Response # 1(Yming) Part 1 Financial Acumen 1.     Review at least three (3) articles on financial acuity. Summary the articles in 400 – 600 words. Use APA formatting throughout including in-text citations and references. Have financial plan is a good way for retirement. This article is mainly about drawing in part on proprietary research, this column looks at shifting attitudes towards retirement and the impact of retirement on an individual’s personal identity and relationships, as well as addresses some of the challenges than can lie ahead, including diminishing mental acuity (Barsch, Rebekan, 2016). The authors mention the important aspects of retirement plan and give clients advices about how to shape their retirement plans and provide the best opportunities to clients with security as well as happiness. The second article is High Medical Nursing Homes: Organizational and Market Factors Associated with Financial Performance. On average nursing homes have worse financial performance as well as lower quality. This article uses independent variables such as size, chain affiliation, market competition and control variables such as for-profit status, acuity index, staffing variables, etc. to find that organizational and market factors will affect financial performance of nursing homes. Higher financial performing facilities are characterize as having nurse practitioners/physician assistants, more beds, higher occupancy rate, higher Medicare and Medicaid census, and being for-profit and located in less competitive markets (Weech-Maldonado R, Lord J. 2019) The third article is Development of Open and Transparent Information on the Public Finance Management. This article uses US as an example to provide accessible and transparent information of the public finance management. The practical application of the public financial management principles, given the process is open and transparent, brings together the interests of the authorities and civil society in terms of budget appropriations so that limited budget resources are allocated for the needs of social and economic development of the country (N. A. Guz. 2018). This article not only solve practical problems of decisions to ensure the transparency of the public finance management but also develop theoretical scenarios of the process. 2.     Discuss the benefits of establishing solid financial acumen in a company? Discuss your personal experiences in a situation where financial acumen was either not supported as an organizational hallmark or, conversely, was built into the company's culture. By establishing solid financial acumen in a company, it makes everyone, no matter the employee is in HR department or marketing department, understands how the company makes money, and why, why-not, when, or what-if behind a financial decision-making process. In my company, our employer is very care about not only financial performance of everyday, we also ranking our employees’ financial sales ...

1. Response # 1(Yming)
Part 1 Financial Acumen
1. Review at least three (3) articles on financial acuity.
Summary the articles in 400 – 600 words. Use APA formatting
throughout including in-text citations and references.
Have financial plan is a good way for retirement. This article is
mainly about drawing in part on proprietary research, this
column looks at shifting attitudes towards retirement and the
impact of retirement on an individual’s personal identity and
relationships, as well as addresses some of the challenges than
can lie ahead, including diminishing mental acuity (Barsch,
Rebekan, 2016). The authors mention the important aspects of
retirement plan and give clients advices about how to shape
their retirement plans and provide the best opportunities to
clients with security as well as happiness.
The second article is High Medical Nursing Homes:
Organizational and Market Factors Associated with Financial
Performance. On average nursing homes have worse financial
performance as well as lower quality. This article uses
independent variables such as size, chain affiliation, market
competition and control variables such as for-profit status,
acuity index, staffing variables, etc. to find that organizational
and market factors will affect financial performance of nursing
homes. Higher financial performing facilities are characterize as
having nurse practitioners/physician assistants, more beds,
higher occupancy rate, higher Medicare and Medicaid census,
and being for-profit and located in less competitive markets
(Weech-Maldonado R, Lord J. 2019)

2. The third article is Development of Open and Transparent
Information on the Public Finance Management. This article
uses US as an example to provide accessible and transparent
information of the public finance management. The practical
application of the public financial management principles, given
the process is open and transparent, brings together the interests
of the authorities and civil society in terms of budget
appropriations so that limited budget resources are allocated for
the needs of social and economic development of the country
(N. A. Guz. 2018). This article not only solve practical
problems of decisions to ensure the transparency of the public
finance management but also develop theoretical scenarios of
the process.
2. Discuss the benefits of establishing solid financial acumen
in a company? Discuss your personal experiences in a situation
where financial acumen was either not supported as an
organizational hallmark or, conversely, was built into the
company's culture.
By establishing solid financial acumen in a company, it makes
everyone, no matter the employee is in HR department or
marketing department, understands how the company makes
money, and why, why-not, when, or what-if behind a financial
decision-making process.
In my company, our employer is very care about not only
financial performance of everyday, we also ranking our
employees’ financial sales numbers each month, every year.
This build our company culture that we always want to be the
best. Not only our company is the best in this industry, but also
our employees. Because everyone are so energy in this
company’s culture which pay attention to financial performance
and financial acumen.

3. Part 2: Sarbanes- Oxley (SOX)
Rationale for SOX
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is named after its sponsors, Senator
Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., and Congressman Michael Oxley, R-
Ohio. SOX cracks down on corporate fraud. It created the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to oversee the
accounting industry, it banned company loans to executives and
gave job protection to whistleblowers (Kimberly Amadeo,
2018).
Provisions of SOX
Provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act detail criminal and civil
penalties for noncompliance, certifications of internal auditing,
and increased financial disclosure. It affects public (and
private) U.S. companies and non-U.S. companies with a U.S.
presence.
Enforcement of SOX
The PCAOB has authority to investigate and discipline
registered public accounting firms and persons associated with
those firms for noncompliance with the Sarbance-Oxley Act of
2002, the rules of the PCAOB and the Securities and Exchange
Commission, and other laws, rules, and professional standards
governing the audits of public companies, brokers, and dealers.
The PCAOB uses its disciplinary authority to demonstrate that
auditors who run afoul of their professional obligations will
face real consequences.
References:
Barsch, Rebekan, 2016. Looking beyond the Financial Plan to
Help Clients Maximize Their Retirement Years. Retrieved from

4. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=bf0e448
c-7dab-41cd-9483-
509e1e614e05%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNzb
w%3d%3d#AN=113275524&db=buh
Weech-Maldonado R, Lord J. 2019. High Medicaid Nursing
Homes: Organizational and Market Factors Associated With
Financial Performance. Retrieved from
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=fb1f842
1-8453-48c2-aed1-664061a373dc%40pdc-v-
sessmgr02&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNzbw%3d%3d#AN=30739
512&db=cmedm
N. A. Guz. 2018. Development of Open and Transparent
Information on the Public Finance Management: the US
Experience. Retrieved from
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=15&sid=fb1f84
21-8453-48c2-aed1-664061a373dc%40pdc-v-
sessmgr02&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNzbw%3d%3d#AN=edsdoj
.0c1b698445094a5ba0fc78336ddcee08&db=edsdoj
Kimberly Amadeo, 2018. Sarbanes-Oxley Summary: Four Ways
Sarbanes-Oxley Stops Corporate Fraud. Retrieved from
https://www.thebalance.com/sarbanes-oxley-act-of-2002-
3306254
Response#2( Shravan)
Part 1: Financial Acumen
1. Review at least three (3) articles on financial acuity.

5. 1. Investments in technology
The technology sector includes everything from major
companies that everyone knows, to players both big and small
that operate largely behind the scenes. The category is also
home to emerging companies of all sizes, start-ups, and billion-
dollar household brands. In a broad sense, the category includes
stocks involved with the research, creation, and distribution of
technology-based goods or services. That can be everything
from computers to software, televisions to websites. Hardware
is the physical device -- a computer, a television, a smartphone,
etc. Software is the computer code and platforms that make
those devices work.
Technology stocks offer investors a lot of opportunities. In fact,
the sector offered the highest returns of all ranked market
sectors at 34.28% in 2017. Those strong returns, however, do
not mean the technology sector is without risks. Technology
changes quickly, and one-time leaders can quickly fall behind,
or even go out of business. In addition, promising emerging
companies may make a huge splash, only to fade out quickly.
2. Reduced overhead expense will offset gross margin declines.
Both approaches suggest distributors should carry more
inventory, not less. Reconciling this need with the desire to
develop a strong cash position requires fine-tuning the
inventory. It cannot support the heavy-handed across-the-board
cuts utilized too frequently.
The real solution is two-fold, involving eliminating
redundancies and continual sales monitoring. Most of the
problems with dead inventory are due to redundant items —
those that are slow-selling and basically duplicates of faster-
selling ones. In some industries, the slow sellers are non-sellers.
There are large chunks of items that haven’t sold at all in the

6. past six months or a year, and these need to be eliminated —
even if it means selling them below cost. Items are moving
through their life cycle quicker than ever before, with great
sellers soon becoming good sellers. Eventually, they may
become problem items. Make the effort to clear inventory as
soon as the item is past its prime. If not, the excess inventory
issue will arise again. Constant sales tracking is essential to this
process.
3. Acuity is outpacing its revenue benchmark
The revenue growth of a company determines the overall health
of the company’s customer value proposition. The goal of
growth strategy is to drive better value for customers than
competitors, and the output of achieving this is revenue growth
that outpaces the industry. While benchmarking revenue growth
seems straightforward, there is a nuance to this benchmarking
that is often overlooked. Benchmarking a company’s revenue
growth to the industry can be misleading, since the growth or
decline of the total number of companies (firms) and
establishments (e.g., stores, locations, offices) in an industry
can skew overall industry revenue growth.
When benchmarking revenue growth of a company, make sure
you benchmark it against the revenue growth per firm and
establishment of the industry. In the below example of the same
industry, you can see the difference in growth between industry
revenue, industry revenue per firm, and industry revenue per
establishment.
2. Discuss the benefits of establishing solid financial acumen in
a company? Discuss your personal experiences in a situation
where financial acumen was either not supported as an
organizational hallmark or, conversely, was built into the
company's culture.

7. Organization’s today, need managers and employees with
business acumen who can contribute to the financial success of
their companies. They need them to think and act like business
owners. That’s why companies increasingly challenged finance
departments to offer financial literacy training. However,
finance courses that focus exclusively on financial terminology
and financial statements aren’t enough. Instead, developing the
business acumen of employees — going beyond financial
literacy to a true understanding of what it takes for a business to
make money and how everyone’s actions impact the financials
— is the key to producing real results.
Management wants finance team to produce reports that:
1. Allow the employees to make good business decisions
2. Align employee actions with the organization’s strategic
objectives
No employee wants to make a bad decision that impacts the
profitability of the business. Consider the employee in charge of
maintaining the tool room. He or she feels very satisfied with
their job performance if the spare parts are in stock. He/she
might not realize, however, the impact of having excessive
spare parts inventory on working capital or obsolescence issues
that may arise. Educating this employee on the financial
consequences of inventory decisions and actions is fundamental
to business alignment.
Once an organization establishes its strategic goals, HR and
training must align their educational offerings with them. That
means helping employees understand the goals and developing
the required knowledge and skills. At the most basic level of
alignment, they should ensure that every employee understands
Part 2: Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX)

8. A. Rationale for SOX
The rules and enforcement policies outlined in the Sarbanes-
Oxley Act of 2002 amended or supplemented existing laws
dealing with security regulation, including the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and other laws enforced by the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) this mandates that senior
corporate officers personally certify in writing that the
company's financial statements "comply with SEC disclosure
requirements and fairly present in all material aspects the
operations and financial condition of the issuer." Officers who
sign off on financial statements that they know to be inaccurate
are subject to criminal penalties, including prison terms.
B. Provisions of SOX
Provision of SOX covers the responsibilities of a public
corporation’s board of directors, adds criminal penalties for
certain defined misconduct, and requires the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) to create regulations defining how
public corporations are to comply with the law. It is intended to
address issues of accounting fraud by attempting to improve
both the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures. It
also increases the accountability of company executives and
members of the board of directors relative to pre-SOX
requirements.
C. Enforcement of SOX
Enforcement of SOX compliance audit is a measure of how well
your company manages its internal controls. While SOX doesn’t
specifically mention information security, for practical
purposes, an internal control is understood to be any type of
protocol dealing with the infrastructure that handles your
financial data. Indeed, one of the biggest criticisms of SOX is

9. that, particularly for smaller firms, this requirement that all
accounting systems must be subject to auditing is prohibitively
expensive.
References:
1. Greene, Martin, Johnson, H. Scott, Torres, Anna, and
Wong, Linda, “Beyond the Business Case: Diversity and the
Small/Medium Firm,” Chicago Section Annual Conference,
American Bar Association Section of Litigation, April 24-26,
2013
http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/liti
gation/materials/sac2013/sac_2013/56_beyond_the_business_pe
rcent20case.authcheckdam
.
2. Gudrun Granholm, “Selling the Diversity Roi to Your
CFO” Presentation to Diversity Best Practices Best Business
Practice Session, September 27, 20122
3. Timothy Kenney, “Diversity ROI: Not Just Talk, It’s
Reality: Diversity and Inclusion Bringing Real $ to
Organizations,” Diversity Best Practices Best Practice Session,
September 2011,
http://diversitybestpractices.com/files/_attachments_articles/fre
ddie_mac_panel_final.
Response#3(Ravindra)
Summary :

10. The American Competitiveness and Corporate Accountability
Act of 2002, usually known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, was
marked into law on July 30, 2002. Gone in light of the corporate
and bookkeeping outrages of Enron, Arthur Andersen, and
others of 2001 and 2002, the law's motivation is to revamp open
trust in America's corporate division. The law necessitates that
traded on an open market organization stick to noteworthy new
administration measures that expansion board individuals' jobs
in regulating budgetary exchanges and inspecting methodology
(Pgdc.com, 2019).
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act necessitates that every individual from
the organization's review council be an individual from the
governing body and be free. Freedom in the Act is characterized
as not being a piece of the supervisory group and not getting
any pay (either legitimately or by implication) from the
organization for administration on the review advisory group,
however board administration might be redressed.
Furthermore, organizations must reveal whether they have in
any event one "monetary master" serving on the review board of
trustees. On the off chance that they don't have such a
specialist, they should uncover the method of reasoning behind
that choice. Who qualifies as a "monetary master" is as yet
being discussed? The Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) proposes a definition that depends on a person's
instruction and experience as an open bookkeeper, examiner, or
chief bookkeeping official. At present, be that as it may, the
organization's board appears to hold the last appropriate to set
up explicit capabilities for a monetary master (Pgdc.com, 2019).
The review council is straightforwardly in charge of employing,
setting the remuneration, and administering the examiner's
exercises. It sets standards and procedures for grumblings
concerning bookkeeping and interior control rehearses.

11. The costliest piece of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is Section 404,
which requires open organizations to perform broad inside
control tests and incorporate an inner control report with their
yearly reviews. Testing and recording manual and robotized
controls in money related revealing requires tremendous
exertion and inclusion of outside bookkeepers as well as
experienced IT work force. The consistence cost is particularly
troublesome for organizations that intensely depend on manual
controls. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has urged organizations to
make their monetary revealing increasingly productive, brought
together and computerized (Investopedia, 2019).
Benefits :
At the point when Congress briskly passed the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act of 2002, it had as a top priority fighting extortion,
improving the dependability of monetary detailing, and
reestablishing financial specialist certainty. Justifiably, most
officials asked why they ought to be exposed to a similar
consistence troubles as the individuals who had been careless or
untrustworthy. Littler organizations griped about the imposing
business model of administrators' time and costs running into a
great many dollars.
In any case, the weights of actualizing SOX just because, in
2004, were great to the point that this progressively ground
breaking gathering could give brief period to creating and
embracing arrangements and practices that went past strict
consistence. Some talked about putting their arranged activities
in a "parking garage,'' with the expectation of seeking after
them the next year. As SOX became effective, an ever
increasing number of administrators started to see the
requirement for inner changes; undoubtedly, many were
frightened by the shortcomings and holes that consistence audits
and appraisals had uncovered, for example, absence of

12. implementation of existing arrangements, superfluous
multifaceted nature, stopped up correspondences, and a weak
consistence culture (Harvard Business Review, 2019).
Part - 2
A. Rationale for SOX
The rationale behind the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is best reflected
by the occasions in the years going before its establishment.
The 1990's denoted a time of momentous financial development,
to a great extent driven by the Internet blast, which saw the
arrangement of another industry of web related organizations
impelled by investors. Market certainty was high, and the
NASDAQ achieved a record-breaking high of more than 5,000
in March of 2000. Be that as it may, out of sight of this
financial success, organizations like Enron Corporation, a
Texas-based vitality organization, were taking part in different
kinds of bookkeeping extortion that would prompt their
definitive downfall and trigger another time of monetary
guideline (Wharton Public Policy Initative, 2019).
B. Provisions of SOX
The Act has clearing estimates that manage monetary
announcing, irreconcilable situations, oversight of the
bookkeeping calling, corporate morals, and advancement of new
criminal and common punishments.
C. Enforcement of SOX
In view of the Act, SOX has figured out how to confirm CFO
and CEO of different organizations, encouraged filings of
electronic insider exchanges, improves nearness of free review
advisory group with expanded jobs just as cementing interior
controls. These achievements have had immense positive effects

13. on the administration and the executives of people in general
and privately-owned businesses in the US. This aides in
shielding the fundamental prerequisites that our market be
classified dependent on the degree of speculator cooperation
and certainty.
References :
Pgdc.com. (2019).
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Implications for Nonprofit
Organizations | Planned Giving Design Center
. [online] Available at:
https://www.pgdc.com/pgdc/sarbanes-oxley-act-and-
implications-nonprofit-organizations
Investopedia. (2019).
The Impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
. [online] Available at:
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/052815/what-
impact-did-sarbanesoxley-act-have-corporate-governance-
united-states.asp
Harvard Business Review. (2019).
The Unexpected Benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley
. [online] Available at:
https://hbr.org/2006/04/the-unexpected-benefits-of-sarbanes-
oxley
Wharton Public Policy Initative. (2019).
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and its Effect on Investor Confidence
. [online] Available at:
https://publicpolicy.wharton.upenn.edu/live/news/465-the-
sarbanes-oxley-act-and-its-effect-on-investor