Financial Analysis of Tesco Supermarket Research Paper

Financial Analysis of Tesco Supermarket - Research Paper Example For a potential investor, the stock of Tesco Plc is strongly recommended as better investment than its rival because it provides higher gains in the long-run. The performance of a business organization is quantitatively reflected in its financial statements. Ascertaining the financial health of a company has become important to different decision makers like managers, stockholders, potential investors and creditors. As such, it becomes important to evaluate the financial situation of any business organization to identify their relative strengths and weaknesses. In order to accomplish this task, this report will utilize financial ratio analysis. From its humble beginning as a one-man business in 1919, Tesco is now highly regarded for its size and strength in the global retailing industry. Tesco is engaged in international grocery and general merchandising retail chain. It is named as the largest retailer in Britain in terms of global sales and domestic market share. During 2006, it is estimated that in every 8 spent is UK retail sales, 1 is spent on Tesco indicating its strong foothold of the market (Tesco Plc 2007). The success of Tesco is based on a fourfold long term growth strategy: "to grow the core UK business; to become a successful international retailer; to be as strong in food as in non-food; and to develop retailing services such as Tesco personal finance, Telecoms; and Tesco.com" (Tesco Plc). With this, Tesco has established presence in international markets such as Ireland, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan, and China and has complemented its core business with retailer service business such as online shopping, personal finance, and telecoms. In order to comply with regulatory requirements, Tesco has adopted the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in preparing its financial statements in the fiscal year 2005 (from UK GAAP). The adoption of IFRS is expected to lower the reported turnover and net income and increase debt. As with any other business organization, the company also recognizes the presence of risks and uncertainties in its operations. Financially, Tesco is facing challenges in "the availability of fund to meet business needs, the risk of default by counter-parties to financial transactions, and fluctuations in interest and foreign exchange rates" (Tesco Plc 2007). In order to ensure fund availability, Tesco employs policy which includes smoothing the debt maturity profile, arranging funding ahead of requirements and

Homework # 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Homework # 2 - Essay Example There are several ways in which to impeach a witness at trial. Here, because the proceedings are criminal in nature, we would be dealing with the federal rules of evidence and also the federal rules of criminal procedure. Impeachment tools such as opinion, reputation and specific Instances (Fed. Ru. Evid. 608), is based upon opinion or reputation testimony. This type of evidence is only admissible after the character of the witness is attacked by evidence of any form. Here for example, since Ralph noted on his application that he never had an accident, his driving record could be introduced as evidence to impeach his testimony, the testimony being Ralph's application (which is considered to be a federal document because it is submitted to the port authority which is a government entity) and demonstrate that it was false, thus proving that Ralph has a propensity to lie. Furthermore, any witnesses on Ralph's behalf would be properly questioned in order to impeach Ralph's character for truthfulness as well. (Fed. Ru. Evid. 608). It is true that Ed Norton would testify that Ralph is a great guy and a terrific friend, but he has no business or employment relationship with Ralph. It should be noted that Ed as a character witness will be questioned about specific instances of conduct on part of the Ralph as the principal witness to test his knowledge on Ralph's character. Thus Ed may be questioned on whether Ralph ever told him about his high school suspension. It must be noted that any defense attorney worth their salt would immediately object to the question if at the time of Ralph's arrest, the high school suspension was over ten years old. This rule applies if more than ten years has elapsed since the later date between the following: (1) the date of the conviction and (2) release of the witness from the confinement imposed for that conviction . Here, it is true that Ralph was not convicted at the time his suspension for a crime related to it. One might first think that the suspension would not find its' way into trial however there are exceptions to this rule of evidence. Specific instances of misconduct that did not result in a conviction can be admitted for impeachment purposes if the scope of its admission is to demonstrate the witnesses character for truthfulness, in the discretion of the court the probative value of the question outweighs any prejudice to the defendant; the evidence is offered in good faith; the act has a direct bearing on the veracity of the witness with regards to the issues being litigated. It cannot be understated that extrinsic evidence of specific instances of prior bad acts is not permitted when their only relevance is to impeach the witnesses credibility. Thus, it appears that Ralph's high school suspension would be admitted at trial. It should be noted again that the trial court enjoys immense discretion so the ten year limitation may be construed by the court to apply to non convicted prior bad acts. For example, if Ralph is 25 at the time of trial, the suspension may be admitted, but if he is 35 at the time of trial, it most likely will not. Finally, we do not usually see this type of evidence offered unless the parties know each other. Fed. Ru. Evid 613, applies to the prior inconsistent statements of a witness. Here, Ralph is prepared to testify that he never said "That could just as easily have been your head." In examining a witness

An Articular About the Strategic Performance of Mitchell & Butler Essay

An Articular About the Strategic Performance of Mitchell & Butler - Essay Example So what makes this possible in a world where luxury is about taking pleasure in life in the best of the hospitality facilities in the world? It lays in the corporations operations that are divided into two business divisions namely â€Å"Pubs and bars† and â€Å"Restaurants†. Mitchells and Butlers Company owns and operates a considerable number of pubs, bars and restaurants, and this is, in addition to a number of, hotels that are located in the same place, but different venues with the pubs and restaurants. What has been done to tap into the worlds market and better their services for competitive advantage? The business divisions operate under different brands such as Sizzlin pub Co and Vintage inns. These are just two out of the available twenty four, and are as a result of the company’s first merger of midlands family businesses to form Mitchells and Butlers back in 1898. This was just the start of mergers the company would be involved in, and this was experie nced in 1961 and 2010 after the purchase of HaHa Bar and Grill businesses, and this gives way to All Bar One and Brown Brands. Now who said that organizations should cut on costs by utilizing the available resources to achieve the best? This is certainly Mitchell and Butler’s management which has affected team work. ... Food has now replaced drinks in terms of percentage of sales increasing from 31% five years ago to 47%. The business strategy of the company was born out of the January 2012; Board members’ review that was conducted on the business with a view of modernizing and developing the company into a favorite in the food enterprise business. The review outlined the developments that came up in the last 55days after evaluating the organization. The business entity was a strong, financially sound with solvable setbacks backed with a vast reserve of assets, brands and an efficient management team. This came in line with the significant expansion in the total figure of brands produced by the company and abundant opportunities aimed at downsizing the portfolio of the brands, reduction of expenses, recovering the margins and managing incentives. The company vision was to be used as a typical extent of food and beverages in the foodstuff industry. An interview with the company’s execut ive chairman Mr. Bob Ivell revealed that the company has its eyes set on success by ensuring that their business attract and retain customers. The company wants to utilize the fresh and quality products which in turn dictate the prices. The business entity base its tactics on a recent research that outlined that food records 42billion dollars of the total 71 billion for food together with beverage in the market. This is to maintain competitive advantage over their competitors. Introduction of Landmark Beer guidelines in the year 1989 altered everything, save for rapid evolution of innovative brands similar to brands like Browns, O’Neill and bars, taking into account the economic situation at that time. It is noteworthy that the company had got a share in

Music under Stalin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Music under Stalin - Essay Example The RAPM which dominated the 1920s and 1930s also advocated for anti-Western aesthetics that could be seen in works such as Lady Macbeth and led to the realization of the commencement of the Soviet musical history. Members of this group such as Marian Koval became one of the greatest critics of the works of Shostakovich (Edmund 2000, p. 88). There were other groups that were not as influential as RAPM such as Muzyka-massam which translates to music to the masses founded in 1929 to produce music to the citizens. Much, later, there has been political meaning given to the music written by Russian composers such as Shostakovich in which the works were overtly propagandist in nature such as the Eleventh Symphony that were a protest against the Soviet Union under Stalin. Shostakovich also composed music that could be said to be formalist when the RAPM was influential such as the opera â€Å"The Nose† and the ballets â€Å"Bolt and The Golden Age† that showed disdain for the m usic performed by RAPM. Despite the good works by artists such as Shostakovich and Prokofiev amongst other composers, they underwent a lot of repression in the year 1948 when the regime through its secretary general issued a decree denouncing them for their formalism and thus their music was suppressed with no publications or performances. Music under Stalin The Soviet regime’s under Stalin and those who adopted Stalinism had a stranglehold on the music that was supposed to be produced and composed that made creativity a difficult affair. However, some artists such as Shostakovich, Prokofiev and others managed to create musical masterpieces with distinct messages mainly to counter propaganda and inspire revolutionary purposes amongst the masses (Fairclough 2012, p. 68). There is still very limited understanding of the Soviet reality as concerns the music that was played and performed under Stalin. This incomprehension often leads to the misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the motivations and activities of those who composed and performed music including their meaning in the Soviet Union under Stalin. For example Shostakovich rarely explained his musical pieces with a program emphasizing no reference or illusions to his attitude towards the Soviet regime. Instead, he preferred confiding in a circle of friends whom he could t rust as discussing his music elsewhere would have killed his musical career. The revered Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin states that during the 1950s, nobody wanted to go to the gulag as at that time there was no independent judiciary in Russia as the Communist party was the only jury with Stalin as the assumed judge. There is clear evidence that music was mostly composed for the omnipotent regime which sought to control the citizens both physically and spiritually as shown by the music of Prokofiev and Shostakovich. These two geniuses of Russian music were later accused amongst other Soviet musicians of not composing music that was accessible to the masses with their music christened ''antinarodnaya† which implied that their music was against the people. In â€Å"The War Symphonies: Shostakovich against Stalin† by Larry Weinstein, the author states that the film is clearly made to counter the propaganda of the

Taiwan-China Conflict and Resolution Research Paper

Taiwan-China Conflict and Resolution - Research Paper Example China was fragment after the fall of Qing dynasty and civil war followed (Myers 1) in 1915. In this condition, the political party that gave birth to Taiwan, the  Guomindang  or GMD was formed and so was the ruling party in China, the Chinese Communist Party  (CCP). These two political parties however begun as allies in Southeast China in their effort to crush the warlords in 1923 that caused the civil war in China. The alliance however was short lived because it collapsed within four years and the two political parties became bitter enemies that precipitated another civil war. GMD’s generals pledge loyalty to its new leader Chiang  Kai ­shek and formed a new Republic of China in Nanjing and later formed a new ROC government in Nanjing in 1927 (Myers 1). Chiang  Kai ­shek had the upper hand over the CCP in 1937 as Chiang  Kai ­shek army drove the Communists into the Northwest region of China. Japan however attacked China in July 1937 to make Chiang  Kai ­ shek ROC a client state of Japan. The attack was thwarted because Taiwan and China again forged an alliance to defeat Japan. This alliance lasted for eight years until Japan was defeated in August 15, 1945. During this time, Chiang  Kai ­shek also allied with the United States which lasted until 1949. China on the other is building up its forces beginning in the Autumn of 1945 when it begun amassing weapons from the Russians in Manchuria. It also initiated land reform in the countryside as a precursor to Maoist strategy of encircling cities by cutting them off from the countryside. The strategy coupled with superior weapons proved to be effective in defeating Chiang  Kai ­shek’s forces and advanced further towards Northern China until finally, CPP soldiers captured Beijing on January 31, 1949. Months later, Mao declared the founding of the new  Chinese  state in October 1, 1949 which is the  People's Republic  of  China (13). Chiang Kai-shek on the other han d retreated to Formosa which is now Taiwan to seek refuge from Mao’s advancing armies (Ford 36) which it still continue to occupy until this day. II. Description of the various conflict management techniques used, the third parties that were active in attempts to resolve the conflict, and the outcomes of these conflict management efforts. Efforts however were made to reconcile Taiwan and China after Mao’s declaration of People's Republic  of  China or PROC as we know it today. On April 27, 1993, China and Taiwan begun negotiating the various Interpretations of Taiwan’s relationship  to  China,  or  the  "one ­China" principle† (Myers 1). The negotiation however was conducted and represented by third party private agencies. Taiwan was represented by Straits Exchange Foundation or SEF while China was represented Association for Relations across the  Taiwan  Strait,  or  ARATS. The negotiation however was short lived and collapse when President Lee Teng ­hui visited the US for a public address at Cornell University (Myers 1). The technique used in the attempt to resolve the conflict was negotiation by third parties composed of private NGOs. The negotiation however did not prosper because no confidence building measure was initiated by both parties. The negotiation finally collapsed when Taiwan’s President Lee Teng ­hui antagonized the Chinese by a visit to the Communist ideological nemesis, the US.

Culture And Public Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Culture And Public Policy - Essay Example This paper stresses that culture can also be regard as the relationships among people within groups, among groups and between ideas and views. Culture deals with identity, coordination, structures, and practices that guide relations among people such as ethnicity, heritage, rituals, norms, and beliefs. Multiculturalism refers to a specific set of philosophical ideas, or a particular orientation by institutions or the government towards a varied population. Thus, culture is created by people and defines people. Culture is express in various ways such as through how we speak, live, conduct public life, associate with others, celebrate, entertain ourselves, remember the past, and think about the future. This report makes a conclusion that culture influences all public policies. The culture of the people or a nation determines the nature of the public policy that is created . Culture also affects the implementation of the policy. It may facilitate implementation of the policy thereby, helping to achieve the policy objectives or prevent creation or implementation of a good public policy, which may have a negative effect on a country’s different aspects such as economic development. Poor public policies in most African countries are because of bad cultures such as the high degree of power distance. On the other hand, most developed countries public interest oriented policies are inspired by the countries’ good cultures such as low power distance.

Ethic and Social Impacts on Crime Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethic and Social Impacts on Crime - Assignment Example This has led the tribe people to lose livestock, livelihood, and lifestyle.    Mbuba (2011) reported that this apparent situation relies heavily on the legislation of these East African countries, on how will they be able to handle the problem of crime of rural areas where police patrols are not available and the authority of tribal elders are more dynamic. Mbuba identified another factor on why crime reporting is unpopular among tribe people. These communities are described as transitional communities at which there is a â€Å"somewhat inevitable developmental stage of society that intervenes between fully functional social relations characterized by the rule of law, on one hand, and the informal traditional arrangements†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It was also reported that there is tranquillity in policing transitional societies. Apparently there is â€Å"law enforcement monopoly whereby the police administration is routinely reluctant to embrace any mechanisms for sharing with the rest of the community members the responsibility for ensuring safety for all† (Mark s, Shearing, & Wood, 2009). The authority of Chief and Sub-Chiefs in crime prevention is so crucial that a separate law was made in order to specify, elaborate, and clarify the limit of power of the two tribe officers. Mbuba, J. (2011). Approaches to crime control and order Maintenance in Transitional Societies: The Role of Village Headmen, Chiefs, Sub-Chiefs and Administration Police in Rural Kenya. African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies. Retrieved from http://www.faqs.org/periodicals/201104/2367231161.html Tribal Elders Agree to End Years of Conflict. (2005). United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Retrieved from