Case Bellagio Questions

Bellagio Questions Name: Sam Clark Bellagio Questions 1.

Focus on three key roles at mainly three levels of authority in the casino—blackjack dealers, pit bosses, and the vice president of table games. How would you characterize the “control strategy” (e. g. , tight vs. loose) used over each of these roles? 2.

Prepare a list of the controls described in the case. What control problems are they designed to address? Are the managers interviewed for the case justified in being proud of their company’s control system? Why or why not? 3. Are any of the control systems in place at the Bellagio suitable for firms in other industries? . Bellagio uses multiple forms of supervision and surveillance on the blackjack dealers, such as the cameras, standard of actions, so the “control strategy” on them is tight. Pit bosses are the persons who supervise the dealers, but there are also some methods to control them, such as the signatures on lots of documents, so the “control strategy” is a little tight. Compared with the other positions, the vice president of table games were watched with less supervision, so the “control strategy” on the vice president of table games is loose.

The control strategy make them know exactly what the casino expect them to do, and the objective of it is to make sure the safety of the casino’s assets. 2. (1) A. Locked cash boxes on the casino floor. This control was designed to avoid steal.

B. Daily cash and coin counts performed by employees who were independent of casino operations. This control was designed to make sure the accuracy of the amount, and avoid the related personnel change the amounts. C. Constant observation and supervision of the gaming area.This control was designed to watch the activity of the gaming area, and make the pit bosses and floor persons solve the events that were out of the ordinary easily.

D. Observation and recording of gaming and other areas by closed-circuit television. This control was designed to watch the action of dealer, and avoid the foul play by the dealer and customer. E. Constant computer monitoring of slot machines.

This control was designed to fix the errors of the machines as soon as they appear. F. Controls over cash and credit: a. Individual accountability for cash stocks.This meant that most personnel who dealt directly with cash were held individually accountable for a specific sum of money that was charged out to them. This control was designed to address the problem that these personnel will make mistakes to create any large shortages or persistent patterns of shortages.

b. Formal procedures for transfers. These procedures were called drop standards and required on transfer. This control was designed to address the problem that employees related to cash or chip transfer have the chance to steal the money in the procedure. c. Strict controls over credit issuance.

It has 3 parts and all these documents contained a check number, customer number, shift, pit number, type of table game, table number, date and time, and the approved dollar amount, in addition to the required employee signatures and ID number. This control was designed to address the problem that the casino fails to collect the unpaid markers and it can make sure the collectability of the markers. d. Tight security in count rooms. Tight security and supervision was necessary in the count rooms to ensure that the winnings were tallied accurately and that all the money to which the casino was entitled was added to stores in the casino cage.This control was designed to secure the count room from unauthorized access at all time.

It may create some problems when unauthorized personnel get in, such as steal and change the documents. G. Control of games a. licensing, GCB required every gaming employee needs to be registered, and passes the background check. This control is designed for avoiding hiring people who had been involved in crimes or violations of casino rules, or those who might be attracted because of a need for quick cash.

This problem may create several unexpected steal or other crime to the casino by employees. b. Standardization of actions at the tables.At the gaming tables, most of the dealers’ physical motions were standardized. This control is designed to make supervision and surveillance easier.

Without this control, deals may have many chances to steal or do other crimes, while the supervisor cannot find it easily. c. Supervision and surveillance. There were multiple forms of supervision and surveillance for front-line gaming personnel in Bellagio. The floor persons and pit bosses usually were used to watch the gaming activity and spot events that were out of the ordinary.

Bellagio used 2,000 cameras to watch every corner of the casino.And the casino also used the mystery shopper to evaluate the dealers. These controls were designed to watch the personnel in the tables and improve the customer services. d. Monitoring of results. Bellagio’s management watched the total drop and hold numbers carefully.

This control was designed to avoid the appearance of the deviation on these numbers and keep the number on a normal level. e. Auditing procedures. Bellagio assigned personnel independent of the transactions and the accounting to perform stringent and frequent auditing procedures. They audit all types of transactions and their accompanying documentation.

The control was designed to solve the problem about every accounting issue, such as the fraud or errors in record or unaccounted for slips between documents and the master games worksheet. H. Bonuses, most executives received annual bonuses averaging about 30% of salary based both on the bottom-line performance of the casino and a set of individual performance objectives. (2). No, they are not. Because (a) they don’t have a detailed understanding of what happens at the tables as it happens because they cannot track the play at the table, even the slot machine will have problems.

b) New technology can help Bellagio solve the problem about track the chip, such as RFID, but it is only about 75% accurate now. (c) The usage of RFID may let customers feeling less entertainment. (d) Though the surveillance is good, there are always the inevitable human errors. 3. Yes, there are some of controls are suitable for firms in other industries.

(a) A standardization of action. It may suits to the most industries, such as financial instruments, Factories, because of avoiding illegal behaviors, such as steal. (b) Licensing.It is suitable in some industries, such as auditing firms and other professional companies. The license will help the company to choose the person who suits the industry easily.

(c) Auditing procedures. It is a common method in company to check the transactions and monitor the operation situation of it. (d) Strict controls over credit issuance. These collection efforts were similar to those used by most large corporations when dealing with overdue customer accounts, including the mailing of statements and delinquency notices, personal contacts, the use of outside collection agencies, and civil litigation.