Merrill A. “Pete” Miller Jr. is second member of the audit committee with five years of experience on Chesapeake’s Board of Directors. His education stemmed from U.S. Military Academy at West Point where he got his degree in Applied Science and Engineering. After serving five years in the United States Army, he went back to school and attained his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1980. Since that time, Mr. Miller has had various executive positions in drilling companies that work with oil and gas wells. He worked at Anadarko Drilling company for fifteen years before being promoted to CEO for a year. He then joined, National Oilwell Varco, Inc., a leading company in drilling solutions with operations globally. While he started at National Oilwell Varco, Inc. as a V.P. of Marketing, Mr. Miller continued to be promoted to various …show more content…
Mr. Miller Jr. would have an extensive knowledge of the oil and drilling industry as the Chairman, President, and CEO of National Oilwell Varco, Inc. Within Chesapeake Energy’s 10-Q they note Mr. Miller Jr.’s skills and experience revolve around business leadership, corporate governance, financial expertise, and risk management. There is very little doubt that he has extensive knowledge in several of those areas of expertise after considering his experience. He worked in upper level management for decades facing challenging situations that would have tested those skills and abilities. He also went back to school for his MBA at Harvard, which allowed him to extensively gain his skills and knowledge about business holistically.
The third member of the audit committee is Richard K. Davidson, a retired Chairman and CEO of Union Pacific Corporation. He started working for Missouri Pacific Railroad at the age of eighteen while attending Washburn University- where he got his degree in history. He continued with the company being promoted several times including having responsibilities
During Hydromaint's audit, you and Pam had a number of discussions. You, Pam, and Mike Johnson are generally satisfied that the accounts are in accordance with GAAP and are supported by underlying facts. Pam tested Jerry's pension accounting (which she found to be correct) by preparing a pension worksheet based on data contained in the actuary's report:
Arnold & Porter chose to sue Pittston rather than the Buffalo Mining Company because the value of the corporation allowed for adequate compensation to the victims. Author and head lawyer for the plaintiffs, Gerald M. Stern, writes that the original goal was sue to sue for $21 million for the disaster to have a material effect on the cooperation (51). To avoid responsibility Pittston attempted to prove that the Buffalo Mining Company was an independent corporation with its own board of directors. The lawyers for the plaintiffs disproved this claim by arguing the Buffalo Mining Company never held formal meetings of the board of directors and was not independent of the parent company. During this case Pittston’s Oil division had applied to build an oil refinery in Maine. The ...
Prior to the year of 1999, Exxon and Mobil were the two largest American oil companies, which were direct descendants of the John D. Rockefeller’s broken up Standard Oil Company. In 1998 Exxon and Mobil signed an eighty billion dollar merger agreement in hope to form Exxon Mobil Corporation, the largest company ever created. Such a merger seems astonishing, not only because it reunited parts of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company, but also because it would be extremely difficult for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to approve this merger due to its size and importance in the oil market. In fact, it took the FTC an entire year after the merger was proposed to make a decision due to its rigorous analysis in the product and its geographic market, the concentration of the oil market, the potential anticompetitive effects of the merger, the effects towards their growth and labor force, and lastly, the likelihood of entry and the efficiencies that may affect anticompetitive concerns. Although all of these notions are played a role in the analysis of the merger, it is important to remember that the merger’s result efficiencies did outweigh the the anticompetitive risks that were involved, especially since the oil market was headed towards decreasing prices to expand production.
Entering the 1950s, no corporation even came close to General Motors in its size, or it's profits. GM was twice as big as the second biggest company in the world, Standard Oil of New Jersey (father of today's ExxonMobil), and had a vast diversity of businesses ranging from home appliances to providing insurance and building Buicks, Cadillacs, Chevys, GMCs, Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs and trains. It was so big that it made more than half the cars sold in the United States and the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division was threatening to break it up(to prevent Monopolies, Like how Standard oil was broken up). In the 21st century, it's almost hard to imagine how powerful GM was in the 50s and 60s.Sports cars from Europe were getting popular, because of servicemen coming back from WWII, and wanted sports cars, but American Automakers didn't make sports cars, so they would either buy foreign, or go without. A man named McLean would still try to make a low priced sports car. But it didn't work. The idea of a car coming from GM that could compete with Jaguar, MG or Triumph was pretty much considered stupid and insane. C1:Generation: Bad but valuable. Just 300 Corvettes were made in 1953. Each of these first-year Corvettes was a white roadster with red interior. The Corvette was made of fiberglass for light weight, but the first cars were made with a really weak, (and kind of pathetic for a “sports car”) 150 horsepower 6-cylinder engine and an automatic transmission. The result was more of a look at me, I’m rich car than a race car. The first generation of the Corvette was introduced late in 1953. It was originally designed as a show car for GM's traveling car show, Motorama, the Corvette was a Show Car for the 1953 Motorama display at...
This case is about Star River and how the firm is in the middle of financial crisis that was induced by rapid growth. The CEO basically wants to improve the financial health of the company and ask for help to make some decisions. The CEO asks one of the analyst for help in reviewing the historical performance of the firm, forecast financing requirements for the next two years, exercise the forecasting model to identify the key drivers of the assumptions, estimate Star River’s weighted-average cost of capital and lastly to analyze the proposed investment in a packaging machine.
Rockefeller was America’s first billionaire, and he was the true epitome of capitalism. Rockefeller was your typical rags-to-riches businessman, and at the turn of the twentieth century, while everyone else in the working class was earning ten dollars max every week, Rockefeller was earning millions. There has been much discussion as to whether Rockefeller’s success was due to being a “robber baron”, or as a “captain of industry”. By definition, a robber baron was an industrialist who exploited others in order to achieve personal wealth, however, Rockefeller’s effect on the economy and the lives of American citizens has been one of much impact, and deserves recognition. He introduced un-seen techniques that greatly modified the oil industry. During the mid-nineteenth century, there was a high demand for kerosene. In the refining process from transforming crude oil to kerosene, many wastes were produced. While others deemed the waste useless, Rockefeller turned it into income by selling them. He turned those wastes into objects that would be useful elsewhere, and in return, he amassed a large amount of wealth. He sold so much “waste” that railroad companies were desperate to be a part of his company. However, Rockefeller demanded rebates, or discounted rates, from the railroad companies, when they asked to be involved with his business. By doing so, Rockefeller was able to lower the price of oil to his customers, and pay low wages to his workers. Using these methods,
The audit committee a part of the board of directors plays an important role in preventing fraud. They are directly responsible for overseeing the work of any public accounting firm, such as PwC, employed by the company. They also must preapprove all audit services provided by the auditors.
In this case, Phelps Dodge management is primarily concerned with the long-term viability and profitability of the company. The management team has internalized a duty to the owners of the mining operations to adjust company practices to reflect current market conditions with the goal of maximizing company profitability and industry dominance. The remuneration and professional reputation of the Phelps Dodge management personnel is also correlated to the general performance of the corporation, thus introducing very personal attributes into conflict. In the view of these mangers, the restrictions placed upon the business operations by the labor unions are a significant hurdle to achieving these goals. This view by the Phelps Dodge management of the labor force as one of many puzzle pieces to be adjusted to further enhance profits and corporate viability is supported by the capitalistic business environment prevalent throughout the United States as well as much of the Western
We discovered that the history of the oil industry along the Delaware River dates back to 1892. Since then, water port facilities, public transportation, and other forms of infrastructure have benefitted from this industry and undergone important development. More recently, however, due to the rising cost of importing and refining crude oil, a couple of refineries along the Delaware River are on the verge of shutting down. According to the report, the cessation of operations at these facilities has resulted in a direct loss of 1,800 jobs and an indirect loss of 15,000 jobs. In this situation, however, Delta Airlines spent 180 million dollars purchasing Trainer Refinery, for the purpose of lowering the cost of jet fuel. This purchase...
The Shell Oil Company involves a group of energy and petrochemicals companies that operate globally. Shell employs over 92,000 employees and operates in more than 70 countries and territories. Shell is considered a prominent gasoline provider, offering products that range from energy fuels, lubricants for businesses, and petrochemicals for detergents, packaging, carpets, and computers. The Shell corporation is also making strides to embrace renewable energies “by creating hybrid energies with traditional fuels such as natural gas” (Shell Global, n.d.). Shell is building hybrid power plants that combine renewable energies, including those produced by sun and wind, with traditional fuels. By investing in emission-free energies, Shell seeks to improve its operations and competitive posture as renewable technologies advance.
The oversight responsibilities of the board, the CAE lacking of expertise or broad understanding of financial controls and responsibilities, and the understaffed internal audit functions lacking of independence and direct access to the board of directors contributed to the absence of internal controls. To begin with, the board should be retrained to achieve financial literacy to review financial reporting. Other than attending formal meetings, the board of directors should be more involved with the management. For the Audit Committee, the two members who were recruited as acquaintances to Brennahan need be replaced with experts who are more sufficiently knowledgeable about accounting rules beyond merely “financially literate”. Furthermore, the internal audit functions need to expand with different expertise commensurate with the expanded activities of the organization, testing financial reporting rather than internal controls from an operational perspective. The CAE should be more independent and proactive to execute audit plans, instead of following orders from the CFO, and initiate a direct and efficient communication between internal audit and audit
Roberts, Michael D. "Rockefeller and His Oil Empire." Northeast Ohio's Business Enthusiasts. Town Hall of Cleveland, July 2012. Web. 1 Feb. 2014. .
ExxonMobil is a multinational oil and gas company with its headquarters offices in Irving, Texas. It was formed in 1999 through a definitive agreement between Exxon Corporation and Mobil Oil Corporation to merge and create a new company. In essence, the corporation produces, distributes and sells oil and natural gas across the world. The structure and culture help it survive the price burst which often occurs in the global oil market. Notably, among its largest competitors, ExxonMobil generates high revenue and produces large volumes of oil for every penny it spends. Besides, the company publicizes the highest price of natural gas and oil, both in absolute terms and for every employee it hires. Significantly, even in good years, the top managers
In 1985, after federal deregulation of natural gas pipelines, Enron was born from the merger of Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, a Nebraska pipeline company. In the process of the merger, Enron incurred a lot of debt and, as the result of deregulation, no longer had exclusive rights to its pipelines. In order to survive, the company had to come up with a new and innovative business strategy to generate profits and cash flow. Kenneth Lay, CEO, hired McKinsey & Co. to assist in developing Enron’s business strategy. It assigned Jeffrey Skilling to the task. Skilling, who had a background in banking and asset and liability management, proposed a revolutionary solution to Enron’s credit, cash, and profit worries in the gas pipeline business: create a “gas bank” in which Enron would buy gas from a network of suppliers and sell it to a network of consumers, contractually guaranteeing both the supply and the price, charging fees for the transactions and assuming the associated risks. Thanks to the young consultant, the company created both a new product and a new paradigm for the industry—the energy derivative. Lay was so impressed with Skilling’s ...
After several years shopping at Petco, I have decided to stop shopping for four main reasons: