Submitted by: Submitted by darmstrong1971
Views: 432
Words: 536
Pages: 3
Category: People
Date Submitted: 03/12/2009 02:29 PM
Political Worksheet
Date: 11 March 2009
Prepared by: Team #1 (David Armstrong)
List current or future political/governmental/union/regulation issues that may impact your organization
Regulatory:
SMART Technology must maintain compliance with several international policy directives.
1- European Union's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive and
2- Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive, and the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products developed by the People's Republic of China (China RoHS).
Non-compliance may result in fines or the ability to operate within a given jurisdiction.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted three patents to SMART founder (which are assigned to SMART), and other patent applications are in process. Future R&D and Sales Revenue may be dependant on successful patent application approval.
Governmental:
SMART Technology has distributors in over 100 countries. Changes in export taxes, duties & customs, trade agreements may impact SMART’s ability to operate in these countries.
Changes to the Income Tax Act re: Small Business tax credits, R&D tax credits would also impact SMART’s bottom line.
Union:
SMART is non-unionized, at present. If employees (i.e- assembly workers) were to unionize, SMART would likely incur higher labor costs.
List current or future social trends that may impact your organization
- Younger generations inclination to embrace technology.
Example: Gloucester City Public Schools is a K 12 school district comprised of four schools, located in Gloucester City, New Jersey. Math scores in the district’s middle school have also improved by 16 percentage points as a result of using SMART Board interactive whiteboards and Notebook lesson activities.
- Technology is inclusive. Special need students ability to use products.
Challenge
Teachers at the JFK Centre used to use...