Sunday, May 24, 2020

Easy To Make Glitter Slime

Why make ordinary slime, when you can make sparkly glitter slime!  Try this easy recipe to make the slime in any color of the rainbow. Materials Glitter glueBoraxWater The recipe works with either clear or white school glue, but white glue makes opaque slime. For clear or translucent colored slime that glitters, choose a clear or translucent glue. If you cant find glitter glue, add glitter as an ingredient. Borax is sold as a detergent booster with laundry supplies, or you can purchase it online. Making Glitter Slime Slime is a polymer that forms when you mix two solutions: glue and dissolved borax. The first step is to make these solutions. Dissolve 1 teaspoon borax in 1/2 cup warm water. Its okay if the borax doesnt completely dissolve. You only need the liquid part, not any solid that stays at the bottom of the cup.In a separate container, mix 1/2 cup glue (4-oz bottle of glue) and 1 cup of water. If you dont like the color of the slime, you can add a few drops of food coloring to the mixture.When you are ready to make glitter slime, dump the two mixtures into a bowl. Use your hands to mix the slime (thats part of the fun). If you have any leftover liquid after the slime polymerizes, you can discard it. When you are finished playing with the glitter slime, you can store it in a sealed plastic bag. The borax is a natural disinfectant, but the slime will keep fresh even longer if you refrigerate it. Clean-up is easy using warm water.

Monday, May 18, 2020

The University of Sydney - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2820 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Education Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? The University of Sydney (UoS) is a research- intensive university in the top tier tertiary education sector and is the oldest University in Australia, being founded in 1850. Strategic Plan aspirations are 1,5,40, which is to be recognised as number one in Australia, ranked in the top five in the Asia-Pacific and ranked in the top 40 universities in the world. Student enrolments are over 47,000 and the UoS employees over 6,700 staff [i]. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The University of Sydney" essay for you Create order Procurement Services (PS) was established as a Greenfield unit within the UoS in 2006 and works in partnership with the University and external suppliers to achieve efficiencies, cost reductions and value added services, as well as fair value for money in procurement. The range of goods and services UoS procures includes but is not limited to: Infrastructure, Services, Technology and Commodities and the total UoS spend in 2008 was $1.1 Billion. It is the PS vision to â€Å"create value through best practise procurement solutions dedicated to supporting the Universitys research and teaching, and enhancing the student experience† (i-doc 1), which is centred on supporting the overall University. In actuality, the main objective that the COO now CFO require PS to deliver is a cost savings of $24M +, every year. PS offers products and services to customers including: self help tools and templates, procurement advice, end to end tendering services, category management and contract implementation[ii]. Procurement is a relatively new profession in Australia. Indeed, the professional body for Procurement professionals, CIPSA, has only been in existence for the last 5 years within Australia [iii]. Prior to the PS groups existence at the UoS, purchasing needs were managed by the department requiring the good or service in a completely decentralised system. As there is a lack of awareness about the profession even the word â€Å"procurement† in Australia, the PS group has had a selling orientation to marketing for the majority of customers, as evidenced by a â€Å"road show† where PS promoted what they felt was valuable- early involvement of PS staff in customers projects, whereas the majority of customers just wanted someone to rush in at the end and help them get the job done (i-doc 2). However, PS has used more of a marketing orientation with some customers, including the COO, by delivering what he valued which was $23M in savings in 2009 (i-doc 3 ). PS also has a societal orientation to marketing for all internal and external customers as evidenced by PSs delivery of a transparent procurement process for the overall good of the University, government and society. The PS brand is not well known internally and therefore has not been used in the marketing strategy to –date. Feedback from some 30 target customers has indicated that most dont know what Procurement is. 14 out of 22 customers over the age of 55 also indicated that Procurement used to have a meaning to do with prostitution (i- survey), therefore these customers are in the non-recognition state or brand rejection, respectively. The PS marketing strategy for external customers capitalises on the University reputation by using the quadrangle as a symbol in our promotional materials (i-doc 1) and by having the COO attend key procurement events. Issue 2- Below is a comprehensive SWOT for PS: Strengths (generally internal) Weaknesses (generally internal) (www.xe.com) Issue 3- PS collects mainly internal information through a number of sources. To learn about the University direction and internal customers wants and needs, the green paper has been utilised as this includes high level staff feedback including on the Universitys professional services. Regarding which competitors pose a threat and how the context is changing, PS is largely reliant informal internal feedback from the CFO or other Business Unit Directors (i-knowledge). Further information on context and collaborators is considered in the wider environment through Higher Education Services (HES) which collects benchmarking information on all Universities in Australia. A limitation is that formal HES information is only published annually (www.hes.edu.au). In addition, PS captures staff knowledge and experience through â€Å"lessons learned† register and presentation at the weekly staff meeting which covers the 5Cs (i-knowledge). However, this could be formalised more as some staff never participate in this current voluntary process and there is no conscious decision to ensure all 5Cs are discussed. PS collects Customer information to try and answer the question, â€Å"what do customers want?† Client satisfaction surveys have 5 key questions using a Likert scale ranging from 1-5, with 5 being outstanding and 0 being dissatisfactory (i-doc 5). In addition in 2009 2010, PS issued a procurement maturity survey to answer â€Å"Where are we now, where do we want to be?† with a Likert scale of 1-5 in 8 key areas (i-doc 6). Moreover, PS has measured â€Å"timely delivery of services†(i-doc 7), although I would argue that this is not necessarily value that the customer sees or wants and it another example of PS â€Å"selling orientation† to marketing. Furthermore, the spend analysis of the entire University shows PS which customers spend the most money and although it hasnt yet, it could be used to focus the marketing strategy (i-doc 3). Intern al CRM plans have been filled out jointly between PS the internal customers (i-doc 8), as well as tracking of enquiries complaints on an excel register (i-doc 9). Operational Information: PS tracks Return on Investment for group as a whole and has the breakdown on a project basis but rarely use it. Other operational data PS captures include a register of current contracts, savings of all past projects and a staff non-compliance register. Market Intelligence is collected through Dunn Bradstreet for reports for external competitors and suppliers. In addition, CIPSA and HES provide industry trend information and Aberdeen and Gartner journals are used for more specific projects. PS has not fully utilised market research, in fact the only specific questions asked to help develop the marketing strategy was a University wide Dean and Director level communication to ask â€Å"What are your forward tender requirements?†(www.usyd.edu.au). PS was hoping to find out how likely custome rs will be to use PS in order to better manage demand. In addition, UoS asked other universities what their savings and contract register data was in order to benchmark against other universities, however only a limited response was received (i-doc 10). Issue 4- The main product service of focus for this section is Category Management as this will achieve the objective of $24M + in savings for the UoS each year, which is the most â€Å"profitable† product ( i-doc 3) Category management is defined as implementing a sourcing strategy and subsequent contract for the whole of categories of spend across the University such as lab or office consumables (i-doc 11). The main aim of the PS marketing strategy is to convince internal customers to be involved in the sourcing process and subsequently use and buy from the category management contracts. However, the other products and services that PS offers are intertwined with the focus on category management. As a semi-public organisation, PS must serve all customers with procurement needs over $200K for total contract volume. Therefore, in order to be able to focus on the category management, clients who have a â€Å"one-off† procurement requirement of, for example, $220K must be convi nced to use self-help tools and templates. PS to- date has done a good job at informally identifying the total customer/stakeholder market but not the roles they play in the â€Å"buying process† (i- knowledge) . Using the roles in a B2B Decision Making Unit, I would argue the External and Executive Internal customers listed above are the key â€Å"influencers† in order to get other customers on board to utilise PS services. The Internal direct customers have the power and reach to encourage (or not) their staff to utilise PS, therefore they act as â€Å"influencers, deciders and buyers† on whether to use PS category management contracts. The â€Å"gatekeepers† are often the decentralised local finance group as they should be ensuring that the University staff comply and use the category management service and products. At the moment PS customers are everyone, and PS has been trying to be all things to all customers. However, PS has segmented customers ac cording to total yearly spend analysis which could be a form of behaviour segmentation, based on usage status. However, it is important to note that this segmentation is based on overall annual spend at the University not just the spend that went through the PS group, therefore this overcomes the limitation that Kotler identified that â€Å" Usage is a result not a cause† ( MM 5-18) and is therefore a more accurate segmentation dimension. Through this analysis PS has found that 80% of the total spend is from 2.76% of the customers (i-doc 12). Although this segmentation has been identified, it has not been widely used, as PS cannot â€Å"fire† lower value customers as due an inherent obligation to help all University staff with compliance to procurement policy. An example is that our of the 99 projects that were worked on by PS in the last 1.5 years, only 8 projects were for category management (i-doc 13), due to lower value one-off projects taking up too much PS time. Within this behavioural segmentation identified, there are further heterogeneous dimensions that could occur as evidenced by the differences in PS perception in age, as discussed in the introduction to brand above. PS also has not formally profiled each segment nor formally assessed the segment attractiveness or selected target markets. However in order to achieve $24M in savings with a team of 13 staff, this must be done. PS wants the category management product service to be viewed by Executive Internal customers as necessary to achieve the main objective of $24M in savings to ensure they continue in the role of â€Å"influencers† in the first instance. In addition the perceptual map below is a current indication of how customers view PS based on internal surveys, which demonstrates that PS fulfils the compliance aspect. However, PS isnt always perceived to obtain the best solution for the University. A limitation to this application of the map is that it is based on an in formal, internal survey and has not been subject to statistical techniques. An important element of a change to category management approach is marketing and convincing the stakeholders of the value it offers them (www.psc.executiveboard.com), therefore in order to move to the top right hand corner of this diagram further work needs to be done. Issue 5- Recommendations The direct outcomes of the current marketing approach is that nearly all of the PS staff time gets spent on the relatively more unprofitable products such as â€Å"One-off†, non-category projects and customer satisfaction is low at approximately 55% being satisfied or more (i-doc 14). PS has access to a wealth of useful internal information, however this on excel spreadsheets and is not organised properly as evidenced by the need to create a â€Å"register of registers†( i-doc 15) to keep track of what information is available and in what excel sheet. As such, some of this information such as the Procurement Maturity survey has fed into PS Business plan document ( i-doc 1), however other information such as the CRM plans (i-doc 8) have been largely ignored or used by 1 or 2 individuals on the team (i- knowledge). Because there is so much information in various locations, staff stated that they sometimes miss key information or have â€Å"analysi s paralysis†. Initial discussions took place with companies such as Salesforce.com regarding a basic CRM system for PS, which would be worth further investigating. In any case, a more formal and streamlined process for analysing the 5 Cs should be implemented so that data that can help in the marketing strategy can be utilised and staff time spend more efficiently. The business plan strategy document (i-doc 1) is good in the sense that it feeds directly into the overall University –wide business plan (www.usyd.edu.au), however it would be worth creating a marketing plan and one that aligns with the business plan. Indeed, a good place to start would be with the objective to implement a category management approach with the initial segmentation data of 2.76% of customers that spend 80% of the University money, as this would help focus the Universitys strategy on Quadrant 2 the important but not urgent (Covey, 1994, p.77) . This market can be further segmented by demog raphic factors, such as age over 55+, psychographic factors such as â€Å"change adverse†, buyer readiness factors and behavioural factors such as â€Å"high influencers†, as required. These segmentation dimensions are Homogenous within and Heterogeneous between, however PS would need to further asses if they are easily Measureable, Sustainable and Actionable. A profile of each segment created is required to ensure that more targeted messages are possible. PS has assumed that the forecast demand will be similar patterns year on year, as evidenced in the past 2 years of spend analysis (i-doc 12). As the entire segment that is driving 80% of spend, is only 2.76% of the University, the cost in targeting this segment will be much lower than targeting all markets. Using the driving choices model, the PS ability to compete and segment attractiveness make this 2.76% of spenders a prime target to select for the future. In addition, the Executive Internal customers are a prime target, as they must be an attractive market in order for PS to stay in business and the ability to compete is high as evidenced in getting the past COO support, presence and funding at external Procurement events. However especially with the recent restructure changes, PS needs focus in the future on the prime target customers, the majority of which PS has previously been ‘missing†. The communication activity plan (i-doc 3) is a good foundation to start with for the Executive Internal customers, however it would be worth adding more specific actions discussed above, as well as dates and owners to ensure implementation. Historically, PS has been operating primarily in the opportunistic pursuits section, as evidenced from lower value one-off project work, which is a relatively unattractive market, even though PS has a high ability to compete (i-doc12). However, in some cases PS also worked in the de-select section, as evidenced by some failed projects such as the mass spe ctrometer and zebra fish project (i-knowledge) where PS ability to complete was low and the attractiveness of the project was low. Moreover, PS failed to recognise that â€Å"some customers are not willing to engage in relationships† (MM 10-35). These bad choices resulting from a PS lack of selecting target markets have been at the opportunity cost of not engaging with a majority of ‘right† customers. Therefore, going forward, self- help tools and procurement advice should be offered to those markets classified as â€Å"opportunistic pursuits† and â€Å"de-select†. Regarding the â€Å"build competency† market, of which the high grant spenders could be in this category, this could be something that PS chooses to select as a market if and when they are able to build more capacity into the team. By implementing the above, the PS can still fulfil its societal obligation by migrating â€Å"unprofitable† markets to other â€Å"mediums† of utilising PS. Moreover, market research could be done on the relatively small number of customers in the target markets in order to position the category management product and service by benefit, once it is further understood what the prime target markets perceive to be of value and the â€Å"best solution†. This could be combined with a differentiated and concentrated marketing strategy at relatively lower cost due to low numbers in the target markets. PS should still combine this with an undifferentiated marketing strategy for the overall University market aimed at increasing PS awareness and utilisation as well as addressing the homogenous demand for compliance. These recommendations are based on the assumption that the market size and category management profitability information is correct as evidenced in the spend analysis ( i-doc 3). These assumptions will need to be monitored and the strategy may need to be adjusted if required, as adaptability is one of the k ey factors to a successful plan implementation. If these changes are implemented, it will improve the target markets perception that PS can provide the best solution. REFERENCES: Marketing Management-Intensive (MM), Session 1, 2010, Units 1-11, AGSM MBA Programs Graduate Diploma in Management, Sydney, Australian School of Business 2010, AGSM MBA (Executive Program) Covey, Stephen R., Merrill, A Roger and Merrill, Rebecca R., 1994, First Things First, Fireside, Simon Schuster, New York Chartered Institute of Purchasing Supply (CIPSA) website: https://www.cips.org (accessed 20 April 2010) Australasia Higher Education Services website: https://www.hes.edu.au (accessed 22 April 2010) Procurement Strategy Council website: https://www.psc.executiveboard.com (accessed 6 April 2010) PSC_ Category Management_ Playbook ( attached as Appendix A, because log-in details required to access this publication) University of Sydney website: https://www.sydney.edu.au (accessed 8 April 2010) Internal documents Internal Documents are cited as i-doc 1- 15 throughout the document and are attached when possible as appendices with assignment submission. Documents 3, 4, 5, 9, 13, 14, are available on request for limited borrowing. Internal Knowledge is cited as i-knowledge throughout the document. [i] www.usyd.edu.au [ii] www.usyd.edu.au/procurement_services [iii]www.cips.org

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

An Interview About Human Resources - 1139 Words

Introduction: Sarah Cox is my interviewee; the interview was conducted on the fly with a phone call due to her busy schedule. Sarah has been in her current role as the Vice President of Human Resources for eight months now at L.L. Bean. She started out at the company as a summer hire right before attending graduate school at Harvard University’s divinity school to study Organizational Ethics. I came into contact with Sarah while attending The State of New Hampshire’s PBL/FBLA conference where she was the keynote guest speaker and she shared her email with the students attending and opened the door to connect with her. I felt this was a good opportunity to learn more about L. L. Bean and the field of human resources. So, a few days after†¦show more content†¦5) Are you apart of the society for human resource managers or any other professional organization and if so has it helped your career? She is a member of the National Retail Federation (NRF) and The Society for Human Resource Managers (SHRM). She uses these networks to hear problems and solutions, but also to learn the latest information regarding the retail sector. 6) Does LL Bean passively or actively recruit for talent and which way do you personally prefer and why? L. L. Bean does both and sometimes they even drive around the L. L. Bean boot-bus to college campuses across the country to try to attract college kids to work for the company. She told the conference she would like to be able to drive the bus someday. She does not have a preference regarding how talent is attracted to the organization and told me sometimes L. L. Bean uses search parties to find executives for their organization if her staff are busy. She believes good organizations actively and passively recruits for talent at all levels within an organization. 7) What matters more to LL Bean when they are considering hiring a candidate is it occupational experience, academic achievement, personal qualities, a mix of the three, or something altogether different? LL Bean takes a balanced look at all three to determine the candidates suit for the role available. She says the thing whichShow MoreRelatedThe Field Of A Human Resource Generalist1236 Words   |  5 PagesMy desired career is that of a human resource generalist. The field of a human resource generalist is responsible for the recruitment, new employee orientation, on-boarding and off-boarding, and prepares and maintain employee handbook of the organization’s workforce. To obtain a position as a human resource generalist, employers look for someone with a bachelor’s degree in human resource management. To obtain a position entering an entry-level HR position most employers will accept someone with aRead MoreHuman Resource Management : The Field Of Human Resources1159 Words   |  5 PagesHuman Resource Management My desired career is that of a human resource generalist. The field of a human resource generalist is responsible for the recruitment, new employee orientation, on-boarding and off-boarding, and prepares and maintain employee handbook of the organization’s workforce. To obtain a position as a human resource generalist, employers look for someone with a bachelor’s degree in human resource management depending on the amount of experience, this would get you an entry levelRead MoreEmployee Testing And Selection Practices Essay1374 Words   |  6 PagesHuman Resources Management is important to every organization to provide good staff to company. In organisation cannot build a good team of working professionals without good human process. The key function of human resource management team include recruiting people, training them, performance appraisal, motivating employees as well as workplace communication, workplace safety and much more. HR department will decide to re tain and recruit staff for the requirements of the organization. Human resourceRead MoreContemporary Views and Theories on Motivation.1063 Words   |  5 Pages*What is human resource management? 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Furthermore, because I plan to eventually go back to Beijing to work in the financial service industry, getting to know more about the HR strategies of Rising Securities seems more interesting and meaningfulRead MoreThe Effects of Human Resources Outsourcing on Leadership Performance and Employee Commitment1351 Words   |  5 PagesLeadership Performance Abstract The following pages focus on providing a theoretical framework and a research design intended to address the influence of human resources outsourcing on leadership performance and employee commitment. The Introduction discusses some of the issues that reflect the necessity of research in this field. The Theoretical Framework describes the variables used in this study. The paper continues with the Scientific Research Design section that presents the type of researchRead MoreHuman Resource Management ( Hrm ) Essay1193 Words   |  5 Pages â€Å"Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that focuses on the recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people who work in an organization† (Heathfield ?). HRM is focused on how to make the company better with the help of the employees. â€Å"The HRM department members provide the knowledge, necessary tools, training, administrative services, coaching, legal and management advice, and talent management oversight that the rest of the organization needsRead MoreHuman Resources Intern Letter1027 Words   |  5 PagesDear Hiring Manager for the Human Resources Intern position I am writing to apply for the position of Human Resources Intern posted on the Curtis L. Carlson School of Management’s online recruiting website, The Edge. 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Wednesday, May 6, 2020

An Analysis of Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy Essay

An Analysis of Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy We stood by a pond that winter day, (1) This line indicates a still quietness, with lack of the movement of life. There is a vast difference in appearance and movement around a pond in winter and a pond in the midst of summer. This indicates no leaves, and no visible signs of life. The poet is painting a stark and lifeless scene. And the sun was white, as though chidden of God,(2) This is indicative of the modernist approach to light as being too harsh and not a positive factor. Chidden means scolded, rebuked, or even blamed. God is not looking favorably upon these people. And a few leaves lay on the starving sod;(3) Leaves fall from trees when they are dead, and the†¦show more content†¦This stanza ties in with the first stanza and lets the reader know it is the beautiful love between these two people that is dying on this cold winter day. The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing(9) is a very telling line. She is pretending to be kind and to smile, but he sees through her and knows it is false. Her smile appears deader to him than the fallen leaves do. Alive enough to have strength to die; /And a grin of bitterness swept thereby (10-11). These lines show that the poet realizes some life in her smile, but not what he wants to see. There is a difference between a genuinely happy smile and a forced grin, and the latter is what he sees on her face. Like an ominous bird a-wing...(12) foretells her leaving him. He is seeing in her forced grin an omen of bad luck. Many people see owls as an omen of death if they hoot outside their window for seven nights in a row. It is in this sense that the poet speaks of her dead smile. Since then, keen lessons that love deceives, (13). This line is a reflective line from the poet on his feelings of her deceit toward him. He loved her and she broke his heart by lying to him. And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me(14) tells that she wronged him and changed him because of it. Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree, / And a pond edged with grayish leaves(15-16). He will never get out of his mind that moment in time. Her face, the sun, a tree,Show MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Neutral Tones By Thomas Hardy1056 Words   |  5 Pagesto be completely numb. Throughout the following poems â€Å"Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?†, â€Å"My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun†, â€Å"The Flea†, and Thomas Hardy’s â€Å"Neutral Tones† the authors all share their experiences about love, with a major emphasis on the hardships that come with love. In Thomas Hardy’s poem â€Å"Neutral Tones† written in 1867, he reflects back on his past and the lessons he learned from it. 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HAP ANALYSIS Firstly the word hap means that which happens by chance. The poem is a sonnet, although it is presented as three stanzas in that the traditional octave is split into two stanzas each of four lines and the sestet is a stanza on its own. TheRead MoreLove and Death Poem Analysis2154 Words   |  9 PagesPOETRY – Poems about Love DIRECTIONS: Discuss the attitude/tone of the poem and the theme in your small groups. Afterward, write down your conclusions regarding the tone and theme of poems about a similar subject. |â€Å"The Quiet World† |â€Å"Flirtation† |â€Å"Song: To Celia |â€Å"love is more thicker than forget† |â€Å"Neutral Tones† | | | Read MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesï » ¿TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS The purpose of Text Interpretation and Analysis is a literary and linguistic commentary in which the reader explains what the text reveals under close examination. Any literary work is unique. 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Long considered the standard for all organizational behavior textbooksRead MoreStrategic Marketing Management337596 Words   |  1351 PagesStrategic and marketing analysis 2 Marketing auditing and the analysis of capability 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Learning objectives Introduction Reviewing marketing effectiveness The role of SWOT analysis Competitive advantage and the value chain Conducting effective audits Summary 3 Segmental, productivity and ratio analysis 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 Learning objectives Introduction The clarification of cost categories Marketing cost analysis: aims and methods An illustration

US Bank Corp. Analysis Free Essays

The two Institutions chosen or comparison are Wells Fargo (WFM) and Bank of America (BACK). To evaluate the overall strength the major assets, liabilities, capital, risk, liquidity and operating decisions of the three chosen institutions will be discussed. Balance Sheet Analysis Out of the three banks US bank is the smallest in regards to assets with Bank of America being the largest followed by Wells Fargo. We will write a custom essay sample on US Bank Corp. Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now When comparing total assets to total liabilities USB finds itself in the weakest position having a total debt to total assets ratio of 0. 11 . Commercial banks are known to leverage themselves highly and leverage Is normal in the Industry. However In comparison to BACH’S ratio of 1 . 124 and Wife’s ratio of 0. 89 this relatively high leverage Is a cause for concern. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp†¦ Chairman Sheila Fair has advocated for the US Bank to reduce their leverage to half believing that their financial position poses too great a risk. The industry averages for long term debt to equity and total debt to equity ratios are 64. 36 and 177. 19 respectively. In respect to this, US Bank finds itself taking the middle ground between Wells Fargo and Bank of America. Wells Fargo seems to be In equity ratio of 84. 6, well below the industry average. The most indebted institution would be Bank of America who’s ratios of 120. 09 and 249. 67 are well above the industry average. US Bank in comparison has a long term debt to equity ratio of 67. 93 which is right around the industry average while their total debt to equity is far below it at 139. 98. Despite being in good position relative to the indu stry and the two chosen similar financial institutions in these metrics, this indicator should be held with skepticism as many believe that all commercial banking institutions are unreasonably leveraged. One of the reasons for US Banks highly leveraged position ay lay in the management’s decision to acquire more banks through IBID-assisted deals. It is stated that, â€Å"In total, the firm has acquired $35 billion of banking assets through these deals at minimal costs. † Though these deals have been stated to be not significant enough to pose such a threat. They are still campaigning to acquire even more assets. Assets All three companies have real estate loans as their largest asset category. This includes residential loans, commercial real estate, and other loans secured by farmland. These loans can be considered safe as they are secured with liens on the reporter however they are illiquid and would be considered a long term asset. Wells Fargo has the largest amount of real estate loans as a percentage of their assets at 35. 81%, followed by US Banks 32. 18% and finally Bank of America’s far smaller 20. 97%. All the banks second largest assets are debt securities over one year and they all have similar sizes as percentage of total assets. Commercial and industrials are the third largest asset for Wells Fargo and US Bank and they hold similar sizes as percentage of assets. Bank of America’s third largest asset however is trading assets which should be more marketable. Much of the securities held by US Bank are not held for sale which makes them susceptible to interest rate risk. It is unclear how much of the banks loans use a floating interest rate but we can assume which would better help determine the risks involved. With US Banks fairly high percentage of real estate loans and commercial and industrial loans which are usually long term these risks to the bank are significant. The largest liability for the three financial institutions are interest bearing deposits. Wells Fargo holds the largest proportion at 50. 14% followed by US Bank at 47. 70% and then Bank of America at 32. 0%. US Bank holds and Wells Fargo have similar proportions of this liability. While these liabilities accrue interest the banks do have to expect frequent cash outflows from this. The three banks third largest liabilities are interested-bearing deposits with US Bank having the largest proportion of 23. 36%, followed by Wells Fargo at 21. 93% and Bank of America at 18. 97%. These proportions seems relatively similar to each other but with US Banks higher proportion they should be weary. These interested bearing accounts are likely to be checking outs and while they do not accrue interest you can expect frequent editorials from customers which should keep them weary of loaning out too much money. Finally all three banks have listed other borrowed money as their third capitalized leases. Bank of America has the largest proportion of 14. 24%. Next is US Bank with 13. 66% and then Wells Fargo with 9. 62%. These proportions also seem quite similar too each other. Interest Revenue, last Quarter US Bank largest source of revenue is on fully taxable income on loans and leases at 44%. This proportion is comparable to Bank of America that accounts for 41% of their revenues. What is surprising is the large mount of revenue Wells Fargo receives from interest and fees on which accounts for 76% of their revenues. While US Bank only receives 42% of its income in the same category. Interested Revenue, Last Quarter The largest sources of interested income for the chosen financial institutions vary greatly which makes it difficult to compare US Banks position in comparison to the other financial institutions. The largest category listed in sources of interested income for US Bank was stated as unspecified at 18% and 19% for Wells Fargo. The largest source for Bank of America is investment banking fees and commissions. Expenses Last Quarter Largest Expenses US Bank amount % of expenses Interest on other borrowings trade Lab 987,000 2 Interest on time deposits $100K 191,000 3 Interest on time deposits of $100K or more 184,000 1 1. 02% Largest Expenses Bank of America % of total expenses Interest on borrowings and trade liabilities 80. 03% Interest on sub debt and mand conv sec 8. 2% Interest on other deposits 601,993 4. 60% Largest Expenses Wells Fargo Interest on other borrowing Trad Liab 55. 05% Interest on sub debt mand conv sec 471 ,OOO 11 . 93% The largest expenses for each company is interest on other borrowings and trade iabilities. US Banks proportion of 59. 14% is comparable to that of Wells Fargds 55. 05%. Bank of America on the other hand has a much larger expense in this cat egory of 80. 03%. The other expense categories vary between the banks. Interest on time deposits is US Banks next largest category. Cash Flow investing activities. Cash from operating activities has been steadily increasing which is a good sign but so is cash from financing activities which is much larger. As commercial bank it can be expected that they finance their operation with a significantly large portion of debt. However in combination with their highly averaged position with their competitors this could be a cause for concern in their financial viability. Corporate Risk Profile: As a company that operates in the financial services, U. S. Banks largest exposure of risk comes from credit risk, operational, residual value, interest rate, market, liquidity and reputation risk. U. S. Bank has spent many years working to perfect managing these risks. For credit risk, U. S. Bank has incorporated â€Å"well-defined, centralized credit policies, uniform underwriting criteria, and ongoing risk monitoring and review processes for all commercial and consumer credit exposures† (SEC. Gob). US Bank has developed a very strenuous and extensive procedure in order to evaluate the credit risk that it handles on a day to day basis. Another way US Bank manages its credit risk is â€Å"through diversification of its loan portfolio and limit setting by product type criteria and concentrations† (SEC. Gob). US Bank divides its overall loan portfolio into three separate segments to, following the â€Å"don’t put all your eggs in the same basket† theory. The three portions of the portfolio consist of commercial lending, consumer lending and covered loans. The risks associated with commercial lending include a rarity of factors including many risks associated with the borrower’s business such as industry, geography, the loan’s purpose, how the borrower will repay, debt capacity among others. In order to prioritize these risks and keep them all organized, US Bank assigns risk ratings to these characteristics in attempt to create the ability to focus on specific risks depending on importance. As far as the consumer lending sector goes, this encompasses â€Å"residential mortgages, credit card loans, and other retail loans such as revolving consumer lines, auto loans and leases, student loans, and home equity loans and lines† (SEC. Gob). The risk characteristic of this section of the portfolio is focused on the borrower and their keenness to pay off the loan as well as prior repayment history. The 3rd portion of the loan portfolio is the covered loan segment. Before touching on the risk of this venture, it must first be noted that there are loss sharing agreements between US Bank and the IBID that ultimately â€Å"reduce the risk of future credit losses to the company’ (SEC. Gob). The risks that are associated with covered loans are â€Å"consistent with the segment they would otherwise be included in had the loss share coverage not been in place† (SEC. Gob). Another important aspect of US Bank to take into account is the sub-prime lending side of the banking industry. How to cite US Bank Corp. Analysis, Papers

Health and Sociopolitical Issues in Healthcare †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Health and Sociopolitical Issues in Healthcare. Answer: Introduction The aged people are part of society, and most countries or organizations have put measures, or still, there are measures that one can formulate to help the aged people. However, palliative care and end life care is one of those that seek to help the aged during the arguably most difficult time of their lives. In this regards, there exist residential aged care whose purpose is to provide the care and the approaches to aged people. It one of the things that draw one to start thinking of various approaches to palliative care that exists and the systems put in place to promote the same. In addition to that, the approaches can be of a national or international level (World Health Organization, 2011). On the other hand, there are issues which arise from the provision of palliative and end care life at the residential aged care. Thus, this essay seeks to not only highlight, but also discuss the palliative approach and part of the structures that are in place to promote the practice of palli ative care (van der Steen et al., 2014). Also, the task gives a definition of two terms that are consistent in the essay. I therefore intend to incorporate a discussion of the measures put in place, from an ethical point of view, in regards to approaches and care influenced by the funding that meant for aged services (Finn et al., 2006) . Lastly, the essay will elaborate on the manner in which a palliative care approaches have the potential to affect residential care facilities as far as funding the facility is concerned. Palliative Approach and End of Life Care Palliative approach refers to a method that aims at providing comfort at the time a person is about to die diseases. Also, including their relatives, especially by lowering the agony using early determination, analysis and treatment of pain (Heyland et al.,2006) . Moreover, assessment takes into considerations cultural, psychological spiritual and social needs. In regards to life-limiting illness, it is one that is highly likely to cause death to a patient in a certain period that is foreseeable. There is need for a palliative care for the aged people because of various reasons; to start with, the aged people tend to have several clinical diagnoses which require a variety of treatments. Additionally, the aged people are commonly known for their confusion and have difficulties in communication. Also, there are those that lack family support, therefore, palliative care approach become necessary to them. Therefore, palliative care approach is termed as effective if it achieves certain standards. To start with, the approach must offer the aged with autonomy and comfort or respect (Heyland et al.,2006). In addition to that, the approach must base a platform of honesty and one that encourage open dialogue in regards to conditions and treatment options. On the other hand, the approach ought to have had a choice that is evidence- based treatment options. Most palliative approaches are effective in managing pain and other symptoms that cause distress to the aged and their relative ali ke (Truog, 2008). Another aspect that is essential in palliative approaches is a method that provides quality of life as to the aged. Also, the approach has to embrace the cultural and spiritual will of the aged in a manner that honors whatever they wish. Lastly, the palliative approach must or commonly offer people an opportunity to interact. On the other hand, the care seeks a way of health and community services which do an essential part to provide the services to people at the near end of their lives. The best care can only be achieved in the event that there is an elaborate system that connects those that provide palliative care, primary care, primary specialists and support care providers. End of life, in this case, denotes the stage in life where a person is impaired by, an event that is largely fatal, regardless of whether prognosis is not known (Detering, Hancock, Reade, Silvester, 2010). Also, it can denote use medications to patients that are about to pass on (Phillips, Davidson, Jackson, Kristjanson, Daly, Curran, 2006). Various medications are used for such purposes, these include but are not limited to antipsychotic medication that can be used to treat nausea. Also, anticonvulsants can be used to treat pain and dyspnea. In administering the drugs, there are various ways to do that, and these include sublin gual, transdermal and intramuscular. End of life care follows certain principles or an objective that drives its policy. These are, putting an emphasis on not only quality of life, but also, having a quality of death (Lorenz et al., 2008). Additionally, the method acknowledges that the method is a human right. Lastly, the care ensures that a person has a good death irrespective of the duration, type or place of death. Legal pitfalls in provision of End Life Care In as much as there are various reasons why a person must go through the approach or care, and there exist legal systems put in place to guide those providing the services or advocate for a dignified death. The only consideration that it takes is respecting what the person under the care chooses, also, considering the futility and the way to have a consensus, which is intentional especially in decision making (Brown, Grbich, Maddocks, Parker, Willis, 2005). Lastly is having a humane touch. Therefore, still, there are no strong legal provisions that are in place, not only in Australia but also in most countries that guide the practices of end life care. Ethics involved in the care and the approaches Firstly, personnel that work in residential aged care must embrace patient autonomy. In that, the personnel ought to respect what the patient decides or his or her choices. In this regards, the patient is entitled to either agree or refuse (Chochinov, Hack, Hassard, Kristjanson, McClement, Harlos, 2005). However, in the scenario where the patient is not in a position to make a decision because of the illness state that accompanies him or her, surrogates can offer their opinion regarding what he or she had previously communicated concerning his or her wishes. Secondly, residential aged care and personnel need to uphold beneficence in caring for the aged in applying the two care and approaches discussed so far. Beneficence denotes what is in the best interest of whoever is being administered, and for this particular case, the aged (Chou, Boldy, Lee, 2001). In the case where aged people in the residential aged care is concerned, advanced stage of illness can cause untold suffering that is potent to cause suffering not only to the patient but also to the relatives of the aged (Hogan, 2004). Thus, in palliative approaches and the care, and end of life care, it is in the best interest for the patient or the aged to be given a care that controls the patients symptoms and pain and also reducing if possible the suffering that may be present to the patient and his or her relatives. Also that, residential aged care services ought to promote emotional support and which includes protecting the family involved from any ruin, especially, the financial one. Thus, in this context, an act that can cause death as long as it conforms to the underlying principles of the care and approaches that is humane. In that one allows a person to die of natural death (Crotty, Halbert, Rowett, Gile, Birks, Williams, Whitehead, 2004). That is, the person is allowed to die in a dignified manner, with the illness well controlled, and the person is in the presence of his or her relatives to offer him, or her comfort without this promotes or rather does not in any way results to euthanasia. Therefore, the ethical bases of palliative care approaches that are common are based on four main principles which may be elaborated as; The practice itself ought to be morally acceptable. For the approach and care to be good, it has to be one that is most appropriate and considered to be humane at the last phase of the aged (Wilson et al., 2011). Additionally, the residential aged care is effective and must be adopted if it cares for a patient with advanced and terminal illness especially where it has already disrupted or can take care of their physical, psychological and emotional issues. Thus, the practice appears to be promoting the highest degree of care which is morally and appears to be permissible ethically. Also, the ill effects, although they are foreseen, ought to be unintended. In the sense that, the practice, that is, the care and approach is one that affirms the need for life and does not encourage or facilitate the dying process. Chou, Boldy, Lee (2003) suggest that all the intervention that the residential aged care providers are meant to relieve symptoms, sufferings or rather maximize comfort. Therefore, if there happens to be a case where shortening of life is inevitable, it has to be for the best interest of the aged or rather is unintentional. In addition to that, the residential aged care must not provide services that contain ill impacts that are inappropriate to the benefits that come with the services to the patient. During the provision of services, and in particular symptom management, the all the drugs used as medicines for the care and approaches must appropriately be titrated before use (Boyd, 2011). In particular, palliative care ought to use sedatives are titrated in a way that there is the least possible dose that alleviates the negative effect that causes distress. Palliative at national and international level At the national level, there are systems put in place in an attempt to promote palliate care; these are health promotion that is geared toward the promotion of not only health but also palliative care. In addition to that, countries have adopted a way to inform people of the need to educate the public on palliative care that they ought to offer to the aged. Additionally, countries have set aside funds to help the aged, not only for maintenance purposes but palliative acre as well (Hawk, Long, Boulanger, Morschhauser, Fuhr, 2000). These health promotions are effective in the promotion can be useful in creating public policies which have the potential to sustain health, in addition to creating a conducive environment especially for the aged in the form of palliative care. Moreover, the method makes it possible for collaboration which in effect encourages activeness towards the aged. The policy ensures that the acts of the health care promotion are an activity that each person gets inv olved in and that the health is everyones responsibility (Broad et al., 2011). The policies are in line with those of WHO which in turn embrace the idea that palliative care must or rather ought to be integrated into society and especially in health care systems and at all level in all forms of the society. In addition to that, countries adopt a form of health care promotion that incorporates education programs in collaboration with communities to ensure that they understand the need for palliative care for aged people, the acceptance and of the loss and dying. Additionally, the system incorporates encouragement of personal and even social support in the event of death. Moreover, the education programs aimed at teaching people in identifying the social character that is essential at the core of care and loss (Detering, Hancock, Reade, Silvester, 2010). Therefore, residential aged group communities have a thing to learn in regards to improving the services that they offer to age groups in the form of the care and approaches used. In England for instance, their strategy as far as the care is concerned involves raising public awareness as a form of her whole-system approach. There is a trend that countries are developing policies aimed at supporting the aged at the residential aged care and family caregiving. To start with, there is financial help in the form of paid compassionate leave from work which has been introduced in Canada. In this form, the country offers an estimated increase of fifty-six percent in their earnings, also, to leave from work to enable them to care for family members (Chou, Boldy, Lee, 2003). Taking Australia as an example, there are national programs of financial compensation which aims at funding all that provide the care and approaches in residential areas (Chou, Boldy, Lee, 2003). The program entails; direct funding in the form of salary, vouchers, wages and allowances. Moreover, there is indirect compensation which is in the form of third-party payment of pension credits; it can also involve insurance premiums and relief of tax. Lastly, the persons involved in palliative care services can have labor policy that is geared t owards Residential aged care services, approaches, and Funding At the point when individuals are no longer ready to live freely inside the group because of health and social reasons, it is basic that they can get to moderate and adequately resourced residential health care administrations. The reason for giving residential medical offices is to give convenience and care that cannot be given in the common group setting. There ought to be a fitting level of convenience, staffing, and individual and medicinal services administrations for the individuals who need to move into residential aged care for their physical, useful and psychosocial needs (Chou, Boldy, Lee, 2003). The range and nature of residential aged care administrations ought to be set by an autonomous benchmarks setting body. More seasoned individuals ought to have the capacity to pick extra administrations as per individual inclinations and ability to pay. The AMA recognizes that all-inclusive access to quality residential aged care is probably not going to be accomplished without some money related exchange from the more youthful to the more established era or utilization of individual assets (Wanless, Forder, Fernndez, Poole, Beesley, Henwood, Moscone, 2006). These intergenerational exchanges will turn into an expanding challenge as the matured populace develops as an extent of the aggregate populace and in the meantime the development in workforce moderates. It appears to be progressively likely that subsidizing of residential aged care construct just on intergenerational exchanges will be unsustainable (Hilmer et al., 2012). There should be approaches that support and urge consequent eras to create flexible financing models for their matured care. Proof is developing that the current private residential aged care division is not an appealing business sector for financial specialists and is not all around set to manage the expanded interest for its administrations. A current practicality ponders by Deloitte Access Economics additionally computed that interest in high care spots is not feasible under current approach settings (Caplan, Meller, Squires, Chan, Willett, 2006). The standards supporting another model are that it: Gives general access to each Australian to the fundamental standard of private matured care administrations as per their needs and paying little heed to their capacity to pay. Additionally, spreads the expenses for the individuals who require longer than normal private matured care and licenses people to pick their supplier and to pay for extra or higher quality administrations on the off chance that they pick. Also, it gives conviction to private matured care suppliers and is practical for who and what is t o come. Pressing arrangement advancement and arranging is required now because there should be a noteworthy transitioning period to actualize any new financing model. Amid this period, game plans should be set up for individuals who have a prompt requirement for private matured care, perhaps including wellbeing net for the individuals who cannot meet extra expenses. Conclusion Palliative approaches and end life care in residential aged care is common in most countries as a form of helping patients and especially for the aged people. The two acts entail a process that a person it taking cares of during the period that he or she is about to die to enable him or her die in dignity. Therefore, there is the need for the best approaches to be put in place, locally, or internationally, to ensure that the two processes not only helps those that about die within a specified duration of time but also give guidelines for residential aged care. In addition to that, systems are put in places, such as educating the public on the need to encourage people to contribute to offering the services to the aged. On the other hand, there are principles that the approach and care must conform to for it to be considered safe and that which is appealing to the aged in places where they receive those services. Therefore, the method ought to be that is in practice in those areas. Thus, the method ought to be one that embraces beneficence. In addition to that, the method must be one that put the best interest of the person under care. Also, residential aged care services achieve ethical conduct by embracing respect to the wishes of the person under care, in that, they do as the person wishes in regards to his or her final will. Lastly, the primary function of residential aged care is to ensure that the person who is about to die receives a dignified treatment to face death. The benefits include less agony, suffering, and pain, in effect, it is ethical that the relatives of the aged or those under palliative care ought to be treated well in a way that the suffering or impending death of those that a re under treatment do not cause agony to the family. Therefore, the government of Australia, together with other countries has developed policies about palliative care and end-of-life , and this has an influence on the manner in which the governments do the funding of those residential aged care. References Boyd, M., Broad, J. B., Kerse, N., Foster, S., Von Randow, M., Lay-Yee, R., ... Connolly, M. J. (2011). Twenty-year trends in dependency in residential aged care in Auckland, New Zealand: a descriptive study. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 12(7), 535-540. Broad, J. B., Boyd, M., Kerse, N., Whitehead, N., Chelimo, C., Lay-Yee, R., ... Connolly, M. J. (2011). Residential aged care in Auckland, New Zealand 19882008: do real trends over time match predictions?. Age and ageing, 40(4), 487-494. Brown, M., Grbich, C., Maddocks, I., Parker, D., Willis, E. (2005). Documenting end of life decisions in residential aged care facilities in South Australia. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 29(1), 85-90. Chochinov, H. M., Hack, T., Hassard, T., Kristjanson, L. J., McClement, S., Harlos, M. (2005). Dignity therapy: a novel psychotherapeutic intervention for patients near the end of life. Journal of clinical oncology, 23(24), 5520-5525. Chou, S. C., Boldy, D. P., Lee, A. H. (2003). Factors influencing residents' satisfaction in residential aged care. The gerontologist, 43(4), 459-472. Crotty, M., Halbert, J., Rowett, D., Giles, L., Birks, R., Williams, H., Whitehead, C. (2004). An outreach geriatric medication advisory service in residential aged care: a randomised controlled trial of case conferencing. Age and Ageing, 33(6), 612-617. Wanless, D., Forder, J., Fernndez, J. L., Poole, T., Beesley, L., Henwood, M., Moscone, F. (2006).Wanless social care review: securing good care for older people, taking a long-term view. King's Fund. Hawk, C., Long, C. R., Boulanger, K. T., Morschhauser, E., Fuhr, A. W. (2000). Chiropractic Care for Patients Aged 55 Years and Older: Report from a Practice?Based Research Program.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society,48(5), 534-545. Hilmer, S. N., March, L. M., Chen, J. S., Gnjidic, D., Mason, R. S., ... Sambrook, P. N. (2012). Associations between drug burden index and mortality in older people in residential aged care facilities.Drugs aging,29(2), 157-165. Caplan, G. A., Meller, A., Squires, B., Chan, S., Willett, W. (2006). Advance care planning and hospital in the nursing home.Age and ageing,35(6), 581-585. Somers, M., Rose, E., Simmonds, D., Whitelaw, C., Calver, J., Beer, C. (2010). Quality use of medicines in residential aged care.Australian family physician,39(6), 413. Phillips, J., Davidson, P. M., Jackson, D., Kristjanson, L., Daly, J., Curran, J. (2006). Residential aged care: the last frontier for palliative care.Journal of Advanced Nursing,55(4), 416-424. Finn, J. C., Flicker, L., Mackenzie, E., Jacobs, I. G., Fatovich, D. M., Drummond, S., ... Sprivulis, P. (2006). Interface between residential aged care facilities and a teaching hospital emergency department in Western Australia.Medical Journal of Australia,184(9), 432. Chou, S. C., Boldy, D. P., Lee, A. H. (2001). Measuring resident satisfaction in residential aged care.The Gerontologist,41(5), 623-631. Chou, S. C., Boldy, D. P., Lee, A. H. (2003). Factors influencing residents' satisfaction in residential aged care.The gerontologist,43(4), 459-472. Cameron, I. D., Murray, G. R., Gillespie, L. D., Cumming, R. G., Robertson, M. C., Hill, K. D., Kerse, N. (2005). Interventions for preventing falls in older people in residential care facilities and hospitals.The Cochrane Library. Detering, K. M., Hancock, A. D., Reade, M. C., Silvester, W. (2010). The impact of advance care planning on end of life care in elderly patients: randomised controlled trial. Bmj, 340, c1345. Detering, K. M., Hancock, A. D., Reade, M. C., Silvester, W. (2010). The impact of advance care planning on end of life care in elderly patients: randomised controlled trial. Bmj, 340, c1345. Heyland, D. K., Dodek, P., Rocker, G., Groll, D., Gafni, A., Pichora, D., ... Lam, M. (2006).What matters most in end-of-life care: perceptions of seriously ill patients and their family members. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 174(5), 627-633. Hogan, W. (2004). Review of pricing arrangements in residential aged care. Commonwealth of Australia. Lorenz, K. A., Lynn, J., Dy, S. M., Shugarman, L. R., Wilkinson, A., Mularski, R. A., ... Rhodes, S. L. (2008). Evidence for improving palliative care at the end of life: a review. Annals of internal medicine, 148(2), 147-159. Teno, J. M., Clarridge, B. R., Casey, V., Welch, L. C., Wetle, T., Shield, R., Mor, V. (2004). Family perspectives on end-of-life care at the last place of care. Jama, 291(1), 88-93. Truog, R. D., Campbell, M. L., Curtis, J. R., Haas, C. E., Luce, J. M., Rubenfeld, G. D., ... Kaufman, D. C. (2008). Recommendations for end-of-life care in the intensive care unit: a consensus statement by the American College of Critical Care Medicine. Critical care medicine, 36(3), 953-963. van der Steen, J. T., Radbruch, L., Hertogh, C. M., de Boer, M. E., Hughes, J. C., Larkin, P., ... Koopmans, R. T. (2014). White paper defining optimal palliative care in older people with dementia: a Delphi study and recommendations from the European Association forPalliative Care. Palliative medicine, 28(3), 197-209. Wilson, N. M., Hilmer, S. N., March, L. M., Cameron, I. D., Lord, S. R., Seibel, M. J., ... Sambrook, P. N. (2011). Associations between drug burden index and falls in older people in residential aged care. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 59(5), 875- 880. World Health Organization. (2011). Palliative care for older people: better practices.

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Fedex Corp. vs United Parcel Service, Inc Case Study Essay Example For Students

Fedex Corp. vs United Parcel Service, Inc Case Study Essay I. Executive Summary In this report we focus on the two main competitors in the package delivery industry: Federal Express Corporation (FedEx) and United Parcel Service of America, Inc. Studying FedEx, UPS and their competitive relationship in the decade from mid 80s to mid 90s gives a good insight for the companies and industrys future. The two companies have different strategic goals and are operating in the same industry but in different main markets: FedEx is working on producing outstanding financial returns and focuses on the overnight air market while UPS is looking for earning reasonable profit and its core business is the two-day ground delivery. However, by 1981, the two companies started to have a strong sense of rivalry with each other and up until 1995 the race seemed to be one of how quickly each competitor could transform itself into the other. It was then when the largest distribution contract ever awarded was given to UPS. The effects on FedEx were strong. This paper is an examination of FedExs and UPSs financial performance from an investors point of view and their managerial performance considering their strategic goals in the mid 80s. We also, take an overview of the rivalry between the two companies and we put our earlier findings in this competitive framework in order to determine whether FedEx or UPS achieved Excellence in business. Our analysis concludes that between the two companies, UPS can be considered as excellent both for its good performance in the decade and for its good perspectives for the future. II. FedEx vs. UPS: The Battle for Value II. 1 The Effects of J. C. Penneys Announcement on FedEx from an Investors Point of View The decision of J. C. Penney to award the $ 1 billion 5 year contract to UPS was clearly the best choice for the company. In 1992, when J. C. Penney went into business, UPS was operating more efficiently and more profitably than FedEx. After J. C. Pennys announcement in 1995, FedExs stock price declined by 2. 33%. The reason for the fall is the investors non-trust in FedEx strength. Whereas it gave UPS secure earnings for 5 years as well as reviled a new image of reliability and stability. Therefore, UPSs reputation increased among the investors, possible future clients and partners while FedExs reputation and customers trust for high future gains declined. Moreover, as the 75% of FedExs common shares were held by institutional investors, it was expected that they would follow discouraging news for earnings decrease that analysts gave for Federal Express in 1995. The stock became less attractive and so the price fell. In addition to that, prior to the announcement, FedEx has undergone few noticeable losses, which de-motivated FedExs investors. Although volume growth remained strong, the declined domestic earnings and the concerns mentioned about the companys financial health discouraged investments. One can say that another reason to FedExs price decline is that the employees and officers of FedEx decided to sell their 10% owned shares when the revenues went down. However, if we consider that FedExs employees were strongly committed to their company, this seems the least possible scenario. II. 2 FEDEX vs. UPS: Business Strategies and Success Factors A- Federal Express We will produce outstanding financial returns by providing totally reliable, competitively superior global-air ground transportation of high priority goods and documents that require rapid, time-certain delivery. (Mission Statement) Referring to the mission as well as a number of FedEx actions such as heavy investments in Information Technologies, and the entrance to international markets through rapid acquisitions in Europe, Asia and Middle-East, one would realize that FedEx is after outstanding revenues through being a pioneer in new markets and technologies. Enabling Factors supporting this statement were clear in FedEx heavy investments in IT solutions as it presented COSMOS and Powership 3 for better package control resulting in an improved quality. In addition to that, FedEx came up with new services such as Saturday deliveries, delivery by 10:30 A. M. , customer interfaces (drop boxes, drive through stations and express delivery stores) and same day pickup of order. This is to distinguish its services. More on that, FedExs philosophy of People-Service-Profit was successful in insuring a union free workforce devoted to customer focus. Salem Witch Trials and New York City EssayUPS proves to be a conservative company with low debt levels. Despite its tight cash/current liabilities ratio, its cash/debt ratio shows a comfortable 1. 43 times coverage (in 1994) showing a good position in covering the most crucial obligations. In terms of Profit and Growth, UPS has high returns with very good profit margins and experienced a predictable annual growth. FedExs profitability ratios are highly fluctuated with a declining trend while saw a good compound annual growth for both its sales and net income. All of the figures are presented in exhibit 2 in the appendix. Economic value added (EVA) is a measurement that focuses on managerial effectiveness in a given year. Therefore it measures the extent to which the firm has increased shareholder value. A firm adds value when it has a positive EVA. FedExs EVA has indicated that the firm is not adding value to its shareholders as it was -1. 361 billion in 1994. During this period, its EVA has dropped dramatically whereas UPS has proved the opposite. UPSs EVA has increased by 1. 616 billion from year 1985 to 1994. This explains the excellent performance that UPS has achieved throughout the years and how successful it was in adding value to its shareholders. Market value added (MVA) is the difference between market value of a firms stock and the amount of equity capital that was supplied by investors. Shareholders wealth is maximized by maximizing this difference. FedExs MVA decreased by 0. 641 billion during the period of 1985-1994 while UPSs MVA increased by 5. 434 billion. II. 4 Business Excellence: Who Finally Achieved It? As proved in many research papers the excellence of organisations can not be attributed to a common set of actions performed by excellent firms. This implies that there is no one magic solution to the challenges of all organisations. However, there seems to be a set of fundamental concepts that many organisations that achieved Excellence in the fields held to be true and committed themselves to be guided by. Customer Focus, Results Orientation, People Development and Involvement, Continuous Learning and Innovation are some of the concepts that help organisations perform better than the rest. The conventional wisdom is that if a firm were operationally excellent, strong financial performance would follow. FedEx has an excellent advantage over UPS: its dedicated employees and its satisfied customers. Employee participation gave FedEx the reputation as a great place to work while UPS suffered from several labor strikes. Also, FedExs customer focused philosophy worked perfectly in real while UPS occasionally experienced lower customer satisfaction. Regarding the companies financial performance, our analysis shows that UPS has a better financial standing in terms of market performance, ratio analysis, value creation and increasing returns and assets. UPSs seems to perform its investing activities according to its statement for a reasonable profit while providing long term competitive returns to shareholders. FedEx on the other hand expanded its business in its quest for outstanding financial returns thus increasing risk and thereby suffering the financial consequences. As UPS achieved a better financial performance and started reengineering its efforts in order to remain competitive in the future, we can say that, for the particular time period, achieved business excellence. III. Appendix FEDEX and UPS Background FedEx and UPS operate in package delivery industry. FEDEX started in the 1970s by Fred Smith and some investors. It applied an innovative approach of hub-and-spoke distribution pattern to provide cheaper and faster service to more locations than competitors. It started gaining revenue in 1981. FEDEX positioned it self as the pioneer in overnight package delivery, quality, and advance IT technologies. Competition by Emery, USPS, and UPS did catch-up. FEDEX therefore attempted price reduction, and expansion to others parts of the world through acquisitions and airport hubs establishment. Some of which have negatively affected FEDEX financial state. UPS is a manager owned firm founded in 1907. It became the largest transportation company in America and owned 80-90 percent market share of domestic small package delivery market. It was foreseen as industry low cost provider yet slow and a market follower. It attempted extensive restructuring and spent around 1. 4 billion $ by 1992 in Information