Virtual Organization - Riordan Manufacturing Essay

In today’s ever changing and competitive modern world of business, it is critical for the companies to have activities internationally. In order to prohibit frauds and illegal activities, several acts and documents have been elaborated. One of the documents is Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that has been enacted in the 1970’s, as a result of SEC investigation of several U.S. companies that made illegal payments to foreign governmental officials, politicians, and political parties (Barnes 73). The FCPA had a critical impact on the way U.S. firms do business. Companies that did not comply with FCPA have been subject of criminal and civil enforcement actions that later resulted in huge fines and sentences for

When the U.S. stood completely alone in its legislative quest to curtail foreign bribery, the catastrophic scenario did not materialize. “As the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted four years after the implementation of the FCPA in a study called the Impact of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act on U.S. Business; claims that U.S. companies have lost sales…are difficult, if not impossible, to substantiate and quantify” (Graham, 1984).   Further, a paper published in the Journal of International Business used published data to test the competitive disadvantage theory and found that “the FCPA had not negatively affected the competitive position of American industry in the world marketplace” (Graham, 1984).   Even then, when the American industry was the only one worldwide facing these kinds of restrictions, anti-bribery laws did not negatively impact their export performance or market share.

Riordan Manufacturing has grown from a small plastics research and development firm to a multinational plastics manufacturing power in the brief span of 14 years. This growth has seen Riordan expand their operation to multiple manufacturing and distribution points across North America and China. Riordan now services over 32 customers of varying size, including automotive parts manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, the Department of Defense, appliance manufacturers, and beverage bottlers. This rapid growth, enabled through a series of acquisitions, an excellent product line, and aggressive sales, has enabled Riordan to increase market share while maintaining excellent customer relations and competitive pricing. However, this growth has

Riordan Manufacturing, Inc. is one of the industry leaders in the field of plastic injection molding in terms of both total volume and quality. By utilizing the company's state-of-the art design competencies, Riordan Manufacturing can create innovative plastic designs that are well respected in their applications. The company's production competencies include items such as attention to detail, extreme precision and enthusiastic quality control. The company operates from a variety of locations with facilities in San Jose, California, Albany, Georgia, Pontiac, Michigan and Hangzhou, China. Riordan Manufacturing is wholly owned by Riordan Industries, a Fortune 1000 enterprise.

Congress enacted the FCPA to bring a halt to the bribery of foreign officials and to restore public confidence in the integrity of the American business system. The FCPA was intended to have (and has had) an enormous impact on the way American firms do business. Several firms that paid bribes to foreign officials have been the subject of criminal and civil enforcement actions, resulting in large fines and suspension and debarment from federal procurement contracting, and their employees and officers have gone to jail. To avoid such consequences, many firms have implemented detailed compliance programs intended to prevent and to detect any improper payments by employees and agents. The FCPA prohibits any American citizen to be involved in committing any bribery for business issues. Paying or receiving money or anything of value makes it against the law and punishment should be enforced by the government in order for justice to take place. As mentioned in the Lay-Parson’s Guide to FCPA, “The anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA make it unlawful for a U.S. person, and certain foreign issuers of securities, to make a corrupt payment to a foreign official for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing business to, any person. Since 1998, they also apply to foreign firms and persons who take any act in furtherance of such a corrupt payment while in the United States.”

The reason for this project is to help come up with a new Human Resources Client-Server Database system. The capabilities of the new system will be to centralize Riordan Manufacturing’s data and will help improve the overall security of the data within. This was conveyed to the IT department due to the increased volume of personal data currently being sent across unsecure data-lines, within Riordan. An employee’s information is treated with the care and securing that information is priority one. Because Riordan has several locations around the country, a centralized database system is needed to secure the employee’s information, but also remain accessible to the employee’s that need access to this informatio.

“The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act” was first proposed in 1977 a time when there was rampant corruption among foreign officials and companies in the United States. At that time, there was a need to clean the messes committed between businesses and the governments gave that mega-scandal such as the Watergate Syndrome, which was exposed to the general public and was still fresh in their minds. Additionally, the issue that has prompted the adoption of the Act, the more was the Wal-Mart bribery claims in its Mexican subsidiary. Regarding this case, more debate has been witnessed over the application of the Act. There is an evident tug of war or stand-off that lies between federal agencies and business

Riordan Manufacturing Incorporated is a global plastic injection molding company headquartered in San Jose, California. With state-of-the-art facilities and innovative designs, the organization has grown to include multiple locations, each specializing in diverse products. The organization has become an industry leader with customers in the fields of automotive, aircraft, appliance, and beverage makers and bottlers in addition to supplying products to the Department of Defense.

In 1977, Congress enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA). It prohibits any form of bribery conducted by American companies (and foreign companies publicly traded on a U.S. exchange) abroad. While the FCPA does not put those U.S. firms at a competitive disadvantage as most of the opponents of the act argue, it is not the best way to combat corruption because of its vagueness, neglect of cultural differences, and intrusiveness to other countries’ sovereignty.

As American based companies do business in foreign markets, they need to know that what is acceptable and common in other countries may not be in compliance with U.S. law. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) makes it unlawful for U.S. businesses and certain foreign issuers of securities, to make a payment to a foreign official for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business for any person. The U.S. Department of Justice is the Act's enforcement agency, with a coordinating role played by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

This assignment instructed us to read four articles concerning Legal Issues in International and Domestic Business Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Within this assignment it discussed the crisis in corporation’s unethical practices. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 sparked the argument that United States companies are disadvantaged in international markets. The act has been controversial since its enactment, with some critics attacking it as ineffective and the American business community complaining that it places U.S. enterprises at

In this paper, Team C will discuss Huffman Trucking Company and recommend a strategy that is best for this company and what will benefit the company the most. It will discuss the strategies such as undertaking IPOs, merging with other companies and ways to get other companies, as a way to help their company to branch out. Some of the other things that will be discussed are the benefits and risks, the advantages and disadvantages of all the approaches that should be taken into consideration for what is the best way to strategy for the business, the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, and the

Anyone found guilty of knowingly participating in or authorizing the payment of a bribe can be high penalized under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. United States publicly traded companies have been liable to the FCPA since 1977. The anti-bribery provision of the act makes it unlawful to bribe even a penny because the act focuses on the intent to bribe, rather than the materiality of it ‘’the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA make it unlawful for a U.S. person, and certain foreign issuers of securities, to make a payment to a foreign official for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing business to, any person. Since 1998, they also apply to foreign firms and persons who take any act in furtherance of such a corrupt payment while in the United States” From the research I conducted, many executives in the United States feel that the stipulations within the

One disadvantage associated with going public is for a closely held business owner to lose control of the decision-making process within the company. Another disadvantage is the reality of greater accountability of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) in regulating the business. Riordan Manufacturing’s private information may become public. Riordan must pay close

Berry’s Bug Blasters is a privately held business and wants to expand its operations. The business is considering three options for moving forward with the expansion plan. The first option is going public with an IPO, or Initial Public Offering. The second option is to acquire another similar business within the industry, and finally the third option is merging with another organization. All three of these options