Case Analysis: The Annual Report Essay

1. The basic factors of communication that must be considered in the presentation of the Annual Report are compliance with accounting principles and regulations, accuracy of the information presented, and how much information you are going to disclose. The management has a lot of control over what and how much information it wants to disclose to the users of their financial report. Users can be shareholders, investors, customers, or if you want it or not, competitors. Therefore management doesn’t want to disclose too much strategic details about their future plans. However, it also has to attract prospective investors and therefore needs to give them enough information about the companies’ health. 2. One part of the Annual Report that is very interesting for investors is the Management’s Discussion and Analysis section. It gives the user of the financial report more specific details about how the company has done that year and contains information that cannot be found in the financial data. This section can include coverage over any favorable or unfavorable trends and any significant events or uncertainties in the areas of liquidity, capital resources, and results of operations (Ormiston, 2013). Another section of the Annual Report is the Proxy Statement. It is required by the SEC and solicits shareholder votes as many shareholders don’t attend shareholder meetings. This section also contains voting procedures, background information about nominated directors, executive compensation, etc. This information helps investors and creditors by providing information about the longevity and compensation of the companies’ top management as well as corporate governance (Ormiston, 2013). 3. One advantage of stating well-defined corporate strategies in the Annual Report is to attract investors. Prospective investors in your company want to see that your company is healthy and that you are generating cash flows from operations. They want to know if you are going to be able to pay out dividends. Therefore stating a well-defined strategy for the future can possible attract more investors. Another advantage of stating your strategy is that current investors remain investing in your company when they see that your company has a bright future. Investors like to plan ahead and therefore want to know your corporate strategy in advance. A disadvantage of stating well-defined strategies in the Annual Report is that you also disclose  critical information to your competitors. By doing so, your competitors know what your plans are and can try to position them better to compete with you. Another disadvantage of stating your corporate strategy in the Annual Report is that your customers might not like a change in your strategy and switch to your competitors. An example for this might be deciding to outsource all manufacturing to China. This corporate strategy might outrage your customers and lead them away from your company. 4. The effectiveness of annual reports in fulfilling the information needs for current and potential shareholders is usually good because management tailors the Annual Report as much as possible to the needs of investors in order to attract more investment into its company. Items like the MD&A or Pandora, which includes additional material to attract current and prospective investors, are specifica lly designed to attract more investment while giving the shareholder enough useful information to make a decision. Creditors of the company find the cash flow from operations statement useful because it provides them with information about how much money the company is making to determine their ability to pay their debt back to you. For most employees of the company the Annual Report is probably hard to read and understand because of the complexity and volume of information that it contains. They would most likely suffer from information overload and therefore the Annual Report is in my opinion not very effective in fulfilling their information needs. Most customers of a company are not going to be much interested in reading the financial statements of the company where they buy products. However, if important information about the company’s practices leaks to the public, the customers may switch to a competitor if they strongly disagree with said practice or strategy. Financial Analysts are probably going to find the information disclosed in the Annual Report very effective because they are used to reading these reports and know where to find useful information. However, because management has some control over what information to disclose or not to disclose, there is also some hard-to-find or missing information for Financial Analysts. This information can be employer relations with management, morale and efficiency of employees, or the firm’s prestige in the community. 5. Management knows when creating the Annual Report that competitors are going to analyze their strategy as well as shareholders and other users. Therefore it needs to be careful about  what information they want to disclose. The dilemma here is that you want to disclose enough information in order to attract investments, but cannot disclose too much information because otherwise your competitors are going to position themselves against you. This dilemma affects the decision about what information managers provide in their annual reports. 6. The sustainability report gives information about the environmental, social, and governance performance of a company and is a non-financial report. Many companies utilize this report to create a better image of their company in the public. This report is intended to show the companies’ performance and compliance with environmental standards and ratings. Sustainability reporting started in the 1980s by companies in the chemical industry who had image problems because of their negative impact on the environment. Nowadays, many companies use sustainability reports to improve internal processes, persuade investors, and improve their image in the public. This information can be helpful to investors because it portrays transparency and accountability and assures the investor of a good public image of the company. References Ormiston, A., & Fraser, L. M. (2013). Financial Statements. Understanding financial statements (10th ed., p. 12). New York, NY: Pearson Education.

Object Pronouns vs. Subject Pronouns

Object Pronouns vs. Subject Pronouns Object Pronouns vs. Subject Pronouns Object Pronouns vs. Subject Pronouns By Mark Nichol Using pronouns seems simple enough, but they cause confusion because it’s easy to mix up nominative, or subject, pronouns and object pronouns. Here’s a review of the difference between the two categories of pronoun: A nominative pronoun is one that takes the place of a noun phrase used as a sentence’s subject. Instead of writing, â€Å"The man patiently stood in line,† one could write, â€Å"He stood patiently in line.† An object pronoun, however, replaces a noun phrase employed as an object: If you wished to use a pronoun to refer to a woman who precedes the man in line, you wouldn’t use the equivalent of the pronoun that appears in the second example above (â€Å"The man patiently stood in line behind she†); you’d use a different form (â€Å"The man patiently stood in line behind her†). Pronouns that rename the subject and follow a verb should also be in subject form: â€Å"It is I who have been wronged.† In comparative sentences those in which as or than is used to compare two things should you write, â€Å"I am just as capable as her† or â€Å"I am just as capable as she†? To test the appropriate pronoun form, append a verb to the sentence, and the correct version becomes clear: â€Å"I am just as capable as she is.† (One often hears people saying things like â€Å"I am just as capable as her,† but one often hears things said that are not grammatically rigorous.) Sometimes, the correct choice depends on the meaning of the sentence: Is â€Å"She’s more likely to ask him than I† correct, or should you write, â€Å"She’s more likely to ask him than me†? If the extended sentence is â€Å"She’s more likely to ask him than I am,† in which the comparison is between the subject and the writer, I is correct. However, if the intent is to convey that the man referred to as him is more likely to be asked something by the subject than the writer is, the correct pronoun form is me, but that distinction should be clarified with a revision like â€Å"She’s more likely to ask him than ask me.† Another source of confusion is reflexive pronouns those that reflect back on the subject. Reflexive pronouns include all the compound words ending in -self (for example, myself) or -selves (for example, themselves). Reflexive pronouns should be used only to refer to another word in the sentence. For example, in â€Å"I gave myself a mental pat on the back for a job well done,† myself refers to the subject I. However, in â€Å"The letter was intended for myself,† myself has no referent (the subject is â€Å"the letter†), so the sentence should read, â€Å"The letter was intended for me.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar 101 category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Whimsical Words75 Idioms and Expressions That Include â€Å"Break†75 Synonyms for â€Å"Hard†

Canadas Role in Cold War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Canadas Role in Cold War - Essay Example Subsequently, we will try to discuss the role of Canada played during the period of the Cold War. After the World War I, the rivalry and hostility were developing their roots among the regions of the United States and USSR. In October 1917, the ouster of the Russian government occurred, and subsequently, the Russian leader Vladimir Lenin decided to call back his troops from the war. In the year 1918, the United States of America supported by Canada, the Great Britain, Japan, and France interfered with the militaries of the Vladimir Lenin in Russia. The abovementioned countries made intervention to avert collapse against Germany, but Russian premier Lenin and his colleagues considered such intervention as an assault on Russia, which was highly offended by his government. The United States, Canada, and the European countries were aggrieved about the Russia's new government. They showed their concerns against the capitalism and conversion of the local communist parties into an international campaign. Later on, the Union of Society Socialist Republic (USSR) was converted into the Federal Union of Russia and its adjoining areas were brought under the Communist control. However, the United States of America did not recognize the Soviet State until 1933.1 The differences between the United States and the USSR worsen in the regime of Russian leader Joseph Stallion during the period of 1929 to 1... However, Adolf Hitler breached his agreement, and in June 1941, he ordered his armies for aggression against the USSR, the United States, and the Britain. In the result, a defense coalition was formed, in order to defeat the Germany in the preceding four years. The coalition among American-British-Soviet Union, which was known as the grand alliance, proved the mistrusted coalition on the part of the Soviet Union. The USSR claimed to bore heavier price, as compared to other nations, which were active in continuity of the war. When victory seemed to be closer in the year 1944, the conflict became more visible within the alliance. 2 By the passage of time amid tensions, the two great blocks came in to the existence, one of which was led by the United States and was known as the Western block. It was consisting of the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Philippines, Japan, and many other Western- European and Latin American countries. The second block was led by Russia, and was known as the Eastern block. The countries included in the later block were Albania, Bulgaria, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Romania.3 Canada's Introduction In the Cold War, an occasional but important and middle-power role was played by Canada. Throughout the struggle during the war, the United States and the West were supported by Canada. In this paper, we will try to understand the role of Canada during the Cold War, as well as its consequences from the Cold War, which were confronted by it.4 Early Cold War During the Cold War, it was very predictive that Canada would take the side of the United States and the West, as

Introduction and Presenting Of the Research Problem Essay

Introduction and Presenting Of the Research Problem - Essay Example Research suggests that, little contact time is available between educator and students to address issues of concern. The curriculum is packed and is driven by and through assessment, but time constraint has an influence on teaching and learning. This study aims to establish how blogging as a collaborative learning tool can increase effective communication and increase student academic achievement in mathematics. This study will also establish whether the peer-to-peer interaction will increase when working through mathematics problems via blogs. (Phillips, Norris, & Macnab,2010). The use of blogs in learning has benefits to students, teachers and other individuals involved in the learning process. Research has illustrated that blogs enhance more active participation and questioning by students, and deeper understanding of topics as a result of sharing facts and dialogues. Blogging has also increased commitment to quality by students when material is likely to be exposed to a wider aud ience. This has led to an increase in independent learning and the amount of work completed out of school hours. It also gives opportunities to the teacher to extend collaboration beyond the classroom to the wider school community and into students’ homes, improvi8ng the regularity of communication with parents (Hyung, 2008). Through blogs, students learn how to be considered and constructive when providing feedback on each other’s work via blogs. Blogging has also increased commitment to quality by students.