Medieval Queens, Empresses, and Other Women Rulers

Age Restrictions on Alcohol Relative to Military...

This is a topic that was near and dear to my husband’s heart. As he is in the military, it comes up often during mobilizations for deployment. I drink very little, so I hadn’t given it much consideration until he was deploying himself. I think that military personnel under the age of 21 should be allowed to consume alcoholic beverages under supervision. We have two sons that joined the National Guard at the ages of 17years and 19 years old. The legal age to purchase and consume alcohol in this state is 21 years of age. Our sons were pretty quickly deployed to Iraq. Granted, they didn’t drink at the time, but under the circumstances: I think that if their squads and platoons had offered them beer before going away to war, there should be†¦show more content†¦If anyone has an alcohol related incident, that soldier is counseled. If there is another incident, the soldier is then referred by the Commander to the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program (ASAP). Bas ed on the length of time in the military, a younger soldier is allowed one misstep or mistake. More experienced soldiers and those with rank and responsibility aren’t given such leeway. For instance, a Driving under the Influence (DUI) charge is a career ender for a non-commissioned officer, but a lower enlisted soldier will be given a chance to rehabilitate. There have been cases of parents here in this State having closed door parties for graduation and proms. Those parties caused a lot of controversy. The parents were there to supervise in most cases, but there were a couple of cases of no supervision. Those parents argued that as long as they were there to oversee what was going on, there shouldn’t have been such an outrage. Those that argued against it felt that they were being enablers. I can see both sides of the argument. I wouldn’t host such an event personally, but I won’t frown upon those parents who chose to do this for their children. In Europe, it is common for teenagers to have a glass of wine with their dinner in a family setting. There doesn’t seem to be any of the stigmas of consumption of alcohol there. Given the supervision and the amount of reinforcement in the military, I believe thatShow MoreRelatedHuman Resources Management150900 Words   |  604 Pagesworkers and the legal issues associated with their use. Demographics and Diversity The U.S. workforce has been changing dramatically. It is more diverse racially, women are in the labor force in much greater numbers than ever before, and the average age of the workforce is now considerably older than before. As a result of these demographic shifts, HR management in organizations has had to adapt to a more varied labor force both externally and internally. 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Detailed Analysis and interpretation of Financial Reports of Sainsbury

Question: Describe about the Interpretation of Financial Report of Sainsbury Company? Answer: Introduction Sainsbury is a UK based supermarket (J-sainsbury.co.uk, 2015). It has over 1200 stores worldwide. The organizations source their product and sell them in the UK based supermarket, convenience stores and online (Sainsburys.co.uk, 2015). The food business of Sainsbury is complemented by the general merchandise and clothes offered by the firm (Sainsburys.co.uk, 2015). Sainsbury offer banking and financial services via the wholly owned subsidiary of Sainsbury known as Sainsbury bank (Sainbury's Live Well For Less, 2015). They also have a number of joint ventures which also includes property development. The financial performance of Sainsbury will be analyzed for the year 2014(Tesco plc, 2015). The financial performance of Sainsbury will be compared with Tesco for the year 2014(Tesco.com, 2015). This will help to analyze the financial performance of the company against the industrial benchmarks. The financial ratios will be analyzed for the period of 2014 to ascertain the liquidity, profi tability position of the company, leverage position and efficiency of the organization. The ratio analysis will serve as a tool for Sainsbury to make future decisions based on its current financial position. The investors will be able to judge the company on the basis of its performance. Financial performance analysis using financial ratios Effective planning and financial management is essential for continuing the business in a sustainable manner. Financial ratio analysis is essential as it is a management tool that will improve the understanding of the financial results. The ratios can be used as a tool to understand the trend of the company over time. The ratio also acts as key indicators of the performance of the organization. The manager can identify the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help the organization to formulate strategies on the basis of its potential strengths and weakness. The investors use ratios to measure the financial results against the industry benchmarks. It helps them to make judgements concerning the effectiveness of the management and the impact of it on the mission of the organization (Basu, 2015). Apart from the reasons discussed for choosing ratios as a tool for financial analysis, ratio analysis has the following uses Versatility and Usefulness Ratios are critical quantitative tools. They are used as indicators for indentifying the positive and negative financial trends. The trend analyses help the organization to make the future financial plans. The organization can make the short term plans to make their investment decisions. The ratio analysis serves as a tool for comparing the financial state of the company with the business in other industries. Turnover and efficiency The operating expense and turnover ratios are critical for the helping the organization analyze the efficiency of the business by utilizing the assets and managing the liabilities in an efficient manner. The operating ratios can be used to compare the operating expenses like the inventory, rent and advertising to the revenue that has been generated via sales (Peterson Drake and Fabozzi, 2006). Cash and liquidity The liquidity ratios help the company to determine whether the company can invest in capital assets or it can make long term investments. These investments are necessary for the growth of the business. The current ratio and the working capital ratio are useful for assessing the liquidity position of the company so that it overcomes the short term debt expenses. This will assist the organization in making key decisions (Besley et al., 2000). The company can make business plan on the basis of the ratios (Lohrey, 2015). Brief description and the justification of the ratios The financial ratios can express the relationship between the items in the financial statement. The financial ratios will help the management to identify the strengths and weakness. This will help the organization to measure the future performance of the organization. They are compared with the industry average. Liquidity ratios Current ratio and quick ratio represent the most common liquidity ratios. The ratio determined by comparing the current assets with the current liabilities. It shows the ability of the organization to pay the short term bills. The minimum ratio is considered as 1. If the ratio is less than one then the company has more liabilities than assets. The higher ratio acts as a safety cushion for the organization. It enhances the flexibility of the organization as it is not possible to convert some of the items in the inventory and receivable balance. The liquidity position of the company can be improved by lowering down the debt margin and converting the short term debt into long term debt. The receivables can be collected faster to improve the liquidity position of the company. Solvency The financial stability of the company can be determined by the solvency ratios. They measure the companys debt with respect to the assets and the equity. A highly debted firm does not have the ability to manage the cash flow if there is rise in the rate of interest or if there is deterioration of profitability of the business (Finkler and Ward, 1999). Profitability The profitability ratio determines the ability of the company to convert the dollars gained from sales into profits and cash flow. The common profitability ratios are the net profit margin, gross profit margin and operating profit margin. The profitability ratios include the return to assets ratio, return on investment ratio. It shows the effectiveness of the organization to generate return from the investments (Desai et al., n.d.). Efficiency The efficiency ratios are the inventory turnover ratio and the receivable turnover ratio. The inventory turnover ratio is the ratio of the cost of goods sold to inventory. The higher inventory turnover ratio indicates that the company has the ability to convert the inventory into sales. The receivable turnover ratio is the ratio the credit sales to the accounts receivable. It tracks the outstanding credit sales. The higher accounts receivable turnover ratio indicates that the company is able to collect the outstanding credit balance in a successful manner (Grier, 2015). Calculation of Financial Ratios of Sainsbury and Tesco for the year 2014 Sainsbury Tesco Profitability Ratios Return on capital employed Net Operating Income/ ( Total Assets - Current liabilities) 7.18% 33.97% Return on Equity Net Income / Equity 11.92% 6.59% Net Profit Percentage Net Income / Net Sales 2.99% 1.53% Gross Profit Percentage Gross Profit / Net Sales 5.79% 6.31% Operating Profit Percentage Operating Income / Net Sales 4.21% 4.14% Liquidity Ratios Current ratio Current Asset/ Current Liabilities 1.823456 2.245581 Quick Ratio Quick Assets / Current Liabilities 1.404007 1.631886 Efficiency ratios Inventory Turnover Ratio Cost of Goods Sold / Inventory 22.44975 16.65185 Stock Holding Period ( Days) 365/ Inventory Turnover 16.25853 21.91949 Debtor's Payment Period ( Days) Net credit sales / Average Debtors 55.30947 29.02146 6.599232 12.5769 Financial structure Interest coverage ratio EBIT / Interest Expense 5.647799 4.005319 Price/ Earnings ratio Current Share Price / Earnings Per share 7.161804 10.22105 Findings from Ratio Analysis Profitability ratios The profitability position of Sainsbury has been determined by the profitability ratios which are the return on capital employed, return on equity, net profit percentage, gross profit percentage and operating profit percentage. The return on capital employed for Sainsbury is 7.18% for the year 2014. On the other hand the ratio is 33.97% for Tesco. It is seen that Tesco is deriving more return from investment. The return on equity for Sainsbury is 11.92% whereas the return on equity for Tesco is 6.59%. The return on owners capital is more for Sainsbury. The net profit margin for Sainsbury is 2.99% and it is 1.53% for Tesco. The profit margin for Sainsbury is higher. But it is seen that the gross profit margin for Tesco is higher than that of Sainsbury. The operating profit margin for both the companies is same (Colombo et al., 2005). Liquidity ratios The liquidity ratios are the current ratio and the quick ratio. The current ratio for Sainsbury is 1.82:1 and for Tesco it is 2.25: 1 The ideal current ratio is considered to be 2:1. It is seen that the current ratio of both the companies fall within the range. The quick ratios of both the companies are within the range of 1:1. Thus it can be said that the liquidity position of both the companies fall within the range and the company is able to pay its liabilities well with the short term assets (Nissim and Penman, 2001). Efficiency ratios The efficiency ratios show the ability of the company to manage its inventory and debtors. The ratios used to determine the efficiency are the inventory turnover ratio and the debtors turnover ratio. The inventory turnover for Sainsbury is 16 days and that of Tesco is 21 days. Thus it can be said that Sainsbury is more efficient than Tesco in managing its inventory. The debtors payment period for Sainsbury is 6 days and for Tesco, it is 12 days. Thus it can be said that Sainsbury is managing its debtors more efficiently than Tesco. The higher the debtors ratio it is not a good sign for the organization (Cull, Demirgu Kunt and Mordug, 2007). Financial structure ratios These ratios show the ability of the company to cover up the interest and the earning of the shareholders on the investment in the shares of Tesco and Sainsbury. The interest coverage ratio shows the ability of the company to repay its interest expense from the profitability. The lower the ratio, it is better for the organization. It is seen that the interest coverage for Sainsbury is less than Tesco (Palepu, Healy and Peek, 2010). The earnings of the shareholders of Tesco is more than the earning of the shareholders of Sainsbury. The share price of Sainsbury is higher than Tesco. But the return of the share holders is less (Sainsbury plc - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2014, 2014) ; (Tesco PLC Annual Report and Financial Statements 2014, 2014). Conclusion and Recommendations for Sainsbury The ratio analysis shows that the financial position of Sainsbury is stable. The company has been doing good business in UK and rest of the world. However it receives tough competition from other supermarkets in UK. They are Tesco and Aldi. The financial performance of Sainsbury in comparison to Tesco shows the profitability position of Sainsbury is higher than that of Tesco. But the return of the investors of Tesco is more than Sainsbury. Sainsbury can maximize the return of the shareholders. This will earn the confidence of the investors. Sainsbury can venture into new products. They can emphasize more on the clothes section apart from the food section. The financial performance of the company showed positive improvements. The profit before tax was up by 5.3% and the earning per share was up by 6.5% in the year 2014. They also paid dividend to the share holders. Critical evaluation of the limitations of ratio analysis 1. The different companies in different industries and they operate in different environmental conditions and depends on the regulatory mechanism by the Government. Thus the comparison of two companies belonging to two different industries can be misleading (Garrison, Brewer and Noreen, 2015).2. The accounting standards follow different accounting policies which affects the ratio analysis.3. The ratio analysis shows the relationship between the past performance and uses past information but the investors are more concerned of the current and future information (KIRKOS, SPATHIS and MANOLOPOULOS, 2007). References Basu, C. (2015).Four Basic Types of Financial Ratios Used to Measure a Company's Performance. [online] Small Business - Chron.com. Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/four-basic-types-financial-ratios-used-measure-companys-performance-25299.html [Accessed 19 Feb. 2015]. Besley, S., Brigham, E., Clark, D. and Besley, S. (2000).Study guide to accompany Essentials of managerial finance. Fort Worth [Tex.]: Dryden Press. Colombo, S., Forde, M., Main, I. and Shigeishi, M. (2005). Predicting the ultimate bending capacity of concrete beams from the relaxation ratio analysis of AE signals.Construction and Building Materials, 19(10), pp.746-754. Cull, R., Demirgu Kunt, A. and Mordug, J. (2007). Financial performance and outreach: a global analysis of leading microbanks. pp.100-400. Desai, R., Palepu, K., Gibson, C., Healy, P., Bernard, V., Wright, S., Bradbury, M. and Lee, P. (n.d.).Analysis of financial statement information. Finkler, S. and Ward, D. (1999).Cost Accounting for Health Care Organizations: Concepts and Applications. pp.500-600. Garrison, R., Brewer, P. and Noreen, E. (2015).Managerial accounting. 1st ed. [ebook] pp.1-180. Available at: https://senas.lnb.lt/stotisFiles/uploadedAttachments/27_Managerial_accounting201392831823.pdf [Accessed 19 Feb. 2015]. Grier, W. (2015).Credit Analysis of Financial Institutions. pp.70-90. J-sainsbury.co.uk, (2015).J Sainsbury plc / Home. [online] Available at: https://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2015]. KIRKOS, E., SPATHIS, C. and MANOLOPOULOS, Y. (2007). Data Mining techniques for the detection of fraudulent financial statements.Expert Systems with Applications, 32(4), pp.995-1003. Lohrey, J. (2015).Importance of Ratio Analysis in Financial Planning. [online] Small Business - Chron.com. Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-ratio-analysis-financial-planning-80600.html [Accessed 19 Feb. 2015]. Nissim, D. and Penman, S. (2001). Ratio Analysis and Equity Valuation : From Research to Practise.Review of Accounting Studies, 6(1), pp.109-154. Palepu, K., Healy, P. and Peek, E. (2010).Business analysis and valuation. Andover: South-Western. Peterson Drake, P. and Fabozzi, F. (2006).Analysis of financial statements. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Sainbury's Live Well For Less, (2015).Sainsbury's Clothes - Sainsbury's Tu Clothing Collection. [online] Available at: https://www.sainsburys-live-well-for-less.co.uk/tu-clothing/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2015]. Sainsbury plc - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2014. (2014). 1st ed. pp.77-85. Sainsburys.co.uk, (2015).Sainsbury's. [online] Available at: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/index.jsp [Accessed 19 Feb. 2015]. Sainsburys.co.uk, (2015).Sainsbury's online Grocery Shopping and Fresh Food Delivery. [online] Available at: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/gb/groceries?langId=44storeId=10151krypto=GNB3hDNeBpLC50juEOcjPHiWM8NjwU13R8L2ule83CxScMHA29hF%2BYO53GSXOoUNWY5b4jz4jn9h%0AxeF%2BhS%2FK2nst4N3%2FdEMDoSsX1j%2FuRjnRlMC0YKl2WdxEZYZtJ9lXddkey=https:gb/groceries [Accessed 19 Feb. 2015]. Tesco PLC Annual Report and Financial Statements 2014. (2014). 1st ed. pp.64-130. Tesco plc, (2015).Tesco plc. [online] Available at: https://www.tescoplc.com/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2015]. Tesco.com, (2015).Tesco.com - online shopping; bringing the supermarket to you - Every little helps. [online] Available at: https://www.tesco.com/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2015].

The Centralia Mine free essay sample

The Centralia Mine opened in 1907 and remained free of fatal accidents for decades (Walker, 2006). By the 1940’s mine inspectors began reporting excessive coal dust in the mines and also provided recommendations. In March 25, 1947, the Centralia No. 5 coal mine exploded near the town of Centralia, Illinois, killing 111 people. The explosion was caused when an under burdened explosive detonation ignited coal dust. The explosion of this mine should not have been a surprise to anyone. Driscoll Scanlan, who was a state mine inspector, notified public sector safety professionals from state and federal agencies of the hazards as a result of inspections. There were also union complaints and letters to state officials. Various officials of mine safety agencies and the mine company were notified on more than one occasion. Scanlan as well as the mine’s union had also pushed to have the hazards corrected. The lack of the federal and state officials to take action, along with the ignition of built up coal dust, resulted in the death of 111 coal miners. We will write a custom essay sample on The Centralia Mine or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Identify and explain four (4) logistical alternatives Scanlan could have addressed. In 1941, Illinois Governor Dwight Green appointed Driscoll Scanlan, as one of the states 16 mine inspectors. Scanlan was highly recommended by a state representative (Martin, 1948). He was appointed as the inspector of the district which included Centralia Mine No. 5. State inspectors jobs include making sure mine operators comply with the state mining law (Stillman, 2010). His first inspection of Centralia No. 5 was in 1942. In his first report, his recommendations included cleaning and sprinkling the haulage roads. Scanlan inspected the mine several times in the years before the explosion. At the end of each inspection he sent his report to the Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals. Several of his reports throughout 1942-1944 repeated his previous recommendations and added new one. In one of the latter ones, he recommended that the mine be rocked dusted (Stillman, 2010). In follow up to his reports, he should have inquired with the Director for the status of his recommendations. When he found that none of them were taken care of, he could have let the miners know what the issues were and helped fix the areas in which there were problems. Scanlan could have also worked with the union to push fixing the mine or shutting it down until repaired. When he made the threat to shut them down, the company started to fix some of the problems that were indicated in his reports. The changes that the company made to the mines were only temporary. His only other option would be to try to sprinkle the roads and help with the rock dusting. Analyze and discuss Scanlan’s motivation toward the Constitution (the law), bureaucracy (as a public administrator responsible to the public), and obligation. Scanlan carried out the duties of inspecting the mines. He reported his findings to the Department of Mines and Minerals and the State Mining Board (Stillman, 2010). Scanlan was truly an advocate for the miners. He, unlike some the other inspectors, did not get involved in the political aspects with the companies. Many of the inspectors would have drinks with the company officials and provide brief inspection reports. Scanlan was quite different. Scanlan talked to the miners and made sure that their complaints were included in his inspection reports (Stillman, 2010). The local union expressed their concerns to the State of Illinois in response to the findings of the special investigation commission (Stillman, 2010). They also followed up with a letter to Governor Green, thanking Scanlan for taking the issues to Prudent the Superintendent and local officials on their behalf (Stillman, 2010). Scanlan made 13 inspections and reports, each were reported to the Department of Mining and Minerals. Most of his reports were dismissed and responded to as not being as serious as it seems. Take a position on two (2) possible paths of action for Scanlan and defend your choices. Business and political gain played a critical role in the conditions that led to the accidents. Although Scanlan provided numerous reports, his superiors down played the seriousness of his recommendations. They seemed to be more concerned about keeping the officials happy. The lack of attention given to the seriousness of the inspection reports provided by Scanlan proved to be detrimental to the miners. His inspection reports were ignored by state mining officials and mine company supervisors. Scanlan’s first course of action should have been to shut down the mine. Being a state inspector, he had the authority to shut down a mine if there were violations that had been brought to the company’s attention, but not addressed in a reasonable amount of time. This action, in my opinion, would have been the best course of action. An alternative course of action would have been to go the officials that are higher than the state and federal officials that he was dealing with. He had performed enough inspections, over the course of 3 years, and found that if the mining conditions were not improved, that fatalities would eventually occur at this mine (Saleh, 2011). The state and federal officials were more concerned about continuing business. They did not take into consideration the seriousness of the inspection reports that Scanlan was continually providing them with. The lack of their follow through and the dismissing of his recommendations would have been taking more seriously by someone at a higher level. I feel that they would have stepped in and taken action that may have saved the lives of the miners. This disaster followed by another mining disaster in 1968 caused Congress to become more aggressive with mining companies by passing the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act in 1969 (Ward, 2007). Unfortunately it took another terrible mining incident to get them to notice how important it is for higher officials to make companies follow the recommendations of mining inspectors.