Individual Assignment #5

Sandra Taylor became a professor for socially responsible business here at Chatham University in August 2018. She is also currently a book author. Her latest published book is titled The Business of Sustainable Wine. Ms. Taylor has also been the president and CEO for Sustainable Business International LLC since 2008. She has expertise in environmental sustainability, public relations, corporate social responsibility, sustainable business operations, and proactive risk management. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-e-taylor/

When Sandra Taylor came to our class, she gave an informative lecture on corporate social responsibility. In our textbook, corporate social responsibility is defined as the approach that an organization takes in balancing its responsibilities toward different stakeholders when making legal, economic, ethical, and social decisions. Part of being a socially responsible company is to run the business in a sustainable manner. Sustainability is the principle of providing products today that don’t compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs. 

To relate this topic to something I have learned from current business news, I read an article from Entrepreneur titled “Small Businesses That Consider Social Impact Will See One to Their Bottom Line.” There are a large number of disasters occurring all over the world today. As a result, “social impact” has been gaining popularity. There are organizations that focus on the social impact without a business agenda, and there are “world-changing” companies that pursue both social impacts and business goals at the same time. In this day and age, it is become more and more difficult, almost impossible, to run a business without considering the social impact your business has on the community and the rest of the world (Faagba, 2018).

This lecture also relates to an article from The Wall Street Journal called “‘Investing for Good’ Meets the Law.” In this article, it is explained that trustees of pensions, university endowments, and trust funds are being pressured to do social good while investing other people’s money. The pressure is coming from student activists, the United Nations, and Black Rock CEO Larry Fink. Larry Fink believes that environmental, social, and governance investing will not only do good for the world, but it will also improve returns for beneficiaries (Schanzenbach, 2018). 

Faagba, A. (2018, May 04). Small Businesses That Consider Social Impact Will See One to Their Bottom Line. Retrieved December 11, 2018, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/312028

Schanzenbach, M. M., & Sitkoff, R. H. (2018, December 09). Opinion | 'Investing for Good' Meets the Law. Retrieved December 12, 2018, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/investing-for-good-meets-the-law-1544396424?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=2

Individual Assignment #4

For this assignment, I attended the Accounting and Information Systems Networking Mixer in September. Before the panelists gave their presentations, there was a mixer where I spoke to various people in the fields of robotics accounting, robotics auditing, artificial intelligence, and MIS/technologies. These are not fields that I am interested in pursuing, but I thought it would be interesting to hear about. The panelists were Thomas Bartos, James Marino, and Dan Desko. Thomas Bartos is the chief financial officer of the artificial intelligence firm, Cognistx. James Marino is the process improvement consultant at PNC, as well as, the accounting and information systems adjunct instructor here at Chatham University. Dan Desko is an audit, security, and risk professional at Schneider Downs. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-bartos-38207416/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesemarino/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-desko-cisa-cissp/

            Dan Desko spoke about cybersecurity and the challenges that accompany the job. An article by Security Magazine suggests that human error may be the weakest link in the fight against cyber vulnerabilities. It was said by famous cryptographer Bruce Schneier that professionals attack people, not machines. According to the Cyber Risk Culture Survey, more than 90% of all successful corporate cyberattacks that occurred in 2017 happened because of employee error. Security lapses are not always a result of employees trying to sabotage the company. They are often a result of ignorance on the proper ways to protect themselves and their corporate network. In order to fix this issue, companies should enforce employee training and implement proper vetting protocols. 

https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/89664-human-error-we-meet-again

            James Marino is the instructor for accounting and information systems at Chatham University. In our textbook, accounting is defined as the process of measuring and summarizing business activities, interpreting financial information, and communicating the results to management and other decision makers. Accounting is often referred to as “the language of business” because it communicates so much information to owners, managers, and investors. In the chapter about information systems in our textbook, the author describes a number of systems used for different reasons. Operations support systems are used by lower level managers that run day-to-day operations. There are also transaction processing systems that receive data and converts them into information for various users. These are just two examples of different information systems. 

            

Individual Assignment #3

Personal Business Plan for Company Sierra

Mission Statement: Company Sierra aims to assist in producing, advertising, and promoting up-and-coming artists in order for them to get the platform they deserve in the music industry.

Business Environment

Company Sierra will be competing in the entertainment, more specifically the music, industry. Companies like my own are very important in today's society because more and more people are creating, and they want their work to be heard by large audiences. Consumers are equally as important because they are constantly demanding new and exciting music. When consumers find an artist they really enjoy, they will continue to support that artist's work, creating a repeat customer. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, around one million jobs become available in the leisure and hospitality industry every ten years (2017). Company Sierra will by no means have an absolute advantage in this industry, but neither does any other company already competing for business. Company Sierra will have a greater focus on digital products rather than physical products because the majority of people get their music online. We will still have physical products, such as CDs and records, and in order to produce these products, we will outsource the work to an outside manufacturer because our main objective will be to make and produce music. Culture will be an important aspect to take into consideration when deciding what kinds of music to produce and what kinds of people to take on as clients. 

Employment by major industry sector. (2017, October 24). Retrieved November 14, 2018, from https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/employment-by-major-industry-sector.htm

Entrepreneurship and Strategy 

Becoming an established record label will be extremely difficult because of the number of labels who have already established themselves with major artists. In order to break into the scene and be successful, Company Sierra will need to network with established labels. It needs to find promising artists to lead the company to success. Company Sierra will be a small business because it is independently owned and operated, organized for profit, and not dominant in its field. Starting out, Company Sierra will have fewer than 1,000 employees, which is another quality of a small business, according to the Small Business Administration. Company Sierra's main goal is to provide the service of creating and producing music, so it is considered a service-producing sector. 

Management

In order to effectively manage Company Sierra, I will begin to perform feedback analysis to identify my own strengths and weaknesses, like Peter Drucker discussed in his article "Managing Oneself (2005)." Based on the results of the feedback analysis, I will know what tasks I excel at, what needs work, and what should be assigned to another person who is more appropriate to perform the task. Feedback analysis will help with the company's SWOT analysis because it already determines the strengths and weaknesses. The only thing left after that would be opportunities and threats. This will make communication with coworkers much more efficient because assigning tasks will not be difficult. Company Sierra plans to set goals to acquire a set number of clients every year. Employees will be motivated to find new clients because it will create new, unique work for them to do. 

Drucker, P. F. (2005). Managing Oneself. Harvard Business Review, 83(1), 100–109. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.chatham.edu:2048/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsh&AN=15524519&site=eds-live&scope=site

Marketing

Company Sierra will use a tool called the marketing mix to promote the products. The products will be CDs, digital music downloads, and records. The products will have to be priced similarly to other products that are already out in order to compete. The products will be distributed online and in stores that sell CDs or records, such as Target, Walmart, and music stores. The products will be promoted on social media by the record label and the artist releasing the music. iTunes and advertisements in stores will also be used to promote the products. A generic branding strategy will be used to promote the products. The record label will be mentioned on the product, but that is not the focus of the product. The artist and the music will be the focus of the product. Company Sierra will still have a brand even though that isn't the focus of the consumer. They need to promote themselves to new artists to hire as clients. 

Accounting and Finance

Company Sierra's assets will be the building, equipment, and inventory. The total assets will add up to around $200,000. Loans will need to be taken out of banks in order to finance operations. Some will need to be paid off sooner than others. The loans that need paid off this year are current liabilities, and the loans that have a few years to be paid off are long-term liabilities. The total liabilities will equal the total assets of $200,000. 

Information Systems and Operations

Company Sierra will need to use data to collect information on genres of music that are popular and which artists are becoming successful, so they can focus their energy into the most promising artists. An information system will be necessary for the chief information officer to carry out this task. An enterprise resource system will also be necessary for all the different business sections to communicate and share important information. 

Individual Assignment #1

On September 25th, the American brand Micheal Kors announced that they would be buying the Versace brand for two billion dollars. Micheal Kors is planning to purchase Versace in an attempt to compete with luxury European companies, like LVMH and Kering. The company also plans to change the name from Micheal Kors to Capri Holdings. The name is inspired by the Italian island and the three towering rocks off of its coast, and the rocks are meant to represent the three brands that make up the company, Micheal Kors, Versace, and Jimmy Choo. 

There are other American brands that are making efforts to compete with luxury conglomerates. The brand formerly known as Coach purchased the brands Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman. Coach also changed their companies name in an attempt to reinvent themselves. They are now known as Tapestry. 

Micheal Kors and Coach purchasing these other companies are examples of acquisitions. As we discussed in class, an acquisition is the purchase of one company by another with no new company being formed. This is not to be confused with a merger, which occurs when two companies combine to form a new company. 

For individual assignment #2, I plan to find someone in the Chatham Marketing Association who I feel would be a good role model. For individual assignment #3, I plan to view myself as the CEO of The Sierra Company. I will create my business plan as if I was presenting myself to enter into the professional marketing community. I have already attended an event that I can write about for individual assignment #4. I went to the Accounting and MIS Mixer. As of now, I plan to write about Sandra Taylor for individual assignment #5, and as long as I don't find more interest in another guest lecturer, she is who I plan to write about.

Michael Kors splurges on Versace. (2018, September 26). Retrieved September 26, 2018, from https://www.economist.com/business/2018/09/26/michael-kors-splurges-on-versace