The Healthsouth Corporation Inc. - 3190 Words

INTRODUCTION The HealthSouth Corporation was started in 1984 by Richard Scrushy with hopes of becoming one of the largest healthcare companies in the country. It was doing quite well by 1996 with a market value of nearly $12 billion and was one of the United States largest healthcare firms. This all fell apart in 2003 when it was discovered that Scrushy and his employees had committed fraud in the estimated range of almost $2.7 billion (Daigle, Louwers and Morris 887). Scrushy, over the years, had brought on many new faces to the company. Many of these employees were friends of Scrushy from previous business ventures and business meetings. These employees and the others involved in the fraud were given the name ‘family’; highly due to the fact that they all knew what was happening and not one wanted to go to the authorities to confess. It was after the fraud had gone on for nearly six years that the former CFO Weston Smith tipped off federal investigators. Following the actions by Smith, the four other CFO’s who ran the company during the fraud came forward which included: Aaron Beam Jr., Michael Martin, Malcom McVay, and then current CFO William Owens. Along with the CFO’s their staff members who were also in on the fraud also came forward bringing the total number of involved to fifteen. Also the Birmingham Alabama office of Ernst Young came under heavy scrutiny for auditing HealthSouth during the fraud and failing to take action on any evidence they found.Show MoreRelatedHow Corporate Scandals Crush the Company, Investors, and Economy1333 Words   |  5 Pagesthe CEO and the founder of HealthSouth Corporation, was one of the most successful and respected business men in the state of Alabama. This is a story of a fallen American dream. HealthSouth Corporation is the United States’ largest inpatient rehabilitative hospital. HealthSouth provides the services of rehabilitative care to patients recovering from all kinds of conditions. It started in 1984, the company was originally named Amcare Inc. By the end of 1990, HealthSouth expanded to 50 facilitiesRead MoreThe Accounting Scandal of Healthsouth - Essay912 Words   |  4 PagesScandal of HealthSouth HealthSouth Corporation is based in Birmingham, Alabama, it is the largest provider of rehabilitative health care services. It operates in 26 states in the United States of America and in Puerto Rico. HealthSouth provides rehabilitation hospitals, long term heightened care hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation satellite clinics and home health agencies. HealthSouth was found by Richard Scrushy in the year 1984 and was called Amcare, Inc. It openedRead More Healthsouth: The Rise and Fall Essay1911 Words   |  8 Pages Running head: HEALTHSOUTH: THE RISE AND FALL HealthSouth: The Rise And Fall Abstract Richard Scrushy (Scrushy) had a vision and was driven by his leadership and entrepreneurial abilities. Scrushy was the mastermind and major creator of HealthSouth Corporation (HealthSouth). Scrushy served as chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the corporation for more than 20 years. A Biographical Sketch: Richard Scrushy and HealthSouth. Retrieved March 22, 2005, from the World WideRead MoreThe Sarbanes Oxley Act Of 20021530 Words   |  7 Pagesinformation for investors (Larry Bumgardner). The law also allows the Securities and Exchange Commission to oversee more corporate governance of company’s financial records. The Securities and Exchange Commission was given the power to freely investigate corporations or accounting firms who were thought to be creating false financial records or hiding expenses and/or debts. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act or (SOX) is there to protect investors from companies that could commit fraud to get more investors. This has addedRead More Richa rd Scrushy and HealthSouth Essay2155 Words   |  9 PagesIntroduction HealthSouth is one of the nation’s largest healthcare providers specializing in rehabilitation. HealthSouth was founded by Richard M. Scrushy in 1984 and went public in 1986. Scrushy served as its Chairman of the Board from 1994 to 2002. The company was incorporated in January 1984 as Amcare Inc. before its name was changed to HealthSouth Rehabilitation Corporation in May 1985. In January of 2003, Mr. Scrushy reassumed the position of CEO. HealthSouth grew rapidly duringRead MoreHealth Care Environments1007 Words   |  5 Pagesorganization is responsible for paying federal, state, and property taxes (Gapenski, 2006). Carter (2013) stated, â€Å"For-profit businesses may raise money by offering investors a percentage of ownership in the company. In the case of a for-profit corporation, investors can provide property, services, and cash in exchange for shares of the company’s stock (pg. 1). According to Lassiter and Arico (2013), the financial management practices used at Health South Rehabilitation Center has been effective becauseRead MoreAn Audit Of An Auditor2930 Words   |  12 PagesMadoff’s company books. Had the investors done so, they would have discovered that the Madoff enterprise was audited by Friehling Horowitz a small accounting firm with only one certified public accountant. Waste Management Fraud Waste Management Inc. is a waste management company located in Houston Texas It provides waste management and other services such as collection, recycling, disposal of waste materials, and converting waste to energy. The company also provides recycling brokerage, and electronicRead MoreTechniques And Fraud Schemes : Off Balance Sheet Techniques1148 Words   |  5 Pagesopportunity set up a large reserve cookie jar scheme to cover for future earnings losses (pp.1213-1214). Weld, Bergevin and Magrath (2004) research on HealthSouth revealed that the company was involved in cookie jar techniques on bad-debt reserve and big bath scheme on bad debt expense (pp.44-45). Ahmad et al. (2013) research on Sunbeam Corporation indicated that the company created inappropriate restructuring reserves to inflate income through cookie jar reserves by fabricating fake profits and creatingRead MoreEthical Problems With the Practice of Patient Dumping in the Healthcare Field1924 Words   |  8 PagesThr oughout this document, I will provide the ethical considerations regarding patient dumping and methods in which to prevent the spread of its practice. In particular, I aim to highlight the practices and potential ethical threats to Health South Inc. To begin with, patient dumping is not an entirely new phenomenon. The practice of patient dumping and refusal to care still, and will continue to be a widespread issue within the healthcare system. Patient dumping, in essence, is simply a large gameRead MoreFun with Dick and Jane Essay1547 Words   |  7 Pagesbar when he is inebriated and out of apparent guilt tells Dick what happened. At this point Frank, Dick and Jane come up with a plan on how to steal the money from Jack. The movie conveys to the audience that since the CEO stole money from his corporation and all the employees, it is okay to steal the money back from him. All of these ethical issues that Dick and Jane encounter through the movie are solved by one act. After their grand plan of stealing the money back fails, Dick confronts Jack

The War Of The Cold War - 1515 Words

Following World War two it was the beginning of a new era between the Soviet Union and the United States of America both engaged in the Cold War. With Europe divided, there were major difficulties with creating stability politically and through the economy. As a consequence of the war the Allies created the United Nations which attempted to avoid a third world war eliminating the further risk of war between European countries which had twice in the same century already created two world wars. During 1946, Winston Churchill the former British Prime Minister, gave a speech calling for a â€Å"We must build a kind of United States of Europe† which gave an enormous impact and gave â€Å"important credibility to the federalist movements, despite the†¦show more content†¦Firstly, it is going to look at how post-war integration started through the prevention of war and to create peace throughout the European States. Secondly this essay will discuss the economic changes and influence it had on creating a political union. Then it will discuss how this created political unity along with how it affected integration and finally created the European Union. While lastly coming to a final conclusion as to what motivated integration after the war. Firstly, the main factor towards European Integration after World War II was to keep peace between neighbouring states within Europe and to prevent war. After the war in 1945 there remained an ongoing tension between the Allied and the Axis powers as well as the dominance of the Russians in the East. Along side Berlin now being divided into four zones influenced by the US, France, Britain and the Soviet Union. This meant that other nations such as Poland, East German and Romania had no control and the continent was more divided than ever before with â€Å"The idea of the all-powerful nation state had been discredited and the key players of the mainland; namely France and Germany, were keen to build closer relations.† Carleton shows that â€Å"World War II was more brutal, and bloodier than anyone who survived the Great War could have imagined. The Second World War caused the deaths of around 60 million soldiers and civilians† along with 6 million Jews providing subsequent evidence for the need for

Constructive Discharge Memo Free Essays

Memorandum To:Mike Bigg, CEO From:HR Manager Date:10/14/2012 Re:EEO CONSTRUCTIVE DISCHARGE CLAIM Constructive Discharge Constructive discharge occurs when an employee is forced to quit because the working conditions have become unbearable. According to Black’s Law Dictionary a constructive discharge is â€Å"a termination of employment brought about by making the employee’s working conditions so intolerable that the employee feels compelled to leave. â€Å"These conditions would include harassment or discrimination or receiving a negative change in working conditions or his pay for reasons that are not work related. We will write a custom essay sample on Constructive Discharge Memo or any similar topic only for you Order Now A litmus test for this is to determine what a reasonable person would do in this scenario. If a reasonable person would have resigned due to the unbearable conditions, and if the employer had actual knowledge of the intolerable actions or conditions and could have remedied them but did not, then the employee would be considered constructively discharged. In a case where an employee feels the employer made the job so unbearable that he cannot remain there, a wrongful termination suit can be filed. In legal terms, being compelled to quit is legally similar to being unfairly discharged. In the case we are facing now, the complainant feels that our schedule change would not allow him to continue his employment with us due to the fact the rotating schedule would force him to occasionally work on his religious holy day. In our situation, this law could have some merit if it can be proven that we changed the schedule in an attempt to target any specific individuals. In that case, we could be deemed at fault. However, due to company growth, the work schedule was modified to reflect a new production requirement. Since the changes were due directly to the need to change the entire production schedule and not aimed specifically at a single employee, this situation should not apply. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is an act that was passed by congress to provide citizens protection against discrimination by employers based on race, religion, color, sex and national origin. In Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the law stipulates that it shall be an unlawful practice for an employer to discharge any employee, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of his employment because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This is the primary federal law that prohibits discrimination in the workplace. In basic terms, this act prohibits employers from making employment decisions based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. Age discrimination and disability discrimination are not included in this act and are now covered by subsequent laws enacted by congress. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 relates directly to our case as the employee in question has charged that we violated his rights under this act based on religion discrimination. His claim that we are making him work on his religious holy day brings Title VII into focus and it needs to be reviewed to see if his claim can be substantiated. Upon review of the entire operation and in light of the growth the company is experiencing, it does not appear that we have violated his civil rights as claimed under this act. With all personnel being affected by the schedule change and each employee treated equally in the scheduling, it would not seem likely that one individual has been singled out for his religious beliefs. Recommendation In reviewing the facts surrounding this case, it is apparent that we are not guilty of the charges levied against us and I suggest that we proceed forward and litigate this case. Since the decision was made to change shifts due to company growth and the need for a revised production schedule, I do not feel that we handled the situation incorrectly and recommend that we continue on the same course. Making strategic operational decisions and mitigating supply chain process risks is an important part of the business model. Our decision was based solely on the need of the business to remain competitive in the marketplace, and not focused on changing our schedule to impede the religious freedoms any single employee. The only schedule that remained unchanged was for the office employees. Since the employee in question was not an office employee, and as we did not have any openings in that area, a move to the office would not be prudent or equitable for any other employees. Finally, at no point before the employee contacted the EEOC were we made aware of his religious beliefs and needs. Because of that lack of knowledge, we could not have made any accommodations for this employee to assist with his situation. We should feel comfortable informing the EEOC that we are not guilty of the charges that were alleged. Legal Support The most defining legal support that is available is the Civil Rights Act of 1964 itself. In Title VII of this Act, clear guidelines are given as to what protection employees are given against unlawful employment practices. In SEC. 2000e-2 of Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964, it indicate that it shall be illegal for an employer to†¦discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment, because of such individuals race, color, religion, sex or national origin. This employee has alleged that he was forced to follow the new policy on shift work that he was discriminated against as he would now be required to work on his religious holy day. Courts stipulate that a reasonable person test should be utilized to help determine this. By using the reasonable person test – would a reasonable person quit due to conditions that were intolerable at the workplace – I would suggest that would not occur. Many people’s religious holy days were affected by the new schedule as the schedule demanded a rotating four day on, four day off schedule. While it may be inconvenient to some, it would not necessarily require an individual to resign his position. This employee at no time informed the employer of any conflicts based on his religion prior to his resignation. There could even be the possibility of utilizing vacation or personal days when the religious holy days fell on specific work required days. In Lawson V. Washington, 2001, a state trooper cadet resigned after realizing he would have to salute the flag and swear an oath to the state – both of which are against his religion. He felt he would be terminated if he failed to comply with the academy’s manual. At no point did anyone in command at the academy indicate that he would be terminated, although they also never indicated they would make any accommodations for him in regards to this issue. In this case, Lawson was able to make a prima facie case on 2 of 3 points. He was able to prove his religion was legitimate and the demands were based on that religion. Secondly, he did inform his employer of his religious beliefs and the onus was then on the employer to make reasonable accommodations for him. He could not prove the third point where the academy would have terminated his employment if he did not comply. In our case, the employee never made it known that his religion would not allow him to work on specific days. Because the condition was not known, accommodations would have never been made available to him. This point alone eliminates our responsibilities in this case. In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Plaintiff-appellant, v. University of Chicago Hospitals, Defendant-appellee, (2001) a case where an employee believed she was targeted specifically for her religious beliefs, eventually resigned due to the pressure and hostile environment she felt at work. Her employer made specific comments to her regarding her recruiting persons for employment from her church. The employer even told her superior to fire her if she did not end the practice of recruiting from her church. The EEOC was able to prove constructive discharge, where the employee felt as she must quit to avoid being fired. However, the courts stipulate it must be proven that the constructive discharge was motivated by discriminatory intent. Basically, it must be proved that not only was she forced out, but the reason behind the action was religious discrimination. The courts disagreed with this point and believed that the hospital’s actions were not motivated by religious discrimination. The relationship of this case to ours is significant. While the complainant may believe he was forced to quit due to our perceived infringement of his religious beliefs, there was no premeditation in regards to forcing any employee to leave because of their religious beliefs. In addition, since the employee never made it known his need for special accommodations, we would never have been able to foresee this issue with him. Steps for the future We can take a number of steps to strengthen our defenses against violations of Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the future. A primary strategy is to do an internal review of all company policies and procedures to see if any potential risks can be identified (Jenkins, 2004). If they are, steps can be taken to decrease the potential for exposure to lawsuits by eliminating practices that are deemed wrong. Another tactic is to implement a formal complaint system and encourage employees to make use of it. These systems could help us reveal and rectify any problems, real or perceived, before they lead to lawsuits. Training all members of the management team in all aspects of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is an imperative step in a proactive stance against potential wrongdoing. Developing diversity committees could help the entire organization gain a better understanding of the needs of employees. Effective communication is the final step to help avoid issues in the future and is tantamount to successful and happy employees. Open communication from employee to employer cannot be stressed enough. If we listen to our employees and treat them all fairly, avoiding harassment and discrimination charges in the future will be much easier and possibly eliminated at all. A regular review by the Human Resources department will be necessary to insure continued compliance with appropriate policies and procedures that will keep us from committing violations of Title VII. Annual harassment and discrimination retraining for all personnel will help everyone gain a better understanding on what is and is not acceptable and problems may be avoided. Finally, regular communication with the EEOC can help by answering any questions we might have regarding the fair and equal treatment of all employees. Black’s Law Dictionary (N. D. ). Retrieved from http://thelawdictionary. org/search/? cx=partner-pub-4620319056007131%3A7293005414cof=FORID%3A10ie=UTF-8q=dischargex=0y=0 Constructive Discharge (N. D. ), Retrieved from http://jobsearch. about. com/od/jobloss/g/constructivedischarge. htm EEOC V. University of Chicago Hospitals 276 F. 3d 326 Lawson v. State of Washington, 319 F. 3d 498 – Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit 2003 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, SEC. 2000e-2. [Section 703] Jenkins, Lin (2004), Avoiding title VII violations – employment policies and procedures. Retreived from http://goarticles. com/article/Avoiding-Title-VII-Violations-Employment-Policies-and-Procedures/2759944/ How to cite Constructive Discharge Memo, Essay examples

Marketing Principles Trading and Exchange

Question: Discuss about theMarketing Principlesfor Trading and Exchange. Answer: Introduction The marketing management report has been created to identify a specific issue in marketing of David Jones Pty Limited. Precisely, David Jones Limited, one of the leading retail upmarket stores operating in Australia and New Zealand, was set up in 1838 by David Jones. Meanwhile, the retail departmental business of David Jones can be identified as one of the oldest in the market. Currently, David Jones Limited has got 43 retail outlets in Australia and New Zealand market. Notably, the company has been owned by Woolworths Holdings Limited Group. The product segmentation of the retail business has offered cosmetics, fashionable products, food, furniture, electrical appliances, and modern homeware to the target demographics located in Australia and New Zealand market (davidjones.com.au, 2017). The major competitors of David Jones Limited are Myer Holdings Limited and Harvey Norman Holdings Limited in the target market. Meanwhile, leading to the issue, David Jones Limited has recently hit by marketing scams through social media that have created a negative impact on the reputation of the company. By using social media platform, some of the scammers have targeted the customers of David Jones Limited (Koehn, 2016). Thus, the marketing campaigns and promotional events of David Jones Limited have been taken a massive set back. Detailed Description of the Issue The growing social media marketing has become one of the latest trends for modern business organisations leading to successful campaigns and promotional events. On this note, the online scams in marketing have also been increased, to say the least. Leading to the issue, recently, some of the scammers have pretended to be the retailers such as David Jones Limited and sent fake emails promising the target audience to offer sample packages in exchange for detailed information of the their credit cards (Koehn, 2016). According to the complaints made by the customers, the scammers have introduced them as retailers. Moreover, the fake email sent by the scammers has influenced the target demographics to take a survey and provide detail information including credit card details. Notably, the scammers have assured that the initiative is taken by leading retailers such as David Jones Limited. Moreover, the customers have complained over the social media that after the purchase, the sample was sent to them in different types of subscription boxes. Also, the services have been charged on a monthly basis. Due to such instances, the marketing activities of David Jones Limited have been taken a severe hit. Most of the online participants have preferred to avoid the surveys made by the companys RD teams. Hence, the reputation and trust of the company towards the target audience have been hampered. Precisely, the marketing issue can be linked with global marketing, social responsibility and ethics of business. Evidently, the market research of the company has been adversely impacted by the marketing scam events (De Souza and Ferris, 2015). Decisively, such marketing scams should be dealt with efficient order to restore the lost pride of the business of David Jones Limited. However, such marketing scams must be investigated on a serious note so that social media based campaigning and promotional activities will not be hampered (Sharp, 2013). Currently, the event has forced the company to stop survey and other market investigation. In the next section, the actions taken by the management of David Jones Limited to redress the grievances of the target audience have been described. Comparison and Recommendations Comparison According to the corporate social responsibility theories, it is the sole responsibility of the corporate citizens to take care of the customers to seek healthy growth in the market. It is important for an organisation to develop social media marketing policy and customer data security policy while using online media to conduct campaign. In the case of David Jones, the company did not have any separate policy to handle the online media security issues (Koehn, 2016). Additionally, the digital media usage policy must be developed keeping in mind the marketing ethics that may not harm the customers in a negative way and meet all legal obligations. Precisely, in this case, marketing scams can be identified as one of the most negative aspects of business. Though the company personnel have not directly involved in such market issues, David Jones Limited has not taken proper initiatives to mitigate the issue (Geiger, 2017). In order to justify the issue, the retailing company must act promp tly to deal with the situation. Hence, proper steps must be taken to justify the public that the company is not responsible for such marketing scams. Meanwhile, by following the ethical code of conducts and business transparency, David Jones Limited has reached towards the target audience to make them aware of the original situation. Thus, the organisation can retain the trust of the loyal customers. To protect the loyal customers from the online imposters, David Jones Limited has continuously made efforts to mitigate such marketing scams (Sharp, 2013). But, the company has missed to develop adequate strategy to handle such issues. Hence, the company needs to develop adequate strategy considering the ethical and social responsibility theories. The company needs to take necessary steps against the scammer in place of just making the customers aware of the situation. Hence, the situation is quite different than the theories because the company has failed to develop adequate social media policy and social security policy while using digital media campaign. David Jones Limited was trying to conduct survey in order to collect the feedbacks of the customers to observe the customers preferences. On the other hand, the company launched the social media PR activities to enhance brand image and target younger generation customers (Lewis, 2009). Furthermore, the digital media campaign was launched by the firm to conduct market research and enhance its market positioning. On the other hand, the company was quite successful in collecting the feedback of the customers during the preliminary phase. But, the scammers took advantage of the social media campaign to send fake emails to the loyal customers of the firm. The scammers were able to get the details of the potential customers over the social networking sites that were used in the campaign (Steyerl, 2011). Hence, it is important for the company to use particular indication to make a difference between the official and fake emails. For example, the company must make the customer aware that there is no need to share financial data and credit card information to any of the mails that comes under the name of David Jones. Hence, the company was unable to implement adequate policy to use digital media campaign that led to such devastating marketing outcome. If the company would have followed the social responsibility and ethical theories effectively, the company would have saved the customers from scams. However, it is the responsibility of the company to inform the customers about not to share any credit card details during the social media campaign (Steyerl, 2011). Furthermore, the company should conduct a legal proceeding against the scammers so that such incident can be avoided in the future. Recommendation The recommendations to mitigate the marketing issues have been presented herein below: Social Media Campaign: The Company must initiate campaign via social media to explain how to deal with the situation. The management must clarify that David Jones Limited will never ask for financial statements or finance related details in their survey. Also, the organisation should ask the customers to contact the customer support section to report such marketing scams (Bagdare, 2015). In addition, the company must try to educate the public to be aware of such online marketing scams by conducting press release (Koehn, 2016). Develop Social Media Using Policy: David Jones Limited must develop social media usage policy through which the customers details are kept secret. The customers details must be not shared publically to maintain the security of the information. On the other hand, the customers must be informed in every mail to not share any personal details in the survey (May, Cheney and Roper, 2007). Implement Social Media Marketing Team: Additionally, David Jones must employ a social media marketing team that will manage such marketing issues in a professional way. The team must be trained about the problems as well as the ways to mitigate the issues. Undertake Legal Proceeding: The Company must undertake legal proceedings against the scammers by following the social rights of the customers to mitigate the issue of loss of reputation and loyalty of the customers (May, Cheney and Roper, 2007). Conclusion By considering the above analysis, it is quite clear that the management of David Jones has no hand in the scams taken place in the recent months. But, the company should have maintained proper policy to deal with such problems earlier such as social media information security policy. A proper application of the social responsibility and ethics theory would have helped the company to avoid such frauds. Hence, it is the liability of the firm to take necessary action against the scammers and make the customers feel safe. Furthermore, the company must launch PR campaign to make the people aware of such scams and make them understand that the company will never ask for any credit card information or personal data without proper concern. Conclusively, the David Jones Limited must take care of the marketing theories and apply those theories effectively while using social media campaign for the promotion of its brands. References Bagdare, S. (2015). Emotional Determinants of Retail Customer Experience.International Journal of Marketing and Business Communication, 4(2). davidjones.com.au. (2017).The Story of David Jones. [online] Available at: https://www.davidjones.com.au/About-David-Jones/The-Story-of-David-Jones [Accessed May 2017]. De Souza, I. and Ferris, S. (2015). Social Media Marketing in Luxury Retail.International Journal of Online Marketing, 5(2), pp.18-36. Geiger, I. (2017). A model of negotiation issuebased tactics in business-to-business sales negotiations.Industrial Marketing Management. Koehn, E. (2016).David Jones, Myer hit by marketing scams: How to shut down scammers by listening to what the internet says about your business - SmartCompany. [online] SmartCompany. Available at: https://www.smartcompany.com.au/industries/retail/david-jones-myer-hit-marketing-scams-shut-scammers-listening-internet-says-business/ [Accessed May 2017]. Lewis, R. (2009).Stick it to the man. 1st ed. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. May, S., Cheney, G. and Roper, J. (2007).The debate over corporate social responsibility. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Munger, J. (2013). Retail Changes and Their Effects on Business-to-Business Markets.Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 10(2), pp.79-100. Sharp, B. (2013).Marketing: Theory, Evidence, Practice. 1st ed. Melbourne, Austtralia: Oxford Univ. Press. Steyerl, H. (2011). Digital Debris: Spam and Scam., pp.70-80.