125 each with one reference

One:The challenges of developing a relationship with a foreign country to establish a thriving business can be challenging. It will take time, effort, and knowledge. This is evident by the ties that IBM has with Kenya. Starting over 60 years ago, IBM began developing relationships with African governments and communities to develop bright minds, improve technology integration, and assist where was needed in the community. In the 2010s, IBM built several facilities around Africa for Africa. Simultaneously, this would seem like a slow-moving enterprise to have a few labs and research locations scattered all over Africa, with most of the work being done in Egypt, Kenya, and Nairobi. It is the appropriate way to develop a business relationship in Kenya and other parts of Africa.

Some things that had to be considered included the need to understand the different ethnic categories of Kenya as they are complex and tend to overlap. Many of the underlining issues that pertain to ethnic and class clashes have to do with how the British ran the colonial up until the Mau Mau Uprising that started in 1953 till 1960. Then Kenya achieved independence in 1963. Before that time, ethnic groups were geographically divided and given preferential treatment based on how they toed the line with the British.

Kenyans have a strong sense of national identity and have several everyday cultural habits that could make business by a western company difficult if they are not prepared. First is that business agreements will not be taken lightly, and all facts need to be put forth with a great deal of analysis before they can be agreed upon. While Kenyan culture is that of collectivistic where all people in the group help those in the group in need and everyone has an opportunity to speak, in a business setting, those with authority do not look for support or opinions from those in the lower ranking. What has come from the everyday culture into the business culture is that discussions are kept even and civil without people talking over or interrupting one another. Additionally, it is considered disrespectful to refuse something outright, and blunt statements should be avoided at all costs.

One of the projects that IBM has done is “investing $70 million to launch a Watson-powered platform for 25 million African youth” (Itu, 2017). IBM is also going to have the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project operational by 2024 that is the world’s largest radio telescope.

IBM is creating a foundation in Kenya and several other places in Africa to create an infrastructure that is functional and reliable, a workforce with the skills and know-how, and are using these minds to find answers to issues in Africa such as malaria, cancer, and shortages in supplies and utilities. Mwai Kibaki, President of Kenya, was quoted saying by Cision PR Newswire that “IBM’s commitment to undertake the proposed research agenda will contribute greatly to our national priorities as part of Kenya’s Vision 2030” (Ibm, 2018). IBM is showing the correct way to have a thriving business in Kenya, and this business smart is part of the reason that they are still apart of the world market.

Reference

Doing business in Kenya. (n.d.). Retrieved February 05, 2021, from https://news.itu.int/big-data-to-tackle-grand-chal…

Pier. (n.d.). Kenyan culture – core concepts. Retrieved February 05, 2021, from https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/kenyan-culture/ke…

Two: Accounting practices can vary significantly from country to country, with the United States having some of the more strict rules on accounting practices. When companies decide to outsource or going into ventures in other countries, accounting practices and cultural differences play a massive part in whether they fail or succeed. According to (Ray, 2018) four of the biggest accounting challenges that companies looking to go global face are the GAAP vary. As I stated earlier, there is no standard GAAP; you may have the IFRS, SFRS, US GAAP, and Ind AS.

Consolidation of entities in a group, Calculation of Impairment of Investment in Subsidiaries and Transfer Pricing, and Intercompany Cost Allocations are also issues that companies face when going global. Each individual account has to be maintained according to that countries accounting standards. If the currency is different in that country, it has to be considered in revenues, expenses, fixed assets, current assets, liabilities, share capital, and loans (Ray, 2018). It’s also essential to maintain excellent records on the impairment of investment in subsidiaries, especially if it anticipates a loss. When it comes to the transfer of pricing and intercompany cost allocation prices for the outside entities, there are various laws and rules when it comes to TP.

The country that I chose was Australia. The AASA is also known as the Australian Accounting Standards companies entering the Australian market have to operate under these standards. The AASA was updated in 2007 to be identical to the IFRS while staying in compliance with the IASB that governs for-profit entities (Financial reporting framework in Australia, 2021). Steinhoff International operates in the U.S. and Australia; in 2017, the company reported inconsistency in their books. However, it was not until further investigation that complete accounting fraud was exposed to the tune of 7.4 billion dollars (Primeaux, 2020). As it would turn out, the company had been recording incorrect or fake entries into the books. Some of the old executives and others had been making deals outside of the company and elevating their assets and profit (Primeaux, 2020). The CEO ending up resigning but never would admit to any fraud.

References

Financial reporting framework in Australia. (2021, February 4). Retrieved from IAS Plus: 4295009428

Ray, A. (2018, April 9). 4 Biggest Accounting Challenges Faced By The Global Companies. Retrieved from Instarem: