Mass Extinctions in the fossil record during End Permian Research Paper

Mass Extinctions in the fossil record during End Permian - Research Paper Example What distinguishes the theories is their validity in empirical terms as well as relevance scientifically. The first significant theory alludes that at the time of the mass extinction of species occupying the earth, there could have been a very catastrophic occurrence of volcanic eruption. The magnitude of the volcanic eruption could have been so big that it ended up wiping out a significant proportion of the earth’s population. The other postulation alludes that a meteorite might have struck the earth thus instigating the death of different species that occupied it. What intrigues is the magnitude of catastrophe that could have wiped out almost all the species adorning the earth without causing a major damage to the earth’s crustal rock layers. Besides, the selectivity in the survival of the species also raises doubts in reference to the theories alluded to offer the explanation to the occurrence of the wipe out. Evolutionary and archeological studies have pointed out to the possible occurrence of a period of a near extinction of all the species on the earth’s surface. This was irrespective of their habitat. This period is referred to as the end Permian time. The occurrences at the time have not been ascertained. The fact is that there have only been theories put forward to possibly try and explain the phenomena that occurred at the time. The following discourse puts the occurrences during the end Permian time into perspective. The focus is to try and critically analyses the occurrence of events during the time. In doing that, the works seeks to make references to theories postulated by scholars in regards to explaining the occurrence. The theories or stipulations are categorically selected depending on their relevance, accuracy, as well as empirical validity. The objective is to try and give a possible chronological account to the occurrence of the near extinction of

Economic systems envisioned by Adam Smith in An Inquiry into the Essay

Economic systems envisioned by Adam Smith in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations and Karl Marx in The Communist Manifesto - Essay Example The food in the farms is produced for the global village and manufacturers produce for the entire globe. The consumers of the products remain to be the entire world. Adam Smith however, unlike Carl Marx, believes the wealth of the nations’ originates from the ability of laborers to work, this being skill and also the proportion of the employed to the unemployed. He says, this is what differentiates the wealthy nation and the poor nation. In that, a wealthy nation has less people working but everyone due to the sill of the laborers has abundant and is satisfied. However, in poor nations, the labor is more but unskilled such that, the little that is produced is not enough for the nation (Smith, 1776). Unlike Carl Marx, this perspective draws to attention the skills of labor and the units thereof that are accommodated by the capital. Another perspective in the causes of the wealth of nations is division of labor. Both Carl Marx and Adam Smith agree that it has led to growth of wealth. However, according to Carl Marx, it has continued to grow the rift between owners of factors of production and its laborers. Division of labor according to Adam Smith has contributed greatly in enhancing wealth. This is because, first, it has led to specialization. There are different branches of trade more so in the manufacturing industry. The different branches have given rise to expertise per work space (Smith, 1776). This has led to labor’s ability to do more than when they aren’t specialized. Another aspect is that of time. Time is greatly saved in production when division of labor is involved. According to Smith, it becomes easier for a worker to perform his work with specialty without wasting time changing and adopting to new skill. Another important cause of wealth through labor division has been the technological inventions (Smith, 1776). It is rather true that when one has one focus on work, they are able to come up with easier

Problems Identified By The Narasimham Committee Essay Example for Free

Problems Identified By The Narasimham Committee Essay 1. Directed Investment Programme : The committee objected to the system of maintaining high liquid assets by commercial banks in the form of cash, gold and unencumbered government securities. It is also known as the statutory liquidity Ratio (SLR). In those days, in India, the SLR was as high as 38.5 percent. According to the M. Narasimhams Committee it was one of the reasons for the poor profitability of banks. Similarly, the Cash Reserve Ratio- (CRR) was as high as 15 percent. Taken together, banks needed to maintain 53. 5 percent of their resources idle with the RBI. 2. Directed Credit Programme : Since nationalization the government has encouraged the lending to agriculture and small-scale industries at a confessional rate of interest. It is known as the directed credit programme. The committee opined that these sectors have matured and thus do not need such financial support. This directed credit programme was successful from the governments point of view but it affected commercial banks in a bad manner. Basically it deteriorated the quality of loan, resulted in a shift from the security oriented loan to purpose oriented. Banks were given a huge target of priority sector lending, etc. ultimately leading to profit erosion of banks. 3. Interest Rate Structure : The committee found that the interest rate structure and rate of interest in India are highly regulated and controlled by the government. They also found that government used bank funds at a cheap rate under the SLR. At the same time the government advocated the philosophy of subsidized lending to certain sectors. The committee felt that there was no need for interest subsidy. It made banks handicapped in terms of building main strength and expanding credit supply. 4. Additional Suggestions : Committee also suggested that the determination of interest rate should be on grounds of market forces. It further suggested minimizing the slabs of interest. Along with these major problem areas M. Narasimhams Committee also found various inconsistencies regarding the banking system in India. In order to remove them and make it more vibrant and efficient, it has given the following recommendations. Narasimham Committee Report I 1991 The Narsimham Committee was set up in order to study the problems of the Indian financial system and to suggest some recommendations for improvement in the efficiency and productivity of the financial institution. The committee has given the following major recommendations:- 1. Reduction in the SLR and CRR : The committee recommended the reduction of the higher proportion of the Statutory Liquidity Ratio SLR and the Cash Reserve Ratio CRR. Both of these ratios were very high at that time. The SLR then was 38.5% and CRR was 15%. This high amount of SLR and CRR meant locking the bank resources for government uses. It was hindrance in the productivity of the bank thus the committee recommended their gradual reduction. SLR was recommended to reduce from 38.5% to 25% and CRR from 15% to 3 to 5%. 2. Phasing out Directed Credit Programme : In India, since nationalization, directed credit programmes were adopted by the government. The committee recommended phasing out of this programme. This programme compelled banks to earmark then financial resources for the needy and poor sectors at confessional rates of interest. It was reducing the profitability of banks and thus the committee recommended the sto pping of this programme. 3. Interest Rate Determination : The committee felt that the interest rates in India are regulated and controlled by the authorities. The determination of the interest rate should be on the grounds of market forces such as the demand for and the supply of fund. Hence the committee recommended eliminating government controls on interest rate and phasing out the concessional interest rates for the priority sector. 4. Structural Reorganizations of the Banking sector : The committee recommended that the actual numbers of public sector banks need to be reduced. Three to four big banks including SBI should be developed as international banks. Eight to Ten Banks having nationwide presence should concentrate on the national and universal banking services. Local banks should concentrate on region specific banking. Regarding the RRBs (Regional Rural Banks), it recommended that they should focus on agriculture and rural financing. They recommended that the government should assure that henceforth there wont be any nationalization and private and foreign banks should be allowed liberal entry in India. 5. Establishment of the ARF Tribunal : The proportion of bad debts and Non-performing asset (NPA) of the public sector Banks and Development Financial Institute was very alarming in those days. The committee recommended the establishment of an Asset Reconstruction Fund (ARF). This fund will take over the proportion of the bad and doubtful debts from the banks and financial institutes. It would help banks to get rid of bad debts. 6. Removal of Dual control : Those days banks were under the dual control of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Banking Division of the Ministry of Finance (Government of India). The committee recommended the stepping of this system. It considered and recommended that the RBI should be the only main agency to regulate banking in India. 7. Banking Autonomy : The committee recommended that the public sector banks should be free and autonomous. In order to pursue competitiveness and efficiency, banks must enjoy autonomy so that they can reform the work culture and banking technology upgradation will thus be easy. Some of these recommendations were later accepted by the Government of India and became banking reforms. Narasimham Committee Report II 1998 In 1998 the government appointed yet another committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Narsimham. It is better known as the Banking Sector Committee. It was told to review the banking reform progress and design a programme for further strengthening the financial system of India. The committee focused on various areas such as capital adequacy, bank mergers, bank legislation, etc. It submitted its report to the Government in April 1998 with the following recommendations. 1. Strengthening Banks in India : The committee considered the stronger banking system in the context of the Current Account Convertibility CAC. It thought that Indian banks must be capable of handling problems regarding domestic liquidity and exchange rate management in the light of CAC. Thus, it recommended the merger of strong banks which will have multiplier effect on the industry. 2. Narrow Banking : Those days many public sector banks were facing a problem of the Non-performing assets (NPAs). Some of them had NPAs were as high as 20 percent of their assets. Thus for successful rehabilitation of these banks it recommended Narrow Banking Concept where weak banks will be allowed to place their funds only in short term and risk free assets. 3. Capital Adequacy Ratio: In order to improve the inherent strength of the Indian banking system the committee recommended that the Government should raise the prescribed capital adequacy norms. This will further improve their absorption capacity also. Currently the capital adequacy ration for Indian banks is at 9 percent. 4. Bank ownership : As it had earlier mentioned the freedom for banks in its working and bank autonomy, it felt that the government control over the banks in the form of management and ownership and bank autonomy does not go hand in hand and thus it recommended a review of functions of boards and enabled them to adopt professional corporate strategy. 5. Review of banking laws : The committee considered that there was an urgent need for reviewing and amending main laws governing Indian Banking Industry like RBI Act, Banking Regulation Act, State Bank of India Act, Bank Nationalisation Act, etc. This upgradation will bring them in line with the present needs of the banking sector in India. Apart from these major recommendations, the committee has also recommended faster computerization, technology upgradation, training of staff, depoliticizing of banks, professionalism in banking, reviewing bank recruitment, etc. Evaluation of Narsimham Committee Reports The Committee was first set up in 1991 under the chairmanship of Mr. M. Narasimham who was 13th governor of RBI. Only a few of its recommendations became banking reforms of India and others were not at all considered. Because of this a second committee was again set up in 1998. As far as recommendations regarding bank restructuring, management freedom, strengthening the regulation are concerned, the RBI has to play a major role. If the major recommendations of this committee are accepted, it will prove to be fruitful in making Indian banks more profitable and efficient.

Business Analysis of Morrisons

Business Analysis of Morrisons Executive Summary In this competitive era every organization is facing financial ups and downs from last few years due to recession. UK has a wide variety of retailers all with big infrastructure and chains that include food, clothing and lots of other products. This assignment focuses on the financial growth of Morrison PLC and two other competitors of Morrison i.e. Sainsbury and Tesco. The report will shed light on the key indicators affecting the performance of Morrison and its two competitors Sainsbury and Tesco. Both Sainsbury and Tesco have a brand name in the retailing sector and give good competition to Morrison. To find out accurate result we collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Recession effects the whole world same as UK. Every company applies lots of strategies to overcome this. Some will successful and some unable of overcome the impact of recession. Morrison is one of the companies from retailing sector, which is successfully recovering from the recession, and giving tough competition to its competitors. In this assignment we will also discuss about the strategies adopted by the Morrison to overcome from recession and how it maintain it self in competitive market. And also try to find out what other methods Morrison used to increase its growth as compare to its competitors Sainsbury and Tesco Introduction Retailing industry is one of the biggest growing industries in UK. It stands on number 3rd in the world economy. Initially retailing industry used to restrain only small scale shops. But now retailers are more focused on customer services and expand their business at very large scale. In UK there are several supermarkets that have their long chains like Morrison, Sainsbury, Tesco and ASDA. From last five years UK retailing industry provide more than 190,000 employments and this figure is growing continuously (British Retail Consortium 2004b). It is estimated as 11% of the total UKS workforce.UK retailing industry provides part time jobs more then other sectors. UK retailing sector generates revenue of around 265bn per year which is the 8% of total GDP of UK economy.70% of UK supermarket is dominated by Morrison, Sainsbury, Tesco, and Asda. Morrison Morrison was founded by William Morrison in1899.In 1961 he opened his first store in Bradford. Very soon Morrison took over the Safeway and in early 2005 Morrison became the 4th largest Supermarket of UK retail industry. It has 403 stores all over the UK. Main business of Morrison is food and grocery. In 2005 Morrison generated 150,000 employments all over the UK. More then 9 million customers visit Morrison everyday. Morrison had its own warehouses and industries to maintain the demand and supply and has sufficient staff to provide better customer service. Morrison has more than 100yr experience in retailing sector. In 2008 Morrison awarded for the outstanding contribution in the retailing sector. In 2007 Sir Lan Gibson (64) joined Morrison as a non executive deputy chairmen. In 2010, 29 march Mr. Dalton Philips (43) Joined the group as Chief Executive. Mr. Mark Gunter (52) Joined Morrison as a Group retail director in the year 1993 and In 2005 Richard Pennycook was appointed as a G roup finance Director. Morrison has strong and experienced management hierarchy, which provides sustainability in the market and helped Morrison to recover from the Recession. In 210/11 Morrison sales increased 7% from the previous year. Overall growth of Morrison for this year is 12.8%. With this growth Morrison is giving tough competition to the competitors like Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury. Contribution of these three supermarkets is only 3.5%, whereas only Morrison contributes with the growth of 4.5% in 2010/11 to the market. This is one of the most beneficial years for the Morrison. USP of Morrison or reason of the growth is Morrison is use of unique manufacturing and packaging techniques and most of the food is prepared everyday to provide fresh food to the customers. Morrison continuously updated itself with use of new technologies and new innovative tools in supermarket. Now days Morrison is working on incorporating digital technology in its operations. Morrison provides all te chnological facilities to the customers like online shopping, self checkouts, card payments etc. Subsidiaries of Morrison plc- Farmers boy limited Neerock limited Safeway limited Rathbone kear limited Optimization developments limited Bos brothers fruit and vegetables Farock insurance company limited Optimization developments limited These are the few subsidiaries of Morrison from where Morrison purchase their food for the customers. Sainsbury:- Sainsbury was established in the year 1869. Today Sainsbury has 890 stores out of which 547 are supermarkets and 343 are convince stores. It has joint venture with land securities group PLC and The British Land Company PLC. It also has Sainsburys bank in collaboration with Lloyds bank. Sainsbury serves fresh, healthy and tasty food. It entertains around 19 million consumers a week and has over 16 % share in market. It has a workforce of 15000 people. Tesco :- Tesco is one of the biggest retailers in UK. Tesco has expanded its business almost all over the world like USA, Europe, Asia etc. In UK, Tesco started in 1924. It has 2482 stores and 287669 numbers of employees. Tesco was formed by Sir Jack Cohen. It was the first self service store. Tesco introduced the concept of superstores in 1967.Tesco focused on the strategy of serving good products at low cost. In 2002-03 Tesco introduced more then five thousand food products to grab the attention of customers. Tesco use many technical innovative tools to provide better service to customers like online shopping, self checkouts etc. Tesco deals in food, clothing and all other daily use products. Tesco is one the biggest competitor for Morrison. Quantitative Data data which we can quantify and verify and that can be manipulated statistically is called quantitative data. The data which is in the form of numbers and figures is quantitative data. Quantitative data analysis plays an important role in analyzing the business performance of a company. Both quantitative and qualitative data are necessary to analyze the business performance of a company in a better way. Financial ratio analysis is a type of quantitative analysis to analyze the performance of a business. Financial analysis- we can define financial analysis as the analysis of the financial condition of the company. It involves investigating if the capital is efficiently invested, efficiency of oprations, profitability of the company and the security of the debtors money . there are two types of financial analysis techniques- fund flow analysis and financial ratio analysis. Company requires these techniques to analyse if it is efficiently investing and using its financial resources. Tools and techniques of financial statement analysis- Horizontal and vertical analysis Ratio analysis Horizontal analysis- analyzing and comparing the financial data of a company of 2 or more years is called horizontal analysis Vertical analysis- this analysis is conducted on profit and loss account or on balance sheet and the result calculated is in percentage of a total amount. Ratio analysis- it is the most excepted and widely used technique. The result is calculated as one number articulated in terms of other. In this assignment we will be using this technique to quantitatively analyze the performance of Morrison with respect to its competitors Sainsbury and Tesco. Some of the ratios analyzed for Morrison, Sainsbury and Tesco are stated below- PROFITABILITY RATIOS- it can be defined as evaluation of the total performance and the effectiveness of the company. Some of the profitability ratios are discussed below- ROCE- This ratio stands for return on capital employed. We know that the main aim of the company for investing its financial resources is the profit it is reaping out of it. Therefore we can say that it is the success of a business in meeting its goals. Formula for return on capital employed- [Profit before interest and tax/capital employed] x100 Significance- It is one of the widely excepted methods to analyze the profitability and the overall performance of the company. It gives us information if the investment of the capital is optimal or not and funds are efficiently allocated and utilized by the company or not. Calculations- ROCE calculation of Morrison for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (612/4378) x100=13.97 In 2009- (655/4520) x100=14.49 In 2010- (858/4949) x100=17.33 ROCE calculation of Sainsbury for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (479/4935) x100=9.7 In 2009- (466/4376) x100=10.64 In 2010- (733/4966) x100=14.76 ROCE calculation of Tesco for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (1402/12099) x100=11.58 In 2009- (1419/12942) x100=10.96 In 2010- (1596/14681) x100=10.87 Net Profit Margin- it is the ratio of total net profit a company gains after eliminating all the taxes divided by the net sales. It is articulated in percentage. Formula: Net Profit Margin= [profit before interest and tax/sales or turnover] x100 Significance- to examine the overall profit of the company this ratio is used and is significantly used by proprietors. The return on investment depends upon the net profit. Calculations- Net Profit Margin calculation of Morrison for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (612/12151) x100=5.03 In 2009- (655/13615) x100=4.81 In 2010- (858/14348) x100=5.97 Net Profit Margin calculation of Sainsbury for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (479/16835) x100=2.84 In 2009- (466/17875) x100=2.60 In 2010- (733/18882) x100=3.88 Net Profit Margin calculation of Tesco for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (1402/23684) x100=5.91 In 2009- (1419/25734) x100=5.51 In 2010- (1596/27485) x100=5.80 Net Asset Turnover- it can be defined as the measure of capability of the firm to generate turnover by an efficient utilization of its assets. Formula- sales or turnover/capital employed Significance- higher is the ratio more efficiently and optimally the company has utilized its assets and lower ratio means the assets are underutilized. Higher is the ratio signifies the requirement of very low investment in the business and if the ratio is low it signifies incompetent management. Calculations- Net Asset Turnover calculation of Morrison for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- 12151/4378=2.77 In 2009- 13615/4520=3.01 In 2010- 14348/4949=2.89 Net Asset Turnover calculation of Sainsbury for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- 16835/4935=3.41 In 2009- 17875/4379=4.08 In 2010- 18882/4966=3.80 Net Asset Turnover calculation of Tesco for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- 23684/12099=1.95 In 2009- 25734/12942=1.98 In 2010- 27485/14681=1.87 Gross Profit Margin- it can be defined as the total amount of profit a firm can generate by selling its goods. Formula- [gross profit/sales or turnover] x100 Significance- it is an indication of how much the selling price of per unit of goods can be lowered without any loss in operations of the company. Higher is this ratio more efficient is the production of goods in the company and vice versa. Calculations- Gross Profit Margin calculation of Morrison for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (818/12151) x100=6.73 In 2009- (913/13615) x100=6.70 In 2010- (1062/14348) x100=7.40 Gross Profit Margin calculation of Sainsbury for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (1002/16835) x100=5.95 In 2009- (1036/17875) x100=5.79 In 2010- (1082/18882) x100=5.73 Gross Profit Margin calculation of Tesco for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (1761/23684) x100=7.43 In 2009- (2048/25734) x100=7.95 In 2010- (2270/27485) x100=8.25 ACTIVITY RATIOS- It is the measure of how efficiently and optimally the resources of a company are engaged. It is also known as turnover ratio because it is the measure of how quickly the assets are converted into sales. Stock days or Stock turnover- it is the relationship of cost of sold items during an interval of time and cost of average inventory during a particular interval of time. It tells about the times the company is able to convert the inventory into sales and the efficiency of company to manage its inventory. Formula- [stock or inventory/cost of sales] x365 Significance- it is the measure of how quick a company can convert its inventory into sales. Higher is this ratio indicates more efficient the company is an managing its inventory. It means the company is able to sell more and therefore will have adequate capital to get new inventory and vice versa. Calculations- Stock turnover calculation of Morrison for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (442/12151) x365=13 days In 2009- (494/13615) x365=13 days In 2010- (577/14348) x365=14 days Stock turnover calculation of Sainsbury for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (681/16835) x365=15 days In 2009- (689/17875) x365=14 days In 2010- (702/18882) x365=13 days Stock turnover calculation of Tesco for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (2603/23684) x365=40 days In 2009- (2669/25734) x365=37 days In 2010- (2729/27485) x365=36 days LIQUIDITY RATIOS- It is a financial technique to measure the short term solvency of the company financial condition. It is the measure of the capacity of a company to fulfill its short term obligations. Current ratio- it the relationship of companys current assets to its current liabilities. It is the measure of the potential of a company to accomplish its short term obligations. Formula- current assets/current liabilities Significance- it in the measure of how liquid are the assets of a company. It tells us how much safe a company is for its creditors. It is the measure of how stable company is financially. Higher ratio shows that company is more efficient to fulfill their short term obligations and vice versa. Calculations- Current ratio calculation of Morrison for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- 910/1853=0.49 In 2009- 1066/2024=0.52 In 2010- 1092/2152=0.50 Current ratio calculation of Sainsbury for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- 1722/2652=0.64 In 2009- 1591/2919=0.54 In 2010- 1853/2793=0.66 Current ratio calculation of Tesco for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- 6648/12689=0.52 In 2009- 13669/18115=0.75 In 2010- 11392/16015=0.71 Quick ratio- it is also called as liquid ratio or acid test ratio. It the relationship of liquid assets of company to its current liabilities. Formula- current assets less stocks/current liabilities Significance- It is the measure of how capable a company is in meeting in obligations and promises. Higher is this ratio indicates that company is more capable to meet its objectives and obligations. Calculations- Quick ratio calculation of Morrison for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (910-442)/1853=0.25 In 2009- (1066-494)/2024=0.28 In 2010- (1092-577)/2152=0.23 Quick ratio calculation of Sainsbury for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (1722-681)/2652=0.39 In 2009- (1591-689)/2919=0.30 In 2010- (1853-702)/2793=0.41 Quick ratio calculation of Tesco for the financial year 2008-2010- In 2008- (6648-2603)/12689=0.31 In 2009- (13669-2669)/18115=0.60 In 2010- (11392-2729)/16015=0.54 Comparison- Year-2010 Morrison Sainsbury Tesco ROCE 17.33 14.76 10.87 Net Profit Margin 5.97 3.88 5.80 Net Asset Turnover 2.89 3.80 1.87 Gross Profit Margin 7.40 5.73 8.25 Stock Turnover 14 days 13 days 36 days Current ratio 0.50 0.66 0.71 Quick ratio 0.23 0.41 0.54 Ratio analysis carried on Morrison, Sainsbury and Tesco for the financial year 2010 The above data shows some of the ratios analyzed for M orison, Sainsbury and Tesco for the financial year 2010.from the above data we can see that the ROCE ratio for the Morrison is high as compare to its competitors. Higher is this ratio high is the profitability and overall performance of the company. Thus Morrison tops the chart followed by Sainsbury and then Tesco at the last. If we have a look at the Net Profit Margin we can see that Morrison has the highest followed by Tesco and then Sainsbury. Since higher is the net profit margining more profitable is the business. Thus Morrison has made more profits as compared to Sainsbury and Tesco in concern of the revenue they have generated. If we compare the net asset turnover ratio Sainsbury tops the chart followed by Morrison and Tesco in the last. This data tells us that Sainsbury has made lowest investment followed by Morrison and Tesco lag behind in the race indicating inefficient use and management of resources. Looking at the gr oss profit margin Tesco has the highest followed by Morrison and Sainsbury. We know that if higher is this ratio more efficient is the production of goods in the company. Thus Tesco wins in this aspect and is most efficient amongst the three in the production of goods. Analyzing the stock turnover ratio Sainsbury has the least followed by Morrison and Tesco has the highest. Lower is this more quick is company in converting its stock into sales and more is the profit. Current ratio of Morrison is the least followed by Sainsbury and Tesco. Since higher is this ratio more is the ability of firm to pay its shorter debts. Thus Tesco wins in this race. Comparing the quick ratio, again Tesco has the highest, then Sainsbury and then Morrison. More is this ratio indicates more financially strong is the company. Thus Tesco again tops the chart. From the above discussion we can see that in some areas Morrison is doing good like profitability and in some areas it as lagging like financial strength as compare to its competitors Sainsbury and Tesco. Therefore Morrison should keep on working hard to compete with its competitors. Similarly we can compare the financial data of Morrison, Sainsbury and Tesco for the other financial years 2008 and 2009. QUALITATIVE DATA- It can be defined as ways of collecting information to illustrate the meaning of a situation or a problem instead of focusing on statistical approach of analysis. They help to explain a situation in more depth and with more description. There are lot of qualitative methods in the management study to analyze the business of the company and its competitors. We will be using Porter and PESTEL analysis to qualitatively analyze the business and the market environment for Morrison, Sainsbury and Tesco in UK. Porters five forces Overall Level of Rivalry In retailing industry, UK is dominated by the Morrison, Tesco and Sainsbury. All three are big brand names in supermarket of UK. All three gives good competition to each other. All have equal number of resources to attract the customers. Power of Buyer Customer is the king of todays era. So the power of buyers is relatively high, customer have lots of options so he can easily switch between suppliers. It affects the overall profit of the organization. But due to less number of competitors Morrison have chance to attract more and more customers by providing more offers to its customers and using new strategies. Power of Supplier All big brands have their own manufacturing units , which decrease the power of suppliers .Moreover , purchasing from outside make the cost of a product high and reduce the profit , so organizations prefers to avoid purchasing goods from outsiders. In retailing sector suppliers are dominated by the consumers. Threat of New Entry -The threat of new entry in supermarket is very low, because it requires huge investment and big infrastructure. Apart from this new organization has to provide food and other material at very low cost to sustain in the market and compete with the existing retailers, which is quite hard. Secondly, consumer acceptance is one the major issue for new entries in this sector which makes supermarkets less attractive as compare to other sectors. Threat of Alternatives Because all three supermarkets deal in food and grocery, a long range of products is always available to the customers. So, the customer always has the chance to switch between products. It depends on the way of customer service and the cost and quality of the product, which can bind up the customer with the product and the same organization. To Sustain in market and maintain the growth rate, Morrison have to provide the good customer service and better product at low coast as compare to competitors. PESTEL Analysis Through PESTEL Analysis we can identify the external environmental factors which impact on the performance of Morrison and its competitors Tesco and Sainsbury. Political Government of UK has imposed strict rules and regulation for the company to protect the environment e.g. laws related to waste disposal by companies. Food and other retailers will have to follow these rules planned by EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and it will affect the cost of businesses. The bovine tuberculosis and chronic diseases through waste will compel the government to make more strict and stiff rules against these companies for the protection of company. European food authority has imposed regulations on food retailers to indicate the nutritional information and standard of quality of their products. The competition commission of uk and office of fair trading keep an eye on the main five supermarket retailing companies due to their high market share in the supermarket industry. Economic Rise or failure in economy has a direct impact on the business because it affects the purchasing power of consumer. After 2008, UK officially declared the recession in economy. Though, government helps a lot to reduce the impact of recession on business and normal people by cutting interest rates. (Euromonitor, 2010), and it in turn helps to increase the purchasing power of customers and increase the business in UK. Whereas people are still not able to become heavy spender like before. Now a days people think twice before spending money and avoid to buy the product which are less in use which affect the overall profit of business.(Keynote,2010). After, 2010 economy of UK has started growing up slowly and purchasing power of customer is increasing day by day. Social In UK population , there are less young people and children as compare to retired people.(Herald Scotland,2010) which affects the retailing business of food and grocery because it is understood that the eating and purchasing habits of older people is totally different and slow as compare to youngsters . They prefer light food mainly cooked at home and they like home deliveries to avoid the shopping, which cost extra to the stores. Apart from this older people dont believe in online shopping because they find it inconvenient and difficult to use (Turban et al., 2001), overall it affects the business growth. Technological In this technological era every sector try to use new innovative tools to increase the performance and provide better customer service. Same is the case with supermarkets. Now a days every super market use technological tools like online shopping, self checkouts, card payments which is a revolution in the supermarkets. With the help of these technical tools retailers can increase the productivity and efficiency of the employees and business and reduce the billing time of customers which automatically provide customer satisfaction and help to increase the overall profit. According to national statistics, 2010, people using internet have grown by 50% from last few years. In UK more than 70% people know the use of internet and prefer to use online shopping which saves time and money of customer. Environmental In UK, People believe in recycling, reduced packaging and avoid plastic bags. This kind of initiatives towards the improvement of environment is also promoted by UK government and Morrison actively takes part in CSR. From last few years more then 70% people have stopped using plastic bags and prefer to use reusable bags for shopping which cut down the packing cost of a product and increase the profit of an organization.(Office for National Statistics,2010) Legal By HM Treasury, 2010, UK govt. has increased the VAT charges by 20% on the products, which affects the overall profit of organizations. Apart from this National minimum wage in UK is very high as compare to other countries which is one the reason of reduction in profit on the products for the supermarkets. It is assumed that standard UK minimum wages could increase by 15% which can affect badly on the supermarkets of UK. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Morrison should move its focus towards different product categories instead of just focusing on being a specialist in food products in order to compete with other competitors like Sainsbury and Tesco. 2. Morrison should pay attention towards analyzing its financial and other resources and should try to strategically allocate these resources in an optimal fashion to achieve improvement in performance and efficiency of the overall business. 3. This is a world of technology and development. Thus Morrison should try to incorporate new and better technology like self checkouts and other form of technology like digital technology which should have features like online shopping in order to provide better customer service to its customers and compete with other competitors in the market. 4. Morrison should focus on better customer service and should focus on the concepts of CSR to fulfill its role and duties towards the society and the environment. CONCLUSIONS- 1. The financial analysis of Morrison shows that it is able to use its financial resources optimally and is able to fulfill its duties towards the creditors. But it really needs to work hard to improve on where it is lagging and it has a long way to go. 2. Morrison financial statement shows that the flow of fund and cash is strong and it is efficiently managing its financial resources but needs to improve more. 3. Morrison is working on the concept of CSR and understands its duties towards society and environment. This will help Morrison to build a good image and relationship with people in society. It was recorded that it did charity of around 1.18 million pounds. 4. Morrison should focus on adding new food products which are healthy to attract more customers.

The Great Depression Essay -- essays research papers

The Depression was a period of time after the economic boom of the 1920's in America, when the economy went downhill. People lost money, jobs, shares, businusses went bankrupt and the farming industry suffered greatly. The Republic Government at the time lead by Hoover was still following policies of Lassez Faire so business was not getting the support it needed to get it back on track. The Republic Governments Protectionist policies were one of the causes of the great depression. There were trade problems associated with their protectionist policies. The Republic Government made high tarrifs on imported goods. This was to make sure that the Americans were buying their own products. Buying American products meant that they would be keeping the money in their economy instead of sending it to other countries. Other countries, now unable to export goods to the Americans retaliated by increasing their tarrifs on american goods. America could no longer export their goods to other countries. Mass production meant that there was more goods being produced than what needed to be but because other countries had high tarrifs on American goods, they could not be exported. Output became greater than demand so goods cheapened in price. American goods were not being sold. This resulted in cut-backs in production which meant that there was less employment available so people lost t heir jobs. Profits being made lessened and so did the value of shares. A lack of regulation in the stock market was also a cause of the great depression. Most shares that were changing hands were done so through borrowed money. Buying shares on the margin this way worked very well when share prices were rising. When prices began to slow down or cheapened in value however, trouble arose in the stock market. Seventy five per cent of share prices could be borrowed. This caused a lot of speculation which helped to increase share valuse further. The Federal Reserve Board gave easy credit to share holders and taxes were cut so that more money was available. This lack of regulation created more speculation which caused more share prices to increase. The farming problems in the United States increased and were one of the causes for the depression. Because of mechanisation there was over production of goods by farmers. There were large surpluses of food. It could not be exported because of high tarrifs... ...d unemployment was on the rise. people became homeless and had to live around the citys in slum areas they liked to call hoovervilles. suicide rose as a result of debts and the pressures being put on people who couldnt handle it. ill health rose as a result of poor hygene and living conditions. Elderly people were robbed of pensions and svaings and so had nothing to live for anymore. Women before the depression had begun getting involved in the stock market. so during the depression they lost money like the men did. They were only a percentage of the people involved in the stock market however, it was mostly still men. Women also stopped buying as many labour saving devices during this time. African Americans during the Depression were mostly still working on farms. They suffered like the rest of the farming population with debts and surplus produce. Hoover did not do all he could to stop the economic depression. he did what he believed in though, and he made attempts to get the economy back on track. He was only human in his actions, you can not do something if you dont feel it is right. and he was not going to help his nation if he thought he was going the wrong way about it.

The Problem of Evil Essay -- essays research papers

Is there any satisfactory way of reconciling the existence of an omnipotent and all-loving God with the existence of natural evil (i.e. evil not due to the misuse of human free will)? One of the central claims of the Judaeo-Christian tradition is the existence of an omnipotent and all-loving God. Against this is the observation that people and animals suffer evil. By common sense, we would infer from this observation that God, as conceived in this tradition, does not exist - for, if He did, He would prevent the evil. This inference is called the Problem of Evil by those who profess one of the religions in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, and their attempts to 'solve' the problem have given rise to a labyrinth of sophistry. Put briefly, the solution most commonly espoused to the Problem of Evil is * Some suffering is caused by others' misuse of their own free-will (as in murder). * God does not intervene to stop people freely choosing evil because: o people can be virtuous only if they freely choose between good and evil; o having virtuous people in the world is a greater good than eradicating evil; o therefore God must allow people to be free; o therefore evil inflicted by other people is the price that God demands that we pay to enable some people to be virtuous. * Some suffering is caused by natural phenomena (as in earthquakes). Such occurrences enable people to be virtuous through: o heroics, such as rescuing those in danger; o strong faith in God, as it is harder to believe in God in the midst of grief; o humility, as people realise they are powerless against the whim of God. * Again, God does not intervene because he is using the natural disasters to engender virtue. I shall examine a number of such arguments, but first it is useful to clarify the nature of such debate. The nature of theological debate One difficulty that arises in writing about this subject is that the traditional view of God is ridiculous - as Hume's Philo says, it is fixed only "by the utmost licence of fancy and hypothesis", and the arguments put forward for it are transparently fallacious. In order to proceed with the debate at all, one must feign a deficit in the application of one's powers of reason, for if one relied exclusively on reason for deciding what to believe, then one would dismiss religion out of hand. It is well known that people hold their... ...answers here. First, although the discharge of benevolent deeds is a good thing, it is not such a great thing that it is worth inflicting war, pestilence, and old age on mankind. Second, there are ample opportunities for people to do great works that do not involve other people's suffering. For instance, they could build concert halls, or run marathons, or make scientific discoverie, or write novels. The claim that great human achievements can be secured only through other people's misery is an expression of pure evil, and not an argument for a benevolent God. Conclusion The existence of evil (natural or otherwise) in the world cannot possibly be reconciled with the existence of an omnipotent and all-loving God. If such a God existed, He would prevent the occurrence of such evil. This is therefore a definitive proof of atheism, in the sense of denying the existence of God as He is conceived in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. It must be admitted, though, that this conception of God is a sharply-delineated and simplistic one, whereas many people nowadays have a 'soft-focus' God. It is harder work for the atheist to refute the soft-focus God, although it can still be done.

Relationship Between Poverty and Anti-Social Behaviour Essay

Explore the relationship between poverty and antisocial behaviour. What policies have been introduced to tackle antisocial behaviour? In this essay I will highlight the psychological effects that poverty is likely to have on a person living in the western world and the possible behavioural consequences of this. I will discuss the problems that go along with children and young people being given prison sentences and I will suggest one viable change that may help to promote equality. Poverty in itself is not a direct cause of antisocial behaviour but the two are very much intertwined in our modern day individualistic society. Social hierarchy and elevated inequality amplify worries over self-worth across society. Most of us wish to feel accepted, appreciated and valued for who we are but a society that causes large amounts of people feel as though they are perceived as inferior and considered as less worthy, less valuable, less intelligent and a drain on the state not only causes unnecessary pain suffering and wasted potential, but also acquires the costs of the antisocial responses to the structures that demean them . Research shows a clear link between on-going poverty and negative developmental consequences. Mental health issues, behavioural problems, low self-esteem, depression, poor grades, anti-social behaviour and delinquency are all, unsurprisingly, in our society, far more prevalent among poor people. (mc Leod and shanahan 1996) The effect that poverty has on a person’s sense of self and identity is colossal. The intense stress of being poor, the stigma attached to being poor, the marginalization from greater society and the massive limitations in opportunity are extremely likely to result in undesirable psychological outcomes. Poor children quite often experience feelings such as embarrassment or shame (which have been described as the social emotions) and tend to see themselves in a negative light as a result of negative societal views. (weinger 1998) School plays a huge part in the development of a child and is generally considered to be a place where hard work and good grades ar e the things that matter and a place where ones socioeconomic status is largely irrelevant when it comes to achieving these things but this is unhappily not so and in fact school plays a central part in the stigmatisation of the poor. The majority of teachers have grown up in middle class family’s and as a direct result of this they are extremely prone to  holding class based biases towards the low income students. Research has shown that teachers tend to have much lower expectations of low income pupils, viewing them in a less positive light, punishing them in a harsher and more humiliating manner than they would their more affluent peers, rewarding them less for achievements and delivering them less opportunities. (Brantlinger 1991) The psychological development of a child is very much affected by this kind of treatment and it is likely that a child will create their identity based on other peoples negative opinions, perceiving themselves to be flawed and labelling themselves as all the things they’ve been called, for example bad, stupid, dangerous etc which in itself is highly likely to result in Internalizing (eg depression, anxiety, self-loathing) or externalising (eg shouting, fighting, steal ing) behaviours (Erikson 1980). Poor children in general experience noisier, more crowded living conditions, more family instability, chaos, violence and inconsistent punishment which is very often more to cope with than their young resources will allow and again, is likely to result in internalizing or externalising behaviours. Poor children have lower career aspirations and lower educational aspirations which highlights their awareness of the lack of opportunities available to them, unfortunately a very accurate awareness because â€Å"although people function as independent actors, the possibilities they face, and the decisions they make are inevitably constrained by the positions they occupy in the social order† (Massey p. 397). Given all of the above mentioned, it is not difficult to understand some of the elements that contribute towards the existing relationship between anti-social behaviour and poverty. The question then is â€Å"how should it be dealt with?† As we can see, the factors underlying anti-social behaviour are a complicated interaction of psychological, social and economic problems/policies which have borne down much harder on our country’s poorer communities so with that in mind, it seems fairly important not to over simplify the problem with regards to implemented policy, political debates and media coverage. In 2002, Joseph Scholes, aged sixteen, hung himself in prison. He had allegedly been repeatedly and severely sexually abused since the age of six and as he got older he began self-harming and displaying challenging behaviour. He made a serious suicide attempt when he was fifteen by taking an overdose and jumping out of a window and his behaviour subsequently become too difficult  for his mother to manage which led her to make the decision to put him in to the care of the local authority where she hoped he would get the specialist help that he now clearly needed. Shortly after this he was put in to a childrenâ⠂¬â„¢s home and week later he went out one evening, drinking with a group of young people from the home. They encountered another group of young people and took their mobile phones and their money. Joseph was charged with robbery despite playing only a peripheral role, displaying no threatening behaviour or violence and it being out of character. His self-harming worsened with the approaching court appearance. The Crown Court Judge who passed Joseph’s sentence had been given reports from a psychiatrist, social workers and the youth offending team which all made his vulnerability quite clear and as a result of this the Judge was adamant that he wanted the warnings of his sexual abuse and self-harming â€Å"most expressly drawn to the attention of the authorities†. Taking in to account Josephs vulnerability, he should have been positioned in a secure children’s home but he was instead placed in HMYOI Stoke Heath Prison where he told the staff on numerous occasions in his initially constantly observed cell that he would take his own life if they moved him to a normal l ocation within the prison but despite this, he was moved in to a cell where he was no longer under twenty-four hour observation and he subsequently killed himself alone in his cell, nine days in to his sentence. The government turned down the call for a public inquiry that followed Josephs death because apparently it â€Å"was unlikely to bring to light any additional factors not already uncovered in previous investigations†. Joseph’s story does not stand in isolation. One hundred and eighty eight young people and an additional nine children died in prison in the ten years that followed Joseph’s death. (Prison ReformTtrust) The fact that there are children in prison in the first place could be viewed as symptomatic of failings by organisations both inside and outside of the criminal justice system to go about addressing these children’s complicated and often numerous needs. A report carried out on the deaths of children and young people in prison between 2003 and 2010 revealed that they commonly suffered from a catalogue of mental health issues, were a collection of the most disadvantaged people in society with alcohol and drug problems with many of them having ex perienced recent bereavement. They had had significant past involvement with community agencies but â€Å"despite their  vulnerability, they had not been diverted out of the criminal justice system at an early stage and had ended up remanded or sentenced to prison;† (inquest) To put it simply, they need help. Not locking up. ‘Caring’ for children in penal custody, especially young offender institutions, is an almost impossible task. Many child prisoners live with a spectre of fear and an enduring feeling of being ‘unsafe’. This, in turn, is thought to heighten the risk of damage and/or death.† (Goldson 2005) It is a highly flawed system that we currently have in place and there are some excellent organisations and charities increasing awareness, contributing research and constantly working towards putting an end to allowing children and young people to be put in jail and making the road to prison a longer one but I wonder how many more children will be failed miserably in the ‘care’ of the state or have their lives completely destroyed by an inappropriate sentence or kill themselves in prison before our government take action on this. If inequality lies at the root of antisocial behaviour then the solution would surely be to begin taking steps towards producing greater levels of equality? In societies where there is a smaller gap between incomes there is less violence, more trust, smaller prison populations, less obesity, longer life expectancy, lower rates of teenage pregnancy and a stronger sense of community. (The Equality Trust.) Of course there is more that we can attribute to inequality than monetary issues but they are a major contributing factor. I personally believe that introducing a citizens wage would be an effective first step and one that would be beneficial to nearly everyone. We could do away with thousands of pages of legislation, lose a couple of hundred thousand civil servants and simply give everyone a small sum in cash each week, no questions asked, no intrusive invasions of people’s privacy and no judgments as to how people should or shouldn’t be living their lives because really, who is it that feels so omniscient to make all of those judgments? It would remove the stigma attached to benefits, allow people to work part time if they wished and be more selective about the type of work that they wanted to do. So all in all a winner. So yes, there is a relationship between poverty and antisocial behaviour but it is not so black and white as that. Disillusioned and disadvantaged people need help not further punishment and a criminal justice system that is allowing disturbed children to kill themselves in jail  clearly needs looking at. If antisocial behaviour doesn’t occur in a vacuum then it is a sociological problem which then surely requires us to go about altering society, not punishing disadvantage. Brantlinger, E. 1991. Social class distinctions in adolescents reports of problems and punishment in school. Behavioural Disorders 17 (1): 36-46. Erikson, E.H. 1980. Identity and the life cycle. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. Goldson, B. 2005. in the care of the state? Child Deaths In Penal Custody In England And Wales. London: Inquest. Massey, D. 1991. Segregation, the concentration of poverty, and the life chances of individuals. Social Science Research 20 (4):397-420. McLeod, J.D. & Shanahan, M.J. 1996. Trajectories of poverty and children’s mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour (37): 207-220 The Equality Trust http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/about-us/people cited 28/12/2012 The Prison Reform Trust http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/PunishingDisadvantage.pdf cited 28/12/2012 Weinger, S. (1998). Poor children â€Å"Know Their Place†: Perceptions of poverty, class, and public messages. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare 25 (2): 100-118.