General Electric fianancial accounting analysis Research Paper

General Electric fianancial accounting analysis - Research Paper Example Section II: Financial Statements and Financial Ratios As a decision maker, we need to know about the company's financial strength when we have to make any investment in the company, or we have to know how the company is faring in terms of liquidity or how the company can reward to its shareholders or for that matter how the company is currently performing compared to the previous years. One can make a good estimate for any firm by studying their financial statements, financial ratios and when they are compared with industry averages, it can give a good understanding where the company stands in the marketplace. For any company we can study following financial statements which can give us most of the information necessary to make our decisions whether that pertains to investment, employment or as a supplier to safeguard our receivables etc. 1. Profit and Loss or Income Statement 2. Cash Flow Statement 3. Balance Sheet Profit and Loss Statement gives us the information how the company f ared during the given financial year. When compared with previous years’ profit and loss figure, we can quickly find whether the company has made any progress or not. If the company is going downside then that also can be found from the income statement. When these figures are compared with the industry average, it can be found how the company is doing against its competitors. Cash Flow Statement is a measure of company’s liquidity strength. It may be that the company is showing profit in their income statement but still its cash flow may be not healthy or even sometimes negative. Obviously, such companies will have difficulty in paying back its debt when due. Cash flow rich companies reward its shareholders liberally and increasing dividend declared is a sign of the good cash flow generated by the company. Balance Sheet is an indication of the company’s status at given point. Usually, it shows its financial status at the end of the financial year. This financia l statement displays a cumulative strength of the company year after year. All the accumulated reserve from so many years of operation can be seen through this statement. We can come to the conclusion quickly by finding or knowing the financial ratios depending upon what kind of the decisions we want to take regarding the company. It would be worthwhile to look into some of the financial data and the ratios of the General Electric Co. Important Financial Ratios (Based on latest balance sheet for the year ended 12/31/2010) Asset Turnover is a good measure of the utilization of company’s assets in making the sales in a competitive market. It is an indication of how efficiently resources are made use of. Asset Turnover = Sales/Average Total Assets (Drake, Pamela) = 150,211/751,216 =0.20% This does not augur well with GE, when compared with the industry average as it comes to first 20th percentile. (GE, Financials) Similarly, when GE's profitability ratios are calculated, they ar e found to be as follows. Return on Assets= 1.28% On comparing with industry average,

Market Models Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Market Models - Assignment Example Although there are numerous firms in the semiconductor chip making business line, their products are differentiated by some firm-specific variables that create substitutability in the market. On the same note, each firm adopts its own pricing policies, thereby practicing independence from the others. However, Intel Corporation and all other firms in this market model cannot compete on price basis. Rather, intensive advertising is a prominently employed competition strategy (Taylor & Weerapana, 2009). Market share in monopolistic competition is accessed by all operating firms. The substitutability of products makes firm to become price cautious, although they cannot necessarily compete on price basis. Firms can also enter and leave the market relatively easy, making new entrants pose operational threats to existing firms in terms of competition. Technological improvements make it possible for Intel to come up with new and improved product brands, but this does not rule out the fact that rival firms could be doing the same and that new entrants could do it even better in the monopolistic competition market

Case Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case Analysis - Research Paper Example It transports more passengers, and it is also offers more regular schedule for domestic flights compared to its competitors. It offers low fares than any other airline because of its low-operating expenses. Chris Lauer accounts â€Å"Southwest Airlines is the largest low-fare carrier in the world† (1). Southwest’s also has a good customer service, a dedicated staff and personnel, and an exceptional management team that keeps on making an excellent pricing and marketing plan for the company. One of Southwest’s successful strategies is serving less congested airports that helped minimize total travel time for passengers, and this allowed the company to avoid paying the higher landing fees and terminal gate costs. Southwest is routinely improving its information system for faster flow of information in order to enhance the airlines function, cut costs, and improve its customer service On account of Southwest’s aim to carry out its low-fare strategy continually, the company operated only one type of aircraft. Along with this, Southwest flight attendants were responsible for cleaning up trash left by passengers and getting the plane presentable for the next flight while rival carriers had cleaning crews. The airline also did not have a first-class section on any of its planes. Also, passengers with checked baggage who were connecting to other carriers in order to reach their destinations were not offered baggage transfer services. Southwest also has a tarnished reputation regarding the management’s failure to conduct the required inspections for fuselage fatigue cracking. Southwest’s has growth opportunities by having a first-class section on its planes and by serving more domestic flights and possibly international flights. The airline should also offer a baggage transfer services to passengers who have connecting flights with other carriers in order to improve its customer service.

Business Regulations and practices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Business Regulations and practices - Essay Example The offeror, in this case Sullivan, may need to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that he was not in the right frame of mind when he made the offer. if he does, a court of law may render the contract invalid, otherwise it remains binding and Sullivan must sell his 40-acre tract of land to Ball for $60000 (Elliott et al 3). In contract laws, both making an offer by the offeror and acceptance or rejection of the offer by the offeree must be communicated to both parties. The offeree must receive the offer, and the offeror must receive a communication from the offeree notifying him/her or the acceptance or rejection of the offer. Chernek makes an offer to sell used farm equipment to Bollow for $10000. Bollow receives the offer, which is okay. Chernek dies before Bollow accepts the offer. Bollow accepts the offer after the offeror had died, but the Chernek is no longer living to be able to receive the acceptance. There is no valid contract in this case. Bollow must accept that there is no more Chernek to complete the contract by receiving his acceptance (Elliott et al 4). When the equipment were lost to an accidental fire disaster, and it is proven that the fire was indeed purely accidental, the contract becomes invalid because it even happened prior to Bollow sending her acceptance of the offer to Chernek. Since the equipment that would been the subject of a contract no longer exist, and they are burnt down before there is the acceptance bit of the deal, the contract is instantly rendered null and void even if Bollow sends the acceptance. Chernek died before the acceptance of the offer by Bollow. The general rule is that, if the offeror dies before the offeree accepts the contract, it remains terminated. It is evident acceptance was only communicated after Chernek’s death; hence the contract was terminated. What makes

The Caregiver Chosen by God Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Caregiver Chosen by God - Dissertation Example The situation becomes even more complicated if the patient is the caregiver’s own mother who had to deal not only with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia but also with a leg amputation. Providing this special patient the continuum of care while ensuring the patient’s comfort and dignity, is profoundly challenging and physically taxing (Lindstrom, et al., 2011). Further confounding the intricacy of caregiving for a family member is the negativity connoted in the workplace for employees who are honest enough to disclose their dual role as caregivers of the elderly at home, in terms of promotions and pay raises (Hendershott, 2000). This researcher had first hand experience in this regard, to the point of having lost both her job and her house. It is not unusual, though, that despite awareness of the travails of caregivers, many good-hearted individuals are being drawn towards this line of work. The essence of care giving dates back to biblical times as recounted by Je sus Christ, himself, in his parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). The good Samaritan took care of a wounded man he passed by on the roadside, offered the man a place to stay and commissioned someone to take care of the man until he is well.

Ecosystem Succession Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ecosystem Succession - Essay Example The Classical model of ecological succession shows that the "structural complexity and organization of an ecosystem increase and mature over time as succession progresses." The natural cycle of progression according to this model is shown below. The model above shows the natural cycle of progression of an ecosystem. The early successional stage is characterized by a few "pioneer species" and net community production is greater than respiration. The next mature stage shows an increase in species diversity, biomass, nutrients, food chains, and net production is equal to respiration. The succession slows down when it reaches equilibrium at the level of "climax" community. "Autogenic Succession is self-driven, resulting from the interaction between organisms and their environment." There are two types of autogenic succession. Primary Succession occurs on virgin or newly formed substrates, such as lava flows, alluvial deposits, newly exposed rock faces and glacial moraines. (Mackenzie, Ball and Virdee 2001) the Glacier Bay and Krakatau sequences are examples of Primary Succession. "Secondary succession occurs on disturbed ground where vegetation cover has been disturbed by external environmental factors like humans, animals or by fire, wind, floods. Succession from bare moraine to mature coniferous forest has been shown in areas left bare by the retreating ice in Glacier Bay, South East Alaska. This is a prime example of primary succession. Current estimates have shown that it takes 250 years for mature forest to develop from bare moraine. (Packam, Harding, Hilton, Stuttard 1992) The process involves colonization of the nutrient poor clay by mosses and shallow-rooted herbaceous species like mountain avens (Dryas sp.). These early species alter the soil conditions facilitating the colonization by new species. Nitrogen fixation is a free process in succession. Litter accumulation helps in soil development, which aids colonization by shrub and eventually tree species like Cottonwood and Hemlock. Marble is present in the area and the soil parent material shows a pH of 8.0 - 8.4. The development of Sitka Alder has a strong acidifying effect leading to a fall in pH from 8.0 to 5.0 approximately within 30-50 years. Alder nodules also fix atmospheric nitrogen, and the increase in nitrogen values of the soil is crucial to the initial establishment of Sitka Spruce. The Spruce eventually displaces the Alder, and it leads to a mature Sitka Spruce-Hemlock forest. In another 1250 years, the mature forest changes to Sphagnum-dominated muskeg bog in suitable sites. Krakatau Another example of Primary Succession is the Krakatau group, which lies over an orogenic hot spot in between Java and Sumatra. After the explosion in 1883, the present successional sequence was started on Rakata, and the smaller islands of Rakata Kecil and Sertung. Here volcanic ash sterilized the whole area. But the successional sequence, which started with a few blades of grass on Rakata in 1884, has led to a lush tropical forest over the century. The pioneer species included

Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman Essay Example for Free

Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman Essay Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman, produced and published in 1949, still has a lasting effect today in the year 2001. The play which has won several awards and the Pulitzer prize, centers itself around a salesman and his family as they fight and sometimes struggle to make it big in this world. The play has been performed all over the world since its introduction in 1949, and it is still being performed and read in different languages and societies. The purpose of this paper is to show how Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman makes his American audience question their own lives and the society that they live in and why Miller would want the audience to question such ideas. Death of a Salesman is centered on Willy Loman who is a 63 years old salesman and has a wife named Linda and two sons, Biff and Happy. Arthur Miller creates the Loman family so that everyone in a way could relate to someone in the family in one-way or another. Many people in the late 1940s and the 1950s had lived through a very miserable depression, and it was during this time that the American Society and economy was changing as it was becoming more and more advanced technologically. Times were changing and the good old days such as the traveling salesman and other pastime occupations were being withered away. The American Society was changing in a way that people were becoming more and more materialistic and people would try to get to the top by any means. Arthur Miller tries to get the American Audience to question whether or not their new views on business and life as a whole are the right thing to do. Willy Loman was a father that instilled values into his two sons that you should win at any cost by the means of cheating, lying, and stealing. Willy made fun of the rather weak, his sons friend Bernard, who was a nerd at school, but latter became a lawyer trying out a case in front of the Supreme Court in Washington D.C., while his sons were still living in the past and amounted to nothing but useless, lying, womanizers, that couldnt hold a job. Willy Loman was a salesman that had worked for the same company for years and was fired by his bosss son because Willy had become too old at the age of 63. Willy had been loyal for so long, but was shown the door too easily. This is what Charley had to say about Willy at his funeral: Willy was a salesman; and for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He dont put a bolt to a nut, he dont tell you the law, or give you medicine. Hes a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine; and when they start not smiling back- boy, thats an earthquake.(Arthur Miller, The Death of a Salesman 138) Arthur Miller is provoking the American Audience to realize the struggles of Willy Loman the Salesman, but at the same time makes the audience reveal their own struggles and their neighbors struggles, as Willy Loman was no longer getting the smiles back. Willy Loman committed suicide because no one was smiling back any more. The once proud Willy Loman had quickly materialized to near nothing and his sons had done the same. The idea of success at all costs and human suffering presented in the play by Miller really make the audience self evaluate and contemplate themselves and the society that they live in, because these were some of the new views and ideas held by society in the late 1940s.