BLOG#3 ENRON

      If you’re like most, you’ve been astonished, disillusioned and angered as you learned of the meteoric rise and fall of Enron Corp. Remember the company’s television commercial of not so long ago, ending with the reverberating phrase, “Ask why, why, why?” That question is now on everyone’s lips. The Enron case is a dream for academics who conduct research and teach. For those currently or formerly involved with the company, such as creditors, auditors, the SEC and accounting regulators, it’s a nightmare that will continue for a long time. 

       Formal investigations of Enron are now under way, headed by the company’s board, the SEC, the Justice Department and Congress. The exact causes and details of the disaster may not be known for months. The purpose of this article is to summarize preliminary observations about the collapse, as well as changes in financial reporting, auditing and corporate governance that are being proposed in response by Big Five accounting firms, the AICPA and the SEC. 

      In the end, the best lessons of all will come from the mere fact of Enron's bankruptcy. Investors and bankers may learn not to trust companies that report mysteriously spectacular profit growth; auditors will be warier of bosses' pressure to sign dodgy accounts; rating agencies and regulators may be more nervous about companies that do not come clean about all their activities. In the drama of capitalism, bankruptcy plays an essential part

 

BLOG#2 CONNECT THE WORLD

Connect the world

Background

-          Cisco is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate.

Early in the twenty-first century, Cisco approach emerging markets in the same simplistic way as most develop-market companies did. Today Cisco sakes more than $4.5 billion of its total $36 billion that come from emerging markets such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Poland.

Problem

-          Cisco executive cited of problems, including economic weakness in Europe, Asia, and the emerging nation economic, combined with cautions corporate spending overall. In the long run, the Chinese issue seems to be the biggest threat to Cisco and its Western competitors.

Theory

-          Strategic planning

According to Henry Mintzberg (1994), Strategic planning is an organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals, establish agreement around intended outcomes/results, and assess and adjust the organization's direction in response to a changing environment. It is a disciplined effort that produces fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, who it serves, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future. Effective strategic planning articulates not only where an organization is going and the actions needed to make progress, but also how it will know if it is successful.

Conclusion

-          Cisco Systems, Inc. is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Today, networks are an essential part of business, education, government, and home communications. Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create the Internet solutions that make these networks possible, giving individuals, companies, and countries easy access to information anywhere, at any time. In addition, Cisco has pioneered the use of the Internet in its own business practice and offers consulting services based on its experience to help other organizations around the world.