Investment ratios of McBride plc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Investment ratios of McBride plc - Essay Example According to David (2005), financial statements provide the potential users with a narrow insight into the strengths and weaknesses of a business. This is because what is reported does not give an in-depth depiction of performance of an entity. Such full view of a business is important as it would ultimately influence users’ decisions on whether to continue their association with an entity and in addition, give potential investors adequate information to aid them in decision-making. Thus, the concept of financial analysis The Mcbride Plc had basic normalized earnings per share of 2.9p, 12.3p, 9.2p, and 6.4p for the financial year of 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008. This ratio is very important in comparing the performance of companies, as this cannot be done using the profit they make directly because of differences in the number of outstanding shares and income. A higher Earnings per Share is desirable to investors as it indicates a higher relative income. This company has a EPS that fluctuates from time to time which means that shareholders returns is unstable. Price to earnings ratio (P/E ratio)- David (2003) states that price/earnings ratio is the most commonly used to evaluate investment in an entity. He further points out that historically, the average P/E ratio for the broad market has been around 15, although it can fluctuate significantly depending on economic and market conditions. A stock with a high price/earnings ratio suggests that investors are expecting higher earnings growth in the future compared to the overall market while a stock with a low price/earnings ratio suggests that investors have more modest expectation for its future growth compared to the market as a whole (David, 2003). From the computations of price/earnings ratio for McBride plc in table below, the ratio declined from 10.8 in 2010 to 9.44 in 2011. This decline may not be attractive to prospective growth investors despite

Congenital Heart Disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Congenital Heart Disease - Essay Example These are: congenital heart disease in the babys mother or father; congenital heart disease in the babys brother or sister; diabetes in the mother; German measles, toxoplasmosis (an infection that is passed through contact with cat feces), or HIV infection in the mother; the mothers use of alcohol during pregnancy; the mothers use of cocaine or other drugs during pregnancy; and the mothers use of certain over-the-counter and prescription medicines during pregnancy. It should be noted though, that the presence of any one or more of these factors will not absolutely result to the disease. Likewise, the absence of these factors does not assure a pregnant woman that her baby will be safe from any congenital heart disorders, which might be an important point to consider when a woman is pregnant. All safety measures should be observed all throughout the pregnancy as there is no single identifiable factor in contracting life-threatening diseases such as this. This also leads us to the impor tance of having a thorough knowledge of the subject, for one can never be too sure if one of the members of the family will suffer from such disease. Knowledge on the disease might just be the best way to go about the situation when prevention is not so possible. The heart is a muscular organ about the size of the fist. It has two sides, separated by a wall-like structure called a septum. The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs where it is oxygenated. The oxygenated blood then goes from the lungs to the left side of the heart, and is pumped out to the rest of the body. The heart is made up of four chambers: the right and left ventricles and the left and right atria. The atria, which are located at the upper portion of the heart, receive the blood coming into the heart, while the ventricles which are located at the lower part of the heart, pump blood out of the heart and into the lungs and the other parts of the

Corporate Balanced Scorecard Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate Balanced Scorecard - Research Paper Example The balanced scorecard has long been integrated with management to make sure that the appropriate level of control is taken into consideration while obtaining corporate goals has become a primary factor to engage in maximizing operation. In various departments of an organization, the corporate balanced scorecard is a remarkable tool to help improve or ensure substantial operation that would lead to the company’s competitive advantage. For instance, in marketing department, it is important to make sure that significant information should be obtained from customers to guarantee high level of customer satisfaction and to make sure repeat purchase or positive word of mouth on certain product or service offerings. For this reason, it is important for companies to collect information from the customers in order to identify the level of customer satisfaction. In the balanced scorecard, the actual level of customer satisfaction should be set as the evaluative measure to know if there has been a good effort created that must have contributed to the actual level of performance concerning customer satisfaction. ... vel of satisfaction it serves primarily to the marketing department, because it is appropriate and substantial response with considerable haste could contribute to the actual level of customer satisfaction to be generated by the organization. Balanced scorecard is therefore a very important tool that would help enhance corporate performance. There are many things organizations should learn about it as a primary tool to help them realize adding a higher value for their customers, financial standing, learning and growth and internal business process. The purpose of this paper is therefore to explore the literature concerning corporate balanced scorecard, and the summary of information of organization using it. In finding these, there would be significant basis on certain conclusion why corporate balanced scorecard is used by specific organization. So it is important that the primary information about an organization should be well evaluated in order to find out at which point corporate balanced scorecard has been making sense in its actual purpose and usage. There are many literatures linked with the balanced scorecard and it is the intention of the proponent to integrate them into the actual discussion of this report. Furthermore, the integration of information concerning the organization using the corporate balanced scorecard is also taken into account in understanding possible implications of performance measurement and control. Literature review on corporate balanced scorecard The balanced scorecard was introduced by David Norton and Robert Kaplan in 1992 as they were interested to study performance measurement that would include tangible assets for value creation (Kaplan, 2008). They were primarily inspired to know about measurement for driving performance

An examination of how Arlafoods practices Relationship marketing in Essay

An examination of how Arlafoods practices Relationship marketing in the dairy industry. Why relationship marketing has become important in dairy service bas - Essay Example lysis, will be able to relate to the increased threat of new entrants or competitors, the availability of substitute products, decreased bargaining power of suppliers, increased bargaining power of buyers, and increased intensity of rivalry within the industry. Government deregulation, globalization, and technological advances have changed the â€Å"minimum requirements† for organizations to remain competitive. Dairy industry producers and farmers have been hard hit by these changes. Increasing production levels, rising production costs, and softening market prices have resulted in the commoditization of dairy products. Companies such as ARLA Foods have had to re-examine its way of doing business in order to adapt to this new environment; in particular, ARLA Foods has redefined its business with its focus on customer relationship marketing. This proposal will examine ARLA Foods’ implementation of new strategies of relationship marketing and its corresponding self-realignment activities. The proponent of the study is currently employed with ARLA Foods. Kotler (2000) defines marketing as: â€Å"the process of planning, and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of goods, ideas, and services, to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals.† Through manipulation of the â€Å"4 Ps† (Product, Price, Place, Promotion or the marketing mix), marketers seek to meet and satisfy customer’s needs and wants through a process of exchange that may culminate in a transaction. What forms the bases of the â€Å"4Ps† framework? Christopher, Clark, Peck, and Payne (1999) trace the framework’s origins to Borden’s work in 1960s. Borden identified 12 factors that comprised the â€Å"marketing mix† that influenced demand. These 12 factors would later be simplified in the popular â€Å"4Ps† framework. The prevailing mass manufacturing – mass marketing conditions of the 1950s and 1960s, with its emphasis on customer acquisition rather

Getting to Know the Bomb Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Getting to Know the Bomb - Essay Example Henrickson states in the preface that it was "Not until the 1980s, when there arose signs of an organized and widespread antinuclear activism in America". It can only be presumed that the author slept through the 1960s when the anti nuke people woke up from the brainwashing of the 1950s. If the Russians had not also had the bomb, the country would still be asleep at the switch. She further states that, "no such revolutionary change engulfed America". She discounts the cultural revolution of the beatniks and hippies. They were reacting to a world gone mad with nuclear weaponry and rabid with military power. How many other technologies do we as a culture ignore out of fear that they are the only things between us and doomsday Is eavesdropping technology the government's new edge and the current paranoia Statesmen rule with leadership, governments with fear. Will we have to learn that Al Quieda is tapping our phone to bring attention to that new threat Like atomic weapons, it's hard to integrate them into our life like a microwave oven.

Medical Law coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Medical Law coursework - Essay Example The right of younger children to provide independent consent is proportionate to their competence, but a child's age alone is clearly an unreliable predictor of his or her competence to make decisions. A judgment in the High Court in 1983 laid down criteria for establishing whether a child, irrespective of age, had the capacity to provide valid consent to treatment in specified circumstances. Two years later these criteria were approved in the House of Lords and became widely acknowledged as the "Gillick test," after the name of a mother who had challenged health service guidance that would have allowed her daughters aged under 16 to receive confidential contraceptive advice without her knowledge. As long ago as 1969 the Family Law Reform Act declared that consent to medical treatment given by a minor of sixteen "shall be as effective as it would be if he were of full age," (1969) and in such cases parental consent need not be obtained. The empowered children to make informed decisions based on their competence and capacity. This view of children's legal rights have been strengthened in Gillick v. West Norfolk & Wisbech Area Health Authority (1985) where House of Lords ruling declared that "parental responsibility diminishes as child acquires sufficient understanding to make his own decisions" and that "at common Law a child of sufficient intelligence and understanding could consent to treatment, notwithstanding the absence of parents consent." This judgment clearly and expressly declared that a doctor might provide contraception to minor under sixteen with or without her parents consent. The law did not recognise any rule of absolute parental authority until a fixed age: parental rights were recognised by the law only as long as they were needed for the protection of the child and such rights yielded to the child's right to make his own decisions when he reached a sufficient understanding and intelligence to be capable of making up his own mind. This has to be an exercise backed by sound clinical judgm ent taking into consideration what is best for the patients health. This was further supported by Health's Guidelines for Ethics Committee (1991) which holds that parental consent cannot override a competent child's refusal of consent. This was also supported in 1984 by the British Medical Association's Philosophy and Practice of Medical Ethics (1988) which advises that physicians may provide contraceptive to mentally mature women under sixteen without parental notification or consent if that clinically serves the patients best interest. (Kessel, 1993 ) Here the conflict is between autonomy and dependency, which characterizes the legal position of the minors. This lays emphasis on the rights to decide on the matters of sexuality, reproduction, partnership, marriage and parenthood which are influenced and limited by parental rights and also affected by state regulation. This leads to the more pertinent question of the social rights of minors around the issue of sex education, as one of the most controversial subjects investigated.

Pioneer Electronics Essay Example for Free

Pioneer Electronics Essay In 1975 Pioneer maintained relationships with approximately 3,500 franchise retail outlets, the retail outlets benefited from a 5% Pioneer investment in local advertising, and attractive gross margins and credit terms. However, that same year, Pioneer and three competitors were forced to sign consent decrees with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission promising not to engage in alleged anti-fair competition practices – namely requiring distributors to use suggested list prices and punishing those distributors who didn’t comply either through delayed shipments or revoked franchises. A market price war followed the signing of the consent decrees, lowering franchise’s profits while increasing revenue for Pioneer. Pioneer followed with a new marketing strategy aimed at pushing its new lower-priced hi-fi components over compacts or consoles, this further boosted Pioneer’s profit, continuing to erode the franchise distributors’ profit margins. The final outcome was a select few distributors’ shifting from supporting Pioneer component sales to pushing competitors’ products in order to make a larger profit. Central Problem Pioneer Electronics must determine how to move forward from franchise distributors’ complaints that they cannot make an adequate profit selling Pioneer components over the lesser quality, more affordable competitors’ components. The result is â€Å"dissident behavior† by the distributors– including disparaging comments about the Pioneer brand to potential consumers, poor product placement in franchise stores and â€Å"bait and switch† sales tactics. These actions reflect a possible erosion of franchise distributor support, which might force Pioneer to alter its business model. Relevant Facts With the repeal of the fair-trade laws, the market changed drastically for Pioneer, sales and market share increased significantly during this period, prices and margins dropped. As the target market for their products expanded, Pioneer changed their marketing strategy to focus on selling mid-priced hi-fi products. Pioneer’s sales continued to climb, but this strategy squeezed the dealers’ margins even more and made it difficult for them to make a profit selling Pioneer products. Pioneer decision to reposition itself from a premium-priced brand into a â€Å"mid-priced, mainstream† brand affected the profit margins of its distributors negatively. At the same time, the company’s profit margin increased dramatically. Based on 1976 data from Exhibit 13, an average retailer profit margin was about 3.4%. Pioneer had a comparable profit margin of 3.9% in 1975, based on Exhibit 14 data. This margin increased by almost 3 times in 1976 to 9.4%. This clearly shows how Pioneer benefited from its market repositioning strategy while its distributors profits declined. Although surveys showed customers were very satisfied with Pioneer products, the sales force was unhappy and felt the lower margins were unacceptable. This drove a few dealers to speak disparagingly about Pioneer products and use bait and switch tactics to create profits for themselves. Mitchell knew the dealers’ support was critical to the current distribution chain, but he couldn’t go back to the old incentives. To continue to be profitable and adapt to the new electronics market, Pioneer reconsider its current distribution network. Alternative Courses of Action †¢Alternative #1 Shift distribution to department stores: Shift retail distribution from specialty stores to department stores and catalog showrooms. 75% of U.S. Pioneer’s sales were from hi-fi specialty stores, 5% by department stores, and 7% by catalog showrooms. Advantages: Extensive credit facilities, strong consumer â€Å"pull† advertising, and lower prices. Industry sources predicts a substantial increase in the market shares of department stores and catalog showrooms. Disadvantages: Department stores and catalog showrooms do not offer the extensive customer services provided by specialty stores, including professional sales assistance, demonstration, extended store warranty, on-the-premises repair, home delivery and installation, and loaner component programs. †¢Alternative #2 Multiple Branding U.S. Pioneer would offer several product lines of varying quality and price points under separate brand names. Different product lines would be carried by different types of retail outlets. The department-store line would be of lower quality and price than the signature line. Advantages: Multiple branding had been used successfully in other industries. It would enable U.S. Pioneer to adapt most effectively to future changes in retail distribution. Pioneer already sells compacts and car stereos to discount stores under the Centrex brand name. Disadvantages: This strategy could tarnish Pioneer’s reputation for selling only top-of-the-line products. Pioneer may have trouble keeping their distribution channels distinct, and therefore be incurring too much cost on the low end products or being destroying the brand value of the high end products. †¢Alternative #3 Company-owned Stores Another alternative is to operate its own retail stores. Some retailers in the low-fi market had been selling their own house brands for some time. House brands are starting to make in-roads in the hi-fi market and the specialty stores are carrying house brands in increasing numbers. Advantages: One way to protect Pioneer from the risk of large specialty store chains promoting house brands which would impact its sales. Disadvantages: A large initial fixed investment for starting up is required. The risk of expanding into a non-familiar territory which Pioneer does not have good expertise in. †¢Alternative #4 Dealer Communication improvement Dealer support is crucial for Pioneer growth. From Table A â€Å"Factors Influencing Purchase of Hi-fi Products† in the case, it clearly shows that dealer recommendations, advertising and store displays accounts for 42% of the factors influencing consumers decisions. The company needs to hire more salespeople to increase the frequency of dealer visits, provide higher cash rebates or other incentive programs and organizing yearly dealers’ conferences at different resorts. Pioneer needs to stop forcing its dealers to prominently display low-end components and push lower-priced components. Selling lower priced components affects the retailer’s profit margin. This results in placing higher sales emphasis on house brands or competitor products. Advantages: Retailer’s salespeople are the company’s point of contact with its customers. Happy and content dealers will push Pioneer product which will increase company’s sales. Disadvantage: The brand is what sells the product. The company should not waste funds on dealer rebates and conferences. This will result in a rebate war between different manufacturers. Plan of Action: Pioneer should pursue a multiple label branding strategy to capture sales in both the high end and lost cost market segments, which will increase total revenue and profits. The company is already implementing this through its Centrex brand name in Japan. This strategy will enable Pioneer, through the Centrex brand, to target the growing department stores market with its lower price product segment. The signature Pioneer brand can still be marketed through Hi-Fi specialty stores. Under this arrangement Pioneer will need to develop a customized sales and marketing plan for each brand and have separate sales and distribution channels. Pioneer will continue to contribute a percentage of sales to local marketing campaigns to assist local specialty retailers in maintaining local recognition within the community. The Centrex brand will be distributed through the larger department stores and because of the national recognition of these stores there would not be a need to contribute a percentage of sales to assist in local marketing. These funds should be used for other promotional items in the large department stores, such as contests for the largest sales in a month or quarter or number of a specific product sold. The company should also simultaneously invest in improving its working relationship with their dealers. The first thing that Pioneer will need to do is to cease printing ads in newspapers and/or journals to communicate to dealers about unapproved behavior. These types of conversations should be conducted behind closed doors, as neither side wins when they communicate in a public forum. Pioneer will need to begin to request their feedback and input on new market trends, consumer needs and product improvement suggestions and adjust the Pioneer products accordingly. Pioneer should implement the sales program from Exhibit 12 and shift some of the funds from the marketing campaigns to have local contests to spur sales among local sales force.