Study And Analysis Of The Scandal From Worldcom Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 2853 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? WorldCom (WCOM) was United States second largest long distance phone company. WorldCom grew largely by acquiring other telecommunications companies. It owned Tier 1 ISP UUNET, major part of Internet backbone. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Study And Analysis Of The Scandal From Worldcom Finance Essay" essay for you Create order It was in Mississippi. On November 10, 1997, WorldCom and MCI announced their US$37 billion merger to form MCI-WorldCom, making it largest merger in US $37 BILLION merger to form MCI-WorldCom, making it largest merger in U.S. history. MCI, Inc. was American telecommunications subsidiary of Verizon Communications that is headquartered in Ashburn, unincorporatedLoudounCounty,Virginia.Thecorporationwasoriginally formed as result of the merger of WorldCom and MCI Communications, and used the name MCI WorldCom followed by WorldCom before taking final name on April 12, 2003 as part of the corporations emergence from bankruptcy. The company formerly traded on NASDAQ under the symbols WCOM pre-bankruptcy and MCIP post-bankruptcy. Corporation was purchased by Verizon Communications with deal closing on July 7, 2006, and now identified as that companys Verizon Business division with local residential divisions slowly integrated into local Verizon subsidiaries. CORPORATE FOUNDING Long Distance Discount Services, Inc. (LDDS) began in Hattiesburg, Mississippi 1983. In 1985 LDDS selected Bernard Ebbers to be its CEO. The company went public in the1989 through a merger with Advantage Companies Inc. Company name was changed to LDDS WorldCom in the1995, and later WorldCom. Companys growth under WorldCom was fueled primarily through acquisitions during the 1990s and reached its apex with acquisition of MCI in the 1998. Major companies acquired Advanced communication corp.(1992) Metromedia communication corp.(1993) Resurgens communication group(1993) IDB communication group,inc(1994) Compuserve from its parent company HNR block Digex (DIGX)in june 2001 on november 10,1997 MCI acquisition IN November 10, 1997, WorldCom and MCI Communications announced their US$37 billion merger to form the MCI WorldCom, making it largest merger in the US history. On September 15, 1998 the new company, MCI WorldCom, opened for the business. Sprint Merger In October 5, 1999 A Sprint Corporation and MCI WorldCom announced the $129 billion merger agreement between two companies. The deal did not go because of the pressure from the US Department of the Justice and EU on concerns of creating a monopoly. In July 13, 2000,Board of Directors of both the companies acted to terminate merger. Later, in 2000, MCI WorldCom renamed itself WorldCom without the Sprint being part of a company. Accounting scandals CONDITION OF AMERICAN CORPORATE FIRM IN THE 90S In early 1990 s the us economy went trough the phase of consolidation, of which many major companies acquired or merged with weaker companies to strengthens their own position in the market The share price of the companies play a vital role during mergers and acquisitions,and the companies try to maintain the prices of their shares. If they fail to do they can easily become target for the takeover or acquisition Moreover the company wish to raise capital from a market, its performance in the stock exchange is considered to be important .The companies are generally valued on a basis of cashflows they could generate in the future. As the financial performance of the company is important factors affecting the share price,companies were under constant pressure to show the positive revenue Downturn of the telecom industry BRAINS BEHIND THE FRAUD OF $11bn ACEO Bernard Ebbers A CFO Scott Sullivan A Former controller David Myers The Accounting director Buford Yates The Accounting managers betty Vinson and troy Normand Arthur Andersons auditing firm s Ebbers angle borrowed $1billion for personal purposes from the various banks. He pledged the WorldCom stock as the collateral. Bernard Ebbers became wealthy from the rising price of the holdings in WorldComs stock.However, after the MCI acquisition in 1998,the telecommunications industry entered the downturn and the WorldComs growth strategy suffered a serious blow when it forced to abandon their proposed merger with sprint in the late 2000.At that time ,WorldComs stock is declining and Ebbers came under increasing pressure from the banks to cover a margin calls on his WorldCom stock that was used to finance the other businesses (timber,yatching,etc) In 2001, Ebbers persuaded the WorldComs board of directors to provide corporate loans and guarantees in the exces s of $400 million to cover margin calls. The board hope that loans would avert the need for Ebbers to sell the substantial amounts of worldcom stock.His doing would put further downward pressure in stocks price .This strategy failed and Ebbers was as ousted as CEO in April 2002 and replaced by the John Sidgmore,former CEOof NET TECHNOLOGIES INC. In1999 and continuing May 2002, Company under direction of A Scott Sullivan (CFO),David Myers(Controller)and Bufford (Director of general accounting)used the fraudulent accounting methods to mask the declining earnings by painting the false picture of the financial growth and the profitability to prop up a price of WorldComs stock. HOW FRAUD TOOK PLACE IN 1998-2000, WorldCom reduced the reserve accounts held to cover the liabilities of the acquired companies WorldCom added $2.8 billion to revenue line from reserves. An e-mail was sent in December 2000, to the division in Texas directing misclassification of the expenses. CF O ordered key staff members to the mark operating costs as the long-term investments. To a tune of $3.85 billion. Operating Expenses to Assets -CFOs direction affects a income statement: Revenues xxx (no change) COGS xxx (no change) Operating Expense: Fees paid to the lease other thecompanies phone networks: xxx(large Decrease) The Computer expenses xxx(large Decrease) NET INCOME xxx (large Increase) Operating Expenses to Assets -CFOs direction affects the balance sheet: Assets: Computer asset xxx (LargeIncrease) Leasing asset xxx (Large Increase) Liabilities xxx (no change) Stockholders Equity: Retained Earnings xxx (large Increase) Operating Expenses into Assets A WorldComs journal entry for $500 million in the computer expenses: Computer Assets 500 million Cash 500 million A Huge losses turned into the enormous profits. $1.38 billion in net income in 2001 Inflated a companys value in the assets HOW FRAU D WAS DISCOVERED AObscure tips were sent to the Internal audit team MCI audit and review of the books uncovered the accounting irregularities During March 2002, John Stupka complained to the Internal audit about $400 million he set aside the Sullivan wanted to use to boost theWorldComs income. In March 7, 2002 the SEC requests the information from the WorldCom WorldCom make much when the ATT is the losing money. Internal audit started the digging. Found $2 billion the company announced for capital expenditures. Found the undocumented $500 million in the computer expenses that recorded as assets. Searching the WorldComs computers, Mr. Morse found $2 billion in the questionable entries During June 14, 2002 Internal audit team contacted the WorldComs audit committee Internal auditor, Cindy Cooper, asked for the documents supporting the numerous capital expenditures. No supporting documents was found Controller admits to the internal auditors tha t the accounting treatment was wrong No accounting standards support the accounting 9.during June 20, 2002 -A Internal audit explains the irregularities to the Audit committee. 10.during June 25, 2002 WorldCom announces the inflated profits by $3.8 billion over a previous five quarters 11.During June 26, 2002 the civil suit filed, a stock trading halted Ultimately, stock is delisted by Nasdaq During July 21, 2002 WorldCom filed for the bankruptcy METHODS Underreporting the line costs by capitalizing the costs on balance sheet rather than the properly expensing them in the balancesheet. Inflating revenues with the bogus accounting entries from the corporate unallocated revenue accounts. During 1998-2000, worldcom reduced a reserve accounts held to coverthe liabilities of acquired the companies. Worldcom has added $2.8 billion to revenue line from the reserves. FINAL COUNTDOWN The media, legal and investor unrest intensified against the WorldCom, there was a little hope left for a company. Company was required to pay the $172 million in the interest and the debt in 2002, was to increase further to $1.7 billion and $2.6billion as a part of the repayment schedule in 2003 and 2004. Negative cash flow of $871 million in the 2001. Generated only $564 million in the free cash in 2002 and $1 billion in 2003. The company admitted that it had resorted to the fraudulent accounting practices for five quarters . IMPACT OF WORLDCOM FALL DOWN CEO Ebber was sentenced 25yrs imprisonment. The Standard and the poors reduced WorldComs credit rating to a junk status and worldcom was removed from prestigious SP500 index. Share price fell over by 80%. On june 26, SEC filed a suit alleging securities fraud against worldcom in the district court in a Newyork. 17000 employees lost their jobs. Ordinary in vestors were put into the several loss. Worldcom changed its name to MCI,and moved the corporate headquarters from clinton to dulles,virginia,on april14,2003. Under bankruptcy reorganisation agreement,the company paid $750 million to the SEC in cash and stock in a new MCI,which is intended to be paid to the wronged investors. ATT is seen as the potential gainer in a aftermath of worldcoms inevitable collapse. Bankruptcy During July 21, 2002, WorldCom filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a largest such filing in a United States history . None of criminal proceedings against WorldCom and their officers and agents were originated by referral from Gonzalez or Department of Justice lawyers. WorldCom change its name to MCI, and moved its corporate headquarters on Clinton, Mississippi, to Dulles, Virginia, on the April 14, 2003. Under a bankruptcy reorganization agreement, a company paid $750 million to SEC in cash and stock in the new MCI, which was intended to be paid to the wronged investors. During May 2003, Company was given the no-bid contract by a United States Department of Defense to build the cellular telephone network in the Iraq. A deal has been criticized by the competitors and others who cite a companys lack of experience in area. Post-bankruptcy The company emerged from the Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004 with $5.7 billion in the debt and $6 billion in the cash. It had to pay many of the creditors, who had waited for the two years for the portion of the money owed. Many of a small creditors included former employees, primarily those who was laid off in the June 2002 . About half of the cash were intended to pay the various claims and settlements. The Previous bondholders ended up the being paid 35.7 cents on dollar, in bonds and stock in a new MCI company. previous stockholders stock was valueless severance and the benefits were withheld when WCOM filed for the bankruptcy. During August 7 2002, the exWorldCom 5100 group is launched. It is composed of former WorldCom employees with the common goal of seeking the full payment ofa severance pay and benefits based on a WorldCom Severance Plan. The 5100 stands for number of WorldCom employees laid off on June 28, 2002 before WorldCom filed for the bankruptcy. During Febr uary 14, 2005, Verizon Communications agreed to acquire the MCI for $7.6 billion. During March 15, 2005 Bernard Ebbers is found guilty of all the charges and convicted of the fraud, conspiracy and filing false documents with a regulators all related to a $11 billion accounting scandal at telecommunications company . He is sentenced to 25 years in prison. Other former WorldCom officials was charged with criminal penalties in relation to companys financial misstatements include former CFO Scott Sullivan , controller David Myers, accounting director Buford Yates and accounting managers Betty Vinson and Troy Normand. During July 13, 2005 Bernard Ebbers received sentence that would keep imprisoned for 25 years. During March 2005, 16 of WorldComs 17 former underwriters reach settlements with investors. During December 2005, Microsoft corporation announce that MCI will joined it by providing Windows Live Messenger customers Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) services to make telephone calls. This is MCIs last new product MCI Web Calling. After a merger, this product is renamed Verizon Web Calling. RESULTS FROM WORLDCOM SCANDALS First , A negative perception of corporate America has been reinforced. Investors have developed the destructive sentiment corporate management, a accounting firms, the lawyers and the investment banks. CEO no longer stands for the Chief Executive Officer, but the Chief Embezzlement Officer and that EBITDA now means Earnings Before I Tricked Dumb Auditors. Banks, which lent the money to all of the companies, are under scrutiny by the nervous investors. Second result of WorldCom scandal is that government is moving to re-regulate the economy. It is the Republican administration that is moving to the tighten controls over accounting, corporate governance and the transparency and a disclosure. To reduce chances of a corporate wrongdoing, it will also the add layers of regulations on a businesses that will be more costly in terms of time and money. The WorldCom scandal is likely to become election issue in upcoming fall 2002 congressional races, with Democrats seeking to paint the Republicans as friends of big sleazy business. The third result was WorldComs customers was likely to leave it in the large numbers. ATT is the most likely first choice for the most enterprise customers seeking a relatively sophisticated network. After ATT, the mostly likely candidates are the Sprint and the Qwest . The fourth result will be the reexamination of the U.S. telecom policy. The Securities Exchange Commission take WorldCom as the worst accounting scandals in the history and will take the enforcement action of a considerable harshness. The Federal Communications Commission was to be the more open to letting the company be sold to the rival, including one of the former Baby Bells. It remove WorldCom as the ongoing crisis. The Department of Justice is involved because of anti-trust issue. Several Bells at buyi ng WorldCom, largely for the position in a Internet backbone and enterprise markets. In bankruptcy proceeding, those assets be attractively priced for the Bell. Other long distance companies are in no condition to buy the WorldCom, leaving the Bells as the only real possibility. The fifth result is WorldCom and the other scandals are weakening dollar. One, foreign investors, with an eye to the slumping value of the dollar, could demand the premium to hold U.S. securities. Two, they could demand the premium for credit risk. Both the trends would accelerate the dollars declining value in the international markets. Foreign funds flow into the United States is not to be the casually dismissed considering that the U.S. needs to it help finance its current account balance of payments deficit, which is the expected to be around of 5% of GDP. The sixth factor is the impact of WorldCom beyond U.S. shores. Firstly, the sleaze element is giving impetus to the greater regulation and a bet ter corporate governance in the countries such as the Canada and the United Kingdom. Second, WorldCom as well as Enron scandal, are hurting the attractiveness of the so-called Anglo-American model of de-regulated capitalism and giving greater credence to a capitalism modified by a larger state role in the economy . Third, the WorldCom weakens foreign investor sentiment on the U.S. securities, this feeds into weaker dollar. ARTICLE WITH INTERPRETATION WorldCom Scandal: A Look Back at One of the Biggest Corporate Scandals in U.S. History INTERPRETATION During I998 telecommunications industry slow down and WorldComs stock is declining. CEO Bernard Ebbers is under increasing pressure from banks to cover margin calls on WorldCom stock is used to finance his other businesses endeavors (timber, yachting, etc.).A Companys profitability took another hit when it is forced to abandon their proposed merger with Sprint late 2000. Im 2001, Ebbers persuade the WorldComs board of directors to provide him the corporate loans and theguarantees totaling more than $400 million. Ebbers wanted to cover the margin calls, but strategy ultimately failed and Ebbers is ousted as CEO in April 2002. In 1999 and through May 2002, The WorldCom used accounting methods to mask its declining financial condition with falsely professing financial growth and profitability to increase the price of WorldComs stock. The fraud is accomplished in two main ways. First, WorldComs accounting department underreported theline costs by capitalizin g the costs on the balance sheet rather than a properly expensing . Second, company inflated revenues with the bogus accounting entries from the corporate unallocated revenue accounts. The discovery of possible illegal activity is by WorldComs internal audit department who uncovered approximately $3.8 billion of a fraud in June 2002. Companys audit committee and the board of directors was notified of the fraud and was acted swiftly: Sullivan is fired, Myers resign, and Securities and Exchange Commission launch investigation. By end of 2003, it was estimated that companys total assets had been inflated with around $11 billion . CONCLUSION The companys share- and bond-holders were left holding practically worthless assets. With assets below the companys debt of $30 billion, creditors were unlikely to get money back. WorldComs 80,000 employees were likely to pay with the jobs. According to athe mutual fund advisory group, 539 mutual funds own 400 million of the three billion i n the outstanding shares of WorldCom. Ordinary investors in the funds were likely to suffer heavy losses. There are 401(k) plans of ordinary workers in the mutual funds. In contrast to the losses that were immediate for the ordinary people hooked to the shares and investments in mutual and pension funds, corporate laws provide the far better cushion to the top executives. On July 8, Ebbers and former Chief Financial Officer Scott Sullivan refuse to testify before congressional Financial Services Committee inquiring into a WorldCom scandal. The Committee is keen to investigate links between the the company and an investment analyst who is believed to have had prior knowledge about the dubious accounting methods employed by the WorldCom. The telecom major ATT is seen as the potential gainer in aftermath of WorldComs inevitable collapse.

The Simple Present Tense of Verbs

In English grammar, the simple present tense is a form of the verb that refers to an action or event that is ongoing or that regularly takes place in present time. For example, in the sentence he cries easily, the verb cries is an ongoing action that he easily does.   Except in the case of the word be, the simple present is represented in English by either the base form  of the verb like in I sing or the base form plus the third-person singular -s  inflection  as in She sings. A verb in the simple present tense can appear alone as the main verb in a sentence; this finite  verb form is called simple because it doesnt involve aspect. In English grammar, there are seven accepted functions of the usage of the simple present for of verbs: to express permanent states, general truths, habitual actions, live commentary, performative actions, past time or historic present, and future time. Basic Meaningof the Simple Present There are a variety of uses for the simple present in verb conjugation, but mostly it serves to keep the sentence structure itself grounded in the events happening presently, or as they relate to the here and now. Michael Pearces The Rutledge Dictionary of English Language Studies expertly lays out the seven commonly accepted functions of the simple present form of verbs: 1) Permanent state:  Jupiter  is  a very massive planet.2) General truth:  The earth  is  round.3) Habitual action:  Her daughter  works  in Rome.4) Live commentary:  In each case I  add  the two numbers: three plus three  gives  six . . ..5) Performative:  I  pronounce  you man and wife.6) Past time (see historic present):  He  moves  to the window alongside, and  sees  her inside the office moving away from the door. He  shoots  twice through the window and  kills  her.7) Future time:  My flight  leaves  at four thirty this afternoon. In each of these cases, the simple present serves to keep the verb form in the here and now, even when referring to past or future actions, the sentence is grounded in the present by these verbs, but there are more ways than one to express the present. Simple Present Versus Present Progressive As far as English grammar goes, the simple present does not fully function in describing ongoing events and instead the present progressive form of a verb must be used, although the simple present may be accepted colloquially to entail an ongoing action. Laura A. Michaelis describes this relationship through the example of the verb falls in Aspectual Grammar and Past Time Reference, wherein she says present-tense event predications, if intended as reports upon circumstances ongoing at present, must appear in the present progressive. In the instance of he falls, then, the verb may be interpreted as habitual, but it would be better to use he is falling instead. Using the present progressive, therefore, is more correct than using the simple progressive when stating something as ongoing rather than habitual.

Violent Video Games Harmful On Children And Adolescents

Violent Video Games Are Harmful to Children and Adolescents. There is overwhelming scientific research that suggests that playing violent video games are harmful to children and adolescents. The scientific evidence has uncovered several areas in the development of children and adolescent that are negatively impacted because of the exposure to and playing of violent video games. Some of the key areas that are negatively affected include brain activity, stress levels and behavior. Playing violent video games causes aggression desensitization (Gentile, Swing, Anderson, Rinker, Thomas, 2016). Gentile et al. (2016) provided neurological evidence that revealed that violent video game play was significantly associated with aggression desensitization, physiological arousal, aggressive cognition, and aggressive behavior. They conducted a study that examined neural recruitment during violent videogame play among 13 late adolescent gamers, half of the gamers played violent games and half of the gamers played nonviolent games. The participants playe d a video game in violent and nonviolent modes while undergoing functional MRI scanning. The functional MRI scans of the nonviolent gamers showed an increase in emotional response regions when playing the violent game. In contrast, the functional MRI scans of the violent gamers demonstrated an active suppression of these same regions. In addition, nonviolent gamers showed increases in spatial attention, navigation, and cognitiveShow MoreRelatedAre Violent Video Games Are Harmful To Children And Adolescents?1729 Words   |  7 PagesTaking Sides: Violent Video Games There has been a long-standing debate that violent video games are harmful to the rising generations. 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Bill Bojangles Robinson - 4395 Words

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He got†¦show more content†¦Robinson had no doubts that he was the best at what he did, a self-confidence that some took to be arrogance and that was mixed with a sometimes brooding depression at the fact that, because he was black, he had to wait until he was in his sixties before he could enjoy the fame and fortune given to less talented white dancers. In fact, he appears to have been a remarkably generous man and in addition to his massive workload, he never refused to appear at a benefit for those artists who were less successful or ailing. It has been estimated that in one year he appeared in a staggering 400 benefits. In 1930 Robinson had made a film, DIXIANA, but it was not until he went to Hollywood in the middle of the decade that he made a breakthrough in this medium. He danced in a string of popular films, including some with Shirley Temple. By 1937 Robinson was earning $6,600 a week for his films, a strikingly high sum for a black entertainer in Hollywood at the time. 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Johnson were two of the many black painters to benefit from the Harlem Renaissance. Black music also began to flourish, and jazz became a sensation under black talents such as Duke Ellington, Bill ?Bojangles? Robinson, and Ma Rainey. James Van Der Zee represented blacks in the photography profession. As a result of this increasing exposure to black culture and art, the distance between black and white culture began to diminish. Even after the HarlemRead MoreLena Horne9265 Words   |  38 Pagesstardom. By March 1943, she was back in Hollywood for what would be her busiest time of filmmaking. MGM loaned her to 20th Century-Fox for another all-black musical, a fictionalized film biography of dancer Bill Bojangles Robinson called Stormy Weather, in which she co-starred with Robinson himself and again sang the title song, which became her signature tune. The opening of Cabin in the Sky in April found her on the road making appearances in black theaters like Washington, D.C.s Howard and

Article About Advantage Phone in School Free Essays

According to a 2008 study by the Pew Research Center, 75 percent of teenagers ages 12 to 17 own a mobile phone and use that phone for daily communication through talking and text messaging. Although mobile phones may be a distraction in schools, there are many advantages to teenagers keeping and using their mobile phones–among them a number of educational and informational smartphone applications and the ability to pinpoint a missing teenager’s location via GPS tracking. One of the biggest advantages to a teenager having a mobile phone is the ability to call an emergency service in case of an accident or a towing service in case of a tire blowout while driving. We will write a custom essay sample on Article About Advantage Phone in School or any similar topic only for you Order Now According to the 2008 study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 75 percent of Americans claim to have used their mobile phones in emergency situations. Emergency agencies also support the use of mobile phones during an emergency by urging people to add the letters ICE (for â€Å"in case of emergency†) in front of certain names in their mobile phone directory to designate who should be called in case of an emergency. Many new phones also include GPS location technology, allowing parents to pinpoint the location of their teens or to locate lost or stolen phones. Smartphones allow teenagers to keep in touch not only with their friends, but also with family members, schools and emergency services. Facebook and other social media applications allow for instant updates on a teenager’s status, and mobile phones have revolutionized long-distance communication by including long-distance calling options in their service plans. The ability to send instant text messages is an added advantage, though it should be avoided while driving. According to the Pew Research Center’s 2008 study, an estimated 88 percent of teenage mobile phones users use their phones to connect through text messaging. Smartphones enable teenagers and college students alike to download course lectures, lesson plans and other applications designed to aid in education. Many applications provide books in digital format, much like a Kindle, while other applications, such as the USA Today or the New York Times app, condense every aspect of the print newspaper so it fits in the palm of a teenager’s hand. In addition, a number of informational and educational podcasts, as well as classes recorded in podcast format, are available for instant download to most smartphones. main idea 1. Cell Phones as an Aid in Emergency Situations * ability to call an emergency service in case of an accident or a towing service include GPS location technology, allowing parents to pinpoint the location of their teens or to locate lost or stolen phones. 2. Cell Phones as a Means to Connect * allow teenagers to keep in touch not only with their friends, but also with family members, schools and emergency services. 3. Cell Phones as Wellness and Educational Tools * enable teenagers and college students alike to download course lectures, lesson plans and other applicatio ns designed to aid in education. How to cite Article About Advantage Phone in School, Essay examples

Competitive Strategy Business and National Culture

Question: Discuss about the Competitive Strategy for Business and National Culture. Answer: Introduction: Strategy is often mixed up with terms like goals, tactics and objectives. It is used to understand the insights of the business. A good leader will always make a strategy that will have a vision and a better way of carrying out the ideas for the benefit of his subjects. The sacrifice of some people by the leader is necessary in order to reach the goal that is set by him. Some questions need to be kept in mind to formulate a good strategy (Verbeke 2013). The answers to these questions need to be found out so that the company can actually achieve its target. The idea of providing the best services to the customer needs to be identified by the company and should be the foremost goal of the company. Customization, reliability of the customers and the product styles needs to be maintained in order to gain the faith and trust of the customers (Walker and Madsen 2016). Henry Mintzberg divided the strategies in to three parts namely Intended, Emergent and Realized Strategy. Coca-Cola has been in the business for almost around more than a century and is still going strong in the market due to the competitive advantage that it has over other products that are available in the market. The stocks and shares of the company continue to rise and people always go after them because of their rising prices. The competitive advantage that the firm has over others is that the recipe, which is a secret for the company and tastes much better than all the other products that are in the company. The ability to develop new products and reinventing the ones that are already present in the market gives them an edge over other companies. Consumers are spoilt for choice as they offer more than four hundred brands in around 200 markets globally. The distribution system of the company is very good in comparison with the other companies as they maintain a huge network of operators worldwide (Menon and Yao 2014). The entire distribution team stays updated with the new technolog ies that are developing and they constantly keeps on changing these so that the consumers from every corner of the globe have access to their products. The far flung places in Africa have access to these products due to the excellent distribution strategy that is taken up the firm. The technology that is used to make the products is of high quality and up to date so that the company incurs low cost on production on manufacturing it. The distribution team maintains a strong bond with the manufacturing plants so that the products keep on flowing constantly to the consumers (Dawar 2013). This network enables the firm to gain maximum profits in comparison with the other companies. The efficiency and the strategies used by the Coca-Cola company is of great advantage and success of the company. CAGE Framework The CAGE framework states that the trade opportunities of a company depend upon the cultural, administrative, geographical and economical factors of the company. The cultural factor determines the habits of the people of that place through interactions with different companies and institutions. The differences in religion and languages can have a great impact on the trade factors (Ghemawat and Altman 2016). The administrative factor looks in to the history or the background of the place and the relations that it shares with the other countries in terms of trading activities. The geographical distances between two countries also needs to be considered as the borders and boundaries of the place play a huge role in the smooth functioning of the trading activities. The economical factor needs to be considered as well because it is seen that the companies that are in rich countries tends to do more cross country trade activities as compared to other countries (Lopez-Duarte, Vidal-Suarez a nd Gonzalez-Diaz 2015). The application of the CAGE framework fits very well in the Coca-Cola Company as the entry in to the Chinese market was of great benefit to the company. The cultural advantage that the company got in that market was that the product was refreshing and new in the market. The risk was that the tea-loving people of China never tasted a product like that before and it was going to cost a lot for the company to advertise their product in the age old norm markets of China. The administrative factors were that the country had a capitalist government, so to enter the market the company had to pass through many legal boundaries. The country had no previous ties with other countries so the recognition of brand was not possible to the people. The size of the country is huge and is highly populated, so to reach every corner of the country is difficult for the company. Due to the long distances and the failure of communication, the company had to face lots of problem in the starting years. Econom ically, the country was not in a good position since the buying capacity of the people was very less due to the low labor cost, which inflicted the country throughout. The company benefitted from this as the cost of labor was meager as opposed to countries like United States and Russia (Omar, Leach and March 2014). The governmental, marketing and the cost factors of the country caused great hindrances for the company. The success of the company depended on the experiences that it had due to the overseas trade and the knowledge of internationalizing activities that were taking place at that time. The availability of the resources in the company and the relationships that the company maintained with all the other nations gave a great boost in favor of the company. One of the major drawbacks that the company faced was that the operating country that is China was facing lots of difficulty due to the political unrest that was taking place throughout the nation (Ghemawat 2013). The compan y had high risks as how would the indigenous people react with their people as well as opportunities were also great due to the huge population and great marketing base. Reference List Dawar, N., 2013. When marketing is strategy.Harvard business review,91(12), pp.100-108. Ghemawat, P. and Altman, S.A., 2016. Emerging Economies: Differences and Distances 1.AIB Insights,16(4), p.7. Ghemawat, P., 2013.Redefining global strategy: Crossing borders in a world where differences still matter. Harvard Business Press. Lpez?Duarte, C., Vidal?Surez, M.M. and Gonzlez?Daz, B., 2015. International Business and National Culture: A Literature Review and Research Agenda.International Journal of Management Reviews. Menon, A.R. and Yao, D.A., 2014.Elevating Repositioning Costs: Strategy Dynamics and Competitive Interactions in Grand Strategy. Omar, A.T., Leach, D. and March, J., 2014. Collaboration between nonprofit and business sectors: A framework to guide strategy development for nonprofit organizations.VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations,25(3), pp.657-678. Verbeke, A., 2013.International business strategy. Cambridge University Press. Walker, G. and Madsen, T.L., 2016.Modern competitive strategy. McGraw-Hill Education.