Assessment and Development Essay

1. What is a competency? What are its characteristics? How is it different from Job Description? Competency: Competencies refer to skills or knowledge that leads to superior performance. These are formed through an individual/organization’s knowledge, skills and abilities and provide a framework for distinguishing between poor performances through to exceptional performance. Competencies can apply at organizational, individual, team, and occupational and functional levels. Competencies are individual abilities or characteristics that are key to effectiveness in work. Some examples of competencies required by the employees are: 1. Adaptability 2. Commitment 3. Creativity 4. Motivation 5. Foresight 6. Leadership 7. Independence 8. Emotional Stability 9. Analytical Reasoning and 10. Communication Skills Characteristics of Competencies ? ? ? ? ? ? Competencies are the characteristics of a manager that lead to the demonstration of skills and abilities, which result in effective performance within an organizational area. The best way to understand performance is to observe what people actually do to be successful rather than relying on assumptions pertaining to trait and intelligence. The best way to measure and predict performance is to assess whether people have key competencies. Competencies can be learnt and developed. They should be made visible/accessible. They should be linked to meaningful life outcomes that describe how people should perform in the real world 3|P a ge Common difference Competencies & Job Description. Competencies †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Underlying characteristic of a person’s inputs. Clusters of knowledge, attitudes and skills. Generic knowledge motive, trait, social role or a skill. Personal characteristics. Set of skills, related knowledge and attributes. On the other hand, Job Description †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Superior performance in a given job, role or a situation. Individual’s ability to perform. Linked to superior performance on the job. Contribute to effective managerial performance. Successfully perform a task or an activity within a specific function or job. 4|P a ge 2. What are the different types of competencies? What is their relevance? 1. Behavioral Competency: Behaviors, knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that contribute to individual success in the organization ? ? ? Can apply to all (or most) jobs in an organization or be specific to a job family, career level or position For example:- teamwork and cooperation, communication Focus on the person 2. Technical or functional Competency: Specific knowledge and skills needed to be able to perform one’s job effectively ? ? ? Job specific and relate to success in a given job or job family For example:- knowledge of accounting principles, knowledge of human resource law and practice Focus on the job A trainer requires a different set of competencies than an accountant, and a teller requires a different set than a maintenance worker. If there are different levels within the same position, then each job level might also have its own set of vertically derived competencies 3. Core Competency: ? ? A core competency is defined as an internal capability that is critical to the success of business. These are organizational competencies that all individuals are expected to possess. These competencies define what the organization values the most in people. For example:- an organization might want each individual to possess teamwork, flexibility and communication skills. 5|P a ge 4. Threshold competency: ? ? The characteristics required by a jobholder to perform a job effectively are called threshold competencies. For the position of a typist it is necessary to have primary knowledge about typing, which is a threshold competency. 5. Differentiating competency: ? ? The characteristics, which differentiate superior performers from average performers, come under this category; such characteristics are not found in average performers. Knowledge of formatting is a competency that makes a typist to superior to others in performance, which is a differentiating competency. 6|P a ge 3. What is the difference between Assessment Centre and Development Centre? Differences between Assessment and Development centers Assessment centers usually ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Have a pass/fail criteria are geared towards filing a job vacancy address an immediate organizational need have fewer assessors and more participants involve line managers as assessors have less emphasis placed on self-assessment focus on what the candidate can do now are geared to meet the needs of the organization assign the role of judge to assessors place emphasis on selection with little or no developmental feedback and follow up give feedback at a later date involve the organization having control over the information obtained have very little pre-centre briefing tend to be used with external candidates. Development centers usually ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? do not have a pass/fail criteria are geared towards developing the individual address a longer term need have a 1:1 ratio of assessor to participant do not have line managers as assessors have a greater emphasis placed on self-assessment focus on potential are geared to meet needs of the individual as well as the organization assign the role of facilitator to assessors place emphasis on developmental feedback and follow up with little or no selection function 7|P a ge ? ? ? ? give feedback immediately involve the individual having control over the information obtained have a substantial pre-centre briefing tend to be used with internal candidates 8|P a ge 4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Assessment Centre and Development Centre? Assessment Centers: Assessment centers consist of a number of exercises designed to assess the full range of skills and personal attributes required for the job. Advantages: ? Assessment centers map the next level challenges and simulate them in exercises. This raises the validity of the assessment tool. The old way of evaluating the person based on past performance does not work many times, as the challenges of the next level are different from the challenges in the existing position. Assessment centers not only help the organization in placing the right candidate for the right job/assignment but also help in developing the participants. When participants see others handling the same exercise differently, it gives them an insight into their own performance thereby raises the credibility of the selection procedure. It appeals to the lay person’s logic and therefore is regarded as a fair means of assessment by the participants. Assessment Centers can be customized for different kinds of jobs, competencies and organizational requirements. They are far more accurate than a standard recruitment process as they allow a broader range of selection methods to be used during the process. They enable interviewers to assess existing performance as well as predict future job performance. They give the opportunity to assess and differentiate between candidates who seem very similar – in terms of quality – on paper. They give the candidates a better insight into the role as they are tested on exercises, which are typical for the role they have applied for. They help employers build an employer brand. Candidates who attend assessment centers which genuinely reflect the job and the organization are often impressed by that company, even if they are rejected. The cost of an assessment centre is usually cheaper compared with the potential cost of many recruitment phases and the cost of recruitment errors. 9|P a ge ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? They are a fair process – they complement an organization’s diversity agenda and ensure that people are selected on the basis of merit alone. Disadvantages: ? ? ? ? ? Assessment Centers are very costly and time consuming. Assessment Centers requires highly skilled observers as the observers may bring in their own perceptions and biases while evaluating. Those who receive poor assessment might become de-motivated and might lose confidence in their abilities. New recruits with high expectations can feel disappointed if the assessment centre has encouraged them to believe the job or organization fits their values if, in fact, it does not. If you haven’t defined the key competencies prior to the event – and a way to measure these competencies – you will only be able to compare candidates on anecdotal details.

Marketing James Patterson Books Essay

Over the last decade James Patterson has published an unprecedented number of best-selling books, cemented a powerful brand image amongst a loyal following, and redefined the process by which authors create content to meet reader demand. From November 2000 through June 2003, Patterson had cumulative sales of over six million dollars, trailing only John Grisham during that time frame. He has generated the majority of his sales through a loyal readership that consistently lines up to buy his next installment. Keenly aware of this dedicated following, Patterson successfully sought to augment the proliferation of his titles with co-authors familiar with his brand that could share the workload, creating a virtual assembly-line of best-sellers. Despite this enormous success, the Patterson brand still has a sizeable opportunity for growth. Patterson cites a need to broaden his, relative to other best-selling authors, narrow reader base to capture a greater percentage of the â€Å"omnivorous† readers, amongst whom his brand penetration was much lower. There are two possibilities for Patterson to consider, both involving his relationship with book clubs. The book clubs provide an excellent source of individualized customer information, but have not themselves yielded an enormous amount of profitability for already-established authors such as Patterson. The first option would be to negotiate higher club royalties with the existing book club partnerships. Patterson himself has advocated this approach, citing that the clubs often erode profits from bookstore store sales, and the clubs need him more than he needs the clubs. The second possibility is for Patterson to embrace the book club marketing model, using the club’s customer information to market directly to the customer. Patterson could identify on an individual and international basis the â€Å"omnivorous† reader that has not yet embraced his books. He could then tailor a marketing campaign centered around the promotion of his titles directly to these readers. Recommendation: The first option would not really address the concern about Patterson’s narrow reader base. While it may be true that the club needs Patterson more than he needs the club, it is still a means to reach a broader audience. It seems more likely that Patterson has merely under-used the club channel, which is why the second option would provide a better opportunity for  Patterson to reach a larger target audience. He mentions that he has not yet become a â€Å"badge† author, meaning that he has not been able to break out of his genre and create a â€Å"buzz† across a wide range of readers. He does not yet have the name recognition as some of his best-selling counterparts, and without this name recognition he needs to seek other means to create a buzz for his next title. I would advocate allowing book club members exclusive access to his next release before it is released in book stores or other retail channels. Clubs, with exclusive rights to the pre-released book, would now have incentive to push Patterson as its preeminent selection. This would help create the powerful, and international, word-of-mouth campaign that he is seeking. First, those already loyal to the brand would now have the opportunity to create anticipation amongst other non-club Patterson loyalists, driving demand for its eventual release in stores. Secondly, and more importantly, club members not loyal to the brand would now have an added incentive to sample a Patterson novel. Being granted exclusive access to what promises to be a best-seller might be the impetus necessary to finally penetrate more of the omnivorous readers. Now Patterson would have a broad spectrum of readers across the globe discussing his novel and creating a buzz before it even reaches a mass audience. This is a similar model to the one employed in the movie industry, where movies are pre-released to create a word-of-mouth campaign before its larger release. Patterson notes that the book industry is generally â€Å"unimaginative†, essentially waiting to retroactively replicate the success of the next blockbuster hit. With an exclusive pre-release to a carefully pre-determined list of customers, Patterson would instead be proactively creating a buzz, and potentially, a blockbuster. In terms of channel management, this pre-release should satisfy all members of the channel. Certainly, the book clubs would embrace the idea of being able to market an exclusive release of a Patterson novel, and with exclusive rights, should be able to retain club members for longer commitments. More importantly, this would not have to come at the expense of the retail chains because club members generally would buy books through the club channel anyways. The retail stores, instead, could benefit from the buzz created by club members, as non-club members may now be clamoring to buy the book their friends have already been talking about as soon as it is released in stores. A true blockbuster would increase the size of the â€Å"pie† for all channel members. Channel (2001): Strategic Resources: Patterson: ?Brand name: dominant in crime fiction genre ?Many titles: 3 per year vs. 1 for Clancy, Cornwell ?Cliffhanger endings leave Patterson readers eager for next installment ? Marketing Expertise: Patterson former Chairman of J. Walter Thompson â€Å"Badge† Authors: ?Name recognition: 90% and 84% for Grisham and Clancy (Patterson 54%) ? Broader range of readers ?Books as a status symbols: read these authors to impress others Book Clubs: ?Individualized customer information ?Name-brand authors ?Capable of tracking all book sales and buying behavior Problems: Resources: ?Patterson name not as well known as his book titles ?Relatively narrow range of readers: mainly â€Å"crime fiction addicts† ? Not as much status in reading a Patterson novel ?Relatively small international readership Incentives: ?Book Clubs push authors with highest name recognition? Patterson books might not be promoted as heavily as books from â€Å"badge† authors ? Deals with clubs risk eroding bookstores’ profits ?Club members often terminate contract after commitment is over Coordination: ?Retail stores can only track purchase behavior through surveys Recommendation: ?Pre-release next best-seller prospect with book club members oPre-release gives book, as well as club members, premium status oGenerates a â€Å"buzz† before retail release in domestic and international markets with Patterson loyalists and â€Å"omnivorous† best-seller readers oCreates anticipation to drive demand for purchases at retail stores.

African American Essay Essay

African American literature is captivating, powerful, spiritual, and emotional. The recurring theme is slavery but there are others such as inequality among sexes and races, injustice, resentment, and the strong belief in religion. These pieces of literature have been told by the individuals who went through the experience of slavery such as Frederick Douglass and others, like Jamaica Kincaid who have a passion for writing. The writers who experienced slavery themselves had differing views of their experience and relationship with their master. These pieces of literature share the pain, strength, heartache and will to go that each of these individuals experienced. The first reading is, To My Old Master, by Jourdan Anderson. This piece of literature is Anderson’s response to a letter he has received from his old master. It is a compelling story about how terrible and bad the Whites treated the African Americans. The master want’s Anderson and his family to come back and work for him. He reminds the master about how poorly they were treated while working for him. Anderson states, â€Å"Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. † (1865, p. 15). Anderson tells the master that he is making money and his family is living and doing well. He even expresses that his children are receiving an education now. It is very apparent to the reader that Anderson’s wife does not want to return and work for the master. â€Å"Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. † (1865, p. 16). Anderson remembers how horribly the woman and girls were treated, and he will never allow his daughters to go through that experience. â€Å"I would stay here and starve- and die, if it come to that- than to have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. † (1865, p. 16) The end of the story the reader still feels Anderson’s resentment and bitterness toward the master. The next story and the one piece I enjoyed the most is, â€Å"White Folks Treated Us Good† by Marriah Hines. Hines states, â€Å"My white people treated us decent. † (p. 32). She goes onto further explain how her master feed, dressed, and kept them well. Hines explains how terrible master’s treated other slaves. â€Å"Some unfortunate individuals practically have nothing to eat. Why, the way their owners treated them was disgraceful treated them like felines and canines† (Hines, p. 32). Hines sounds fortunate and lucky to have worked for her master. The master gave the slaves Sunday off to rest and even allowed them to attend Church. Unlike other slaves Hines was never raped, beaten, or treated in a physical horrible way. The compelling part of this piece occured when the slaves were allowed to leave; most of them choose to stay. â€Å"Most of us stayed right there and raised our own crops. † (p. 34). Hines knew of her freedom but believed in her loyalty to her master and his family. The master provided her with assistance and support. A rare occurrence to read an African American piece of literature that speaks of a master in a positive and respectful manner. This master was a different man of his time. He did not take advantage of his slaves or treat them in a horrendous manner. This master used his slaves to care and run his property but treated them with respect and dignity, they deserved. Hines went onto, marry Benjamin F. Hines and give birth to five children. The last piece of literature is, â€Å"If We Must Die† by Claude McKay. This poem is about how horribly and disgusting Whites treated African Americans. It is written about the race riots in 1919. It describes the strength of the African Americans standing up to the Whites even if it ultimately meant dying. McKay states, â€Å"Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, pressed to the wall, dying but fighting back! † (p. 378). This poem exemplifies the bravery and the will to fight for what is right otherwise these people would have been beaten and killed for the rest of their lives. There will always be a presence of racism in the world and specifically in the United States of America. Still today African Americans are treated equally as Whites. Although we as a country have come a very long way there is still work to be done. The more we educate people the less we will experience ignorance. The hate and the idea of inferiority will slow diminish if people become educated. I can end proudly stating that I am married to a Black man and we have two beautiful daughters, and I give an enormous amount of respect to those who fought for what was right. References Anderson, J. (1865). To my old master. In I. Reed (Ed. ), African American Literature. Abrief introduction and anthology (pp. 15-16). New York: The Longman LiteraryMosaic Series. [serial online]. December 2005;36(4):299-323. Available from:Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed May 23, 2011. Hines, M. (n. d. ). My white folks treated us good. In I. Reed (Ed. ), African Americanliterature. A brief introduction and anthology (pp. 21-25). New York: TheLongman Literary Mosaic Series. [serial online]. December 2005;36(4):299-323. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed May 21,2011. McKay, C. (n. d. ). If we must die. In I. Reed (Ed. ), African American literature. Abriefintroduction and anthology (pp. 378). New York: The Longman LiterarySeries[serial online]. December 2005;36(4):299-323. Available from: AcademicSearchComplete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed Dec, 2011.

Extremism as failure of state policies Research Paper

Extremism as failure of state policies - Research Paper Example The failure of state policies also seems to imply that dissatisfied individuals may resort to actions which may be very much different from the ideals held by the majority and the state. Moreover, weaknesses in state policies also seem to give rise to extremist ideals, with these ideals being seen as the more efficient solution to government and political issues. This paper shall evaluate extremism as a failure of state policies. Considerations of groups operating outside of the parliamentary system entirely will be included in this paper. Extra-parliamentary extremism considers illegal means and processes beyond acceptable channels as a way to secure extreme viewpoints and values which are not part of the mainstream ideals (George and Wilcox, 1992). Under these considerations, violent acts of para-military groups occupying political positions in different parts of the globe would be evaluated. This discussion shall be carried out based on the rise of extremism in Mali, mostly in ter ms of the causes of such emergence, including the perpetuation of terrorist and similar violent acts in the country. Body Extremism, defined Wintrobe (2005) defines extremism as the ideology which is not within the accepted ideals of society. Extremism also contrasts with the ideals of moderation. Eatwell and colleagues (2012, p. 8) also discuss that extremism is â€Å"typically related to actions and value systems that lie beyond the moral and political centre of society†. This term has traditionally been associated with communism and radicalism, but after the Second World War, this term has been associated with totalitarianism and authoritarianism (Eatwell, et.al., 2012). Viewpoints which were not within the prescribed government views were actually suppressed and controlled after the World War II. Despite the appropriate co-relation between the actions of these radicals and the definition of the term, those labeled as extremists and radicals have mostly rejected the label of extremism as they argue that their actions are being directed towards the western nations which are occupying their territory (Eatwell, et.al., 2012). Therefore, they argue that they are in fact within their rights to defend themselves against interfering countries. Despite their protestations however, their actions have long been accepted as extremist and radical by the government and by the international community. Even as extremism seems to be largely attributed to acts of insurgent groups, legitimate authorities have nevertheless also utilized this tool in order to secure political goals. Extremism is not the exclusive province of radicals or government oppositionists as it has also been used by the government itself in order to secure and implement its policies (Boyd-Judson, 2011). Thatcherism in the British government was actually at one point extracted as a response to the Buskellite big state post-war consensus (Eatwell, et.al., 2012, p. 9). Extremist Thatcherism was also apparent in the use of force in its war against Argentina and the use of force against internal opponents when the strength and power of the state failed to restore order. Political extremism has been discussed by various political writers, who, refer to this term as inclusive of fanatical mass movements, as well as the need for people to establish lines between what is acceptable and

Sports and Entertainment Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sports and Entertainment Management - Essay Example This paper portrays the current situation of unemployment in the United States and the best way to handle the problem using various economic models. The paper also looks at the government and monetary policies put in place in attempt to fight against the problem. The US unemployment problem has been raising recently attracting attention to both the Federal Government and private investors. Strategies to fight the problem are currently in place to freeze the increasing percentage of unemployment rate in the global economic leader. Despite the fact that the US is the largest economy in the world, global economic pressures and bad economic policies could be the major causes of the employment problem currently facing the country. A recent household survey indicated that the unemployment condition in the United has risen by 0.1 per cent in May 2013 to 7.6 per cent. The situation was however worse in October 2009 than it is currently. Compared to the rate of unemployment in 2009, the situa tion had fallen to 2.4 per cent but it is now rising according to recent surveys (The US Department of Numbers 2013). Article tackling Unemployment Guardian News and Media Limited. 2013. US jobless claims rise modestly as economic growth revised down. Retrieved June 24, 2013, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/may/30/us-jobless-claims-economic-growth This article by the Guardian News and Media Limited points out that regardless of the US economic growth with a modest 2.4% this year, there is still a significant rise in the number of Americans seeking for jobs indicating the current unemployment increase from 338,000 five years ago to the current 354,000. The article postulates that most employers are now steadily hiring, making an average of 208,000 jobs available every month different from the previous reported statistics of 138,000 in the recent couple of months past (Guardian News and Media Limited 2013). With this statistics, it is observed as positive adjustment towar ds employment, which leaves unemployment down fall from 10% of the year 2009 to the current 7.5%. However, this decrease is as result of many people especially the youth has given up seeking for jobs and the government will count one as unemployed if he/she is actively looking for employment. Government spending continues to be the major area of weakness to US economy with also other as global weakness and higher taxes. Notably, economists assert that decline in the economy is not as severe as many people may think. Home construction is top performer in the economy growth which itself is growing at a double digit of 12.1% (Guardian News and Media Limited 2013). There is increased hiring in the private sector reduced prices in consumer goods and recorded high stock gains that maintain consumer spending high. Increased demand in consumers has prompted businesses to faster restocking rate indicating growth in business inventories. . Discussion Unemployment is normally treated as a shor t-term economic phenomenon, which affects fluctuations. The problem is often neglected in neoclassical growth models. Fiscal policies, which can be explained as an economic components initiating effect on one of the various components of aggregate demand, has a different effect on both GDP and employment. This happens when making application of the Keynesian demand-driven models or the Neo-classical supply driven models (Magnani 2013 ). Differences arise when dealing with problems associated with low economic growth and high public debts (Magnani 2013 ). The US has been working hard t ensure a minimum public debt and initiate mechanisms and strategies for job creation. Efforts of the US government to create

An introduction to John Miller Chernoff's book on Africa Rhythm , Essay

An introduction to John Miller Chernoff's book on Africa Rhythm , discuss the Dundun ' hour glass' or 'tension' drum - Essay Example The book talks about varied aspects of African music are it political, spiritual or social. In the book Chernoff tries to convey a sense of the African music from an exclusively African point of view. In that sense the writer had been extremely successful in conveying to the Western readers the varied unfamiliar concepts of the African music by using the terms that aptly facilitate understanding without giving up or losing anything pertaining to the distinct uniqueness and individuality of the African music. Chernoff delves on this both personal and universal dilemma by saying that â€Å"How can we bring something of a different order into our world of understanding and at the same time recognize and appreciate it on its own terms (3).† The writer not only tries to communicate to its readers what the West African music is, but also tries to elaborately and in and interesting way explain to them as to why it is so. Chernoff successfully relates the varied and multifarious inter actions and trends in the African music to the essential multiplicity and diversity of the social forces pervading the African cultural landscape. The beauty of Chernoff’s approach is that it explains the African music as it is, without trying to correlate or link it to the similar trends existing in the Western music.

Health Promotion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Health Promotion - Essay Example Obesity contributes to 2.6 million fatalities globally every year. During 1999 to 2002, 65.1 percent of adults, at least 20 years of age, were considered overweight and 30.4 percent were considered obese. Among children between 6-19 years old, 31.0 percent were regarded as overweight and 16.0 percent were deemed obese (Hedley, Ogden, Johnson, Carroll, Curtin & Flegal, 2004). Obesity significantly decreases life expectancy thus increasing the risk for morbidity and mortality. Also, it considerably increased health care costs in the last two decades (Wang & Dietz, 2002). As stated by Ward-Smith (2010), the U.S economy’s expenditure reached an estimated $117 billion and $61 billion were directed at medical costs. This increased occurrence of obesity is said to be due to urbanization which caused societal changes like frequent consumption of fast-food meals, feasting on oversized portions at home and in restaurants, ingestion of high-calorie foods, like high-fat, low-fiber foods, and increase intake of sweetened beverages (Raj & Kumar, 2010) . Also, developing countries have exponentially grown a habit of television viewing and other sedentary activities (Robinson, 1999). Automobile-oriented and automated environment also promoted a low level of physical activity (Epstein & Saelens, 2000). Aims and Objectives The immediate aim is to lower the rate of weight gain which will be done by maintaining a specified weight appropriate for the age and height of the individual, therefore improving the person’s BMI. The objective is to develop a better quality of life for the people involved. Another objective is to reduce the morbidity and mortality rate involving associated with obesity. Global scope of this project is another objective; if possible, legislative change should be done to fully achieve this goal. Outline of Project and Ethical Considerations The target group of this report is the obese people in the university. The booklet (Appendix A) and leafle ts (Appendix B) used are from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Obesity Action Coalition. The author believes that for change to fully be achieved in a global setting, change has to start first in the immediate surrounding. However, if possible, this may be applied to any obese person to completely achieve the globalization of this initiative. The initial action should be to educate the people about obesity, its causes, the risk of being obese and most importantly how to handle it. What is obesity? Obesity is a disease that it described by having excess body fat. An indicator for this is the Body Mass Index (BMI). This is measured by dividing the person’s weight in kilograms with the height in meters squared. This can also be seen in the BMI Chart (Appendix C). A person with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is classified as overweight. A BMI of 30 above is considered obese. What causes this? 1. Behavior 2. Environment 3. Genetics What is the health risks related to obes ity? 1. Diabetes 2. Gallbladder disease 3. Cardiovascular diseases like Stroke, Coronary Heart Disease, Hypertension, etc. 4. Cancers like colon, breast and endometrial cancer 5. Osteoarthritis 6. Respiratory problems like sleep apnea, breathlessness, etc. How to handle obesity? 1. Behavior modification 2. Physical activity 3. Pharmacologic 4. Surgery for the morbidly

Film philosophy about the Butler Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Film philosophy about the Butler - Assignment Example ttingly and subtly nudged the course of American history through the tumultuous years of reform, contributing an equal importance to the Black American cause. The main point of the film is the Black Africans’ struggle for equality in America. It is not unlike the classic story of the American Dream as told in countless materials such as Forrest Gump. This particular American Dream was told from the Black American’s perspective and the experiences in Civil Rights Movement. This inevitably included that tragedy and sorrow of being Black man in modern America particularly before the Civil Rights movement with the segregation of the colored and the whites and immediately after as America was confronted by racial and relevant issues both at home and abroad. This key point is palpable across the entire film. As Gaines’s life progressed, so did the lives of African American. These transpired in a succession of flashbacks in the protagonist’s mind as he was waiting to meet the newly elected Black President. For this reason, the film was heavily structured in order to seamlessly integrate the phases of the Gainesâ€℠¢ life with the chronology of the American Civil Rights movement and the American contemporary political developments. The challenge of achieving this feat without digressing from the protagonist’s narrative was achieved through stylistic interplay of shots. In some parts of the film, bracketing was also used to carry on the narrative of Cecil Gaines and his familys life as the director integrated civil rights stories such as boycotts. These shots made use of a play of lighting, close-ups (like they were actually before the audience), the use of elements such as mirror and the flicker of television display as reflected on the face of the actors, among others. This approach was important especially in narrating the chronology of the Civil Rights movement without veering away from the logical sequence of Cecil Gaines’ narrative. There was also the

Date Rape Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Date Rape - Essay Example This will bring the researchers one large step closer to determining which factors are correlated with the occurrence of date rape incidents. This is an important aim for the researchers to focus on, as it will help them keep the acquisition of information limited to valid and relevant data. Another aim of the research should be to ensure that the data collected is of high validity as well as responsibility, as these two characteristics are major determinants of how valuable the collected data is to the research. The methodology can ensure this through the careful selection of sources, highly skilled researchers and the use of comparison groups, the latter of which is essential when determining correlations (Kumar, 2005). These tactics will be explained in further detail in the latter part of this paper. Finally, the researchers will aim to conduct the research within the time and resources allotted, since this is a proven challenge concerning primary research. Resources Needed The r esearch will require time, financial funding, and a team of experienced researchers. As time is a large constraint when it comes to primary research, the researchers will have a total of three months to conduct their research. If the research goes as planned, this will be an ample amount of time for the researchers to collect and assemble the data, so that the researchers can embark on the following stages of the research, such as statistical analysis of the data as well as the textual analysis of the gathered facts. The researchers will also have to adhere to the financial plan that the researcher will choose once the funding is secured. Finally, the research team should consist of four to five experienced and skilled researchers, who will be conducting the surveys, interviews as well as any other forms of research necessary. According to the plan for research, this number of researchers will be sufficient for completing the research within the allotted time. Sample In order to gat her sufficient and reliable evidence, the researcher will need to use a broad sample. The sample in this case will be the north side of the city of Houston (you may change it). Within this sample, the main sources of information will be police stations, hospital records, prison records and, if possible, members of support groups for rape victims, all of which are available in comparatively higher quality documentation as opposed to other areas of the Texas. The research will focus on rape cases reported within the previous year, whereas the victims interviewed will be those relevant to cases within the last two years. This is because, one year’s records of reported cases will be accessible the researchers without much difficulty, and will thus be enough. However, the researcher anticipates that finding rape victims who are willing to be give interviews will prove to be a very difficult task, not just because of the highly traumatic nature of the crime, but also the cultural f actors relevant in this situation. People do not openly discuss the sensitive topic of rape, where the victims are more likely to hide away instead of actively confronting the happening of such an incident. Thus, victims will be hesitant to be give interviews about their incidents, which will result in a very small number of interviews from this source of research. Thus, it would be more practical to take into account, the victims of more than one year. This sample size will roughly draw around a hundred cases, which is the minimum number expected from one year’s data. The sources of surveys and checking criminal records will be for extracting enough data to run statistical analy

How Stan Musial Has Made Me Become a Better Person Essay Example for Free

How Stan Musial Has Made Me Become a Better Person Essay When you think of the All-Time greatest Major League baseball players who do you think of? I’m sure Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Lou Gehrig come to mind. All of these players are considered to be the greatest to ever play the game but there is one legend that a lot of people over look or probably just have never heard of and his name is Stan â€Å"The Man† Musial. Stan was born on November 21, 1920 in Donora, Pennsylvania. His parents were Lukasz and Mary Musial. His mother was of Czech descent and his father was a Polish immigrant. Musial frequently played baseball with his brother Ed and other friends during his childhood. Musial also had the benefit of learning about baseball from his neighbor Joe Barbao who was a former minor league pitcher. At age 15 Musial joined the Donora Zincs, a semi-professional team managed by Barbao. In his debut he pitched 6 innings and struck out 13 batters, all of them adults. Musial also played one season with the Donora High School baseball team. He also played basketball for Donora and he was even offered a scholarship from the University of Pittsburgh. Meanwhile the St. Louis Cardinals had scouted him as a pitcher and in 1937 offered him a professional contract, which he later accepted. After he accepted the contract he spent three years with Cardinals class D team the Williamson Red Birds and Class AA Columbus Red Birds. On September 17, 1941 Musial made his major league debut. He finally got his chance and he definitely didn’t waste it. Musial went on to play for 22 seasons never getting thrown out of one game. He had a career batting average of .331, he had 3,630 hits, 475 home runs, and 1,951 runs batted in. Musial was a 24 time All-Star, 3 time World Series champion, 3 time NL MVP, 7 time NL batting champion, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1969 as a first ballot Hall of Famer. Stan played in his last game on September 29, 1963, he finished right where he left off with a hit of course but this hit was a foreshowing of what was to come. Musials last hit in his career was hit past the Cincinnati Reds first baseman at the time, Pete Rose, who would later break Musial’s National League hit record and later break Cobbs record to become the al l time hit king. Musial then retired after the 1963 season. After he retired Musial was named a vice president of the St. Louis Cardinals in September of 1963, and he remained in that position until after the 1966 season. Before the 1967 season began, the Cardinals named Musial the teams general manager, and he oversaw the clubs World Series championship that year. Through the 1990s, he frequently played the harmonica at public gatherings, such as the annual Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony and various charity events. Musial died on January 19, 2013 in his home in Ladue, Missouri. After he died another Cardinal great Albert Pujols had this to say about his passing. It was such a sad day, but I am so blessed to have spent time with him the last 12 years. He blessed my life and many, many lives in baseball during his career, and after his career. He touched so many lives. He means as much as Roberto Clemente does to Latin people. Thank God I had the opportunity to know him. Pujols also says, â€Å"I wish my kids had the opportunity to be around him, because thats how I want my kids to live their lives. I want them to be like Stan Musial.Not the baseball player. The person. Thats the respect I have for that man. Stan wasn’t just known for being â€Å"The Man† on the field but he was just as much of a man off the field as well. After he retired Musial didn’t just fall off the face of the earth like most ball players do, he stayed in St. Louis and hosted golf tournaments, worked with the boys and girls club of St. Louis and helped raise money for baseball fields and equipment all over the city. He was always around the team. Anytime there was a Cardinal event, parade, retirement or just a big game at Busch Stadium Stan Musial was there. He didn’t just sit in the team box and waved to the crowd either. Stan Musial was a real person who always took time to walk around the stadium, shake hands and sign anything. In conclusion, Stan Musial to me isn’t just one of the greatest baseball players of all-time he was one of the greatest men of all-time. He is someone that I look up to not just as a baseball player but as a person as well. He’s the reason I wear the number 6 because every time I put that jersey on I remind myself of Stan and how he played the game and that’s how I want to play. Just. Like. The Man.

Two Object Oriented Methodologies Booch And Rambaugh Information Technology Essay

Two Object Oriented Methodologies Booch And Rambaugh Information Technology Essay In this paper Object-oriented System development methodologies i-e Booch, Rambaugh, are reviewed and compared with each other with a focus on their development processes. We have developed a framework based on a set of criteria to compare the two methods. The aim of this comparison is to better understand the core philosophies and processes of each method, and internal activities that each method provides. The aim of this descriptions and comparisons are not to criticize the philosophies of theses methodologies, but to give a description of the two methodologies that will facilitate the readers to better understand each methodology, and to what extent the two methodologies are object oriented. And also this comparison provides an ease in selecting and evaluating each methodologys process. (doc1)The software engineering field has been evolving over the past thirty years, but it has never completely solved the software crisis. Software development methodologies, as an essential element of the discipline of software engineering, have also evolved from the shallow and informal methodologies of the late 1960s to the object-oriented methodologies of the 1990s and the new millennium (doc1). There is a rapid development in the object oriented paradigm during the past years and the important reasons for such rapidness are that the real world applications are modeled in a better way as well as the object oriented paradigm enables the reusability of different artifacts during the development of a software system. Object oriented system development approach facilitates the re-use of software components. A system developed with Object Oriented Methodology (OOM) on component basis can re-use the existing components effectively, and as well as its components can be shared by some other systems too. One can achieve higher productivity, better quality and low maintenance cost by adopting the OOM. Since, the object-oriented methodologies (OOM) are still growing and continue to evolve, and there are a number of popular OOMs circulating around, but none of them is widely accepted. The software community is yet not agreed upon several fundamental issues. (1) A methodology is a systematic collection of techniques guidelines for how to build, buy, maintain and/or enhance software products. A methodology provides a basis for communication, a toolkit of techniques and a basis for repeatable, reliable software engineering. The term, method, refers to an approach to activities generally adhering to common principles [14]. Object-oriented software development methodologies, starts from the appearance of hybrid methodologies, then move to seminal methodologies, and the development of integrated (third-generation/heavyweight) methodologies and their agile (lightweight) counterparts. The following are the categories of Object oriented methodologies [15]: Seminal: Shlaer-Mellor, Coad-Yourdon, RDD, Booch, OMT, OSA, OOSE, BON,Hodge-Mock, Syntropy, Fusion; Integrated: OPM, Catalysis, OPEN, RUP/USDP, EUP, FOOM; Agile: DSDM, Scrum, XP, ASD, dX, Crystal, FDD; Although the promises, that the object-oriented software development provides, are based on solid grounds but still there is a confusion among the organization on when and how to invest in this new technology and also whether to invest or not. One of the reason for such confusion is that a great number of methodologies have been evolved during the last years. The other reason for confusion is closely related to the attractiveness of object-oriented software: Many vendors sticks the label object-oriented to their products without delivering important features as King (1989, p. 24) states: If I were trying to sell (my cat) I would argue that he is object-oriented. Research Problem The research question we are going to answer is: To what extent the two Object Oriented Methodologies: Booch and Rambaugh methodologies are Object Oriented and to what extent the methodologies help the software development organizations?. The selection cretaria for the the above two OOM is mentioned in the section 1.4.2. Since the object oriented paradigm evolved in different areas of the software development simultaneously, therefore fundamental concepts were different in different methodologies and were not completely standardized. Each OOM developed in a particular software domain such as real time systems and Information systems, although some cross-over exists in some concepts among the methodologies. Therefore, some methodologies are best in the development of applications that belong to the domain for which the methodology is evolved, while other can be used more generally. Even though OOM that evolved in the same domain may differ enough in different concepts such as process and notation and as a result can effect the software engineering goals. Motivation In the recent years, an overwhelming popularity of object oriented analysis and design has been witnessed. This phenomenon is evidenced by the number of papers and articles that are published in various conference proceedings, journals, books, and other forms. But There are still a large part of the business world that uses traditional software development approach for applications development. And on the technology side, there is an extensive development in the area of Object-Oriented technologies that promises better quality and productivity through reusability, and also encourages team work. The following observation is made in a survey [] about the organizations that uses OOM, performed by Sumit: A recent survey of IS managers revealed that 39% of organizations have adopted OO technology in some form. Nonetheless, OO development methodologies are used in only 5% of IS projects are developed in OO methodologies (Glass, 1999). For a specific application the first task is to decide which methodology is most appropriate for its development. Sometimes we may have to adapt different methodologies. Therefore an organization, that wants to switch to object oriented technology, faces one important question: which OOM is appropriate and should be chosen? A systematic comparison of available OOMs can answer such a question in a better way before selecting one of them. There are number of papers and articles that compare different aspects of the OOMs such as the reusability, documentation and others. So there is a need for the comparison which considers their system development core philosophy including all the concepts that methodologies provide in their development process. Unfortunately, the comparison of these methodologies is complicated because each OOM has its own set of definitions of the techniques, concepts, notations and are composed of informal descriptions, therefore the comparison of the methodologies depends largely on the interpretations and perceptions of the person who performs the comparison[10]. Such a comparison facilitate the organization that are developing software with traditional approach and now these organizations want to switch from the traditional software development approach to object oriented approach.. We also want to improve the understanding of these methodologies through this comparison, and to provide an ease in selecting, and evaluating the methodologies. The other purpose is to provide knowledge to the individuals that are interested to get the knowledge about object-oriented concepts, to what extent the two methods are object oriented, and how they relate to one another. Such interest in some cases is academic (e.g., students). Similarly individuals in companies or organizations want to evaluate and select a methodology to be used in software development process. We believe that sometime these groups are given short time and resources to make this decision, therefore comparisons like this will provide a shortcut means of selection. Research Methodology and comparison issues First we will review the existing software development methodologies (seminal methodology) that are object-oriented. We will study their system development processes to get a knowledge base about the object oriented technology. The purpose of this study is to understand their system development processes and internal activities involved in these development processes. Then we will review the two methods using a process-centered template, where we will summarize the two methodologies, and the activities and techniques discuss in the two methodologies will be highlighted. In the second step we will evaluate and compare Booch and Rumbaugh Object Oriented. We will use books, journals, proceedings, and internet sources as the data sources about the object oriented methodologies and ongoing research to gain the knowledge base. This report compares the two object oriented methodologies: Booch method and Rambaugh method, by considering their system development core philosophy. A research has been done in Hewlett Packard Laboratories by Arnold and his colleagues [1], in which several comparing criteria are defined in the form of questions for comparing Object oriented Methodologies. These comparing criteria are based on the concepts, notations, process, and pragmatics of the OOM methodology. Influenced by the above research, this report presents a framework to compare the two selected methodologies using the same set of criteria form the above research. The framework uses these set of comparing criteria for comparing the concepts, notations, process, and pragmatics of the two selected methodology which are defined in the section 1.5.1 under the heading of comparison variables. Using such framework helps us to avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the two methods during the comparison process. Based on this framework, the two methods are extensively compared. The results are presented in a set of tables. Since the results are in tabular form so the similarities and differences as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the two methods can easily be seen. Comparison Variables As mentioned above, this report uses four main categories of the two methodologies in the comparison which are defined as follows: Concepts: Concepts are related to the conceptual underpinnings of the methodology that makes it object-oriented, and explians how the concepts such as object, class, state, inheritance, aggregation, and information hiding are defined and dealt by the methodology? Process: The methodology describes what steps to be taken and in what order to accomplish certain task in develoment process. How well the methodology specifies the process varies largly from methodology to methodology. Notation: The methodology describes tecniques (textual, and /or graphical) to capture and represent information within the development process. Some methodologies describe graphical techniques only, while others specify the form and content of whole documents. Pragmatics: The pragmatic criteria concentrate on nontechnical features. Pragmatics covers issues like needed resources, language suitability, learning of the CASE tools, required expertise, and domain applicability.(8) Comparison variables are listed in Table 1 under each category. The selection criterion for these variables is objectiveness. The aim of this report is to do the objective comparison of methodologies. That is, hard facts are produced by these variables about a methodology showing that a methodology either supports or does not support these variables. This selection criterion has one limitation. That is, no fine grained information regarding a variable is provided in this report for the comparison. Typically, the degree to which a methodology supports a variable is not answered in this comparison. In order to alleviate this shortfall for some variables, the report distinguishes explicit methodology support from implicit methodology support in the comparison and provide fine grained information if appropriate. The definitions of these variables in Table I are delayed until Section 3 when the selected OOADMs are compared. Table 1: Comparison variables Category Variables Concepts Class/Object, Abstract Classes, Meta-Classes, Encapsulation, Inheritance, Association, Aggregation, Methods/Messages, Type of Communications between objects and classes, Concurrency Process Development Process Deliverables, Development Context, Aspects of the Development Life-Cycle, Partitioning Mechanism, The Life-Cycle of the Methodologies Notations Static Concepts, Dynamic Concepts, Explicit Rules for Notations Symbols Pragmatics System Size, Programming Languages Support Selection of OOMs As mentioned above that this report compare the following two OOM for comparison. Object-Oriented Modeling and Techniques by J. Rumbaugh, et al. [Rumbaugh 91] Object-Oriented Analysis and Design by G. Booch [Booch 94] The selection of OOMs is based on three criteria. First the Object Oriented Methodologies (OOM) must be published in text book form so that adequate information is available for our comparison; which narrowed down our selection to those OOMs that are available in the text book form. Second the OOMs should be well-known and must be accepted by the software development community as real object-oriented methodologies. Third the methodologies must be supportred by CASE tools. The two OOM, selected in this report for camparison, fulfill and satisfy the three criteria [1, 10]. Both Booch, and Rumbaugh, which are the most widely used OOM, have evolved either from the real time domain or information processing domain and also are used in general. The two methodologies has gained significant attention so far in the software development community and are well documented at the same time. These criteria might exclude some well-known OOMs or recent developments in the OOM, but sufficiency, maturity and general acceptance of methodologies are the primary requirements for software development practice. Literature review Limitation This paper evaluates the aforementioned methods by scoring them against a set of criteria. It is not the goal of the paper to answer the question which one is the best? But rather to show the differences between methods and to allow conclusions be drawn as to their applicability. Remaining of report is divided into four sections. Section 2 provides a brief introduction of the two methodologies. Section 3 contains the comparison of the two methodologies. Section 4 presents the conclusion for the comparison of the two OOMs. Finally, section 5 contains the references to the literature used for this research. Brief introduction Of the Booch And Rambaugh (OMT) Methods Booch (1991, 1994) Booch introduced object oriented methodology in his book published in 1991. He was the first one to give the idea of the object-oriented approach in software development process, which he called system design [2][3]. He was popular at that for his landmark paper [Booch 1986] and for the work on Ada program design. He then introduced the analysis methodology to his design and extended his design model as a repeating process which he called The Micro Process) within a development process which is referred as The Macro Process. The macro process is shown in the figure 1 below as prescribed by Booch which is a self-iterative process Figure 1- The Macro Process -Booch [1994] These two processes are discussed in the next sections. The Macro Process The macro process consists of the following steps [2] [3] [4]. 1. Establish core requirements for software (conceptualization). 2. Develop a model of the systems desired behavior (analysis). 3. Create architecture for the implementation (design). 4. Evolve the implementation through successive refinements (evolution). 5. Post-delivery evolution management (maintenance). The Micro Process The micro process consists of the following activities as shown in figure 2 below [2] [3] [4]: The classes and objects are identified at a given abstraction level. Figure 2-The Micro Process Booch [1994] 2. Previously identified classes and objects meanings are established by defining the Semantics for every class and object, as well as the behavior of the system and its components are determined. 3. The interface of classes and objects as well as their implementation are specified. Decisions about the representation of the classes and objects are made in design model. Rambaugh OMT (1991) Rumbaugh introduced Object Modeling Technique (OMT) in 1991.OMT consists of following three major models and then it defines a method for integrating them [11] [12]. 1. The Object Model 2. The Dynamic Model 3. The Functional Model The object model In this model, Objects static structure and relationships among these objects are determined within a system. The following are the main concepts used in this model: object class operation attribute association aggregation Inheritance Dynamic model This model gives a description about the dynamics of the objects and their changes in states. This model shows the essential characteristics that change over time in a system by observing the objects behavior over time, and by exploring control and events flow among the objects. The control aspects of a system are specified and implemented in this model. The following are the main concepts in this model: state sub/super state event activity action Functional model This model shows information about the data flow within a system and the outside world. The following are then main concepts of this model: process data flow data store actor (source/sink) control flow OMT consists of five phases. 1. Analysis 2. System Design 3. Object Design 4. Implementation (coding) 5. Testing OMT processes considers the primary features in the first three phases of development (i-e Analysis, System Design and Object Design) and are explained in following sections. The following figure 3 shows these processes. Figure 3.-The OMT process- Derr [1995]. 1. Analysis this phase goal is to build a comprehensible and correct model according to the real world situation. The initial problem statement is developed from the requirements of the users and information that are provided by developers and managers. The analysis phase produces the following deliverables [11] [12]: Problem Statement Object Model, which consists of Object Model Diagram and data dictionary Dynamic Model, which consists of State Diagrams and Global Event Flow Diagram Functional Model, which consists of Data Flow Diagram and constraints 2. System design on the bases of architectural design of the system and problem domain, the system is partitioned into subsystems. The following are the system design phase deliverables: System Design Document: consists of architectural design of the system and high-level strategic decisions for implementing data stores in the form of data structures, files, and databases. 3. Object design based on the analysis model, the goal of this phase to provide Implementation details that include the domain infrastructure classes along with the internal objects needed for implementation. The following are the object design phase deliverables: Detailed Object Model Detailed Dynamic Model Detailed Functional Model 4. Implementation in this phase the system that is designed so far is translated into programming language code and hardware. 5. Test The entire System that is developed is verified in this phase. Testing includes system level and scenario based tests. Comparison Of Booch and Rambaugh methods The framework used in this paper is considering the following major areas of each methodology for comparison: Concepts Process Notations Pragmatics 3.1 Concepts A method to be consider as object oriented, it should support concepts that are related to the object oriented methologies. This comparison provides help in evaluating the method to the extent it is is object oriented. Therefore , in this paper we are comparing object oriented concepts of the two methodologies, Booch and Rambaugh, in the following categories. Concepts, such as Class, Object, etc. The relationships such as Inheritance and Aggregation Types of communications between objects and classes. Concurrency mechanisms Object is the fundamental concept of every object-oriented method, that must be supported by the method. An object encapsulates its internal state (or attributes) and provides a set of operations (methods/messeges) as an interface for manipulating the state. Whereas a class is a template which describes the attributes and interface of a set of objects. Object instances are produced by defining class variables.[5] Table 1 lists comparison of the object oreinted concepts that both methodology provides. A Y in the box for each concept represents that an artifact is provided by the coresponding methodology. Table 1. Object Oriented concepts Method Rumbaugh Booch classes/objects Y Y abstract classes Y Y meta-classes Y Y Encapsulation Y Y single inheritance Y Y multiple inheritance Y Y Aggregation Y Y Association Y Y methods/messages Y Y Total 9 9 Real world is concurrent, so object oriented methods often uses concurrent objects in the analysis phase to model it. Objects remain in passive mode, until an operation is invoked by another object to bring them in active mode. If there are more than one thread of control associated with active object, then it is called internally concurrent object. Therefore object oriented methods should support ways to access the shared data in concurrent systems.[5] Table 2. Concurrency Method Passive Active internally concurrent Rumbaugh Y Y Y Booch Y Y Communiication provides information flow and synchronization between objects that are involved in the communication. In Synchronous communication the sender object send a messege to the reciever object and suspend execution until it receives an aknowlegment message from the reciever, whereas in asynchronous communication the sender does not wait for the aknowlegment and continues its execution. Sequential systems uses procedural call whereas concurrent object systems uses remote procedure Call for communication. Table 3. Communication Method Synchronous Asynchronous Procedural Remote procedure Rumbaugh Y Y Y Booch Y Y Y Process 3.2.1. Deliverables that are produced during the Development Process: A number of different types of deliverables are generated during the development process of a system. These include a number of specifications likely requirements, analysis, design, subsystem, and test cases. Particularly, in object-oriented development process, object and classes specifications are very important. Following criteria is used to find out the deliverables that each methodology generates during the development process: 0 shows no deliverable is generated. 1 shows deliverable is generated, but details are not provided. 2 shows deliverable is generated and also well defined. 3 shows deliverable is generated, a definition is provided, and an example is given. 4 shows deliverable is generated, a definition is provided, and an example is given, and a definition for the process is provided. 5 shows deliverable is generated, a definition is supplied, an example is given, a definition for the process is provided, and heuristics are provided. The following table 4 represents the results of this evaluation: Table 4: Development process deliverables Method Rumbaugh Booch Requirement Specification 2 1 Design Specification 2 2 Test Cases 0 0 Object/Class Specification 5 1 Subsystem Specification 0 1 Totals 9 5 3.2.2. Development Contexts A set of constraints occur during the development process which are established by development context. The following criteria are used to evaluate that whether each methodology explicitly discusses the constraints that are established by the development context, or not within the method. A Y in the With Prototyping column shows that prototyping is discussed explicitly in the methodology. A Y in the As Prototyping indicates that prototypes iteratively deliver the system and methodology produces prototypes into production. A Y in the With Reuse shows that the methodology explicitly incorporate the reuse products into the method The For Reuse indicates whether the methodology delivers reusable products for other processes or not. Table 5: Development Context Method Rumbaugh Booch With Prototype Y As Prototype With Reuse Y Y For Reuse Partial Y Aspects of the Development Life-Cycle The whole development life cycle of a methodology gives us a suggestion about the completeness and consistency of the methodology. If a methodology covers all aspects of the development lifecycle during the development process then it ensures the completeness and the consistency of the methodology and it is useful to the organization as a complete and consistent methodology. Therefore, complete life cycle coverage is very important to a life cycle with a limited coverage. Following table 6 values shows these aspects: 0 shows this feature is not covered. 1 shows this feature is covered, but with no details. 2 show this feature is covered with definition. 3 shows this feature is covered, a definition is given with an example (at least one). 4 shows this feature is covered, a definition is given with an example (at least one) and with defined process. 5 shows this feature is covered, a definition is given with an example (at least one) and with defined process, and heuristics are provided. Table 6: Development process life cycle coverage Method Rumbaugh Booch Domain Analysis 0 4 Requirement Analysis 5 2 Enterprise Modeling 0 0 Design 5 5 Implement 3 4 Test 2 0 Total 15 15 In software engineering Extensibility of the system design is a systematic measure of the ability to last or continue. A level of efforts is required to extend a system in range or scope. Table 7: Extensibility Method Completeness Consistency Extensibility Rumbaugh Y Y Y Booch N N N Table 8: Process properties Method Well-defined steps(process) Pure or hybrid Traceable across lifecycle Rumbaugh Y H Y Booch Partial P Partitioning Mechanism When system size increases, then at a particular time, the visibility of certain information about the objects of interest is very crucial and to limit this visibility a partitioning mechanism is required. Each methodology was studied carefully to seek such mechanisms it provides. So the information in the table below was the outcome. Table 9: Partition mechanism Method Partitioning Mechanism Rumbaugh Subsystems Booch Subsystems The Life-Cycle of the Methodologies The development life-cycle of each methodology was carefully reviewed so as to determine that whether the methodology follows a sequential (i-e Waterfall), iterative or recursive strategy because it is the crucial requirement for project planning. Otherwise it will yield unexpected results with high risk and would lead to total failure. The following table 10 shows that which methodology follows what strategy. Table 10: life cycle property Method Recursive Iterative Sequential Rumbaugh Y Booch Y 3.3 Notations 3.3.1. Static Concepts Each methodology was reviewed to determine that how each methodology represents the following concepts: Aggregation: what are the components an object is a composed of. Communication: How the classes or objects communicate with each other(i-e by sending message to one another) Specialization: An object is represented as a generalization, or specialization, of another class or object? Module Interfaces: The physical implementations of objects Qualifications for Reuse: How much each methodology encourages the reuse of different components of development process. These concepts within each methodology indicates that how the models are used. The table 11 below shows the notations for these concepts. Table 11: Static Concepts Method Rumbaugh Booch Aggregation Object Model Class Diagram Specialization Object Model Class Diagram Communication Scenario Class Diagram Module Interfaces Module Qualifications f

The British Renaissance Produced Many Types of Literature Essay

The British Renaissance Produced Many Types of Literature and Was Influenced By Shakespeare, Marlow, and Spenser The British Renaissance produced many types of literature for the world to see. Shakespeare, Spenser, and Marlowe all contributed to the shaping of the time period. Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" portrays one of the typical love poems that can be seen from the Renaissance. A man is in search of the love of another girl, or woman. Sir Walter Raleigh wrote a poem in response to this passage of Marlowe's entitled "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd." Although the name of the girl is not stated anywhere in the former poem, Raleigh decided to use a wood nymph as his subject. The Shepherd seems to be a meaningful man. His plead for the nymph's love seems true, but is hollow. The Nymph's reply frankly points this out to the Shepherd in her reply and jokingly refuses him her love. The themes of age, weather and the seasons, and materialism all appear in the two poems. Though, both authors use them differently to show how love should be attained. Love should be attained by use of the heart. This theory is the premise of Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love." The Shepherd in his poem offers the world to his Love and everything with it. He is an old man and hopes to win the girl's heart. Notice the word ‘hopes.' If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me and be my love. And so the...

Pornography and Legislation :: Argumentative Persuasive Essay Examples

Pornography is yet one of the most popular topics of today's society. Questions are being brought up about how pornography has had an effect on our everyday life styles. Pornography provokes violence through its explicates of obscenity through the literature and the media. Technology has been manipulated by these pornographic materials , and this isn't fair to the public. How do we put a stop to this? The law officials are trying to restate some of the laws that refer to the pornographic field, but it has become a great deal of struggling. The struggle is due to the avoidance of the invading each of the individual's constitutional rights granted to them, that is the freedom of speech and press. This topic has been hard to do research on because it is a really complicated subject to understand. This topic has really been neglected in the past so it is now come to overpower the people and haunt them in every way. One way in which the legal system has tried to regulate against pornograp hy was by decreasing the amount of publications of obscenity illustrated of pornography through censorship. In the case of Mutual Film Corporation. Verses Industrial Communication, in 1915, the case had to do with Ohio state censorship, and the attorneys for this film declared that through pre-censorship there will be a violation of rights. this provoked the state supreme court to decide that movies were not entitled to share the same protection of constitutional rights as other media areas. Now the court decided to make clear that when films are being previewed before distribution bans cannot be made unless on grounds of constitution. The American Law Institute is made up of professional lawyers, professors, and judges. These professionals are mutually investigating the field of pornography. the plan on putting restrictions for pornography. To avoid any criminal charges against pornographic publishers, lawyers advise their clients to avoid any published material containing or regarding obscene material. Some liberals feel that the reason that the law opposes pornography is because the case becomes more emotional rather than logical. There was a time where the law did put its foot down. This is when James Joyce, for example, had his novel (Ulysses) which was full of obscenity was banned from the United States and then it was approved and published in Paris, France. This goes to show that there is to an extent some sort of power of government over the pornographic publishers' demands.

Planning, Conducting and Evaluating Educational Research Essay

The planning that occurs behind educational research is an intricate process thus in addition to establishing a research problem and purpose and reviewing literature, inquirers must determine the best experimental design that fits their needs. Even though experiments may share characteristics, â€Å"their use and application vary depending on the type of design used† (Creswell, 2008, p. 310). Therefore understanding the types of experimental designs commonly used to inquiry about educational thematic is useful to identify the design whose approach will contribute the success of the research. The two major umbrellas of experimental design include between-group and within-group designs, which are further broken down into three subcategories of experimental design according to their characteristics. On the one hand, the between-group design offers an approach in which the inquirer is able to compare two or more clusters of subjects exposed to various degrees of interventi ons (Creswell, 2008). The between-group design is widely used in various fields given its ability to provide information that compares the interventions to a control group just as majority of the scientific experiments conducted in a science laboratory. In contrast, the within-group design offers an approach geared towards observations of the participants as they themselves become the control of the experiment (Creswell, 2008). Given the distinction among the between-group and within-group designs, it is critical to compare and contrast the six types of experimental design that fall under each of these categories. The differences in characteristics of design further subcategorize the between-group design into three experimental designs that include true exper... ...n experimental design with the proper adjustments to reduce the threats caused by participants, treatments, and procedures (Creswell, 2008). With a significant decrease of threats, a researcher may therefore strongly support the relationship between the variables without much ambiguity. Internal validity is important in any experiment and given that various factors threaten it in all forms of experimental designs, addressing the threats should be a priority during the design of research. If we are going to make a difference in the field of education, as researchers we need internally valid research to support future research and drive educational reform in an attempt to better the education of our children. Bibliography Creswell, J.W.(2008). Educational Research: Planning Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Pearson 3rd Ed.

Financial Analysis Decision Making

FACS Page 1 If you require a receipt for the post module work please complete the form below and clip it to the outside front of your assignment, together with a stamped pre-addressed envelope. * To be completed by the student * * * * NAME: MODULE: CHUTSANA NA NAGARA FINANCIAL ANALYSIS & CONTROL SYSTEMS MODULE DATE: 3rd, 4th, 7th December 2007 DUE DATE FOR POST MODULE WORK: January 28, 2008 I confirm the post-module work relating to the above module was received on †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Signature †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Warwick Manufacturing Group N. B. Post Module Work received by WMG after 16. 0 (Monday- Friday) will be stamped as having arrived on the next working day. Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 2 I declare that the work contained in this assignment is my own, unless otherwise stated. Signed: Chutsana Na Nagara (for on-line submission it is only necessary to type your name in this space) MODULE TITLE: MODULE DATE: GROUP: NAME: FINANCIAL ANALYSIS & CONTROL SYSTEMS 3rd, 4th, 7th December 2007 B CHUTSANA NA NAGARA (0654258) Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Question 1 : Analysis of the Financial Reports : Electrocomponents plc. Brief Description of Electrocomponents Plc. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4 Evaluation of Company Performance †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 Group Income Statement and Profitability Ratios †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 Group Balance Sheet†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 9 Efficiency Ratios†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 10 Liquidity Ratios †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 Investment Ratios†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 14 Group Cash Flow Statement †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 16 Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 16 Corporate Governance †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 17 Ethical Concerns †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 8 Suggestions †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 18 Question 2 : Management Accounting Part A : Cash Management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 21 Part B (1) Budgeting †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 23 Part B (2) Marginal Costing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 24 Appendix †¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 34 Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 4 FINANCIAL ANALYSIS AND CONTROL SYSTEMS Question 1 : Analysis of the Financial Reports Brief description of the company Electrocomponents Public Company Limited is a high service distributor of electronic, electromechanical and wider industrial products. They supply products to worldwide engineering customers. The group operates in 27 countries, covering 82% of global GDP, and supplies to most of the remaining countries worldwide via third party distributors.Chutsana Na Naga ra (0654258) FACS Page 5 Group Strategy—a three year-plan commencing from May 2005; ? Focus separately on two distinct customer groups, Electronic and Electromechanical (EEM) and Maintenance and Repair and Operations (MRO): by extending products ranges and availability to build on the enthusiastic response and meet customer expectations. ? ? Implement the integrated system, Enterprise Business System (EBS) Create a lower cost infrastructure: moving to new head offices, tighter control of costs, supply chain management, for instances Main Products: Nearly 350,000 products around the world.The main product ranges are; ? ? ? ? Electrical, automation and cables Electronic components, power and connectors Mechanical products and tools IT, test and safety equipment Main Customer Groups Total around 1. 5 million customers from all industrial sectors are typically research and development (R&D) or maintenance engineers in business. They also sell products to end customers. Currently they are focusing on 2 main customer groups refer to product groups. 1. Electronic and Electromechanical or EEM Primary customers are electronics design and pre and low volume electronics production.This has been seen as an attractive and growing segment because of strong electronics market growth, technology proliferation and R&D investment. Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 6 2. Maintenance, Repair and Operations or MRO Within MRO, their important customer is involved in factory automation that primarily uses process control and automation products (PCA). Main Markets are divided into 4 geographical areas: UK, continental Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. below. UK 40% Current market size (in sales) is shown Continental Europe 33% Asia Pacific 9% North America 18% Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258)FACS Page 7 Channels ? Catalogue: a traditional channel ? e-Commerce: total around 25% of group’s sales ? Trade counters/Sales Offices: operating globally Evaluation of Compa ny Performance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Four techniques are selected (horizontal analysis, trend analysis, vertical analysis, and ratio analysis) to interpret and illustrate business performance during year 2007 comparing to 2006 and 2005. For trend analysis, Y2005 is assumed to be a base year (=100%) as it was the last year before massive investments and reorganization projects took place as well as implementation of maintaining dividend paid/share.Ratios will be divided into four groups to evaluate company performance in separate areas. Group Income Statement and Profitability Ratios†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. (Calculations in Appendix1-2) Trend analysis shows sales have increased by 13% from Y2005 as international sales increased (Business Review) due to a combination of strong revenue growth in continental Europe, North America (joint promotions programs), and Asia Pa cific especially a successful customer acquisition program and contribution from new Thailand sales office.However, cost of sales has increased by greater amount (by 20%). Generally speaking, cost of sales should not increase much more than increase in sales because this shows that all produced goods might not be sold (stolen, defected, etc. ) or raw Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 8 material cost greatly rose due to inefficient procurement. Also, normally when sales increases, business will receive discounts from big batch purchases and even reduces cost of sales. By comparing cost of sales with sales: Y2005 was accounted for 47% but Y2006-7 was the same at 49% of sales.So the problem for Electrocomponents might be, (Chief Executive’s and Business Review), that their strategy to expand product ranges, availability, and promotions to better satisfy and attracts customers in highly competitive markets. These led to increase in inventory holding and cost of sales. As a r esult, gross profit increased by only 4% from Y2006 or 8% from Y2005 (lesser amount than sales growth). directly affected. Gross profit and mark-up ratios are Gross Profit Ratio Gross Profit x 100 Sales Y2007 443. 5 x 100 = 50. 5 % 877. 5 Y2006 426. 4 x 100 = 51. 5 % 828. 5 Gross profit ratio shows every ? sales; business earned 50. 5pence and cost of sales took 49. 5p from it because of increase in cost of sales as mentioned earlier. To illustrate, sales increased by 5. 9% (877. 5 -828. 5? m) but cost of sales increased by 7. 9% (434 – 402. 1? m). Mark-up Ratio Gross Profit x 100 Cost of Sales Y2007 443. 5 x 100 = 102. 2 % 434 Y2006 426. 4 x 100 = 106% 402. 1 Mark-up ratio shows the profit business added up to cost of sales has decreased. Gross profit derived from sales deducted by cost of sales. They normally change adversely; the more cost of sales, the less gross profit.Ratio also illustrates market situation; UK is their biggest but highest competitive market (Business R eview) so increasing price to raise profit is prohibited. That is why business earned only 2. 2pence profit after deducting all cost of sales. Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 9 For internal comparison, Gross profit ratio is compared with net margin ratio: Net Margin Ratio Operating Profit x 100 Sales Y2007 91. 1 x 100 = 10. 4 % 877. 5 Y2006 68. 5 x 100 = 8. 3 % 828. 5 They are measuring profitability at different levels. Although gross profit ratio decreased, net margin ratio increased.This supports that business better managed operating expenses through achieving in Enterprise Business Systems or EBS and reorganization projects. In other words, It is justified that (13%increase) distribution and marketing expenses which seems to be variable costs (especially sales commissions) for Y2007 has changed in relation to sales (14%increase)—comparing to Y2006; these expenses increased 15% while sales only increased 7%. This was because strong field sales team in North America , EBS, and Japan’s e-commerce increased to 57% of its sales, (Business Review).Moreover, administrative expenses (fixed costs) greatly decreased (78%) because reorganization project led to low infrastructure cost especially the removal of around 110 roles including the closure of the telemarketing department in the UK (Webpage1). So, total operating expenses decreased to 40% as a percentage of sales and led to increase in operating profit by 32% from Y2006. Regarding profitability, the business is doing well in terms of generating profits from worldwide sales growth which is supported by effective marketing activities, product strategies, and investment projects.Group Balance Sheet†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. (Also refer to Appendix3-4) Overall picture, Y2007 total assets were about the same as Y2005, despite a slight increase in Y2006â €™s. On the other side (assets = liabilities + equity), while fixed liabilities and equity decreased, current liabilities was the Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 10 only one area that greatly increased especially loans and borrowings that increased by ? m56 and also with increases in trade and other payables by ? m9. 4. For further analysis, we shall look at detailed performance from ratios.Efficiency ratios†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Inventory Turnover Ratio (times) Cost of Sales (Ending) Inventory Y2007 434 160. 6 Y2007 434 159. 6 = 2. 7 = 2. 7 402. 1 158. 6 Y2006 402. 1 150. 45 Y2006 = 2. 5 Cost of Sales (Average) Inventory = 2. 7 Inventory turnover ratio: If average inventory is used to calculate ratio, business remains efficiency of purchasing and selling goods at the same level of 2. 7times. A high relative volume of 2. 7times turnover means business had only 4 months of sales in stock.However, it is acceptable to use â€Å"ending† inventory as it was the most current inventory level business held and it shows that supply chain management truly helped improve stock turn from 2. 5 to 2. 7times (Business Review). Notes17 illustrates that business tended to increase raw materials while decrease finished goods. In general, when sales increase, business should stock finished goods for availability to customers—not raw materials as they are not immediately ready for sale. However, ratio can mislead if business stocks too much and cost of sales are not well-managed, the ratio still increases and problems are hidden.Debtor Collection Period (days) Receivables x 365 (Average) Trade Debtors Y2007 150. 5 x 365 = 62. 6 877. 5 Y2006 138. 2 x 365 = 60. 9 828. 5 Debtor collection period: Gross trade debtors (from Notes18) comparing to sales shows business has begun to weaken than Y2006 and industry figure because median period for UK is about only 50 days, Dyson1 Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 11 (2007). Also, if comparing it with inventory turnover ratio, company sold products quicker but collected money slower. The possible reason might be current global expansions, for example, new trades in Thailand.Payment transactions are neither yet well-settled nor flowing smoothly; therefore, increase leadtime. Also, it is possible that customers buy more because attractive credits terms are offered especially high competitive and mature market like UK (Notes2 and Business review). This is meaningless because sales—not cash inflow increases. Moreover, business must ensure the collection period is shorter than credit sales otherwise business can go bankruptcy. Net Assets Turnover (times) Sales Capital Employed Y2007 877. 5 450. 4 = 1. 9 828. 5 543. 5 Y2006 = 1. 5Net asset turnover shows the improvements in efficient utilization of capital employed to genera te sales. Every ? 1invested in assets, business earned nearly ? 2sales. Sales increased (as earlier mentioned) while capital employed greatly decreased mainly because of increase in current liabilities especially unsecured bank facilities and loans, Notes20. Fixed Assets Turnover Ratio (times) Sales Fixed Assets @ NBV (NBV = Net Book Value) Y2007 877. 5 95. 3 = 9. 2 828. 5 96. 3 Y2006 = 8. 6 Fixed asset turnover ratio: Business had better utilized fixed assets to generate sales or they began to pay off.In other words, every ? 1fixed assets invested can generate sales ? 9. 2. Main effects were from decrease in net book value of intangible assets (Notes12) and slightly increase in property, plant and equipment (Notes13). However, sales increased in greater amount; hence, satisfied ratio. It is wise to compare net book value with other businesses (on like-for-like basis) or industrial ratio for comparisons of performance and position. Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 12 Similarly , fixed assets can be compared with operating profit to show its ability to generate profit—not just sales.Operating Profit Fixed Assets @ NBV Y2007 91. 1 95. 3 = 1. 0 times 68. 5 96. 3 Y2006 = 0. 7 times Ability to generate profit has also improved; therefore, business well utilized fixed assets to generate both sales and profit. In similar fashion, we can see how well business utilized total assets as below. Return on Total Assets Operating Profit x 100 Total Assets Y2007 91. 1 x 100 = 13. 5 % 676. 8 Y2006 68. 5 x 100 = 9. 7 % 703. 3 Return on total asset ratio shows that company has improved on utilizing each ? 1total assets invested to generate profit.Ratio is higher due to decrease in intangible assets (Notes12), cash and cash equivalents (Notes28), while increase in operating profit. Regarding efficiency in using assets, business is also doing well in this area accept for debtor collection period that has slightly gone up two more days and is still much longer than the average UK’s, Dyson1 (2007). This suggests business closely control international sales and payments along with its expansions. Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 13 Liquidity ratios†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. (Also refer to Appendix3-4)Current Ratio Inventory + Debtors + Cash + Short term investments Creditors + Short term loans + Overdrafts Y2007 350. 7 211. 9 = 1. 7 360. 3 146. 5 Y2006 = 2. 5 This measures how well business can immediately pay debt from sufficient liquid resources when it falls due. It shows their ability to use any ? 1current assets to pay current debts was weaker because creditors and enormous current borrowings/loans increased (Notes19-20) while decreased in cash and cash equivalents especially call deposits and investments (Notes28). We further look at acid test.Acid Test Debtors + Cash + Short term investments Creditors + Short term loans + Overdrafts Y2007 190. 1 211. 9 = 0. 9 201. 7 146. 5 Y2006 = 1. 4 Normally, inventory cannot immediately turn to cash. Acid test which excludes inventory shows real business ability to meet its obligations. Acid test declines to even lower than 1 showing a worrying sign. Business invested in too much inventory such as product ranges which affected their liquidity. Although, some liabilities may not be due in some months, business cannot neglect the situation.Their liquidity seems very stretch at the moment as the two ratios shows a warning sign that business did not maintain proper level of liquidity and can expose to more severe financial risk unless they make soonest improvement. Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 14 Investment ratios†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ (Also refe r to Appendix3-4) Gearing Ratio (Fixed loans and borrowings + Current loans and borrowings – Cash and cash equivalents) x 100 Equity Y2007 (76. 3 + 79 -19. 1) x 100 304. 6 = 44. 7 % Y2006 (137. 2 + 23 – 39. 4) x 100 336. 4 = 35. 9 % Interest Cover (times)Operating Profit Interest Charges Y2007 91. 1 5. 9 = 15. 4 68. 5 3. 4 Y2006 = 20. 1 Operating Profit (%Change Y2006-7) (91. 1 – 68. 5) x 100 68. 5 = 33 % Interest Charges (%Change Y2006-7) (5. 9 – 3. 4) x 100 3. 4 = 74 % Gearing ratio increased from Y2006: This illustrates business depends more on borrowed funds rather than shareholder funds. It seems that business borrowed short term loans for (main consumption) development of new warehouse and office in North America (Business Review, Notes2). At the same time, shareholder funds decreased due to decrease in other reserves, Notes26; hence higher ratio.Regarding shareholders’ view, they may be in high financial risk as borrowing interests must be p aid before distributing dividend and, in liquidation; lenders will be repaid before shareholders receive any repayments, FACS1. The gearing ratio itself does not mean very much because it depends on type of business and investment stage. We compare it with interest cover Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 15 which decreased due to interest charges increased by greater amount (74%) than profit (33%). It shows that operating profit can only cover interest charges 15. times so again this is because interests paid for current borrowings/loans as mentioned earlier. Dividends = 18. 4p per share for three years Refer to Chairman Statement; the Board announced in Y2005 that business would maintain dividend paid at 18. 4p per share for the following three years. This is good for shareholders as they know exactly what they will receive, however, it is very risky for business as they must ensure to earn sufficient profit to meet what they said or, if not, business must seek new funding sou rces to finance such commitment. Return on Shareholder FundProfit after Tax & Interest x 100 Shareholders Funds Y2007 56. 2 x 100 = 18. 5 % 304. 6 Y2006 43. 6 x 100 = 13 % 336. 4 Return on shareholder funds increased because of increase in profit after tax and interest which is mainly due to no provisions for Y2007 RoHS cost (Notes3, 11), profit on sale of former head office (Notes5, 11), and decrease in other reserves in shareholder funds (Notes26). This gives confidence to shareholders that every ? 1invested can generate profit 5. 5% higher than Y2006. Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 16 Group Cash Flow Statement†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦The statement illustrates profits earned each year is totally different from cash they hold. It serves as a tool for management control that allows business monitor their cash flows especially the cash outflows. The first major cash outflow was capital expenditure and financial investment which might be due to infrastructure projects business is implementing especially new warehouse in North America, (Notes2, Business Review). Moreover, Income Statement for year ended 2005-7 shows profits after tax and interests attributable to equity shareholders (? m67. 6, 43. , and 56. 2 for Y2005-7 respectively) are less than total dividends paid of ? m80 (18. 4p/share). This is probably the reason that business had new bank loans during these three consecutive years (Cash Flow Statement). Although loans might also be distributed to other activities, it seems that they were partially paid as dividends as announcement in Y2005. Consequently, this is why Y2007 profit (? m85. 2) which increased from Y2006 (? m65. 1), was actually left at the end of the trading year as â€Å"real† cash and cash equivalents at only ? m17. 2 decreased from ? m38.Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ In conclusion, since the business has been established in 1928, they are growing and expanding internationally rapidly (Webpage2 and Webpage3). At present, they are doing well in term of profitability, efficiency, and investment areas, or to say, they are succeeding in sustaining global sales growth across the group, grow margin stabilization and tight control of costs. ROCE ratio also illustrates overall success. Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 17 Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) Operating Profit x 100 Capital Employed Y2007 91. 1 x 100 = 20. 2 % 450. Y2006 68. 5 x 100 = 12. 6 % 543. 5 ROCE is the combination of Net Margin and Net Assets Turnover. As earlier mentioned both ratios increase and led to significantly increased ROCE. It suggests that overall performance is satisfied due to effective pricing and cost management as well as asset management were im proved comparing to Y2006. This also illustrates overall success in EBS, product strategy, new technology launches, supplier relationships and low costs projects that are paying off. The number of times (1. 9) that net assets can generate sales is very important as one turn equals to 10. % that sales can generate profit. That is why ROCE = 20. 2% as it equals two turns. This suggests that it may greatly increases sales very soon because business recently plans to accelerate sales growth in China which is a big potential market and if business can manage to utilize assets well, there will be increase in profit on capital employed even more. Furthermore, it is better if the ROCE rate of 20. 2% is less than the rate of cost (interest rate) that business pays for money borrowed to invest in these assets because it means assets are used for generating profit that can cover cost of acquiring them.Regarding Corporate Governance (Webpage4), the business is subject to the provisions of the C ombined Code on Corporate Governance published in July 2003 and appended to the Listing Rules of the UK Listing Authority. There are many practices company must follow. For example, the Audit Committee shall consist of not less than three members and be independent non-executive directors. Also, it is authorized by the Board and able to investigate any activity within its Terms of Reference which allows for full access to Company information and can seek that information from any employee of the business.Employees are directed to co-operate with any request made by the Committee. If, at all time, company strictly follows the set rules, they can ensure operating properly. Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 18 Moreover, regarding Ethical concerns (Business Review), they are focusing on many areas of responsibilities such as ethical trading and sets of KPI for environmental concerns. Along with their profitability, business is considered be on track of long term prosperous. However , there is one important area that needs to be immediately improved. This is liquidity. From the logic below;Total assets = Fixed Liabilities + Current Liabilities + 676. 8 100% = = 145. 8 21. 54% + + 226. 4 33. 45% + + Equity 304. 6 ? m 45. 01% or; Sources of asset investments are from three parts. Business acquires funds from borrowings/loans 54. 99% (21. 54% + 33. 45%) which exceeds equity (45. 01%). The proportion shows business is considered at high risk. This evidence is also strongly supported by earlier ratios and cash flow analysis. Suggestions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Suggestions aim to point out at major areas. Most of them involve the concern on liquidity which has been mentioned earlier. . Recently, there are many business activities going on to support their expansions that involve mostly in long term investments. However, it seems t hat business finance their activities with short term liabilities as they increased significantly, Notes20. This is not a proper means of investment because, normally, short term liabilities are at higher interest rate and the payment due is sooner (amounts falling due less than a year is as high as 79? m from 23? m, Notes20), but business uses them for long term investments which take time to generate cash back.Business may soon suffer from low liquidity and inability to pay day-to-day expenses and interests as business pays back the cost of using money even before they make profit from the money borrowed. Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 19 The evidence was supported by increased in Gearing ratio; while, Current ratio, Acid test and Interest Cover ratio have significantly decreased. Although, interest expenses from borrowings reduce tax payable, business must ensure they have ability to pay interests and it is worth to do so.Unless they restructure funding sources, they can go bankruptcy very soon because many long term projects will be implement next year. By doing so, business surely improves their liquidity and reduces financial risk for business itself as well as shareholders’. 2. It was very risky that the Board has announced to maintain the same amount of dividend paid for three years while business is under investments/expansions and these two activities consume huge amount of money. Dividend amount is greater than profits after tax and interests; business seemed to borrow current liabilities for cash dividend paid.This could be a good strategic idea to retain shareholders’ confidence on the successful implementation of EBS, execution of the strategy and cost reduction initiatives will significantly improve financial performance over the next three years. However, it could turn to be the worst idea especially when liquidity is now in concern. The alternative solutions can be that business issues more shares so they use cash receive d to pay dividend or pay shareholders with stock dividends (dividend reinvestment plan) so they still retain cash in the business.These two alternatives will increase number of shares so, refer to Gearing ratio, financial risks can be reduced. Point 1&2 above suggest that business rearrange sources of funding by seeking for long term sources and bewares of â€Å"overtrading†. They are expanding, stocking more inventories, having more debtors but lack of cash to pay for creditors—not only from normal trading but also interests from borrowing/loans. Although the Board seems to be sure that after all these investments come alive under well-managed plan for implementations they will urely benefit and guarantee long term prosperous to business, business may go bankruptcy even before reaching the goal. Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 20 3. Business’s strategy to satisfy customers with around 350,000 products stocked globally, this can hardly do so efficiently. Although inventory turnover seems satisfied, acid test shows inventory greatly affects business’s liquidity. Business is suggested reconsider inventory policy to rearrange classes and only stock fast moving, high volume but low value items.For slow moving, low volume but high value items, business may decide to use pooled strategy by stocking them in one warehouse in location that can easily transport products to anywhere needed, Chopra and Sodhi (2004). 4. Business is expanding very much. Their performance on receivables collection period is slightly weaker because trading worldwide interfaces with many parties and increases procedures complexity. Business must ensure activities are in control and they have sufficient cash to pay creditors. 5. Regarding risks assessment (Business Review); it is wise to include isks from suppliers into consideration as they are trading in competitive markets with enormous competitors and high penalties. Satisfying customers is vitally importa nt; therefore, this requires reliable suppliers as well as effective supply chain management for inventory management and reduce cost of sales. 6. It is suggested business focus on international markets especially North America and Asia which have higher revenue growth. Currently, North American’s e-commerce is account for only 10% of total sales. This is elatively low comparing to other regions. This may be a great opportunity to increase profits because sales can be increased through e-commerce; while, costs are reduced from, for example, reduction in sales teams. (3,824 Words) Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 21 Question 2 Part A : Cash Management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. – The significance of cash management in managing a business. Cash is one of the most important resources in running a business as Pizzey (199 8) put that it is the life-blood of the business.However, cash is not profit. Highly profitable businesses cease to exist just simply because they do not maintain sufficient cash to allow proper level of liquidity; for example, paying for routine business’ expenses. While too much idle cash means inefficiency as it does not generate any added value to business. To avoid falling into either ends, business needs cash management. This can be done through preparing cash flow statement to examine past performance and include corrective actions/improvements in cash budget for future directions/guidelines.To illustrate, business can recognize transaction flows with initial factors; identify risk because it allows for regular monitoring and control; plan their money ahead such as acquiring funds from proper sources at reasonable price rather than rushing into lenders when problems surprisingly happen, etc. We can; therefore, say that ultimate significances of cash management are that business runs smoothly, stably; is safe from insolvency and increases confidences for shareholders. – Impact of Production Manager’s role on the cash position of the business game.Refer to Year2 Cash Flow Statement (Appendix5) Major decisions that affected (negative) cash position were; Machine choice & bottle neck : Machine Mark-I has longest leadtime. Work-in-process are slowly produced. Finished goods tie up waiting for workin-process before consolidating into batch delivery. The longer leadtime, the longer business gets paid from customers and it is even longer from foreign markets. So it keeps borrowing more money to run business and paying interests. Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 22Routing : At fist stage, Wolfs were produced from Mark-I which had most expensive unit cost of $m(5). This increased cost of sales and while price was fixed, business received less profit. Capacity : Business has already invested in Engineering&Quality and bought new factory. However, using Mark-I led to insufficient capacity; decreased opportunity to win big contracts; and limited sales volume. Business ended up with insufficient products to generates enough sales to cover all costs especially capital expenditure. Three issues above affected cash out-flows which led to extremely high negative cash position.One possible solution is to replace Mark-I with Mark-III to efficiently increase capacity. So leadtime is decreased; stocks are reduced; business tends to decrease debtors, increase profit, reduce loans and interest paid; hence, cash position gets better. – Comment on the impact of Production Manager’s role in managing the cash in a real business. Managing real business will involve more complex issues—unlike the game. The role affects managing cash in numbers of ways: – Control on scrap/defect rates to reduce cost of sales. – Methods to manage defected products to minimise all costs related. Sequencing rule when th ousands different product groups are produced/day, good sequencing is required to avoid delay, quality problems and unnecessary costs. The more costs increase, the less profit business gains—especially in competitive markets where prices can hardly be increased, business suffer more severely. It is worth remembering some points : decisions cannot be made in isolation as one’s decisions affect others’. All functions’ commitment is vitally important. Also, final decisions must be considered regarding company’s For example, purchasing function cuts cost by enefits not a function’s. ordering low quality materials. Additional costs pass on to inspection and production functions. Also, if customers reject products, there will be claiming Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 23 process, reverse logistic, and product replacement. All these increase costs for whole business no matter in which functions they occur. (541 Words) Part B (1) : Budgeting †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Budgeting Budgeting comprises of two important parts, preparation and budgetary control, which will be described referring to FACS2.Preparation: Business critically analyses internal and external environments/factors to formulate strategic plans that must be in line with business objectives. Business then sets up operational plans with properly identifying resource requirements to support strategies. This resource plans are finally translated into financial plans to complete a budget preparation. Budgetary control: Budget is compared with actual figures. If variances occur, timely corrective actions are required; involving sending feedbacks back for reviews and formulated plans and/or forecasts may be revised. These re continuous processes and required management contributions/commitments at all time so that intended benefits are surely achieve d. The technique can apply to WinningMarginTM. Our objective is to lead Wolf markets and strategy is ensuring products are adequate for sales. We prepare production and sales budgets (Appendix6-7) showing maximum productions are 14 Terriers and 8 Wolfs with total sales $116. 6. From this point, purchasing manager knows how many exactly materials to order and when to prevent material shortage. Production manager can effectively manage shift allocations.Financial manager can see how much money to borrow more as we plan to invest in engineering and quality next year. Moreover, commercial manager can evaluate market share correctly. All Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 24 functions know their responsibilities and control areas which help achieve the objective. In real business, all processes are much more complex and involve enormous factors such as competitors, substitute products, technologies, government legislations, as well as funding/borrowings which are not easy or fast as in the game. Also, business is legally committed to pay tax and interests which can be very high.More importantly, suppliers and customers are not always reliable. Late payments from customers or late delivers from suppliers can severely interrupt whole business plan/process. (298 Words) Part B (2) : Marginal Costing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Marginal Costing Marginal costing is a costing technique that helps business making decisions. We must understand cost behaviors to properly classify and, more importantly, control them. Total costs roughly comprised of variable costs, which changes with activity Dyson3 (2007) and fixed or â€Å"time-based† costs, which remain unchanged within a period of time regardless of how many products produced.The difference between price and variable cost can be used to cover fixed costs and this is known as â€Å"contribution†. Business makes prof it from any contribution amount exceeds fixed costs; or loss, if insufficient contribution. Regarding WinningMarginTM, this technique would have helped our decision in choosing market. Appendix8 suggests we produce Tiger because of highest contribution in both situations. However, we actually chose Wolf. To make profit from Wolfs; we must produce 11 Wolfs (best case) or 76 Wolfs (worst case). However, our capacity is very limited due to machine constrains (Appendix6).This suggests we have adequate investments in engineering Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 25 quality and market development to get best available prices as well as enough contracts so that all products will be sold. Alternatively, we may replace MarkI with Mark-III to increase capacity; hence, increase contribution and profit. In real business, marginal costing is more widely used for strategic decisions, for example; â€Å"Make or buy†: Normally making products in-house required more fixed costs. Business buy-in if increase in variable costs is less than fixed costs. â€Å"Price incentives†: Reducing price can increase sales.Business reduce price if contribution from additional sales can cover total price reduction. Or increase price if contribution covers total sales lost. Comparing to real world, a number of costs are associated. To get best from the technique, business ensures they carefully distribute all costs to the right groups otherwise results can mislead decision-making and greatly affects business. (296 Words) Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 26 Appendix Appendix 1 : Trend Analysis of Group Income Statement 2007 (? m) SALES REVENUE 877. 5 877. 5 x 100 773. 9 2006 (? m) 828. 5 2005 (? m) 773. 9 113% 828. 5 x 100 773. 9 = 107% 100% (Cost of sales) 434 434 x 100 361. 8 402. 1 = 120% 402. 1 x 100 361. 8 361. 8 = 111% 100% GROSS PROFIT 443. 5 426. 4 = 103. 5% 412. 1 443. 5 x 100 412. 1 = 108% 426. 4 x 100 412. 1 100% (Distribution & marketing expenses) 346. 2 346. 2 x 100 303. 3 348. 9 = 114% 348. 9 x 100 303. 3 303. 3 = 115% 100% (Administrative expenses) 6. 2 6. 2 x 100 8 9 = 78% 9 x 100 8 8 = 113% 100% (Total operating expenses) 352. 4 357. 9 311. 3 OPERATING PROFIT 91. 1 91. 1 x 100 100. 8 68. 5 = 90% 68. 5 x 100 100. 8 100. 8 = 68% 100% Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 27Appendix 2 : Vertical Analysis of Group Income Statement 2007 (? m) SALES REVENUE 877. 5 = 100% 828. 5 2006 (? m) = 100% 773. 9 2005 (? m) = 100% (Cost of sales) 434 434 x 100 877. 5 402. 1 = 49% 402. 1 x 100 828. 5 361. 8 = 49% 361. 8 x 100 773. 9 = 47% GROSS PROFIT 443. 5 426. 4 412. 1 (Distribution & marketing expenses) 346. 2 348. 9 303. 3 346. 2 x 100 877. 5 = 39% 348. 9 x 100 828. 5 = 42% 303. 3 x 100 773. 9 = 39% (Administrative expenses) 6. 2 6. 2 x 100 877. 5 9 = 0. 7% 9 x 100 828. 5 8 = 1% 8 x 100 773. 9 = 1% (Total operating expenses) 352. 4 352. 4 x 100 877. 5 357. 9 = 40% 357. x 100 828. 5 311. 3 = 43% 311. 3 x 100 773. 9 = 40% OPERATING PROFIT 91. 1 68. 5 100. 8 Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 28 Appendix 3 : Trend Analysis of Group Balance Sheet 2007 (? m) FIXED ASSETS Intangible Assets 2006 (? m) 2005 (? m) 196. 7 196. 7 x 100 191. 9 208. 2 = 102. 5% 208. 2 x 100 191. 9 191. 9 = 108. 5% 100% Property, plant, and equipment 111. 1 111. 1 x 100 110. 9 112. 8 = 100% 112. 8 x 100 110. 9 110. 9 = 102% 100% Investments Other receivables Deferred tax assets Total fixed assets 0. 3 2. 7 14. 2 325 325 x 100 323. 2 0. 3 3. 2 17. 5 342 = 101% 342 x 100 323. 2 0. 2 2. 17. 4 323. 2 100% = 106% CURRENT ASSETS Inventories 160. 6 160. 6 x 100 142. 3 158. 6 = 113% 158. 6 x 100 142. 3 142. 3 = 111. 5% 100% Trade and other receivables 171 171 x 100 145. 1 162. 3 = 118% 162. 3 x 100 145. 1 145. 1 = 112% 100% Income tax receivable Cash & cash equivalents 1. 1 19. 1 19. 1 x 100 64. 8 1 39. 4 = 29. 5% 39. 4 x 100 64. 8 2. 2 64. 8 = 61% 100% Total current assets 351. 8 351. 8 x 100 354. 4 361. 3 = 99% 361. 3 x 100 354. 4 354. 4 = 102% 100% Tot al assets 676. 8 676. 8 x 100 677. 6 703. 3 = 100% 703. 3 x 100 677. 6 677. 6 = 104% 100% Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 29Appendix 3 : Trend Analysis of Group Balance Sheet (Continued) 2007 (? m) CURRENT LIABILITIES Trade and other payables 2006 (? m) 2005 (? m) 132. 9 132. 9 x 100 109. 5 123. 5 = 121% 123. 5 x 100 109. 5 109. 5 = 113% 100% Loans and borrowings 79 79 x 100 27. 7 23 = 285% 23 x 100 27. 7 = 83% 27. 7 100% Tax liabilities Total current liabilities 14. 5 226. 4 226. 4 x 100 155. 9 13. 3 159. 8 = 145% 159. 8 x 100 155. 9 18. 7 155. 9 = 103% 100% Net current assets 125. 4 125. 4 x 100 198. 5 201. 5 = 63% 201. 5 x 100 198. 5 = 102% 198. 5 100% 521. 7 100% Capital employed 450. 4 450. 4 x 100 521. 7 543. 5 = 86% 43. 5 x 100 521. 7 = 104% FIXED LIABILITIES Other payables Retirement benefits obligations Loans and borrowings 7. 9 38. 7 7. 8 41. 8 7. 6 47 76. 3 76. 3 x 100 92. 5 137. 2 = 82% 137. 2 x 100 92. 5 = 148% 92. 5 100% Deferred tax liabilities Total fixed liab ilities 22. 9 145. 8 145. 8 x 100 166 20. 3 207. 1 = 88% 207. 1 x 100 166 18. 9 166 100% = 125% EQUITY Called-up share capital Share premium account Other reserves Total equity 43. 5 38. 7 222. 4 304. 6 43. 5 38. 4 254. 5 336. 4 43. 5 38. 4 273. 8 355. 7 Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 30 Appendix 4 : Vertical Analysis of Group Balance Sheet 007 (? m) FIXED ASSETS Intangible Assets 2006 (? m) 2005 (? m) 196. 7 196. 7 x 100 325 208. 2 = 60. 5% 208. 2 x 100 342 191. 9 = 60. 9% Property, plant, and equipment 111. 1 111. 1 x 100 325 112. 8 = 34% 112. 8 x 100 342 110. 9 = 33% Investments Other receivables Deferred tax assets Total fixed assets 0. 3 2. 7 14. 2 325 = 100% 0. 3 3. 2 17. 5 342 = 100% 0. 2 2. 8 17. 4 323. 2 CURRENT ASSETS Inventories 160. 6 160. 6 x 100 351. 8 158. 6 = 45. 7% 158. 6 x 100 361. 3 142. 3 = 44% Trade and other receivables 171 171 x 100 351. 8 162. 3 = 48. 6% 162. 3 x 100 361. 3 145. 1 = 45%Income tax receivables Cash & cash equivalents 1. 1 1 2. 2 19. 1 1 9. 1 x 100 351. 8 39. 4 = 5. 4% 39. 4 x 100 361. 3 64. 8 = 11% Total current assets 351. 8 = 100% 361. 3 = 100% 354. 4 Total assets 676. 8 703. 3 677. 6 Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 31 Appendix 4 : Vertical Analysis of Group Balance Sheet (Continued) 2007 (? m) CURRENT LIABILITIES Trade and other payables 2006 (? m) 2005 (? m) 132. 9 132. 9 x 100 226. 4 123. 5 = 59% 123. 5 x 100 159. 8 109. 5 = 77. 3% 109. 5 x 100 155. 9 = 70% Loans and borrowings 79 79 x 100 226. 4 23 = 35% 23 x 100 159. 8 27. 7 = 14. 4% 27. 7 x 100 155. 9 = 18%Tax liabilities Total current liabilities Net current assets Capital employed FIXED LIABILITIES Other payables Retirement benefits obligations Loans and borrowings 14. 5 226. 4 = 100% 13. 3 159. 8 = 100% 18. 7 155. 9 = 100% 125. 4 450. 4 201. 5 543. 5 198. 5 521. 7 7. 9 38. 7 7. 8 41. 8 7. 6 47 76. 3 76. 3 x 100 145. 8 137. 2 = 52% 137. 2 x 100 207. 1 92. 5 = 66% 92. 5 x 100 166 = 56% Deferred tax liabilities Total fixed liabilities EQUITY Called-u p share capital Share premium account Other reserves Total equity 22. 9 145. 8 = 100% 20. 3 207. 1 = 100% 18. 9 166 = 100% 43. 5 38. 7 222. 4 304. 6 43. 5 38. 4 254. 5 336. 4 43. 5 38. 273. 8 355. 7 Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 32 Appendix 5 : Year 2 Cash Flow Statement of Simulation Game (Reconciling profit to cash) Year 2 Cash Flow Statement Profit before interest Add: Depreciation Movements in working capital: (Increase)/Derease in stock (Increase)/Derease in debtors Increase/(Derease) in debtors Financing costs and taxation: Interest paid Dividends paid Tax paid Investing activities: Capital expenditure Disposal of assets Cash generated/(consumed) in year Financing activities: Loans raised/(repaid) Other Increase/(Decrease) in cash in year $m (14) 6 (8) (13) (24) 0 (45) (10) 0 0 (55) (34) 0 (89) 0 0 (19) Appendix 6 : Production Budget Factory 1 Machine Mark-I Mark-I Mark-I Mark-II Mark-III Mark-III Mark-III Mark-III Q1 Te Te Te Te Wo Te Wo Te Te Te Wo Te Wo Total (22) Q2 Te Q3 Q4 Total units Terrier Wolf 1 1 2 2 4 4 4 4 14 8 Tiger 2 Te Wo Te Wo Te Wo Te Wo 3 Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 33 Appendix 7 : Sales Budget Terrier Opening finished stock (Q1) Production (from Production Budget) Available for sales Forecast unsold finished stock (Q4) Sales Direct costs $s Sales value $s 0 14 14 0 14 14Ãâ€"2 = 28 14Ãâ€"4. = 63 Units Wolf 0 8 8 0 8 8Ãâ€"4 = 32 8Ãâ€"6. 7 = 53. 6 Tiger Total 60 116. 6 Appendix 8 : Optimizing Contribution Terrier Best Worst 5 3 2 2 3 1 13 38 Wolf Best Worst 7. 5 5. 5 4 5 3. 5 0. 5 11 76 Tiger Best Worst 10. 5 8. 5 6 7 4. 5 1. 5 9 26 Sales value Variable cost Unit contribution Break-even volume (Fixed cost of ? 38) Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 34 References Business Review : Electrocomponents plc’s annual report and accounts 2007, p. 8-13 Chairman Statement : Electrocomponents plc’s annual report and accounts 2007, p. Chief Executive’s Review : Electrocomponents plc’s annual re port and accounts 2007, p. 7 Chopra and Sodhi (2004): Managing risk to avoid supply-chain breakdown, MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall 2004, p. 53-61 Dyson1 J R (2007) : Profitability Ratios, Accounting for Non-Accounting Students, Pearson Education Limited, England, 7th Edition, p. 230 Dyson2 J R (2007) : Profitability Ratios, Accounting for Non-Accounting Students, Pearson Education Limited, England, 7th Edition, p. 230Dyson3 (2007) : Direct costs, Accounting for Non-Accounting Students, Pearson Education Limited, England, 7th Edition, p. 293 FACS1 : Financial Analysis and control systems module pack, WMG, Winning MarginTM, p. 14 (2007) FACS2 : Financial Analysis and control systems module pack, WMG, Budget and Budgetary Control, 2007 FACS3 : Financial Analysis and control systems module pack, WMG, Marginal Costing, 2007 Group Balance Sheet : Electrocomponents plc’s annual report and accounts 2007, p. 25 Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258) FACS Page 35Group Cash Flow Statement : E lectrocomponents plc’s annual report and accounts 2007, p. 26 Group Income Statement : Electrocomponents plc’s annual report and accounts 2007, p. 24 Notes 1 – 30 : Please refer to Notes to the Group Accounts, Electrocomponents plc’s annual report and accounts 2007, p. 29-45 Pizzey A (1998) : Cash: the life-blood of the business, Finance and Accounting for Non-Specialist Students, Financial Times, Pitman Publishing, England, p. 83 Webpage1 : About Us, Low Cost Infrastructure, Electrocomponents plc webpage, [online], http://www. lectrocomponents. com/ecm/about/strategy/infrastructure/ Webpage2 : About Us, Our History, Electrocomponents plc webpage, [online], http://www. electrocomponents. com/ecm/about/history/ Webpage3 : Investor Center, Historic Trends, Electrocomponents plc webpage, [online], http://www. electrocomponents. com/ecm/ir/finperformance/trends Webpage4 : Our Responsibilities, Corporate Governance, Electrocomponents plc webpage, [online], htt p://www. electrocomponents. com/ecm/responsibilities/corpgov/ Chutsana Na Nagara (0654258)