Magazine Article Summaries Essay, Research Paper
To: Mr. Teach ? Eng 201
From: name goes here
Subject: Major Assignment #3 — Journal Entries
Date: May 8, 2000
JOURNAL #1– INC. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING COMPANIES May 1994.
Publisher: James J. Spanfeller,
488 Madison Ave., 6th Floor
New York, NY 10022 (212) 326-2600
Audience Statement: Inc. speaks directly to the entrepreneur, sole-proprietor, small
business partnerships.
Advertising: There were several advertisements including investing, retirement, tax accounting,
computer companies and small businesses.
Summary:
Inc., The Magazine for Growing Companies speaks to a specific audience (see audience
statement). Some interesting articles were about the role of non-profit organizations within the business community, how to maximize return on an investment, how to effectively hire good employees,
quite a lot about planning and preparing a retirement portfolio and shrewd long term investing.
The article titled ?Managing Autonomy? is the focus of my summary, I also mention later another article I found interesting. This article spoke about managerial styles: how and what works well when deciding policy for your employees. Some CEO?s would say that your primary duty as a manager is to participate in managerial styles that encourage group problem solving. You have to continue tapping the collective wisdom of your employees. But you can?t empower employees without holding them
responsible and accountable for their actions. These are the most important ideas presented in the article
but they go on to discuss some other topics such as marketing strategies and computer technology.
You have to focus on a particular market area and remember that quality is the single most important
factor. Another good question they ask is, What can a growing direct seller do to reduce its chances of being ripped off by customers? I think the most important point they bring out here is to concentrate on
the front end, that is to remove the undesirable customers. Along with credit checks and the usual
business safety precautions.
Another article about non-profit organizations spoke volumes about the need to explore and how to give responsibly and effectively. Businesses can donate money or services to a charity and use that for a
tax credit or write-off. The tax benefits were hammered on quite a bit. Wanting to do the right thing may be one of the impulses for giving, but soon it needs to be replaced with a more durable strategy. The relationship between private business and charity organizations has a long and complex history. Private foundations are excellent places to find out about how giving can be done effectively. These are some
of the typical topics you will find when you pick up a copy of INC. magazine. I would recommend subscribing to it if you have any aspirations of entering the business world or a business venture of any
kind.
JOURNAL #2 ? INTERIOR DESIGN October 1998
Publisher: Mark Strauss
Interior Design
345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
(212) 519-7261
Audience Statement: Interior Design is aimed at the Interior Design Professional who is currently in the
industry.
Advertising: The advertisements are typical of the equipment and supplies a designer needs, as well as for
woman?s beauty needs and fine furniture. All in all the ads were very sparse which I liked a
great deal.
Summary:
Interior Design is a very colorful and graphical journal for the working professional. The articles range from the how-to section to full on award winning designers and their work. Many modern and art deco design topics were discussed. One article in particular ?Structural Tension? was very interesting. They talked about the conventional use of window treatments, wall coverings, and upholstery, fabric is now replacing steel, wood, concrete, and glass, and masonry as a structural material. Teflon-coated floss,
Kevlar, and Tenera (a.k.a. dental floss) are among the fibers implemented with tension cables to create
tent-like surfaces that are the basic forms of tensile structures. Tension is architecture.
The article titled ?Art and Architecture? is the focus of my summary. Traditionally, museum and gallery exhibitions devoted to subjects of architecture and design have taken on fairly predictable forms. They tend to showcase drawings, models, and occasionally furniture and smaller decorative objects
created by acknowledged masters or well-known practitioners. Henry Urbach, architect, thinks there
needs to be a way of presenting contemporary architecture and design to an expanded public. He has a rationale for creating new, more ambitious programs that are more convincing. The issue of dealing with space represents the essential curatorial program of Henry Urbach Architecture. It is broad enough to encompass installation art, digital work, prototypes, video, architectural photography, and the explorations of a wide range of artists who explore interior space and urbanism. This article was a little more high-level than I could understand, the level of language was aimed at, again, the working professional in the industry.
These were some of the typical topics for discussion as well as Tibetan Art, ASID Honers, and Hollywood and the Hudson. I believe these are different types of architectural style. I enjoyed the many colorful illustrations, pictures, and diagrams. I would recommend this journal to any civil engineer, architect, interior designer, or anyone who can appreciate good looking surroundings.
JOURNAL #3 ? JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTANCY January 2000
Publisher: Colleen Katz
New York, NY, Jan 2000
Larry Swedroe; Peter D. Flemming
Audience Statement: The Journal of Accountancy speaks to the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) or any
other accounting professional.
Advertising: There were many ads for computer accounting software, tax accounting software, they also
review some of the software within the magazine.
Summary:
The Journal of Accountancy speaks to a very specific audience. The articles range in focus from personal financial planning, auditing, business and industry, to new accounting techniques being used
today. The article ?The Quest to Outperform? is the focus of my summary. The deal is that investors
need to know whether active managers can consistently make money exploiting market inefficiencies
after factoring in the cost of their efforts. Mutual fund managers who have outperformed the markets
in the past make it seem easy but identifying future winners is difficult. For the majority of investors, active management has achieved inconsistent and below market results. Before recommending that clients or employers pursue and active portfolio management strategy, CPA?s and other financial managers should understand some of the costs that must be overcome for this approach to outperform the market. These costs include operating expenses and distribution fees, the cost of cash, trading expenses, market impact costs and taxes.
I would not recommend this journal to anyone other than an accountant or someone who plans to
be an accountant.