Category: Essays

Assuming that you are the controller for a publicly traded company, your CFO has asked you to prepare a presentation for the accounting department personnel and the public auditors about the importance of the SOX Act and the requirements and responsibilities that the Act establishes for the auditors in charge of an annual audit. After the presentation, the CFO wants all accounting personnel and public accounting auditors to understand the regulations and guidelines established by the SOX Act and also for you to provide recommendations as to how the Act’s principles can be improved to make American corporations more ethically responsible.

Prepare a Power Point presentation of at least 20 slides that includes the following:

Assess the provision of the Sox Act that requires the establishment of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the measures that public accounting firms are taking to ensure that they maintain their independence in all audit assignments, including the mechanisms they are establishing to ensure that the necessary independence and integrity are prevalent in all aspects of their relationship with their clients.
Analyze how executives of corporate America have embraced the new regulations and requirements of the Sox Act while maintaining their purpose to produce a profit for investors and staying in compliance of the new rules in the industry. Explain what those new requirements are for the CEO and CFO of publicly traded companies.
Describe your assessment of the responsibilities established for accounting personnel—including protection for whistle-blowers—and for the public accounting auditors.
Determine how the responsibilities of the board of directors audit committee have changed due to the Sox Act in overseeing the financial reporting process and to hire and be in charge of the independent auditors.
Provide recommended sanctions to be imposed on those who do not comply with the SOX Act provisions, and whether or not the sanctions should be stiffened or should include other personnel in the organization.

Researched sources should follow these guidelines:

At least half of the researched sources should be from authoritative electronic sources related to the accounting field.
The findings presented in the paper should be accurate renditions of the Sox Act, including citations and references.
Follow APA guidelines when citing references.
Include a reference slide

Consider the following statement: “It is impossible for a firm to produce a relatively low-cost, yet somewhat highly differentiated product.” Is this statement true or false? Provide the reasoning to support your answer.

Not Everyone Will Be A First Mover

Why would a firm regularly choose to be a second mover? Likewise, why would a firm purposefully be a late mover?

1 page per question. APA format. In-text citations. 2 scholarly references. one source should be the textbook

The popularity and rapid adoption of Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) by a number of organizations has impacted internal IT / IS departments. These services provide a virtualization infrastructure that covers data storage, networking, desktop computing, mobile computing, and so on.

Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you:

Describe at least three (3) items that an organization’s IT / IS department should consider when an organization’s strategy calls for the use of SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS.
Evaluate the ways that SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS are used to reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and increase Return on Investment (ROI).
Create SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS architectural diagrams using Microsoft Visio or an equivalent such as Dia. Note: The graphically depicted solution is not included in the required page length.
Examine the impact to the IT support personnel when an organization embarks on the strategy stated in Question 1.
Analyze three (3) considerations that the organization’s management should be aware of.
Examine three (3) security issues that could arise from this type of an infrastructure.
Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

Assignment 4: Virtualization and Cloud Computing World

The popularity and rapid adoption of Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) by a number of organizations has impacted internal IT / IS departments. These services provide a virtualization infrastructure that covers data storage, networking, desktop computing, mobile computing, and so on.

Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you:

Describe at least three (3) items that an organization’s IT / IS department should consider when an organization’s strategy calls for the use of SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS.
Evaluate the ways that SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS are used to reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and increase Return on Investment (ROI).
Create SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS architectural diagrams using Microsoft Visio or an equivalent such as Dia. Note: The graphically depicted solution is not included in the required page length.
Examine the impact to the IT support personnel when an organization embarks on the strategy stated in Question 1.
Analyze three (3) considerations that the organization’s management should be aware of.
Examine three (3) security issues that could arise from this type of an infrastructure.
Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
Include charts or diagrams created in Visio or an equivalent such as Dia. The completed diagrams / charts must be imported into the Word document before the paper is submitted.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Describe the process of administering enterprise systems, including the use of virtualization and monitoring, power and cooling issues.
Evaluate the total cost of ownership and return on investment for enterprise architecture alternatives
Use technology and information resources to research issues in enterprise architecture.
Write clearly and concisely about enterprise architecture topics using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skill

Read the case study titled “A Patient Information System for Mental Health Care”, located in Chapter 1 of your textbook. Develop an overall architecture for the system described in the assigned reading. Your architecture should be based on any one of the common architectural patterns (e.g., Pipe and Filter architecture pattern). Your architecture should be documented in text and in UML diagrams (at minimum a class diagram and a sequence diagram).

Write a two to four (2-4) page paper in which you:

Describe your chosen architecture pattern.
Explain why you selected the architecture of this case study.
Explain how your chosen pattern could be applied to this case study.
Describe any shortcomings associated with your chosen architecture pattern for the case study.
Describe how your architecture could be implemented in hardware and software.
Develop a UML diagram to document the architecture of the system through the use of Microsoft Visio or its open source alternative, Dia. Note: The graphically depicted solution is not included in the required page length.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
Include charts or diagrams created in Visio or an equivalent such as Dia. The completed diagrams / charts must be imported into the Word document before the paper is submitted.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Explain how service-oriented software can be used to build distributed applications using Web services.
List the characteristics of embedded real-time systems.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in software engineering.
Write clearly and concisely about software engineering using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions

At what point in the distribution process can a Business Case be best supported? Why?

http://www.erpfocus.com/erp-inventory-management-4-benefits-for-distributors-2690.html

Also, make a substantive comment to one other student response.

Peer Response

Yes, Inventory Management can be outsourced for large enterprises. Inventory Management is the pricess of efficiently overseeing the constant flow of units into and out of an existing inventory. Inventory Management seeks to control the cost associated with inventory. It also has to do with keeping accurate records of the finished goods that are ready for shipment. Inventory Management makes it easy to prepare accurate records for taxes and each inventory. One profit objective would be growth. When a business grow in size, its objective may change from just earning profit to increasing its market size and making greater sales of its units produced.

Family dynamics play a major role in how children develop. These influences include structure, expectations, parenting styles, and involvement. To understand more about how childhood experiences with your family have influenced current identification of self, take a few minutes and think back to those days.

Analyze the role that family structure, expectations, parenting styles, and involvement of caregivers played in your development.
Reflect on your experiences and share any that you are comfortable sharing. You can use questions such as the following to guide your reflection:
What was the best thing that your family said about you or did for you? Try to remember one exact day when that was said or done for you. Which person did this? Remember now what you felt then. When do you feel this way now?
Did you have a nickname? How did you feel about it?
Did family members tell you what you would end up being or doing? Was it what you wanted to be or do? How did you respond?
How do you think your family would have described you to a close friend of theirs? What were they most concerned about for you?
Would you do or react to things differently now than you did then? Why?
Make sure you evaluate your experiences in the context of major theories and concepts of cognitive, social, and physical development during middle childhood. Support your responses by citing information from the online notes and textbook and other scholarly sources. For example, describe the cognitive stage you might have been in at the time of specific events, according to Piaget, Erikson, or Freud. How did this influence how you interpreted the events? You can also discuss the parenting style that you think was used by your parents/caregivers

Family dynamics play a major role in how children develop. These influences include structure, expectations, parenting styles, and involvement. To understand more about how childhood experiences with your family have influenced current identification of self, take a few minutes and think back to those days.

Analyze the role that family structure, expectations, parenting styles, and involvement of caregivers played in your development.
Reflect on your experiences and share any that you are comfortable sharing. You can use questions such as the following to guide your reflection:
What was the best thing that your family said about you or did for you? Try to remember one exact day when that was said or done for you. Which person did this? Remember now what you felt then. When do you feel this way now?
Did you have a nickname? How did you feel about it?
Did family members tell you what you would end up being or doing? Was it what you wanted to be or do? How did you respond?
How do you think your family would have described you to a close friend of theirs? What were they most concerned about for you?
Would you do or react to things differently now than you did then? Why?
Make sure you evaluate your experiences in the context of major theories and concepts of cognitive, social, and physical development during middle childhood. Support your responses by citing information from the online notes and textbook and other scholarly sources. For example, describe the cognitive stage you might have been in at the time of specific events, according to Piaget, Erikson, or Freud. How did this influence how you interpreted the events? You can also discuss the parenting style that you think was used by your parents/caregivers

Family dynamics play a major role in how children develop. These influences include structure, expectations, parenting styles, and involvement. To understand more about how childhood experiences with your family have influenced current identification of self, take a few minutes and think back to those days.

Analyze the role that family structure, expectations, parenting styles, and involvement of caregivers played in your development.
Reflect on your experiences and share any that you are comfortable sharing. You can use questions such as the following to guide your reflection:
What was the best thing that your family said about you or did for you? Try to remember one exact day when that was said or done for you. Which person did this? Remember now what you felt then. When do you feel this way now?
Did you have a nickname? How did you feel about it?
Did family members tell you what you would end up being or doing? Was it what you wanted to be or do? How did you respond?
How do you think your family would have described you to a close friend of theirs? What were they most concerned about for you?
Would you do or react to things differently now than you did then? Why?
Make sure you evaluate your experiences in the context of major theories and concepts of cognitive, social, and physical development during middle childhood. Support your responses by citing information from the online notes and textbook and other scholarly sources. For example, describe the cognitive stage you might have been in at the time of specific events, according to Piaget, Erikson, or Freud. How did this influence how you interpreted the events? You can also discuss the parenting style that you think was used by your parents/caregivers.

Write a 3–4-page paper in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention

Due Week 8 and worth 200 points

This “Assignment 2” writing assignment is a comparative essay focused on topics encountered in our HUM 111 class. The project will be based on research but will reflect your views and interpretation of the topic. This project is designed to help you stretch your mind and your abilities as an organized, innovative, and critical thinker. If approached properly, it should also be fun!

Choose one (1) of the topics from the list of topic choices below. Read the topic carefully. Write a three to four (3-4) page paper (750-1,000 words) that follows instructions and covers each part of the topic. (The title page and References list do not get included in this word count).

Note: Your instructor may require you to submit your topic choice for approval before the end of Week 5.

For the topic you choose:

Establish a clear thesis about your topic as part of the introductory paragraph (often the thesis is the last thing one determines after doing the basic research and outline; however it will be placed in the first paragraph of your paper).
This is a comparative essay. Comparison approached properly will require some critical thinking on your part. Use a point-by-point approach for the essay. That means, if comparing subject A with subject B, don’t do the first half of the essay on subject A and then the second half on subject B–that will seem like two (2) separate essays and comparisons will tend to get lost. Instead, you should be mentioning both subjects in most of your paragraphs as you compare them throughout the essay. Comparisons will identify similarities as well as contrasts.
Do not try to do everything on your two (2) subjects. You should end up narrowing your focus to a few insights and issues about the subjects being compared. And, from those fairly specific points of comparison, you will develop a thesis and glean some lessons.
Follow closely the instructions below for your specific topic.
Include a concluding paragraph at the end. This paragraph will, in some way, refer back to the thesis established in your first paragraph, since now you have demonstrated and supported it. It may be here that you also include your observations relating your study to the modern workplace or society (see your topic). Try to finish with flair!
Use at least three (3) good quality academic sources, with one (1) source being the class text. Note: Wikipedia and other similar Websites do not qualify as academic resources. You are highly encouraged to use the Resource Center tab at the top of your Blackboard page.

Topic Choices – Choose just one (1) of the topics below:

Qualities of the Hero: Comparing Gilgamesh and Odysseus. Write an essay comparing these two (2) heroic figures from ancient epics of different cultures, especially focusing your analysis on the sources about their encounters with monsters: Gilgamesh encounters the monster guarding the forest, Humbaba, in Tablets 3-5 of the Epic of Gilgamesh (see http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/; scroll down to the Tablet links; think of “Tablet” numbers like chapter numbers).” Odysseus encounters Polyphemus the Cyclops in Book 9 of The Odyssey(see http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomerOdyssey9.html; from line 105 to the end). Your paper should:

a) Compare Gilgamesh and Odysseus as to their heroic qualities, noting similarities and differences, using specific examples from the epics.

b) Summarize what this indicates about differences between ancient Mesopotamian and Greek cultures in their ideals and expectations.

c) From this comparison, suggest ways that current cultural ideals and expectations shape modern notions about role models and heroes.

Confucius and Aristotle on Virtue. Write an essay comparing these two (2) ancient thinkers on the concept of virtue or good ethical character and conduct. Stay focused on the issue; keep any biographical or other information short or limited. As much as possible, analyze their writings (in translation, of course), using Confucius’ Analects (at http://classics.mit.edu/Confucius/analects.html ) and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (athttp://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html ). Your paper should:

a) Compare the teachings of Confucius and Aristotle on what constitutes virtue or good ethical character and conduct, noting similarities and differences in specific ideas or emphasis.

b) Consider what your findings suggest about differences between ancient Chinese and ancient Greek culture.

c) From this comparison, suggest ideas of virtue that can apply to ethics in a modern setting, such as a diverse workplace.

Comparing Sculptures of Ancient India and Greece. Write an essay comparing the way gods and humans were depicted in sculpture in ancient India and Greece, and identify the cultural values and ideals that these art works reflect in each case. Your paper should:

a) Using specific examples, compare the way gods and people were depicted in the sculptures of ancient India and Greece, noting similarities and differences.

b) Identify the cultural values and ideals that these art works reflect for each society.

c) From this comparison, suggest a modern situation of artistic expression and the ways it reflects or counters prevailing cultural values.

Comparing Ancient Skeptics. Write an essay comparing Lucretius and Wang Chong (=Wang Ch’ung), skeptical philosophers of ancient Rome and China. They were skeptical about popular religious and spiritual beliefs and widely-held superstitions. Lucretius was an Epicurean philosopher of Roman culture (Chapter 6). Wang Ch’ung was a thinker in ancient Chinese culture (Chapter 7). Focus your comparison on their writings as found athttp://www.humanistictexts.org/lucretius.htm and http://www.humanistictexts.org/wangchung.htm#On Not Flying to Heaven. Your paper should:

a) Using examples from their writings, compare these two (2) thinkers on their views about specific subjects and on their approach in explaining and expressing their skepticism.

b) From this comparison, identify popular beliefs in each culture that seem similar and those that seem different.

c) From this comparison, suggest any modern situation in which materialist skeptics confront spiritual and religious beliefs, and comment on the considerations of free expression and cultural respect.

Comparing Ancient Male Rulers. Take any two (2) of these rulers and write an essay comparing them: Ramses II, Shihuangdi, Constantine, Ashoka, Pericles, or Charlemagne. Select rulers from different cultures. You may also propose (for approval or not) a ruler not listed. Avoid lengthy quoting or lengthy close paraphrasing from biographical sources. Make it YOUR comparative analysis. Your paper should:

a) Compare the two (2) rulers in terms of their situation and methods of rule and their apparent ideals and practices, noting similarities and differences. Use specific examples.

b) Consider what your study suggests about the cultures over which they ruled, identifying any similarities and differences between the cultures.

c) From this comparison, suggest lessons about different types of effective leadership in the world of modern business and / or modern politics.

Comparing Ancient Female Rulers. Compare the Tang Empress Wu Zetian (also known as Empress Wu or as Wu Zhao; ruled China around 690-705 AD) with either the Pharaoh Cleopatra (ruled Egypt around 51-31 BC) or the Pharaoh Hatshepsut (ruled Egypt around 1478-1458 BC). You may also propose (for approval or not) a female ruler not listed. Avoid lengthy quoting or lengthy close paraphrasing from biographical sources. Make it YOUR comparative analysis. Your paper should:

a) Compare the two (2) rulers in terms of their situation and ascent to power, their methods of rule, and their achievements and resourcefulness, noting similarities and differences. Use specific examples.

b) Consider what your study suggests about the cultures over which they ruled, identifying any similarities and differences between the cultures.

c) From this comparison, suggest lessons about different types of effective leadership by a female in the world of modern business and / or modern politics.

Other topic choice using a comparative approach (proposed by student or instructor) and approved by the professor and supported by the grading rubric.

The Project Paper will be graded on:

The level to which the instructions were followed for the paper generally and for the specific topic.
The establishment of a clear thesis about your topic.
The adequacy and relevance of information, examples, and details which support the general thesis.
Covering each part of the topic as instructed, including the comparisons, the consideration of ancient cultural differences, and the reflection on lessons for modern society or the modern workplace.
The quality of your research and your persuasiveness using critical reasoning.
The use and acknowledgement of a minimum of three (3) required references (the class textbook plus at least two (2) other quality academic sources) documented using the APA style –including both the use of a proper References list and the use of proper in-text citations.
Adherence to standard rules of grammar, punctuation, paragraphing, and mechanics, and general clarity of presentation.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides. Both in-text citations and a References list are required. Citations and references must follow APA style format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions specific to the selected topic. (Note: Students can find APA style materials located in the course shell for guidance).
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length. For our purposes, you may omit any abstract pag