High school days worth remembering as I found myself Essay

Life is all but a matter of constancy, with the changing seasons and tides cutting the remaining days of the lives of men. The progression of the life of being a student retains a significant room in my thoughts as my high school days will always be remembered, if not by everybody else, at least by myself. Or so I think at least by myself, lest I forget that I had the company of good friends along the way. They never abandoned me in times when I need them most. I was there for them when they, too, need someone to be with. It is only a fraction of what sum of good deeds I must or feel to give them in return. And this is what I liked most in my high school days, apart from everything else that contributed to my identity of who I am today. High school has given me the highest chances of expanding my view not only of myself but also to the people around me. This is whether they liked me or not, or whether they ever know me at all. I must say, friendship has given a deeper sense of camaraderie and that my friends have occupied my thoughts everyday. The bond of friendship I had is what I liked most, although at times tests on friendship seem to erode the rigid relationship I had with my folks. My friends and I usually hung-out on one of our â€Å"camps†, the term we call the official hang-out place of the group. And more often than not, these â€Å"camps† were usually the houses of those who were just nearby the school. My friends always bring with them loads of food, and stuff that we can use to spend our time away especially during weekends. As much as we love listening to music, my friends also play several instruments, bringing with them guitars and percussion instruments as we fill the room with melody—albeit gruesome in lazy days. I remember the days and nights that our circle of friends spent together, lazy afternoons that encircled us until dawn with frivolous stories and flights of our fantasies as the clouds hover above us like sluggish cottons against a background of sunburst orange, cold and rainy days that made us huddle together and make remarks on our facial expressions. I remember, too, the high school gatherings we attended and left without hesitation and without anticipation of what may stand ahead of us. All we know is that we have each other and the world did not matter much anymore. I remember these and them very well. These friends of mine in high school are the some of the classmates I had during those years, expanding as time moved ahead of us effortlessly while we toil in our daily tasks in the academe. We were classmates, and we were friends, treating each other more like brothers and sisters whose family names never really mattered, or from which place each of us came from, or from what little we know or from what much we oftentimes misunderstand. We were an eager bunch of students, whose friendship gathered itself across the days and months, sweeping us together amidst the diversity we were into. I hated moments that were spent on the nothingness of empty thinking; of sitting alone with no one to talk to as people pass me by as if I was not there, not even my shadow. I also hated those times when I could hardly pass my exams and quizzes just because I was not able to remember the details in the subjects after memorizing in agonizing hours during the most unholy hours of the night. But above all these, the one thing I hated the most during my high school years was my inability to completely beat deadlines for I was always short in passing requirements although I make certain that I pour my best efforts in completing what has to be done. Perhaps I took a lot of time finishing-off my requirements never being full aware that my time is greatly affected. Adjustments had to be made, and during those years I kept on adjusting, never knowing exactly where I am heading to but still braving the path that few dared to wander through. And so, in the end, I remembered them all even though I seem to have lost myself. I thought I was never really able to arrive at a point wherein I can know more about myself, of who I really am. Yet my friends were my eyes, and in them I saw myself clearly reflected in those precious organs of vision that gripped my being far tighter than any embrace could offer. I remember my high school days very well, and I remember myself even more as much as I remember my friends.

The Secret Guardian of Gotham

The Dark Knight portrays Batman well enough for the audience to easily analyze Batman’s characteristics and personality. Batman is one of the most crucial characters in the movie. Bruce Wayne, or Batman, is portrayed as a billionaire and an owner of a gigantic industry, who actually at night works as a vigilante fighting criminals with his bare hands. Batman’s sense of morality, self-righteousness, and self-sacrificial attitude in his actions allow effortless classification of Batman’s characteristics in True Color’s Personality Test, Myers-Briggs Personality Test, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The way Batman believes the good in people, and the way he spends his nights for the safety of the people in Gotham proves that Batman is most likely the color blue from the True Colors Personality Test. People with blue characteristic hate with fervor, value harmony, give self to others, promotes feelings and warmth among people, and are too generous. Batman falls into all of these descriptions. Even though Batman abhors Joker, he never kills Joker despite all of the chances he is given because he believes in change in human potential, because he wants to inspire others through his actions, and because of his stern self righteousness of always wanting to do what is good for everyone. Also when Harvey Dent died after killing five people â€Å"fairly,† Batman tells Lieutenant Gordon to point the finger at him instead of Harvey Dent. Batman says, â€Å"You will hunt me. You will condemn me. Set the dogs on me, because that is what needs to happen,† (The Dark Knight) in order for people of Gotham to not lose hope by hearing and seeing the downfall of the Gotham’s White Knight, Harvey Dent. This sacrificing attitude is difficult to find in the characteristics of orange, green, and gold, but is the compassionate feature of the color blue. Towards the end of the movie, when Joker sees that the two ships didn’t bomb each other, Batman tells him, â€Å"This city just showed you that it is full of people ready to believe in good,† (The Dark Knight) implying that he, as well, believes in good nature of humans. From what is shown, my hypothesis would be that Bruce Wayne’s dichotomies are ESFJ, or extraverted, sensing, feeling, and judging. Even though Bruce Wayne is surreptitiously living another life as Batman, with only a few close confidants being aware of it, he seems to enjoy social gatherings and occasional dates with many different women. He approaches his criminals through high tech researches and careful observations of facts and proofs. Batman also does not use his sudden insights to act and rather weighs the different possibilities using his tangible sources. Therefore, I assume that Batman is more sensing than intuitive. Bruce Wayne is more feeling in the way he processes data because he considers the points of view of other people and he tries to do whatever establishes harmony within the society. For example, when Bruce Wayne had turned every cell phone in the city into a microphone and a high-frequency generator receiver, knowing that Lucius would not like such dangerous machine, he made it accessible and destructible by only Lucius. Also knowing that citizens of Gotham will lose hope and faith if they learn the truth behind Harvey Dent’s fall and death, Batman says, â€Å"Sometimes the truth is not good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded. † (The Dark Knight) Batman also shows his willingness to do whatever is needed to help Gotham by saying, â€Å"I am whatever Gotham needs me to be. † (The Dark Knight) Maybe because Batman is so engrossed in many different endless jobs he has to finish, he never seems to be having his pleasure and leisure time. He always seems to be task oriented and organized in his plans and well in control with the help of Alfred Pennyworth and Lucius Fox so that the plans never fail. Watching this movie, I could not help but notice the parallel between Jesus from the Bible and Batman. Just like the historical character Jesus, who supposedly had no sin and dedicated to give up his own life for the forgiveness of others, and who eventually gets accused by the same people who used to acclaim him as the â€Å"Savior,† Batman, who did nothing against the morals, gets chased by those who used to praise him as the â€Å"Hero,† by becoming the scapegoat. Therefore, in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, even though I believe that Batman is sometimes on the level of safe and security because he gets injured often while fighting against criminals and Joker, Batman is primarily on the level of self-actualization. He truly dedicates himself for the benefit of others and to satisfy what the citizens of Gotham want. He knows what he is meant to do and does what he does not as a service for himself but as a guidance for the citizens of Gotham. Lieutenant Gordon, watching Batman run away, tells his son, â€Å"Because he is the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now, so we will hunt him because he can take it. He is not our hero; he’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a dark knight. † (The Dark Knight) Bruce Wayne, Batman, or the Dark Knight’s characteristics summed together support Batman’s famous quote, â€Å"Batman has no limits. † (The Dark Knight) The way he dives into danger every day, cleans up all the violent and illegal mess made in Gotham, and sacrifices himself for people’s mental comfort proves his idealistic characteristics. Because he has no limit, I believe he was able to be the person and the hero portrayed in the movie. Without Batman, his perfect sense of morality, and his boldly courageous deeds, Gotham would not be the same.

Concert Review Essay

The rhythm, which was continuously steady seemed to get faster like a heart beat by the climax of the song. It was also at this point that the dynamics of the song were increasingly getting louder until all instruments met at the top with a bang and then changed the dynamics again to a moderate level until the song concluded. â€Å"Waltz for Debby†, written by Bill Evans and arranged by Don Sebesky, was a consonant, slow-beat waltz. The texture of this piece remained the same through its entirety and the 1,2,3 pattern was also very noticeably throughout the piece as well. The saxophone, trumpet and electric guitar took turns at the melody and did so through this performance in the form of solos. The dynamics throughout this song were soft and then increased to a moderate level before a decrescendo to a softer level once again. The ensemble did a fabulous job of keeping with the beat. â€Å"Ancient Memories†, by Fred Hamilton and arranged by Paul Ferguson, was played the night of the concert by guest trumpeter, Darryl White. Mr. White played this song because it is the title track on his 1999 album, also called â€Å"Ancient Memories†. Mr. White is a professor of trumpet at the University of Nebraska. This piece began by having very dissonant tones within the harmony with the introduction of a piano and drums. The song then changed into a more consonant harmony, which remained throughout the rest of the song. The texture of this song was polyphonic between the trumpet and the piano. The melody of this song was bright and happy in some places within the song and more cool and relaxing in other parts as the tempo changed and the notes of the trumpet were held for emphasis. There were many dynamics used within this song. The song began with a crescendo from very soft to very loud and then remained in this pattern until the end when the pattern was reversed. â€Å"Fly Me to the Moon† was for me a song of romance from the time the first note began. The song was passionate and sexy and displayed dialogue without using any words. The ensemble played this piece with steadiness and the solo by Cassi Lee provided the extended dialogue that sounded like dancing and twirling in the moonlight. This song reminded me of â€Å"My Heart Will Go On† in that the instrumental nature of it tells a story, just as much as when Celine Dion is singing the lyrics. I found listening to this song a worthwhile experience and it was a fantastic beginning to the jazz concert in that it was familiar to the audience. â€Å"Waltz for Debby’ made me wonder who Debby was and why someone would write such an old-sounding song for someone they loved. The song was very pretty, but it was of a different genre than that of the other pieces within the concert. It is honestly hard for me to recommend this song to anyone, for I thought it was dull and lacked the depth of the other songs throughout the evening. â€Å"Ancient Memories† was a beautiful piece. I am not sure what I enjoyed more, the fact that Mr. White played with such passion and made the song his own life force or that this piece reminded me of my childhood. This piece reminded me of something Bill Cosby would have on the Cosby Show in one of the jazz clubs. The song was fun and although the song had a lot of repetition, I loved listening to the changes over and over again. The Jazz Ensemble concert at Tarleton was an enjoyable evening full of great music and intellectually stimulating experiences of music that I would not have listened to if not for this assignment. Diversification is an important lesson to learn when viewing music because all music has roots from another genre and recognizing this makes you more diversified as an individual.

Human Resource Management for Service Industries Assignment - 2

Human Resource Management for Service Industries - Assignment Example The alternative medical systems goal is to treat, diagnose and prevent mental or physical illness and often incorporate medication and non-medication therapies. It regards the human being to be a rare psychological, physical and spiritual entity. From this holistic approach, it is the pathological or physiological interaction among these aspects that defines health or illness. The origin of health or illness also relies on the interrelation between nature, the human being and the cosmos. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is guided by the principle that in order to prevent diseases the best approach would be health preservation. This healing system concurs with my beliefs regarding health or illness. It is essential for us to reinforce the health of our bodies before illness attacks rather than curing it after it has struck. Also, it is vital for us to live better lifestyles and have good nutrition choices before the insurgence of a disease rather opting to get prescriptions after problems have arisen. Alternative medical systems are holistic in that they tie physical symptoms around various aspects of the human being inclusive of his or her social and natural environment. They are basically person-centered. There is increased awareness globally on the necessity to maintain a healthy lifestyle. People are turning to strategies of prevention of diseases. Alternative medical systems offers best practices to future patients who wish to lead healthy life styles and prevent illness. Its effectiveness is gaining popularity among patients and its future embrace would be widened greatly. Roberti di Sarsina, P., Alivia, M., & Guadagni, P. (2012). Traditional, complementary and alternative medical systems and their contribution to personalisation, prediction and prevention in medicine—person-centred medicine. The EPMA Journal, 3(15), 1-10.

Contemporary art and Def jam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Contemporary art and Def jam - Essay Example The essay "Contemporary art and Def jam" discusses one such new art form, a variant of poetry reading known as def jam. As civilization progressed, so did art as it branched out into other forms, such as the performance arts of song, dance, and theater. The objective is the same, which is to show an artist's ideas through his or her body of work, to highlight creativity and expression known as aesthetics. As language developed, so did the transmission of ideas through the printed word as in literary art works of short stories, epics, novels, and essays although some kinds of primitive art form still exist in the form of the verbal arts, like poem recitation or the telling of a story by a professional storyteller directly to audiences. There are practically no limits to the form an art can take, constrained perhaps only by the creative imagination of an artist. The two basic art forms are visual and performance art; both possess characteristics of being mimetic, meaning it mimics something found in the real world as its representation. Modern society has witnessed newer art forms due to an advent of advanced technologies like the ability to record sound and images through audio and visual techniques like in video disks.Def jam is also known as def poetry jam or def poetry slam; it is a variant of poetry readings that were so popular in previous centuries, even as part of religious rites in the form of prayers, hymns, and incantations. Poetry reading is rather sedate in that the audience is expected. to stay silent during the entire reading performance, appreciative of the poet's actual physical presence. Like the other art forms of jazz, hip-hop and rap music, it derived primarily from the black American community as a subtle form of political protest. Many blacks still feel that the aims of the Civil Right Movement were not achieved despit e an abolition of slavery after the end of Civil War; discrimination still exists in many forms, both overt and subvert in education, politics, housing, employment, health care, society, etc. Def jam is classified as performance art as it is an interactive form of poetry reading; the audience is not expected to stay silent, but rather try to show its appreciation by the intensity of audience reaction. It no longer considers poetry reading as private art (Novak 40) but rather as a public performance. The sing-song tone is similar to that of rap or hip-hop music, with rhyming insults, suggestive comments, and innuendos very common. This is the main attraction of def jam, because although its message is basically the same, that of a silent political protest and making a substantive statement, its continued popularity since its inception two or three decades ago is its unconventional way a message is delivered. Although def jam owes its provenance to the protest movement, the current ve rsions delve on a variety of topics. No topic is sacred or off limits, as the saying, anything goes in it; the more controversial, challenging, or unusual the topic of the poem is, the more an audience shows its appreciation for the sheer talent exhibited by the artist-poet, complete with all props, actions, gestures, appropriate dress, tone of delivery, and volume of voice but the message is a constant attraction. It is the essence of def

Analysing Australian Social Justice issues Essay

Analysing Australian Social Justice issues - Essay Example For the individual self, he or she is obliged to respect the corresponding right of others. This goes to say that a violation of the right of the other would entitle the violator or offender a punishment. Punishment is a form of regulation. When a criminal commits a crime, he or she is imprisoned. Regulation here is justifiable. Social justice then is achieved by the victim. This is how the rule of law works. It is fair and balanced. Incarceration takes away the liberty of the offender in exchange for the victim’s security. In this sense, the right to liberty is essentially linked with the right to security. A person’s â€Å"physical security is an inseparable part of the deprivation of liberty† (Langley, 1999). Q2) In recent years, the Queensland Police Service launched their One Punch Can Kill campaign. (See attached Case study #1) (a) In addition to young men aged between 15-25 years, who is the program trying to reach, and why? Aside from young men aged betwe en 15-25 years old, the â€Å"One Punch Can Kill† program is trying to reach girls and women. It is desired that the females in Queensland, Australia will help in making the program successful by influencing the young males not to violently react in heated instances as well as to instill in their minds that it is okay to walk away. Facilitators of the program are hopeful for the women to heed this call. Research data actually show that young men are highly influenced by the females surrounding them such as their moms, girlfriends and sisters. (b) What are some of the social effects of alcohol related violence? The â€Å"One Punch Can Kill† program enumerates the social effects of alcohol-related violence. There are six known results of this kind of violence. These are the following: (1) death (2) imprisonment (3) a permanent record of crime commission (4) leads one in not having a passport (5) prohibition to travel overseas and (6) emotional trauma for friends and fami ly of the offender and the victim. Of the six, death is to be rated as the most undesired consequence. Alcohol-related violence destroys the future of young individuals. It affects the way the victim interacts with other people. Q3) Why do crimes such as domestic violence and rape often go unreported? Provide at least four (4) reasons in your answer. According to Bergman and Berman (2009), domestic violence and rape are often unreported due to the following reasons: (1) the victim may think that it is better for the violence to be an isolated case so that it will not be repeated (2) the victim may fear that reporting the act of violence will just trigger his or her attacker to make more violent conducts (3) in case of a battered wife, she may fear that reporting the domestic violence could lead to loss of financial support for her children (4) in case of a raped victim, she may be ashamed of her situation. Q4) Thinking in terms of social and criminal justice, provide four (4) explan ations for the over-representation of Aboriginal people in Australian prisons. In your answer, also provide one example of how the Australian Government is responding to this inequality. Aboriginal people are over-represented in Australian prisons due to the following reasons: (1) the compulsory removal of the Aboriginal children away from their families and the institutionalisation that followed (2) socio-economic disadvantages -- such as unemployment,

Latin American Region Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Latin American Region - Essay Example Latin American countries share a common preference for family over community needs. This is a stereotype that Latin Americans are particularly proud of because it shows their tight knit family and positive family values. It is no secret that the region suffers from severe poverty and inequality. This is no stereotype; it is the harsh reality most Latin Americans face every single day. Some regions barely have access to basic necessities like clean water and irrigation. When it comes to politics, Latin Americans also share a penchant for left-wing affiliations and guerilla wars, as well as a widespread smattering of military coups and sieges. Most Latin American countries share another undesirable yet common trait-various states of insurgency and overall political and economic uncertainty. These factors continue to drive a wedge between the region's many countries, sowing division and conflicts among Latin American countries. Jorge G. Castaeda talked about these groups in his article entitled Latin America's Left Turn (http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/politics/left.htm) published in May/June 2006. In the article, Mr. Castaeda related, "But understanding the reasons behind these developments requires recognizing that there is not one Latin American left today; there are two. One is modern, open-minded, reformist, and internationalist, and it springs, paradoxically, from the hard-core left of the past. The other, born of the great tradition of Latin American populism, is nationalist, strident, and close-minded. The first is well aware of its past mistakes (as well as those of its erstwhile role models in Cuba and the Soviet Union) and has changed accordingly. The second, unfortunately, has not." Factors that Divide Latin American Countries For years, the countries have been divided by guerrilla wars, military coups, strikes, assassinations, demonstrations and other means to overthrow the ruling parties. The region's political scene has been going through a major overhaul in the past several years after decades of uncertainty and countless administrations later. Conflicts between the traditional elitists and the new groups including the student and peasant movement, the labor unions, leftist revolutionaries remained, resulting in continuing instability. The Latin American countries' political and economic struggles have been very colorful. For decades, most of the region's countries have been a fixture of the political equator's far left. The region has seen the rise and fall of dictators and leaders as well as the ebb and flow of the countries' respective economies. Just over a decade ago, Latin America was about to usher in a new era of economic progress and democracy. Alas, a lot can happen in a decade. From Venezuela to Mexico, Brazil to Uruguay, Bolivia to Peru and even Nicaragua-Latin America is now the silent witness to the rise and apparent return of the leftist movements across the region. Factors that Unite Latin American Countries The one thing that creates a homogeneous environment among Latin American co

Food and Beverage Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Food and Beverage Operations Management - Essay Example As the report highlights food production systems vary in methods of preparing, cooking and serving food to generate meals served to the customer. The methods differ in terms of the actual location where food production takes place, the total time from preparation to service, number of stuff required, quantity of food produced and the level of hygiene and control. The main considerations in food production include quality of raw materials, food hygiene, minimal wastage, proper food storage, suitable preparation of every food item, employees’ compliance with handling regulations and cooking foods to the proper temperature. Food production methods include centralized distribution, sous-vide, cook-freeze, cook-chill and conventional method.This essay discusses that cook-chill method is a catering system founded regular preparation and cooking of food and subsequent chilling and storage in monitored low temperature conditions. Food is then re-heated prior to consumption. The chille d food is rejuvenated in finishing kitchens that necessitate minimum staff and low capital investment. During the process goods are brought into the kitchen store, followed by preparation and cooking, portioning, packaging, blast chilling, re-heating and eventually consumption. The cook-freeze system of production entails taking goods into the kitchen, preparing and cooking, blast freezing, blast thawing, re-heating and serving when customer orders food. Food and beverage service was customarily viewed as a delivery system.

A MULTICULTURAL VIRTUAL TEAM (slp) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A MULTICULTURAL VIRTUAL TEAM (slp) - Essay Example The different teams also bring different thoughts to the table. People from US are graduated from better colleges which impart better education, so that the ideas that they put forth are more workable and easy to follow. These days’ multi-cultural virtual teams are even more important as they save the cost of travelling and at the same time provide a means of increased globalization and enhanced thoughts. Working of the team according to the Tuckman’s Teamwork Model This report describes a multicultural virtual team that was formed for a business company based on selling market products related to cosmetics. The few things that were required of the team were: 1. to keep a market survey of the number of customers 2. to keep a market survey of the demand of the cosmetics 3. promoting the products The team took the survey and found out that score was highest in the norming section of the questionnaire. And the two highest scores were performing and norming so the team was clearly in the performing stage altogether. The team first took together members from all over the world including places like Japan, USA, KSA, UK, Canada, Pakistan, and Indonesia. The purpose of including all these teams went from very much business-like country and highly developed countries to third world countries.

Cell Theory Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Cell Theory - Assignment Example The paper describes all the peculiarities of the cell theory. A cell organelle is the part of a cell that has a specific function. Organelles are usually located inside the cytoplasm of a living cell, and are typically enclosed in a membrane called plasma membrane. They are called "organelles" because their importance to a cell is analogous to the importance of organs of to a body. Both prokaryotes and eukaryotes have cell organelles; however, there are some important differences between the two. The organelles in prokaryotic cells are not organized or enclosed in plasma membranes. Major cell organelles include chloroplasts, endoplasmic reticulum, golgi apparatus, mitochondria, nucleus and vacuoles. Chloroplasts have double membranes as well as their own DNA, and perform photosynthesis. They are present in plants and some algae. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) has a single membrane and is responsible for transport as well as synthesis of proteins. It is of two types – rough ER, who se surface appears to be rough because of the presence of ribosomes, and smooth ER, whose surface appears to be smooth. Golgi apparatus is also singe-membraned and is responsible for protein sorting and modification.... Both prokaryotes and eukaryotes have cell organelles; however, there are some important differences between the two. The organelles in prokaryotic cells are not organized or enclosed in plasma membranes. Major cell organelles include chloroplasts, endoplasmic reticulum, golgi apparatus, mitochondria, nucleus and vacuoles. Chloroplasts have double membranes as well as their own DNA, and perform photosynthesis. They are present in plants and some algae. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) has a single membrane and is responsible for transport as well as synthesis of proteins. It is of two types – rough ER, whose surface appears to be rough because of the presence of ribosomes, and smooth ER, whose surface appears to be smooth. Golgi apparatus is also singe-membraned and is responsible for protein sorting and modification. The mitochondrion is also called as the powerhouse of the cell because it is responsible for energy production, and like chloroplasts, it also has a double membrane and its own DNA. The nucleus has both Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and Ribonucleic acid (RNA) and is responsible for maintenance and proper distribution of DNA during cell division. Vacuoles function as storage reservoirs of the cell. Minor organelles of the cell include autophagosomes that collect material from the cytoplasm for degradation, centrioles that enable cell division, ribosomes that help in the production of proteins, lysosomes that are responsible for processing or breakdown of large molecules into simpler ones, nucleolus that produces ribosomes, and vesicles that function as material transporters in the cell. Many other organelles exist based on the type of organism.

Functional assessment of an elderly man at home Essay Example for Free

Functional assessment of an elderly man at home Essay According to NHS (2011), elderly people who have attained the age of 65 years and above usually spend an average of 10 hours and above daily sitting or lying down, making them the most sedentary group of people. Due to this apparent inactivity among the elderly, they are more prone to accidental falls, obesity, cardiovascular accidents, heart conditions and sudden death than the general population. In this interview, data was gathered from an elderly man in his early 80s through use of a semi-structured interview schedule that consisted of open-ended questions touching on the instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and activities of daily living (ADL). The interview schedule provided an opportunity for the interviewer and interviewee to tackle the questions in detail through appropriate probing. Before commencement of the interview, an informed consent was obtained from the respondent where his anonymity and the confidentiality of the information sought from him were assured. The interviewee was asked to sign a consent form if he agreed to take part in the interview. The Rationale To ascertain that a person is able to independently live at home or community, the determination of the daily basic activities performed by the individual is necessary. These activities are referred to as Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). According to PayingForSeniorCare (2007), ADLs only serve as a yardstick of independence of individuals, whether or not they perform these basic activities on their own or get assistance. On the other hand, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) are the actions which are important but not a daily requirement for one to live independently. They usually used to determine what level of assistance is to be accorded to the elderly or disabled people in society. In the interview nschedule, three (3) ADLs and Three (3) IADLs were included. The ADLs included: Bed mobility, Toileting, and Eating. The IADLs were: Responsibility for own medication, Housekeeping, and Ability to use telephone. These activities and actions were included in the interview because they will in the very least point to the functional ability of the respondent given his advanced age. ADLs and IADLs are carried out because ‘ Measuring an individual’s ability to perform the ADLs and IADLs is important not just in determining the level of assistance required but as a metric for a variety of services and programs related to caring for the elderly and for those with disabilities (PayingForSeniorCare (2007, p. 1). Ethical considerations According to Fouka and Mantzorou (2011, p. 3), research ethics involve requirements on daily work, the protection of dignity of subjects and the publication of the information in the research. Research ethics are a set of principles that guide researchers and research organizations on how to conduct themselves when dealing with research participants, other researchers and colleagues, the users of their research and society in general. Among the ethical issues taken into consideration in research include: 1. Informed consent Informed consent is a major ethical issue in carrying out research. According to Armiger (1997), the participant must knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently, and in a clear and manifest way, give his/her consent. Informed consent confers autonomy to the respondent hence they are protected through self-determination. Through informed consent, the participant’s integrity, personal liberties and veracity are protected from violation by researchers. Informed consent enables individuals participate in research voluntarily after they have been provided with information on the potential risks and benefits of the research. Free and informed consent should incorporate an introduction to the study, its purpose, an explanation of the selection of the subjects and the procedures that shall be followed. It is essential to describe any physical harm or discomfort, any invasion of privacy and any threat to dignity as well as how the subjects will be compensated in that case. 2. Beneficence- do not harm This principle ensures that researchers exercise a professional mandate to carry out significant and effective research so as to serve and promote the welfare of the population. A researcher must consider all possible consequences of the research and balance the risks with proportionate benefit. The type, degree, and number of potential risks must be assessed and the risk benefit ratio can only be achieved by identifying these factors. If the risks outweigh the benefits, the study should be revised. It is important that debriefing of the participants is done at the end of the study. Debriefing refers to explaining the exact aim of the study and why certain disclosures were not done. According to Burns and Grove (2005) ‘if the subjects experienced a high level of discomfort, they should be debriefed or referred to appropriate professional intervention as necessary’. 3. Respect of anonymity and confidentiality Confidentiality and anonymity are closely linked with the rights of beneficence. The protection of anonymity is achieved when the researcher does not link a participants personal responses and his/her identity. The management of private information of the respondents must be ensured by the researcher in order to protect the participant’s identity. Confidentiality means that individuals can give and/or withhold as much information as they wish to the person they choose. 4. Respect of privacy Privacy is the freedom exercised by an individual in determining the time, extent, and general circumstances under which private information will be shared with or withheld from others. Therefore, private information shall not be shared with others without the knowledge of the participant. According to Treece and Treece (1982), a researcher must respect a decision by a respondent who considers reporting personal information a violation of privacy. Fauka and Mantzorou (2011, p. 7) state that ‘this may even apply to report of age, income, marital status, and other details that the subject may regard intimate. They also imply that privacy can be invaded when researchers study certain groups without their knowledge and without identifying themselves. 5. Concerns of vulnerable group of people Vulnerable group of people are the individuals who are unable to protect their own rights and welfare. Opinion is still divided as to whether they should be included in research studies or not due to their inability to give informed consent. They include prisoners, mentally ill people, the aged and children among others. They need further protection for they are vulnerable to being deceived, threatened or forced to participate in research studies they have no idea about. According to Burns and Grove (2005), the vulnerability of these individuals increases the need for justification for the use of such subjects in research studies. 6. Honesty, objectivity, integrity, legality and competence It is important to maintain honesty in research undertakings. Honestly report data, results, methods and procedures, and publication status. Avoid any fabrication, falsification, or misrepresentation of data. Do not deceive colleagues, granting agencies, or the public. To maintain objectivity, the researcher must avoid bias in study designs, data analysis, data interpretation, peer review, personnel decisions, grant writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of research where objectivity is expected or required. Avoid or minimize bias or self-deception. Disclose personal or financial interests that may affect research. Integrity should be ensured through keeping of promises and agreements. The researcher must act with sincerity, and maintain consistency of thought and action. Every researcher must ensure and improve his/her own professional competence and expertise through lifelong education and learning and steps must be taken towards the promotion of competence in science as a whole. Research studies are guided by the relevant rules and regulations that must be adhered to at all times, whether institutional or governmental. Research ethics play important roles in research studies as they; 1. Bring about respect for and cause no harm to the participants 2. They are a professional requirement in research studies 3. They are a requirement in obtaining funding for research undertaking 4. They ensure that research studies are conducted within the ethical guidelines provided by the Ethics Committee 5. Ensures that the research findings are acceptable to the research community and the public Interviewee current IADL/ADL practices According to Quinn et al. (2011), elderly individuals usually present with acute and chronic problems that adversely affect function, often defined by functional decline and loss of independence. This might eventually lead to institutional care for such individuals. The decreased function may be a pointer to occult pathologies which lead to increased mortalities (Schumacher, 2005). From the interview, it was found out that the respondent had limited capacity in carrying out daily activities. For instance, in determining the ADLs, in bed mobility, he needed other than two persons physical assist, had a limited physical assistance in toileting and limited assistance when eating. His actions too were limited as he scored lowly in IADLs. For instance, in responsibility for own medication, he only takes medication when it is prepared in advance and in right dosages, he answers the telephone only and cannot dial by himself, and finally he does not participate in any form of housekeeping. The respondents attributed all this to poor memory, fast failing eyesight, affliction by arthritis and advanced age. Conclusion Elderly individuals are afflicted by many ailments that lead to poor health, and as a consequence they are usually unable to undertake simple tasks that are geared towards maintaining good health. It is therefore imperative that functional assessment are done on such persons in order to put in place appropriate strategies that can help them lead at least ‘normal’ lives. Therefore, ADLs and IADLs are important towards this end and can help determine the kind of care to be provided to elderly individuals. This can be in the form of institutional care, family and friends care giving. References Armiger, B. (1997). Ethics in Nursing Research: Profile, Principles, Perspective. Nursing Research, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 330-333. Burns, N Grove, S. (2005). The practice of nursing research: Conduct, critique, and utilization (5th ed.), St. Louis, Mo: Elsevier/ Saunders. Fauka, G   Mantzorou, M. (2011). What are the major ethical issues in conducting research? Is there a conflict between the research ethics and the nature of nursing? Health Science Journal, 5(1), pp. 3-14. NHS (2011). The importance of exercise as you get older. Retrieved from: http://www.nhs.uk. Quinn, J, McArthur, Ellis, G Stott, J. (2011). Functional assessment of older people. BMJ. doi: doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d4681 Schumacher, J. (2005). Emergency medicine and older adults: continuing challenges and opportunities. Am J Emerg Med, 23: pp. 556-60. Treece, E Treece, J. (1982). Elements of research in Nursing. St-Louis: Mosby. Appendix Appendix A Informed consent letter My name is †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦., an undergraduate student at †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. University carrying out a study on ‘the importance of ADLs and IADLs’. All information provided in this study will be treated with confidentiality and your identity shall not be disclosed. All information provided in this study will be treated with confidentiality and your identity shall not be disclosed. The participation in this study is on voluntary basis, and therefore you are free to accept or decline to take part in the study. Your cooperation shall be of great importance in achieving this goal. If you agree to take part in this study, please append only your signature below ____________________________________ ______________________ Respondent Signature Date Interviewer signature Date Appendix B Interview schedule Part 1: ADLs 1. How will you describe your ability to move in bed while you lie on it? Any difficulties? 2. Please describe your ability to use the washrooms. Any important information worthy noting? 3. Can you please describe to me your eating habits? Are you able to cut chew and swallow food independently or with supervision? Part 2: IADLs 1. Are you responsible for taking your medications? Yes [ ] No [ ] If NO in the above question, please explain. 2. Do you perform housekeeping chores? 3. How will you describe your use of the telephone? any reasons for that?

Outliers by Malcom Gladwell Essay Example for Free

Outliers by Malcom Gladwell Essay In Malcolm Gladwell’s The Outliers, his goal is to convince the reader that â€Å"people don’t rise from nothing† and that â€Å" we do owe something to parentage and patronage. † Although certain people’s success requires prerequisites of talent and knowledge. I agree with Gladwell that it is not solely because of these talents that these people are successful. However, their success most often is dependant on one’s past good fortune. For example, when or where one was born and raised, one’s cultural background and family legacies, one’s schooling, and many other factors, create opportunities for success where these talents can be utilized. Although some people are thought to have risen from nothing or to have gone from rags to riches, the fact is no one is capable of creating their own success without the help of others and good fortunes along the way. In this passage, a point that Gladwell points out is that success can be created by parentage and patronage, hidden advantages and opportunities, cultural backgrounds and family legacies. An example of the importance of one’s cultural backgrounds and family influence is the way we are raised. Our parents, as our first teachers have a big role in who will become in our lives; they teach us how to interact with other people, how to act in certain situations and how to present ourselves to others. The different religious and cultural backgrounds of our parents, and also the way our parents were raised have an enormous impact on the way our parents raise us. As a parent, the balancing of strictness, pressure, giving, loving, helping, and withholding, among other factors can be difficult, with the question being what balance is the best to raise a child. Because we are all raised in different ways everyone has different views on how to raise a child based on their knowledge of how they were raised. This proves that the way we are raised can make the difference in our success. An example of how parentage and patronage play a role in one’s success is sometimes evident in schooling. Everyday people acquire things they may not deserve because of their family and who they may know. A very common example of this is the use of legacies for admission into a university. Students use their parental legacies at schools all the time and depending on the school this can have an impact on the student’s admission to the school. Another strategy applicants use to help their admission into a school is to search for someone to write their recommendation letter that will have the most amount of influence on the admissions office. Another example of how â€Å"whom you know† can make the difference in one’s success is when looking for jobs. If your aunt, father, grandfather or friend owns or works at a successful business and they help you get a job, sometimes right out of college even if you aren’t as qualified as someone else who wants the job. This way, you are getting an opportunity that you wouldn’t have had otherwise that could make the difference of your success. Therefore, everyday instances like using legacies to get into college, inquiring jobs because of nepitism, or even getting moved up to an honors class because your mom called the school can create success for our futures. In this excerpt from Malcom Gladwell’s The Outliers, Gladwell makes the point that success requires help from others and good fortune to get ahead and become successful. I think whether we realize it or not we are always using advantages we have to get ahead in our own lives, in order to set us up for a more successful future.

Performance Of Google And Its Management

Performance Of Google And Its Management Since Google Inc. was founded in 1998 and incorporated in 2003, it has been focused on technology innovations to help its users find the information with unprecedented levels of ease, accuracy and relevancy. Google primarily concentrated on the areas of search, advertising, operating systems and platforms, enterprise and hardware products. These programs include AdWords, AdSense, Google Display and Google Mobile, with Android and Google Chrome serve as its operating system and platforms. Google generate revenues primarily through delivering advertising to promote products and services for businesses. Currently, it moves to new area, except for providing specific features to mobile device users, Google also operates in mobile segment, as it made an acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (Motorola) on May 22, 2012 (acquisition date). Industry Position: Google Inc. competes with other players in the Internet Information Providers industry within the technology sector. Although there are competitors worldwide, the key players are recognized as general-purpose search engines, such as Yahoo and Microsofts Bing, and social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. Because of its years of focus on technology innovation and huge amounts of expenses in RD every year, Google has become the global technology leader and one of most well known general Internet search engine all around the world. Comprehensive Analysis Part 1: Liquidity situation analysis (see Exhibit 4 graph) Based on the statistics on Google Inc.s financial statements, there is a continuing increase in its revenues and net income, showing a tremendous and overall healthy growth path. Moreover, from the ratio exhibit, from 2008 to 2009, Googles current ratio (change from 8.77 to 10.62), quick ratio (from 8.03 to 10.08) and its free cash flow (from1754 to 2510) all have a big jump. However, we all know that the severe worldwide recession happened at the same time period, it seems Google didnt feel the shock if we only see from these numbers-but it is not true. On the one hand, the recession spread all over the world, even the mighty search giants cannot escape from it. If we put aside those annual numbers that only show final results, Google revealed its first quarter in 2009 web search declined in sales, which forced Google to make cutbacks in online advertisements spending. At the same time, Google announced two rounds of job cuts. Because of the actions of cutback on cost, Google finally beat its 2009 profit expectations -this can be shown in Googles income statement exhibit, the Total operating expenses of 2009 is $6494 million, which is lower than $6542 million of 2008, given Google is expansion scale, it proves the managements action of cutting cost sharply. However, on the other hand, even influenced by recession, Googles investors were relatively optimistic than others, since Googles slowdown still looked good compared with the other players. Moreover, some investors and observers believed that the recession gave a golden opportunity for Google to increase its value and gain more shares in the overall market-since almost all of Googles revenue come from advertisements that are placed next to customers search results, during recession, more and more businesses would choose cheaper advertisements to promote their products, such as Googles online Pay Per Click (PPC), rather than the traditional offline advertisement which used to work well before recession. From this point of view, as their competitors in traditional media cannot keep up, Google got this opportunity to effectively control the online space. As a result, during recession, Googles liquidity situation improved as shown the increase of their current ratio, quick ratio and free cash flow (as the reduced cost and shut down of some projects have released more capital that can be used to reinvest). However, after the recession, from 2009 to 2010, we can see a rapid decline of its liquidity ratios (e.g. Current ratio from 10.62 of 2009 to 4.16 of 2010), this is because after recession, Google continued to reap the growth of digital economy. It gave Google a huge opportunity to stretch in the market since the shift of consumers and advertisers from offline to online continued unabated, and it fueled Googles growth in its core business-search advertising. If we look deeper to seek the causes for the liquidity ratio declines, it is simply the management wanted to take full advantage of this opportunity, as Google decided to invest aggressively and heavily to achieve rapid innovations in its search technologies. It also made big investments to make notable enhancements to search including Instant Previews, Google Instant and Place search. During 2010, Google invested $1.8 billion to acquire products, services, companies and technologies. As a result of these huge investments made in 2010, Google liquidity ratios have a big drop, as well as its free cash flow. But this doesnt mean its competitive situation is weakened, on the opposite, these investments may have opened the doors for large amounts of future profits for Google Inc. and its stockholders. From 2010 to 2012, its current ratios and free cash flow have an overall increasing trend but are much lower than 2009 numbers. The quick ratio in 2012 is lower than that of 2010, this is because Google started to sell real goods, e.g. mobiles, so it had to rely on the inventory to be sold to convert to cash, so this reduced quick ratio. This might indicate that Googles ability to cover its current liabilities by those assets (which are expected to be converted to cash in the near future) is weakened, however, using benchmarking to compare with the industry average (industry average: current ratio 3.2, quick ratio 1.52), Googles liquidity situation still plays as competitive advantage. Part 2: Asset management analysis (see Exhibit 4 graph) From 2008 to 2012, Googles days sales outstanding (DSO) has increased from approximately 44days to 57days. DSO normally represents the average number of days it takes for a company to collect outstanding receivables. The increasing DSO of Google indicates that there is a bigger amount of customers owing payments on its sales; this will make Google unable to collect cash on its sales in time, also expose the risk of ending up with bad debts. It would also limit the companys ability to make reinvestment due to lack of cash. Moreover, DSO is a component of the Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC), which is usually used to determine how long cash is tied up in working capital. Thus, a big DSO contribute to make a larger CCC, it will also deteriorate Googles growth and its value in the long run. While the reason that longer DSO appeared, it is mainly because the growth of international business in this search advertising market, competition is getting awful that some of its powerful customers are testing the paid search model, and they request longer payment terms. By this way, credit terms of the company tend to be longer, as well as extended credit to certain big customers. This is a common issue for all the major players (e.g. Yahoo!), so it should not degrade the management performance just by the increase of DSO. For the asset turnover ratios, we can see that the changes of it correspond with the liquidity ratios as analyzed before: they go up in recession since a good use of the opportunity, decline sharply in 2010 as the huge investments for growth, and continuing increase from 2010 to 2012. This indicates Google is on a healthy growing path with its management making proper decisions to deal with problems, and to invest for greater future profits. Part 3: Profitability analysis (see Exhibit 4 graph) As shown in exhibit, Googles Return on Assets (ROA) ratio goes up in 2009 as a peak, while decline all the way till 2012 after the peak. ROA shows the rate of return (after tax) that is earned on all of Googles assets regardless of its financing structure (debt/equity), it measures the management effectiveness using all stakeholders assets to earn profits for investors. The same trend shows in ROE ratios. For Google, this indicates that Google continues to dedicate a lot of money to new ventures that are not paying off, as the declining shows that assets are growing much faster than profits. For example, Google acquired Motorola and expect to make money off the patents in the way of exciting hardware. Also, Google+ is relatively unprofitable and potentially will be a cash cow, although Google+ is used as a defensive weapon to Facebook and other social networking business. These kinds of segments of Google are dragging down its ROA and ROE ratios. However, we can conclude that the declining ROA and ROE is basically derived from its aggressively expansion and investment, and Google is still showing growth every year, but the uncertainty of the profitability of these investments will bring bigger risk for Google. At the same time, the decline in its returns can also indicate that revenues need to grow much quicker in the future to achieve its expected earnings. Other profitability indicators of Google, such as operating margin and basic earning power are showing the same trend, exemplifies the causes analyzed above. Part 4: Debt management analysis (see Exhibit 4 graph) Googles debt to asset ratio shows a small drop in 2009 and an overall increasing trend from 2009 to 2012. Combined with the asset management analysis in part 1, its reasonable to explain Googles higher profits and faster growth in recession compared with other companies result in its assets increase more than debt. Also, after 2009 recession, continuing expansionary strategy adopted by Google has driven large amounts of investments, as Google has to borrow more from its investors and creditors to reach the investment requirement, its debt grow more than assets and consequently increase its debt to asset ratio. Current performance of Google and its management Recently, after the acquisition of Motorola that bring Google the Mobile segment, Google is spending a fortune to expand its already huge Googleplex site, such as preparing to break ground on a 42-acre campus. Most obviously, Google continues to diversify its business to move to mobile and shift to social networks. Google expects Motorola patents that it acquired can be used to develop a phone to compete with some big players such as Samsung and Apple, it has already tried to feature its Android service. It is also moving into the Internet market with Google Fiber to help acquire advertisements. However, as the ratios and trends analyzed before shows that there are problems of short-term returns and higher risks, and fortunately the management has already recognized it. We can find that it has been revealed in Googles annual report that the management are making good efforts to prioritize their products, they shut down a number of products in 2011, including Google Buzz, Google Desktop and Google Labs. The management has learned a lot from those discontinued products and are putting that learning to work every day in new products. To conclude, during recession, Googles management reacted properly and took good use of its online ads advantage, to gain more market. However, the aggressive investment to grow bring uncertainties to the returns, its management should pay more attention to this issue and operate Google business with more caution and conservation, thus maximize its stockholders wealth in the long run. Googles Future Prospects Summarization It is obvious that Google has strong ambition to diversify and dominate its products in different fields, as shown from its many historical acquisitions and its recent moves. Because of its fast growth model, their short-turn foreseeable profits are shrinking, however, Google is still a technology leader in the field with unparalleled competitive advantages. If managed properly, Googles investments will bring optimistic returns in the future. Googles Corporate Governance Corporate governance mainly focuses on the way that top managers operate and interface with its stockholders. For Google, its code of conduct is well known as dont be evil. However, concerning its investors interests, the corporate governance in Google is not optimistic. Since Google initially made the IPO, it has been using dual-share-class structure, under which its shareholders can buy class A shares with one vote per share, while Google founders and co-president Larry Page and Sergey Brin and CEO Schmidt control the majority of its class B super-voting stock with ten votes per share. This makes it hard for outside parties to take over or influence Google. Even as Googles latest actions regarding corporate governance to make stock split via a new class of stock, this would not change its top management already overwhelming voting power, since the power would decay very slowly while Googles shares get diluted. This structure has advantages, as they can avoid hostile takeovers and allow Google to concentrate on its long-term strategies rather than obsessed by tactical short-term moves. But it has much more negative effects, as there is more risk that the CEO make bad decisions. For example, Google stopped its China mainland operations, and this decision made in haste by Mr. Brin, has caused huge loss for Google and its investors. This directly reflects a lack of input from investors on Googles decision-making. In conclusion, although Google has focused on core strengths to make profits, the really challenge right now is to change the way that pushing ideas top-down and improve their current corporate governance condition, because whatever industries Google break into, good corporate governance is the fundamental insurance of keeping all its operations on the right track. Recommendation for Google Investors Although Google bear potential problems in its management investment strategy, Googles business is rapidly evolving and intensely competitive. The overall optimistic attitude held by its current investors shows their confidence in Googles investment returns, but since Googles declining ROA and ROE as well as its shrinking margins reveals higher risk or probable late returns, investors should be careful when making investment, because Googles ongoing investment in new business, products and services is inherently risky, and may disrupt its ongoing business. Besides this, investors should be aware of its internal issues that may deteriorate their investment given its corporate governance situation. Exhibit 4 Representative graphs of ratios during five years Part 1: Liquidity graph Part 2: Asset management graph Part 3: Debt management graph Part 4: Profitability graph Cited References: (n.d.). Retrieved from http://news.techeye.net/business/google-plans-enormous-real-estate-expansion (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/sem/seo/did-googles-profits-increase-despite-the-recession-or-because-of-it/99787 (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2009-04-17/google-the-recession-takes-its-tollbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ycharts.com/companies/GOOG/return_on_assets (n.d.). Retrieved from https://ycharts.com/companies/GOOG/days_sales_outstanding (n.d.). Retrieved from http://baike.baidu.com/view/105.htm (n.d.). Retrieved from http://seekingalpha.com/article/506281-what-google-s-split-means-for-investors (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.preservearticles.com/2012010319733/here-is-your-short-essay-on-corporate-governance.html (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeover#Tactics_against_hostile_takeover (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/dealflow/archives/2006/01/why_is_dso_risi.html (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Google#cite_note-63 (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/goog/profile (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.google.com/about/company/ (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/financialHighlights?symbol=GOOG.O (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/goog/insideractions (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.Google_Inc.fb3f79c4d1791506.html#megamenu.html (n.d.). Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ct?s=GOOG+Components (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/finance/related?q=NASDAQ%3AGOOGei=FIozUbDVCNG30AHxRQ (n.d.). Retrieved from http://seekingalpha.com/article/236438-google-is-still-a-consumer-services-and-tech-leader (n.d.). Retrieved from http://seekingalpha.com/article/506281-what-google-s-split-means-for-investors (n.d.). Retrieved from http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/1101721-james-demasi/252598-don-t-rely-on-corporate-governance-ratings (n.d.). Retrieved from http://seekingalpha.com/article/580961-behind-google-s-smoke-screen (n.d.). Retrieved from http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/3774191-ecpofi/1483231-beware-google-s-drop-in-margins-roa-and-roe (n.d.). Retrieved from http://seekingalpha.com/article/1114161-google-not-a-buy-suffering-from-declining-return-on-assets (n.d.). Retrieved from http://business-ethics.com/2012/08/14/10058-is-22-5-million-dollars-a-big-enough-penalty-for-google/

Use of Juxtaposition In Shakespeares Hamlet Essay -- William Shakesp

Within Shakespeare's Hamlet, juxtaposition is used to achieve many purposes such as to enhance mood, re-establish themes and to illustrate characterization. The characters of Hamlet and Ophelia are an example of how Shakespeare uses juxtaposition to clearly illustrate traits of his characters. However, he not only juxtaposes the character against others but also to themselves in their speech. Moreover, in the gravedigger scene in Act 5, Shakespeare uses juxtaposition to enhance the theme and message of the scene. Additionally, the use of juxtaposition creates one of the most important themes of the play, contrast. Shakespeare uses much juxtaposition to personify his characters. This helps to give the audience a greater understanding of the relationships of the characters both to themselves and to other characters in the play. Ophelia and Hamlet are greatly juxtaposed against each other in Hamlet. Ophelia’s role in the play is the foil to both Hamlet and to her brother Laetres. In the play Ophelia is the catalyst, the means of Laertes and Hamlets actions and she acts like a mirror and enables the audience to view them though a more heroic perspective. Throughout the play, Ophelia sparks events and although she isn’t a well developed nor a main character her part in the play is crucial. As the catalyst she causes the battle at the end of the play, as she did “persuade revenge” on Hamlet by Laertes. Hamlet’s feign of madness and talk about suicide, becomes Ophelia’s reality as she falls into depression and madness and when Hamlet kills her father, she eventually commits suicide. Ophelia’s psychological presence and breakdown is necessary to allow Hamlet to overthrow his current characterization. As to the audience, it is ... ...e tension from Ophelia’s death and the ever-increasing tension and complexity of the plot. It is also an important milestone for Hamlet as he comes in terms with the fact that death is the ultimate equalizer and later in the scene Hamlet imagines how that even “Alexander the great‘s body would of turned into dust, which could have been used to make loam, and that loam could have been used to plug a beer-barrel. This readies Hamlet to die in the final scene, knowing the death is universal, equalizing and more importantly, that everyone dies. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is filled with juxtapositions. All of the characters have foils and are juxtaposed not only against other characters, but also to themselves through their soliloquies. The themes are also juxtaposed against each other to give greater meaning to them and to introduce another theme, the theme of contrast.

Medical Attributes of Cannabis sativa - Marijuana Essay -- Exploratory

Medical Attributes of Cannabis sativa - Marijuana Cannabis sativa is an erect herb commonly known as hemp or marijuana, or by vernacular names such as grass, weed, refer, and pot. C. sativa is a member of the Cannabinaceae or hemp family. Marijuana can be cultivated illegally in eastern and central North America. Marijuana was legal in the United States for industrial, recreational and medicinal uses until 1937 (Anon., 1996a). C. sativa contains about sixty various psychoactive chemicals called cannabinoids. The most active component in C. sativa is tetrahydrocannabinol or THC which is found in greatest concentrations in the flowering tops and leaves of the hemp plants. The word marijuana refers to the whole plant and the resin from hemp or also called hashish (Anon., 1996b). Presently, C. sativa has four medicinal values. First, it is used to relieve nausea and increase appetite. Second, it brings about the reduction of intraocular pressure in glaucoma. Third, it causes a reduction of muscle spasms. Fourth, it provides relief from mild to moderate chronic pain (Anon., 1996a). In 1975, a study was conducted testing the effects of marijuana on the cardiovascular system. People between the ages of 30-40 years, whom had never smoked marijuana were used for this experiment. Results showed that there is no direct cardiac effect of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) unless the THC dose is 50 fold. There were no changes in stimulation of ephedrine production (which stimulates the sympathetic nervous system), levels of blood glucose, lactate or pyruvates and fatty acid fractions. Changes to these effects were observed when the THC dose was 50 fold (Beacansfield, 1975). In a study in 1982, researchers analyzed the biological effe... ...s antiemetic medicine: A survey of oncologists' experiences and attitudes. F. Cline Oncology 9:1314-1319. Sallan, S.E., N.E. Ainberg, and E. Frex. 1975. Antiemetic effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in patients receiving cancer chemotherapy. The New England Journal of Medicine 293:795-797. Singh, N., S. Vrat, B. Ali, and K.P. Bhargava. 1981. An assessment of biological effects of chronic use of cannabis in human subjects. Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research 19: 81-91. Tashkin, D.P., B.J. Shapiro, Y.E. Lee, and C.E. Harper. 1975. Effects of smoked marijuana in experimentally induced asthma. American Review of Respiratory Disease 112. Volfe Z., A. Dvilansky. and I. Nathan. 1985. Cannabinoids block release of serotonin from platelets induced by plasma from migraine patients. International Journal of Clinical and Pharmacological Research 5:243-246.

Macbeth :: Essays Papers

Macbeth The witches and Lady Macbeth appear to dominate Macbeth's will, but in reality Macbeth is always in control. The confusion is created because, unlike these one dimensional, aggravating characters, he understands the complexity of the problem and must wrestle with his conscience. However, his action is based primarily upon his own desires. Ironically, given his understanding of the issues, he is horrified by the immensity of his crime once it has been committed and his terrified of the consequences. Clearly Macbeth understands the problem he faces and must struggle with his conscience. Throughout Macbeth's soliloquy in Scene 1 he expresses his feelings by saying, Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear Thy very stones prate of my whereabout, And take the present horror from the time, Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives: Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives. (Act 2, Scene 1) With that speech he is saying don't hear the steps I walk for fear they will give away my whereabouts. He wishes that the silence would break so he could finish his work. This meaning he wants the bell to ring, causing a break in silence, signaling him to kill Duncan so he can get his evil deed finished. To add to that point he also is saying that talking is delaying action. Actions being the killing of Duncan. The bold reality is that he is struggling within himself because he just wants to get it over and done with. He has everything under control now and just hopes that he wont be found out. The complexity of his problem between his ambition and loyalty he recognizes, knowing that he wants to do this but prays not to be caught in his act of disloyalty. Macbeth's ambitions are that of his own desire. The murdering of Duncan is purely what Mabeth truly wants. These desires are well pointed out during his soliloquy in Scene 1. He says, Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable

Glaxo Pakistan

Table of Contents INTRODUCTION As per Jim Collins, *â€Å"V*ery few have a capability of going from Good to Great†. Many companies strive to be the best in the market. Most never succeed. Many do so only temporarily and subsequently lose their position through misunderstanding how they got there and what is needed to stay there. http://www. roi-ally. com/BPE_vol1. htm Therefore in order to maintain the business position and to identify its future needs, one requires an accurate analysis of the reality of the business situation and determine its financial health. This is rather complicated yet necessary for keeping one’s financial affairs clean and sustains the organization’s growth. Recognizing the importance of the above subject matter, I choose topic 8 for my research report i. e. â€Å"An analysis of the financial situation of your choice of organization. † The company selected for this purpose is *â€Å"*GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited*†*, also referred to as â€Å"GSK† or â€Å"The Company†. REASON FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC Topic selection is based on a number of factors which derived me towards selecting this topic for my thesis in comparison to other topics specified in research and analysis project guidelines. Following are the few reasons for choosing the said topic: Relevance to the Current profession: While working in the Financial Advisory Services Department of Deloitte Pakistan, I got various opportunities to explore different sectors and industries. This has equipped me with strong interpretational and analytical skills which helped me to work effectively on the said topic. Future Assistance: The pharmaceutical industry provides a lot of financial analysis opportunities because of the complexity of its operation. This complicated structure enabled me to better understand and practically apply theoretical knowledge and be better equipped to undertake financial analysis in my future career. Importance in ACCA: Financial analysis is one of the most important topics tested in ACCA examinations. I personally feel that it is an interesting topic which has a practical application. Moreover, it enabled me to utilize my IT skills and the knowledge that I gained from my studies. COMPANY AND SECTOR Industry: Pakistan has a very vibrant and forward looking Pharma Industry. It has about 500 pharmaceutical manufacturing units including those operated by 25 multinationals present in the country. It has shown progressive growth over the last one decade and now meets around 70% of the country's demand of Finished Medicine. The industry has invested substantially to upgrade itself in the last few years and today majority of the industry is following Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), in accordance with the domestic as well as international Guidance. The industry has the capacity to manufacture a variety of product ranging from simple pills to sophisticated Biotech, Oncology and Value Added Generic compounds. http://www. ppma. org. pk/ The Company: History: There are four major companies in the history of GSK: Burroughs Wellcome & Company, Glaxo Laboratories, Beecham and SmithKline and French. GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited was created on January 1st 2002 through the merger of the aforementioned companies operating separately in Pakistan. Today GSK is standing as one of the largest pharmaceutical company of the world. Business: As a leading international pharmaceutical company, GSK is dedicated towards global healthcare and believes it to be ethically important and a key to its business success. GSK Pakistan’s primary activities are manufacturing, import, export and marketing of research-based pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare products. It operates mainly in two industry segments: Pharmaceuticals (prescription drugs and vaccines) and consumer healthcare (over-the-counter- medicines, oral care and nutritional care). Market Share: GSK Pakistan limited holds a major market share in terms of products, asset base, revenue and innovation. It produces 5 brands among the 10 top brands of the pharmaceutical products in the market. It is the 1st company in Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry which reached the revenue of Rs 10 Billion and currently holds 18. 33% of the total volume of the pharmaceutical product traded in Pakistan. Products: GSK has a large products portfolio ranging from tablets, toothpaste, inhalers to complex capsules, in over 28,000 different pack sizes and presentations. Principally GSK produces antibiotics, respiratory, dermatological, gastro-intestinal, metabolic, analgesics, central nervous system (CNS) products and vaccines. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Objectives and milestones are of crucial importance for any activity and are the core of its success, or failure. Setting an objective before initiating the project provides the required directions and assists in anticipating its result. This report aims to evaluate and assess the financial & business position of GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited for financial year ended December 30, 2008. This will be achieved by the following three key tools: Vertical Analysis It deals with the most sophisticated technique for analyzing the financial statements which is ratio analysis, also known as trend analysis. This analysis will be conducted to compare GSK's current year performance with its previous periods under four broad categories i. e. Profitability, Short Term Solvency, Liquidity and Efficiency, Long Term Solvency and stability & Market ratios. Within each category different ratios would be calculated depending upon their significance and appropriateness. Horizontal Analysis For a more meaningful and judicious picture of the entity’s position it is compared with its competitor within the industry. Through this horizontal or competitor analysis, GSK’s current year performance is judge against its major competitor Sanofi Aventis. This analysis is conducted by the use of financial ratios in the same four broad categories. Business Analysis Business analysis is a well-established means of thinking critically about an entity, its resources and its environment. This analysis aims to evaluate GSK’s performance not only from the financial perspective but its business as a whole. This will be achieved by the use of technique namely â€Å"SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, and Opportunities & Threat) analysis† and by conducting a general analysis of business highlighting its major performance area. Future Prospects: This report will also highlight the company’s future objective and strategies and assess its alignment with GSK’s vision and purpose of existence. INFORMATION GATHERING ‘Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit’. William Pollard Any course of action that generates a successive message can be considered as a source of information. Information can be gathered from virtually anywhere but ideal information is that, which when used, adds value. Keeping this in mind, I exploited the most appropriate and authentic information sources. The major sources used to gather the information are: Annual Reports The most reliable source of information is the company’s annual report. These not only contain financial statements of an entity but also other information of current and future scenarios which helps in evaluating its performance. Annual Reports of GSK for December 2008 and 2007 and its competitor Sanofi Aventis for the December 2008 were obtained from their websites. Meetings Several informal meetings were conducted with the management of GSK regarding its business and financial stance. I also managed to have meeting with senior associates at Deloitte who had an experience of conducting audit of Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited. They provided me guidance to conduct the business analysis and industry knowledge, to facilitate me in achieving my goals effectively. Internet Internet proved to be one of the strongest sources which enhanced the frequency and quality of information gathered during the project. The official website of GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited (http//:www. gsk. com. pk) assisted to assemble constructive information for its better understanding which helped in scrutinizing the company’s financial performance. Additionally, different quotes and definitions were gathered from Google Search Engine. Articles The Article published in Student Accountant by ACCA, â€Å"How to Approach Performance Appraisal Questions? by Steve Scott from May 2006 issue, helped in the interpretation of the financial position of GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited. ACCA Study Texts The study texts of ACCA Paper F7 and P2, P3, CAT Paper T6 published by BPP and FTC, were the helpful resources in gathering definitions and interpretations of ratios and conducting business analysis. Financial Analysis Financial analysis is an aspect of the overall business fina ncial position that involves examining historical and competitor data to gain information about the current and future financial health of a company. ttp://www. enotes. com/small-business-encyclopedia/financial-analysis Comparison with the prior periods (Vertical analysis) and with the competitor (horizontal analysis) in the form of ratios assists an organization in taking appropriate measures for improving its financial credibility. Vertical Analysis: Trend or vertical analysis is an aspect of technical analysis that evaluates the current performance of the company using the past data. It is based on the idea that what has happened in the past gives traders an idea of what will happen in the future. ttp://www. investopedia. com/. This analysis is done under four broad ratio categories discussed below: Profitability Ratios: RETURN ON CAPITAL EMPLOYED (ROCE): The primary measure of profitability is normally considered to be ROCE. It is the ratio which measures the relationship betwee n the sizes of the profit figure relevant to size of the business. (Student Accountant – May 2006) ROCE of the company has reached at a level of 36. 84% in 2008, which is a growth of 4% from 2007 32. 89% that had reduced by 2. 29% compare to 2006 (35. 18%). This increase in 2008 was mainly due to the rise in net profit of 17% in comparison to FY 2007. Whereas, in the year 2007, the increase in noncurrent liabilities by 40. 65% (in comparison to 2006) caused a decline in its ROCE. {draw:frame} GROSS PROFIT MARGIN (GP %): The gross profit margin ratio tells us the profit a business makes on its cost of sales. GP% of GSK was 28. 77% in the year 2008 which demonstrated a downward trend, since the recorded margin in the year 2007 was 37. 25% and 38. 33% in 2006 respectively. Despite of the rise in the sales revenue by 26% in 2008, GSK’s GP% has decreased. This was due to the drastic increase in its cost of sales by 43. 38% over 2007 (which was particularly due to the rise in raw material & commodities prices), whereas there was no consequent increase in its sales prices (because of no increase in drug prices sanctioned by the government since 2001). The same reason was observed in the year 2007 which squeezed its GP% by 1. 08% over 2006, regardless of the increase in its net sales by 5. 6%. {draw:frame} NET POFIT MARGIN (NP %): â€Å"A change in the net profit margin is a measure of how well a company has controlled its overheads†. Student Accountant- May 2006) NP% of GSK has shown a declining trend by an average of approximately 1% per year during the three years periods. It was 15. 74% in 2007 but decreased to 14. 59% in the year 2008. However, this reduction was not in the same proportion as of gross profit, due to the increase in other operating income by 100. 15% (which is 65. 46% of the net profit) and tighter control of company on its expenses during the year. In the year 2007 the NP% decreased by 0. 76% from 16. 50 in 2006, nonetheless indicating no major variation. {draw:frame} ASSET TURNOVER: The asset utilization ratio (sales/net assets) shows how efficiently the assets are being used to generate sales. (ACCA P3 BPP Study Text) Asset turnover of GSK was 1. 26 times in 2008, which was an increase of 22% from 2007. This was due to an increase in sales by 26% from 2007 and the raise in fixed assets by 4. 54% (which was because of the capital investment of 646 million made by the company, the major portion of which was spend on facility improvement, rationalization and upgrading its plant) that resulted in the improvement of its assets turnover. However, in the year 2007 it declined by 3% from 1. 7 times in 2006 to 1. 04 times, which was due to the increase in total assets by 7. 63%. {draw:frame} RETURN ON EQUITY (ROE): ROE is the amount of net income returned as a percentage of shareholders equity. It measures an entity’s profitability by revealing how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have invested. http://www. investopedia. com/ ROE of GSK was 23. 4% in the year 2008 that was 2. 82% higher than 2007, which was because of the boost of 17. 04% in its net profits figure. In the financial year 2007, it slightly dropped by 1. 32% from 22. 9% in 2006 to 20. 58%. The issued common stock (Bonus Shares) in FY 2007 resulted in its equity enlargement by 7. 7% over 2006, consequently decelerating its ROE. {draw:frame} Short Term Solvency, Liquidity and Efficiency: CURRENT RATIO: Current ratio measures a company's ability to pay its short-term obligations. www. investopedia. com The current ratio of GSK was 4. 22:1 in 2006 further declining to 4. 27:1 and 4. 11:1 in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Although there have been a raise in current assets by 5. 98% but current liabilities are increased in a greater proportion i. e. y 10% during 2008, thus decelerating GSK’s current ratio by 4% from 2007. Whereas, the decrease of 15% from 2006 to 2007 in current ratio was due to 3. 3% rise in the company’s current liabilities. A lthough there have been no drastic changes in current assets figure over the three year period, however, it comprises almost 34% of cash and bank balance, signaling towards ineffective cash management. {draw:frame} QUICK RATIO: The quick ratio measures the company's ability to meet its short-term obligations with its most liquid assets. It shows better liquidity position than current ratio. ww. investopedia. com The quick ratio of GSK has decreased from 3. 13 in FY 2006 to 2. 98 in FY 2007 to 2. 31 in FY 2008. In the year 2008 GSK’s quick ratio has declined in a greater proportion than its current ratio, indicating cash being stuck in stock in trade which can be seen by an increase of 53% in stock in trade figure over 2007. This implies the company has made high investment in less liquid assets which resulted in the increase of its cash operating cycle. Therefore there is a need to restrain any further increase in its inventory level. In the year 2007, inventory only increased by 7%, indicating no substantial change. {draw:frame} ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE COLLECTION PERIOD (In Days): It is a measure of the average number of days that a company takes to collect revenue from its customers after a sale has been made. www. investopedia. com Account receivable collection period of GSK had radically increased from 4 days in the year 2007 to 27 days in 2008, which was caused by 770% increase in its accounts receivables (mainly because of high receivable on government tenders) over 2007. Although, this resulted in the augmented sales turnover but it also raised doubtful debt provision from 2. 9 million in 2007 to 4. 6 million in 2008. However, no significant rise was observed in receivable collection period days of 3. 06 days in FY06 from FY07. {draw:frame} ACCOUNTS PAYABLE PAYMENT PERIOD (In Days): It is used to calculate the average number of days that a business takes to pay off its creditors. www. investopedia. com Account payable days of GSK have decreased by 22 days from 93 days in FY 2007 to 71 days in FY 2008. This sudden decline was due to the increase of 43. 8% in cost of goods sold, which is fairly less in comparison to the 9. 94% rise in trade and other payables. However, in FY 2007 the 7% increase in COGS was in proportion to the 6. 25% raise in trade and other payables, resulting in no considerable change in the year 2007 in comparison to 94 days of its preceding year 2006. {draw:frame} Long Term Solvency and stability Ratios: GEARING (Long Term Debt / Equity): Gearing is a general term describing a financial ratio which compares some form of owner's equity (or capital) to borrowed funds. It is a measure of financial leverage, demonstrating the degree to which a firm's activities are funded by owner's funds versus creditor's funds. Financial gearing ratio of GSK is not significantly important as it has remained below 1% in the 3 year period from 2006 to 2008. Gearing ratio for FY 2008 and FY 2007 is 0. 25% and 0. 29%, which are relatively better in comparison to 0. 88% for the financial year 2006. This indicates that the company is highly dependent on its internal cash flow generation system and holds a stable financial position. Therefore, it currently and subsequently would have no problem to borrow funds but at present, it does not seem to rely on the strategy of generating finance through debt. {draw:frame} INTEREST COVER: It is a ratio that indicates how many times a company can cover its interest charges on a pretax basis. Failing to meet these obligations could force a company into bankruptcy. www. investopedia. com Interest cover of GSK had declined by 191 times being at 40. 05 times in FY 2008 in comparison to 231. 18 times in FY 2007 which was an increase of 93. 92 times in comparison to 137. 5 times in FY 2006. One of the major reasons for this drastic decline in the interest cover in 2008 is because of the rise in financial charges of GSK, which rose because of the foreign exchange losses occurred during the year by the company. This depicts an inefficient FOREX risk management for importing of raw material and exports of its products. While in the year 2007 exchange losses are apparently low comp ared to the other two years. {draw:frame} Market Ratio: EARNING PER SHARE (EPS): EPS is the portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. Earnings per share serve as an indicator of a company's profitability. www. investopedia. com EPS of GSK had increased from 9. 79 per share in 2007 to 11. 46 per share in FY 2008, but it was lower as compared to 12. 19 per share of 2006. The increase in the current year (FY 2008) is due to vigorous 17. 04% increase in net profit in comparison to the profit of FY 2007; however no further shares issue was made during the year. Whereas, the decline in FY 2007 was due to the issue of common shares (bonus shares) which expanded the company’s common stock by 25% but net profit remained almost same as of FY 2006. draw:frame} PRICE EARNING RATIO (P/E): A valuation ratio of a company's current share price compared to its per-share earnings. It is calculated as: Market Value/ share divided by Earning per share. www. investopedia. com P/E ratio of GSK has decreased by 13. 03 to 6. 63 in the FY 2008 compare to the FY 2007, but in 2007 it increased by 19. 66 compared to the 12. 81 of FY 20 06. The decrease observed in the year 2008 was because of the undervalued share price and improvement in the EPS during the year. The market price of the share in Dec 2008 was Rs. 75. 9 (Dec07: Rs. 192. 4) and the earning per share was Rs. 1. 46 (Dec07: Rs. 9. 79). The low P/E ratio will result in the high expectations of investors for the potential rise in share prices. The stock prices were generally low due to economic recession in the country and fragile moves of the investors at the stock exchange. The increase in P/E ratio during 2007 was due to decrease in EPS by 20% over 2006. {draw:frame} DIVIDEND PAYOUT RATIO (DPO): Dividend payout ratio is the percentage of earnings paid to shareholders as dividends. www. investopedia. com Dividend payout ratio of the company is depicting a growing trend. Its DPO in the FY 2008 reached to 82. % from 76. 6% in FY 2007, i. e. approximately an increase of 6%. This was due to a raise in net profit by 17%, consequently meeting its investorâ₠¬â„¢s expectation. Whilst the payout ratio of GSK indicates that it was able cover 65. 6% of the total profit in FY 2006. However GSK retained 23. 4% and 32. 4% of its net profits in the year 2007 and 2006 respectively, since heavy capital expenditure was incurred within these two years, which was financed by its retained earnings. {draw:frame} Horizontal Analysis: Knowing your customer is critical, but knowing your competition can be even more valuable. Better knowledge of rivals proffers a legitimate source of competitive advantage, horizontal analysis commonly known as competitor analysis is used for that purpose. This analysis tends to evaluate the entity’s standing in comparison to the other companies within the industry. It is not vital that the companies within the same industry are direct competitors (which can be seen in the case of GSK & Sanofi Aventis hereinafter referred to as SA); even then they would be expected to broadly demonstrate similar performance, in terms of growth. (ACCAP3). The Horizontal analysis of GSK is done within the same categories of trend analysis. Profitability Ratios: Profitability ratios of GSK are better than that of SA. The huge difference in the profit margin of these two corporations is due to the difference in their size. Gross profit margin of the GSK is 28. 77%, which is 4. 48% better than that of SA. GSK’s vast product range allows it to purchase and produce in bulk, hence reducing its overall cost. On the other hand, SA manufactures low volumes of products which increase its ordering cost and consequently raise its cost of production. Net profit margin of GSK is 14. 9% while that of SA is 0. 88% in the FY 2008. This difference of 13. 71% indicates that excessive non production cost of SA is squeezing its net profit. As a consequence low ROCE of SA of 15. 36% is witnessed in comparison to GSK’s 36. 84%. SA’s asset turnover of 1. 46 times indicates that it has utilized its assets 0. 2 times more efficiently than G SK to generate sales revenue. Short Term Solvency, Liquidity and Efficiency: The current ratio of GSK for FY 2008 is 4. 11 and of SA is 0. 98. Since SA’s current ratio is less than 1, it is can lead to the difficulty in fulfilling its short term obligations. SA’s liquidity problems can be witnessed from its short term borrowings covering 48% of the total Current Liabilities. Conversely, Current ratio of GSK is high showing signs of over capitalization. Additionally, cash and bank balances of GSK are 34 % of its total current assets which indicates weak working capital management. Quick Ratio of SA and GSK is 0. 2 and 2. 25 respectively. This enormous difference from the current ratios of these companies highlights the possibility of investment in assets which are less liquid. The inventory (stock in trade) of the SA is almost 62% of its total current assets while GSK holds around 44% of its current assets. SA has kept a stringent control over its working capital while GSK’s policy seems much more relaxed with its creditors and Debtors. These relaxed terms could be one of the reasons which helped GSK in increasing its Sales revenue by 26% in FY 2008 from FY 2007. SA, in contrast, has less receivable collection days and increased payable payment days. Hence SA is better at controlling its cash conversion. Long Term Solvency and stability Ratios: Both the companies hold stable positions in the context of long term solvency. Gearing ratios are not significant as these are less than 1% in both the companies. Interest cover of 40. 05 times shows a sound financial position. Finance cost occurred by GSK mainly consist of the foreign exchange losses borne by the company in importing the raw material. While SA has interest cover of 0. 51 times due to the high finance cost on short term borrowing. Market Ratios: The huge difference in EPS of GSK and SA is due to their different profitability position. Moreover GSK has a high payout ratio of approximately 83% as compared to 35. 28% of SA. NAV of SA is 2. 5 times higher than GSK particularly due to the high number of equity shares (common stock) issued, which is also reflected in its share price. SA currently has a share price of Rs. 211 and GSK’s shares are of Rs. 75. 94/share respectively. SA’s P/E ratio of 53. 18 indicates low earnings and high market price of its shares. This is a source of concern indicating that its shares are overvalued. Conversely, GSK’s P/E ratio of 6. 63, highlights that its shares are currently undervalued. Business Analysis The business performance analysis of GSK will be carried out using SWOT analysis and by general discussion of its business practices. SWOT SWOT analysis is fundamentally about discovering what a company does well, how it could improve, whether it is making the most out of the available opportunities and whether there are any changes in the market that call for corresponding changes in the business. http://www. bnet. com/2410-13240_23-66478. html Strengths The largest pharmaceutical company in Pakistan. The first company in Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry that crossed Rs 10 billion sales mark. Produces 269 varieties of products, out of which Augmentin, Amoxil, Panadol, Ventolin and Ampiclox are among the top 10 pharmaceutical Rx products of Pakistan. The sales revenue of Augmentin and Amoxil reached to PKR2bn and PKR1bn in 2008. Betnovate is its leading brand by volume. Segment leadership in antibiotics, respiratory products, anti-malaria, gastrointestinal (GI), derma and hepatitis products, vaccines and anti helmentic medicaments. Stood at 1st position in poster competition of â€Å"International Clinical Operations, Community of Practice Meetings†. Awarded with corporate philanthropic award certificate in 2008 by Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy. Contributes to social welfare by running various charitable programs with leading NGO’s in Pakistan such as Pakistan National Forum, National Children Human Development on women’s health, concern for Children trust and the trust for health and medical sciences. Awarded as â€Å"Best place to work-2008† by a leading HR consultancy in association with Pakistan Society for Human Resource Management. Committed to innovation by developing medicines through its global R effort. Weaknesses Due to high cost of importing raw material for medicines, GSK faces strong competition from low-cost generic equivalents. Ineffective foreign exchange currency contracts resulted in the increase of exchange losses (financial charges) for the current year. Strict labor laws and a corporate income tax rate, makes it difficult for GSK to operate. Weak cash management. Opportunities: Potential for growth in the domestic market. Sector modernization initiatives will create expansion opportunities. Cut of import duties were made by the government on Pharmaceutical products. This will increase the import of products and motivate foreign involvement in respect of the investment, raw material purchase and technology transfer. Prospective increase in exports of medicines is possible as currently, Pakistan is ranked among the top eight leading exporters of herbal medicine. Threats: Significant counterfeit drug industry. Domestic patent law is below international standards. Illegal copying, counterfeiting and law enforcement is continuing to present significant problems for the international pharmaceutical companies operating in Pakistan. Rising numbers of generics is a major barrier to multinational investment. Increasing inflationary trends without consequent increases in the prices of drugs. Exposed to foreign exchange currency risk as the company is highly dependent on import of raw materials. Slow registration process for approving new formulae for medicine thus hampering its access. More about GSK: The Vision: â€Å"The opportunity to make a difference to the lives of billions of people† GSK states that they are aware of the work they do to improve the quality of people’s lives. It takes pride in this and is committed to produce products that benefit patients. It is committed towards improving and implementing the healthcare programs in Pakistan, particularly the area of preventive healthcare and vaccines remains essential and explicit. GSK is the world’s leading developer and manufacturer of vaccines. In order to evaluate the alignment of company’s activities with its vision, I have conducted the business analysis under the following heads: Market Eminence: GSK has always remained a strong wing of the pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan. It has managed to maintain a consistent growth in demand of different vaccines, antibiotics, dermatology, gastro intestinal & cardio vascular portfolios. GSK has a wide distribution network, it sell its products to wholesale drug distributors, hospitals, government entities and other institutions, hence covering almost the whole pharmaceutical market. It produces 7 out of 20 top brands in the pharmaceutical industry of the country. It was as awarded â€Å"The most preferred pharmaceutical company† of the year. It is the market leader of pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan. Quality Management: Quality in the Pharmaceutical industry is of significant importance. Due to the sensitive nature of industry, strict quality parameters are set by the regulatory bodies for pharmaceutical companies. GSK is one of the few companies which not only follow the quality standard set locally but also practice international quality standards. It was reward with the prestigious â€Å"Corporate Excellence Award† by Management Association of Pakistan (MAP). This was presented after independent evaluation of quality of management practices followed by GSK including corporate governance practices, marketing planning, production, R, corporate social responsibility and remarkable financial performance. GSK has always set high quality standards in the industry. It has recently introduced quality management system and is conducting workshops for its successful implementation. It has also installed one of the fastest tube filling and cartooning machines for its production efficiency and is continually advancing towards improvement in product’s quality and productivity. Research & Developments: GlaxoSmithKline, Pakistan (GSKP) Limited is the largest research-based pharmaceutical company in the country and the second largest in the world. It has recently conducted 19 Phase-II and III studies in therapeutic areas of Oncology, Neurosciences, Psychiatry, Metabolic and Hematology. It got 1st Position in poster competition in â€Å"International Clinical Operations, Community of Practice Meeting† held in Bangkok. Its R department’s 10 team members were presented with â€Å"Gold Awards† and Certificate of Recognition by CMD. It spends globally around US $ 14 million on research and development each day. The Company has consistently launched new products. † Sensodyne Total Care† and â€Å"Sensodyne Gentle Mouthwash† launched with unique formulation are its recent addition. Overall, it has supported the Pharma industry of by introducing low cost and quality pharmaceutical products. Employee’s Development: GSK is well known for being one of the most preferred employers. It has been awarded as â€Å"Best place to work† in 2008 by a leading HR consultancy in association with Pakistan Society for Human Resource Management. International Day of Disability was celebrated at GSK, showing its strong believes in equal opportunity employment. Its HR team recently launched a new initiative titled â€Å"Mentoring†, which provides guidance and assistance for developing talent. It also conducted a learning fair in 4 major cities of Pakistan, which offers a diverse range of courses for employees’ development and learning exposure. In order to promote and give a chance to new talent, its HR team visited 14 Universities during its recruitment process. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): GSK believes that corporate social responsibility is an integral and embedded part of its business. It is sincerely involved in the community work and in various charitable projects in Pakistan and around the world. It works under the context of various health, women and child development, education, and relief programmers’ at grass root level. In 2008 GSK has been rewarded with a corporate philanthropy award in recognition of its support for the social development causes in Pakistan. It is the major corporate donor for numerous NGOs and also a member of the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD). As a movement to its corporate social responsibility GSK Pakistan has introduced 1st of its kind, value health card. The card will be issued solely on the prescription of doctors, for those who cannot afford pharmaceutical products at their standard retail prices. Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Environment, health and safety are major concerns for GSK. It continually works towards improving people’s health and safety and for developing environment friendly products. It has received Environment Excellence Award (AEEA 2008) and EHS Excellence Awards in recognition to its good environmental practices. It has installed low-cost engineering solution (glove box), which reduced OEL level by 40%. Business Continuity Plan desktop exercise was also conducted at all of its sites. CONCLUSION: GSK leads the industry in terms of value, volume and market shares. It has managed to improve the quality of human life along with showing consistency and stability in its overall business growth. This report’s objective, to assess the financial and business position of GSK, was achieved in four key areas. This report aims to analyze the financial and business position of GSK over the three year period from 2006 to 2008. In the context of aforementioned objectives this report concludes: Business: GSK‘s overall business performance is in line with its mission and is contributing towards its strategic objective. Due to its presence in the country since 1955, it has managed to build strong business foundation and is able to maintain consistent growth in the market. It has excelled in the field of Research and Development by introducing new products covering various generics, ensuring employees satisfaction by providing better environment to work, expanding its operation through empowerment of diverse product portfolio, contributing towards corporate social responsibility by capturing tasks; to work for the social health and safety, education and environment friendliness and most importantly being profitable, depicts its strong businesses practices. Financial Trend: GSK Pakistan has managed to give better financial results in the current year 2008 as compared to the FY 2007, which identifies its financial stability and further growth prospects. Even though the returns (ROCE & ROE) in the current year have improved but its profit margins (GP% & NP %) have depicted a declining trend, which was a result of raise in its revenue expenditure (COGS, Admin, S and Financial expenses). However it can be witnessed that the company has remained focused on continuous improvement in its business processes and sustained its investment in its product & promotion to offset the negative impact on margins through productivity improvement and sales growth. Although the company was not able to perform well in the year 2007 in comparison to its preceding year 2006, but it was able still able to deliver a stable financial performance having no major threats. This decrease in its financial position during the year was mainly due to the increase in inflation and depreciation in rupee that affected its operating margin negatively. Moreover the capital expenditure made during the year caused a decline in its profitability ratios, but its benefit will be obtained in the later years. The company has always provided sound investment returns which can be seen by consistent growth in its payout ratio. In the year 2007, GSK announce bonus issue of 1:4 when it declared lower dividends, thus retaining its investor’s confidence and being a reliable company for all of its stakeholders. Competitor’s Comparison: Due to its larger asset base, vast product portfolio, global presence and skilled research & development function GSK has a natural edge over its competitor Sanofi Aventis. Overall GSK’s financial performance is better than its competitor in the FY 2008. Almost all of the ratios calculated under the four broad heads, shows that GSK is giving better returns and incurring less cost. Profitability ratios of the GSK show a better picture than that of Sanofi Aventis, with the exception of Asset efficiency which shows a better utilization of assets by Sanofi to generate revenues. Liquidity position of both the companies is stable apart from the huge investments that were stuck in the stock in trade. Higher EPS and low P/E ratio of GSK shows that there is a potential for rise in its share price of the Company, in comparison to the overvalued shares of SA resulted in high P/E ratio. Future Prospects: The company can be seen as being committed to respond to the challenges of the operating environment and continues to seek opportunities to drive growth in its existing portfolio. It has a good pipeline of innovative new medicines together with the sustained availability of existing products. However, the pharmaceutical industry, in which GSK exists, has ample of barriers such as high inflationary environment without general price relief, which makes it difficult to manage its business operations. The company has a great potential for growth, but its sustained success depends on the industry’s regulatory environment, that should be able to balance the interest of the company with the need of affordable healthcare. APPENDIcES APPENDIX 1: BALANCE SHEETS (GSK) {draw:frame} APPENDIX 2: PROFIT & LOSS STATEMENTS (GSK) {draw:frame} APPENDIX 3: BALANCE SHEETS (SA) draw:frame} APPENDIX 4: PROFIT & LOSS STATEMENTS (SA) {draw:frame} APPENDIX 4: RATIOS FORMULAE {draw:frame} APPENDIX 5: RATIOS CALCULATIONS {draw:frame} Key Skill Statement Skill and Learning Statement is the testimonial which includes the compilation of key factors learned during the course this project. This part of report includes following: What did you learn from the meetings with your project mentor, includ ing the presentation that you gave to your project mentor? How well do you think that you have answered your research question(s)? How have you demonstrated your interpersonal and communication skills during the project work? How has undertaking the RAP helped you in your accountancy studies and/or current employment role? Choosing a Mentor In accordance with the guidelines, I was required to hold three meetings with my mentor. Working as a trainee in one of the big four audit firms, made the task of locating a mentor quite easy. Mr. Qayam Karim Maknojia (ACA from Institute of Chartered Accountant of Pakistan), Manager in Financial Advisory Services at Deloitte Touche Tomastu, agreed to occupy the role of my mentor. I choose Mr. Qayam as my mentor because of his vast knowledge and experience in the field of advisory and audit. Meetings Planning all the meetings before hand ensured their smooth running, and enable maximum to be achieved in the shortest time. Meeting 1 Due to time constraint and workload, first meeting took place at 7 pm, Wednesday 16th September, 2009 at our client’s office. In order to get most out of the 1st meeting, I had performed all the background work and shortlisted two topics, topic 8 and Topic 20 for the purpose of this report. I also selected the potential organizations that I was willing to use for each respective topic, but before making the final decision I decided to consult Mr. Qayam. After discussing number of issues like learning potential and merits of each topic I decided to underpin my research report on Topic 8, business and financial analysis of an organization over a three year period. We also discussed the potential sources of information which I could use for the purpose of this report. Due to workload, Mr. Qayam told me that we will hold the next meeting after finalizing the client and asked me to mail him the agenda and progress of the report one week before the meeting. Meeting 2 Second meeting took place at the 6:30 pm, after office hours, at Deloitte Karachi Office on Thursday 29th October, 2009. As requested by Mr. Qayam, I e-mailed him the agenda, my uncompleted report and excel generated worksheet one week before the meeting. By then my report consisted of interpretation ratios of the Company and business evaluation aspects with initial data in bullet points that I was going to use. Mr. Qayam assessed the work that I had performed and pointed out weaknesses and lack of reasoning in my interpretation. He also suggested that I should incorporate a competitor analysis so that a complete financial overview is covered in the report. Furthermore, he also pointed the fact that, it was not feasible to use business model as the data required for them are hard to come by. Instead, he recommended me to take some specific aspect of the company’s operations and evaluate their alignment with its vision and strategic objectives. We concluded the meeting and my mentor told me to take as much time as I want, because the deadline for the submission of the report is too far. He asked me to mail him final draft report once I have completed it. Meeting 3 The last meeting was held in the conference room of Deloitte Pakistan’s Karachi office on Wednesday, 25th November, 2009. I had mailed the final draft report to my mentor around 15 days before the meeting. After receiving his acknowledgment, I prepared presentation on Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 slides to give it a more professional look. I consulted my seniors, as how to make and delivery good quality presentation. Keeping the guidance provided by my seniors in mind, I prepared and rehearsed my presentation several times. I was a bit shaky at the start of the meeting, but my confidence level grew as I proceeded. After the presentation question answer session took place, which was most exciting as my colleagues and mentor tried to challenge my research by asking numerous questions. I was glad that I had prepared myself for this, although I was not able to answer 100% of the questions asked, my mentor and colleagues were satisfied with the work I had performed and effort I gave in preparing this report. Assessment of the Presentation The presentation took place in front of my mentor and my office colleagues. It took me nearly two days to structure and prepare the presentation. After that, I rehearsed the number of times alone to build confidence. The day before the meeting, I gave this presentation in front of my friends, who are MBA professionals so that they can point out any weakness in my communication. At the start of the meeting I distributed, handouts consisting of ratios, competitor analysis and summary of the business performance of the Company. The meeting progressed smoothly throughout the presentation. As I have already informed the listeners that a question answer session will take place after the presentation is over, no interruption occurred in between. In the introduction phase, it was quite clear that most of my colleagues didn’t possess any prior knowledge of GSK Pakistan Limited, so they took a keen interest in the topic. During the Q & A session numbers of questions were asked by my colleagues challenging my research. Most of the questions related to the financial aspects of the Company, like why I chose that particular competitor. Most exciting questions were asked by my mentor, which focused on the business performance and which widen my horizon of analyzing the business. Overall the presentation was effective. I was able to deliver the presentation in the allocated time, although question answer session went longer than I had hoped. After the presentation my overall efforts were appreciated by my colleagues and mentor. Presentation Outline {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} Questioning Questioning is a vital element of effective communication based on any medium. It enhances understanding, searches for clarification and opinions. There are two basic types of questions: Open questions such as; what†¦? Who†¦? Where†¦? The responses they require are in broad terms. Open questions can further be classif ied in to probing questions and leading questions. Closed question defines a parameter which limits the response of the questioned individual to choices like ‘Yes or No. During the three meeting Questioning formed a significant part of the communication. Through this me and my mentor developed ideas and structured my thoughts which helped me in completing my report. During the question answer session both open and close ended question were asked by the audience, which tested my knowledge rigorously and helped me identifying weakness in the communication process. However, Questioning was two way process. Numerous open ended questions were asked by me, in order to gain better understanding of the work I had to perform and whether I was on the right track or not. Listening As communication are a two way process between sender and a receiver. Listening is the act of decoding the information being received and it forms a fundamental part of a communication process. Listening is as important a characteristic as questioning. Every communication process is open to noise and distortion and the meaning of the message being delivered is altered or lost if they are present. The first meeting held was open to frequent physical noises and distractions. One of my weaknesses that came into light during the 1st meeting was that, I found out to be an impatient listener. I interrupted Mr. Qayam at numerous times when I did not agree with his opinions. Learning from the 1st meeting other meetings were arranged and timed to avoid interruption. I started to become more patient and listened to my mentor with full concentration and noted down questions which I asked after he has concluded. During my 3rd meeting I noticed that some of the audience members were not listening effectively as they asked question which have already be answered during the course of my presentation. Self Evaluation {draw:g} Overall communication process consists of a sender, transmitting a message to the receiver through a communication medium. The process of communication is incomplete and/or ineffective until it is confirmed via feedback, that the receiver understood the intended message. The communication between me and my mentor could be seen by the above communication model. During the course of my project, the overall interaction with my mentor was quite effective. We were able to decode each other’s message easily and were able to communicate our thoughts properly. Perhaps, one of the reasons for effective communication was the informal relation with him, which allowed me to ask questions without being reluctant. I have used number of channels to communicate with my mentor, E-mail being the most effective medium after face to face conversation. The interaction with my colleagues during the presentation was not effective. Reason for which could be that I was not able to generate their interest. Due to this I had to repeat things over and over again. I was also asked questions, answers for which were already given in the presentation further implying that communication flow was hampered. Being an ACCA Affiliate and recruited recently, as a trainee consultant in Deloitte Pakistan, requirement for sound evaluation and interpretational skills are essential. During the course of this project, it had not only strengthened my academic knowledge I acquired before and furnished my interpretational and data mining skills, but also helped me into developing presentational skills which I lacked. Significant portion of the analysis of GSK was performed using ratio/trend analysis over a three year period ended 2008. In order for the assessment to be systematic and logical these ratios were broken into 4 broad categories so that proper attention would be given to each section and no major area was overlooked. To give a more meaning evaluation of the Company’s financial performance, I also incorporated, as guided by my mentor, a horizontal or competitor analysis of GSK with Sanofi Aventis. Performing business analysis of GSK was a difficult task, as this analysis required qualitative data in addition to the quantitative data about the Company. After carefully evaluating how to assess the business performance of a company I came to the conclusion that it was not feasible to use business evaluation models for the analyses of GSK as significant internal data was required. I discussed different operations for the company, evaluated whether’ they aligned with its vision and strategic objectives. Furthermore, I also used a corporate appraisal technique called SWOT analysis. In order to make my findings easy to understand for my mentor, I decided to use as minimum figures as I could and instead relied upon using graphs and interpreting data as a percentage. Microsoft Office was extensively used for this and by the end of this research project I was able to navigate around and use advance level options of its applications with ease. According to me, this research and analysis report contains a sound financial and business analysis of GSK Pakistan and fulfills the requirement to Topic of 8 of BSc. guidelines with ease. References Printed Material ACCA Study Text (2008/09) Paper F9 Financial Management. Kaplan Publishing Foulks Lynch ACCA Study Text (2008/09) Paper F7 (INT) Financial Reporting. Kaplan Publishing Foulks Lynch ACCA Study Text (2008/09) Paper P2 (INT) Corporate Reporting. BPP Learning Media Ltd ACCA Study Text (2008/09) Paper P3 Business Analysis. BPP Learning Media Ltd Annual Report (2006), Glaxo SmithKline. Annual Report (2007), Glaxo SmithKline. Annual Report (2008), Glaxo SmithKline. Electronic and Other Material Types BNET. SWOT Analysis: http://www. bnet. com/2410-13240_23-66478. html (Visited 05th November 2009) Financial Analysis http://www. enotes. com/small-business-encyclopedia/financial-analysis (Visited 05th November 2009) Introduction http://www. roi-ally. com/BPE_vol1. htm (Visited 05th November 2009) Industry http://www. ppma. org. pk/ (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Vertical Analysis: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/v/vertical_analysis. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Return on Equity: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/r/returnonequity. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Current Ratio: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/c/currentratio. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Quick Ratio: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/q/quickratio. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Accounts Recievable Collection Period: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/a/average_collection_period. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Accounts Payable Payment Period: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/a/accountspayableturnoverratio. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Interest Cover: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/i/interestcoverageratio. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Earning Per Share: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/e/eps. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Dividend Payout Ratio: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/d/dividendpayoutratio. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) William Pollard. Quote (Visited 07th November) http://thinkexist. com/quotation/information_is_a_source_of_learning-but_unless_it/226524. html BIBLIOGRAPHY Electronic and Other Material Types Competitor Websites Novartis Pharma: http://www. novartis. com (Visited 05th November 2009) Sanofi-Aventis: http://www. anofi-aventis. com. pk (Visited 05th November 2009) Regulators/ Governments Websites Karachi Stock Exchange: http://www. kse. com. pk (Visited 15th November 2009) Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association: http://www. ppma. org. pk (Visited 12th November 2009) Newspaper Websites Business Recorder’s website: http://www. brecorder. com (Visited many times) Dawn’s website: http://www. dawn. com (Visited many times) The Financial Daily webs ite: http://www. thefinancialdaily. com (Visited many times)