Lewis and Lewis, P.C. :: Accounting Firms Business Analysis Essays

Lewis and Lewis, P.C.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lewis & Lewis, P.C. is a small, Jackson-based accounting firm that employs thirty-five people and was founded by Phil Willis in 1968. It exhibits many interesting aspects of organizational behavior, which we will examine below from several perspectives. After examining the company's current policies and practices, we will evaluate its status in the transition from the "old" to the "new" model of organization, and recommend some changes that may improve the way Lewis & Lewis operates. From a Strategic Perspective Physical Description   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lewis & Lewis, P.C. is located in a quiet suburb of Jackson, Michigan. It is a forty-five minute drive from Lansing. The two-storied building is built on a slightly elevated hill with spacious parking lots in the back and to one side. The outer walls are of a pleasant beige brick which is in keeping with the calm atmosphere of the community and of the landscape. Right in front of the building there are columns and the large main entrance is toward the rear off the parking lot.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The appearance of the building is well harmonized with the surroundings. However, it gives guests the impression of dignity and openness. Directly inside the main entrance to Lewis & Lewis is a small but welcoming lobby, with a natural stone floor, stylish but difficult to walk on in heels. There is a narrow open closet for guests to hang their coats, and several chairs arranged around a table on which are placed the company newsletter and other publications. The receptionist's desk is facing the entrance door, and behind it sits a friendly young woman. The partners' offices are found against the two farthest external walls, noticeably removed from the rest of office. The other external walls are lined with the offices of the professionals, with large windows overlooking the pleasant exterior. The remainder of the office space is segmented with partitioning walls, forming a sort of cubicle labyrinth. In the center of this maze is a small kitchen where employees gather and converse informally. Adjacent to the kitchen is a small work area with copy machines and office supplies. In a corner of this floor is a set of uninviting sta irs leading to the ground level, where the conference room is located. The conference room itself is spacious and handsomely decorated, with a large table and comfortable chairs, a video center with television and VCR. The seating is limited to fourteen people. Task and Job Description   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tasks are distributed on the basis of specialization: auditing, tax, government and consulting. Very few tasks are performed by routine; each day may include new procedures for each employee.

Banana Paper Essay

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE In a study, â€Å"Papers and Boards from Banana Stem Waste† in which they used banana stem waste in producing paper and board because banana is a very good source of cellulose. Banana stem waste, thrown away by farmers after harvesting of fruits, was procured as raw material. It was chopped by 3-4† size usually at a rate of about 100 kg material per day. The material was soaked in 1-2% NaOH for appropriate period. The alkali loosens the ligno-cellulosic bonds, thereby softening the material. Then it was washed with water. The washed material was then subjected to beating in a Hollander beater, a machine developed by the Dutch in 1680 to produce paper pulp from cellulose containing plant fibers. A period of three to four hours of beating was required for getting a good quality of pulp. It was observed that depending upon the quality of boards to be produced, appropriate amount of fillers, loading material or chemicals were used during wet beating. For production of hard b oards, suitable quantity of resins like urea formaldehyde and phenol formaldehyde are added in the beater itself while maintaining pH. The wet boards are then allowed to dry under direct sun on bamboo frames specially made for this purpose. Handmade paper from rice straw was a product developed by the Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI), a line agency of the DOST. In 1986, the technology was fully developed and the product was commercialized locally. The major material input used for the production of handmade paper was rice straw, an agricultural waste which was available in abundance locally. The other inputs which were also available in the domestic market were sodium hydroxide, sodium or calcium hypochlorite and paper additives such as rosin size, starch and alum (aluminum sulfate or tawas). Rosin size was used to prevent liquid penetration and make paper smooth, alum to enhance cohesion of the fibers and starch to bind fibers together. The pulping process involves the boiling of rice stalks in two percent sodium hydroxide solution, with liquor to material ratio of 10:1, for about two hours until the stalks become soft. The stalks are drained right after boiling and transferred into a screen-bottom box. Then, the stalks are thoroughly washed with water at least three times and pounded  with a wooden mallet. After pounding, the pulp is screened by under high water pressure using a double-decked screen box. Bleaching of the pulp may either be a single or multi-stage procedure depending on the desired colour of the paper. After every bleaching, the pulp is thoroughly washed with water. Paper additives such as rosin size, starch and alum are added to the pulp and the mixed substance is stirred continuously. Then, the mixture is laid on a dry and flat surface. Finally, the mixture is pressed down with a rolling pin or pressed to form the sheet. However, in this study their major ingredient in making the paper was rice straw while our major components were banana fibers and stalks. The aim of the experiment, â€Å"Use of banana tree residues as pulp for paper and combustible,† by Rosal, A., Rodriguez A. Gonzales, Z. and Jimenez, C. (Accepted 23 March 2012) was to evaluate the optimal use of banana tree residues, by two ways: first by subjecting them to pulping process with soda-anthraquinone as pulping liquor, studying the influence of operating variables on the properties of the pulps and the corresponding paper sheets obtained from them; the second way is to use them as fuel, determining the heating values, flame temperature and dew point temperature of the combustion gases, comparing their values with those found for other lignocellulosic materials. The pulp was obtained by using a 15-L batch cylindrical reactor that was heated by means of electrical wires and was linked through a rotary axle (to ensure proper agitation) to a control unit including a motor actuating the reactor and the required instruments for measurement and control of pressure and temperature. The banana tree residues were pulped in the reactor under certain conditions of soda concentration (7.5 to 12% w/w), anthraquinone concentration (1% w/w), temperature (160 to 180 °C), time (40 to 60 min) and liquid/solid ratio (8:1 w/w). Next, the cooked material was fiberized in a wet disintegrator at 1200 rpm for 30 min and the screenings were separated by sieving through a screen of 1 mm mesh size. Paper sheets were prepared on an ENJO-F-39.71 sheet machine according to the TAPPI 220 standard method. They concluded that The pulping of banana tree residue with soda anthraquinone require a low cooking conditions (160 °C, 40 min and 7.5%  soda), providing a pulp with suitable properties (39.23% pulp yield, 28.59 Kappa number, 48.25% brightness, 1149 ml/g viscosity, 48.0 Nm/g tensile index, 3.80 kN/g burst index and 4.83 mNm 2/g tear index). From an energetic study of the banana tree residue, it was deduced that banana tree residue have a heating values of 17751 kJ/kg, a flame temperature of 1300 to 2400 °C and dew point temperature of 4 to 54 °C, for different values of excess air (10 to 50%) used in combustion. These values are similar to other non-wood lignocellulosic materials. The price of the energy (kJ) obtained by combustion of these residues was less than coal and much lower than those of fluid fossil fuels. Another experiment was made by Jesus Rubalcaba, Satoki Okamoto and Miguel Lozano about Banana Paper. In their experiment, their major ingredient or the material that was important was the banana leaf. They cut the banana leaves into smaller pieces and blended it. Mix that blended pieces by five cups of water, dip the frame in the pulp and spread the pulp with hands. They take the frame outdoors ang let it dry for one day. It was concluded that the banana paper held its shape without crumbling apart. It was so unappealing and the quality wasn’t great. This study helps and guides us not to use banana leaves in making the banana paper wherein the results was not good enough. Base on their observations, it was strong enough to hold its shape but it was lumpy and brownish which makes the product not very appealing to the eyes. Thus, many would not be interested in buying, using and making it. The banana leaves weren’t strong enough compared to the banana stalks and fibers. According to a book written by Irmengarde Eberle, a conveyor belt feeds the needed logs from the wood yard into the mill. There they are put into a debarker- a large, slowly –turning iron drum. Strong streams of water are poured in from the vents in the sides. The debarked logs then roll out of the drum and move along on a conveyor. Now according to what kind of paper or paper board is to be made, the wood is either chipped or ground. For most papers and especially for the better kinds, it is chipped. For coarser grades, such as newsprint, it is ground. The logs that are to be chipped are moved along to a special room. There they are passed to a machine equipped with strong, sharp blades. These cut he wood into small pieces. Next the chips are sent over screens, which sift out bits of the remaining bark. The cleaned chips are carried to great storage tanks. Mill workers take chips from the storage tanks selecting the particular kinds required to fill each other. The selected chips are carried by a conveyor belt to a machine called a digester. Here, the mixture of water and chemicals including particularly sodium hydroxide, which is really lye, or caustic soda, awaits the chips. When the wood has been fed into the digester, it is closed. Immediately it is very hot steam, under great pressure, is let in. This steam â€Å"cooks† the chips, together with the water and chemicals, for several hours. How long this takes depends again on the kind of paper the wood is being prepared for, and the variety of the tree from which it comes . From the cooker, the wet, fibrous mass passes to the bleaching room, where it goes through a series of treatments in several successive tanks. In the course of this, the pulp becomes a light tan and still more of the remaining lye is washed out, along with other chemicals. Finally, the pulp becomes snowy white and has a kind of granular fluffiness. It may be taken to a storage tank again. When the mill is ready to make the pulp into paper it will draw out the wet material and eliminate the water. When the pulp passes into a large broad tank of water, where sizing such as starch or clay is added to give the paper the desired finish. If coloured paper is to be made, the dye is added at this time, too. The pulp passes to a machine, where huge wheel with dull blades beats the fluffy, wet, fibrous material. Finally, the mass passes on to a part of the machinery called the Jordan, where the fibers are rubbed and cut to the desired length. Now comes with the steps by which the pulp becomes fine paper. Fresh water is added to the pulp and it is moved on to the Fourdrinier, a kind of machine. In this machine the wet pulp is run onto a belt of very fine screen. The screen is in constant motion. Shaking forward and sidewise, it makes the small fibers mesh. All the while, water is again drained off, and the fibers tend to lie in the directions in which the screen belt and water move. A dandy roll or cylinder, next rolls over the fibers and presses them. By the time the very thin layer of fibers passes out from under the dandy roll, more moisture has been lost. The pulp now has actually become paper, but it is still thick and loosely mesh, it is still wet. The large, endless sheet of unfinished paper is then pressed over rollers smoothly and tightly covered with felt, which press out most of the moisture. Next it is passed over heated drums to dry it still more, and to a machine called a calendar, which presses it again. The sheets are run through the final drying and pressing rollers, and are then ready for cutting.

Case study on Xeroxs downfall - Analysis and remedies

Case study on Xeroxs downfall - Analysis and remedies Xerox Corporation, founded in 1906, is engaged in the document management business, offering an array of document products, services, and solutions. Being an icon of innovation for years (research carried out at Palo Alto Research Center) and a leader in the copier market, Xerox experienced decades of success. However, things drastically changed from the year 2000. Xerox's share price had fallen below $4, from a high of $64 a year earlier. Moreover, the copying and printing giants around the world (especially the Japanese companies) were taking chunks of its market share.What caused the downfall of Xerox?The downfall of Xerox is a result of technological change and management failure. The rapid change of the technology sector makes most of the technological companies suffer. However, the biggest problem of Xerox is internal. The failure includes all of the following: failure of protecting market share from competition; having been lagged in developing products with digital technology ; board irresponsibility; traumatic sales-force reorganization; inefficient service-force reorganization; serious financial problems such as heavy short term debts, built up working capital and accumulated account receivables; ineffective transition from selling high-tech products to selling high-tech solutions and services which resulted in losing the direction of the company.XeroxWhy did management problems arise at Xerox?There are many reasons: Lack of trust in CEO and dislike for CEO. Half-way measures, failure to commercialize innovations. To sum it up the problems are due to lack of proper leadership, cooperation and trust.How would you characterize Xerox's managers' approach to planning, organizing, leading, and controlling over time?In my opinion, Planning was good until the invention of ink-jet technology by HP. The company was also making profits and was doing well in the 'office and copying industry" until the managers at Xerox failed at planning by underestimating...

Essay on Education Indigenous PaperEssay Writing Service

Essay on Education Indigenous PaperEssay Writing Service Essay on Education Indigenous Paper Essay on Education Indigenous PaperThe position of indigenous people in Australia was historically inferior compared to European colonists and their descendants, who have comprised the mainstream part of Australian nation, because they have got the dominant position in Australian society. White Australians ripped off all the profits of the fast economic progress of Australia by getting access to education, better job opportunities, health care services, and other benefits brought by economic and technological progress of Australia, whereas indigenous Australians remained inferior to them and could not stand on the equal ground compared to the whites. Today, they are still in the worse position compared to the whites because they have the limited access to education, while the equal access to education could have provided indigenous Australians with better job and socioeconomic opportunities.Invasion and colonial frontier  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   European colonists arriving to Australia had a priori biased and prejudiced attitude toward the indigenous population of Australia because of their experience of contacts with other civilizations of ‘savages’, whom they treated as being absolutely inferior to themselves. Violent confrontations were a feature of the ‘frontier’ as it moved across the continent. In Tasmania, the ‘Black War’ continued for over a decade and martial law was declared from 1828-1832 (Ryan, 2012). However, the biased attitude toward indigenous Australians persisted for decades and centuries. Colonists disregarded rights of the indigenous population and established the social order that matched their interests. In such a situation, they developed their own system of education, where there was no room for indigenous Australians.Protection and segregation  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   White Asutralians, who held the dominant position in society viewed the indigenous population as a ‘dying race’. Such racial Darwinism laid the foundation to the policy of the state intervention into policies determining the life of the indigenous people that led to their segregation. In such a situation, even the protection of the indigenous people led to their further segregation because they were protected within their communities but they still remained unprotected in face of social biases and stereotypes.From the turn of the century governments around Australia adopted the policy of protection which enshrined contradictory but intersecting sets of philanthropic, ameliorative, punitive and even genocidal rationales, and which resulted in a convenient double speak of stated humanitarian concern and agendas of segregation, assimilation, genocide and profound neglect. This mix seemed to enable everyone, from city humanitarian to brutal frontiersman, to feel comfortable with their stance and convinced that right was being done (Haebich 143). Moreover, they were absolutely unable to compete with white Australians in the labor market because they had neither education, nor skills, nor abilities, nor resources to challenge the position of the whites. Instead, they could count on low- or semi-qualified jobs that determined their low socioeconomic standing in Australia.Assimilation and the Stolen Generations  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Stolen Generations became indigenous people taken from their families in terms of government and missionary programs, which resulted in their forced removal from their families. The noble goal of their ‘civilization’ resulted in their loss as a generation of indigenous people, living within their society and communities. At the same time, stealing indigenous children was an integral part of the life of society since the time of colonization. Some colonists wanted to see whether Indigenous people could be ‘civilized’ and in the process the gained children who also wor ked for them as domestic servants. Explorers valued the knowledge of country that even very small Indigenous children possessed (Reynolds, 1990, p. 165).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Stolen Generations history was an attempt to ‘civilize’ the indigenous population but, as the matter of fact, this attempt has brought little positive effects because the Stolen Generations were rather forcefully assimilated in the white mainstream culture and society by losing their indigenous identity pointblank. On the other hand, this policy did not create better educational or employment opportunities for indigenous people of Australia. Instead, those, who were left aside, remained disintegrated and still had limited access to education and, therefore, had a few opportunities to succeed in the mainstream society. In such a way, the education system remained enclosed and indigenous Australians did not have an opportunity to have the equal access to education.Education System of Australia and Indigenous People  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The historical discrimination of indigenous people in terms of their access to education resulted in the disadvantaged position of indigenous Australians and their limited access to education. For example, at the moment, only one-quarter (25%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over reported Year 12 or equivalent as the highest year of school completed, compared with about half (52%) of non-Indigenous people (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012). In such a way, education remains to be a privilege for the whites, whereas indigenous Australians do not have access to education. In this regard, there are objective reasons, such as the location of indigenous communities in remote areas, and subjective reasons, such as biased and prejudiced attitude toward indigenous population. The recent efforts of Australian government aimed at the elimination of inequality in the acc ess to education for all Australians, but the gap between white and indigenous Australians persists.Conclusion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus, the discrimination of indigenous population of Australia was the historical trend that determined the currently disadvantageous position of indigenous Australians in different fields, such as education. The discrimination since the time of colonization, the segregation and persisting inequality resulted in the inferior position of indigenous Australians compared to the whites. In this regard, education is the field, where barriers between white and indigenous Australians are still wide and the government should enhance its efforts to close the gaps.

Supplier Selection and Business Process Improvement Essay

Supplier Selection and Business Process Improvement - Essay Example This learn looks at the victory that TOFAS-FIAT Corporation has had in running supply chain in Turkey (Bashein, B. J., 2004, 7-13). In a globe where products are copied roughly as soon as they are introduced into the marketplace, building and supporting competitive advantage is a major anxiety for today's CEOs. For this reason, there is a strong link among how firms manage their people and the economic results achieved. Results from studies of five year endurance rates of initial public offerings; studies of productivity and stock price in large samples of companies from manifold industries; and detailed research on automobile, clothing, and other industries shows that considerable gains of approximately 40% can be obtained by implementing high performance management practices. a further purpose of this paper is to gain imminent into supply chain capability and the factors that enhance its development. If members of a supply chain are to thrive jointly they must acknowledge that a learning environment improves the overall effectiveness of the supply chain as well as the abilities of the individual members (Stump , R. L., 2001, 29-48). One important management practice for many companies is the relationship that they have with their suppliers. Supply chain partnerships are relationships between two or more independent entities in a supply chain to achieve specific objectives. Basically, these partnerships are generally created to increase the financial and operational performance of each channel. These objectives are accomplished throug

ASSIGNMENT 3 ANALYSING A PROBLEM AND SUGGESTING COMPLEX SOLUTIONS Essay

ASSIGNMENT 3 ANALYSING A PROBLEM AND SUGGESTING COMPLEX SOLUTIONS (CORBY PROJECT REPORT) - Essay Example Corby community consists of Lincoln way and kingwood estates. A Corby study carried out on the community aimed at identifying issues affecting the social development. These issues were identifiable using various techniques all discussed critically in the report. However, the main mode of data collection was interviewing. For example, Chelsea an MI client who lives in Lincoln way estate remained interviewed together with other members of the community. Appropriate interventions are also discussed and a justification for their implementation given. The assessment of real needs in the Lincoln way and Kingwood community in Corby remained carried out using various investigatory techniques. It is only through needs assessment that a community’s needs are addressed (Brett, 2012, p. 143). The techniques used in Corby case study aimed at identifying problems facing Lincoln way and kingwood community. They also provided facts and data to help in making of correct decisions and acquire feedback on community’s preferences and priorities. From the investigations, the study establishes interventions in response to social development situation in the community. This technique involves collecting and assessing information of interest (Israel, 2008, p. 49). It is carried out in an organized manner to enable easy answering of questions in relation to needs assessed. Research helps in testing proposition, evaluate results and establish necessary interventions towards the needs. In Corby case study, use of this technique enabled collection of data about social development issues affecting the community and its environs. From these data, the researchers of the case study made decisions on what is required as a remedy to the need in social development. Structured surveys in the Corby case study occured in three major ways including telephone, face to face and questionnaires. Through the survey, need gap in social development department in

Beer Wars Movie Analysis Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Beer Wars Movie Analysis Paper - Assignment Example This text seeks to compare and contrast the strategy and experiences of the two entrepreneurs in the movie. The two entrepreneurs have different experiences with respect to how they do business in the beer industry. Rhonda is faced with a number of challenges as a small-scale beer brewer. Case in point is that companies that have a higher market portfolio hamper their chances of doing business as appropriate. Unlike Calagione, Rhonda does not enjoy the monopoly that big companies enjoy in the beer industry (Baron np). Consequently, there are a number of cartels that define how the market is run to the extent that small businesses face challenges of performance. The bigger companies in the beer industry frustrate Rhonda’s company by introducing products that may be similar effectively overshadowing the small size entities. Calagione, on the other hand, is one of the entrepreneurs that enjoy an immense dominance in the market to the extent that there are a few challenges that affect their businesses. The law is inherently biased in the sense that it does not protect the small sized companies, but works in favor of the bigger ones. Compared to Calagione, Rhonda is faced with a number of legal challenges to the extent that if an issue of law arises, the small company is disenfranchised significantly in terms of doing business. Such tendencies do not provide a fair playing ground for the competitors in the market. Beer wars are fought on a number of fronts, and there are various sophisticated institutions that are employed to frustrate the wellbeing of smaller entities (Baron np). There is a difference in the strategies that the two entrepreneurs employ in the production of beer. While Calagione employs the use traditional means of beer production, Rhonda employs modern and innovative means of making beer. The fact that Rhonda employs a new style of beer production is the point of conflict in the industry