Adelphia Scandal Essay Example for Free

Adelphia Scandal Essay Adelphia was founded in 1952 by John Rigas and his brother Gus Rigas in Coudersport, Pennsylvania with the purchase of their first cable franchise for $300. After 20 years, the Rigas brothers incorporated their company under the name Adelphia which derived its name from a Greek word which means brothers, an apt corporate title for a business that would employ generations of the Rigas family. Adelphia was a cable television company and built its success on a strong commitment to customer care; and because of this commitment, a glorious growth spree would follow. By 1998, Adelphia passed the two million-customer milestone and served approximately 5.6 million cable television customers nationwide. The company made significant strides in product development and the implementation of fiber optic technology and expanded their home and business offerings to include digital cable, local and long distance telephone services, messaging, enhanced data, high-speed Internet and video services . John Rigas managed Adelphia from its corporate headquarters in Coudersport, PA. His brother Gus sold his interest in Adelphia in 1983. And after some time, Johns sons Michael, Timothy and James, serve as executive vice presidents, directors and principal stockholders. John built Adelphia on a strong commitment to family, community, quality service and customer care which became the core values and culture of the company. The Evolution of Adelphia In August of 1986, Adelphia Communications went public. Its first three years were focused on generating revenue by increasing its customer base through mergers and acquisitions. Although the companys profitability had suffered as a result of the ambitious expansion, its revenue-generating capabilities had not. From the $30 million generated in sales during its first year, annual sales shot up to $131 million in 1988. Adelphia continued to make its presence known by making several important acquisitions of other cable systems such as the Suburban Buffalo System from Comax Telcom Corp., the South Dade System from Americable Associates, Ltd., New Castle System from Cablentertainment, Inc., and Jones Intercable which was the third largest cable system operator in New York during that time. Moreover, Adelphia entered into a partnership with unaffiliated parties to form Olympus Communications in southeast Florida which became a powerful money-making business as it served roughly 250,000 subscribers in West Palm Beach area. Adelphia was performing admirably and continued to expand by making other acquisitions and consolidation maneuvers through 1999 and 2000, bringing its subscriber base up to an impressive 5.5 million. Though the company was heavily indebted after the succession of major purchases of other cable companies, equipment, and infrastructures, analysts were looking favorably on Adelphia as late as January 2002, noting that the company was well positioned for acquisition or merger with another major cable company. The Discovery of the Fraud Oren Cohen, a high-yield-bond analyst for Merrill Lynch had followed Adelphia for a decade and thought there was something about the familys spending that didnt add up. Hed noticed that the Rigases were buying their own stock aggressively, but he couldnt figure out how they were paying for it. They didnt appear to have the cash themselves. John Rigas made $1.4 million in 2000. Michael, Tim, and James each took home $237,000. The Rigases didnt have any sources of income outside Adelphia. They never sold their stock, and it didnt pay a dividend. Cohen was pretty sure their private cable systems werent throwing off cash. But every time Cohen tried to get an explanation, Adelphia rebuffed him. On March 27, 2002, however, Adelphia officials disclosed $2.3 billion in previously unrecorded debt incurred through co-borrowings between Adelphia and other Rigas family entities under the umbrella of the familys private trust, Highland Holdings. Under these loan agreements, the Rigas entities were responsible for repaying the debt, but if they were unable to do so, Adelphia would be liable. Cohen was astounded to see the footnote disclosure and pressed Tim Rigas for details at the end of a conference call that day. Things in Coudersport quickly spun out of control as shareholders asked for clarity and transparency. The revelations and the investigation that followed sent the company spiraling deeper and deeper into a scandal that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) eventually called, one of the most extensive financial frauds ever to take place at a public company . The stock continued to fall and on May 15, 2002 John Rigas resigned as chairman and CEO.

Explain giving examples how Woolworths should go about HR Planning? :: Business and Management Studies

Explain giving examples how Woolworths should go about HR Planning? Human Resource Planning (HR) is the identification of the future labour requirements needed by a company and how these are going to be met. It is the process by which a company ensures that it has the right number and kind of people, in the right places at the right time, doing the things for which they are economically most useful. It is a method for determining future human resource requirements and developing action plans to meet them. It is defined as a strategy for the requisition, utilization, improvement and retention of an enterprise’s human resources and it encompasses the subject concerned with the developing range of manpower policies, including those for recruitment, deployment, development and retention. The use of HR planning is a big issue for any company if they are to have enough staff to meet the future demand that the company may receive. The main issues to do with HR planning at Woolworths is that the company has a high labour turnover with many people moving on to a higher status job and the idea that people do not really want to work for the company which has resulted in large numbers of staff leaving the company. This is mainly due to a large number of the staff being part time students who are looking for temporary employment whilst they are finished their A level or decree courses. The four stages of HR planning that the business will need to consider are: * Stock taking * Forecasting the supply of labour * Forecasting the demand for employees * Implementation and review The first stage of HR planning that Woolworths will need to consider is the use of the Labour stock take. The purpose of the labour stock take is to find out exactly how many staff that the company has available to them after taking into consideration the number of staff that are leaving the company and the quality of the staff available to the company. When using a labour stock take, Woolworths should use a combination of job analysis and performance review, the use of a skills audit will be of little benefit to the business as this method assesses the skills and qualifications of the employee and little qualification is needed to work in the retail area that the business operates in, a combination of the performance review, this involves looking at the performance of all the employees within the organisation in order to identify staff potential and to identify where staff have more training needs. This will enable the business to. The use of the job analysis will enable the business enables the

Accounting Major Essay

â€Å"Why I chose to major in accounting and what career path I plan to follow. † There are two things in my life that I feel passion for, art and numbers. When I started at Miami Dade College, I always thought that I would study Architecture because even though I loved numbers, I was more inclined to the arts. I wanted to create models and design buildings because it seemed very interesting and it was a way to develop my creative side. So I began to study architecture and I must admit it is a beautiful major. However, a part of me thought that it was not really what I wanted to do. I realized that I was not creative enough and little by little, I started to feel discouraged. At that point, I was convinced that I was going to do better if I majored in anything related to numbers. Anyway, I can develop any artistic interest as a hobby. So I chose to major in Accounting because I can work with numbers which I like. See more: Recruitment and selection process essay Also, it is a practical major because it is concise, but at the same time there is some kind of art involved. The artistic part lies in selecting the information that is relevant to the user and has faithful representation. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) defines accountancy as â€Å"†¦ the art of recording, classifying, and summarizing in a significant manner and in terms of money†¦ transactions and events that are at least partly financial in character, and interpreting the results. I found my perfect combination of numbers and art, even though accounting is more than that. Accounting is the type of major that is everywhere. Every kind of business needs an accountant; a restaurant, a hospital, a retail store. In this type of economy that we live, where everything moves around business, we need someone to take care of tracking the expenses and revenues for us. Accountants give a snapshot of the financial health of a business. At this moment, I am still not sure about the path I plan to follow. I am thinking auditing or taxes. I like auditing because I have to analyze and evaluate processes, products, services, systems, organizations and employees. Also, is a way to help society because I would contribute to ensure compliance with government regulations. I would ensure ethics in every company I give my services. My other option is To master in Taxes.

Universities Abroad How to Make The Right Choice

Choosing the right university is of extreme importance in academic and future career success. But with so many universities available how can a student choose the best one? This is a careful process that should not be taken lightly. Each pro and con of a particular university of interest should be weighed carefully. Program and Duration of Study When decided to study abroad one of the first steps is know what field to study and what country interests a student the most. Research the best universities for those programs. During this process it should be decided what degree would be best for the student such as a bachelor, masters, doctorate, etc. After that has been decided, make a decision as to whether you want to complete the entire study program in one university or see many different areas during the program. Language and Area The international student must consider the area and language spoken there. Is it a language they are interested in or already speak? Once the area has been decided the official language should be a skill the student begins to practice daily to be prepared. When considering what area you would like to study in they must keep in mind whether or not you desire to work while in school. If you wish to work while going to school a central area may be best so that there will be more work opportunities available. Even though it may not be very important since the student will dwell in the area for only a short time climate should be considered. While it may come low in criteria for choosing a college the student may be sensitive to some climates and not wish to be there at all. Climate would likely only be a consideration if two schools were equally attractive for the student with only a climate being the difference. Finances Finances are a huge consideration when choosing a college. Tuition fees and how they will be paid need to be taken into account. For some students money is not a problem and they can study anywhere they would like with their parents assistance. Some students must go where they can get scholarships for athletics, grades, etc. Few countries offer colleges that do not require tuition fees. Student loans are an option but the student must borrow wisely considering that there will come a day they have to pay the money back. The smart student will not get in over their head with borrowing and will look to the future on how much the prospective career will bring in income. Flexibility The student should apply for many different colleges even if they are not that interested. Only universities that do not offer the program the student is looking for should be excluded. This is a good starting point in the process of elimination. After this point students can consider the previously mentioned criteria to make the best choice for them.