代写 QUT BSD110: ACCOUNTING


 

BSD110: ACCOUNTING
SEMESTER 1, 2016
 ASSESSMENT ITEM NUMBER 1: PART A - DECISION MAKING IN ACCOUNTING
Weighting Total: 15%
Due Date and Time:  Close of Business - Assignment Minder  - Friday, 8 April, 2016
You must also upload your assignment to Turnitin through the Blackboard site.
Assessment submitted after the due date without an approved extension will not be marked and will receive a grade of 1 or 0%. If special circumstances prevent you from meeting the assessment due date, you can apply for an extension. If you don’t have an approved extension you should submit the work you have completed by the due date and it will be marked against the assessment criteria.
 
Submission Requirements:  You must submit to Assignment Minder(at Kelvin Grovecampus ONLY):   
·         BSD110 Accounting Assignment Cover sheet,
·         The Criteria Sheet
·         Your Excel worksheet and formula sheet
·         Your Report (500-600 words)
 
You should put your printed documents into a document wallet for submission.  Please put the BSD110 Assignment Cover Sheet on the outside.  Do not staple or seal the document wallet closed.
 
 
Upload to Turnitin – your report component ONLY.
 
Group or Individual: Individual
 

 This assessment item assesses the following learning outcomes:    
 Knowledge and Technological Skills (KS)
1.1 Demonstrate and apply theoretical and technical knowledge across the broad field of business.
Social, Ethical and Global Understanding (SE)
5.1 Apply knowledge of ethical and social responsibility perspectives in analysing and addressing business issues.

 
The following table reports Selected Financial Information for Super Retail Group and Premier Investments.

	Super Retail Group	Premier Investments
Financial Information	$m	$'000
Current Assets	557.7	445,831
Current Liabilities	323.5	127,367
Total Assets (30/6/2015)	1,583.10	1,639,072
Total Assets (30/6/2014)	1,574.80	1,595,939
Total Liabilities	817.8	300,765
Retained Earnings	212.8	697,469
Shareholders' Equity (30/6/2015)	768.3	1,338,307
Shareholders' Equity (30/6/2014)	760.4	1,298,529
Sales Revenue	2,238.70	947,662
Tax Expense	38.5	28,843
Interest Expense	22.2	5,738
Profit After Tax	93.1	88,102
Additional Financial Information
Dividends per Ordinary Share ($ per share)	0.40	0.51
Market Price per Share as at 30/6/2015 ($ per share)	9.14	12.75
Number of Ordinary Shares	197,030,571	156,380,000
Preference Dividends	not applicable	not applicable

 
Corporate Social Responsibility Information - see attached.
 
Required: (Refer to the Assessment Marking Criteria Sheet for how marks will be allocated)
 
a)    Enter the above information into an Excel worksheet using the correct formatting as shown above.  Once all the information has been entered, calculate the following financial ratios in an Excel worksheet, using the correct formulas:
·              Current ratio;
·              Debt ratio;
·              Profit Margin;
·              Return on Assets;
·              Return on Shareholders’ Equity;
·              Earnings per Share;
·              Price/Earnings Ratio;
·              Dividend Yield.                                                       
Format the worksheet/s appropriately (see instructions) and print both the data worksheet and the formula worksheet.  Please include the row/column headings in your formula worksheet.  See BSD110 Assignment Part A Lecture recording in Blackboard for a demonstration.
(6 marks)

 
b)    Prepare a report (500-600 words) to address the following:


              i.        Based on the financial information alone, which of these companies would you buy shares in and why?                                                        (12 marks)
 
             ii.        Now read and consider the Social and Environmental information provided.  Does consideration of this information change your decision?  If it does, why is thisthe case and if it does not, why is this the case?


There is no single correct answer – it depends on your explanation and justifications.                                                                                (12 marks)


Total 30 marks (15% weighting)
Support Provided:
·         Materials are provided on Blackboard to assist with using Excel including a video and a demonstration exercise showing how to use and format an Excel sheet, print a formula sheet etc.


·         Frequently Asked Questions on Blackboard to enable any clarifications or answer any common questions – this will be an iterative document that will be developed as students make enquiries (including through the discussion forum).

代写 QUT BSD110: ACCOUNTING

 
TIPS ON ADDRESSING THE MARKING CRITERIA:
KS1.1 Knowledge and Technological Skills – Excel component   (6 marks)
·         Use appropriate formulas, techniques and formatting in Excel.


·         Marks will be allocated for:


o   Providing evidence that you have used the Excel formula function correctly to calculate the ratios
o   Formatting the data correctly
o   Providing both the data worksheet and the Excel formula worksheet.
KS1.1 Knowledge and Technological Skills – Ratios calculation and Report component    (12 marks)
·         Used an appropriate set of information to make a decision and justify that decision.


·         In order to decide which shares you would purchase you need to identify the reason that you are purchasing the shares – is it for an income stream (dividends) short or long  term capital growth (increase in share price) or for stability. Your report must include the reason that you are purchasing the shares, clearly identify the decision and provide the relevant information to support that decision.  Please note that you may not need to use all the ratios that you have calculated.


·         Marks will be allocated for:
o   Correctly calculating the ratios.
o   Identifying your reason for purchasing shares.
o   Clearly articulating your decision about which shares you will buy.
o   The use of and justification for relevant information (relating to your reason for purchasing) to make your decision.
SE5.2 Social and Global Understanding (12 marks)
·         Demonstrate and apply knowledge of socially responsible behaviour in analysing and addressing business issues in national and international business contexts.


·         In addressing this criterion you need to consider whether the non-financial information provided about both companies changes the decision that you made using the financial information alone.  If it does change your decision why did it and likewise if it didn’t why didn’t it. You could consider the social and environmental information either separately or together.


·         Marks will be allocated for:
o   A clear statement of whether or not the consideration of the non-financial information changed your decision.
o   A clear and specific articulation of how the non-financial information for both companies impacted or not on your original decision.
 
 
 
super retail group Limited
non-financial information
 
OUR COMMUNITY & ENVIRONMENT
 
Sustainability
Sustainability is strongly linked to our business strategy and is a long-term priority for the Group.  During the 2015 financial year we continued to take steps to limit the environmental impact of our business operations and meet our legal, social and ethical obligations.
 
This year we have included our sustainability performance, in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, in our annual Corporate Review.
 
We are dedicated to achieving profitable and sustainable growth in a manner consistent with our Group Values and we are committed to social and environmental initiatives which are designed to benefit our team, customers, trade partners and the communities in which we operate.
 
With one of our Group Values defined as ‘Care’, we strive to lead by example and invest our time, financial support and resources in a variety of initiatives.  Examples of this philosophy in practice include:


·         Environmental initiatives - We have a commitment to paper usage reduction, power usage reduction, catalogue paper reduction/recycling, and customer oil & battery recycling. We are a proud signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, an agreement between government, industry and community groups to find and fund solutions to address packaging sustainability issues. We are committed to designing more sustainable packaging, increasing our recycling rates and reducing packaging litter.


·         Social education and philanthropic initiatives - We demonstrate support for the communities in which we operate through partnerships with charity organisations, responsiveness in times of community crisis such as fires, floods, earthquakes and active participation in improving community wellbeing. Our decisions about how we can best support communities are based on our capacity to strengthen a community and the alignment to our core purpose and values. We also support our community through employment, taxes and education programs.



 
·         Ethical working and employment practices - We are strongly committed to adhering to and respecting human rights standards, both locally and internationally. We have a commitment to equal employment opportunities and to a bullying-, harassment- and discrimination-free work environment, open door communication and the gathering of team member feedback, fair trading practices, team member development and involvement in negotiations over pay and conditions, product quality standards, workplace health and safety and ethical sourcing.
 
Environment
We believe that care towards the environment is a shared responsibility and our focus is to work with our trade partners, customers and team members to reduce the impacts of our products and activities.
 
As a retailer, our main environmental impacts are related to packaging, energy and raw materials consumption and waste production.  In 2011 we developed an Environmental Management System (EMS) to better manage our environmental impacts and drive environmental initiatives.  Our EMS Committee has representatives of all departments across the Group and meets in a quarterly basis to discuss ways to improve our environmental practices and monitor our progress against our goals.
 
·         Waste Reduction - We continue to promote waste minimisation to our team members using various internal communications channels, including intranet, email, store bulletins and team meetings. Our goal is to continuously increase our recycling rates across the Group by raising team member awareness, identifying new waste streams for recycling, performing informal waste reviews at selected sites and liaising with our waste provider to identify opportunities for improvement.
 
·         Packaging optimisation program - This program started in 2010 and involves reducing air space and changing packing methods to reduce the amount of packaging material. Since that time, we have reduced a significant amount of packaging that could potentially become waste. The Group also saved on shipping costs by optimising carton sizes on tertiary packaging.
 
·         Australian Packaging Covenant - We are committed to establishing a ‘framework for the effective life cycle management of consumer packaging’ through an educational approach internally with our team, our trade partners and our customers. Since becoming a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant in July 2008, Super Retail Group has embraced the principles of product stewardship to ensure the environmental impact on new or existing packaging is continuously monitored and minimised via a collaborative approach with our trade partners, and education of our team members and customers. We are committed to developing processes that embody the principles of product stewardship with an aim to continually improve our environmental impact with respect to packaging and waste management via:


o   Development of internal policies and procedures, such as the Sustainable Procurement Policy, to govern product packaging and operations in accordance with the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines
o   Promotion of existing recycling activities to customers and team members to improve knowledge and awareness of recycling options
o   Use of recycle logo in our packaging and catalogues to encourage waste recycling
o   Regular articles on waste and environmental topics in our internal media to increase our team members' awareness; and
o   Engaging with our waste provider in a regular basis to improve our waste management practices.
 
·         Customer automotive battery recycling - In accordance with our Environmental Policy, we continue to explore options to offer our customers the ability to return selected products directly to our retail stores which are then collected and distributed to recycling facilities. Supercheap Auto accepts used car batteries in all retail stores which are collected and returned to a recycling facility where the lead and plastic is reused in manufacturing new products. We continue to explore recycling opportunities as an added service and convenience to our customers in support of the environment.

 
·         Paper reduction and recycling - We are committed to using recycled paper for catalogue printing and reducing advertising waste through greater targeted delivery. Our use of customer targeting software and greater emphasis on email marketing has enabled us to reduce catalogue distribution quantities with little or no loss in effectiveness.  In terms of packaging, all paper and cardboard used to package our products imported from China are made of 100% recycled paper.
 
·         Power usage reduction - We are committed to reducing power usage and monitoring our performance by exploring and implementing a number of initiatives across the Group, including:
o   Implementation of organisational culture initiatives - educating team members on how to reduce power usage
o   Team member engagement – seeking feedback from team members on how to further improve energy efficiency
o   Structural initiatives – changing building specifications, such as lighting upgrades and heat reflective roof paint
o   Installation of energy saving devices and control equipment, such as ‘smart’ thermostats and light sensors; and
o   Procedural initiatives – optimising the hours of operation of equipment, e.g. air conditioning, lighting and illuminated signage through timers and PE cells.
 
·         Climate Change - To ensure transparency and better management of climate change in our business operations, in 2015 Super Retail Group reported to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CPD) via their climate change questionnaire for the first time. The report discloses our greenhouse gas emissions and climate change data and includes our carbon emissions in Australia and New Zealand (where possible).
By disclosing through the CDP, we aim to improve the management of our carbon footprint, manage the risks and opportunities from climate change and identify areas for emissions and cost reductions.
 
·         Ethical product sourcing - We continue to develop compliance frameworks governing our sourcing of product from overseas, including our Ethical Sourcing and Imported Goods Policies for all our trade partners. This policy addresses environmental and socioeconomic criteria including labour relations, packaging and environmental requirements. In addition, Super Retail Group has invested in developing our own quality assessment team in China to support the specialist independent auditors periodically engaged to ensure that requirements are understood and that compliance is maintained by trade partners.
Our compliance and quality assurance programs include the use of accredited auditors to inspect and test to certify that products meet Australian legal requirements, to ensure that good quality, safe and innovative new products are provided to customers and are good value-for-money.
 
·         Trade Partner Engagement - Our International Operations Packaging team in China works closely with our trade partners to ensure product packaging is in accordance to our environmental specifications.
As part of the sourcing process, the team liaises with factories on a regular basis and performs packaging assessments for all new products. Our Packaging team in Brisbane proactively reviews existing packaging that comes through our distribution centre and makes recommendations to suppliers and the team to ensure that existing packaging is optimised.
 
Community
We proudly provide our support to the following community organisations and initiatives:
·         Red Cross - Super Retail Group is a proud community partner of Red Cross. Whether it’s being responsive in times of crisis or promoting community wellbeing, our team supports the work of Red Cross through active participation and fundraising efforts.
 
·         CARMA - CARMA is a nation-wide road safety campaign, championed by Supercheap Auto V8 Supercar legend Russell Ingall and leading road safety advocate Russell White. The campaign aims to reduce the number of fatalities on Australian roads by educating drivers about safe behavioural road practices. A not-for-profit campaign, CARMA is designed to teach drivers to have greater awareness of the road environment and how to behave responsibly when behind the wheel.
CARMA is supported by Supercheap Auto and DriverSafety.com.au.
 
·         @Heart (formerly Heart Children New Zealand) - In 2009, we began our partnership with @Heart to help support children with heart conditions and their families within New Zealand.
Each week, 1 in every 100 children born in New Zealand is born with a heart defect and heart disease is the leading cause of death in young children. @Heart provides emotional support, practical support, specialised equipment, education, information, advocacy, friendship and fun. Every year during the months of May and November New Zealand accept donations for @Heart during the months of May and November.
 
·         Queensland Male Champions of Change - Our CEO is a member of the Queensland Male Champions of Change (QMCC) which is a group of influential and diverse business leaders who have come together to recognise the importance of and commitment to gender diversity and to building an inclusive culture in their organisations. The QMCC have been working together since 2013 putting forward tangible and pragmatic ideas for change, sharing their experiences, and championing diversity activities within their organisations and more broadly across the sectors in which they operate. As part of his involvement with QMCC, our CEO chairs the Flexibility Working Group of the QMCC which focuses on designing strategies and initiatives to create, promote and embed flexibility in our workplace.
 
·         Queensland Leaders - Super Retail Group is a Partner of Queensland Leaders which is a Brisbane-based company mentoring programme. Partners/sponsors of Queensland Leaders are involved in mentoring founders and CEOs of aspiring Queensland companies.
 
 
 
premier investments Limited
non-financial information
 
OUR COMMITMENT TO BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY
 
Premier acknowledges the importance of respecting our stakeholders, including employees, shareholders, customers and suppliers.  We are committed to a long term goal of delivering sustainable value through the effective use of our resources and relationships. This goal influences how we behave and impacts everything we do.
 
Our Commitment To Our People
Our goal is for Premier to attract, retain and motivate high calibre employees. Our outstanding leadership team have developed and nurtured a culture that supports our success. We value speed, integrity, energy, and results. We have a ‘can do’ culture in which employees see the difference they make.
 
Attraction And Retention
At the end of the financial year, Premier employed over 6,000 staff across four countries. By Christmas 2015, Premier will employ over 7,000 staff.  Premier believes that it is important to ensure that all team members enjoy a workplace which is free from discrimination; we believe our staff perform the best when they can be themselves at work and so we strongly support gender, age, sexual orientation, disability and cultural diversity at work. In FY2015, 90% of our total team members are woman, who held 68% of the positions in our senior management team. We rely on the passion and commitment of our employees to achieve the results we do. We value and respect our talented people and were pleased to achieve a year on year improved retention rate in Australia of 13% and 9% in New Zealand.
 
Development
Premier provides ongoing and regular training opportunities throughout the year to develop and support our future aspiring leaders. This year we held up to 100 training and development workshops led by our People & Culture Managers and Senior Leaders.

 
 
Reward And Recognition
We recognise and reward outstanding contributions to our group results, both individually and for team performance. Our annual awards in FY15 celebrated a total of 119 employees for their excellent performance and contribution to achieving our goals. In addition, we reward our top stores and staff across all seven brands globally via our annual ‘Just Group Excellence Awards’. The top performing Regional Managers, Store Managers and Visual Merchandiser Managers for each of our brands are rewarded publicly amongst their peers for their great leadership and delivery of the FY15 results.
 
Workplace Safety
Premier is committed to the prevention of workplace injury and lost time. We want to create a culture where all employees feel responsible for all aspects of health and safety. ‘Play it Safe’ has become part of our culture. Workplace safety is considered in all our business decisions, including workplace design and development, supply chain, visual merchandising and store planning. We have clear and measurable performance targets. However, in the event that a work related injury or illness occurs, we are also committed to supporting affected employees to return to work and continuing their career. We will continue to develop Premier as a great place to work, and a great company in which our team build their careers.
 
 
Our Commitment to the Community
Premier has a long history of philanthropic support.
 
Peter Alexander And Paw Justice
In 2014, aligned with the growing presence of Peter Alexander in New Zealand, we partnered with the NZ animal charity Paw Justice, and over the last 2 years have raised close to $25,000.  Paw Justice works to stop violent animal abuse; and they have been instrumental in focusing the New Zealand public’s attention on the need for reform of animal welfare laws through youth education and advocacy for pets.
 
Peter Alexander And The Hargreaves Estate
Each year Peter dreams up a new and creative way to fundraise through Peter Alexander stores. In FY15, he approached Mr Men & Little Miss author Roger Hargreaves’ estate to raise money for animal charities. The limited edition ‘Little Miss Hug and Penny the Dog’ book featured the Peter Alexander brand ambassador Penny in a story about celebrating equality and promoting acceptance of people’s differences. All money raised from the books went directly to the RSPCA in Australia and Paw Justice in New Zealand.
 
In the last financial year we have helped raise close to $110,000 for the RSPCA in Australia and over $19,000 for Paw Justice in New Zealand.
 
Peter Alexander And The RSPCA
As much as Peter Alexander has become famous for his pyjamas, he has also become known for his dogs, and is a huge supporter of animal welfare organisations. Peter Alexander has worked closely for the last 10 years with the RSPCA in Australia, and for the last two years with Paw Justice in New Zealand. Our work has included a variety of fundraising activities which raise awareness for animal charities.
 
Working with the RSPCA, Peter has raised over $460,000 contributing to RSPCA shelters, which care for more than 140,000 animals every year supporting rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming unwanted, stray and injured animals. Peter has been awarded the status of RSPCA Ambassador in recognition of his efforts.
 
Smiggle Community Partnerships
Premier and our Smiggle brand also support a number of children’s charities, organisations and educational programs. Plus, countless community fundraising initiatives both locally and abroad, for schools, sporting, and educational events. In last financial year we have donated over $102,000 in products across four countries.
 

 
Our Commitment To The Environment
Packaging Stewardship
 
Premier is committed to managing and reducing the impact our business operations have on the environment. Premier is a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, a voluntary agreement between government and industry which provides companies with the tools to be more involved in reducing their impact on the environment through sustainable packaging design, recycling and product stewardship. Premier has submitted a 5 year Action Plan outlining its objectives in relation to:


1.            Optimising packaging to reduce environmental impacts;
2.            Increasing the collection and recycling of packaging;
3.            Commitment to product stewardship; and
4.            Implementation of Sustainable Packaging Guidelines.
 
All plastic shopping bags used by the group are made using EPI technology designed to control and manage the lifetime of products made from the most common plastics to assist in the breakdown, degrade and subsequent biodegrade process.
 
Waste And Recycling
Premier has extensive recycling and sustainable practices across our network of Stores, Distribution Centres and Support Centre. Our Distribution Centres executes on-site recovery systems for recycling used packaging and follows Sustainable Packaging Guidelines. All carton packaging uses recycled content. Cartons are reused to facilitate the replenishment of stock, or where necessary waste packaging is compacted and collected for recycling. We have partnered with Orora, a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, to collect and process in line with their recycling procedures. Orora’s recycling business specialises in paper and cardboard, among others, which is then used as the major input at their recycled paper mill, to produce 100% recycled paper.
 
Our Support Centre recycles all paper and has commenced new co-mingled recycling program for glass and plastics on every floor in our entire building. All paper purchased for our Support Centre, is accredited from The Forest Stewardship Council sources, an international network which promotes responsible management of the world’s forests. All necessary printing at our support centre is activated by personalised swipe access only to release print. This initiative has seen a significant reduction in waste paper printing, as it removes entirely non- collection of printouts. For our state management teams we developed a web based retail reporting suite to replace paper based reporting and provided all staff with tablets. This has delivered 2.1 tonne reduction in paper usage. All weekly retail reporting, forms, reference and administrative material is now stored and accessible via mobile technology.
 
Across our network of stores, reuse is always our first option. Specific initiatives relate to plastic hangers and carton packaging. In store, plastic hangers are first reused, and if there is an oversupply our supplier collects and repackages those hangers for reuse or to be fully recycled. Additionally, all cartons are reused to facilitate movement of stock between our stores. In the balance of instances we will utilise our shopping centre recycling facilities.
 
Energy Efficiency
Premier recognises the importance of energy efficient, low environmental impact lighting systems and since 2012 have adhered to new improved lighting standards to efficiently manage our energy consumption in all of our stores. This has resulted in an investment to our store network and upgrade of 175 stores to LED lighting. This initiative has subsequently meant less heat, thereby reducing the overall heat load on our stores and reduced investment in cooling requirements. In addition this has led to a dramatic reduction in ongoing maintenance and light bulb replacement. This standard has been maintained for all 143 new store fit-outs. Across our existing store network all old bulbs are recycled and we are looking to complete a “like for like” conventional to LED lamp replacement program. For example our Southland Just Jeans Store replaced existing lights with LED lamps and achieved 62% reduction in electricity consumption.
 
With the active participation of our employees, we believe that our focus on environmental issues will make our business more efficient, drive customer and employee connection, and have a positive impact in the communities in which we operate.
 
 
Our Commitment to Ethical Sourcing
Premier commits to the highest standards of ethical conduct and responsible product sourcing practices.  We support this commitment by our models for sourcing products, the principles that back up those models, together with our policies and assurance program.
 
Our Sourcing Models, Principles & Policies
We share our customers’ full engagement in understanding where products come from, how products are made and the way that people who manufacture those products are treated.  We currently source products in the following countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Vietnam.
 
Our Ethical Sourcing and Supply Code (Code) supports our commitment to sourcing merchandise that is produced according to these principles, regardless of origin.  All suppliers must sign our supply terms and conditions, of which the Code is part, prior to any orders being placed. We will not do business with a supplier who does not comply with the Code.
 
Among other things, we note that our supply terms and the Code:
·         requires compliance with all laws (and/or requires our suppliers to meet higher standards).
·         insists on the free association of workers, including the right to collectively bargain and be represented.
·         requires labour to be voluntary, without workers being required to lodge deposits (eg. for recruitment fees etc.).
·         prohibits forced labour (including child labour).
·         insists on worker rights such as the right to work in safe, hygienic premises where working hours are not excessive.
·         requires the payment of the minimum national legal standards or local benchmark standards (whichever is higher), and, in relation to full time workers, sufficient to meet basic needs and to provide discretionary income.
·         prohibits unauthorised sub-contracting – meaning that we have a fully transparent relationship with our suppliers.
·         prohibits discrimination on the basis of personal attributes as well as union membership or political affiliations.
 
Senior management personally inspect all factories that manufacture for us. We continue factory visits throughout our relationship with our suppliers to ensure our principles are strictly adhered to.
 
Membership Of The Alliance For Bangladesh Worker Safety
Since 2013 we have been a proud signatory to the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety. This is a legally binding five year commitment to work with some of the world’s largest apparel retailers including the following companies: Nordstrom, Gap, Target, Sears, J.C. Penney, Hudson’s Bay and Macy’s.  Together we will invest in worker safety, improved conditions and transparent reporting in a results oriented, measurable and verifiable way.
While much progress has been made by the industry in Bangladesh, challenges remain. To this end, the Alliance’s achievements to date include:
·         inspection of 100% of member factories (including all of our factories).
·         publication on the Alliance website of all factory inspection results, along with corrective action plans for any factories requiring remediation (including all of our factories).
·         in partnership with the International Finance Corporation, a $50 million low-cost long-term facility to assist factories to undertake remediation.
·         an anonymous worker helpline program in over 400 member factories, with completion across all factories expected to take place by January 2016 (including all of our factories).
·         fire and safety training for 1.1 million workers in all member factories (including all of our factories).  Plus following the Nepal Earthquake, the Alliance is now integrating earthquake preparedness into their training programs.
 

 
Further, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety collaborates with all parties in country – including the Bangladesh government, NGOs, factory workers and the Accord on Fire & Building Safety in Bangladesh. Both the Alliance and the Accord share common priorities, including a relentless focus on workers generally, as well as building integrity and safety – all supported by financial commitments and good governance.
All initiatives of the Alliance are publicly available at www.bangaladeshworkersafety.org
 
Our Activities In Bangladesh
Our operational processes have included the establishment of our own office in Bangladesh, which we opened in March 2014. Our investment in on the ground infrastructure in Bangladesh, including employing staff at our sourcing office directly, supports our audit and compliance activities in that market with particular focus on social compliance and safety which includes:


1.      Senior management personally inspect ALL factories that manufacture for us prior to commencing business. We continue factory visits throughout our relationship with our suppliers to ensure our principles are strictly adhered to. Our Code includes the ability for us to make unannounced visits in Bangladesh for the purposes of our audit and compliance activities.
2.      Prior to placing orders with any factory, we also engage independent internationally recognised qualified assessment and audit firms to verify compliance with all local laws and safety conditions, in relation to labour and safety issues including fire and building integrity.
3.      During manufacturing, our globally independent audit firm Intertek inspect all orders. To-date we have achieved a 100% inspection rate of all our orders in all of our factories.
4.      In addition, if the factories are not member factories of either the Alliance or the Accord, then we will not conduct business with them. Factories must be inspected for compliance with Alliance safety standards before they can be approved by the Alliance for production.
As noted; the Alliance has conducted fire safety training at all factories we source from and all employed staff have received this training. We are fully engaged in this process with a committed and responsible work program in Bangladesh.
 
Ethical Raw Material Procurement
Our sourcing commitment is supported by the following initiatives relating to fibre procurement:


·         Rabbit angora - We confirm that we will not source products containing rabbit angora until we can be completely confident that the ethical standards of rabbit angora farming are assured and independently audited.
·         Cotton - We will not source cotton harvested in Uzbekistan. We will maintain this position until the government of Uzbekistan ends the practice of forced child and adult labour in its cotton sector. To this end, we recently signed the Pledge against Child and Adult Forced Labour in Uzbek Cotton.
·         Azo Dyes - We have voluntarily adopted the EU standard whereby we prohibit the manufacture and sale of goods which contain prohibited levels of the specific aromatic amines originating from a small number of azo dyes.
·         Sandblasted denim - The harmful practice of ‘sandblasting’ denim with silica based powders has been discontinued in our business since 2011.

代写 QUT BSD110: ACCOUNTING