Ratio Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Ratio Analysis - Essay Example Financial statement analysis consists of the application of analytical tools and techniques to the data in financial statements in order to derive from them measurements and relationships that are significant and useful for decision making (ICFAI Center for Management Research ICMR, 2004). The process of financial analysis can be described in various ways, depending on the objectives to be obtained. Financial analysis can be used as a preliminary screening tool of future financial conditions and results. It may be used as a forecasting tool of future financial conditions and results. It may be used as a process of evaluation and diagnosis of managerial, operating, or other problem areas. Above all, financial analysis reduces reliance on intuition, guesses and thus narrows the areas of uncertainty that is present in all decision making processes. Financial analysis does not lessen the need for judgment but rather establishes a sound and systematic basis for its rational application. In the analysis of financial statements, the analyst has a variety of tools available from which he can choose those best suited to his specific purpose. The following are the important tools of analysis. Ratios are well known and the most widely used tools of financial analysis. ... The analysis of ratios can disclose relationships as well as bases of comparison that reveal conditions and trends that cannot be detected by going through the individual components of the ratio. The usefulness of ratios is ultimately dependant on their intelligent and skillful interpretation. Ratios are used by different people for various purposes. As ratio analysis mainly helps in valuing the firm in quantitative terms, two groups of people are interested in the valuation of the firm and they are creditors and shareholders. Creditors are again divided into short-term creditors and long-term creditors. Short-term creditors hold obligations that will soon mature and they are concerned with the firm's ability to pay its bills promptly. In the short run, the amount of liquid assets determines the ability clear off current liabilities. These persons are interested in liquidity. Long-term creditors hold bonds or mortgages against the firm and are interested in current payments of interest and eventual repayment of principal. The firm must be sufficiently liquid in the short-term and have adequate profits for the long-term. These persons examine both the liquidity and profitability of the firm. In addition to liquidity and profitability, the owners of the firm i.e. the shareholders are concerned about the policies of the firm that affect the market price of the firm's stock. Without liquidity, the firm cannot pay cash dividends. Without profits, the firm would not be able to declare dividends. With poor policies, the common stock would trade at low prices in the market. Keeping in view the above discussions regarding the category of users, financial ratios fall into three groups as follows: Liquidity

Precision Pricing for Profit in the New World Order Essay

Precision Pricing for Profit in the New World Order - Essay Example This report discusses the concept of sprint selling by illustrating its basic elements and ways companies can implement this innovative sales approach. Sprint selling is a business technique that focuses on speeding up the time to close in order to increase efficiency and achieve better results for a company. To understand speed selling one must comprehend the consequences of going the opposite direction. All companies depend on having a cash flow in order to keep a business going. If it takes a company more than a year to close out its sales leads the firm is operating in a risky environment because overhead and operating expenses may eat up a company budget prior to achieving the sale. In the process of going for a home run customer that can bring high amounts of the revenue the company, basic necessities must be met, thus this is where sprint selling comes to the rescue. Sprint selling is a process that increases the chances of longevity because it ensures a quick sales turnover where a company obtains many closed sales in short periods of time. Spring selling works best a part of the integrated plan in which sprint selling is ut ilized as a combined strategy that involves the creation of a diversified customer portfolio. The responsibility of obtaining sales for a company is shared by the marketing and sales team. The marketing team concentrates on attracting new customers and sales leads, while the sales team has to follow up on those sales leads and are the ones that must close the sale. This means that the salespeople are the ones that have a greater influence on the total elapsed time of a sale cycle. The sales team has to incorporate a selection strategy of customer prospects that reduce risks associated with both extremes. Sprint selling works best for smaller accounts that require less hassle implying that a company can not solely survive with these accounts in the long term. Bigger accounts require more time and a sprint selling approach realizes the need of having a balance between smaller and larger customer. The approach does encourage to find ways to shorten the overall closing time for big accounts as part of the company overall strategy. Â  

International Students Problems Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Students Problems - Assignment Example Schlossberg Theory of Transition is a model of psychosocial advancement that analyzes life occasions which influence different parts of a singulars life and their societal parts. The individuals' observation of the move is as critical to see how an individual is influenced by his/her changing life occasions to the extent that the sort, setting, and effect of the move itself. Schlossberg delineated the moving process with the terms of "moving in", "traveling through" and "moving out". Methods for adapting to move, whether constructive or pessimistic, hail from surveying an individual's advantages and liabilities in the four zones which Schlossberg termed as the 4 Ss – the circumstance, self, backing, and procedure. The principle utilization of Schlossberg's theory is with grown-up learners and they've come back to higher instruction. Compared to conventional scholars, non-custom understudies are for the most part at numerous distinctive focuses throughout their life because of the different sorts of moves they have experienced. Programming created on the 4 Ss can help grown-up learners to distinguish and draw upon their advantages in adapting to the discernment of moving into the test of coming back to class rather than just seeing what their restriction could be. Schlossberg Transition Theory is generally dependent upon the singular and what they think about to be a move in their life. Here is a snappy survey of the steps and thoughts behind Schlossberg's Theory: Indeed, inside Europe societies might be distinctive. It may be troublesome to get used to another society. You may wish to discuss this with other universal understudies in a help supportive network run by the advising administration You may think that it troublesome to comprehend your teacher or different learners. You should not be humiliated. It is paramount to tell somebody of your troubles, with the goal that you can accept help.

Precision Pricing for Profit in the New World Order Essay

Precision Pricing for Profit in the New World Order - Essay Example This report discusses the concept of sprint selling by illustrating its basic elements and ways companies can implement this innovative sales approach. Sprint selling is a business technique that focuses on speeding up the time to close in order to increase efficiency and achieve better results for a company. To understand speed selling one must comprehend the consequences of going the opposite direction. All companies depend on having a cash flow in order to keep a business going. If it takes a company more than a year to close out its sales leads the firm is operating in a risky environment because overhead and operating expenses may eat up a company budget prior to achieving the sale. In the process of going for a home run customer that can bring high amounts of the revenue the company, basic necessities must be met, thus this is where sprint selling comes to the rescue. Sprint selling is a process that increases the chances of longevity because it ensures a quick sales turnover where a company obtains many closed sales in short periods of time. Spring selling works best a part of the integrated plan in which sprint selling is ut ilized as a combined strategy that involves the creation of a diversified customer portfolio. The responsibility of obtaining sales for a company is shared by the marketing and sales team. The marketing team concentrates on attracting new customers and sales leads, while the sales team has to follow up on those sales leads and are the ones that must close the sale. This means that the salespeople are the ones that have a greater influence on the total elapsed time of a sale cycle. The sales team has to incorporate a selection strategy of customer prospects that reduce risks associated with both extremes. Sprint selling works best for smaller accounts that require less hassle implying that a company can not solely survive with these accounts in the long term. Bigger accounts require more time and a sprint selling approach realizes the need of having a balance between smaller and larger customer. The approach does encourage to find ways to shorten the overall closing time for big accounts as part of the company overall strategy. Â  

Betrayal in Julius Ceasar Essay Example for Free

Betrayal in Julius Ceasar Essay When a person is betrayed by someone he or she loves, something profound happens in the heart of the betrayed person. It is not simply that someone has let you down, or double-crossed you. Rather, the betrayer has done an action or taken special information and used it to harm you. The betrayer has held a position of confidence of your most sacred secrets, and then they treat those secrets as if they are to be exploited. A betrayer is a person who knows your heart and has ripped into that heart and ripped out that heart by exposing and exploiting your vulnerabilities. Betraying another person has become okay in modern day society due to the fact that we feel that we need to preserve ourselves, we have to defend our personal relationships with others, and we must always serve the greater good. In today’s society, people are focused on self-preservation when it comes to the betrayal of others. If a person feels that his life, his ego, or his friendships will be jeopardized by another person, he is most likely not afraid to betray another person. This is much like jealousy. We as people feel that we are never good enough. We want to be better than the person next to us, but when that doesn’t happen we feel that person needs to be expelled. In the novel Julius Caesar this is exactly what Brutus does to Caesar. He was afraid that Caesar would outshine the Triumvirate. Brutus killed him, thinking that maybe it would make him look better. This never worked out Brutus. Instead, everyone hated him. His self-preservation was the reverse psychology of what we as people think that betrayal will do for us. Another way that our society views betrayal is with our personal relationships with others. This can be summed up in one word: trust. Humans use trust as a comfort factor. We are always seeking the opportunity to ensue trust in the people in our lives. Betrayal is always ready to mess this up. If we feel that we cannot trust someone we betray them. This is what Caesar’s friends did to him. No one wanted to believe that they could trust him. So what did they do? They betrayed him. The last factor in betraying another person is for the greater good. Brutus believed that by killing Caesar that he was serving the people. He thought that is what they wanted. Just because he was afraid of Caesar he believed that everyone thought the same. The thought was that he would become king and that was very frightening to Brutus. Service to the greater good is a factor of betrayal that is used by many people. We do it because we think that we are able to protect others. Many times this form of betrayal does not do any good because it is done for the wrong reasons. Betraying another person has become okay in modern day society due to the fact that we feel that we need to preserve ourselves, we have to defend our personal relationships with others, and we must always serve the greater good. When a person is betrayed by someone he or she loves, something profound happens in the heart of the betrayed person. It is not simply that someone has let you down, or double-crossed you. Rather, the betrayer has done an action or taken special information and used it to harm you. The betrayer has held a position of confidence of your most sacred secrets, and then they treat those secrets as if they are to be exploited. A betrayer is a person who knows your heart and has ripped into that heart and ripped out that heart by exposing and exploiting your vulnerabilities. Betrayal is found in many different forms of literature, especially the novel Julius Caesar.

Understanding the different leadership styles

Understanding the different leadership styles There are two separate views relating to leadership styles: one view holds that leaders are born. The qualities they embody are unlimited. Other concept is that in order to emerge as leaders, humans need to work hard and develop these qualities (Golden 2010, 66-75). The great man theory demonstrates the previous concept and explains that the leaders intrinsically possess personality traits. This concept assumes that a leader naturally possess the required skills that allows him to perform. While adapting this concept, scholars analyse specific problems or tasks and provide leadership styles for addressing them (Crosby 1991, 25-46). Many people have observed the behaviour of leaders, the affect of situation on leadership, the functions of leadership, as well as dynamic processes and contingencies. Both the economic model as well as behavioural perspective examines leadership as a role whose purpose is to help an organisation to be more adaptable. Leadership can help an organisation in pursuing towards adaptive change (Golden 2010, 66-75). Discussion Leadership is a term used to describe the act of transforming, inspiring, mentoring, coordinating, and managing people toward an individuals, a groups, an organizations, a communitys, or a nation-states vision, goals, and objectives. In organization studies, leadership is acknowledged as an important concept, but there is great debate about what leadership actually is and how it occurs and evolves (Golden 2010, 66-75). Typically leadership theory in organization studies is spread across a wide spread of perspectives. These perspectives offer differing views and underlying assumptions about leadership, including leadership as a genetic ability or trait that one is born with, leadership as a specific form of behaviour, leadership as process or a way of thinking that is socially acquired, and leadership as a contingent product of environment. Within these perspectives, there are debates about the very need or existence of leadership (Crosby 1991, 25-46). For example, dispersed leadershi p theory argues that leadership is a form of power that is everywhere and always present. Conversely some contingency-based notions of leadership argue that leadership can be substituted for and made obsolete or redundant. More important, leadership as a field of study is vast and can be a daunting domain of study for newcomers to the field. Part of the challenge for people studying and researching leadership is the high volume of leadership theories and perspectives available (Miller 2007, 56-98). The aim of this encyclopaedic entry, therefore, is to provide a general overview of leadership specific to organization studies for a reader. Conceptual and Practical Approaches to Leadership Few things are more important to human commotion than leadership. People, regardless of their occupation, education, political or religious convictions, or cultural orientation, usually identify that leadership is a vastly significant fact. Political individuals declare it, analysts talk about it and organisations depend on it (Haber 2010, 94-130). Effective leadership leads nations in times of threat, encourages effective team and group performance, creates successful organisations and helps in nurturing the next generation (Morrill 2010, 110-138). The Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II, Winston Churchill, was able to stimulate the resolution of his tormented people with these words: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. The absence of leadership can be equally dramatic; organisations progress slowly, languish, and sometimes even lose their way. Bad leadership can disseminate despair on those who are focus of its realm (Komives et al 2010, 156-184). Vroom and Jago identified 3 different functions that situational factors play in the effectiveness of leadership, that is, effectiveness of an organisation is not usually the result of good leadership techniques (Morrill 2010, 110-138). Outcomes of any group effort can be affected by situational factors that may be beyond the control of a leader. However, leaders receive credit or blame for the actions of the people, success or failure is usually the consequence of external forces, that is, changing technologies, or environmental conditions etc. An analysis carried out by Strube and Garcia establishes that leaders who are task-oriented perform best in situations that are either favourable (clear tasks, firm position power, and good leader/member relations) or unfavourable (unclear tasks, feeble position power, and poor leader/member relations) (Haber 2010, 94-130). On the other hand, leaders who are people-oriented perform best in conditions that are only slightly favourable, which is usually based on the value of leader-member relations. Another approach that deals with the relation between the situation and leadership style is path-goal theory (Komives et al 2010, 156-184). According to this approach, path is referred to the leaders behaviours which may help the team to achieve a desired goal. Therefore, leaders must display different behaviours to achieve different goals, depending on the situation. Which style of leadership should be used depends on two types of situational factors, such as, subordinate characteristics, which includes ability, control, and authority; and environmental characteristics, which include the nature of the task, work group, and authority system (Pitsis 2007, 100-156). Studies of different organisations establishes that task-oriented approaches are effective in conditions with low task structure as they help employees deal with an uncertain situation, and ineffective in conditions with high task structure (Haber 2010, 94-130). The researchers found participatory leadership to be more effective if the employees were involved in non-repetitive, ego-involving tasks. However, achievement-oriented leadership has been more effective if the employees were involved in uncertain tasks. An obvious implication of this approach is that leaders must analyse the situation before adopting a particular style of leadership (Hicks 2004, 88-150). Globalisation and Leadership The gradual increase in the globalisation has influenced leadership in several ways. Globalisation has influenced leadership with international employee transfer rates, increase in opportunities, and competition (Komives et al 2010, 156-184). Effective leadership in one country may not result in good leadership in another country for many reasons. A good leader may be blessed with certain traits that are preferred in a country, and these traits or habits may not be accepted or held highly in another country. Nations have their own social standards and cultures, and this is vital while considering leadership. A leader with the vast knowledge of a countrys ethics, customs, and beliefs and basic leadership skills may prove to be a beneficial leader to a business in another country (Hicks 2004, 88-150). A leader can have several skills that may make them successful in the world. These skills are awareness, strong business knowledge and sensitivity to cultural differences and standards, commitment, courage, and integrity. A good leader may not necessarily be a good leader in any country until he has good work ethics, professional and personal integrity and determination. If the leader is understands the cultural standards of a country and shows respect for these standards, he may be effective and may be respected by the country he is trying to lead (Pitsis 2007, 100-156). Innovation and Leadership Traditionally, innovation has dangled in and out of fashion: accepted in good times and discarded in downturns. However, as globalisation reduces the geographic boundaries and barriers in the market that once held back businesses from achieving potential, a companys capability to innovate-to tap the fresh value-creating concepts of the employees and partners, suppliers, customers, and other parties away from its own boundaries-is anything but faddish. Innovation has become a hub of growth, performance, and valuation. Strategy and Leadership As a leader responsible for the competitive development of your organisation, as well as a desire to keep ahead of the game, you have a responsibility to ensure that you are fully aware of new strategies and developments that can impact upon your personal growth as a leader of others (Hicks 2004, 88-150). The basic task of strategic thinking is to relate the identity of an institution to the realities that shape and influence its context. In the complex process of relating these two poles, there is the need and the opportunity to use strategic thinking as a tool of leadership. The tasks of leadership and strategic thinking overlap and intertwine, as becomes evident in a variety of forms (Miller 2007, 56-98). Developing Originality in Leadership Capabilities A leader must be able to create an Inspiring Vision Lead by Example. A leader must develop an inspiring vision; establish shared values; give direction and set stretch goals. He must enable himself to manage change strategically, take risks, create change; lead change; manage resistance to change and lead by example; practice what you preach; set an example, and share risks or hardship, demonstrate confidence; win respect and trust without courting popularity (Hicks 2004, 88-150). Conclusion Irrespective of what leadership theory one might believe in, the fact remains that leadership is a large and complex domain within organization studies. The field is overburdened and growing with old and new models of leadership, and little attempt has been made to debate or critique the very existence and validity of so many leadership theories and models (Miller 2007, 56-98). Rather than understanding leadership as a position or an inherent trait, leadership is understood as an activity or process that involves the development of certain skills or capacities. While leadership differs in many ways from management, it is imperative that both functions exist and complement one another. Leadership is ultimately what will lead to innovation and positive change, and management assists in this process. To address the complex and adaptive challenges our society is facing today and will face in the future, we must find new ways to view leadership and engage in leadership in our organizations. A number of progressive leadership models and perspectives were presented, reflecting leadership as a process, highlighting the leader-follower relationship, recognizing the role of the larger system, stressing the importance of collaboration, emphasizing the role of ethics, and serving the ultimate goal of creating positive change. APPENDIX MY PERSONAL SWOT STRENGTHS Trustworthy- I always find myself committed towards my job or task Confident- because of my confidence I had taken many decisions at my work and volunteer work too. Proactive- I always tried to complete the tasks on time with full involvement Calm- I always try to work calmly especially when there is some work load Honest- I always consider my honesty beyond everything which is really important in the corporate world WEAKNESS Time management Major weakness that I consider in me is time management. Writing Skills- Average individual in writing formal work. Feedback from the tutors made me realise about this weakness. Lazy Try to postpone work for tomorrow and had suffered a lot because of my laziness in my academics. Speaking There are some grammatical mistakes with speaking OPPORTUNITIES Feedback- a really important opportunity that helps to make changes either in me or in the way I work. An immediate tool which helps in improving the weaknesses Group Discussions- It helps in listening others views about a particular situation and to take decisions accordingly Presentations Its an opportunity where I can improve my speaking skills and it is the best chance to make a good time management Projects/ Assignments Projects help in improving the writing skills and can be reviewed after the results are out. A deadline for the assignment helps to make time management and reduce laziness. Debates An opportunity where speaking skills can be improved because debate is a way to express our own views and helps in motivating ourselves THREATS Companions Students in the same field, colleagues at work place are sometime becomes threat when competition is high. But confidence and calm nature will help me in facing the problems caused by a threat Time pressure Sometimes the deadlines for a task is really close which effects psychologically and an individual becomes panic and start doing wrong things. Proactive and cool behaviour will help me in taking decisions according to the situation

Marketing Analysis of Ecovers Current Position in the Market Essay

Marketing Analysis of Ecover's Current Position in the Market 1. Introduction The assignments mainly consists of the following parts: Firstly, an analysis of Ecover’s current position in the market. Secondly, how Ecover is changing its competitive strategy. Thirdly, consumer behaviour towards detergent. Finally, an outline for new marketing strategy for Ecover to enter the supermarket. 2. Background Ecover was founded in 1979 by Frans Bogaerts.It was a modest little detergent company in Malle in northern Belgium. Pierres Magnin a successful Swiss businessman dealing with pharmacies and health food stores, suggested Bogaerts to develop an eco-friendly detergent free of harmful chemicals (which was to be banned by the Swiss government as a part the proposed environmental regulations). Thus they entered the detergent market in Swiss and other key markets. Environmental disasters have made more and more people aware of the urgent need to protect the natural environment. 3 Marketing Audit Marketing audit give a picture of where the company is, how did it get there and where is it heading. It goes through the through the strength, weakness, opportunities and threat of the company. This analysis is called the SWOT analysis. It is divided into two major parts: External Factors and Internal Factors Strength and weakness are concerned with the internal factors and opportunity and threat are concerned with the external factors. 3.1 External Factors Here only opportunities and threats are analysed as these are supposed to be listed as anticipated events or trends outside the business that have implications for performance. These factors are not controllable by the company. Some of the factors discussed here are: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Macro environment 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Market 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Competition 3.1.1Macro Environment Macro Environment consists of Political (P), Economical (E), Social (S) and Technological (T) factors that affect the Company. Continuous monitoring of these variables is an important marketing function. As Corporations today, Ecover is also sensitive to Macro Environmental changes. Some of the PEST factors that affected Ecover are discussed below. Political: Marketing strategy is deeply affected by political trends. Issues like new laws, regulations, change in foreign policies etc brings change to t he bus... ...entalists to recommend its products. 9.Appendix Appendix 1: Survey of consumer attitudes:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Australia  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Canada  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Germany  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Italy  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Japan  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Holland  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Spain  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Switzerland  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pay 10-15% more for green products  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  69  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  72  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  68  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  79  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  42  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  87  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  85  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  80  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Boycott others  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  82  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  76  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  79  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  43  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  74  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  86  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  75  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Give up 10-15% quality for environmental safety  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  65  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  62  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  80  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  45  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  74  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  64  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  78  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pay more even if its hard to make end meet  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  43  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  47  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  65  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  46  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  46  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  64  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  64  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Source: David Jobber, 1998,Princilpes and practice of Marketing, 2nd Edition. Appendix 2: Table showing Ecover’s competitors ’ market share: Market Share Competitors in Germany& Austria  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   More than 50% Competitors in Swiss & Germany  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Almost 50% P&G and Unilever together (in 1980s)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Almost 80% Private brands (by 1990)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   10-30% 10. Bibliography 1. David Jobber, 1998, Principles and practice of Marketing, Second edition. 2.Subash.C.Jain, 1997, Marketing Planning & Strategy, Fifth Edition. 3.Wayne D.Hoyer, Deborah J.Maclinns, 1997, Consumer Behaviour.