Hewlett Packard Company | Analysis

Hewlett Packard Company | Analysis Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) is one of the worlds largest information and technology (IT) companies. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in 1939. Both of them established Hewlett-Packard (HP) in Packards garage which located in Palo Alto, California, USA. First and the foremost, HP is a worlds leading PC manufacturer. The creation of these new technologies had brings us a more meaningful impact for the community. This company had offered many products, technologies, software, solution and service for customers, small and medium size of businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises which encompass those customers in the education, government and health sectors. Besides, HP also famous in manufacturing and developing computers, data storage, networking hardware and designing software and sending service. The major product line for the company include those personal computing devices, related storage devices, enterprise servers and also a number of printers and other imaging which was related to the products and services. Moreover, the company also makes their profits by markets their products via online distribution, consumer-electronics and office-supply retailers to the household, small to medium size business and enterprise. Planning process is very important step for HP Company in order to achieve their goal. They had clarified their strength, weakness, opportunities and threat to reinforce their company as well. One of the strategies that used by the company is growth strategy. They expand their markets served and products offered by absorbed others company technologies to enhance their own products. For example, HP has added a Palm and a mobile operating which known as webOS to its electric device. These technologies had brought HP products become a much better and quality products. Therefore, HP had successfully build an extra value compare to others manufacturer because they had cooperated with the popular branded speakers company which are ALTEC LANSING and BEATS studio. Furthermore, they also used some of the competitive strategy in their company to compete their business with other organization. For example, although HP Company has many competitors such as Acer, Dell, Asus and more, but they still can survive until nowadays. One of the factors is because they have their own competitive strategy among each of their organization. Hence, this reason which had made the HP Company becomes a worldwide information and technology company. Content Definition of SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT analysis is a most useful of business analysis. SWOT analysis is an instrument for assessing an organization and its environment. SWOT analysis is a usually used technique through which managers produce a quick impression of an organizations strategic situation. SWOT analysis is the first step of planning; it helps managers to focus on key issues. A SWOT surveys and measures the influences of internal and external on the success of the subject of analysis. SWOT stands for strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T). In SWOT, strengths and weaknesses are internal factors, opportunities and threats are external factors. A good SWOT can maximize a firms strengths and opportunities; and also can minimize its weaknesses and threats. SWOT Analysis of Hewlett-Packard Company The HP or Hewlett-Packard Company is one of the biggest computer companies in the world. In 1939, it was established by William Hewlett and David Packard. Hewlett-Packard Company delivers hardware, software, solutions and services. Hewlett Packard also has a strong market position in the IT market. The biggest competitor of Hewlett-Packard Company is Dell Company. Hewlett-Packard wrested market leadership from Dell Company in the global PC market in 2006 and managed to sustain it in 2007.Higher market position in different market sections increase the brand image of the company and also offers economies of scale in attaining. The company faces intense competition across all business segments in terms of price, brand, quality, character, technology, range and distribution of their products. Strengths of HP Company One of the strengths of HP is it has a strong market position. After HP and Compaq announced to merger On September 3, 2001, HP became the worlds most big computer hardware and peripheral company all around the world. There have many benefits to HP being a large company such as leading positions in market of IT services, management software, PCs, storage and printers. Especially printer market, 40% market share of HP proofed that its domination the global printer market. This merger also helps HP made a high profit $87 Billion of Global Technology Leader. The other strength is that it provides its products and service into more than 170 countries including the undeveloped and the developed nations. In 2008 HP is acquiring EDS Inc. The next strength of HP is always having excellent products portfolio diversification. Furthermore, in this decade HP has been focused on the customer service market. HP Enterprise Customer Services provides efficient, effective services to customers all around the world. For instance HP Enterprise Customer Services having Consumer Direct Service, Customer Engagement Management Services- Contact Central, Customer Engagement Management Services- Transformation and Warranty Service. This might benefit to recruit, retain and reward customer.   Moreover, HP in recently years is performed on Environmental Programs to reduce the environment impact of its technology products. The Environmental Programs have include SmartWay, HPs Eco Highlights Labeling system, Design for Environment (DfE), HPs Planet Partners Recycler Program, HPs Hardware Return and Recycling Program, Change the World campaign, and Unlock your Energy. For instance, HPs Planet Partners Recycling Program is used to recycle printing supplies, computer equipment, batteries, and other items. Due to the program above HP have provide HPs computer take back service in some countries such as United State, Canada, Brazil, Australia, most of the Europe countries, some Asia Pacific and Latin America countries. In 2010, HP successfully manufactured over 310 million HP LaserJet and ink cartridges that contained content from their closed-loop recycling process. Furthermore, the other strength of HP is their business culture. They highlight innovation (Silicon Valleys innovation model- Top executives mingled with lower-level employees to discover fresh ideas) as a key element of its business culture and as a driver of its success. HP put more effort on research and development to design and developing products, solutions and services that foresee the market changing needs, desires, and emerging technological trends. HP Labs is one of their Corporate Investments segment. HP also spending a larger amount of financial plan on the research and development than others competitors. For instance, in fiscal 2011HP expenditures $3.3 billion for research and development. Weaknesses of HP Company One of the weaknesses of HP is high debt level. In this decade, HP has a high risk of debt level compare to the others competitive company like Dell. From the HP debt to equity ratio data shown that HP was reached the highest value 0.9292 in this July 31, 2012. Debt to equity ratio is a leverage ratio to indicate the comparative amount of shareholders equity and debt used to finance a companys property. It shows how the company has financed its property. A high debt equity ratio express that the company has been aggressive in their financing growth with debt and it results in volatile earning. HP made wrong decide on acquisition for the company. In the first decade of the millennium, HP had made some acquisitions like merger with Compaq, Mercury Interactive, Electronic Data Systems Corp and more recently, Autonomy, the enterprise software company. Since 2001 HP has been spent more than $67 billion on acquisitions, which data according to Jayson Noland, a Robert W. Baird and Company analyst. That was approximately double HP current market value of $38 billion. They buy at least a company a month, and they have struggled to get this right, Mr. Noland said. For example, in 2010 HP was purchased Palm with $1.2 billion. One year later, HP announced to close up its webOS device business which is Palms mobile operating system. Opportunities of HP Company Focusing on emerging technologies-In this modern world, Hewlett Packard Company has introduced new digital printing technologies on the part of its graphic arts offering. There is a full wireless HP Photosmart printer line-up. There are HP Indigo presses, HP Inkjet Web Press and HP Latex Inks. In 2010, Since Hewlett Packard launched this technology, theirs sales is rapidly increasing because the digital printing technologies are suitable for students or officers using. It also provides the consumer to print out the picture and information in the less time. Developed imaging and printing solutions segments- Hewlett Packard has launched more 150 products and services in the IT market. After that, Hewlett also has created some strategic to purchase competitor and introduced new products in the imaging solutions segment. The imaging and printing solutions provides consumers to print out and personalize their picture. There are industrial applications, outdoor signage and graphic arts. Hewlett Packard also purchases Tabblo, Logoworks, MacDermid and ColorSpan as their acquisitions. After they purchased the competitor, they would improve theirs products and services from the benefits of the acquisitions. The imaging and printing solutions strategy enter to the commercial markets from print services solutions to new growth opportunities in commercial printing and focusing high-value pages in some regions. Higher market position in the global-There are many competitor started to enter the IT market. In addition, Hewlett Packard started to expand theirs business to other countries, for examples, BRIC countries. They set up many contact centres in others countries because they can easy control their product lines and get closer to the consumer. In July 2008, Hewlett Packard, Intel Company and Yahoo produced a worldwide, multi-data centre, open source test bed on cloud computing study and training. Cloud computing is a new delivery model for IT services. The achievement of the projects is to remove the financial and logistical problem and build up the relationship of manufacturing, government and college. In this coming years, the growing demand for cloud computing is expected to build demand for HPs solutions. Threats of HP Company Higher competitive in the market share-The biggest competitor of Hewlett Packard is Dell. In this few years, the sales of Hewlett Packard are more than Dell. However, Hewlett Packard also kept fully to expand theirs business. Hewlett also obtain the most up to date company information available. In addition, there are also some competitors for example Toshiba, Lenova Group and Aver. This all competitor in IT market competes in terms of quality, brand, price, technology, reputation, distribution and range of product. In addition, the competitors also face competition from local companies and from generically-branded or white box manufacturers.The printing and computing markets are hyper-competitive. Some nimble competitor will offer lower prices than Hewlett Packard; it will direct affect the sales products of Hewlett Packard. Demands of Hewlett Packard decreases and Economic problem- Since many competitors enter to IT market, the sales of Hewlett Packard Company started to decrease. Shortage of the product sales will cause Hewlett Packard get low profitability. Some forecasters also predict there have a decrease in the worldwide demand for some IT products offered by Hewlett Packard Company. In addition, there are many market segments has affected by the economic recession. It also affected the information technology. Not only in the U.S has been affected, Hewlett Packard also has experienced this decline in its global markets. In 2009, worldwide spending of IT market also decreased by 4% and above. Threats of cloud computing-Cybercriminals always are the first to capture the latest internet innovation. Cloud computing also becomes their main target. The threat lies in cybercriminals ability to penetrate cloud providers webs and run bot-nets that can inflict destruction within a cloud service. So that, shared technologies mean shared risk. The greatest case of shared technologies used in cloud computing is Virtualisation technologies. It provides multiple companies to shares assets and information across a piece of hardware, thereby decrease the costs. Unfortunately, it also become a way of data can get into the wrong hand. Question A. In May, 2002, Hewlett-Packard merger with Compaq Computer Corporation to increase their asset and then on May, 2008 HP take acquisition of EDS (Electronic Data System). This acquisition leads to HP having the combined revenues of 118.4 billion US dollars in 2008 and became rank 9 in Fortune 500 in 2009. At November 2009, HP announced that they had purchase 3Com Inc. This acquisition said to be large in term of takeovers and acquisitions of technology giants to help them become one-stop series shops. After that, in 2010, HP won in a bidding war for 3PAR Inc. which their competitor declined to match. 3PAR Inc. is a manufacturer of systems and software for data storage and information management. This manufacturer helps HP develop and modify their IT products. In the same year, HP announced the buyout of Palm Inc. The Palm Inc. originally was bidding by HTC, Dell, RIM and HP. Finally, HP won the bidding by using 1.2 billion in cash and debt. This addition of Palm brings HP library of valuable patents such as the webOS operating platform and it also. This operating platform has enable HP to develop tablet devices. HP TouchPad, HP first developed tablet had launched at 1 July 2011. This TouchPad is using the webOS as the operating platform and tablet had been said that it works beautifully, and conveys far more information than the iPad 2, in the magazine of The New York Times. This tablet had brought a new challenge to Apples product. B. According to the annual financial reports of HP, their profit decline 31% in the second quarter of 2012. The decline of the profit is because of the growing of the tablet and smart phones or others mobile devices. HP has limited types or series of product and their product is less creativity due to their stability strategy. Their sales will continuous to drop if they still do not develop and launch some new products. Somehow, their main competitors Samsung electronics will replace their places in the computer industry and Greenpeaces Guide. This 2 list ranks the electronics manufacturers according to their policies on sustainability, energy and climate and green products. Samsung electronics grows rapidly and they develop their product in a very vigorous speed, for example their smart phones Galaxy S2 and SIII. Samsung has also established a prominent position in the tablet market, by release the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Tab. Furthermore, nowadays, the material prices becom e unstable all the times, HP would face the problem thats they need to purchase expensive material to manufacture their products. Once they using more expensive material to manufacture their product, they will be forced to mark up their products prices in order to cover back their cost as well. They would facing their market share would be decrease and their sales will be decreases also, they will not making many profit and at last they would face their company going bankrupt like Nokia now. Findings After HP merger with Compaq, HP became the world largest computer hardware and has a strong market position. This proves that the decision of merging is correct. The method HP used to make decision is known as Decision-Accelerator, which speeds up strategy implementation (i.e. execution) process. (M.Z. Deone, 2007). Decision-accelerator would emphasis on speed and efficiency. Minimizing waste and drive toward outcomes are always reviewed by the facilitators during meeting. The objective is union of ideas with least divergence instead of having deep and durable commitment. Therefore, it is suitable for those senior level or top-level manager when resolving differences and implementing large, complicated strategic initiatives. However, there are the bad side of Decision-Accelerator. It deals with hard-core decisions and involves limited creativity. Due to acquisitions with other company and improving operations in laptop PCs, Mark Hurd, the CEO of HP, need to cut down 10% of workforce. But at the end, HP did dominate the global printer market successfully.Top of ForBottom of Form HP Company has its own unique culture which is known as HP way. It is a standard of manners that emphasized innovation and most of the engineers would like to work on it. This is because HP respect and trust each individual who are working within the organization. (D.E Kimberly, 2012)Furthermore, flat management hierarchy is used by the company. By using this hierarchy, layers of middle management that give slow productivity can be eliminated and speed up the work. Employees are also allowed to decide how to their own work based on their creativity. Therefore, this culture enables HP to compete with other competitor such as Dell. In 2011, HP wiped off $3.3 billion to cover the closing up of the webOS business which is used on mobile operating system. This is because there is less customer and developer interest. WebOS was developed in about nine month and claimed that company took some shortcut from the concept to creation. According to Mr. Mercer who is recruited by Palm from Apple, fewer programmers are willing to understand webKit and most of the top talent are snatched up by Apple and Google. [1] (X.C Brian, 2012) Therefore, a detailed planning is very important for a business. A company should know the market trend and the real usage of the IT product before launching. WebOS is an operating system built on the same technology used by many web browsers. Instead of applying it on mobile, it is advised to be applied on forensic tools. Large amount of information can be extracted from the system partition of webOS devices. This information includes call logs, SMS, e-mail communications, and other Web browsin g activities. Besides, deleted items could be recovered through this operating system. (C.Eoghan, 2011) As recommendation, HP can increase their sales or profit by decreasing their advertising investments. As we known, advertising would increase their company expanses and hence they need to increase their cost for their product. When they increased their cost of the product, they need to mark up the market price to cover back the cost or they will have low profit. This is because large amounts of advertising investments will lead up with the drastic decrease in the size of the domestic market and it further increase the company dependency on the home market depend on the crisis. (Harrigan, 2001) HP would increase their risk when they mark up their marketing price because their competitor will sales out their product which having the same spec with HPs product with lower price. Somehow, they will increase their competitor fame because of the low selling price of the product. Although HP decreases the advertising investments, it is not represent that their sales would drop. They could us e some low cost advertising ways such like advertise through facebook or electronic devices. By this way, they could advertise their product and also wont increase their products cost.

Similar Roles of Mothers and Daughters in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club :: Joy Luck Club Essays

Similar Roles of Mothers and Daughters in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Joy Luck Club, a novel by Amy Tan, is structured in an unusual way.   It is divided into four different sections.   Each section has four stories told by four different women.   In the first section all the mothers, in the Joy Luck Club, talk about their childhood.   In the next two sections the daughters talk about their childhood and their experiences through life.   In the last section the four mothers speak about the stories of when they were younger, around their daughters' age.   This novel explores countless topics.   Not only does it deal with gender identity and the relationships between Chinese-American cultures, but it also deals with mother daughter relationships.   Amy Tan shows us how mothers and daughters mirror each other. Every daughter in this novel hears about their mother's life and sees some comparisons to her own life.   "All women are daughters and must resolve the conflicts inherent in the mother/daughter relationship if they are to understand themselves an ultimately to establish their own identity". (Internet 1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   No matter how old they get, mothers and daughters play similar roles.   Even though an individual may not consciously do things that their mothers have taught/ inherit from them, they still act the same in some respects. An example of this would be   GuYing-ying (Betty) St. Clair and Lena St. Clair.   Both of these characters tell their stories.   These stories, in ways, sound very similar to each other.   Ying-ying's story is called the Moon Lady.   In this story, Ying-ying learns a truth and in some ways becomes a different person.   As Ying-ying sat on the edge of the boat the firecrackers went off.   She fell off the boat and found herself lost   in a large body of water.   She is discovered in the water and is brought to shore where she finds her family.   Later she sees the moon lady and wants to make a wish.   The moon lady is similar to a shooting star.   You only get one wish and it   only appears once in a gre at while.   However, when she sees the moon lady she discovers something.   "I could see the face of the moon lady: shrunken cheeks, a broad oily nose, large glaring teeth, and red stained eyes.   A face so tires that she she wearily pulled off her hair, her long gown fell from her shoulders and as the secret wish fell from my lips, the moon lady looked at me and became a man" (83)  Ã‚   Ying-ying discovers that things aren't always what they appear to be.

Willy Loman as Tragic Hero in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman :: Death Salesman essays

Willy Loman as Tragic Hero in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman    The business world of today isn't all `peaches and cream'. The harsh reality of the business world is people are mostly interested in one thing, money. This reoccurring trait we have seen has plagued the business world for a millennia. As seen in the play Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman, the main-character, falls victim to this evil trait. Willy always a hard-worker was fired for his lack of profit for the company he worked for. The injustices dealt to people everyday in the business world can be seen through the experiences of Willy Loman. The business world has no room for compassion, specifically for the individual. Most companies cut loose those members of their community whom hurt their profits however what about those who do neither? Howard, the boss of Willy, fires Willy on the basis that he isn't being productive. Willy having worked for the company 34 years had gone from making a salary to working for commission. This slump of Willy's is due to the exhaustion of his job on the road. At the age of 63 Willy would have to get up at 3 in the morning, and drive hundreds of miles to places such as Florida from his home in Manhattan to try to make a sale. However, more often then not he wouldn't make one. Howard knew that the road job for Willy was very tiring as shown when he put Willy on commission. However, when Willy went in to see Howard about getting a desk job, Willy was met with disrespect and greed. Howard's explanation to his reason is .".. you gotta admit, business is business." (Act II 60) This quote shows clearly that because Willy wasn't producing anything he was of no worth to the company. However, we know that Howard has the means by which to employee Willy through his references such has having a maid and his recent purchase of the tape recorder. Howard's greed leads him to ignore the fact that Willy has worked for this company for 34 years and has never asked for a favor before. Thus the individual, Willy, was shown no compassion because of Howard's greed and was fired because of it.

Fasb Asc Project

FASB ASC Project 1. The inventory at your company consists of computer software that the company has developed and is selling. You capitalized (rather than expensed) the cost of duplicating the software, the instruction manuals, and training material that are sold with the software. FASB ASC CITATION: Product Masters 985-330-25-1 The costs incurred for duplicating the computer software, documentation, and training materials from the  product masters  and for physically packaging the product for distribution shall be capitalized as inventory on a unit-specific basis. Answer 1:According to the FASB Codification, a completed version, ready for copying, of the computer software product, the documentation, and the training materials that are to be sold, are the property of the company. Also, the Codification states that all the costs incurred for copying the software should be capitalized rather than expensed. 2. Your company paid $2,000,000 for a 30-second commercial to be aired duri ng the SuperBowl 5 months from today. The ad has already been produced at a cost of $1,000,000. You capitalized the $2,000,000 cost of showing the ad on television rather than expensing it.FASB ASC CITATION: Communicating Advertising 720-35-25-5 Costs of communicating advertising are not incurred until the item or service has been received and shall not be reported as expenses before the item or service has been received, except as discussed in paragraph  340-20-25-2. For example: * a. The costs of television airtime shall not be reported as advertising expense before the airtime is used. Once it is used, the costs shall be expensed, unless the airtime was used for direct-response advertising activities that meet the criteria for capitalization under paragraph  340-20-25-4.Answer 2: The FASB Interpretation states that the costs of showing the ad on television should expensed, rather than capitalized unless it is direct-response advertizing. According to the FASB Interpretation 3 40-20-25-6, Criteria to Capitalize Direct-Response Advertising Costs, our example does not meet the criteria of direct-response advertising activities. For example, there are no means of getting files, coupons, response cards, or coded order forms, which would indicate the customer names and the related direct-response advertisement.Therefore, we cannot capitalize any costs relating to the communicating advertising. Furthermore, Codification guides that the advertising cost should not be reported until the service is received and used. Thus, recording the expenses five months in advance we are breaking matching principle of accounting. 3. Your company sells a product in which the â€Å"right of return† exists. The amount of future returns cannot be reasonably estimated, therefore, you do not record the sale or cost of goods sold until the return privilege has expired.FASB ASC CITATION: Sales of Product when Right of Return Exists 605-15-25-1 If an entity sells its product but gives the buyer the right to return the product, revenue from the sales transaction shall be recognized at time of sale only if all of the following conditions are met: * a. The seller's price to the buyer is substantially fixed or determinable at the date of sale. * b. The buyer has paid the seller, or the buyer is obligated to pay the seller and the obligation is not contingent on resale of the product.If the buyer does not pay at time of sale and the buyer's obligation to pay is contractually or implicitly excused until the buyer resells the product, then this condition is not met. * c. The buyer's obligation to the seller would not be changed in the event of theft or physical destruction or damage of the product. * d. The buyer acquiring the product for resale has economic substance apart from that provided by the seller. This condition relates primarily to buyers that exist on paper, that is, buyers that have little or no physical facilities or employees.It prevents entities f rom recognizing sales revenue on transactions with parties that the sellers have established primarily for the purpose of recognizing such sales revenue. * e. The seller does not have significant obligations for future performance to directly bring about resale of the product by the buyer. f. The amount of future returns can be reasonably estimated (see paragraphs  605-15-25-3 through 25-4). Because detailed record keeping for returns for each product line might be costly in some cases, this Subtopic permits reasonable aggregations and approximations of product returns.As explained in paragraph  605-15-15-2, exchanges by ultimate customers of one item for another of the same kind, quality, and price (for example, one color or size for another) are not considered returns for purposes of this Subtopic. Answer 3: According to the FASB Codification, revenue from the sale should not be recognized at the time of sale, unless all of the six following conditions are met: (1) The sellerà ¢â‚¬â„¢s price to the buyer is substantially fixed or determinable at the date of sale. (2)The buyer has paid the seller, or the buyer is obligated to pay the seller, and the obligation is not contingent on resale of the product. 3)The buyer’s obligation to the seller would not be changed in the event of theft or physical destruction or damage of the product. (4)The buyer acquiring the product for resale has economic substance apart from that provided by the seller. (5)The seller does not have significant obligations for future performance to directly bring about resale of the product by the buyer. (6)The seller can reasonably estimate the amount of future returns. Since we cannot estimate the amount of future returns in our example, condition #6 is not met.Therefore, sales revenue and cost of sales should be recognized either when the return privilege has substantially expired or if those conditions subsequently are met, whichever occurs first. 4. Your company has goods prim arily held for resale. You have been asked whether or not they are considered nonmonetary assets. FASB ASC CITATION: Monetary and Nonmonetary  Items 255-10-55-1 Paragraphs 255-10-55-1 through 55-13 of this Section provide guidance on the interpretation of paragraphs  255-10-50-50 through 50-55  for the classification of certain asset and liability items as monetary or nonmonetary.The following table illustrates the application of the definitions to common cases under typical circumstances. In other circumstances the classification should be resolved by reference to the definitions. Answer 4: The FASB Codification provides guidance on how to classify monetary and nonmonetary assets and liabilities. For typical circumstances it suggests using a classification table, and for non-typical circumstances Codification guides to refer to the definitions. To begin with, let us appeal to the definition of â€Å"inventory†.The term inventory embraces goods awaiting sale (the mercha ndise of a trading concern and the finished goods of a manufacturer), goods in the course of production (work in process), and goods to be consumed directly or indirectly in production (raw materials and supplies). Thus, we assume that â€Å"goods held primarily for resale† can be treated as inventory. According to the classification table, inventories and commodity inventories should be treated as nonmonetary assets. 5. Your company has an unconditional legal obligation to perform an asset retirement activity (asset retirement obligation) in the future.The only uncertainty is whether the obligation will be enforced. Should you record the asset retirement obligation? FASB ASC CITATION: Asset Retirement Obligation 410-20-25-4 An entity shall recognize the fair value of a liability for an asset retirement obligation  in the period in which it is incurred if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. If a reasonable estimate of fair value cannot be made in the period the asset retirement obligation is incurred, the liability shall be recognized when a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made.If a tangible long-lived  asset with an existing  asset retirement obligation is acquired, a liability for that obligation  shall be recognized at the asset’s acquisition date as if that obligation  were incurred on that date. Answer 5: This Interpretation clarifies that the term conditional asset retirement obligation refers to a legal obligation to perform the asset retirement activity in which the timing and (or) method of settlement are conditional on a future event that may or may not be within the control of the entity.The obligation to perform the asset retirement activity is unconditional even though uncertainty exists about the timing and (or) method of settlement. Thus, an we are required to recognize a liability for the fair value of a conditional asset retirement obligation when incurred if the liability’s fair value can b e reasonably estimated. 6. You use accounting accruals to record probable loss contingencies. Does the recording of the accruals provide financial protection, for example, is it the same as setting aside specific assets to cover the probable claims?FASB ASC CITATION: Loss Contingencies Recognition 450-20-25-2 An estimated loss from a loss contingency shall be accrued by a charge to income if both of the following conditions are met: * a. Information available before the financial statements are issued or are available to be issued (as discussed in Section  855-10-25) indicates that it is probable that an asset had been impaired or a liability had been incurred at the date of the financial statements.Date of the financial statements means the end of the most recent accounting period for which financial statements are being presented. It is implicit in this condition that it must be probable that one or more future events will occur confirming the fact of the loss. * b. The amount o f loss can be reasonably estimated. The purpose of those conditions is to require accrual of losses when they are reasonably estimable and relate to the current or a prior period.Paragraphs  450-20-55-1 through 55-17  and Examples 1–2 (see paragraphs  450-20-55-18 through 55-35) illustrate the application of the conditions. As discussed in paragraph  450-20-50-5, disclosure is preferable to accrual when a reasonable estimate of loss cannot be made. Further, even losses that are reasonably estimable shall not be accrued if it is not probable that an asset has been impaired or a liability has been incurred at the date of an entity's financial statements because those losses relate to a future period rather than the current or a prior period.Attribution of a loss to events or activities of the current or prior periods is an element of asset impairment or liability incurrence. Answer 6: According to GAAP, using accounting accruals is required if two conditions are met: â €“ If the asset has been impaired or liability has been incurred prior to the date of financial statement, and, thus, relate to the current or prior period; – If the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated; Let us assume that both of the conditions are met in our example, and using of accounting accruals is justified.Thinking of financial protection we can say that accruals certainly help companies to avoid unexpected losses on financial statements. Since it is necessary to be able to make a reasonable estimate of loss in the right period, accruing a liability technically looks like setting aside money to cover those needs. However, setting aside specific assets to satisfy future needs seems to be safer since restricting an asset we assume that it exists physically whereas accruing a liability does not guarantee the company will be able to pay.

The Role of Group Work in Enhancing Speaking Skill

The Role of Group Work In Enhancing Speaking Skill In Primary Level The Role of Group Work in Enhancing Speaking Skill in Primary Level Effective language skills are essential for children to access the curriculum. In the classroom, spoken language is the primary medium through which teachers teach and children learn. In developing their speaking skills, children need to learn to adapt their talk to the listeners; use a range of ways to express themselves; use talk to clarify their ideas and sustain their talk to develop thinking and reasoning.It is expected that when children start primary school, they will be able to understand much of what is said, express themselves clearly, share their feelings and make their needs known. This level of proficiency in speech, language and communication is critical to the development of a child’s cognitive, social and emotional well-being. Speaking should include putting thoughts into words and sharing in groups; taking opportunities to spe ak at some length to explain ideas in different situations; giving a talk or presentation using gestures, aids and rhetorical devices.This paper will explore the different types of group work and its mechanism of enhancing the speaking skill in the primary level. This will be done through reviewing different research made in this field. The purpose of this paper is to look closely at the importance of group work in the early stages to enhance the speaking skill of students. Group Group work is a very important part of our culture and life; and businesses now look at team work skills when evaluating any employee. Therefore, it is important for both, students and teachers, to learn to function in a group work environment.Research indicates that students learn the tasks better through involving oral interaction, in group, which is based on a real attempt to find a collective solution to problems. We chose to explore this area to find out if group work serves as a meaningful activity fo r students to focus on meaningful negotiation and information exchange. We are very much concerned with getting students to talk and to stimulate their interest and imagination. Since group work can improve learning and is a much needed skill in enhancing speaking skill, it should be exercised regularly in the classroom.Annotated Bibliography: The Role of Group Work in Enhancing Speaking Skill in Primary Level Baines, E. , Kutnick, P. , Blatchford, P. (2009). Promoting effective group work in the primary classroom: a handbook for teachers and practitioners. USA and Canada: Routledge. This handbook explores how pupil group work can be made more effective in support of children’s learning. It is based on a research study, known as the Social Pedagogic Research into Group work (SPRinG), which developed and evaluated a new approach to group work in primary schools. Boussiada, S. (2010).Enhancing students’ oral proficiency through cooperative group work: the case of 3rd yea r LMD students of English at Constantine University. Master’s Thesis, University of Constantine, Algeria. In her study, Boussiada explores the effects of cooperative group work on improving learners’ oral proficiency and communicative skills. She is mainly concerned with making use of pair or small group to maximize learners? oral production. She also attempts to shed some light on the importance of establishing a relaxed and friendly environment as an attempt to get learners to use the language.Lee, W. (2008). Speech, language and communication needs and primary school-aged children. I Can Talk Series, Issue 6, 13-18. Retrieved March 21, 2012, from http:// www. ican. org. uk/~/media/Ican2/Whats%20the%20Issue/Evidence/6%20Speech%20%20Language%20and%20Communication%20Needs%20and%20Primary%20School%20aged%20Children. ashx This report outlines the nature and extent of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) in primary schools, what this means for children and thei r families and what can be done to ensure primary school is a positive, enriching experience for children with SLCN.Richards, J. (2008). Teaching listening and speaking: from theory to practice. NY: Cambridge University Press. Richards explores approaches to the teaching of listening and speaking which have undergone considerable changes in recent years, and their implications for classroom teaching and materials design. His goal is to examine what applied linguistics research and theory says about the nature of listening and speaking skills, and then to explore what the implications are for classroom teaching Jones, L. (2007). The student-centered classroom. NY: Cambridge University Press.

Ceres Gardening Company Case Study Essay

1. How has the company grown? What is its basic strategy + how has it evolved? What have been the key factors in the company’s growth? The growth of the company has been fueled by the market demand growth in organic products. Ceres increased their revenues by over 75% in just five years, while growing profits by over 25% (based on Exhibits 2, 3 & 4). Ceres’s basic strategy started with its founder, Jonathan Wydown, to promote sustainable organic gardens and landscapes to environmentally conscious consumers. Mr. Wydown has been a proponent of soil preservation, biodiversity, and natural fertilizers and pest control. Mr. Wydown was confident that the same principles behind organic farming would eventually apply to home gardens and lawns. Mr. Wydown’ s vision evolved into the creation and development of a market niche of selected certified organic seeds and seedlings for vegetables, culinary herbs, and flowers – bringing the farm to the home per se. This market niche and products became the company’s differentiator and competitive edge. The key factors that drove the company’s growth are: * Market demand and segmentation – Ceres developed a market niche for organic-conscious consumers who are concerned about the environment. Although products are priced at a higher premium, the value from the company’s environmentally conscious go-to-market strategy and segmentation allowed Ceres to develop a loyal consumer community. * Product Offerings – Ceres expanded its products offerings to include open-pollinated, organically grown, and heirloom varieties of seeds and seedlings for vegetables, culinary herbs, and flowers. The company also added live plants, such as one-year-old trees. * Production Strategy – Ceres’ principal farm was located in central  California. As the demand for Ceres’ products increased, Ceres’s production capability was challenged. To keep up with the increased demand, Ceres developed a network of small, independent organic farms, offering them a commitment to purchase goods in exchange for an exclusive supplier relationship. These further strengthened Ceres’ production capability. * Distribution Channel – In the early years, Ceres operated primarily as a mail-order catalog company. This was their main distribution channel. The operation was ran well and valued for its quality, reliability, and hands-on customer service. Moreover, Ceres provided a free bimonthly company newsletter, which included gardening tips, introduced new products, and created a sense of community among the expanding customer base. This alternative marketing expanded Ceres’ channel from one time purchase to future incremental (post-sale) revenues. Eventually, Ceres expanded its channels to include retail channels, and direct sale through a sales force model. * GetCeresâ„ ¢ Program – enabled the average nursery or garden center to stock a sufficient inventory of Ceres’ products to meet the seasonal demands of the customer. If a retailer ran out of seasonal products, the customer would probably not return later, thus a potential loss of sale. Essentially the program meets the challenge of having the plenty of stock of the right product in the store at the right time based on consumer attitudes, behaviors, and preferences. The program also provided incentives to retail storeowners by offering deep discounts to carry inventory and extended payment plans. 2. Questions 3.1. How is Ceres’ financial health? Which specific items in the supplemental financial statements + which ratios might you calculate/research to help you assess its financial health? The financial health of Ceres is excellent and continues to show a positive trend from 2002 to 2006. (Please refer to Table 1) * Current Ratio shows Ceres’ ability to pay short-term obligations. The current ratio indicates that the company would be able to cover its liabilities in 2002 2 times over. * Quick Ratio measures Ceres’ ability to meet its short-term obligations with assets excluding inventory. The quick ratio indicates that Ceres would be able to cover liabilities 1.6 times over. * Debt Equity shows Ceres’ financial leverage and its aggressive posture in financing its growth with debt. The company could potentially generate more earnings than it would have without this outside financing. This indicates that even with Ceres’ expansion of distribution channels, extension of payment terms, and the creation of a direct sales force, Ceres was able to manage to stay below 1 with a mean average of .74. * Inventory Turnover shows an efficient turnover of inventory. Ceres does not hold inventory for long periods of time, which can incur additional costs by having assets sit without revenue generation. It shows Ceres’ ability to manage inventory in a seasonal cycle and further indicates their ability to forecast demands on product movement. * Accounts Receivable shows Ceres’ effectiveness in extending credit as well as collecting debts. The extended payment terms appear to be working. The prompt collection of debts enables Ceres’ to use the monies to reinvest into the business. 3.2. What should Ceres’ strategic plan be, given the trends in the organic gardening market? A move forward strategy is a renewed focus on market penetration and diversification of product portfolio. As the CMO, Annette O’Connell reported, â€Å"Growth in organic gardening products is strong, and the trends should support long term growth.† Market Penetration – capitalize on the movement from wholesale organic farming to weekend home gardeners and food service industries. While Ceres can continue to cement their market share in organic farming, the weekend gardener and food industry market are prime market niches. To reach these markets, Ceres has to diversify its product portfolio. Product Portfolio Diversification – Ceres’ has to consider diversifying its product portfolio from materials (i.e. seeds, samplings, 1-year-old fruit trees, etc.) to services and solutions to help organic farmers, food service industries, and weekend gardeners on the â€Å"how to’s† of organic gardening. You not only sell the seeds but also help the consumers manage the gardening process thus providing Ceres a â€Å"market differentiator† as a one-stop consumer experience. 3. How would you evaluate Ceres’ marketing efforts? Should the Ceres program be expanded? Why or why not? The GetCeresâ„ ¢ Program is a sound marketing plan but can be fraught with challenges if not managed effectively. The main purpose of the program is to address inventory and â€Å"enable the average nursery or garden center to stock a sufficient inventory of Cere’s organic products† by having the right products in the stores at the right time. Bottom line – help Ceres increase sales by helping business partners manage their inventory. With that said, stores and business partners are not willing to carry inventories on their books if they are not able to churn it appropriately. To alleviate angst and potential cost exposure, Ceres extended their payment terms from 75 to 90 days to 120 days and a 15% discount the storeowner or business partner agrees to hold a minimum stock inventory. To help protect Ceres’ average gross margins, it successfully raised prices slightly on most of its products. 4. Questions 5.3. In your opinion, did Ceres hire the right CMO? What role did that play in its financial situation? In our opinion, Ceres hired the right CMO. Through the CMO leadership, distribution channels were expanded from mail order catalog to an expanded network of storeowners and retail merchants. The CMO further increased their market reach by developing a direct sales force and the appropriately compensation plan. Inventory was managed efficiently through the introduction of the GetCeresâ„ ¢ Program. Overall, the company’s debt equity, inventory turnover, and accounts receivable ratios showed a positive trend and continue to forecast a better future. 5.4. Why is it important to ensure that you hire someone who is the â€Å"best fit† – for a position? It is important to hire someone who is a best fit because of the notion of a â€Å"shared vision† and â€Å"common values.† A strategy remains to be a strategy without the proper tactical execution. Both Wydown and O’Connell agreed,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The best way for Ceres to build its competitive position would be to push even more aggressively† to increase profits and lower margins by expanding distribution channels and market footprint. O’Connell had a background in retail and consumer packaged goods. This was the â€Å"best fit† for Ceres’s CEO, Jonathan Wydown whose strategy for growth was to move from a mail order catalog model to building a retail presence. Wydown and O’Connell believed that Ceres’ reputation for quality and customer service would give the company an advantage over the competition. 5. If you were CEO Jonathan Wydown, what would you plan to say during your upcoming meeting with the bank – regarding Ceres’ growth prospects + cash flow projections for 2007 and the near future? During the upcoming meeting with the bank, the focus should be given on the debt equity, inventory turnover, and accounts receivable ratios and how well the company has managed its operations over a sustained period (i.e. 2002 to 2006). From the Balance Sheet provided, it is evident that operational, financing, and investment cash flow is positive. The market-projected growth is 8% to 10% per year. Ceres has kept pace with the overall industry, but Ceres has to review its financing model to sustain their own growth in the market they chose to compete in order to continue having a competitive edge. As such, the bank discussion should center on the increase of revolving credit and capitalization of investments to continue to fund the retail distribution model.

Hygiene and Young People

‘Your health, safety and welfare are protected by law.’ Everyone working with children and young people must be aware of their legal obligation in relation to keep children safe and healthy. (Source: Health & Safety Executive, 1999)Health and safety legislation at work Act 1974:Setting with five or more employees must have a written safety policy which must include specific procedure to cover emergencies such as accidents and events that require evacuation of the building (Fire event) Setting with five or more employees must carry out a risk assessment Employees must provide for health and safetyDisplay a health and safety laws poster or supply employees with a booklet Make your work place as safe as possibleDecide how to manage health and safety if the business has five or more employees COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002): The employers are required to ensure all dangerous materials, cleaning material, medicines are kept separately in a m arked, locked cupboard. RIDDOR (Reporting injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995): This means all setting must provide an accident report book. Any injury that requires a member of staff to take more than three days off work must also be reported. Food safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995:The setting which prepare or provide food for children must register with the Environmental Health Department of the local authority. The people who have handling food should undertake the Basic Food Hygiene Certificate. Food handling Regulations 1995Washing hands before preparing foodMaking sure the surfaces and utensils you use are clean and hygieneFood is  stored safety at the correct temperatureDisposing of waste hygienicallyUse of chopping boards, separate sinksPolicies and Procedure:Children and young people will always take a risk from running, playing but all children and young people have right to play to develop their skills and new experience. There are policies and procedure to protect and reduce risk that will happen to children and young people. Every child care setting will have policy documents which cover SafetyHealth and Hygiene Safety at arrival/departure times and on outings Prevention of illness and first aid Fire prevention Staffing ratios and supervision Risk Assessments Policy.A large number of everyday things that may appear harmless or go unnoticed but could be dangerous A range of areas from the condition of toys and equipment to hygiene and cleanliness to access to children by members of the public Must be suitable, sufficient and reasonably practicalAccording to legislation, policy and procedure as showing above, in my setting (school placement) they are implemented by the school has a fire exit at the front door. There are several risk assessments for several areas in school. At the front door, there is a registered book for staffs and visitors to sign time in and out and purpose of visiting. After lunch time, f ood area has been clean and tidy up all tables and chairs to keep children safe. All toys have been kept in place and safe, study resource and materials are kept in cupboard. There are sinks in classrooms for washing hands.2. Describe how health and safety is monitored and maintain in the setting. Health and safety is monitored and maintain in the setting by: Visitors register book, record time in/out, purpose and who they want to meet Teacher  and all member of Staffs register book, teacher and all members record time in/out Pupils register book, checking pupils in class, morning and afternoon Lunch time staff, monitor pupils at food areaTeacher/member of staff at the school gate, morning and after school Teacher/member of staff at the playground and play area every break times3. Describe how people in the setting are made aware of risks and hazards and encouraged to work safely. In the setting, teacher and all members of staff, volunteer must be made aware of risks and hazards a nd encouraged which is in school health and safety policy. The school role and Staff handbook are written by head teacher in the setting, staff handbook is held by teacher each class.Risks on internet in the setting is controlled by teacher, if pupils in class access on Facebook, YouTube and etc. websites that may be harm to pupils, teacher able to switch off computer immediately from teacher’s desk. To protect bullying, there is anti-bullying poster throughout school, poster show how to protect and prevent risks on internet includes the children help line number.Fire is the most frighten pupils and may harm their life, the setting made aware of this risk assessment, pupils can follow fire instruction poster which is throughout school when fire alarm appear. In this situation, teacher will lead pupils to fire exit door which is located at every classroom to school yard and line up at the meeting point. Pupils must be registered by their teacher at the meeting point.The meetin g among Head teacher, member of staff and parents after school time will be made 2-3 times a year, the meeting will be discussed how to solve problem and sharing information between school and parents.4. Identify the lines of responsibility and reporting for health and safety within the setting. Head Teacher is in charge for accident events, Food Hygiene and Head Teacher’s secretary ensure a risk assessment has been following by staffs who work in the school. By the way all staffs who work in the school have been trained to keep children safe and reduce harm in the  school.