Example research essay topic: Gigabit Ethernet Major Functions - 1,527 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

Term paper for my accounting internship at Smurfit Stone Container In the following essay I am going to speak about the Smurfit Stone Container company where I had an accounting internship during the period of PLEASE PUT THE NUMBER HERE months. I will comment on the companys history, on my duties and responsibilities, on the things I learnt from the internship as well as on my new experiences and how I plan to continue my career. 1. A one page description of your company. I should note that Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation is a publicly trade company (NASDAQ: SSCC) and is the industry's leading integrated manufacturer of paperboard and paper-based packaging. The company has approximately 38, 600 employees working at nearly 270 manufacturing facilities, thus fully covering the demand for paperboard and packaging in the North America. Speaking about the history of Smurfit-Stone, I should note it was formed November 18, 1998, as a result of the merger between St.

Louis-based Jefferson Smurfit Corporation (JSC) and Chicago-based Stone Container Corporation (Stone). The company acquired St. Laurent Paperboard Inc. in mid 2000. Last year, Smurfit-Stone acquired MeadWestvaco's Stevenson company and entered new markets. Jefferson Smurfit Corporation on the other hand was created in 1974, when the Chicago and Dublin based companies merged.

Stone Container Corporation of Chicago on the other hand was founded in 1926 and originally called J. H. Stone and Company. Ever since the company continued its growth into a multinational company that currently has presence in North/South Americas, Asia and Europe. 2.

A description of your position and the duties that you performed. (Im working in the accounting department. My major functions are payroll and accounts receivables and other accounting duties). My internship position was in the accounting department, while my major functions were payroll and A/R as well as other auxiliary accounting duties. I was responsible for providing accounting and clerical support to Accounting Department personnel. I maintained accounting document files, including daily work payroll and accounts receivable. I keyed daily worksheets to the general ledger system.

I accounted for the account receivables forwarded them to my colleague. Also I assisted accounting personnel as requested. I typed a variety of documents, reports, and records. Also I prepared requisitions for office, computer, and routine supply purchases. One of my duties was to assume responsibility for effectively researching, tracking, and resolving (or properly referring) accounting or documentation problems and discrepancies. During my internship at Smurfit Stone Container I assumes responsibility for establishing and maintaining effective communication and coordination with Company personnel and with management.

I maintained regular contact with other departments to obtain and convey information and / or to correct transactions. I keep management informed of area activities and of any significant problems. I assumes responsibility for related duties as required or assigned, i. e.

ensured that work area is clean, secure, and well maintained as well as personally completed special projects and miscellaneous assignments as required. 3. A description of at least one problem that you ran into during the course of your internship and a description of how that problem was resolved. As common desktop PCs and applications become more advanced, they provide mainstream businesses with the means to accomplish tasks that were once inconceivable, and make employees in the Accounting department where I had my internship much more productive. Ironically, during my internship I witnessed how applications, such as spread-sheets, word processing, presentation and e-mail programs, became more bandwidth-intensive / advanced . In our company they are typically run simultaneously with additional processes running in the background, which actually slows down the network and can actually decrease employee productivity in the accounting department. Our company found it the hard way.

While the employees had a new accounting program based on C++ programming and the utilization of Microsoft Excel that produces numerous detailed reports, the report generation process was excruciatingly slow. Ultimately, the whole network collapsed and it was impossible for me and other people to synchronize the data, and thus to work with the account receivable, payroll, etc. Our accounting department would generate as many as 30 reports by the end of each month, which could take as long as 10 hours to run. During the report generation process, the accounting employees were mostly idle while waiting for their systems to query the database, compile the information and print the reports. The slow report generation resulted in other problems too.

Many times reports were needed immediately in short notice for meetings or business correspondence. So, not only did the accounting department lose productivity, but other companys employees had to wait as well. The most amusing thing was the mix up of duties that occurred during the network crash that certainly violated the ARC principle (authorization, record, custody). During the network failure, I was able to have access to authorization and record function, and technically could have signed up a non-existent employee and receive his / her check. Other friends of mine also had their functions mixed up, yet I believe none of them exploited this companys temporary vulnerability. The company had to rewire the whole network as well as rotate the personnel to assure that during the network failure that lasted 2 days, no one stole any money.

The internal audit investigate each of the employees. The thing could have been solved, by deploying the wireless internet technology and GPRS at the office space. In this manner the company would certainly avoid additional wiring costs and would be able to establish dynamic and flexible wireless office. Also I should note there is a well known technology called Gigabit Ethernet technology, thanks to which, organizations of all sizes can afford to make Gigabit Ethernet performance a reality on their existing Category- 5 cabling in their network. 4. A discussion of the most important things you learned from this internship experience. During my internship I learnt how to work with account reconciliations, how to correct them and complete in a timely manner.

Also I learnt good communication and coordination skills with Company personnel. I found out how to properly inform the management should anything suspicious takes place. During my internship I have gained knowledge of related computer applications, got familiar with basic bookkeeping procedures. I practiced my typing or keyboarding skills, too. The internship taught me how to be attentive to detail, well-organized and accurate.

I became more cooperative and willing to assist others. I developed the ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out detailed but uninvolved instructions and to deal with problems involving a few variables. Once again I practiced basic math skills, used decimals to compute ratios and percents, and to drew and interpreted graphs. I also learnt about things like American with Disabilities Act, Equal Employment Opportunity Act.

Still I should note that my university prepared me well for my accounting position and I hardly found anything completely new to me. 5. An evaluation of the internship experience and how it might have been improved. The internship was a lot of fun and a good thing to put in my resume, yet still I believe it needed various improvements. First of all, I was given very little responsibility simply because I was an intern and not a full time employee and that unmotivated me. The second thing was the somewhat strange corporate culture. The workers in the accounting department did not hurry up for anything and did not try to complete their work ASAP, but rather would move, talk and work in a somewhat slow, sleepy manner.

When I said to my immediate supervisor about work efficiency, and how much efficiency I developed in my university, I got an answer of something like this Listen! University is different from life. Here, you should take your timed workout do not outperform those who work here. it is for your experience only... you are not a 911 internet do not hurry. The third thing was the companys resistance to change prevalent not only in my department but around the company.

When the network started to work slowly and the reports started to be prepared even more slowly, I told my supervisor about the loss of productivity. He once again told me about taking my time and getting a good experience, yet promised to talk to his boss. Whenever the network crashed, none of the accounting department employees panicked and played Solitaire, and Mine sweeper all day. 6. A statement of your career goals for the next 3, 5, and 10 years and a justification for those goals. (My goal is to get a CPA and work for IRS) in the next 3 years I am planning to increase my experience in accounting as well as work for some other firm (probably the big 5 firm).

Perhaps I will take additional classes at the university, too. After about 3 years I will pass my CPA examination and will be ready for professional job. I will then apply for a position at the IRS and will work on the ways to minimize fraud at the work place as well as work with the illegal capital / money laundering on the territory of the USA.

Research essay sample on Gigabit Ethernet Major Functions