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Unethical or Fraudulent Behavior
Choose the company name Tesla Amazon Netflix Starbucks JetBlue Walt Disney Proctor & Gamble In your initial post, introduce yourself and address the following: Select the company you'd like to focus on for your project. Summarize an article about unethical and/or fraudulent activity on your selected company. Include the following details in your response: Include the citation. If you can't find unethical or fraudulent activity, review the legal proceedings section of the company's 10-K and summarize one of the lawsuits described there. Explain how the unethical and/or fraudulent activity or lawsuit was resolved and whether it could have been prevented. Part 2 In your responses to two peers, be sure to address the following: If your peer posted an article on unethical and/or fraudulent activity, explain how the accounting department could have prevented the unethical and/or fraudulent activity that happened in the article your peer shared. If your peer posted a lawsuit, explain the potential impact of the lawsuit on its customers and organization as a whole. First respond. Hi everyone, my name is Gagandeep Singh, and I am an accounting student. For this course project, I chose to focus on Amazon because it is a very large company that has faced ethical and legal issues in its business operations. The article I reviewed talks about how Amazon admitted there was a risk of fraud on its platform from counterfeit products being sold by sellers. These fake and counterfeit goods broke the trust of customers, brand owners, and Amazon shareholders since it ruins the trust of the company supplying these items and the shareholders who invest into this company. The article explains that Amazon did not do enough to stop these counterfeit products, which caused concerns about ethics and consumer protection (Brachmann, 2019). Amazon increased efforts to remove counterfeit sellers and fake products from its platform by investing more money into fraud detection systems and brand protection programs. The issue could have been prevented earlier if Amazon had stronger controls and processes of verification in place before allowing sellers to list products. The way to make sure this doesn't happen in the future is to have better monitoring and stricter seller approval processes. Reference Brachmann, S. (2019). Amazon admits to fraud risk: Counterfeiting woes affect shareholders, brand owners and consumers. Inventors’ Digest. Second respond My name is Matt, and I am a junior at Southern New Hampshire University. I am 21 years old and currently pursuing a degree in business-related studies with an interest in accounting and financial analysis. I am looking forward to developing a deeper understanding of earnings quality and ethical financial reporting throughout this course. For my ACC 345 project, I have selected Tesla, Inc. as the company I will be focusing on. Tesla has experienced rapid growth and strong market performance in recent years, but it has also been involved in several ethical and legal controversies that raise questions about earnings quality and corporate governance. A recent article published by Reuters discusses allegations related to Tesla’s marketing and disclosures surrounding its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) technologies. According to the article, U.S. regulators, including the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, have investigated whether Tesla made misleading statements to consumers and investors by overstating the capabilities of its driver-assistance systems. These claims raised ethical concerns because exaggerated or misleading disclosures could influence investor decisions and artificially support stock prices, thereby impacting earnings quality (Shepardson, 2023). The issue has not yet been fully resolved, as investigations were ongoing at the time of publication. However, Tesla has updated some of its disclosures and marketing language to clarify that its vehicles do not offer fully autonomous driving. This situation may have been prevented through stronger internal controls, more conservative public disclosures, and clearer communication with regulators and consumers. Transparent reporting and ethical marketing practices are essential to maintaining investor trust and ensuring that reported earnings reflect the company’s true financial performance. Reference Shepardson, D. (2023). U.S. probes Tesla over claims about self-driving cars. Reuters.
Data Annual Form 10-k
Overview Accountants must be familiar with the amount of data required in the Annual Form 10-K filing and the Annual Proxy filing for publicly traded companies because they will use the data from these filings to research a company’s competitors. Accountants can even use the data from these filings in their personal life to research investment opportunities. Scenario In this milestone, you will prepare a valuation for a 1% minority shareholder on the assumption that your company is a “going concern” company, meaning that the company will be able to pay its financial obligations as needed for the foreseeable future. Directions In this milestone, you will provide a brief history and overview of the company you selected. Use your company’s most recent Form 10-K filing and SEC Annual Proxy filing from The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) website to gather the information described in the rubric criteria. You will also provide a brief summary of your findings for your valuation team members and include a visualization in the summary. Note: Refer to this module’s Discussion for the list of companies to choose from. Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria: Links Provide the most recent SEC Form 10-K filing link for the company. Provide the most recent SEC Proxy filing link for the company. History and Overview Provide a brief company history overview based on external research of the company. Consider the following questions to guide your response: How long has the company been in business? Who was the original founder of the company? What significant changes to company leadership have occurred? How has the company changed since its beginning? Consider expansion of locations or products/services, etc. Identify all of the company’s major locations for their facilities and/or other properties. Identify all of the customers recognized by the company. List all of the names of the executive management team of the company. Identify all of the competition recognized by the company. Identify all of the major shareholders of the company. Describe business risks recognized by the company. Explain how the company is committed to environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts and sustainability. Describe the company’s leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) status. Consider the following questions to guide your response: Is the company currently LEED certified? If the company is not currently LEED certificated, is it working toward becoming LEED certified? Summary Summarize your findings for the valuation team. Include the following details in your response: Explain what you learned as you researched the company. Identify the key points the valuation team needs to be aware of. Create at least one effective visualization that supports key points. Include the following detail in your response: Provide appropriate labels for the visualization(s). If you need writing support, access the Academic Support module of your course. What to Submit Submit the Business Valuation Template with the Milestone One: Introduction section completed. The Introduction section should be an additional 4- to 6-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins in addition to the current page count. Sources should be cited according to APA style. Note: You will be using this same file throughout all the milestones and your project. Supporting Materials The following resources support your work on this assignment: Website: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission This website allows users to search for a publicly traded company and find their published financial statements. Use this website to find your company’s 10-K filing.
Digital Marketing Partner for Our Start-up
i-Thrive Well-Being is seeking an experienced UK-based digital marketing and growth partner to work alongside us in a practical, iterative support model. As a growing start-up brand, part of the challenge is building awareness that i-Thrive exists, particularly within our local catchment and among clearly defined audiences. At the same time, the business must generate enquiries, qualified leads, and—critically—confirmed bookings to support sustainable growth. Rather than a linear “audit → wait → implement” approach, this engagement blends fact-based performance review, rapid implementation of clear quick wins, and concurrent strategy development across paid advertising, organic social media, lead generation, and local SEO. This is a hands-on collaboration, not a reporting-only exercise. ________________________________________ Commercial Principle (Important) Paid Digital Advertising = ROI in Bookings For paid digital advertising, the primary and non-negotiable output is return on investment in bookings. Brand awareness, traffic, and lead volume are supporting indicators, but paid media success is judged on cost per booking, booking volume, and revenue impact, not impressions or clicks alone. ________________________________________ How We Expect the Engagement to Work From the outset, the partner will be expected to: • Rapidly assess current performance across paid ads, organic social, website, and local search • Implement immediate improvements to enquiry, lead, and booking flow • Improve clarity of messaging so audiences understand who we are, what we do, and who we are for • Refine targeting, structure, and creative based on observed response • Build a clear growth strategy informed by what actually converts This mirrors how i-Thrive works with its own clients: measure → interpret → act → review ________________________________________ About i-Thrive i-Thrive Well-Being is a UK-based health, wellbeing, and performance business combining evidence-led diagnostics with structured coaching and behaviour change. We work across four domains: • Healthspan, longevity & metabolic health • Sports performance & endurance • Menopause & midlife health • Executive & workplace performance Our approach is underpinned by a proprietary 5-Dimensional Model of Thriving (movement, nutrition, sleep, psychological wellbeing, purpose & lifestyle). We operate between healthcare and wellness in a high-trust, evidence-based space. ________________________________________ What We Do Diagnostics & Measurement DEXA body composition and bone health, VO₂ max, RMR, lactate testing, metabolic and performance profiling — used to inform decisions, not just generate reports. Coaching & Application One-to-one coaching and structured programmes across longevity, menopause, sports performance, and executive performance. Marketing must attract clients who value measured insight and coached behaviour change, not quick fixes. ________________________________________ Physical Presence We operate from a physical testing and consultation facility in Surrey, serving Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, and West Sussex. Local visibility, Google “near me” searches, and reputation are commercially critical. ________________________________________ Scope of Support 1. Paid Digital Advertising (Google & Meta) Primary objective: bookings with clear ROAS Includes performance review (spend → enquiries → leads → bookings), conversion tracking validation, campaign optimisation by service line, budget allocation by cost per booking, and ongoing optimisation. 2. Organic Social Media (Audit & Evaluation) Core platforms: Instagram, Facebook Evaluate the strategic importance of TikTok, Threads, and emerging platforms based on whether they materially support awareness, trust, enquiries, or bookings. 3. LinkedIn Launch – Executive & Workplace Performance Evaluate, launch, or reposition LinkedIn for executive audiences, with a clear content strategy aligned to workplace wellbeing, resilience, and sustainable performance. Support B2B conversations and partnerships. 4. Lead Generation & Conversion Optimisation Website, ads, and social → enquiries, leads, bookings. Includes forms, landing pages, lead magnets, Mailchimp journeys, segmentation, and attribution. 5. Local SEO Google Business Profile optimisation, local keyword strategy, reviews, and on-site local SEO to drive qualified local enquiries that convert. ________________________________________ What We’re Looking For • Experience in health, wellbeing, sports performance, menopause, or executive performance • Comfortable working with start-ups or scale-ups • Strong analytical and commercial mindset • Open to a performance-based or hybrid commercial model • Collaborative, transparent working style UK-based preferred | Surrey-based a bonus Please include: • Relevant experience • Examples of similar work • Your approach to balancing brand awareness with booking ROI • Indicative pricing (initial and ongoing)
