Strategic Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic Financial Management - Essay Example The operating margin and operating profit stood at 7.7% and  £115.6million respectively compared with 8.3% and  £111.3million respectively in the same period last year. The Company has taken on an extra five-year bank facility with Handelsbanken, hoping to increase their overall facilities to  £740 million (Yahoo Finance) Without profit, a firm would be unable to attract outside capital. That is why I identified the profitability ratios as the most efficient and effective way to evaluate the financial performance of the Wetherspoons Company. The profitability measures enable me to evaluate the company’s profits in relation to the level of assets, or owners’ investment as stipulated in the company’s financial statements. I looked into statements dating back from 2010 to 2014. I calculated Return on Capital Employed (RECE) by determining the ratio between the operating capital and the capital employed. This helped me know how well the firm utilizes the capital employed. In 2014, the Return on Capital Employed (RECE) for the company was 12.94%, as compared to 11.83% in 2013.It means that the company has had a steady increase on its return on capital employed thus showing that the Company keeps on improving its’ utilization of capital employed. To begin with, I established the Gross profit margin by determining the ratio between gross profit and net sales. The gross profit of the firm in 2014 was  £79.4m, compared to  £76.9m in 2013, which translates into a 3.1% increase in profit. This growth in gross profit margin serves as a good indicator that J D Wetherspoon firm is progressing well and promises good returns on investment. The decrease in the net profit margin of J D Wetherspoon can be attributed to external forces such as taxes. I established the assets turnover by determining the ratio between sales revenue and total assets to find out how efficiently J D Wetherspoon

A Subsidiary of an MNC in Saudi Arabia Research Paper

A Subsidiary of an MNC in Saudi Arabia - Research Paper Example Best Company, Inc, 2011). All these factors are set to affect political and financial stability of Saudi Arabia. The paper will look into the political and financial risks that will affect a subsidiary of an MNC coming to do business in Saudi Arabia for the first time. Political Risk The political risk in Saudi Arabia is moderate. Saudi Arabia is among the six countries that frame the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The objectives of GCC are formulation of consistent regulatory environment, cooperation of the private sector, and the establishment of a common currency. The regional political unrest, mainly in Bahrain, is a major concern for Saudi Arabia. There are expectations that King Abdullah will go on with his reform agendas in the next few years (A.M. Best Company, Inc, 2011). There are pressures mounting on the ruling House of Saud and several factors are set to compromise the political stability of the Kingdom. The first factor is the long-term implications of the population e xplosion in the Kingdom in the past 25 years. Population explosion linked with rapid urbanization, insufficient education system, persistent and increase in the numbers, and the lack of employment opportunities is straining the Saudi Arabia social fabric. The extensive unemployment among the young males is because of the education system that has failed to equip them with the necessary skills required to match the â€Å"Saudi Arabia’s requirements for a modern economic, commercial and industrial workplace† (Corbett, 2006). The labor market of Saudi Arabia is unable to sustain the huge number of new entrants together with the increasing number of educated women looking for employment. The state education system has failed to generate productive members in the society and thus, it has underpinned the employment problem. Primary and secondary education is based on the religious curriculum and this education material has been under criticism because it has encouraged stude nts to be prejudiced towards the other religions apart from Islam. The resultant effect has been that some Saudi Arabians have become vulnerable to radicalization and terrorist recruitment. Political instability fears are due to the succession issues and, perhaps, they may be a western obsession that is frequently accompanied by the failure to acknowledge how senior princes of the Kingdom have achieved collaboration in the past years. The succession debate has put a lot of pressure on the political stability of the nation. The debate is focusing on the time the leadership will go to the next generation. Despite the present pressures, Saudi Arabia is proving its resilience and it has started adapting to the challenges. As the reforms gather speed, the projections for long-term stability are improving. Short-term measures include effective measures to contain terrorism threat. In the meantime, the royal family â€Å"will continue to work towards addressing the underlying causes of in stability, attempting to reinvigorate confidence in its leadership among the Saudi Arabian public† (Corbett, 2006). Financial Risk The financial system risk in Saudi Arabia is low. Saudi Arabia business environment is average and the reliability and availability of corporate financial data or information varies widely. The collection of debt sometimes proves to be difficult because of the poor administration framework. The

Change Management and Communication Plan Essay Example for Free

Change Management and Communication Plan Essay Riordan Manufacturing has decided to make a change to company’s customer management system. The company does not currently have any formal system for managing their customer information and has traditionally left this up to individual employees. This new system will require all employees to use one customer management system. Your team is now working to help Riordan implement this planned change. Your team must do the following in your role as consultants: †¢ Review the intranet site for Riordan Manufacturing including Human Resources – Organizational Charts, Employee Files, etc. , and Sales Marketing – Marketing Information Systems. †¢ Create a change management plan and communication plan of 1,050- to 1,400-words. Your plan should include the details from section I and section II outlined below. Section I: Change Management Plan Identify the current formal and informal power structures in the organization. How might the power and political structure of the organization affect employee behavior? Identify the most appropriate and effective organizational structures for Riordan Manufacturing that will help them accomplish their planned changes. Section I: Change Management Plan Riordan Manufacturing formal leaders consist of the chief executive, presidents, vice-presidents, high-level managers, middle-level managers and low-level managers. Each person is responsible for implementing changes that will benefit the structural system for the company. According to the organizational charts, the organization is separated by various departments into functional areas. According to the organizational charts, the organization is separated by various departments into functional areas. For example, in the Human Resource they are responsible for benefits, policy and procedures, job classification, annual reviews and survey results just to name some of the functions within the Human Resource Department. Informal leaders have non-official positions like secretaries, maintenance people, auditors and others who are less important but carry out the vision and mission of the company. A gatekeeper does not hold a position of authority, but they usually work closely with the formal leaders of the company. The power and political structure of the organization may frustrate employees when decisions are made that are unclear or not communicatedand lack vision or reasoning behind the decisions. The system relies on clear and concise communication at all times. It is important that chief executive officer is given accurate information at all times. Riordan Manufacturing discovered some problems with their employees; such as an inability to motivate employees and how to reduce the high turnover rate within the company. This was discovered through the Riordan human resources department structure which does not allow employee empowerment and as a result is delaying potential growth due to the unbalanced profits, and reduction in sales. The human resources department needs to revisit some of their decisions to strength their portion of the structure and better the company for the future. The high turnover rate has caused lack of employee motivation, low morale and with pay levels below their competitors’standards; there is lack of structure in the performance review process within the entire company. These issues can be corrected by creating a coaching, feedback process, and planning career development programs by either creating or improving their current performance reward systems. Riordan Manufacturing has selected a structure that will require all employees to use one customer management system. In doing so, Riordan has adopted a structure that closely resembles a bureaucratic nature. Standardization is the key concept in manufacturing. The formal leaders within the Riordan Manufacturing are each responsible for implementing changes that will benefit the structural system for the company. Organizations structures can have significant effects on its members. Potential effects of a bureaucratic structure on employee behavior are attributed to its formalized, mechanistic model where fairness in policy and procedures is a large indicator of job satisfaction. The bureaucratic environment in which Riordan Manufacturing adopts high levels of work specialization contributes to higher levels of productivity, but may sacrifice in areas of lower job satisfaction. This could be connected to the high turnover rate at Riordan in addition to the low pay levels when compared to similar markets. Management needs to consider the organizational structure and its effects on employees on an individual basis. In a bureaucratic environment management may consider looking into characteristics of employees that help determine their potential in working in such a structure and train employees through coaching and training to help them adapt to the vision Riordan management would expect from its employees, employing those that that prefer routine and security of specialized jobs may perform better in a manufacturing organization like Riordan. Riordan Manufacturing culture can be described in a descriptive term. The current structure and management operations would like to reverse some of the current trends in the workplace that affect its organizational culture. Recent discoveries have uncovered problems influencing culture at Riordan such as levels of motiv ation and tenure at the company. It was discovered that Riordan human resources department structure does not allow employee empowerment and are delaying potential growth because of the unbalanced profits and reduction in sales. The new system aspires to create a new culture where management motivates its employees through a reward system and competitive pay, where workers find management approachable with ideas to improve work processes, while following the idea that helping to implement change will benefit the structural system of the company. Riordan human resources department reassessment of its structure can positively impact Riordan’s overall organizational culture by focusing on pay and its incentive packages. Management at Riordan can consider news ways in which to improve its culture. Ideally, upper management would encourage mid-level management to allow feedback from employees to improve work processes while still following the chain of command to create improvement. Though there are more stringent rules in a manufacturing plant, Riordan management wants to instill its trust in its workers, making them feel they are trusted and that their individual judgment is supported. The new operations at Riordan involve team work that encourages positive interaction, collaboration, goal setting, and a reward system that supports its desires for improved culture at Riordan Manufacturing. †¢ Recommend a strategy to implement the changes over the next 12 months. †¢ Describe how you will evaluate the success or failure of the planned change. Section II: Communication Plan Create a Communication Plan for the proposed change covered in the Change Management Plan. In the Communication Plan, complete the following: Select the most appropriate channels to communicate the change to the employees, and explain why you selected these channels. Identify the potential barriers to effective communication and strategies for overcoming the barriers. Develop a message for one of the selected communication channels. In the message, complete the following: †¢ Identify those areas affected by the change. †¢ Establish the need for the change. †¢ Create a sense of urgency around the change. †¢ Outline next steps in the change process.

Infants Secure Attachment To Different Caregivers Social Work Essay

Infants Secure Attachment To Different Caregivers Social Work Essay Experience of early childhood attachment is at the base of healthy child development and works as the framework for the intimate relationship with others. Early manner of communication between the caregiver and child shapes the attachment relationship. The outcomes of infant attachment considered to be long-term and influences generations of families. According to Bowlby who developed theory of infant-caregiver attachment, attachment security characterizes the confidents of infants in their caregiver, and can be observed through how they interact with their caregiver and how they make use of the caregiver as a secure base to explore their environment (Brown, McBride, Shin Bost, 2007). Attachment theory, therefore, has been regarded as the major structure for the research of mother-child attachment, and it also might offer a practical approach for examining attachment development between other caregivers and infants. Nonetheless, in spite of a number of researches on mother-child att achment has conducted, we still are unfamiliar with attachment relationships between other caregivers such as a father and adoptive parents. Because of the socioeconomic changes that have occurred in the United States during the past three decades, more mothers, with infants, work outside the home and, in many cases, new roles for fathers within the home increased, and many couples with a variety of reasons decided to adopt children also increased. Therefore, this paper explores whether an infant can develop secure attachment to a caregiver other than their primary caregiver, usually mother, and then how father and foster mother-infant attachment relationship different from ordinary infant-mother relationship. Importantly, sensitivity has been considered as a key predictor for secure caregiver-infant attachment. Despite the fact that the relatively few researches studying the attachment relationship with fathers, some studies on father-child attachment suggests that fathers can give sensitive care, an important factor for developing secure attachment, for their children as much as mothers can; therefore, the level of attachment between father and child appears to be comparable to that usually found with mothers (Brown et al., 2007). Moreover, Brown et al. (2007) found that when fathers employed favorable parenting activities, father involvement time does not seem to affect on secure father-child attachment. More specifically, infants tended to form quite secure attachment relationships despite the fact that either their fathers were more involved or disinvolved. When fathers, on the other hand, employed less sensitive child-rearing, increased father involvement was associated to an insecur e father-child attachment (Brown et al., 2007). Therefore, father-child attachment is influenced by fathersà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ parenting quality, and increased involvement is better for building attachment only when it accompanied by positive parenting. In addition, another research showed that fathers who valued the parental role were more tend to have a secure attachment with infants, but this connection was marked only when fathers have positive marriage, conceivably because these fathers are more prone to be given helping hand from their partner (Wong, Mangelsdorf, Brown, Neff Schoppe-Sullivan, 2009). Yet interestingly, fathers who valuing the paternal caregiving role might promote secure attachment of temperamentally difficult infants, for such fathers may be tend to support them with daily child-rearing activities and be adjusted to emotional needs of their infants as well as their other demands. Accordingly, temperamentally difficult babies would be more prone to attach securely to fathers in this circumstance. Even though all adopted children go through a stressful disjointing from their attached figures and are replaced with new attachment figures in the foster family, they are also able to develop and become attached to their fostering families. Jeffer and Rosenboom (1997) examined 80 mothers and their infant from all over the world, adopted between at age of 6 month and 8 month olds, in the Strange Situation when they were 12 and 18 months to evaluate their attachment. According to their study, they found more secure infant-mother attachment than insecure attachment relationship as normally expected. The actual proportion of secure attachment at both 12 and 18 months were approximately 75%, so secure attachments observed this research seemed to be stable over time (Juffer Rosenboom, 1997). Another study of attachment between foster parents and infant also demonstrated that quality of mother-infant attachment in middle-class foster families was comparable to the result of families with only biological children; however, interracial adoption were more likely to have less secure caregivers- infants attachment (Singer, 1985). It might be explained by which families who adopt children of a different race than themselves are less likely to receive hearty support from extended family, friends, and neighbors than are families who adopt children of the same race. Higher rates of insecure attachment also have found among infants who spent as a minimum of 8 months in a Romanian orphanage and then placed to foster families. Infants who adopted at an earlier age, by contrast, do not appear to have an elevated rate of insecure attachment to their adoptive parent (Chisholm, 1998). From these results, although adopted age of infants seems to be a critical factor whether they develop secure or insecure attachment to foster patents, adopted infants are capable of attaching to their new caregiver, and in turn, adoptive parents are responsive enough so that they can meet their adopt ed babiesà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ needs and be a their lighthouse as well. Since infants can develop securely attached relationship to other caregivers, the long term effects such as resiliency to new environments and having positive behaviors and expectances are assumed to be similar to which mother-infant relationship likely to have. Even though the comparison of attachment in foster and non-foster families was reasonably resemble, the outcome sometimes do not exclude the potential importance of insecure or disrupted post-infancy family relationships as a source for the adjustment problems of the adoptee. The study showed that when children reached to school age, they faced to the reality of adoption and begins to be aware of their circumstances, including being abandoned by their parents. Consequently, they often feel frustrated, doubtful, and become insecure to their current families relationship (Singer, 1985). Nonetheless, it appears that the higher occurrence of troubles accounted later on in such families cannot be explained only by attachment probl ems of earlier life because early secure attachment counteracts to these problems and buffers the negative emotion to some degree. In conclusion, infants can develop secure attachment not only to their mothers but also other caregivers, including fathers and adoptive parents. It seems that infants can become attached to any caregivers, provided that those caregivers interact with them on a regular basis, provide physical and emotional care, and are emotionally invested in the child. Sensitivity plays crucial role in secure attachment development between caregiver and infant; on the other hand, the amount of time parents involves in parenting appears to be less related to secure attachment development. The similar positive outcome of secure attachment can be expected to the attachment relationship among father- and adoptive parents-infant. Children are born prepared to form relationships with those who care for them, and those early experiences influence the relationships that they develop within the family and in the greater world outside of the home. Consequently, relationships affect childrenà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s healthy development, and childrenà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s development, in turn, transforms their later fine relationship.

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya Essay -- Bless Me Ultima Rudolfo Ana

"Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya Children believe what their parents tell them but as they get older they start to question that which used to be unquestionable. Bless Me, Ultima is a novel by Rudolfo Anaya about a young Chicano boy, Antonio Juan Marez y Luna, who is growing up and seeing the world for how cruel it really is. A wise old curandera, or faith healer, Ultima, arrives just before Tony receives his first glimpse into the world of men. Ultima gives Tony spiritual healing throughout the book, as well as advice to keep him in harmony with nature and his spirit. The more Tony sees of death in the little town of Guadalupe, New Mexico, the more he questions the Christian God and turns towards the golden carp, a pagan god of the river. Rudolfo Anaya is indicating that each man must choose his own religion and destiny, by depicting the changes Tony feels after the deaths of Lupito, Narciso and Florence. Beforehand, Tony never questioned his faith but as each person died Tony turned farther and farther away from C atholicism and eventually even away from the pagan religion. Tony questioned his destiny and effectiveness as a priest, had doubts of the Catholic God and eventually of everything he had ever believed in, as Anaya shows that one strict religion isn?t always the right way or the only way. The first step in Tony?s spiritual journey is when he questions his family?s long-standing belief in the Catholic religion and his own destiny to follow their dreams of him becoming a priest. Tony doubts his abilities as a priest, even though he is not one, because his mother dreams for him to become a priest. Subsequently, he believes that he should have been able to save Lupito?s soul from wandering the river, because he will one day be required to. Whereas, ?A priest could have saved Lupito.'; (23), Tony feels guilty that he wasn?t able to fulfill his duty even though it wasn?t his. This shows that the destiny at first laid out by Catholicism may not be the one that is best suited to Tony. By not saving Lupito or his soul, the town Tony lives in is no longer pure in his eyes. The river is the lifeline of the town and once it is stained then the town will also be tainted with the murder of Lupito. Tony asks, ?How would I ever wash away the stain of blood from the sweet waters of my river!'; (23), and in doing so also questions why God puts such obstac... ...l and harsh, or that the golden carp could not have saved Florence even though the river was its home, in spite of the fact that his parents and friends believed deeply in these powers and still put all their faith in them. Ultima, it seems, is all that is left to believe in, because she has always been truthful, and protective. The vengeance that Tony wants on Tenorio is God?s alone; however, with a new religion following in Ultima?s practices Tony could punish Tenorio if he was still alive, and have vengeance for the deaths of his friends and not be punished for it because Tony would only be killing a witch. All humans must change and because they must, the world they live in, including their religions, must change with them or be lost in time. The Catholic religion failed to change into what Tony needed, and so did the pagan religion, so he stopped belieiving in them; however he saw Ultima?s religion as a new unchartered way that he could create himself. At the end of Tony?s s piritual journey he finds himself lost in a world that is prophesied to end and without a true belief in anything. Works Cited: Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima, New York: Warner Books, Inc., 1972.

Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts Established by the Frame Story

Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts Established by the Frame Story in MAUS  Ã‚      The use of the frame story, an overarching narrative used to connect a series of loosely related stories, pervades literature. An example of a frame story on a large scale - tying together a whole book-length work, not a simple short story - can be found in Art Spiegelman's graphic novel MAUS. Each of the narrative's six sections is framed with snatches of the interaction between Vladek and Art during the "interview" that supposedly occurred to create the book. This framing helps us learn about Vladek's character, which we would not know about from his rather flat, unemotional Holocaust narrative. In coming to understand this book, we must also take into account the fact that no work of literature exists in a vacuum, and all literature is affected by the social and cultural contexts of its author and its reader. MAUS is no exception. In MAUS, the use of frame stories helps to establish personal, social, and cultural context for the "main" stories told within. In this effort to give literary works some sort of context, it seems that there are three "filters" through which any work of literature can be viewed. The first of these is what I will call the "personal context", that is, the information we amass about the previous experiences of the protagonist and other central figures of the work. Clearly, what has happened to a person, real or fictional, in the past will indelibly inform their present and future actions and emotions. The second "filter" is the "social context": the relationships that characters form among themselves. (In MAUS, I will also refer to this as the "familial" context, since the central relationship in the book is... ...e graphic novel. This helps to clarify the cultural context in which Vladek views himself. In conclusion, three different types of context are established by the "frame story" in the book. These are the personal, social, and cultural contexts which I have described. Perhaps there are others, but these three seem to be the most central to understanding the interaction of literature with its background culture. As there is reader-response criticism, perhaps we might propose a school of culture-response criticism, devoted to understanding the ideas portrayed in literature in light of the surroundings in which they were created.   "Captured in a photograph, without a frame, You see her standing tall but you see no face to blame."   Tara MacLean, "Let Her Feel The Rain" Works Cited: Spiegelman, Art. Maus. New York, Toronto: Random House, Inc. 1973. Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts Established by the Frame Story Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts Established by the Frame Story in MAUS  Ã‚      The use of the frame story, an overarching narrative used to connect a series of loosely related stories, pervades literature. An example of a frame story on a large scale - tying together a whole book-length work, not a simple short story - can be found in Art Spiegelman's graphic novel MAUS. Each of the narrative's six sections is framed with snatches of the interaction between Vladek and Art during the "interview" that supposedly occurred to create the book. This framing helps us learn about Vladek's character, which we would not know about from his rather flat, unemotional Holocaust narrative. In coming to understand this book, we must also take into account the fact that no work of literature exists in a vacuum, and all literature is affected by the social and cultural contexts of its author and its reader. MAUS is no exception. In MAUS, the use of frame stories helps to establish personal, social, and cultural context for the "main" stories told within. In this effort to give literary works some sort of context, it seems that there are three "filters" through which any work of literature can be viewed. The first of these is what I will call the "personal context", that is, the information we amass about the previous experiences of the protagonist and other central figures of the work. Clearly, what has happened to a person, real or fictional, in the past will indelibly inform their present and future actions and emotions. The second "filter" is the "social context": the relationships that characters form among themselves. (In MAUS, I will also refer to this as the "familial" context, since the central relationship in the book is... ...e graphic novel. This helps to clarify the cultural context in which Vladek views himself. In conclusion, three different types of context are established by the "frame story" in the book. These are the personal, social, and cultural contexts which I have described. Perhaps there are others, but these three seem to be the most central to understanding the interaction of literature with its background culture. As there is reader-response criticism, perhaps we might propose a school of culture-response criticism, devoted to understanding the ideas portrayed in literature in light of the surroundings in which they were created.   "Captured in a photograph, without a frame, You see her standing tall but you see no face to blame."   Tara MacLean, "Let Her Feel The Rain" Works Cited: Spiegelman, Art. Maus. New York, Toronto: Random House, Inc. 1973.

Managing Resources And Controlling Budgets Essay

Evaluate how managing resources and controlling budgets can improve the performance of Asda. It’s important for Asda to manage all its resources and control its budgets to be successful. Managing resources and budgets gives Asda more structure and stability leading to high performance and success. If resources and budgets are not controlled then many problems could occur for Asda leading to bad performance and failure. Managing the human resources department can help to build more reliable and hardworking workforce and when managing human resources appropriately can lead to highly motivated and skilled staff and can defiantly improve the business performance. E.g. at Asda it’s important to provide staff with incentives so that they feel their work is being valued and they will want to work harder to achieve targets. I believe that if the management of the human resources department is done well then that is the key element to bringing the business to success. If the sta ff are well trained and looked after, they will provide better customer service which in turn will attract more customers therefore they will make more money by just doing that one simple step, staff will also need to stack shelves quickly so that there is always fresh food for customers to buy. Managing physical and technological resources well can have substantial cost saving benefits for Asda, ensuring that the building and the space inside is well maintained helps Asda work more efficiently because customers will be more pleased about changes made therefore it will give them a reason to shop at Asda and also it will make the staff pleased and stimulates them to work efficiently. It is important to have all equipment working e.g. machinery in the factories. Otherwise resources are being wasted and not used efficiently. This can have an impact on the performance because if machinery isn’t working at all this would mean that Asda couldn’t then produce its products. Asda will need to also make sure that they have enough tills working so that customers are served quickly Controlling costs and budgets is essential so that Asda are not overspending on the budget available. Budgets need to be planned carefully in advance and contingencies need to be added in so the business knows exactly how much money is available to spend on the specific department or investment on a new product in order for a budget to be agreed on. This will ensure that enough money is available for each department to carry out their jobs in order to meet the overall aims of the business.