pass the cube around and ask your students to pick a card or two, or sort them in advance, choosing the cards that apply to your lesson plan. Pros Great questions that eliminate superficial chatter and start meaningful conversations.Conversation from just one question can last an hour. It takes a long time to work through one cube.The question cards are made of a sturdy cardboard, so theyll stay nice a long time.There are several versions in different categories.The acrylic cube looks modern, and maybe a bit hip, sitting on your coffee table at home or on your classroom shelf. Cons Each cube costs $25, a little hefty for some wallets.If youre a traveling trainer, the cubes are on the weighty side, two pounds each, but the company does make travel versions. Description Four-inch clear acrylic cube.135 conversation-starting questions.A variety of categories from which to choose. Expert Review I picked up my first box of Table TopicsTM on a whim while shopping in one of those funky little shops you see in the artsy parts of any city. A four-inch clear acrylic cube holds 135 cards, each with a provocative question that is sure to inspire lively conversation. I bought the Original cube. It has questions like: What would you most like to do for someone else if you had the money and time?What fashion trend you followed was very cool then, but now looks ridiculous?If you could have any view from your back porch, what would it be? Tim and I still talk about the conversations that were inspired the first evening we opened the cube. He talked about his most memorable meal at Mothers in New Orleans. Were heading back soon to recreate that experience. Since then, Ive purchased the Gourmet and Spirit cubes. The Gourmet cube is fun if youre a foodie like Tim. Its full of questions like: Do you have a food philosophy?To what degree do you eat local, organic, sustainably grown food?Which cooking shows do you watch? Some people can talk about food forever. This cube is for them. The Spirit cube has more questions that I would consider religious rather than spiritual, so there are some I put back without answering, which is usually against my own personal rules, but there are also some very good ones: What makes something sacred?Is there value in suffering?Would you like to know how and when youll die? The Original cube is clearly my favorite. Its scope is broader and its topics are ones more appropriate for a general group of people, especially those who are strangers. In the classroom, unless youre teaching a specific topic covered by Table TopicsTM, Id go with the Original cube. Be sure to check out the Table Topics ice breaker!

Essay about Internal Accountants Report to Management

Running head: INTERNAL ACCOUNTANTS REPORT TO MANAGEMENT Internal Accountant’s Report to Management ACCT 556 Introduction As the internal accountant of the European Newspaper Company, I have to perform various financial operations, and I am considered the expert in this field. As we all are faced with preparation for the upcoming government contract bid, we need to have a better understanding of how our company runs the business and issues that we can face if we enter into this contract. It is vital to visualize the actual impact of occupational fraud and abuse in the company. We also need to know how the US government oversees the accounting fraud and abuse and its affect on the company. What†¦show more content†¦Every company is required to obey the rules, and can have criminal charges for any violations. If our company becomes a government supplier, once the bid is accepted, it will come under scrutiny of the Government Accountability Office. The Government Accountability Office is an agency; however, they work for Congress and have watchdog duties. It has jurisdiction over bid pro test rulings; it can issue legal decisions relating to government contracts, and investigates allegations of illegal and improper activities. Section III Potential corruption schemes to be aware of within the company It is very important to be aware of the potential corruption schemes within the company. The most common form of corruption that can occur within the organization is bribery where the vendors are bribed to get business. This scheme involves exchange of value to get a contract or secure a project. The illegal payments can be made to maintain business relationships. One of the widely known corruption schemes is a conflict of interest. A conflict of interest is usually occurs when a company or an employee is involved in multiple interests that can corrupts the motivation for in act in others. Extortion is another type of corruption which can occur in any company. In this scheme, a vendor is ordering to make a payment forShow MoreRelatedInternal Accountants Report to Management Essay829 Words   |  4 PagesInternal Accountants Report to Management It is my opinion that a full financial status review would be in the best interest of the Company. We have taken pride in the fact that we qualify for Government contracts. We should not let anyone else find any fault within our Company. In conducting such a review, we would be able to thoroughly examine aspects of not only our control systems but our personnel and practices. 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Indeed, they have great professional technique in a rule of accountancy that government are able to measure and report financial information as organizations. This can also provide a lot of positive impacts in the running of a business. Research shows there are three main ways accountants can keep business costs down which involve internal and external actions. For internal control, the accountant has a responsibility to monitor finances of a company. Other responsibilities include keeping

Factors Impeding Ethical Consumption Pepsico - Free Sample Solution

Questions: Write an analytical business report on what ethical consumerism means for businesses. Choose a company and explain and analyse how they operate ethically. This must take into account the ethics and values of the company you choose to focus on. The report must be written in business report format and include the following six numbered sections: An executive summary which gives a brief overview of the argument in your report including key findings and conclusions. A contents page which lists the sections and the page numbers. An introduction which gives an overview of the structure of your report. A brief overview and analysis of ethical consumerism, identifying the examples of some of the products which fall into the ethical category. You must include a definition of ethical consumerism and arguments as to why it is a good strategy for businesses to adopt. A detailed review of one company claiming to operate ethically. Discuss the approach(es) they have used to become a more socially conscious business, linking this with their ethics and values. The results of a short opinion survey on what influences consumer buying behaviour, carried out by you from a small sample of 10-15 students at GSM London. You need to conduct primary research for this section. A conclusion which includes critical evaluation of ethical consumerism based on the evidence that you have gathered both from your primary and secondary research, focusing on the company you have chosen for detailed review. Recommendations as to how your company could become more ethical. You must include a references list after the main body of the report. Remember to use Harvard referencing where appropriate. A copy of your opinion survey should be included in an appendix. Answers: Introduction Ethical consumerism is the current trend among the customers of the UK. Almost 80% customers prefer to buy those products sourced in an ethical way. The definition of ethical consumerism is supporting the fact that only products or their quality is not associated with the sense of ethical consumerism whereas the business practice of the company is also a factor. Many companies is using child labor, some are not paying properly to their employees, some are harming the environment and some are exploiting the society (Carrington, Neville and Whitwell 2014). All these factors are related with the ethical consumerism that customers are looking for. Looking at the sector growth in this segment most of the companies have started ethical practices within their organization. However, only practice will not increase the awareness therefore companies are promoting their initiative of ethical business to attract the ethical customer to increase the business (Katz 2011). The objective of this rep ort is to understand the ethical practice of PepsiCo within their business organization. The study also ascertains how, they are promoting such ethical consumerism. The company had a bad record in the past therefore the report will analyze how they are able to increase the ethical customer base. Ethical consumerism Ethical consumerism is the latest concept of the current business environment. Ethical consumerism refers to the preference of the customer to buy a product sourced and distributed ethically that may be as simple as choosing. According to Bray, Johns, and Kilburn (2011), ethical consumerism can be viewed from two different perspectives one is the customers perspective and the other is the organizations perspective. From the customers perspective it can be assessed that the companies that are well aware about the ethical responsibilities towards the society, will be benefiting more, therefore supporting those organization is better to develop an environmental safety assurance. On the other hand, White, MacDonnell, and Ellard (2012) have stated that organizations are viewing it as one of their strategies to get more business. The preference of the ethical product is growing among the global customers as well as the customers of the UK. Therefore, many organizations are emphasizing to p romote their product from the ethical point of view so that more customers prefer to buy their products with the ethical sentiment. Two categories of products are operating their businesses that are ethical and unethical. Many companies do their business by practicing a wrong way (Shen et al. 2012). It may so happen that few companies that do not pay properly to their employees come to the list of unethical business. This happens because employees are providing the material of business and the company is not looking after them. PepsiCo is one such company that operates their business in the food sector, which has changed its image from few unethical practices to become one of the ethical companies in the world. The company has changed their strategy of product that is associated with the health concerns of the customers (Yeon Kim and Chung 2011). The company is diversifying their business from the carbonated drinks to the natural and organic drink. Tropicana is one such brand from PepsiCo that is produced keeping in mind the health concerns of their customers (Papaoikonomou, Ryan and Ginieis 2011). Looking at the environmental aspect, the company is also trying to build their manufacturing units that are environmentally friendly so that they get maximum mileage in the industry. Since the preferences of the customers are increasing towards the ethical products, therefore implementing this strategy is producing better results for them. Companies that are practicing ethical business through their products and processes are emphasizing to increase the awareness towards the ethical product and they are conducting several programs to make customers understand that use of such product will help them to contribute for the betterment of the environment (Singh, Iglesias and Batista-Foguet 2012). Company review of PepsiCo PepsiCo is adopting an ethical business throughout various processes so that they can also get the benefit of ethical consumerism. The company has changed their strategy by implementing several sustainable approaches to their business. The company has taken a target to increase the use of recycled plastic for their packaging by 50% within 2018. The company is currently using 34% recycled plastic for their packaging. To implement this strategy PepsiCo is conducting several awareness programs for the customers so that they help to gather plastic instead of throwing it here and there. More adoption of the recycled plastic will help to reduce the cost of packaging by the company. To get success in the recycling of the bottles the company has collaborated with the Dream Machine recycling initiative for their waste management (Davies, Lee and Ahonkhai 2012). The project structure shows that there will be kiosks in different locations. Consumers will scan the barcode of the can or bottle an d put them into the collection box. If consumers are maintaining this process then they will get reward points that can be redeemed for movie ticket, coupons, and many others (Solomon, Russell-Bennett and Previte 2012). Ethical packaging also includes several information printed on the sticker, therefore, the company is also emphasizing on the information part to provide the consumer right to their customer. The company is also emphasizing on the health of their customers because most of the customers are concerned of the effect of the soft drinks. Looking at this concern, the company is initiating several healthy products that are low in fat and sugar and will not increase the calorie intake (Bucic, Harris and Arli 2012). The main product of the company was associated with the carbonated drinks and many consumer forums are raising the question of health concerns with the carbonated product. PepsiCo has launched Tropicana brand that is a 100% natural with no synthetic ingredient added to it (Lewis and Potter 2011). PepsiCo is promoting this brand to those customers who are concerned with the health aspect and who would not want to intake anything unnatural. Looking at the health benefits of their customers the company has also introduced various potato chips that are low in calorie such as baked potato chips. To provide a good healthy product to their customers it is important that the c ompany get good raw materials. In order to achieve this they are working with their suppliers to provide the best and natural ingredients for their production (Brunk and Blmelhuber 2011). Quality of each product undergoes thorough checking so that customers get the best product. The company is adhering to the food safety laws and regulations that are applicable to avoid any problem in the future. PepsiCo is also emphasizing on responsible marketing of their product so that they do not put any adverse effect on the society. The company has involved several celebrities throughout the globe to send a good message to their customers so that customers feel better about the product they are consuming (Erwin 2011). The company has made a lot of profit from the society. Thus, they have introduced the PepsiCo foundation that helps many non-profit organizations to make better contribution to the society. The company proposes to promote the philosophy of the PepsiCo to foster healthy, vibrant, and self-sufficient communities worldwide through global partnerships that improve the quality of life across communities in areas of need. Not only the company itself involves with the community welfare program but it also encourages their employees to make good contribution to the society so that they can help every human being to live a better life (Littler 2011). The company has made their mar k by donating good amount to the disaster relief foundation. The company introduced the We Inspire campaign, which provides a platform to empower women throughout the globe. All these activities of the organization encourage building a healthy society and PepsiCo being a global organization they have tried to provide the facility to all the country where they make their business (Joy et al. 2012). Opinion survey The opinion survey conducted took place in one of the busy supermarkets in the UK. The customers in that supermarket are very brand conscious and they try to buy ethical products as much as possible. For this opinion survey, a sample size of 10 consumers was s taken. There was a short questionnaire where customers have given their opinion in the form of ratings about various factors of the PepsiCos business. The ratings range from 1-10. The questionnaire asked about several aspect of ethical business for PepsiCo. During the survey, most of the samples were well aware about the activity of the organization that is associated with their business. The factors of the rating were social responsibility, child labor, consumer health and environmental responsibility. Most of the consumers are well aware about all the aspect of ethical consumerism and they were of the opinion that there was some problem in the initial stage with PepsiCo. The company was unable to produce products that are hea lthy for the consumers. Therefore, the company has changed their strategy and initiated many healthy products in the recent time. According to the customers, PepsiCo has made a good mark in prohibiting child labor and they have taken many initiatives to prevent the same. The average score given by the customers are 9.1, which is very good. The next best score is in the social responsibility that is 7.4 and customers know the initiative of providing a platform for womens empowerment. The third segment that customers spotted about the ethical consumerism is the environmental responsibility. All the customers are well aware of the collaboration of PepsiCo with Dream Machine project. Customer appreciates the initiative of environmental sustainability and average score in this segment is 7.3, which is more than the best. The last segment that was consumer health has made very poor score from the consumer perspective. The score is as low as 4.4. This says that PepsiCo is not providing a h ealthy product to their consumers. Ethical consumerism should emphasize in this aspect also because customers want good product from the organization. PepsiCo still managed to score 4.4 in this segment because of their initiative to provide good product like Tropicana that is 100% natural with no added sugar. The company also introduced diet Pepsi and Mountain dew in the segment of carbonated drinks to minimize the calorie intake by the customers. Conclusion In conclusion, from this report we understand that the current market of the business environment is changing rapidly. Customers are becoming aware about their products and they want to support those companies only who make ethical business. Particularly in the UK 80% of consumer, emphasize on buying ethical product. The definition of ethical consumerism is also associated with the ethical responsibility of the organization. Most of the time the consumers prefer ethically processed products. Therefore, most of the organizations are emphasizing to produce the ethical product for their customer to get the maximum preference. The initiative like recycling plastic for their packaging, providing better platform to empower women in the society and increase the health and safety factor within their product. The company is also providing relief fund to the disaster victims, which are the example of ethical responsibility. The average score of ethical consumerism is high because customers rea lize that the organization is changing their strategy to become one of the ethical organizations in the world. Recommendations Health and safety PepsiCo should emphasize more on the health and safety features for their product. They should be more responsible because their brand value is high among the customers. Products those are bad for health need withdrawal and substitutes needs greater promotion in the markets for better health. More environmental responsibility Company is using recycle plastic for their packaging whereas company should use biodegradable plastic that is much better for the environmental sustainability. Child labour PepsiCo is not allowing child labour in their business. This alone is not enough. They should make more campaigns to prevent child labour so that every country gets the benefit of the project. Reference List Bray, J., Johns, N. and Kilburn, D., 2011. An exploratory study into the factors impeding ethical consumption.Journal of business ethics,98(4), pp.597-608. Brunk, K.H. and Blmelhuber, C., 2011. One strike and you're out: Qualitative insights into the formation of consumers' ethical company or brand perceptions.Journal of Business Research,64(2), pp.134-141. Bucic, T., Harris, J. and Arli, D., 2012. Ethical consumers among the millennials: A cross-national study.Journal of Business Ethics,110(1), pp.113-131. Carrington, M.J., Neville, B.A. and Whitwell, G.J., 2014. Lost in translation: Exploring the ethical consumer intentionbehavior gap.Journal of Business Research,67(1), pp.2759-2767. Davies, I.A., Lee, Z. and Ahonkhai, I., 2012. Do consumers care about ethical-luxury?.Journal of Business Ethics,106(1), pp.37-51. Erwin, P.M., 2011. Corporate codes of conduct: The effects of code content and quality on ethical performance.Journal of Business Ethics,99(4), pp.535-548. Joy, A., Sherry Jr, J.F., Venkatesh, A., Wang, J. and Chan, R., 2012. Fast fashion, sustainability, and the ethical appeal of luxury brands.Fashion Theory,16(3), pp.273-295. Katz, M.A., 2011. The politics of purchasing: Ethical consumerism, civic engagement, and political participation in the United States. Lewis, T. and Potter, E., 2011.Ethical consumption: A critical introduction. Routledge. Littler, J., 2011. 2 Whats wrong with ethical consumption?.Ethical consumption: A critical introduction, p.27. Papaoikonomou, E., Ryan, G. and Ginieis, M., 2011. Towards a holistic approach of the attitude behaviour gap in ethical consumer behaviours: Empirical evidence from Spain.International Advances in Economic Research,17(1), pp.77-88. Shen, B., Wang, Y., Lo, C.K. and Shum, M., 2012. The impact of ethical fashion on consumer purchase behavior.Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal,16(2), pp.234-245. Singh, J.J., Iglesias, O. and Batista-Foguet, J.M., 2012. Does having an ethical brand matter? The influence of consumer perceived ethicality on trust, affect and loyalty.Journal of Business Ethics,111(4), pp.541-549. Solomon, M., Russell-Bennett, R. and Previte, J., 2012.Consumer behaviour. Pearson Higher Education AU. White, K., MacDonnell, R. and Ellard, J.H., 2012. Belief in a just world: Consumer intentions and behaviors toward ethical products.Journal of Marketing,76(1), pp.103-118. Yeon Kim, H. and Chung, J.E., 2011. Consumer purchase intention for organic personal care products.Journal of consumer Marketing,28(1), pp.40-47.

Tacit collusion Essay Example

Tacit collusion Essay In any oligopoly structure there is a conflict between individual incentives and joint incentives. In Bertrand competition, for example, each firms individual incentive is to capture the whole market by setting lower price than its rivals. That leads to pricing at marginal cost and zero profits earned by all the firms. This equilibrium is not desirable by any of the firms their joint incentive is to earn positive profits by fixing price at some other, higher than marginal cost level. Because of this Prisoners Dilemma nature of any oligopoly structure, in equilibrium firms earn lower total profits than they could if they acted as a single monopolist. By behaving as a monopoly they could maximise total profits. It is therefore natural for the firms to establish agreements between them to enforce alternative solution such that all firms are better off than in equilibrium (Luis and Cabral (2000), p127). This type of behaviour is referred to as collusion. Collusion is an agreement among a group of firms designed to limit competition among the participants. If all firms follow the agreement, buyers will face higher prices, giving the firms profits above the normal competitive level. From the welfare point of view collusion is not desirable. The optimal outcome that maximises total welfare is for the firms to price at marginal cost. Collusion allows companies to deviate from pricing at marginal cost and to transfer some consumer surplus into producer surplus. As a side effect dead weight loss occurs that reduces total surplus. In fact, this is the main consideration of regulators and policymakers against collusion in whole and price fixing in particular (Luis and Cabral (2000), p144). We will write a custom essay sample on Tacit collusion specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Tacit collusion specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Tacit collusion specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In this work we shall consider different forms of collusion, which can be implemented by firms in practice. Each of the forms of collusion considered in this work can set the objective to control any aspect of production: buying or selling price, quantity supplied, advertisement expenditure, level of quality, each firms territory or the level of competition with the firms that are out of the agreement. Starting with the strongest, the most powerful and most stable ones, each form will be discussed in connection with legal remedies restricting its use. Particularly, an assumption will be tested that more powerful and stable forms of collusion are more difficult to enforce and use in practice because of greater antitrust restrictions. Forms of collusion There are three main forms that collusion between firms can take: cartels, secret agreements, and tacit collusion. Each type will be discussed here one by one. Cartels Oxford dictionary provides the following definition of a cartel: a national or international association of independent enterprises formed to create a monopoly in a given industry1 There are many varieties of cartels. Full cartel is behaving very much like monopoly, controlling all aspects price, output, investment, product mix and profits. Less complete cartel, often called the marketing cartel controls all its members sales and revenues (Shepherd (1979), p307). The most well known example of cartel is the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). It is an international organisation consisting mainly of oil-rich Middle East Arab countries2. It has a significant power in determining the world oil prices by controlling its members joint oil production. It first achieved success in 1973 by raising the world oil price from $3 to $11, and then to about $30 in 1979. The Diamond Cartel, DeBeers, is another well-known example. It has a significant power of control over world diamond industry. Now more than 80% of the worlds diamonds are processed through DeBeerss Central Selling Organization. In 1981, it flooded the diamond market to punish one of its members for defecting from the cartel and managed to reduce the price form $3 to $1.80 3 Among all types of collusion cartel is the strongest and most stable one. It is the most powerful in terms of determining the price or any other aspect a cartel controls. For this reason cartels are largely illegal (in Europe by Article 85 of the Treaty of Rome; by Sherman Act in the United States). So, if firms want to communicate directly, they may do so secretly. Secret agreements Secret agreements are illegal also, but these agreements are less obvious than cartels. It takes a great deal of effort to detect if a price change, for example is a result of agreement between companies or it is just due to the demand change. Secret agreements are easier to implement than to form a cartel. For this reason, firms have an incentive to make secret agreements to fix the price that would maximise their joint profits or to control any other aspect like quantity, advertisement etc. One recent example of secret agreements is a case of credit card firms colluding to compete against debit card rivals. Visa and MasterCard actively discouraged the use of rival debit cards to push the use of their own more expensive versions, raising costs for merchants and customers (see Appendix 1). If this anticompetitive behaviour is proved, firms will be heavily penalised. Another recent example of illegal secret agreement is commission fees fixing by two well-known auction houses. A fine of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½20.4 million has been imposed by The European Commission on the auction house Sothebys for colluding with its rival Christies. The EU case against the auction houses follows action in the United States where Sothebys was sentenced to pay $45 million. Christies escaped both EU and US fines because it provided evidence to European and American investigators that enabled them to prove the existence of the agreement.4 Secret agreements are very risky in the sense that once the existence of such agreements is detected and proved, it may result in fines or jail time. In real world, a lot of firms seeking to collude do not want to bear such a risk. Therefore, they have to find some other ways to communicate with each other.