Silver City: A Case Study

The Silver City Case is designed for an advanced accounting or MBA class and provides students with the opportunity to analyze relevant information extracted from different types of business entities. These range from publicly traded corporations to non-corporate and/or non-public entities. Students are required to make a decision on the viability of a bid on a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a sports facility construction project. The primary objective is to provide a foundation for the evaluation of complex business entities. This requires the dismantling of the business structure to the point that it can be analyzed on an individual entity basis. The achievement of this objective requires students to understand the type of financial information that can be derived from each of the different entities as well as determining the reliability of such information. Furthermore, the case offers opportunities to discuss underlying guarantees that keep the business structures together

WikiRate.org - leveraging collective awareness to understand companies' environmental, social and governance performance

Abstract. WikiRate is a Collective Awareness Platform for Sustainability and Social Innovation (CAPS) project with the aim of \crowdsourcing better companies" through analysis of their Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) performance. Research to inform the design of the platform involved surveying the current corporate ESG information landscape, and identifying ways in which an open approach and peer production ethos could be e ffectively mobilised to improve this landscape's fertility. The key requirement identi ed is for an open public repository of data tracking companies' ESG performance. Corporate Social Responsibility reporting is conducted in public, but there are barriers to accessing the information in a standardised analysable format. Analyses of and ratings built upon this data can exert power over companies' behaviour in certain circumstances, but the public at large have no access to the data or the most infuential ratings that utilise it. WikiRate aims to build an open repository for this data along with tools for analysis, to increase public demand for the data, allow a broader range of stakeholders to participate in its interpretation, and in turn drive companies to behave in a more ethical manner. This paper describes the quantitative Metrics system that has been designed to meet those objectives and some early examples of its use

Casino Stocks and Katrina: An Example of Market Over-Reaction?

How efficient was the market in anticipating the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf coast casino industry? This study uses the event study methodology to investigate the stock market’s reaction affecting equity prices of small casino companies with operations on the Gulf Coast centered on Biloxi, Mississippi. Cumulative Abnormal Returns (CARs) for 1 day, 3 day, and 6 day event windows are examined.. As such the impact of Katrina on stock prices of casino firms in the Gulf Coast is better understood

Use of plumage and gular pouch color to evaluate condition of oil spill rehabilitated California brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) post-release

Sublethal effects of oil spills may dampen seabird rehabilitation success due to lingering negative impacts of contamination and stress on reproduction and long-term survival. These effects can be difficult to measure while birds are in care as well as once birds are released. Expression of sexually selected traits that are sensitive to condition can provide information on physiological status of birds. We evaluated plumage molt and gular pouch skin color of California brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) following oil contamination and rehabilitation to test for differences between previously oiled and rehabilitated (post-spill) and presumably uncontaminated pelicans. Post-spill pelicans released with either color leg bands alone, or bands plus harness-mounted satellite GPS tags, were relocated and visually assessed in the field at non-breeding communal roosts and compared to surrounding unmarked pelicans in the general population. Non-oiled pelicans bearing GPS tags were also included in the study. Post-spill pelicans lagged the general population in molt of ornamental yellow crown feathers but hind neck transition into white plumage was not significantly different. Both post-spill and non-oiled pelicans wearing GPS tags had lower gular redness scores than the unmarked, non-oiled population. Pre-breeding gular pouch redness of post-spill pelicans was more strongly influenced by wearing of a GPS tag than a history of oil contamination and rehabilitation. Gular pouch redness of post-spill pelicans in the first 18 months after release was positively correlated with long term survivorship. If gular pouch color is a condition-dependent sexual signal and overall health influences plumage molt progression, our results indicate that many post-spill pelicans marked with bands alone were in relatively good condition going into the next breeding season, but those released with electronic tags experienced additional stress due to wearing the equipment, introducing a confounding variable to the post-release study

Use of plumage and gular pouch color to evaluate condition of oil spill rehabilitated California brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) post-release

Sublethal effects of oil spills may dampen seabird rehabilitation success due to lingering negative impacts of contamination and stress on reproduction and long-term survival. These effects can be difficult to measure while birds are in care as well as once birds are released. Expression of sexually selected traits that are sensitive to condition can provide information on physiological status of birds. We evaluated plumage molt and gular pouch skin color of California brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) following oil contamination and rehabilitation to test for differences between previously oiled and rehabilitated (post-spill) and presumably uncontaminated pelicans. Post-spill pelicans released with either color leg bands alone, or bands plus harness-mounted satellite GPS tags, were relocated and visually assessed in the field at non-breeding communal roosts and compared to surrounding unmarked pelicans in the general population. Non-oiled pelicans bearing GPS tags were also included in the study. Post-spill pelicans lagged the general population in molt of ornamental yellow crown feathers but hind neck transition into white plumage was not significantly different. Both post-spill and non-oiled pelicans wearing GPS tags had lower gular redness scores than the unmarked, non-oiled population. Pre-breeding gular pouch redness of post-spill pelicans was more strongly influenced by wearing of a GPS tag than a history of oil contamination and rehabilitation. Gular pouch redness of post-spill pelicans in the first 18 months after release was positively correlated with long term survivorship. If gular pouch color is a condition-dependent sexual signal and overall health influences plumage molt progression, our results indicate that many post-spill pelicans marked with bands alone were in relatively good condition going into the next breeding season, but those released with electronic tags experienced additional stress due to wearing the equipment, introducing a confounding variable to the post-release study

Editor\u27s Special Section-Larry Schnoor: A Celebration of His Impact on Intercollegiate Forensics

This panel is honoring Professor Larry Schnoor for his lifelong contribu-tions to Intercollegiate Forensics. National Individual Events Tournaments have continued to flourish under his direction. In addition, his constant mentoring has guaranteed the life of this activity. Panelists will describe Professor Schnoor‘s impact on the AFA-NIET, NFA, IOC and both his mentoring of forensic coaches and programs. Professor Schnoor will help to clarify and add to this oral history

Strategic asset management: relating to open building concepts

Healthcare services are provided in increasingly complex environments which are driven by multifaceted internal activities and the management of the physical assets is vital for efficient delivery of these services. Healthcare estates planning are supported by Trusts’: Strategic Service Development Plan (SSDP); Strategic Outline Case (SOC); Commissioners Investment & Asset Management Strategy (CIAMS); Estates Code; service specifications along with programme management; and investment appraisal and planning. This paper aims to explore current approaches and develop an approach to Strategic Asset Management using open building concepts that can be applied to healthcare projects to enable a flexible estates response to service redesign, technology innovation and changing business demands. This is achieved through collation and comparison of these approaches to identify existing gaps and inform how open thinking can transform business case procedures for estates planning and assist in the strategic evaluation of healthcare assets

An open value-based perspective to healthcare building

AIM. This paper aims to build a conceptual relationship between value and open building and scenario planning to aid the assesment of healthcare infrastructures over the short, medium and long term and against dynamically changing contexts. BACKGROUND. Faced with the current financial climate, organisations often find themselves debating the impact of short-term economic pressures, at the expense of planning the strategic long-term sustainability and value of their physical assets. Existing decision making and stakeholder consultation approaches are inadequate and as such an open and dynamic value-based approach to scenario planning is required that will capitalise on the benefits of standardisation, customisation and learning. METHODOLOGY. This paper is supported by a critical and comparative review of health infrastructure, value management and open building literature to understand similarities and differences. It also reports on a workshop with academics and industry professionals and coins open planning and open building. IMPLICATIONS. Value is an important concept in open scenario planning and building. Furthermore, a new method of categorising open value as benefits, sacrifices and resources is trialled