The Defence of the Corporate Veil - Parent Companies Beware! :: Business Management Studies

The Defence of the Corporate Veil - Parent Companies Beware! Much interest has recently been shown in the potential consequences of the judgment given in Stocznia Gdanska SA -v- Latvian Shipping Co and others, which was substantially upheld by the Court of Appeal on 21 June 2002. Although the case related to Shipbuilding Contracts, the result has reinforced the traditional view that the Courts will not countenance any further erosion of the fundamental principle of English Company Law that a company is to be regarded as a legal entity with a separate legal personality, distinct from that of its members. However, the case has highlighted potential alternative sources of liability for parent companies establishing wholly owned single-purpose subsidiaries - in many industry sectors, including shipping, property and big-ticket asset finance. The basic principles The principle of separate corporate personality has been established for over a century. In the leading case of Salomon -v- Salomon & Co. (1897), the House of Lords held that, regardless of the extent of a particular shareholder's interest in the company, and notwithstanding that such shareholder had sole control of the company's affairs as its governing director, the company's acts were not his acts; nor were its liabilities his liabilities. Thus, the fact that one shareholder controls all, or virtually all, the shares in a company is not a sufficient reason for ignoring the legal personality of the company; on the contrary, the "veil of incorporation" will not be lifted so as to attribute the rights or liabilities of a company to its shareholders. The basic principle established in Salomon in relation to single companies was extended to groups of companies by a comparatively recent decision of the Court of Appeal in Adams -v- Cape Industries PLC (1990). In that case, the Court of Appeal held that, as a matter of law, it was not entitled to lift the corporate veil against a defendant company, which was a member of a corporate group, merely because the corporate structure had been used so as to ensure that the legal liability in respect of particular future activities of the group would fall on another member of the group rather than on the defendant company. In effect, the Court of Appeal rejected the argument that the corporate veil should be pierced just because a group of companies operated as a single economic entity. Related principles and considerations A corollary of the basic Salomon principle is that a company cannot be characterised as an agent of its shareholders unless there is clear evidence to show that the company was in fact acting as an agent in a particular transaction or series of transactions.

How Far Did the Position of Black Americans Improve in the Years 1945-1955?

The US military involvement in WW2 was to have a lasting effect on civil rights and racist attitudes. The conflict brought on many changes that would highlight African American civil rights, for example it created many jobs for black people, not only in the defence industry but also to meet growing labour demand. Although between 1945-1955 there was indefinitely progress made for the position of black Americans, there were also limitations to that progress. The population of cities in the north such as Detroit grew dramatically as black people migrated during the war. Although there was a lot more availability of employment for African American’s, they would often find they were discriminated against, for instance not receiving equal pay to white workers. Employers would usually use the principle ‘Last to be hired, first to be fired. ’ It was a rarity for African Americans to be promoted as when they it would follow with walk outs and riots from white workers. In order to prevent the march on Washington movement, President Roosevelt agreed to set up the Fair Employment Practices Commission in order to accommodate equal opportunities for black people in defence industry jobs. This also led to increase in labour jobs, there was a 25% increase in African Americans working in the iron and steel industry. The numbers employed in government service increased from 50,000 to 200,000. However it had its limitations, railroads usually refused to hire black people and in the Deep South prejudice remained on employment issues. The NAACP campaigned to challenge the ‘Plessy v. Ferguson’ doctrine. Inequality was easily spotted in education. For example research showed that the pupil-teacher ratio was 20% better in white schools than in back, in addition to this white teachers generally receiveda much larger salary in comparison to a black teacher. The NAACP proceeded to sue on behalf of black students, which eventually resulting in the ‘Brown v. Board of Education’ legal case. Following the Brown case, Earl Warren who was the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, agreed that not only was segregation in education demoralising for African Americans, but segregation in general too. However this stirred up protest in the south. The White Citizens council formed the ‘Southern Manifesto’ in order to fight the brown case. There was also slow progress to the integration of public schools as The Supreme Court had not set a time limit, instead it had stated progression to e done with ‘deliberate speed. ’ There was also no action enforced by President Eisenhower who was reluctant to avoid stirring further opposition. Altogether, there was progress in economic status for African Americans. Due to the creation of trade unions and activist groups, something was finally being done about inequality for Blacks. However this gentle action was often faced with forceful opposition, or simply not enough being done, therefore hindering progress.

Is Report Same as Essay? Essay

There are some basic differences between a report and an essay in an academic setting. The format of a report and essay differ as well as the main purpose of each. While there are similarities and differences between an essay and report, it’s essential to know which format you’re being asked to write. First, we’ll discuss what a report is, and then continue on to see what makes an essay. Keep in mind that a report can be much longer than an essay, and report readers generally only quickly scan it to pick up its general idea. In either way, your ideas should be easily found and compelling enough so the reader continues to read. To begin, a report and essay are similar in the fact that they both need to be in a formal style, have analytical thinking, a neat presentation with careful proofreading, as well as an introduction, body, and conclusion. Furthermore, a few distinct characteristics make a report different from an essay, such as a report gives information instead of an argument. Usually, a reader will more thoroughly read an essay compared to a report. Reports can include graphics and have short paragraphs along with numbered headings and sub-headings. Also, a writer will often need to write an executive summary after they’ve finished writing their full report. Such a summary isn’t necessary with an essay. report A report should be used to clearly and sufficiently inform the reader of the topic you’re writing about. While every lecturer or professor may have different guidelines they prefer, there are general rules to follow when writing a report. Unless otherwise requested, a report should consist of the following essential sections: title page, introduction, body, and conclusion. If you want to go a step further, include a letter of transmittal, table of contents, list of abbreviations and/or a glossary, executive summary, recommendations, bibliography, and appendices. The style and presentation of a report are very important in order to be taken seriously and have people want to read your full report. There are certain tips that you should follow to write a report that leaves a great first impression. You’ll want to ensure you use plenty of white space, and that the different parts of your report are easily recognized. Don’t forget to use sub-headings with plenty of space between different sections. Graphs, illustrations, and maps are encouraged to be used as they can clarify the information you’re trying to give. Number each page of a report with consistent formatting, and always use formal language. On the other hand, there are some things to avoid when writing a report. Leave out any inaccurate and conflicting information. Don’t include any outdated data, or irrelevant statistics. Keep opinions separate from facts, and leave out any unsupported recommendations or conclusions. Also, don’t let somebody read your report if it focuses more on appearance and has a lack of content. Lastly, a report isn’t finished without careful proofreading. The topics for reports usually consist of a problem or case study with a hypothetical situation. The information for reports comes from readings, fieldwork, and practical work. A report’s purpose is not only to investigate information, but to present and analyze it extensively and logically. A report is often used to make proposals, and to recommend actions to solve a problem. When writing a report, know that your audience will usually be those that are knowledgeable in the area you’re writing about and can be a client or manager. A report needs to be objective and can sometimes include bullet points. In order for a report to be successful, it needs to show that the writer has good research skills, and everything presented was relative information. essay When writing an essay, a topic will usually be a proposition or question and is predominantly based on reading. An essay’s purpose is to have a well-argued response to the original question and should also establish a proposition. The writer’s lecturer will usually be the reader of the essay. The essay’s style can be subjective, as long as it fits in an academic setting. Successful essays make the argument interesting, and are also determined on how the writer was able to relate one point to the next in a smooth format, while establishing a proposition. An essay is generally thought of as a well-organized collection of your ideas that is nicely written and presented professionally. An essay should be easy to read and properly thought out. When collecting material for an essay, you’ll have both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are literary texts, while secondary sources consist of any works of criticism. In this case, the more sources you have to refer to the better. Your own ideas about literary texts are very important, as well as always putting the reader first. Make sure the text is compelling and professionally presentable, yet make it easy for the reader to understand. Five steps to writing an impressive essay †¢Step One – research, you want to make yourself an expert on the topic you’ve chosen to, or assigned to write about. The internet, academic databases, and libraries are all great places to browse literature. †¢Step Two – you’ll want to analyze the arguments in the readings you’ve chosen. Not only should you look for arguments in the topic, look for strengths too. †¢Step Three – Brainstorm how you want to write the essay, and then pick a thesis. To do this, pick the best idea and make it into a clear assertion that you can write a whole essay on. Make an outline with one-line sentences to describe each paragraph. †¢Step Four – it’s time to write the essay starting with an introduction that grab’s the readers’ attention. The body of the text should be made of paragraphs that each focuses on a certain idea that agrees with your thesis. The conclusion should have one sentence that can wrap up the whole essay, followed by maybe a question, twist of logic, or a call to action. †¢Step Five – Essays are usually written in MLA style, making sure that every quotation and borrowed idea is cited throughout the text along with a works cited page at the end. Once the rough draft is complete, read through your essay correcting any grammar and make sure the essay has a nice flow. However, if you prefer a professional to take a look, then you should see our essay editing and dissertation editing services for students.

Marketing Management Project Elements Essay

* What should Sonic’s mission statement be? -â€Å"Make technology an asset in your life and not a setback. Be the creator of your world through advanced technology. Sonic brings advanced technology to you through providing communication, information storage and exchange, organization and entertainment on mobile devices†. * In what competitive spheres (industry, products and applications, competence, market-segment, vertical, and geographic) should Sonic operate? Industry: PDA’s and smartphones for all lifestyles. Whether personal, business, or the student on the go. Products and applications: Smart devices that have numerous features and functions on a single device. Some features may include, Wi-Fi capabilities, Bluetooth technology, high definition quality videos, live movie and television streaming, music, camera, and security system all available at a competitive price. Competence: Creating and selling an original product with a wide range of features at a reasonable rate Market-Segments: Students can use the device to contact family and friends while on the go and also as multimedia device. Professionals may be more inclined to use the smart devices for business, such as scheduling appointments, emailing employees, customer transactions, and organizing contact information. Entrepreneurs and corporate users may seek to update and access critical data. Vertical: The product is manufactured and distributed throughout the U.S. markets by wholesalers and retailers. Geographic: The product is placed throughout the country. * Which of Porter’s generic competitive strategies would you recommend Sonic follow in formulating overall strategy? Sonic should look at Porter’s differentiation of focus generic strategy. One of Sonic’s strength is its clever and unique products. Since there products are innovative, it stands out from similar products that may already be on the market. Also, Sonic focuses and targets its products on a few segment markets and aims them at users for different uses. * What demographic changes are likely to affect Sonic’s targeted segments? The target segments that are likely to be affected are the professionals, students, corporate users, entrepreneurs and medical users. The demographic changes would be in age, gender, income, schooling and the kind of work a person does. All these would serve as the body of consumers or non-consumers that would buy Sonics new product. * What economic trends might influence buyer behaviour in Sonic’s targeted segments? The economy is always experiencing alternating periods of growth and decline. In this case economic trends that may influence a buyer behaviour of Sonics target segments is that technological development would have to be on the rise, allowing better ways to do certain things. Also period of growth would be and influence. Persons would spend more money during that time of economic growth. * How might the rapid pace of technological change alter Sonic’s competitive situation? The rapid pace of technological change may alter sonic competitive situation because of the large market of technology. Other companies that are in the same market that are targeting the same demographic would serve as competition. The competitors would come up with new and innovative ideas so that they may be the leaders in that market. * What surveys, focus groups, observation, behavioural data, or experiments will Sonic need to support its marketing strategy? Be specific about the questions or issues that Sonic needs to resolve its marketing problem. Sonic will need to use online surveys, small focus groups and observation to support its marketing strategy. An online survey will be ideal for Sonic as it is more beneficial to collect quantitative information in the fields of marketing from numerous consumers and the target market. A small focus group should be done on students, ranging from ages 18-25 to discern why PDA’s may or may not be popular among this age demographic. The moderator can ask questions such as, â€Å"How many persons are willing to pay more money for a newer, improved product with more features?†. The questions can then become more specific and the moderator can ask about the various brands of PDA’s, preference in brands, pricing, and factors that may persuade a consumer to purchase a certain product. Observation will also be needed to support Sonic’s marketing strategy. Company researchers can observe individuals and settings unobtrusively as they shop for products. They can also ask consumers to write down, there thought process, what they look for in a PDA, as well as how they compare pricing and perceived value amongst products. * Where can you find suitable secondary data about total demand for PDAs over the next two years? Identify at least two sources (online or off-line), describe what you plan to draw from each source, and indicate how the data would be useful for Sonic’s marketing plan. Suitable secondary data can be found online websites such as â€Å"Business.com† and â€Å"ReportLinker.com†. Using â€Å"Business.com†, information can be gathered on the latest news and trends regarding PDA’s. By using this source, we plan to draw information on the newest personal data assistants and handheld computers on the market and how they compete. How other businesses use PDAs in specific industries for specialized task and what may be on the horizon for cutting edge PDA technology. By using â€Å"ReportLinker.com† we will be able to view trends, analysis, statistics and various PDA market reports throughout the country as well as globally. * Recommend three specific marketing metrics for Sonic to apply in determining marketing effectiveness. To determine marketing effectiveness Sonic should apply these three marketing metrics: 1) Sales by market segment. 2) Brand awareness. 3) Customer Satisfaction.

Careers in Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Careers in Accounting - Essay Example Income Tax Act and the Companies Act have laid down certain requirements on business organizations to put forward annual financial statements. These financial statements have to be prepared as per GAAP standards. The recording of accounts of a business using the double entry system of book keeping is done in a general ledger, which is also known as the nominal ledger. This is the principal book of entry and it includes accounts for items like current assets, fixed assets, liabilities, revenue and expense items, gains and losses. Collected group of accounts supporting the items displayed in the main financial statement is shown in the general ledger. The transactions are recorded in the general ledger directly from the sales daybook, purchases daybook, cash book and general journals daybook. This ledger is generally supported by one or more subsidiary ledgers which give the details of the accounts posted. For instance an accounts receivable subsidiary ledger would give the information for every credit customer so that the balance in the customer's accounts can be easily tracked. The subsidiary ledger is then totaled and compared with the controlling account which is the accounts receivable in this case. This ensures accuracy and it is a part of the process of preparing a trial balance. (Professor Cram, 2008). The general ledger helps in deriving the balance sheet and ... Each and every account in the general ledger may consist of one or more than one pages. Posting in general terms is the process of recording the credits and the debits in the general ledger. Also a column will display the running activity total (Professor Cram, 2008). Example of a general ledger entry: The above is the 'T' form of a general ledger. What is a Sales Ledger A salesledger incorporates the personal accounts of clients who have some sort of sales made on credit by the business. They are known as debtors. A sales ledger records information with regard to invoices issued, credit notes issued and payments received. As customers is the life-blood of any business it becomes a necessity for a business to main a sales ledger efficiently and accurately. What is a Purchase ledger A purchase ledger of any business contains the personal accounts of suppliers from whom the business has purchased on credit. Information with regard to invoices received, credit notes received and payments sent are recorded in this book. A purchase ledger invariably records all purchases made by a business. It supervises: The outgoings of a business. The amount owed to others by a business at any one time Theoretical need for these skills: Financial statements offer a synopsis of the financial condition of any business at any given time both in short and long term. All the related financial information of a business which is presented in a prepared manner and in a form easy to comprehend is known as the financial statements. The four basic financial statements are: 1. Balance sheet: shows the financial position or condition and reports on a company's assets, liabilities, and net equity at any given point of time. 2. Income statement: is the Profit and

Liberal Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Liberal Education - Essay Example The arguments developed by Graff and Edmundson on liberal education are found to relate in certain ways despite the fact that some difference, based on cultural ideas and practices, have been developed from the fact that various communities and nations have diversified norms and cultural practices that have to be followed by individuals of that community in a strict way. One of the ways in which Graff supports the arguments of Edmundson is through the idea of students choosing their professors by stating the reasons why the students had to choose professors. They need to choose their professors is based on the high cost of education that they are forced to pay for their education. This could be explained by their choice of lecturers. According to Graff, lecturers have different ways of teaching and thus students wish to gain the best possible by considering their most preferred lecturers who could enable them to gain the highest grades possible. The idea of Edmund is based on maximiz ing the resources available based on their payments, an idea supported by Graff in which the choice of lecturers happens to be one of these attempts to gain high points. This way, Graff’s ideology about students seems to support that of Edmundson of students trying to maximize their educational benefits given the high price they pay for the education (Edmundson). In his article, Graff talks about two professors who impart the same subject with different understandings, which can confuse students unintentionally.

Investment and Fund Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Investment and Fund Management - Essay Example The current difficulty that the members of Fortunes are facing now is regarding the portfolio of pension provision. According to the current provisions, the members will be paid lump sum based upon individual contributions. But a careful analysis of the pension fund portfolio reveals that it was built up in an undisciplined manner. Hence, the current portfolio is considered inappropriate since the global markets are facing downturns. The objective of the study is to carefully analyse the current portfolio and recommend suitable adjustments so that Fortunes Inc. can meets its pension provision in the coming years. Analysis of Current Portfolio Tottenham Hotspur Fortunes Inc. has bought 2000 ordinary shares of Tottenham Hotspur plc which was founded in 1882 and it owns Tottenham Hotspur FC. It falls under entertainment sector. The total revenue of the company at the end of 2011 was ?261.90 million. The company has experienced a growth rate of over 45% during one year. BAE Systems BAE s ystems plc is multinational British defence aerospace and Security Company. It is the world’s largest defence contractor and third biggest in terms of revenue. It falls under aviation sector. The total revenue at the end of 2012 was ?17.84 billion with net profit over ?1billion. Tesco Tesco plc is a multinational British general merchandise and grocery retailer and is the third largest retailer in the world. It falls under consumer goods sector. The total revenue of the company for the year ending 2012 was over ?65.5 billion with net profit over ?3.9 billion. Whitbread Whitbread plc operates in hotels and restaurant business. As of 2012, the company has over 619 hotels and over 385 restaurants. The total revenue of the company for the year ending 2012 was GBP 1.9 billion with a net profit of GBP 281 million. Barclays Bank Barclays plc is a leading banking and financial services providing multinational company which is headquartered in London, UK. It is public limited company and is traded as BARC on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). It falls under banking and financial services sector. For the year ending 2012, the company reported total revenue over ?24 billion with bottom line about ?235 million. The company specialises in Investment banking, corporate banking and Wealth banking. Helical Bar Helical Bar plc is a holding company operating in property investments and development. It falls under the realty sector. The company leases or owns land and properties for the purpose of trading and selling. The company booked profits of over GBP 7.65 million from a total revenue over 65.85 million. Cable and Wireless Communication It is a global telecom service provider that offers broadband, mobile, television, and fixed lines to customers. It falls under the entertainment sector. In October 2011 the company has sold its 50% interest to Mauritius based Telecom Company known as Vanuatu ltd. In the year 2012, it sold 49% stake to Fiji and formed an amalgamated ent ity known as Fintel. In April 2013, it announced the sale of majority stake to Monaco & Islands division. For the year ending 2012, the company suffered a net loss of GBP 55.49 million. Flybe Group It is UK based domestic airline company and it falls under aviation sector. As on 2012, the company reported to own 19 aircrafts but it suffered a net loss of GBP 22.30 million. Lazard UK Alpha Retail Inc Fund The fund does not charge any initial fee currently