Foundation of Organisation Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Foundation of Organisation - Coursework Example One major problem that arises due to first growth is poor coordination. With a huge workforce working for the organization and a lot of resources being utilised to ensure high productivity, there are high chances of poor coordination setting in. Although the company might record increased sales, this does not automatically mean that the company is becoming more profitable. The organization may in fact be spending more to achieve less. In this respect, there are chances that lack of proper coordination could lead to cash flow shortages, which at first may be subtle and easy to ignore but with time, expenses will start exceeding revenues at a higher pace with each new month of business growth.   Under this circumstance, the company then begins to haemorrhage and becomes less profitable. Although hiring more employees results in increased production, it could negatively affect its performance. This is mainly because as the number of employees increases, the company and its principles begin to loose touch with the key employees, most of whom are more experienced, well trained and are more depended on by the company. Such employees will suffer greatly from loss of job satisfaction, become demotivated and could even quit the company. Having many employees could also lead to unproductive divisions that could strain its profitability and performance. As they try to control increased business activities and increased employee base, the management could lose track of the business functions that are more essential and this directly impairs its performance. The other potential problem that fast growing firms could encounter as they grow is lack of proper business planning. This problem mainly arises because the decision to expand in such companies is driven by the desire for personal/company satisfaction and the need to take advantage of available business opportunities instead of economic analysis, market studies and sound financial evaluation. As a result of this, the management of the company will end up creating for themselves a challenge beyond their capability and experience. Because of the improper motivations, such firms end up making rash decisions and developing projects or buy machinery that may not necessarily increase the profitability and performance of the company. Such projects or machinery could block the ability of the company to develop more appropriate projects or purchase more effective machinery due to incompatibility with the rashly established projects or acquired machinery. It could even lead to incompletion of these projects due to the problem of underfunding and this will have used funds for setting up more appropriate projects. Question 2: Solutions Solutions to loss of clear insight into the performance of the business and its profitability The company’s management must ensure that all its undertakings aim at supporting the core activities of the business. This means that the company must ensure that all the acti vities of various functions are properly coordinated. Good governance also plays a great role in the success of companies experiencing fast growth. The management of the organization should see to it that good decisions are made and that policies created by management apply throughout the organization. The company should limit all new projects to those it has the capacity and experience of handling. If not, it should hire people who are experienced and competent enough to handle such projects. This solution is crucial in

Economic Advantages of Free Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economic Advantages of Free Trade - Essay Example This essay presents a brief informative theoretic overview of the positive economic effects, that free trade agreements exert on economic performance of a country. When country trades with another state, it either exports products to that country or it imports, procures products and services from that particular nation. When a country exports different goods and commodities to other member states, it can be seen that it stands better chances of generating revenue from that particular activity. Exports boost the wealth of the nation and imports also contribute to the welfare of the country. When a country sells certain goods to other countries, it generates revenue in the form of foreign currency and this money can be channelled into the economy and it can help it to develop. Precious commodities such as gold and other minerals are exported to other countries and they bring a lot of forex to the host country. Other industries such as textile also export different goods to other countries and these exports help to generate revenue for the host country. The money is used for other developmental purposes and it helps the host nation to improve its economy. With a thriving export market in a country, it can be seen that employment is also likely to be created as a result of the growing demand of the products that are locally produced and sold to other countries. This means that more money is injected in the economy and it can also be used for developing other social amenities such as health, education as well as infrastructure. The roads in a particular country are likely to be developed and buildings are also likely to be constructed as a result of free trade between member states that will help each other to gain the desired objectives in as far as economic growth and development are concerned. The other advantage of free trade among member states is that they can easily

Theories of autobiographical memory

Theories of autobiographical memory Autobiographical memory is characterised by individual and gender differences resulting from significant social interchanges and cultural milieus experienced during the early-developmental and mature phases of life. The study is designed to explore the theoretical concepts encompassing the different types, neural basis and several theoretical dimensions pertaining to the autobiographical memory. Keywords: autobiographical memory, cognitive behaviour, cognitive psychology Theories of Autobiographical Memory 3 Autobiographical Memory: A Theoretical Overview Autobiographical memory can be defined as an explicit memory of the past events (Eysenck and Keane, 2005, p. 138) contributed by varying certain nostalgic factors including individuals psychological understanding, complex spoken or sign language, remembrance of interaction with parents and others, specific style of talking, self-representation, personal perspectives and narrative comprehension and production (Williams, Conway Cohen, 2008, p. 371). Numerous episodic memories or recollected events belonging to an individuals past life are referred as autobiographical memories, which have been identified as more complex form of mummeries as compared to the laboratory memories in accordance with several studies conducted by a number of cognitive psychologists. The episodic memory experiment conducted in a laboratory is usually concerned with a brief set of memory comprising of events that are based on certain words that are presented on a computer screen which primarily involve the use of a single sensory modality; exhibiting a diminutive variation in spatial, temporal, emotional, and narrative content or context that is personally irrelevant to the subject (Bauer, Stennes Haight, 2003, p. 29). On the other hand, in autobiographical memories events are recalled by involving multimodal senses as for example, taste, smell, touch, hearing, vision and kinesthesis which are meant to exhibit significant variation in content and context of spatial, temporal, emotional, and narrative reason and also demonstrate personal relevance (Eysenck and Keane, 2005, p. 138). Autobiographical memories involve real-world stimuli and are extremely complex thus, necessitating supplementary theoretical and methodological considerations that are usually not required in a laboratory study involving simplified stimuli (Diamond, Lee Hayden, 2003, p. 831). The main objective of this study is to explore the theoretical underpinnings of cognitive psychology related to the autobiographical mem ory. The initial segment of the Theories of Autobiographical Memory 4 study aims to identify different types of autobiographical memory which extends to the middle segment which is meant to evaluate its neural basis. The later segment of the study explicates the different theories of the subject matter leading to the final conclusion. Types of Autobiographical Memories The systemic requirements pertaining to autobiographical memories involve individual senses as for example visualisation, hearing, and smell; a multimodal spatial system which reminds about the location concerning the objects and people; emotional system; linguistic system; a narrative system concerning casual interactions which does not necessarily involve the use of language (Rubin, Schrauf, Greenberg, 2003, p. 889); and an explicit memory system which facilitates in coordinating information with the rest (Schrauf Rubin, 2000, p. 621). Depending upon an individuals memory, each of these systems tends to process, organise and assign roles that are exhibited by specific cognitive-behaviours. A number of instrumental studies are employed to document the evidences proffered by each system including cognitive-behavioural studies, individual differences research, neuro-anatomy, neuropsychology, and neuro-imaging studies that are all helpful in identifying the traces of events collected within the autobiographical memory of an individual. It has been studied that autobiographical memory itself, does not represents a single entity rather it is complimented by multiple systems; each demonstrating diverse roles, organisation and processing of the relevant data (Conway Pleydell-Pearce, 2000, p. 267). The permanence of the autobiographical memory significantly relies on the continuity of these individual systems and their interaction with each other exactly similar to the fact how the recollected memories of an individual is a shared cultural knowledge obtained during the life span which subsequently attributes cultural expectations rather than individuals autobiographical memory (Berntsen Rubin, 2004, p. 430). Long term memory is Theories of Autobiographical Memory 5 principally divided into three major systems including implicit memory characterised by the memories relating to the performance of a task in the absence of conscious recollection; semantic memory characterised by factual reminiscence of events; and episodic memory characterised by the memories of information within specific time and space units (Eysenck Keane, 2005, p. 194). Autobiographical memory is predominantly concerned with both the episodic and semantic memories which are further classified into three sub-types including factual memory, self-schemata, generic memory and specific memories (Conway Pleydell-Pearce, 2000, p. 261) that are explicated as follows: Factual Memory The concept of factual memory has not been widely appraised within the theoretical paradigm of autobiographical memory. Factual memory is primarily concerned with the immediate facts and present happenings. Self Schemata Self-schemata as the name indicates, is the central conception within cognitive therapy and is characterised by self-knowledge or information about ones own personality, nature or temperament; which is far more complex and contextualised as compared to the known facts but is much generalised as compared to specific or generic memories (Conway Pleydell-Pearce, 2000, p. 264). Self-schemata are not just limited to a specific self-knowledge are the accumulated information connected to specific self-realisation which can be corresponded as facts or statements. The process involves economical organisation of information related to abstracted real-life experiences which greatly differs from the schematic knowledge and this divergence between original experiences and schematic knowledge transpires as the cognitive processes are likely to be influenced by the pre-established schemata similar to the encoding of an experience. It has been studied that the Theories of Autobiographical Memory 6 insistence and distortion of self-schemata may considerably vary depending upon an individuals perceptions (Dalgleish, 2004, p. 233). Generic Memories Generic memories are much specific in comparison with the self-schemata as concerning the memories of repeated and similar experiences however, specific memories are less abstracted as compared to generic memories. The mechanism of generic memories greatly resembles with self-schemata as it involves stacking of analogous experiences. The most critical aspect of the generic memories is the sensory and visual-spatial components which significantly limits the stacking of experiences making it much more specific than self-schemata. A number of disorders especially depression is associated with a greater likelihood of recalling generic memories based slightly vague reminiscence of experiences. Specific Memories Strong sensory and visual-spatial components are the key characteristics of specific memories which facilitate in the recollection episodic events from an individuals past life encompassing certain canonical categories of information such as ongoing activity, location, persons, others affect and own affect (Williams, Conway Cohen, 2008, p. 376). There is a vast difference between specific and long-term specific memories as the most recent happenings can be recollected by most individuals retaining specific memories of the recent past however, the retention of long-term memories of that particular event, by each person is vitally dubious (Conway, 2005) as it has been studied that the specific memories of recent past belong to a different memory system than long term specific memories (Carver Bauer, 2001, p. 728). The process of autobiographical reasoning stressing on the temporal, causal and thematic relationship and cultural interchanges develop narrative-like structures which are meant to form explicit linkage between several specific memories (Bluck Habermas, Theories of Autobiographical Memory 7 2000, p. 140). The theory suggests that the memories of recent past are not subjected to schemata-driven reconstruction processes and therefore, specific memories can be considered as much accurate and less-biased. Neural Basis of Autobiographical Memories The theoretical underpinnings pertaining to the neural origins of autobiographical memory are briefly explicated as follows: Prospection Mental simulation of probable future events can significantly help an individual to strategise and plan for the potential opportunities in pursuit of personal objectives and thereby, chances of failures can be minimised through consistent efforts. It has been studied that prospection is the concept of imagining oneself in future which subsequently allows an individual to engage in organised strategic behaviour to achieve pre-planned personal objectives (Bird Reese 2006, p. 620). Remembering past events and futuristic thinking are both hypothesised to reflect the parallel course of action which has been explicated by the sequential distribution of self-generated probable future events that have been found to replicate the distribution of recollected past events of numerous individuals during their life cycle (Spreng Levine, 2006, p. 1649). There is a possibility that the recollection of past memories and prospection of futuristic events might share neural substrate and similar mecha nism as studies suggest that, a decreasing fashion of phenomenological richness (DArgembeau Van der Linden, 2004, p. 846) and episodic specificity with age (Addis, Wong, Schacter, 2008, p. 1365) has been observed, in the past and future events. Navigation In accordance with the cognitive theory both the ego-centric and allo-centric perspectives facilitate in imagining the current status of an individual and the desired Theories of Autobiographical Memory 8 objectives followed by specific routes to navigate spatial environments through topographical orientation (Bird Reese 2006, p. 615). Lesser emphasis is drawn to an individuals stance as per the allo-centric perspective which is meant to identify the relation between landmarks with the help of engaging ones mind to discover the future prospects that are substantially indifferent to the immediate environment or to visualise or map the environment (Bird Reese 2006, p. 622). Theory of Mind Theory of mind facilitates in comprehending the social navigation process indicating that the communal interchanges between people are based on an individuals perspectives that are greatly influenced by the pre-conceived notions and in order to predict the action and reaction of others, it is imperative to understand their perspective (Garfield, Peterson, Perry, 2001). It has been studied that to understand others perspectives, individuals make efforts to self-project themselves by simulating the mindset of others (Blakemore Decety, 200). Default Mode Functions of brain studied during the resting phase of an individual are usually referred as default mode (Mazoyer et al., 2001) which is characterised by the unprepared thoughts or mind wandering condition in which the brain is becomes stimulus-independent (Raichle et al., 2001) and could be irrational at times (Mason et al., 2007). Both the external or internal environment has no significant influence on the brain functioning of an individual in a resting phase however, an internal mode of cognition may become activated which allows an individual to self-projection or imagine one-self in a desired condition without being influenced by the respective environment (Gusnard, Akbudak, Shulman, Raichle, 2001; Raichle Gusnard, 2005). Theories of Autobiographical Memory 9 Theories of Autobiographical Memory Development The theoretical underpinnings of the autobiographical memory development have experienced significant progression in context of explaining infantile amnesia which reflects the failure of adults to recall events from their early stages of life. It is quiet a mystery that children seem to remember a lot from their long-term memory bank however, as they grow old and reach the adulthood it becomes exceedingly difficult for them to recall their past memories specially pertaining to their early childhood. Primary Influence Theories During the beginning of pre-school period there is a lack of cognitive and social cognitive framework which is responsible for encoding memories which subsequently result in the failure of retrieving self-relevant memories in later stages of life. Mirror task of self-recognition (MSR) has been identified as the most vital instrument for the encoding and storage of the autobiographical memories (Carver Bauer, 2001, p. 731). On the other hand, it has been hypothesised that self-recognition plays an integral role in retrieving the autobiographical memories however, children in early ages do not poses the ability to understand the fundamentals of nature, personality and character which makes it difficult for them to gain delayed self-recognition. Studies suggest that the memory bank becomes actively responses as soon as a child develops an understanding of one-self and achieves significant representational awareness agreeing to this, the cognitive-motivational theory of adults autobiogr aphical memory presented by (Conway and Pleydell-Pearce 2000) suggest that self grounding is an essential part of retrieving the memories however, they further emphasised on the identification of goals and argued that the inability to reconstruct the memories in later stages of life has a very close link with the incongruity of self-goals with the encoding and retrieving period. Theories of Autobiographical Memory 10 Multiple influence theories A number of studies concur with the former concept of insufficient cognitive or social-cognitive framework during early preschool years, is the vital cause interfering with the encoding and retrieval of autobiographical memories however; they further attempted to analyse the critical abilities of an individual to encode and retrieve the memories, in the larger social and linguistic realm for the child (Conway, Pleydell-Pearce Whitecross, 2001, p. 495). Children are unable to comprehend with the causal-temporal sequence of events and cannot establish the order of self-relevant events into a chronological narrative which enables a frequent encoding and retrieval of autobiographical memories as the representational system largely depends upon linguistic abilities which subsequently develop after 4-5 years (Eysenck and Keane, 2005, p. 149). A number of theories also suggest that social interaction is another significant element to retrieve autobiographical memories and further argue tha t children develop their critical cognitive capacities through social interactions and reminiscing practices. Furthermore, parental cooperation in discussing, evaluating and elaborating the past events also facilitates in providing rich information which consequently develops in the retrieval of autobiographical memories. It has also been studied, that apart from linguistic aid children also necessitate a reason to learn and recall past events which could be strong social bonds and close relationships which greatly helps them in self-recognition process and the more they recognise oneself in their early childhood, the more it becomes easier to reminisce their autobiographical memories (Conway, Pleydell-Pearce Whitecross, 2001, p. 450). Social Cultural Developmental Theories There are three significant arguments encompassing the social and cultural developmental theories pertaining to autobiographical memories including (i) gradual emergence of autobiographical memory across the preschool years; (ii) autobiographical Theories of Autobiographical Memory 11 memory system is highly reliant upon the language which is the vital tool for social interchanges; and (iii) autobiographical memory is characterised by cultural, gender, and individual differences across life that need significant explanation (Bamberg and Moissinac 2003, p. 398). It has been studied that the remembrance of events from a lifespan of a children and adult may considerably vary and it is quite evident that everybody is not capable of remembering more of events with identical detailing and in similar narrative way as expressed by others. This indicates that differences in both the course and time of emergence of the autobiographical memories and their eventual outcomes significantly vary depending upon age, sex, gender, personal experiences, social interactions and cultural differences (Fivush Nelson, 2004, p. 575). The development system begins with the birth followed by toddler memories that are instituted through social interactions with parents, siblings and relativ es, during which nascent conceptions are built in an individuals mind which might be unconsciously penetrated within the memory bank. Studies also suggest that infants are very much aware of their environment and also have an idea of core self which has been essentially related to intentionality. It has been studied that infants as per their core self have determined goals and actions which is fuelled by the infusion of certain skills, emerging concepts and social experiences (Bamberg and Moissinac 2003, p. 398). The later phase after 4-5 years when the children respond to what they hear and start talking by using linguistic aids results in the preservation of a sound memory bank which can be encoded and retrieved later in life depending upon an individuals capability to reminisce the autobiographical memories. The Core Components of Developmental System The key components of the development system facilitating the early development of memory base are characterised by the initiation of memories being stored within the memory Theories of Autobiographical Memory 12 bank of an unborn child. It has been studied that the unborn child are capable of differentiating and discriminating between the incoming information and are also capable to store the information over time. Children have been studied to have implicit memories that have been collected during the first trimester of pregnancy (Eysenck and Keane, 2005, p. 158) however, the remembrance of such memory can be extremely short. On the other hand, it has been studied that the time duration in which a child emits a previously conditioned response can be extended with the use of reminders thus, strengthening their memory base. The role of language is extremely significant in the retrieval and narration of autobiographical memories. It has been studied that language is significant in the retrieval of autobiographical memory in three particular ways including (i) it is involved in providing the organisational and evaluative attribute of autobiographical memory; (ii) it significantly helps in devel oping and maintain social interactions which subsequently results in the organised representation of past experiences especially for children; and (iii) it facilitates in growing the awareness of young children to preserve memory as a representation of past experience which can be evaluated from multiple subjective perspectives (Fivush, 2001, p. 51). Adult memory talk is the third vital component of developmental system in which mothers play an integral role in developing the memory system of their children as they are the initial point of contact to children, enabling them to understand their external environment and educating them to respond. There is a significant distinction between primary consciousness and symbolic consciousness however, it has been studied that the consciousness of the past is greatly responsible in the developmental system as it helps in defining the concept of present, past and future in the autobiographical memory (Edelman and Tononi 2000, p. 99). Finally, the self-recognition or self-in-time is a closely related concept contributing in the developmental system and it has been studied that to relate oneself in the past or in the Theories of Autobiographical Memory 13 present necessitates the clear-cut mapping of two distinct representations (Perner 2000, p. 212). Conclusive Remarks The memories associated with early stages of life can significantly help in gaining an insight oneself thus, providing the opportunities for emotional growth and development. In addition to this, self-recognition and self-knowledge tremendously help in improving the overall personality and temperament of an individual as the autobiographical memories can facilitate in defining personal lacking hence, enabling the individual to transform into a better human being. The study has successfully established the grounds for understanding different types and neural origins of the autobiographical memory and subsequently unfolded varying aspects of theoretical paradigms associated with the subject area indicating that the memory bank can be developed with growing age. Moreover, the study also reveals that social interchanges and cultural influences in early stages of life have significant impacts on the memory development system. To conclude, it can be instituted that cognitive psychology is a vast subject having wide-range of theories related to autobiographical memory; and this study within its limited scope attempted to address numerous speculative areas of the concerned theme. Theories of Autobiographical Memory 14

Symbols and Symbolism in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays

Symbolism in The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald tried to accent the point that money does not breed happiness. Money causes people to become envious, greedy, and jealous. It compels people to show a persona of arrogance and creates a haze of fog in the air of the world around them. They begin to become oblivious of the outside world and think of themselves as a higher being. This causes lack of acceptance for their responsibilities. I thing the author was also trying to show us that sometimes one can hold on to a dream for so long, and try so hard to achieve it that it can leave you in misery instead of happiness. Creating the reverse of it's intent. F. Scott uses a color scheme to show many emotions of characters in this story. The ultimate factor for almost every action within the story is money, the color green. This color shows the envy, greed, and jealousy that make up this story. Green is not only the color of money and the color most notably associated with greed, but it is also the color of the light on Daisy's dock. The same dock light that Gatsby spent so many nights gazing at. This is no coincidence, F.S.F. wanted to express to his readers the symbolism behind the color. Gatsby envied Tom because he knew that Daisy needed a wealthy man to take care of her. And as he was building his wealth, Gatsby would look over the lake toward that green light with envy and await the day he would be good enough for Daisy. The use of white, in reference to Daisy's wardrobe, symbolizes her laziness and uselessness within the story. She is completely devoid of any knowledge of the outside world, always lost in pointless thought. Something that I found quite apparent was her obviously shallow, money grubbing motives. For example, when she is taken into Gatsby's home for a tour, she is shown Gatsby's beautiful imported shirts. Daisy begins to cry, saying that these shirts are so beautiful. But what she is really expressing is her envy and jealousy of Gatsby's new riches and all of his elaborate material possessions. One form of symbolism that I found very interesting was Scott's use of the billboard ad containing the huge eyes of one Dr.

Business ratios and formulas a comprehensive guide Essay

Net profit margin of the company shows how much the profit after-tax profit made by a business for every $1 generated in revenue or sales (Bragg, 2008). A higher net profit margin is better in comparison to that of its competitors. In 2011 and 2012, Tesco was more profitable followed by Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC. However, in 2013, Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC was more profitable followed by Sainsbury.Roce This financial ratio measures the profitability and efficiency of a company with which its capital is employed (Bragg, 2008). In 2011, Tesco was more profitable than Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC and Sainsbury. The following year, it was overtaken by Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC while Sainsbury remained the least profitable. In year 2013, Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC was the most profitable company followed by Sainsbury. Return on Equity – ROE             Return on equity shows how much profit a firm earned compared to the total amount of shareholder equity as contained in the balance sheet (Horrigan, 2010). In 2011, Tesco made a higher profit than Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC and Sainsbury. It was Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC . in year 2012 Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC and Sainsbury reported a higher profit compared to the previous year while Tesco reduced it profitability. However, the three companies reported lower profit in 2013 than in 2011 and 2012. Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC was more profitable followed by Sainsbury in 2013. Gross Profit Margin             It is used to assess company’s financial health by showing the proportion of money that is left over from sales revenue after deducting the cost of goods sold. It shows the financial health of a company (Jenkinson, 2011). In 2011, Tesco had the highest financial health followed by Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC. In year 2012, all the three companies reported lower gross profit margin. Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC and Sainsbury have had a stable gross profit margin.Net asset turnover This is a financial measurement intended to measure how a company turns its assets into revenue (Horrigan, 2010). In 2011, Sainsbury was the most efficient company in turning assets into revenue compared to Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC and Tesco. Tesco was performed the least in turning assets into revenue. In 2012, all the three companies had a lower net asset turnover with Sainsbury having the higher ratio followed by Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC. In 2013, Tesco and Sainsbury increased their ratio while Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC’s ratio decreased. Sainsbury still had the highest ratio followed by Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC.Efficiency and effectiveness Ratios Asset turnover ratio             This is a ratio of a firm’s sales to its assets. It is an efficiency ratio that shows how successfully a company uses its assets to generate revenue. A comparison of asset turnover ratio for the three companies shows that in 2011 Sainsbury was the most efficient company followed by Tesco in turning assets into revenue. In 2012, Tesco showed a decrease in efficiency which the other two companies increased they’re efficient. All the three companies increased their efficiency in using assets to generate sales with Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC having the highest ratio followed by Sainsbury (Jenkinson, 2011). The debtor’s day’s ratio             It is a measure of how quickly cash is collected from debtors. Different periods are compared for the same company since it is less meaningful since results largely depend on the nature of the business. Tesco is the most efficient company in collecting cash. Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC and Sainsbury have also been decreasing the number of days with Tesco having a lower collection period (Novak, 2009). Supplier credit days This shows the number of days that a company takes to pay its suppliers (Novack, 2009). In 2011 and 2012, the numbers of days for Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC and Sainsbury has been increasing which can be a sign of financial hardship or increase confidence of suppliers on the company. Tesco has a high ratio which could be a sign of a financial crisis. Stock holding period             It refers to the period between the purchase of a product and its sale. There is a general decrease in the stock holding period for the three companies indicating an improvement in investment performance. Sainsbury have the highest holding period followed by Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC (Palmer, 2013). Liquidity and capital ratiosQuick Ratio             This determines if the company has resources to pay its short term liabilities with its liquid assets. The analysis shows that Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC has the highest ability to pay its short-term debt followed by Sainsbury (Peles, 2008). Quick ratio             It measures how a company can use its near cash or quick assets to retire its current liabilities immediately. Analysis shows that Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC has the highest ability to convert its near cash items into cash in order to pay the debt followed by Sainsbury.Gearing ratiosDebt/equity ratio It shows how a company finances its growth. Sainsbury has the highest debt in its capital structure compared to Tesco and Morrison. Tesco has the least debt ratio (Peles, 2008). Times interest covered             This ratio is a measure of number of times a business can make the interest payments with its earnings on its debt before interest and taxes. Morrison has the lowest possibility of bankruptcy followed by Sainsbury. Capital gearing ratio             It measures financial strength of a company. Tesco is a high risky investment to investors. In 2013, Morrison was second after Tesco in terms of riskiness. Investors expect a high return in the future in Sainsbury compared to Morrison and in Tesco. Dividend yield             It shows how much a company pays out the shareholders in divided relative to share price. Sainsbury have the highest dividend yield showing that investors get a lot of funds for investing in Sainsbury. When share price increases, shares with high dividend yield earn more cash. Investors who need cash prefer investing in shares that have high dividend yield. Dividend cover             This shows the number of times dividends of a company paid to shareholders can be paid out of annual profits after tax. It is an indication of the probability which shows that dividends can be maintained in the future. In 2013, Morrison had the highest divide cover followed by Sainsbury (Shimerda, 2011).Corporate strategy Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC can increase its profitability by using Tesco as a benchmark for its operations. This is because Tesco has a higher net profit margin and Return on capital employed. Morrison’s Supermarkets PLC has not been effectively in efficiently utilizing their assets in generating more revenue. It should ensure that acquisitions are attractive and that they help the company increase its return. It should also ensure that they produce better products and services in order to combat competition. Some assets should also be sold. Morrisons Supermarkets PLC should also reduce the amount of debt from their capital structure. This is because it ranks second after Tesco in terms of capital gearing ratio. Debtor’s collection period should be reduced to a minimum. References Bragg, S. M. (2008). Business ratios and formulas a comprehensive guide. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Horrigan, J. O. (2010). Financial ratio analysis: an historical perspective. New York: Arno Press. Jenkinson, N. H. (2011). Investment, profitability and the valuation ratio. London: Economics Division, Bank of England. Novack, D. E. (2009). Liquidity Ratios And Recent British Monetary Experience. The Journal of Finance, 13(4), 510-526. Palmer, J. E. (2013). Financial ratio analysis. New York, N.Y.: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Peles, Y. C., & Schneller, M. I. (2008). Liquidity Ratios and Industry Averages-New Evidence. Abacus, 15(1), 13-22. Schmidgall, R. S., & Defranco, A. L. (2009). Ratio Analysis: Financial Benchmarks for the Club Industry. The Journal of Hospitality Financial Management , 12(1), 1-14. Shimerda, T. A. (2011). Financial ratios as predictors of profitability. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International. Source document

Carl Robins- Case Study

Introduction The case study of Carl Robbins reveals a company and an employee who is unprepared to welcome properly, new employees into the company environment in an effective and meaningful way. Chris Traynor, a board-certified SPHR (Senior professional of human resources) relates it this way, â€Å"A botched orientation is almost always a top-down problem, regardless of who might have the everyday responsibility of training the new hire. It is a mystery when you consider what is already known about the true value of good employees and just how difficult and costly it can be to attract them to your business (2008). The orientation of new employees is critical to their early performance and the retention of the new employees over the long term. Orientation should involve HR, training, and the supervisors of the new employees in an organized manner in order that the transition into the new role or department will be graceful, but impactful (Giacalone, 2009). Preparation was missing b efore Carl Robbin became a recruiter for ABC, Inc. Background Key Problems Find new location for orientation Complete all missing transcripts and incomplete applications Mandatory drug screen must be scheduled Complete orientation manual with only 17 days left Table 1. Details of orientation to be prepared (University of Phoenix, 2009) New location New employee’s missing documents Mandatory Drug Screen Orientation Manual Alternative and proposed solutions New Location Call a local hotel where he can meeting to conduct his new employee orientation. Reserve the room that Joe booked either in the am or pm after the computer training class. Find a new facility where they can conduct a meeting. Call a local restaurant where he can reserve a room to continue the new class orientation. Complete missing transcripts and incomplete applications Carl should begin by contacting each individual as necessary and work on each one to make sure that the mandatory drug test is completed by June 15th. Consolidate a list of the individuals that are still missing information and submit the information to Mrs. Carrol to assure her that this is going to be completed as promised. Schedule a time where they can come in and fill out the missing paperwork. Start sending out an email to every student who needs to have this completed by June 15th. Make sure that the new employees submit the missing transcripts before June 10th Drug screen appointments Contact the Human Resource department where they can begin scheduling appointments for the new employees to get have this resolved. Schedule a conference call where he can explain the importance of the matter. Inform all new employees that if this is not resolve before June 15th, then they cannot attend the class and it will delay their start date with the company. Incomplete orientation manuals Over the past years, this is not something new that Carl is facing and he needs to take action immediately and address it to the right personnel. A company as big as ABC, Inc. might have old manuals that he can use, but he will need to contact the main office to request these materials. Below are some of the solutions to this problem. Call the office to have this ordered or reprinted Begin by getting a copy of it and make enough copies for everyone. Once he gets a hold of a legit copy he needs to save if to his file for future reference. Review all material and make any necessary changes if needed. Conclusion The concern that Carl Robbin has implied in the scenario needs to be replaced by action and planning. The facts remain that the time is short. Promises have been made to facilitate the orientation in a certain time frame. Completion of the project is necessary to fulfill the goals set by the supervisor and as personally set by Robbins. This project can be completed on time and with an acceptable level of quality. Whereas some additional expense may be incurred if a conference room must be rented, it is likely a minor expense when the cost of recruiting is considered. The additional stress and poor pre-planning will be a learning experience. ABC, Inc. and Robbin will be better prepared in the case of another recruiting drive after the experience considered in this scenario. References: _http://www. criticalthinking. org_ http://find. galegroup. com/itx/start. do? prodId=ITOF. University of Phoenix. (2009). Case study for student analysis . Retrieved from University of Phoenix, COM215 Essentials of College Writing website.