Financial Case

By choosing the correct projects to participate in, Target Corporation can continue their growth and competitiveness in the retail Indus try. Executive Summary Target was first founded in 1 962, opening their first store in Roseville, Imines tot. The store was designed to differentiate themselves from the existing upscale store sees in the area. The company's idea flourished and by 2005, Target became a major retailing pop rouses, recording revenues of over $52 billion from stores located in 47 different states.One of the main reasons Target was able to become as successful as they are, is the idea of focusing o the shopping experience as a whole, and not just focusing on lower prices compared to thee r competitors. By embracing this idea, Target has been able to successfully attract their target d anemographic, a medaled, collateralized female, with children. In today's market, Target faces 2 main competitors: Walter and Cost. Wall Mart operates their stores similar to how Target's stores are operated, and their SST ores are generally in competing areas of another.Walter focuses on driving their prices as low a s possible, creating a very small profit margin on their items, but makes a large profit du to their large 1 amount of sales. Cost is a warehouse retailer that charges a membership f e in order to receive their discounted prices. The company relies heavily on these fees, as they ma eke up 72. 8% of operating income. Cost attracts many of the same customers Target attract s, but the companies are generally not in the same locations.Targets Capital Expenditure Committee is made up of top executives who me et monthly to review all capital project requests costing more than $100,000. This commit tee could approve any and all projects, unless the projects were worth more than $50 million an in this case, the project would need approval from the board of directors. If the project involve sees openings new location, a real estate manager, located in that speci fic geographic area, was r expansible for the proposal and presentation Of the proposal. The committee uses different fact Ores when analyzing the capital project requests.The factors are: NP and AIR, the size and cost of the project, the effect this project has on other Target store's sales, store sensitivities, variance e to prototype, customer demographics, and the impact it has on the Target brand. By care Ely analyzing each of these factors and locations, we were able to come up with a decision for EAI chi location. Analysis and Recommendations The first project we will discuss is the Gopher Place location. The proposal is f or $23 million to build a POP Target Store. This location has a very strong NP and IR R in terms to the expense of the project.With the prototype NP achievable with sales of 5. 3% below R & P forecast, we would expect this store to be financially stable. The size of the pr Eject is reasonable, and with the strong NP and AIR the cost should be redeemed. The biggest factor against this location is the centralization of sales from preexisting Target stop rest. In this location, there are five Target stores already established and plans of two Inc miming Walter 2 Superstores. 19% of our sales are expected to come from existing Target stop rest in the area, not benefiting the corporation.This location has a relatively small population, thou ugh they have been experiencing the largest population growth of the five projects. Only 12 % of the population fits our target demographic of adults with 4+ years of college education. The median salary is also on the higher end of the remaining projects and does not fit our target d anemographic. This location doesn't bring any new brand awareness to the Target brand and is go inning into a very crowded area of competition. The Whalen Court project is by far the most expensive project, costing $1 19. Million to build a unique, one floor Target store. This project has a project NP of $25. 9 million and an AIR of 9. 8%. With the large amount of investment, the NP and AIR figures AR .NET necessarily that strong but are still positive and could see growth. This is by far the large SST size project, with the largest expense by far. The expense alone makes us worried about the pr Eject. There are currently 45 other stores in the area, but this store would be the only one in a n urban center off major metropolitan area.This location would not have a major impact on Sal sees from other Target stores, but could take away customers from competitors that are cure .NET in the Metropolitan area. The population of 632,000 is by far the largest population and 45% of them fit our demographic of collateralized adults. This location also brings a nun queue branding and advertising advantage and the expense could be balanced against the brand wariness. The Barn is a proposal for a POP store costing $13 million and can reach its NP V with sales 18. 1% below the projected. The small investment allow s for a large return run, even if sales fall below the projected.There are no other Target stores in the area and the strong population of 3 151 ,OHO people fits our target median income. This project should have been passed already if it weren't for a disagreement with the developer. Soldiers Square is a project for a Supermarket costing $23. 9 million. In order t o achieve the forecasted NP and AIR of $300,000 and 8. 1 % respectively, sales would en d to be at 45. 1% above the forecasted sales level. The area is largely populated with other rate leers and currently 12 Target stores, with plans of building another 12.

Middle School Absences Essay

1. Is there is a common reason for the absences? Explain. Absences only occurred for band class at Truman and Jackson Middle Schools. Absences must have been due to something occurring in both Truman and Jackson band courses on May 20th and 21st. (and only May 22nd for Truman) All other attendance is normal in all other classes and Middle Schools and are not suspicious. —see evidence and analysis of evidence for more information– 2. Come up with two testable, clear hypotheses about what you think is behind the absences. Be sure to base your hypotheses on the evidence you have obtained (e.g. , Health Department Restaurant Inspections) and be thorough in your explanation of who, what, why, when, and how to support your hypotheses. Hypothesis #1) The increase in Band absences at Truman middle school are due to a high intensity band event(test or otherwise) starting May 20th and lasting until May 22nd at both Truman and Jackson Middle Schools. Hypothesis #2) Truman and Jackson Band classes encountered the same illness at a location prior to May 20th. 3. Come up with six testable questions that you could ask to help further your investigation and support or disprove your hypotheses. (listed farther down on the page) 4. Is the following statement a suitable hypothesis: â€Å"The Brentwood Indians basketball team lost the state championship because there is bad stuff in the stars happening with Mars in Aquarius†? Explain why or why not. I do not find the hypothesis â€Å"The Brentwood Indians Basketball team lost the state championship because there is bad stuff in the stars happening with Mars in Aquarius† to be a suitable hypothesis, because a hypothesis must be testable. The term â€Å"bad stuff† in this hypothesis does not give the person testing any idea as to what to look for near Mars. Also, the ability to test the happening of Mars and any other place outside Earth for that matter, belongs solely to NASA and makes it unable to be tested again. Also, there would have to be some kind of testable event or correlation between the basketball team and the happenings of Mars in Aquarius. For example, if Mars is here, the team will win the championship, but there are so many other factors to cause the team to win or lose that again the hypothesis could not be tested. EVIDENCE Problem: Truman Middle School May 20th-1/3 absent Band Class Band attendance increased from 5/20-5/22. It began May 20th as 33. 3 percent then decreased to 23. 3 and 13. 3 absent, respectively. After the weekend during of this week, absences were back to an almost average 6. 7 percent. A very similar flux in absent percentage also occurred at Jackson Middle School. Jackson Middle School experienced an absent percentage of 25% on May 20th in band class. No other classes had abnormal absences on this day. May 21st had an absent percentage of 15. 6%. Attendance was back to normal for Jackson Middle Bank on May 22nd. Although Truman experienced just slightly higher absences for May 20th in P. E. (7. 3%) and 7th Grade (8. 6%), the real increase only occurred in Band Class at only Truman and Jackson Middle Schools. There was no affect on absences for this time at Kennedy or Roosevelt Middle Schools. Art classes had no out of the ordinary absent rates for these days. The absences in band slowly decreasing from May 20th-22nd seem to support the evidence of sickness, but since there is no increase in absence in Art, I doubt it was illness. A rise as in absences as much as 33% would most likely (although there are exceptions to everything) would spread beyond one particular class, or even grade level. There is no other abnormal fall in attendance at any of the four middle school or specific classes other than the May 20th-May 22nd time frame and so speculation is resting solely on the events or evidence of these days’ attendances and classes. Testable Questions Was there a Band competition, exam, or any other event during this time period that would encourage students to miss school, not involving health factors, at Jackson and Truman Middle Schools? Were Jackson and Truman band classes in contact with another around the date of May 20th? Did student of Jackson and Truman band classes attend an event prior to May 20th where students of Roosevelt and Kennedy were not present? Were the band teachers of Jackson and Truman Middle Schools present on the days of the increased absences? Is band class before or after lunch? Do the schools serve the same lunch menu? Is band class the last class of the day at Truman and Jackson? Analysis and Explanation of Evidence There may have been a test, competition, intense practice, or other event during May20th-May 22nd. The other option would be an isolated illness only in Truman and Jackson bands. Whatever happened for Band Class at Jackson Middle lasted one day less than what occurred for band class at Truman Middle. So the possible test or practice may have been finished more quickly at Jackson Middle. If Jackson and Truman band classes had come in contact with each other near May 20th, they could have gotten the same illness from one another, causing a decrease in attendance only at these two schools and only in band class, but this is highly unlikely since these students would have to associate with someone outside the band at some point to attend normal courses. If the band teachers were absent themselves on these days of high student absences, possible due to a band teacher conference or meeting for only Truman and Jackson Middle, then students would be more likely to willingly miss school than if the teachers were present. If band class occurs after lunch at both school locations, Truman and Jackson, then this could lead to the possibility of food poisoning causing students to miss only band class on may 20th and leaving a smaller percentage of band students still absent or unable to play instruments (due to using the mouth, etc) until May 21st or May 22nd. If band class is the last class of the day, this would explain students missing only band class on the above mentioned days in May. This is also a much more tempting time of the day for students to leave school early. There may have also been outside events for these particular groups of students found only in Truman and Jackson band classes occurring on these particular days and encouraging students to miss school and attend with band friends.

Cultural distance Essay

The concepts related to cultural distance and local linkages are of paramount importance to the strategies adopted by multinational companies, Tjosvold and Leung (2003) noted. These authors note that it is through placing utmost significance on the said concepts that companies would be able to ensure the success of both their international operations (those in situated in the host country) and their domestic operations (based on the home country). Luo (1999) further expounds on the topic at hand. According to this author, it is of paramount importance that a certain company, in the hopes of expanding its global reach, to be able to look into factors that would that would affect their stability in a certain region. Luo (1999) then discussed the need for multinational enterprises that have subsidiaries outside of their home country to scan and interpret the environment in order to make appropriate decisions regarding internal arrangements and external alignment. They must be able to look into the similarities between the culture of the home and host countries which has been considered important in terms of ensuring the development of a tightly knit network between the two (Luo, 1999). Aside from this, it was also maintained that it is through the careful analysis of cultural distance that multinational companies would be able to determine their competitive advantages and reduce their disadvantages that may stem out from the following: (1) their dependence on local settings, (2) their vulnerability to government interference, and (3) their bargaining power with the host government (Luo, 2002). Hence, Luo (1999; 2002), without a doubt, attributed the importance of taking cultural distance and local linkages into consideration in order to ensure the success of multinational corporations that are conducting businesses within an international context. Background of the Study Cultural distance and local linkages, without a doubt then, becomes of paramount importance to expanding businesses that seek to tap markets outside of their own domestic sphere. Understanding the cultural distance existing between the multinational enterprises’ home and host countries are of paramount importance in order to ensure the success of the former and its business initiatives. In this paper, cultural distance is measured based on the model developed by Geert Hofstede which noted that the difference between two countries are more or less affected by the following factors: (1) power distance, (2) uncertainty avoidance, (3) individualism vs. collectivism, and (4) masculinity vs. femininity (Hofstede, 1991). The difference between the countries in relation to the four factors affects the manner by which multinational companies enter into businesses outside of their home country. Brouthers and Brouthers (2001), in fact, look into how cultural distance influences the instances by which affect their modes of entry. Apparently, this is due to the fact that the survival of the business venture may depend on the management of the relationships existing between the home and host countries, thereby making it of paramount importance to the business to take the said factor into consideration (Barkema & Vermeulen, 2009; Hennart & Zeng, 2002). Manev and Stevenson (2001), in line with this, also stated looking into cultural distance may eventually affect the relationships amongst the employees and the management situated in the home countries. The importance of Linkages, on the other hand, lies on its ability to provide business ventures with the competitive advantages needed in order to ensure the success of their businesses, Blomstrom and Kokko (2003) discussed. In general, local linkages refer to the relationships established by multinational relationships with the host country that serve as an anchor to their activities, Chen, Chen and Kyu (2004). The essentiality of the said linkages can also be attributed to the sharing of resources and activities in order to ensure the success of the business enterprise. Hence, local linkages once again reiterate the need for business ventures to look closely into cultural distance. Previous researchers stated the fact that a culturally distant company or corporation may significantly affect the linkages it develops with the host country, thereby threatening the formation of competitive advantage necessary to the success of their businesses. It is in line with the abovementioned discussions that this research shall focus on the manner by which cultural distance affects local linkages which could more or less pose significant implications to the formation of competitive advantages, thereby affecting the expansion of businesses. More specifically, however, this study is directed towards Dutch multinational enterprises. Statement of the Problem Cultural distance, as previously mentioned, can be measured by looking into the four factors that are contained within the model of Hofstede; namely: (1) power distance, (2) uncertainty avoidance, (3) individualism vs. collectivism, and (4) individualism vs. collectivism. In general, the difference between the home and host countries of a certain multinational enterprise tend to affect several aspects of their businesses, including their modes of entry, the manner by which human resources are managed, the development of networks, and most importantly, the relationship existing between the two. Aside from this, the discussions made in the foregoing paragraphs also noted of cultural distance as an important factor that affects the development of local linkages between the multinational enterprise and the host country, which is then important in terms of ensuring their competitive advantage and success in their expansion to a location outside of their traditional place of origin. It is for this reason that this research is devoted to the provision of answers with regard to the main research question: how does cultural distance affect the formation of local linkages, taking into consideration the experiences of Dutch multinational enterprises? To support this, the following research questions are also deemed necessary: Research Questions 1. How does cultural distance significantly affect the development of local linkages? 2. How does cultural distance significantly affect the favorability of factors relating to the local business environment, based on the experience of Dutch multinational enterprises? 3. In what way does cultural distance affect decisions with regard to modes of entry and autonomy of the subsidiaries of Dutch multinational enterprises? 4. To what extent does cultural distance affect the formation of competitive advantages of the Dutch business ventures in host countries? 5. What are the common benefits obtained by the Dutch multinational enterprises with regard to their ability to form successful local linkages? 6. What are the common disadvantages experienced by the business enterprises in relation to their inability to establish successful local linkages? Hypotheses It is in line with the abovementioned research questions and problem statement that the researcher develops the following hypotheses that this study shall either accept or reject, based on the results obtained by the latter: Main Null Hypothesis: Cultural distance does not affect the Dutch multinational enterprises’ establishment of local linkages. Main Alternative Hypothesis: Cultural distance affects the Dutch multinational enterprises’ establishment of local linkages. Null Hypothesis 1: Cultural distance and the establishment of local linkages are not significantly correlated with each other. Alternative Hypothesis 1: Cultural distance and the establishment of local linkages are significantly correlated with each other Null Hypothesis 2: Cultural distance does not significantly affect the favorability of factors relating to local business environment of Dutch Multinational Enterprises. Alternative Hypothesis 2: Cultural distance significantly affects the favorability of factors relating to local business environment of Dutch Multinational Enterprises. Null Hypothesis 3: Cultural distance does not affect decisions of Dutch Multinational Enterprises

Mrs. Fields' Cookies Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mrs. Fields' Cookies - Case Study Example Although in the early years, the concentration was rigid on the product lining of the company to market only the cookies, in the later years, with the improvement in the performance, the company started marketing ice-creams and other baked products along with cookies in 14 unparallel flavors and varieties. Incidentally, the company emerged as one of the major players in the sweet snack industry. The company in this virtue expanded its operations in different parts of Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. It was during 1987 when the company initiated the acquisition of a France based bakery and/or sandwich store named as La Petite Boulangerie (LPB). LPB during the period was operating through almost 119 stores scattered in every nook and corner of the country under the corporate head of PepsiCo (Harvard Business School, â€Å"Mrs. Fields' Cookies†). Fields’ Initial Actions upon Acquiring LPB The dimensions of LPB in terms of both product lining and organizational structure wer e largely different from that of Mrs. Fields’, Inc during the period. Therefore, it was quite likely that in the realistic practices both the companies will have unparallel values and objectives as well. In this regard, to transform the objectives and the vision of LPB in order to be similar as that of Mrs. Fields’, certain major changes were enforced which brought about drastic changes in the managerial outlook of the company. For instance, LPB associated more than 53 administrative staffs to control its outlets through various departments from marketing and sales to Research & Development (R&D). But as a result of the acquisition, the number of administrative staffs was reduced to only three as Mrs. Fields’ took control of the overhead functions of LPB, such as the finance department, the human resources department and others. Only the operations and the R&D department were left unchanged (Harvard Business School, â€Å"Mrs. Fields' Cookies†). Reasons t o Initiate These Actions According to Randy Fields, the acquisition was enforced as an expansion tactic due to the fact that LPB dealt with both cookies and various other bakery products to the upscale customers through sit-down cafes. However, as stated by the founders the strategy represented something extra than just expansion, which was treated to be new concept for Mrs. Fields’. It was due to this reason that the stores of Mrs. Fields’ after the acquisition went through a change process in order to obtain a new outlook of a combination store. This combination store thereby would serve both cookies and other bakery products along with ice-creams and deserts. Another reason to attempt the strategic decision of acquiring LPB was the belief of Randy. According to Randy’s perception, Mrs. Fields’ stores were running so vividly that any thing which adapted the brand name would perform well in the targeted market. Consequently, the then market analysis also depicted that the popularity of the quality baked products are somewhat resistant to the economic fluctuations. This in turn encouraged the founders to undertake the risk of acquisition and reformation. The in-depth cause of acquiring LPB was to incur a larger profit than Mrs. Fields’ could gain separately (Harvard Business

Conference 6 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Conference 6 - Coursework Example etermination of budget priorities however, leads to economic growth of entire country as well as state and this is driven by world knowledge economy provided by competition norm both within and outside a country. More so, budget priorities brings about globalization through an essence of global networks and this in turn leads to tremendous opportunities for trading, building relationship as well as working in partnership triggered by effective communication. As far as the aspect of budget priority is of concern, the world becomes more interconnected specifically through trading activities, new trends activities, interests sharing, technology, and mostly through cyberspace. It is at this point that we learn co-existence between the National Security council and the Office of Management and budget as far as budgeting priorities are of concern. Through effective communication and forms of communication, for the National Security council to initiate any transaction, it need to liaise with the office of management and budget to get accountability on the basis of resources allocation, acquisition and amendments that might have come across due to either outside on internal

Introduction to European Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Introduction to European Studies - Essay Example (Mukherjee, 22) But it should be remembered that the idea of Europe, as we know it today, was still in its infancy dealing in ideologies and fundamentals that are not much different from the rest of the known and civilized world. As late as the beginning of the 1700 AD there were still the practice of feudalism in one form or another, there were states that used bonded labours and encouraged slavery, woman rights were not known and structural academic movements were still at bay. This society needed a thrust to start off. And that thrust was inspired from a political movement in England. The Act of Union was passed in British Council whereby four states, England, Ireland, Scotland and Welsh came together to form a political union know as United Kingdom of Great Britain. Subsequent Act of Union was passed in 1707 and 1800 and this was the point of a growing concept which ultimately is on its way towards a unified European Union in the 21st Century. The perception of a common fiscal policy has been granted by most of the states of Europe and Union of European could be within striking distance. However, this modern concept of unification of states is a step towards a better and mutually prosperous situation but at the same time it should be kept in mind the development of Europe as a concept or idea started with other variables too. (Mukherjee, 81) The concept of Europe as a unified cultural sect started along the path of the 1700s and the basic idea of Europe is that unified perception of thought process bounded by cultural, social, religious and political homogeneousness. There are other variables to develop this homogeneousness of states in Europe whereby the idea could be put forward. Religion One such variable is the growth of Christianity as a binding force. It is obvious that religion played an enormous part as the determining factor of conceptualising the unified idea of Europe. The Eight Crusades were just a beginning of this bonding. Though Christianity has changed face along with time and space and at present there are three major distributaries of the religion viz. Roman Catholic, Protestant and Greek Orthodox it cannot be denied that Christ as a Prophet, despite being Semitic by anthropological diversity, it should be noted and the fact that should indulged in this conception, influenced all the tribes of Europe be it Nordic, Alpine or Caucasian. Although, no one can ignore that during the inquisition period this religion did enough to set back the clock for Europe, at least scientifically. But this same inquisition period can be put forward to ensure the bondage that that spread across Europe with the substantial feel of brotherhood. Political Apart from the Act of Union in Great Britain there came another exemplary act that forced all Europe to reconsider their usual concept of life and perception of politics all at the same time all over Europe. This was the French revolution of the late 18th Century. On 20 September 1792 the National Convention abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic. Due to the emergency of war the National Convention created the Committee of Public Safety, controlled by the Jacobin Robespierre, to act as the country's executive. Under

Who Owns History The Texas Textbook Controversy Essay - 1

Who Owns History The Texas Textbook Controversy - Essay Example The question on how history should be taught was brought to the limelight by the state of Texas. The Texas State Board of Education, in charge of the state’s curriculum, approved several controversial changes to be made to the textbooks in schools. The changes were included in the economic, social studies and history textbooks. These ‘improvements’ made by the education board emphasizes the Christianitys influence in the founding of America (Hutchins et. al. 652). The changes downplay the role of liberals and highlight the influence of conservative groups in American history. These changes, for the Texan board, seem minimal with no consequences on the American history, but the opposite is true. These small changes and tweaks in their curriculum seek to re-write the American history significantly for the students in Texas. Furthermore, the state of Texas is among the country’s biggest purchasers of History textbooks. This means that the changes in the Texan curriculum will slowly reflect in all schools throughout the country. They exclude the influence and existence of Thomas Jefferson, one of the country’s founding fathers. The Texan board excludes his influence on the Declaration of Independence and other vital legislation (Hutchins et. al. 653). Jefferson is not the only culprit of the Texan board; they further scrap off presidential runs of Ralph Nader and Ross Perot in their history books. There is a complete exclusion of the roles of Latinos and other races in America History. The changes implemented in the Texan History textbooks are endless, but it is heavily characterized by the conservative Christian influences. By changing and rewriting history of the state of Texas, the Texan board rewrote the world’s history. These changes made by the Texan board question the legitimacy of history and the appropriate way of teaching the subject. It is a universally accepted

This house believes that.International Business will have to manage Essay

This house believes that.International Business will have to manage significant shifts in global power over the next few decad - Essay Example These developed nations hold the key to production while the emerging economies provide mainly the labor and infrastructure necessary for the investment. Technological upgradation has been a key to economic growth and the developed nations have proven this. Technology aims to create objects which are vital for human living. With new developments in research and owing to globalization, these economies like China and India have also realized the importance of technological development (Johnson & Turner, 2009, pp. 1-3). On the grounds of progress in technology it can be inferred that US reigns supreme though India and China have been investing constant efforts towards the same with China a few steps ahead. Technology is usually purchased and sold in the form of capital products incorporating machines and other systems of production. Information regarding technical and commercial aspects is subject to property related rights. In fact there are six elements connected to technology. These are â€Å"geography, culture, economy, people, business, and government† (Li-Hua, 2004, p.28). China has one of the most composite legislative and political systems and this creates hindrances for businesses. The government takes a clear role in issuing licenses and in spite of the loose ends in legislation China is encouraging towards foreign investments. Government has also issued the intellectual property rights in order to protect the â€Å"copycat reputation† of the nation. The business houses need to safeguard against â€Å"confidentiality, corruption and conflict of interest† (Ripard, 2010). India despite her colonial history has higher level of acceptance towards foreign investments. India’s regulations have been loosened and the economy opened when the country faced sudden crisis in balance of payments (Kochanek, 1974, pp. 118-119). Recently both America and India have shown their doubts regarding the products of the telecommunications sector fro m China. Experts suspect that, â€Å"India’s move to obstruct the orders from the Chinese telecommunications has kicked off a sequence of events that resulted in billions of dollars of lost revenue for global telecom market vendors and significant project delays for India’s telecom service providers† (Petrou, 2010). Chinese equipments involve a risk of security, according to Indian buyers and this might risk important information which might lead a firm to ethical problems. Even United States have raised security related issues and the senators from US requested the Obama administration to go through a submission of quotation from Huawei Technologies in China. The crucial causal factors behind the success of Chinese vendors are cheap labor, â€Å"a home-field advantage in China’s hot telecom market† and â€Å"access to an almost unlimited line of credit through government banks†. These facilities are likely to persist. (Petrou, 2010) China, especially Beijing has future plans for forming an environment which facilitates â€Å"homegrown next-generation mobile technology and electric cars†. When assistance was provided to the Chinese local producers in the form of energy resources and technologies at subsidies Beijing received the accusation of breaking free trade principles. This led to filing of a case in the WTO by Washington. China is working fast to create self reliance in the field of

Earnings Method Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Earnings Method Management - Assignment Example If Invalid, Reason: It is invalid because the start of work is not an acceptable milestone. If Invalid, Reason: If Invalid, Reason: It is invalid because there is no milestone in period 3 and work was left to be completed. If Invalid, Reason: It is invalid because there is no milestone in the second measurement period. If Invalid, Reason: If Invalid, Reason: If Invalid, Reason: It is invalid because no more than 80% of the value of the next period’s milestone can be planned in the current period. If Invalid, Reason: It is invalid because it extends to more than two consecutive measurement periods and more than two earning points have been established. If Invalid, Reason: It is invalid because it spans more than two measurement periods and t has more than two earning points. If Invalid, Reason: It is invalid because the total work package should be 100% and there s no indication that the work will continue into the next period. If Invalid, Reason: If Invalid, Reason: If Invalid , Reason: It is invalid because the totals of the percentage ratios do not add up to 100% of the total work package and there is no indication that the work is ongoing to the next period. ... The first completed earning point was in period 2 and the project was completed in period 2. Comments: The 50% is earned when the project actually starts in period 1. However, the project was not completed until period 3 even though it was scheduled to be completed in period 2. Therefore, the planned earning point (period 2) is earlier than the completed earning point (perod 3). Comments: The work package was scheduled to start in period 2 and end in period 3; however, it was started earlier in period 1 and completed in period 2. Therefore, the earnings came much earlier than anticipated. Comments: The planned milestones are earlier than the completed milestones and so the planned values are earned in subsequent periods. The work continues into the next period when milestone 3 will be completed and the final budgeted amount of ?20,000 will be earned. Comments: The planned milestones were for periods 1, 2 and 3. However, the completed milestones occurred in periods 2 and 3. Therefore, half of the budgeted amount was earned n period 2 and the other half in period 3. Comments: The planned milestones were for periods 1 and 2. However, the milestones were completed in periods 1 and 2. The first milestone was completed before the scheduled start of the work package. Comments: The plan was for the work to start early in period 1 and to be completed in period 2. However, the work started late in period 2 and was still ongoing at the end of period 3. The milestones were planned for period 1 and 2 but the first milestone was not accomplished until period 3 due to the late start. Only 60 workdays were completed at the end of period 3. Comments: The work started a little late and so the milestones

The Psychology and Philosophy of Education of Ayn Rand in The Comprachicos Essay Example for Free

The Psychology and Philosophy of Education of Ayn Rand in The Comprachicos Essay Ayn Rand writes mainly about the status quo and what and who is to be blamed for such circumstances. She talks of a miseducation so ingenious that when one reads about it one simply gets baffled as he is forced to look into his own experiences from the home, to the school, to the Church and in the province or in the city. One can expect to see various parallelisms with how he is brought up and what he is usually told by his superiors. The reason for these apparent similarities, I think is that aside from the ‘system’ that almost each person is forced into; there is something common in every one of us. This is what makes us man, Rand says, our capability to be rational. Rand believes that man is rational and that this characteristic is, by itself unyielding. It is a capacity that can be impaired and can be prevented to work at its best, as what the comprachicos do but it survives even in those who are the ‘exact concretization’ of the Nursery School ideal, the hippies. Rationality is that which enables any man to; even with the worst education given to him feel that something is wrong because things appear blurred to him, that things must have clarity for it to appear blurred in the first place. It gives him an inkling perhaps or an intuition that something is not right around him and yet he still feels that ‘he has to make something somehow’. This is because of his rationality which naturally is the opposite of the fake, the submission, the uncertainty and the chaos. Man is rational because he has a mind. For Rand, this mind is empty at birth as what John Locke holds to be Tabula Rasa. It does not have innate contents; it is on the other hand waiting to be written upon by the experiences to come. Rand says that it has the potential for awareness, with a conscious and a subconscious mind that he must learn to operate to be able to construct inferences about the perceptions he will make. Thus, one can easily see how important it is for every child to be given enough opportunity to develop this potential especially in the years of his life that it is most needed. Rand stresses that it is in the first two years of a person’s life that what he is capable of learning is most significant both in the quantity and the degree of his curiosity about everything around him and the intensity of how he takes every detail seriously. When he reaches his third year, Rand says, his cognitive development is completed. He has acquired the things he need, what he has to do at this point is to use them. How he uses his cognitive tools will determine how well his conceptual ability will be when he grows older. Hence, as early as the nursery level, educators should already start training the child’s mind. Rand holds that teachers should focus on the progress of his mind’s automization of conceptual knowledge. By this, he can then retain the knowledge gained in his consciousness and move on to new information so that gradually, he will learn to integrate the old and new inputs and thus establish relationships between them. This will guide the child in understanding the basic concept of time-continuity and in internalizing a projection of the future instead of acting on whatever he feels like doing in the moment. If the simple idea of having something like tomorrow, or even later, and that what is done at the moment affects the time thereafter is introduced to the child, he will inevitably practice his rational faculty because he needs to look at all his choices and reason when he is choosing among the different alternatives. He needs to think and debate by himself what best could be done in the situation because the consequences of it would always have a lot of implications. Rand postulates that if a child is given the chance to exercise his reason, being caught in an event where he has to make decisions will not be much of a hurdle for him. The important thing is not really for him to make what is in the older people’s opinion the right decision; but to let him, in all his capacity as a rational person and in all his limitations as a child have at least some disposition and not let him be governed by whims or emotions be it of himself, of another person or of the whole pack. To have a disposition requires that one should have a firm ground to stand his beliefs on. This is why Rand tells us that it is wrong to place the children in an environment that would not help him be secured about an objective world, one that would only make him settle for the company of persons the same age as he is and of course do not know any better. What he needs, says Rand is cognitive guidance especially to acquaint him to the reality instead of making him adjust to a group of people he does not know and lose himself in the process. In getting to know the reality, Rand talks of the Montessori Method which utilizes materials that are didactic thus very useful for child learning because it provides a solution that the child needs to discover by actively thinking of how to do it. Instructive materials, Rand moreover says introduces the child to a sense of order since it is directed to a right answer or a right way. During this stage, Rand says that a child can only identify objects around him and its characteristics as it appears to him. The child cannot comprehend its other properties like height, volume, color and so on. This is why at this time, it is best to provide for the child special exercises of attending, observing, comparing and classifying. I have noted that while keeping the learning pace in gear with the child’s current stage, the four exercises mentioned also further develops his reasoning skills [especially comparing and classifying]. It is significant to note in my opinion how the previous knowledge learned leads to the knowledge learned later and how the knowledge learned later reinforces the knowledge learned earlier. When the child is introduced to the reality and becomes more and more aware of his own self, Rand implies that the time for language, particularly speech comes. Interestingly, Rand says that language comes to fix by means of the exact words which the child’s mind acquired and this profoundly lets him find himself alike in the world. This is a start for him to have a sense of belongingness, an idea which is necessary as Rand says to be an active and intelligent explorer of the world. All learning involves a process of automizing, Rand has stated. In forming, integrating and using concepts, Rand establishes that it involves the person’s will; it is volitional. How else better to bring out the will of the child in learning and thinking critically than to let him use practice his cognitive abilities especially in the age when he is most up and ready for it? Rand stresses that educators should not let this time pass because what could have been a joyful activity of enhancing his mind when the child is young will turn to be an extremely strenuous task when he gets older. Rand also gives favor of understanding as a method of learning over memorizing. Understanding means to grasp the content and the essentials of a thing, an event or a concept, to establish relationships between these essentials and what was previously known in the past and most importantly, integrate it with other subjects. By understanding is how the child will learn reading, for instance. Rand mentions what she calls the ‘look-say’ method which is not merely focused on shape of the letters (which the child can reverse; i. e. b-d, m-w, etc. [1]) but more on their phonetic equivalent which encourages the child to think in abstractions; directing his attention to the sound of the letter and not the mere appearance of it. Memorization, Rand further holds, is appropriate only for the level of observation, when the child’s capacity to understand is not developed yet. Another method Rand despises is the Discussion Method. As implied, she prefers to have a teacher in the classroom to guide the students in learning about the subject and to not let them carry the learning process by their premature knowledge. Besides the obvious fact that to learn is why they come to school in the first place, Rand prescribes that the teacher really teach what he expertly knows because to leave the deliberation to the students is to give them an illusion that they can know without being taught; that they can claim expertise without really learning. It is not possible to learn from this method because as Rand tells us, the students are clueless about that which is supposed to be lectured. To employ this method, according to Rand is to give the false idea that any person’s opinion can be the right answer or that the right answer can be produced by a person who does not yet know anything about what is being talked about. This cannot be for the truth is independent of anyone’s mere whims and this, in turn is the reason why education is highly significant and relevant and must remain so by imparting on the students the knowledge and the skills necessary for his growth as a rational being. I think that the reason why Rand says that this method is inappropriate for the students is because the mind prior to learning about the subject is, to say still immature. By this immaturity, they are driven to be hostile people, indulging them to the guilty habits of criticism instead of creativity for they mistakenly think that to demolish a bad argument is to construct a good one. We can see very clearly here how Rand takes it to be an awfully big mistake to leave students of any age unguided and left to themselves when they in fact need to learn and thus to be taught by a superior more knowledgeable than him. To conclude, Rand takes the psychology and philosophy of Maria Montessori and John Locke in her basic idea of education. Her metaphysics on the one hand rests on the basic idea that there is an objective reality that the child will naturally belong to; in which he will find proper distinction between existence and consciousness. Her epistemology on the other hand lies on the thought that every person is born without knowledge but has the potential to exercise his rational capacity if given the due opportunities for development. Moreover, it is best to develop a person’s cognitive skills when he is young not only because it is when he is most ready and willing to do so but also because for Rand, a purposeful and disciplined intelligence is the highest achievement possible to man. Implied then by her basic ideas derived from Montessori and Locke, Rand takes a common stance with the position of Perennialism. [2] Abigail Thea O. Canuto EDFD 201 (HZQ2)/ Thursdays, 5:30-8:30 P. M. 2003-31176 / MA TEG (K-2) Prof. Muega / A Paper on ‘The Comprachicos’ II. Evaluating Ayn Rand’s Philosophy and Psychology of Education from the Standpoint of Pragmatism, Essentialism and Perennialism, Existentialism, Social Reconstructionism and Marxism As evaluated earlier, the philosophy and psychology of Ayn Rand with regards to education rests on the basic idea that man is rational; born with a Tabula Rasa mind that is to be filled with knowledge brought by experiences he will have in the world. She also holds that cognitive training is best started as soon as possible, which is in the nursery level because it is when the child is most ready and willing to learn about the reality and that to delay, or even worse to provide what I may call a wrong education will greatly impede his reason which is his basic means of survival; his reason. Again, the wrong education that I interpret to be in Rand’s article is basically the Progressivist method and any classroom setup that leaves the child to the whims and immature ideas of the collective. Pragmatism, especially that of John Dewey is just one of the various positions contended by Rand. Perhaps the most apparent distinctions that can be made between these two views is the way they regard reality and everything in it human experience, ideas, truth and so on. On the one hand, Rand believes that reality is objective and unchanging and that the experience man derives from this reality is primarily for his own ends alone. She does not think that what man learns from his environment should be directed towards the good of the society or any other person because to do so would be to surrender one’s own will and rationality. Rand says that to be rational is to refuse to act based on the collective’s demand and that this refusal makes him properly selfish. On the other hand, Pragmatism stresses that the reality is changing; what exists is an open universe of constant flux. This position believes that we cannot say that there are metaphysical absolutes because this assertion is unverifiable by human experience. Instead of resting his ideas on an objective, unchanging reality, the Pragmatists prefer to give emphasis on being, work and action as opposed to ideas, spirit and thought, which are targeted to the betterment of the society; to solve its problems. It thus follows that Pragmatism proposes an epistemology that is conditioned by societal institutions. By this, this view is in favor of experimental learning wherein theories which are derived from experience are tested and applied and that which contributes and affects the society in the best way is perpetuated. By extension, truth and morality then are not things that are absolute but are, respectively a tentative assertion based on the application of hypotheses to solving problems and values that arose from outcomes of human responses to varying situations. In evaluating Rand’s philosophy and psychology from the standpoint of the different positions through the use of my own interpretation, I deem it highly significant to first categorize where I think the latter’s ideas are coming from. Pragmatism, in my opinion does not choose the society over the individual. I do not think that its intention is to diminish the value of the individual man in order to promote progress of the society. What I think it does rather is to try to bring together, as harmoniously as possible human beings in every community to work together for the good of the group not only for the group itself but also because the group inevitably affects the individual. The point of the matter for Pragmatists, in my opinion is that every person is a member of a group and what happens in that group affects the individual. What best be done is to act and react based on what can be verified by human experience and to do so as freely as possible, unlimited by absolutes that act as constraints to the inquiry of every man. Therefore, Pragmatism would disagree with Rand in saying that the child should not be left to a group of other children and not to let him pursue activities based on his interests. This method is, on the contrary what best helps children in teaching them to be open to numerous possibilities that are discoverable by their minds through inquiry. Moreover, to let children mingle with other people especially those of their own age introduces them to the nature of a democratic society; one that fosters virtues of sharing, of waiting and of cooperating which I think would come in very useful in establishing healthy relationships in adult life. Rather than what Rand says about this method as justifying the omnipotency of the pack, the Pragmatists would say that to be with other men is the natural state of every individual and to expose them to this nature would better prepare them for a productive and empathic existence with each other, mutually beneficial for each and every man. Additionally, Rand’s method of cognitive training would, for Pragmatism limit that child’s capacity for free inquiry. Rather than the traditional way of teaching with the instructor merely imparting knowledge and skills, the Pragmatists are more inclined in an activity method which involves play, construction, nature-study and self-expression. These activities are I think formulated by the Pragmatists not for the reason of impeding the cognitive development of the child. Contradictory, the activity method enhances not only the thinking ability but the capacity of this ability to speculate critically by firsthand experience, by concept-building, by getting acquainted with the environment and by doing all these through expressing the self. Pragmatism would thus see Rand’s general thought regarding education as imposing on the individual; limiting the child’s capacity of learning by himself through play which he enjoys in his young age and helps a lot in critical thinking by inquiry and living in harmony with others. Finally, Rand says that the Pragmatists see the mere absorption of facts and values does not provide any social gain; in this I do not think that the latter would disagree. Conversely, the Pragmatists would not say that the activity method would make a child submit to the pack for what they promote is not submission but cooperation. The positions that are most similar to Rand’s thought on education, on the other hand are Essentialism and Perennialism. I find these views as very similar to each other but to properly distinguish and outline their individual points is nevertheless significant to see how exactly Rand’s ideas are alike with them and determine where they would diverge from each other. Essentialism, from its name itself talks about basic education. It calls for a return to the essential subjects that have been proven to be useful in the past and are likely to be beneficial in the future. Essentialism says that such a return is needed because the modernization of education, by the relaxation of academic standards for widespread social promotion and by the dominant educational theories that are enfeebling are causing academic standards to fall. Its orientation is thus very scholastic, holding that societal problems should not hinder academics. Essentialism deems it of high importance to transmit generative skills and intellectual disciplines that identify and perpetuate basic cultural elements. Hence, the teacher should exhibit high competence of the subject and of the task of bequeathing such knowledge to the students for the needed mastery in preparation for work and citizenship. All these, according to the Essentialists cannot be accomplished in a Progressivist classroom where the Whim rules, destabilizing the primary function of the school. Rand’s theory of education perpetuates the idea of basic education by Essentialism. Because of the stance that Rand takes with regards to man as being rational and in need of cognitive training, she proposes a classroom setup where a teacher handles the class in his full capacity to pass on knowledge that the children came to the school to learn about. Conversely, Rand’s idea of a purposeful and disciplined use of intelligence is also in common ground with what Essentialism promotes; as it would be attained in an environment of systematic and sequential learning. Interestingly, where one might tend to see Rand’s theory as alike with Essentialism is in her proclamation that the poor quality of man’s use of reason and the increasing frequencies and number of people engaging in violent behavior and drug use should be attributed to the educational system that has plagued human life for many years. However, I find it very remarkable that the precise aspect of the system that Rand is blaming for the status quo is different from what the Essentialists are talking about. As discussed earlier, Essentialism is fighting against the Progressivist schools that cater to children’s whims because they destroy the academic function of the school, which is to impart basic skills and knowledge that are useful in the past and will likely be useful in the future. The justification of the preservation that the Essentialists are vying for is that they believe that such basic education is what is needed for a person to grow a responsible adult who will gear his capacity towards economic productivity and growth. This is where I find a separation between Rand and the Essentialists. Rand criticizes Progressivism because it hinders the child from developing his capability to become a fully-functioning rational being by making him conform to the pack. She does not say anything about the society’s growth being impeded for in my opinion, it is not what she is most concerned about. The Essentialists, I think would find the curriculum and the method of teaching of Rand as those that would best encourage their thesis of preserving basic knowledge but they do not share her sentiments with regards to the rationality of man. Furthermore, the Essentialists share Rand’s views in expressing that the declining education is to be held responsible for violence and drug abuse that are getting more rampant nowadays. I have observed, however that while Essentialism blamed the Progressivists’ permissivism to students thus leading them astray, Rand tells us that such malady in the lifestyle of people today is an evidence of their impaired rationality’s search for a higher reality or higher experience. The ideas of Rand and the Essentialist are indeed related but quite unlike each other. They do not oppose each other but they nevertheless do not meet at the same point of the arguments. Perennialism, on the other hand promotes an education of man that upholds his potentialities; an education that is based on the universal characteristics of human nature. It goes further than Essentialism in promoting basic education; it does so in the name of rationality, that which, as Rand says defines us as human. Further, rationality is man’s highest attribute thus the cultivation of intellect is education’s highest goal. Rand, as well as the Perennialists blame the social orientation of today’s education to the growing malaise in the situation of man. They both proclaim that when students are left to educational trends that lean towards mere whims and emotions of the students and mediocre educators, they are brought to internalize false notions of success and progress (i. e. emphasis on the society, premature vocational training, specific economic training) that contradicts their individuality; their nature to be objective. This is the inevitable result of the elimination of the proper cultivation of intellectual abilities by means of acquainting them to an objective and universal reality, one that is in line with their existence and human nature, also objective and universal. The Perennialists would thus correspond Rand in the idea that a proper study of metaphysics would restore rationality. It is I believe the key point of their positions: that the reality in which we live in is universal and our human nature is unchanging as well. To say then that rationality, which defines human nature, is constant implies that education should be fixed as well. Perennialism, like Rand also emphasizes that the students come to school because they wish to know that is why it is imperative for the teachers to be mature; competent and knowledgeable about the subject. They both talk about a classroom setup which is open not to the mercy of the whims and emotions of the students but to the development of their cognitive abilities in a structured manner thus avoiding the tendency to be anarchic or despotic. The curriculum and the subject matter that they speak of are those that are systematic and sequential, thus both want to foster the basic skills in the younger years of the child to help him prepare for the disciplines he would need to study later. Moreover, the consciousness of the child should begin with his immediate environment and the idea that it is universal and objective before immersing him into a group in order for him to identify himself first as belonging in the reality thus achieving self-identity. By extension, Perennialism together with Rand would find that when the child is older, he will not be driven to the physical sciences to escape questions of morality and other issues in the humanities. The Perennialists would I think agree with Rand that a symptom that a person’s rationality is in good condition is when he is asking and forming his own concepts of these kinds of problems. I have found thus that the general views of Rand and Perennialism are alike except on some orientation (not root or ground) in their positions. Just to note, I have noticed that while Perennialism is usually associated with religion and the relationship of the individual to the universe and with God, Rand was a renowned atheist. This interestingly does not cause them to conflict with each other since they remain resolute on the universality of metaphysics and epistemology which is not affected with a belief or a disbelief in a higher being. Another position (or rather an inclination) that takes a totally different view of reality and human nature from Rand’s is I find, very fascinating to discuss. I say so because I have realized that even though they are very distinct from each other, at some point they still manage to meet. Existentialism is well-known for its statement ‘existence precedes essence’. Human nature, for them is subjective and independent from any antecedent reality thus negating Rand’s idea of metaphysics as objective and universal. For the existentialists, the freedom to choose is man’s highest attribute and not reason for if such is the case, then they cannot choose reason as a value. To be rational, thus is something for an individual to choose. This thesis is extended to the human purpose, which is also subjective for every person. One man can make and define his own purpose and his own alone; he is responsible for his every action that is derived from his freedom as a human being independent of the opinions of other people and on any reality that some may assume to exist before him. The existentialists thus would not agree with Rand in saying that man should be introduced to an objective and unchanging reality because it limits him in constructing his own definition of his existence. They further, unlike Rand do not see any problem with seeing the individual as not only possessing abilities for rationality but also for irrationality, feelings, and affective characteristics. They claim to see a person in more varied terms because they do not believe that one can simply define him as just rational or just emotional and so on. Human beings are to complex for this kind of definition, they say. The values, moral dispositions and the validity of knowledge for the Existentialists are thus to be determined by the individual. This is not to say, as Rand does that truth for instance becomes dependent on a collective group that the individual loses himself in conformity. Rather, what the Existentialists mean is that man’s determination of values, morality and knowledge validity stems from the recognition that human experience is subjective basically because of every person’s capability and freedom to choose. Therefore, while Rand speculates that it is reason, impaired or properly developed that determines how a person lives his life, for the Existentialists it is the freedom to choose which never wavers regardless of the situation he is in. For both points of view however, though what they interpret to be the highest attribute of man (reason vs. freedom to choose) is rigid and unchanging, it can still be limited and impeded by a crucial factor. That which harms human existence is one and the same thing for Rand and the existentialists: a societal orientation or the growth of a mass society. Both the Existentialists and Rand claim that the quality of human life is threatened because of the group that makes a student conform to it, thus preventing him to decide for his own and think in terms of his own liking. The general tendency of the Progressivist school, both for Rand and Existentialism is to be coercive on the student, alienating him if he expresses creativity and divergence from the norms. However, because of the rigidity of human nature, both contend that the essence of being human survives even in the bleakest of moments. Rand, on the one hand does not coin the term ‘choose’ in saying that man’s rationality will find ways of alternative expression in later life (i. e. drug addiction, violent behavior). She instead expresses it in a way that means that a man does not really choose for his rationality to be expressed in whatever way; the way it expresses itself is dependent on the cognitive training he receives in the course of his academic life. On the other hand, the Existentialists hold that his freedom to choose is the thing that lives on and even if he is oppressed and alienated, he can still choose to either conform, to submit or to revolt. With regard to the classroom setup and method of instruction, the Existentialists would find what Rand is proposing as prescriptive because they might interpret it as placing too much emphasis on the role of the teacher in imparting knowledge than letting the student discover for his own even when young. The Existentialists, hence would find the main goal of education to be that of cultivating in the children the freedom to choose and awareness of this freedom. They would agree with Rand insofar as, perhaps, autonomy and emphasis on the self is concerned but they definitely denounce her idea of rationality as man’s basic essence for such an idea limits and prescribes the individual to, in my interpretation, act rationally. Another position that detects problems in the status quo is what is called Social Reconstructionism. It talks of a cultural crisis, brought about by the growing population, conflicts between different cultures especially by discrimination, environmental pollution, violence and terrorism that threaten human existence. All these predicaments infiltrating human life, they say can be traced to the severing of human values from social and economic realities. What the Reconstructionists propose, from the name of the position itself is a reconstruction of personal and social experience to reform society. The obvious implication of this thesis, of course is that culture and society is not universal, it continually grows with the direction of its growth depending on the time, place, people and the general circumstance of it. Conversely, human can refashion culture to fit and promote human development and growth. Social Reconstructionism would thus first and foremost denounce what Rand calls an ‘objective and universal reality’ because it believes that change is a necessary feature of human life. The absence of change for them, I think is like a dead society; it is deprived of its potential for progress and betterment, all things in it obsolete and useless. The Reconstructionists would not support Rand in her theory that students should be encouraged to be selfish because he is rational and that to use one’s reason is by nature a selfish affair; rather, they would declare that there is no room for selfishness in any society at any time for how can progress be realized if men used their rationality for mere thinking and not much doing? The solution, according to the Reconstructionists is not to eliminate or deny the process of change but to learn to cope with it. As they put it, change itself did not provoke crisis; crisis occurred when man was unprepared to cope with it. They would hence find Rand’s virtue of selfishness as dangerous because it discourages social cooperation, perhaps because it hurriedly concludes that to belong in a group is to conform to it, losing one’s individuality. I do not think that the Reconstructionists have any problem with Rand’s assertion that man is rational and that it is what makes him human. On the other hand, what they would propose is that such rationality should be geared towards social progress for cognitive training for the sake of rationality only will not render any gain for society. Schools then should educate students with a deliberate purpose to inculcate in him a commitment to work for deliberate social reform and a planning attitude for cultural revision. For them, there is nothing wrong with orienting students even when young, a sense of cooperation and the acknowledgement that reality is changing not only because it is the case but also because it is happening rapidly and to ignore or deny it would cause a lag between the moral consciousness and social organization and technological inventiveness. They do not propose mere conformity to the group but they also do not renounce that the society and culture is imposing on the individual.

Sarbanes Oxley Act Of 2002 Accounting Essay

Sarbanes Oxley Act Of 2002 Accounting Essay The purpose of this report is to present the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, starting from the history of self-regulation and its regulatory bodies, presenting the governance scandals which triggered the Acts creation, emphasizing the requirements of Section 404 and concluding on recent crises. The history of self-regulation in the United States is structured in two parts: (1) Early Standards, including the Acts of 1933 and 1934, GAAS and GAAP, with short focus on peer review, and After seventy years of self-regulation many accounting frauds, governance scandals and bankruptcies shacked the U.S. market. Due to their relevance and impact on regulatory standards the cases of Enron and WorldCom were chosen to be discussed. After enacting the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the U.S. Congress started a new era, by choosing to enforce a new independent body (PCAOB) to monitor the auditing companies. In relation with SOX the followings were considered: (1) SOXs summary, with its objectives and main sections, (2) Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), with its mission and enforced authority. Next, the analysis focused on the section 404 of SOX 2002 because is the provision which caused the most violent discussions from executives part. Due to the section impact on companies financial statements the report includes a short presentation of its rules with a larger analysis of implementation costs and benefits. Still, even if the SOX and the SEC regulated the market in order to protect the investors and to avoid future corporate frauds, the financial crisis revealed new scandals, out of which in this report are mentioned: (1) Bernard Madoffs Ponzi scheme, and (2) Bank of America Corporations lack of disclosure related to Merrill Lynch merger. Taking into consideration these scandals, changes of regulations must be considered for the future and, maybe, reconsiderations of auditors role as management strategic advisors. HISTORY OF SELF REGULATION IN USA I.1. Early Standards In the United States, at the beginning of the 20th century, the regulations for accounting and auditing were the same as United Kingdom regulations due to the fact that the major American corporations were branches of Britain companies (Benston G., et al., 2006). Still, the market experienced a low level of regulation (or almost absent), the succeeding events (stock market crash in 1929 and depression from 1930) indicating a strong need for regulating and disclosing policies to be established by the federal government. Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The historical foundation for regulations of financial disclosure by corporations is considered to be the moment when, immediately after the market crash from 1929, the U.S. Congress enacted two major laws, the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. For the first time in history, those two rules contained pragmatic provisions regarding corporate investors and financial disclosure: Companies publicly offering securities for investment dollars must tell the public the truth about their businesses, the securities they are selling, and the risks involved in investing. People who sell and trade securities brokers, dealers, and exchanges must treat investors fairly and honestly, putting investors interests first.  [1]   GAAS. Starting with 1939, the first generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) were drafted and adopted by the American Institute of Accountants (currently AICPA), through its Auditing Standard Executive Committee (AudSEC) (currently Auditing Standards Board). Because GAAS refers to risks assessment and ways to mitigate them, three areas of provisions were defined (Benston G., et al., 2006): (1) general standards for determining the auditors personal traits; (2) fieldwork standards for setting the audit analysis, evaluation of internal controls and audit evidences; (3) reporting standards for assessing the disclosures of financial statements and the audit opinions, respectively the application of GAAS to GAAP. GAAP. Starting with 1936-1938, the SEC entrusted the Committee on Accounting Procedure (part of AICPA) to issue a private-sector accounting standards in order to set-up an accounting system requested by the market needs. The first generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) were developed in its initial form of Accounting Research Bulletins (ARB). Peer Review. In the early 1960s, the major consulting accounting companies started to form peer reviews for a better quality of accounting, auditing and attestation services performed by AICPA members  [2]  . This means that every CPA firm must be reviewed by another CPA firm. The latest company must independent from the reviewed company and must have qualified experience. The supervision of the peer review activities is assured by the Public Oversight Board (POB), an independent private sector body  [3]  , which, even if was created by SECPS members, is independent from the profession and the regulatory process. I.2. Regulatory Bodies Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The US Congress, through Securities Exchange Act of 1934, established SEC as an independent agency, having as main duty to define technical, trade, accounting, and other terms used in securities market, in the United States. The Commission is responsible for (1) interpreting federal securities laws; (2) issuing new rules and revising existing rules; (3) supervising the examination of securities players (brokers, investments advisers, other agencies); (4) monitoring private regulatory organizations in the securities area; and (5) complying U.S. securities rules with other American and foreign authorities  [4]  . Currently, the SEC is administrating the most important laws that standardize the securities industry, laws which are: (1) Securities Act of 1933, (2) Securities Exchange Act of 1934, (3) Trust Indenture Act of 1939, (4) Investment Company Act of 1940, (5) Investment Advisers Act of 1940, (6) Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The authoritative power of SEC implies laws enforcement in cases of fraud, insider trading, and any other infringements done by the individuals and companies on the securities area. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). If all preceding associations (like the American Association of Public Accountants, the Institute of Public Accountants, the American Institute of Accountants) are taken into consideration, than it can be stated that AICPA dates from 1887  [5]  . Associating all the certified public accountants (CPAs) in the U.S., the AICPA is the main non-government authoritative body in developing auditing standards (including technical rules and ethical codes) and other regulating services for CPAs. Furthermore, it has the authority to monitor and to enforce the law in cases of non-compliance with the standards. Auditing Standards Board (ASB). Within AICPA, the ASB is assigned to be the committee in charge to actually issue the standards and the regulations for CPAs, for non-public company audits, next to the necessary guidelines and the interpretations of the laws. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Over time, the mission to regulate the private sector by clear defined financial accounting standards passed from AICPAs Committee on Accounting Procedure to the Accounting Principles Board. By the end of 1960s the market development triggered an increasing demand for accounting standards updated in the same rhythm as the economical growth. As a result, since 1973, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has been created as a private, non-profit institution, founded with the purpose to establish and improve standards of financial accounting and reporting for the guidance and education of the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of financial information.  [6]   CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: FAMOUS SCANDALS In 2002, Ribstein L. argues in the Journal of Corporation Law that the traditional approach of corporate governance in large corporation must be established by government regulation. This approach is based on assumption that the shareholders, in order to protect their ownership goals, lack of tools to control the management actions. On the other hand, acknowledging the shareholders weakness, the managers are predisposed to take advantage of the situation by acting on their own personal interests and power. Companies financial statements are the mean through which the managers can show their contribution to the corporate overall growth. If in this judgment is included the fact that corporate management usually has had compensation formulae strongly related with companies financial performance (such as options on companys shares), the management tendency to manipulate companies financial statements becomes obvious, or, in other words, the management is highly interested to manage earnings (Kaplan R., 2004). After seventy years of corporate regulation, in 2001 and 2002 series of management frauds rocked the investors trust in the market. Scandals like Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Adelphia, and Waste Management opened a new era of financial manipulation. What is essential to be mentioned is the fact that all these frauds were possible despite all the levels of supervision in place, such as executive directors, external auditors, accounting firms, debt rating agencies, or securities market analysts (Ribstein L., 2002). The most resonant scandal was Enron, which, after being one of the worlds biggest power dealers, revealed in October 2001 losses higher than $70 billion in equity value. WorldCom, which played an important role on telecommunication market, disclosed in March 2002 that its revenues are overstated by capitalizing expenses, losing $180 billion in shareholder equity. Both cases will be discussed in the following section, emphasizing on fraudulent operations and corporations weaknesses. II.1. Enron Short summary: Disclosure date October 2001 Charges False increased profits, hidden liabilities totaling over $1 billion by using off-the-books transactions. Manipulation of the Californian energy market during the electricity crisis, recording total profits of $2.7 billion from trading electricity and gas in western markets (Markham J., 2006). Extorting and gaming the power prices, as well as an overcharge of $175 million for electricity generated by Enron wind farms (Markham J., 2006). Securities fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, insider trading, and filing false income tax returns (for Enrons executives). Auditing firm Arthur Anderson With losses higher than $70 billion in equity value (Bryce R., 2002), Enron scandal is one of the biggest political scandals in American history. In 1985, Enron started its business as an important trader on U.S. energy market, developing its operations within: transactions with natural gas, constructions of power facilities and pipelines, telecommunications services, buying/selling commodities. Its rapid growth offered to the public media a sensation of unstoppable revenues and solid financial stability. Before the public disclosure from 2001, the revenues and the incomes reported by Enron were impressive (Markham J., 2006): in 1998 $31 billion in revenue and $703 million in net income after expenses; in 1999 $40 billion in revenue and $893 million in net income after expenses; in 2000 $100 billion in revenue and $979 million in net income after expenses. In fact, the revenues were not real, the financial image presented to the shareholders being an illusion. In order to hide its losses Enron stretched the limitations of accounting standards and took advantage of all the regulatory lacks. Due to its business specificity, the accounting recording was challenging. First aspect regarded the long-term contracts for which the current accounting rules obliged the company to forecast the future revenues. In this case Enrons income recognition was made at present (or fair) value, using mark-to-market accounting, regardless the prospective economic conditions. The second aspect was linked with Enrons reliance on structured financial transactions and, implicitly, on special purpose entities (SPEs). In this area the accounting standards were questionable, being debated by practitioners because of the difference which could be created between real economic situation and companies financial indicators. Behind this glowing image, Enron built a network of derivatives trading and transactions with SPEs, which generated substantial revenues not only for the company itself, but also for the companys directors involved in the SPEs partnerships. The report of investigation of the Enron Special Investigative Committee (Powers W., et al., 2002) mentioned the amounts by which Enrons employees were illicitly enriched: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Fastow (i.e. Enrons CFO) by at least $30 million, Kopper (i.e. Enrons finance executive) by at least $10 millionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. In October 2001 Enron had to recognize expenses of $1.01 billion after tax and two months later, Enron filed for bankruptcy. Enrons failure is a clear example of corporate governance malfunction. Managers were compensated with stock options based on the companys short-term performance with no other restrictions, compensation program that incentivized managers to increase the short-term performance regardless the long-term consequences. Next to Enrons management, part of the blame is assigned to external auditors (Arthur Andersen) and to parties responsible for the companys internal governance (see appendix 1 for a graphic representation of the links between Enrons managers and investors). Analyzing the implications of accounting rules over the Enrons scandal one statement must be made. U.S. GAAP are very extensive and, even more, rigid in its provisions, inspiring financial professionals to find creative accounting solutions to avoid the rules. II.2. WorldCom Short summary: Disclosure date March 2002 Charges Use of undisclosed and improper accounting that materially overstated its income before income taxes and minority interests by approximately $3.055 billion in 2001 and $797 million during the first quarter of 2002  [7]   WorldComs transfer of its costs to its capital accounts violated the established standards of generally accepted accounting principles  [8]  resulting in $3.8 billion fraud. WorldCom violated the anti-fraud and reporting provisions of the federal securities laws  [9]   WorldComs CEO Bernard Ebbers received from the company off-the-books loans of $408 million. Auditing firm Arthur Anderson In 1995 LDDC (Long Distance Discount Company) became WorldCom, one of the biggest telecommunication company on the U.S. market. Its CEO, Bernie Embers, joined the company in its early starts, in 1985. During his administration, the company experienced a period of high growth, with revenues reaching billions of dollars. In 1996, after the acquisition of MFS Communication Inc., WorldCom became the fourth biggest telecommunication company (Markham J., 2006), looking forward to using the opportunities offered by the new breakthrough innovations, such as fiber-optics and Internet. In October 1997 WorldCom announced the merger with MCI Communications for $30 billion. The company continued to grow, reporting earnings of $16 billion (Markham J., 2006) between 1996 and 2000, even if the SEC obstructed the company from considering deductible large amounts spend in research and development. In the early 2000, the entire telecommunication industry started to slow down, and, also, the stock prices were declining. The same happened in WorldComs case. By the middle of 2000, the stock price was almost half its 1999 price. Even so, WorldCom announced surprising profits (Markham J., 2006): $1.4 billion for 2001 and $130 million for the first quarter of 2002 (when in fact the company recorded losses). In March 2002, after an internal audit engagement, WorldCom announced the restatement of its financials figures due to inappropriate accounting recordings of the revenues between beginning of 2001 and first quarter of 2002, revenues which were not in compliance with GGAP provisions. In June 2002, the SEC charges WorldCom for $3.8 billion fraud  [10]  . As it was revealed by the SEC investigation, WorldCom used an accounting artifice to capitalize its line costs (e.g. fees paid by WorldCom to third party services providers) and, in this way, to keep companys earnings at expected levels. WorldCom filed for bankruptcy in July 2002, wiping out $180 billion in shareholder equity (Markham J., 2006). Ebbers was dismissed from the position of WorldComs CEO in April 2002  [11]  after admitting that he borrowed money from WorldCom in its attempt to cover his losses from buying WorldCom shares  [12]  . In 2005 Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in jail. As presented by SECs WorldCom corporate monitor, Richard Breeden, in his report on the companys measures to restore its governance, WorldCom seemed to meet most of the governance standards of its time (Breeden R., 2003). The companys configuration included all the necessary structures required for corporate governance (such as audit committee, compensation committee etc.), with almost 80% of the directors fulfilling the independence requirements. But, in fact, most of these independents were very strong linked to Ebbers, through their incomes. So, corporate governance is not only accomplishing a checklist with requirements, but being deeply concerned about the independence impediments. In WorldComs case the management board failed to assess the companys risks and to draw corrective risk procedures. In Enrons case, the board allowed the CFO to participate in financial partnerships (e.g. SPEs), searching for his personal gain. In both cases, Enron and WorldCom, the CFOs failed to supply accurate financial data. Their fraud involvement was a real obstacle for which the problems were discovered too late. Hard interpretations of GAAPs provisions regarding net income and future earnings as well as unrealistic cash flow statements were present also in both companies. Furthermore, lacking of an appropriate internal control system, the adjustments in the companies financial reports were easy to be made by the high level employees. SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002 The scandals of accounting fraud, corporate misbehaviors, non-compliance with business ethics, and bankruptcies occurred in high-level companies like Enron and WorldCom revealed the markets strong need for deeper reforms in corporate regulations. In July 2002, the U.S. Congress ratified the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (known also as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investors Protection Act of 2002) in response to the corporate crisis. One of the most important legislative action since the Acts of 1933 and 1934, Sarbanes-Oxley has as objectives to rebuild the investors trust in the market and to enhance the transparency and morality of public companies, avoiding future similar allegations. Through the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are addressed issues like managements legal liability, increased independence rules for internal governance agents, mandatory internal control audits, and increased managements responsibility for financial reporting. Furthermore, Sarbanes-Oxley increases the SECs power to determine that an individual is unfit to serve as an officer or director of a publicly-traded company, even in the absence of a judicial finding of a violation of the federal securities laws (Fisch J., 2004). Source: Anand S., 2007, Essentials of Sarbanes-Oxley, John Wiley Sons, Inc., ISBN 978-0-470-05668-4, page 23. Emphasizing on the importance of business codes of ethics, in 2003, Harvard Law Review explained the Acts provisions related to self-policing as a consequence of the general perception that these series of scandals and bankruptcies are not just a failure of the regulations, but a failure of management behavior. It was not enough anymore to just comply on formal managerial structure and independence requirements. Both, Enron and WorldCom had management boards that complied with independence standards, but were not able to work efficiently due to conflict of interests and strong relationships with CEOs. Furthermore, management boards must be deeply involved in companies business and must understand the risks, rather than simply remain independent (Fisch J., 2004). Enrons and WorldComs boards were far away from taking real actions against CEOs/CFOs practices or from reacting in real-time to companies difficulties. Considering the patterns of fraud cases and the fact that CEOs and CFOs acted as primary deceivers, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act states, as main provision, the necessity to increase top-managements responsibilities for the consistency of companies financial statements. IV.1. SOXs summary The Act requirements must be perceived by the companies as a starting point in building operational processes, with an enhanced internal control system through entire business. Complying with SOX is not a one-time project, but a continuous improvement process, with executives going beyond compliance and focusing on the quality of overall business operations (KPMG, 2004). Source: KPMG, 2004, Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404: An Overview of the PCAOBs Requirements, KPMG International Despite the fact that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is structured in eleven different sections, the law itself must be understood as an overall, compact regulation, and companies must seek for complete compliance. Still, the Acts objectives are more obvious in certain sections, while other sections are important through their compliant difficulties (Anand S., 2007). The summary of the Acts titles is presented in appendix 2. Still, from the compliance point of view and relevance for the two fraud cases previously presented, the most important sections of the Act  [13]  are: Section 302 regarding the corporate responsibility for financial reports; In order to avoid deceiving financial statements Section 302 includes provisions related to internal controls and the management responsibility to evaluate the efficiency of these controls and to disclose any deficiency which might have a negative impact over the financial indicators. Section 401 for Disclosures in Periodic Reports; The financial statements must contain accurate information and must be issued to the public investors with a clear display in order to avoid any misrepresentation or incorrect statement. Also, the transactions, especially the liabilities, from off-balance sheet must be transparent and presented in the reporting file. Section 404 is related with the management mandatory evaluation and certification of companies internal control systems; This section raised many discussions, being one of the most controversial provisions of the Act. The main reason for these discussions was the character of this section which implies the highest amount of resources and efforts to be spend in order to obtain SOX compliance. As stated by Section 404, in annual financial statements, executive directors must declare their acknowledgement of the responsibility for establishing, implementing and maintaining the internal control system. The main purpose of this statement is to present the investors the internal controls structure and to assure them about its efficiency. Section 409 stating the necessity of real-time disclosures when important changes are made in companies financial indicators during the periods between quarterly reports. Without this section the investors would have to base their decisions on obsolete statements. Unlike Section 404, this section didnt implied heavy resource allocation. IV.2. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) The Sarbanes-Oxley Act created the PCAOB, a private-sector, nonprofit corporation, having as mission to oversee the auditors of public companies in order to  protect investors and the public interest by promoting informative, fair, and independent audit reports  [14]   By creating the PCAOB, the self-regulating model of accounting industry was no longer valid, the responsibility and authority of creating standards and enforcing audits for public companies being transferred from the profession side (AICPA) to an independent party (PCAOB). Through its provisions, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act obliged, for the first time in regulating history, the auditors of public companies to be overseen by external and independent parties. The SEC maintained its authoritative power over the PCAOB, by naming the governing board and by amending the organizations bylaws, standards and budgets  [15]  . SECTION 404. MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT OF INTERNAL CONTROLS V.1. Section 404 Rules As stated by the SOX Section 404, there are a set of rules for management to follow in assessing the internal controls structure within the company. The broad definition of the term internal control refers to all the areas within an organizations business, but inside SOXs terminology, the internal control term is used strictly for defining the internal control over financial reporting. First of all, the management is responsible for creating the internal controls structure, in accordance with his business processes. An important aspect must be clarified here. Neither internal auditors, nor external auditors are in charge with developing the internal control keys. The companys CEO and the top-management team must take this responsibility and act in accordance as a whole. Furthermore, it is not enough just to create the system, but to periodically update it in order to keep up with the business changing rhythm. The assessment of internal controls must be made with a recognized framework. In the U.S. most companies uses COSO framework (the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission framework), or COBIT framework (the Control Objectives for Information and related Technology framework). (We will not discuss these frameworks in this report.) The internal controls assessment must be performed annually, at the year-end. The external audit company must not reassess the internal control system, but perform an audit in relation with the managements appraisal. In other words, the external audit must not redo the entire internal control structure assessment, but only to rely on the managements performance regarding the internal control appraisal. Even so, senior management must obtain the full confidence that its assessment presents a true landscape of the internal control system, as of the year-end, with comfortable assurance that any material misstatement can be avoided or identified (The Institute of Internal Auditors, 2008). V.2. Consequences of Implementing Section 404 Costs of implementing SOX 404. Generally speaking, the costs derived from internal controls implementation and testing can be easily identified as payments for audit and compliance employees, time spent by operational employees and external audit fees. Still, in the first year of compliance, overall efforts were overwhelming due to work amount needed to be done, work which included analyzing documentation, verifying accounts balances, monitoring and evaluating controls keys performance and efficiency, establishing reporting structure. One important reason for which compliance process was so complex was the fact that a major part of the control keys were done manually, with very much time-consuming, and only a small part of control keys were IT-based. Next to these costs, Langevoort D. (2006) mentions the opportunity costs and the distractions, referring to the fact that some audit tests require direct observation of operations (e.g. cash processing) and explanations from in-charge personnel or manager. He is going even further by stating that direct control can create discomfort to employees which will impact the sense of trust and decrease the employees loyalty. As mentioned before, the compliance with Section 404 turned out to be the most expensive part of the entire Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In August 2004, the Financial Executives Institute revealed a study of 224 companies which indicated costs up to $3 million for the biggest companies (Rittenberg L., Miller P., 2005). Even more, in an article from BusinessWeek, William Zollars, chairman and CEO of Yellow Roadway, the U.S. largest trucking firm, explained that his company paid about $9 million to accountants for their work, amount which represented 3% of annual profits for 2004  [16]  . After first year of SOX implementation, an analysis carried out by the PCAOB concluded that the costs for compliance were high because, in many cases, too many audit tests were performed and documented by auditors, companies spending too much time on internal controls related to financial reporting processes (OBrien P., 2006). Still, as presented in the left hand picture, in January 2005, according to a survey developed by the Institute of Internal Auditors, 72% of respondents considered that the costs are higher than the benefits for SOX 404 first year of implementation. After six years of SOX compliance, in August 2008, Dodwell W. argues, in an article in the CPA Journal, that initial implementation expenses made by companies are paying off. Next to the costs presented above, the cost-benefit analysis should also consider: concen

Differences between Windows Version 1.0.2 and 1.0.3:

Differences between Windows Version 1.0.2 and 1.0.3: Windows version Changes between 1.0.2 and 1.0.3: Video outputs: * Fix video quality when resizing the video on Windows Vista and 7, due to regressions in most popular drivers * New deinterlacers modules based on yadif and yadif(x2) algorithms Decoders: * Windows version supports now natively the WMA Professional codec, as it didnt work in the packaged version of 1.0.2 * Fix downmixing of particual 4.0 AC-3 audio tracks Encoders: * x264 has profile-limitter, like: #transcode{vcodec=h264,venc=x264{profile=baseline,level=12}..} Input: * Update for appletrailers lua script * Fixes on the RAR stream filter * Fix for E-AC3 in ATSC/TS streams * Various fixes for v4l and v4l2 * Fix a crash in mjpeg demuxer Service discovery: * New udev module for linux Qt4 interface: * Fixes on the playlist and the stream output panels Translations: * French, Galician, Korean, Polish, Russian, Romanian, Slovak and Ukrainian updates Changes between 1.0.1 and 1.0.2: Decoders: * Native support for WMA Professional, without the use of the Win32 dlls * Fix issues in subtitles, especially SSA ones * Various fixes on theora and ogg Demuxers: * Various fixes for EPG support in MPEG-TS demuxer * Fixes for potential stack overflow in .avi, .mp4 and .asf demuxers Access: * Fixes for v4l2 devices * Fixes for dvb-c channels-scanning Qt Interface: * Fix some playlist sorting issues Mac OS X Interface: * Fixed a crash when updating VLC * Fixed a crash related to QTKit when opening video files (10.6 only) * Added the ability to play 2nd media in sync to the primary item (input-slave) * Added the Quit after Playback feature Mac OS X Port: * The Delete Preferences script is now delivered as a Universal Binary with native code for PowerPC, Intel and Intel 64bit * Full 64bit runtime compatibility on both Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 no support for Goom and SDL limited text rendering support This port is still considered as EXPERIMENTAL despite its binary release. Encoders: * MPEG2 transrate stream output removed * x264 default-values closer to x264.exe defaults. * x264 rc-behaviour fixes: if user defines qp-value, CQP-mode is used otherwise if user defines vb=0, CRF-mode is used otherwise ABR-mode is used * x264 set vbv-bufsize/vbv-maxsize better if user hasnt defined these: ABR mode set vbv-max-bitrate=bitrate vbv-bufsize is bitrate * seconds between keyframes (keyint/fps) Playlist: * Lua scripts for Mpora and Vimeo playback Unix builds: * Various fixes to enable 1.0 to build on Solaris and OpenBSD Translations: * New Kazakh and Croatian translations * Lithunanian translation is available on Windows * Galician, Korean, Nepali, Vietnamese, Ukrainian, Brazilian, Arabic and French translation updates Changes between 1.0.0 and 1.0.1: Demuxers: * Fix wmv/asf issues that caused audio to drop * Various fixes for ac3, mp3, dts and stability for wav format * Fix seek in RTSP in conformity to RFC 2326 * Fix Dailymotion access script * Fix crashes in xspf files handler * Fix seeking and timing issues in some flv files on Windows version Access: * Add extra caching for files on network shares * Prevent integer underflow in Real pseudo-RTSP module, discovered by tixxDZ, DZCORE Labs, Algeria Decoders: * Fix seeking in mpeg2 video files * Improve SSA subtitles rendering * Update most codecs for the Windows and Mac version Muxers: * Fix sound recording of .flv files with mp3 audio Qt Interface: * Possibility to change the opacity level of the Fullscreen controller * Fix various crashes and VIDEO_TS folders opening Mac OS X Interface: * Added options to disable support for Apple Remote and Media Keys * Fixed options for Volume, Last.fm password and Subtitle Encoding * Fixed redraw issues when autosizing the video window * Preferences panel now includes help through tool-tips * More reliable Information and Messages panels * Fix various crashes Windows port: * The ZVBI module is now available for Windows, for complete teletext support Translations updates for Brazillian, French, German, Korean, Norwegian Nynorsk, Lithuanian Changes between 0.9.9a and 0.9.10: HTTP Interface: * Fixed default ACL Mac OS X: * Fixed crashes on multi-screen setups * Corrected volume and subtitle encoding options in the Preferences * Improved Information panel behavior, when playlist is not displayed * Fixed QTCapture input support for the latest iSight models * Added a menu-item to unlock the video windows aspect ratio * Fixed redraw issues when autosizing the video window * Updated libpng, libgpg-error, libgcrypt, fribidi Various fixes to the following modules: * access: HTTP, SMB updated and additional access scripts (BBC radio, dailymotion, ) Prevent integer underflow in Real pseudo-RTSP module, discovered by tixxDZ, DZCORE Labs, Algeria * stream out: RTP, RTSP VoD, Mosaic Bridge * decoder: TSCC Changes between 0.9.9a and 1.0.0: Important notes: - * Alsa and OSS audio capture has been removed from the v4l and v4l2 accesses. See Access: for more info. * Support for Mac OS X 10.4.x was dropped due to its technical limitations Playback: * Instantaneous pausing * Frame-by-Frame playback * Finer speed control * On-the-fly recording for all medias * Timeshift for most medias * RTSP trickplay support * Subtitles core improvements and fixes Decoders: * New AES3 (SMPTE 302M) decoder * New Dolby Digital Plus E-AC-3 (A/52b) decoder * New True HD/MLP decoder and parser * New Blu-Ray Linear PCM decoder * New QCELP (Qualcomm PureVoice) decoder * Improved Real Video 3.0 4.0 decoder * New WMA v1/2 fixed point integer decoder * Closed Captions using the SCTE-20 standard are now correctly decoded * Improvement of WavPack decoder to support all integer modes and float mode * Corrections on 5.1 and 7.1 channel decoding and ordering Demuxers: * Support for Dirac, MLP and RealVideo in Matroska files * Major improvements in RealMedia files opening (.rm and .rmvb) * Improvements of the TS demuxer for M2TS files from Blu-Ray and AVCHD * Metadata for mod files are supported * GSM codecs in Wav files are supported * New raw audio demuxer supporting raw PCM streams * New Dirac demuxer for raw Dirac streams Encoders: * Dirac encoding using libdirac (supported in Ogg and in TS) * Shine mp3 fixed-point encoder Access: * RTSP authentication with Darwin Streaming Server * On-the-fly gzip and bzip2 file decompression (except on Windows) * Playback for video in uncompressed multi-RAR archives * DVB-S and ATSC cards support on Windows * New OSS and Alsa accesses. The v4l2 and v4l modules no longer support OSS or Alsa audio input. Use input-slave alsa:// or oss:// if needed. * DVB scanning on linux * EXPERIMENTAL Blu-Ray Disc and AVCHD Folders support * On-the-fly zip file decompression and browsing (MRL of the form zip://file.zip!/file.avi to specify the file the development form of zip://file.zip|file.avi is not supported anymore) * Opening of any file descriptor using fd:// * MTP device access on Unix * CD-Text support on the cdda module (CD-Audio) * :start-time and :stop-time can handle sub-second values Inputs: * Mouse cursor support in x11 and win32 screen modules * Screen module now features partial screen capture and mouse following on Windows and Mac OS X. Playlist: * Export the playlist in HTML * Lua script for BBC radio playback * Better metadata handling and reading Linux/Windows interface: * Global Hotkeys on Windows and Linux * Various fixes for skins2 interface * Recently played items list * Interface toolbar customizations * Various Improvements on the Qt interface: More menus actions Finer speed slider Improvements on many dialogs New dialog for plugins listing Fixed-size mode for videos Better Teletext, trickplay and encrypted streams control * Better integration in GTK environments Mac OS X Interface: * Controllable by the Media Keys on modern Apple keyboards (brushed Aluminium) * Reveal-in-Finder functionality for locally stored items. * Easy addition of subtitles through the Video menu * Additional usability improvements Stream output: * Restored the old mpeg2 transrating module. * Multiple bridge-in instances are now possible. * bridge-in can be used to configure a placeholder stream. * Remote Audio Output Protocol (AirTunes) module. * Fixed mosaic memleak. Mosaics are now usable again. Maemo Port: * New Maemo port with: an interface based on Hildon framework. scaler based on the swscale_nokia770 library. Windows CE Port: EXPERIMENTAL work for the winCE port has been done. Mac OS X Port: * EXPERIMENTAL 64bit support * Speed improvements by using llvm-gcc * New document icons by Dominic Spitaler * Support for latest iSight models Audio output: * Removed obsolete Esound and aRts plugins * Surround support for PulseAudio Video output: * Effects (cube, torus, etc.) removed from OpenGL video output * Video is able to stay in original size and to zoom in fullscreen (hotkey o) while keeping black borders * Image video output has been rewritten into a video-filter named scene. The old image video output has been removed. * Support for scaling and converting video chromas with FFMPEG imgresample was withdrawn due to bugs. Please use the newer FFMPEG swscale instead. Miscellaneous: * Invmem, a fake codec to display images from external applications New Localization: * Khmer * Mongolian * Sorani Changes between 0.9.9 and 0.9.9a: Mac OS X: * Updated multiple 3rd party libraries to keep in sync with the Win32 port * Playback fixes for PowerPC-based Macs Changes between 0.9.8a and 0.9.9: Decoders: * Experimental new decoder for Real Video 3.0 4.0 Demuxers: * Various fixes related to real demuxer Mac OS X Interface: * Fixed circumstances, which could lead to an empty Information panel Note that VLC will show information on the currently _selected_ item instead of the currently _playing_ item, if the playlist is visible in the main controller window. * Fixed multiple UTF8 issues in the Streaming / Exporting Wizard Mac OS X Port: * Improved video playback performance on Intel-based Macs New Localizations: * Indonesian * Bengali * Updates of other localizations Various bugfixes: * Support for receiving RTP packets on odd port numbers. * Lots of small bugfixes. * Correct Fullscreen behaviour on Multi-Screen setups on Windows * Telnet fixes on Windows * Resampling fixes when transcoding Changes between 0.9.6 and 0.9.8a: Security update: * Fixed buffer overflow in Real demuxer (SA-0811, CVE-2008-5276) Bunch of small bugfixes. Changes between 0.9.5 and 0.9.6: New Localizations: * Ukranian Security updates: * Fixed overflow in CUE support from VCD access (SA-0810, CVE-2008-5032) * Fixed overflow in RealText subtitles support (SA-0810, CVE-2008-5036) Changes between 0.9.4 and 0.9.5: Security updates: * Fixed buffer overflow in TiVo demuxer (SA-0809, CVE-2008-4686, CVE-2008-4654) * Fixed libpng CVE-2008-3964 in Win32 and MacOS builds Features: * Closed Caption EIA 608/708 parsing enabled for libmpeg2 Various bugfixes: * Fixed various potential crashes and memleaks * Fixed issues with reading from files (especially non-local) Windows port: * Fix bug where interface was eating some media keys * Fix some crashes in DirectShow access Qt Interface: * Fix bug when the resetting of preferences didnt reset the dialog states * Right-click menu to select playlist columns reenabled * Various fixed in playlist Access: * MMAP module is now deactivated by default Translations: * Update of Brazillian, Swedish translation Changes between 0.9.3 and 0.9.4: Various bugfixes: * Crashes fixed in ogg, vobsub, dvdread * Fixes several memory leaks. Mac OS X port: * Apple machines without Quartz Extreme are no longer supported (use 0.9.2 or earlier ) * Fixed a crash with deletion of old preferences. * Fixed targetname for downloaded updates Windows port: * Stability fix for the video output. Changes between 0.9.2 and 0.9.3: Various bugfixes: * Fixed DTS channel order on 5.1 systems * Fixed pausing behavior for subtitles and for Audio-CD * Multiple subtitles and podcast fixes * Various crashes fixed in PS, SSA, mkv, xspf, freetype * Fixed update system bugs * Other bug fixes (dvd language selection, subtitle colours, HTTP keep-alive+) Mac OS X port: * Fixed ffmpeg slowness on PowerPC-based Macs * Fixed crash on startup when installed on old preferences * Fixed bug in directory opening on Mac OS X * Fixed font selection in the Simple Preferences * Thicker border to the subtitle renderer * Fixed the appearance of playlist items in the Streaming/Transcoding Wizard * Fixed AC3 passthrough on Mac OS X * Fixed behavior of the Volume Normalizer settings on Mac OS X * Removed the deprecated QuickDraw video output module to avoid crashes on modern Mac OS X versions Windows port: * Fixed sensitivity of Fullscreen Controller * Fixed error messages on startup when VLC wasnt correctly uninstalled before installation * Fix showing of controller when returning from fullscreen playback * Multiple directory and path location fixes. Qt4 interface: * Added Faster/Slower icons to the controller panel * Fixed lost playlist columns when switching the playlist view * Added needed options to Simple preferences (to avoid NVIDIA drivers issues) * Fullscreen controller: added time label, remembering of last position * Fixed dragn drop behaviour on the playlist * Multiple other fixes (Enter hotkey in preferences, Skins selection) Changes between 0.9.1 and 0.9.2: * Restored the old behavior of sout-keep. It is now de-activated by default. * Skins2 interface repaired on Windows. * Multiple bugfixes. Changes between 0.9.1 and 0.9.0: * Multiple bug fixes. Changes between 0.8.6i and 0.9.0: Important notes: - * This release will need Windows 2000 and Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), or more recent to work correctly * The HTTP interface is now only available on the local machine by default. If you want to make it available from other machines, you will have to edit the .hosts file. On UNIX/Linux, the file is in /usr/share/vlc/http/.hosts If youre using the old http interface, its located in /usr/share/vlc/http/old/.hosts On Windows they are in C:Program FilesVideoLANVLChttp.hosts and C:Program FilesVideoLANVLChttpold.hosts On Mac OS X, you can find it in VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/share/http/.hosts and respectively in VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/share/http/old/.hosts * This version of VLC contains a new interface for Windows and Linux. This interface has a fullscreen controller and simplified preferences. This interface lacks the Streaming Wizard that used to be present in VLC 0.8.6, but provides basic profiles. * The behavior of sout-keep was changed. Its now activated by default. * The marq, mosaic and logo commands in the rc interface changed. They now require a target name as their first argument. Example: vlc sub-filter [emailprotected]{marquee=Hello} -I rc You can then use commands like: @test marq-marquee Goodbye If you didnt name the object using @test, its name will default to the plugin name (hence marq) in this example. These new commands are also available in the telnet interface. * The rtp access output module has been removed. Please use the RTP stream output instead, e.g.: Old: #std{access=rtp,mux=ts,dst=239.255.1.2:5004,sap} New: #rtp{mux=ts,dst=239.255.1.2,port=5004,sap} * You now need to append m3u-extvlcopt to your command line to enable EXTVLCOPT options parsing in m3u playlists. Note that only a limited set of options is available to m3u playlists (CVE-2007-6683). * The old access:url syntax is no longer supported to resolve ambiguities with some file names. Use access://url instead. E.g.: vlc:quit -> vlc://quit ; udp:@239.255.12.12 -> udp://@239.255.12.12 * The ffmpeg module has been removed and replaced by the new avcodec, avformat, swscale (or imgresample if you use a swscale-less ffmpeg build) and postproc modules. * The web plugins ActiveX (IE)/Firefox/Mozilla/Safari now recognize the following states: IDLE/CLOSE=0, OPENING=1, BUFFERING=2, PLAYING=3, PAUSED=4, STOPPING=5, FORWARD=6, BACKWARD=7, ENDED=8, ERROR=9. With FORWARD and BACKWARD being reserved for future implementations and are thus not functional atm. * Croping and padding in transcode are now done using the croppadd video filter. For example: transcode{vcodec=mp2v,vfilter=croppadd{cropttop=20,cropbottom=30,paddleft=100}} * Canvas setting in transcode is now done using the canvas video filter. For example: transcode{vcodec=mp2v,vfilter=canvas{width=640,height=480}} * Glide video output module has been removed. Changes: Security updates: * Updated libfreetype on Windows and Mac OS X (CVE-2008-1806, CVE-2008-1806, CVE-2008-1807) * TTA Parser improvements (CVE-2008-3732) * MMS Access Module improvements (CVE-2008-3794 ) Playlist: * Vastly improved playlist support: * Media library creation to save all your playlist items * Live search * Shoutcast TV listings * Audioscrobbler/Last.FM support * Album art support * User definable Lua playlist scripts. See share/lua/playlist/README.txt (Default scripts open YouTube, DailyMotion, metacafe, Google Video and lots of other URLs) * User definable Lua album art fetcher scripts. See share/lua/meta/README.txt Inputs: * Video for Linux 2 (V4L2) input support * UDP-Lite transport for RTP/AVP * DCCP transport for RTP/AVP * Proxy support for MMSH stream * JACK audio input support * Input run time option (improved live stream recording) * BDA devices access module for DVB-C/S/T capture cards on Microsoft Windows * Re-written Screen access module for Mac OS X using OpenGL instead of QuickDraw * Screen module now supports partial screen capture and mouse following on X11. * Experimental EyeTV access module This requires the user to install a plugin to EyeTV.app (available as a separate download). * Simple RTP input (with MPEG A/V, G.711 and PCM support). * RTMP input support * QTKit-based Input module for Mac OS X allowing display and streaming of video taken from all iSight-labelled video cameras (no audio support) * HTTP access now supports gzip compressed data and Digest Access Authentication. * New options to reduce latency between arrival of raw data and display of frames. (auto-adjust-pts-delay and use-stream-immediate) Demuxers: * MP4 gpac and Apple chapter support * Fixed playback of AIFF stereo files * Fixed audio glitch on seek * Improved FLAC demuxer (duration / current time / meta data) * AAC tags support * APEv1/2 tags support * Improved ID3v2 tags support * Improved Ogg/Vorbis tags support * Raw video support * Standard MIDI File (types 0 1) support * TiVo Series 2 support * CD+G karaoke Files support * MXF files support * OMA support Decoders: * VP60/VP61/VP6F/VP62 support * Flash Screen Video support * CamStudio Screen Video support * DosBox Capture support * Karl Mortons Video support * limited atrac3 support * Fraps support * Fluidsynth MIDI software synthesis (with external sound fonts) * New codec FOURCCs to support more specific files: Avid, FCP, Sony, Samsung, * H.264 PAFF support * DNxHD / VC-3 support * NellyMoser ASAO support * APE (Monkey audio) support * RealVideo support (with the RealVideo run-time) * Dirac video support using libschroedinger Subtitles: * Closed Caption Decoder (DVD, ReplayTV, TiVo, DVB/ATSC) * VBI EBU (Teletext) support (*nix, Mac OS) * Ogg/Kate subtitles support * AQTitle subtitles support * MKV USF subtitles support * HTML-based subtitles support * MPSub subtitles support * JacoSub subtitles basic support * MPL2 subtitles support * Rewrite of ASS/SSA scripts and subtitles support * PowerDivx (.psb) Subtitles support * Realtext subtitle support * DKS subtitle support * SubViewer 1.0 (SubRip09) subtitles support * Correct Right-to-left languages in subtitles support Encoders: * Flash Screen Video support * Improved H.264 encoding speed Video outputs and filters: * New CoreAnimation-based output module (VLCKit framework on OS X only) * Adjust, Invert and Distort (now split into Wave, Ripple, Gradient and Psychedelic) video filters can now be streamed * New puzzle video output filter * Re-written motion detection video filter * New extract video filter (extract Red, Green and Blue components from a video) * New sharpen video filter (increase the contrast of adjacent pixels) * New erase video filter (removes logos from a video) * Enhanced subtitles renderer to support bold, italic and some HTML tags (Google Summer of Code Student project) * Support for RGBA and I420 blending. The latter improves Mosaic CPU usage *a lot*. * New transparency mask video filter (for use with the mosaic_bridge module). * New bluescreen video filter (for use with the mosaic_bridge module). This was previously part of the mosaic module. * Fixed random characters problem in RSS filter. * Add rotate-deciangle for more precision on rotate filter * Support for Intel SSE2 instruction set in chroma converters * Improved use of Intel MMX instruction set in chroma converters * New croppadd and canvas video filters. Audio outputs and filters: * Replay gain support * Audio playback when going slower/faster (with pitch correction via new scaletempo audio filter) * New spatializer audio filter * Correct DTS output via S/PDIF Stream output: * RTSP for TS-multiplexed broadcast streams * New RTP payload formats: * Speex voice audio codec * ITU T.140 (for text, subtitles) output * G.711 (both A-law and  µ-law) output * UDP-Lite transport for RTP * DCCP transport for RTP * Lots of fixes for RTSP broadcasting * RTMP output Interfaces: * All * New Simple Preferences dialogs showing the most important settings in an end-user suitable way. * Improved user interaction * Improved mouse gestures * Vastly improved Update checker * Full support for meta data editing (ID3v2, Ogg/Vorbis, AAC, APEv1/2) * Windows/Linux * Brand new interface for Linux and Windows, based on the Qt toolkit * Fullscreen controller (transparency on Linux+Composite) * Mac OS X * Improved video output features * Online access to VideoLANs Help Wiki within VLC * New setting to disable the Recent Items service * When playing Radio (live) streams, the current track is shown correctly * Correct appearance on Macs using Aquas graphite theme * Simplified Extended Controls panel * Ncurses: * Correctly displays wide characters when using an UTF-8 locale, if libncursesw is available. * Some nice colors if the terminal supports it (most do) * Experimental Lua interface modules. See vlc -I lua and share/lua/playlist/README.txt for more info. * Unix * Option to allow only one running instance, using D-Bus interface. * D-Bus Interface implementing the MPRIS (Media Player Remote Interfacing specification), a common dbus control interface for media players that intends to become an xdg standard when finished: http://wiki.xmms2.xmms.se/index.php/Media_Player_Interfaces . * Motion module using disk accelerometers to keep video horizontal * Plugin to set Telepathy presence message using MissionControl * Fixed VLM schedule time on Linux Linux Port: * VLC now complies with the XDG Base Directory Specification version 0.6 http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-0.6.html (which means that VLC doesnt use the $HOME/.vlc directory anymore) Mac OS X Port: * Mac OS X Framework VLCKit that can be used to embed VLC in third party applications (Google Summer of Code Student project, Mac OS X 10.5 only) * New text renderer based on Quartz replacing the existing Freetype solution * Complete compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard * It is now required to compile a fully featured build * The support of Mac OS X 10.3.9 and QuickTime 6.x was discontinued. LibVLC: * Event management and various improvements in libvlc (Part of a Google Summer of Code Student project) New Localizations: * Finnish * Persian * Polish * Punjabi * Bulgarian Developers: * LibVLC now supports externally built plugins properly. A vlc-plugin pkg-config package is provided. * Java bindings are now built from a separate source. Changes between 0.8.6h and 0.8.6i: - Security updates: * Fixed integer overflow in WAV demuxer (CVE-2008-2430) Various bugfixes: * Fixed option to use shared memory within the GLX video output module * Improved galaktos-based audio visualizations on FreeBSD * Miscellaneous bugfixes in multiple modules and in libvlc (transcode stream output, OSD menu video filter, VCD input, SAP services discovery, http control interface) * Updated Polish translation Changes between 0.8.6g and 0.8.6h: - Security updates: * Updated GnuTLS and libgcrypt on Windows and Mac OS X (CVE-2008-1948, CVE-2008-1949, CVE-2008-1950) * Updated libxml2 on Windows and Mac OS X (CVE-2007-6284) Goodies: * Updated libebml and libmatroska on Mac OS X. Reliability improvements. * Miscellaneous bugfixes in multiple modules and in libvlc (ftp access, record access filter, video filters, RC interface, playlist demuxer, IP networking, MPJPEG muxer, stream outputs) * Improved support for MPEG2 content created by Final Cut Pro * More reliable audio reception for MPEG TS streams * Fixed a regression in 0.8.6g where usage of the snapshot feature could lead to an unexpected application termination * New Serbian translation * Updated Romanian translation Changes between 0.8.6f and 0.8.6g: - Security updates: * Removed VLC variable settings from Mozilla and ActiveX (CVE-2007-6683, VideoLAN-SA-0804) * Removed loading plugins from the current directory (CVE-2008-2147, VideoLAN-SA-0805) * Updated libpng on Windows and Mac OS X (CVE-2008-1382) * Fixed libid3tag denial of service (CVE-2008-2109) * Fixed libvorbis vulnerabilities (CVE-2008-1419, CVE-2008-1420, CVE-2008-1423) * Fixed speex insufficient boundary check (CVE-2008-1686, oCERT-2008-004) Various bugfixes: * Fixed various memory leaks, improving stability when running as a server * Fixed compilation with recent versions of FFmpeg * Correctly parses SAP announcements from MPEG-TS * Fixed AAC resampling * The Fullscreen Controller appears correctly on Mac OS X, if the Always-on-top video option was selected. Changes between 0.8.6e and 0.8.6f: - Security updates: * Really fixed subtitle buffer overflow (CVE-2007-6681, CVE-2008-1881) * Fixed Real RTSP code execution problem (CVE-2008-